A list of movies that will increasingly elevate the consciousness level of any one who chooses to view them.
These are not always good movies, and they are not always bad movies, but they are exceptional movies that should be seen at least once. They are -Essential Viewing-.
These are not yet sorted into any order or annotated in any way, I will be completing this task over time. They are however linked to the Internet Movie Database so descriptions can be examined.
This list will probably never be complete, I will be adding new entries as I continue to discover the most significant viewing.
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Riders of the Storm aka The American Way (1986)
20 min excerpt, RealVideo 34kbps
This Movie really needed to be moved to the top of the list here as it is somewhat representational of the Doctor Rock Website.
Dennis Hopper and Michael J. Pollard (Doc Tesla) lead a crew of misfit Vietnam veterans highly trained in psychological warfare and armed with a B29 equipped as a flying pirate TV station creating havoc for the broadcast networks and authorities as they fly the country on a crusade to bring radical philosophies and classic audiovisuals to a conservative and media brainwashed viewing public.
On the verge of retirement they are compelled to mount one last campaign to destroy a demographically engineered presidential candidate who would see the country brought to war again.
Extensive explorations into concepts of non-violent defiance of authority and pursuit of justice, questioning conventional morality, exposition of criminal activities in the guise of righteousness by righteous people being classed as criminals by a corrupt establishment, existentialist themes, technology and rock music versus violence and force, nature of religious beliefs, political corruption and post Vietnam issues.
Some excellent 60's and 70's music in the soundtrack. Not to be missed.
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Movie Database |
The Island of Doctor Moreau (1996)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
This movie, by definition, must be added to the Essential Viewing
list if only to see Marlon Brando in what must be one of his last
roles before the actual logistics of transporting him became an
insurmountable problem for production. This combined with Val
Kilmer as the drug dispensing Montgomery and being filmed in
Australia, in addition to the amazing afro/counter rhythm
strong sound track demandeds it a place in the realm of
essential viewing. I feel confident that H.G. Wells would approve
of the rewrite of his material too, in concept at least. Notable
studies in concepts of ethics and mixed moralities
Ice Station Zebra (1968)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
Internet Movie Database Entry
This is a total classic. Submarines, satelites, spies, cold war politics, a marvelous adventure/twisted plot spy thriller from a book by Alistair MacLean. Some absolutely marvelous acting from Patrick McGoohan, definitely the best thing I have seen Rock Hudson do. Above average study in the mixed morality concepts involved with the cold war era.
I once saw an interview on television, where Doris Day was interviewing Rock Hudson during his illness. It was all very nice and "Doris Day", she was reminiscing with him of the movies they had done in the past like "Pillow Talk" and all. Hudson was being very pleasant about the whole thing and keeping the pace of the piece then Doris asked which movie he most liked doing. Well, Ol' Rock's mind ticks over for about half a second and with a sincere and pleasant reply said "Ohhh,, I liked Ice Station Zebra".
Doris acts as if he's made some sort of silly mistake about what she had asked and tries to laugh it off with him and get the *real* answer out of him but Rock just sits there quite pleasantly smiling and keeping the pace with the most obvious expression of "well you believe what you like Doris" on his face. It was classic indeed.
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Dark Star (1973)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
A minor masterpiece by any standards, this movie is truly a good introduction to the realms of the weird. A science/fiction black comedy that was made as a film school project predominantly by John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. Given a greater budget and release by promotional forces it ended up as possibly the most bizarre example of movie making from the early days of the Great Scifi Renaissance of the seventies.
The whole movie is rife with all the design and concepts of both O'Bannon and Carpenter's classic and landmark projects of more recent years. O'Bannon himself acts in one of the leading roles as Pinback, and his solo part of the movie is like a parody of Alien six years ahead of time.
This movie deals heavily with concepts of isolation and "cabin fever", weird depersonalization, radical philosophies versus logical philosophies, strong studies into the human condition in general, humanity's complacency with technology versus technology's complacency with the humanities, alienation and well above average studies in mixed morality.
N.B. I have heard that due to frictions with "The Establishment" John Carpenter experienced, that it is never wise to even mention the movie to him in polite company. This is an unfortunate thing.
Warning: This movie depicts aspects of hopelessness which some viewers may find disturbing.
John Carpenters "The Thing" (1982)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
Internet Movie Database Entry
The Chocolate War (1988)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
Internet Movie Database Entry
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Raising Arizona (1987)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
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Silent Running (1971)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
Bruce Dern plays yet another brilliantly typecast role as a dedicated environmentalist with tendancies toward extreme mania blasted out into space with the last remanants of nature from an industrialised earth. You've got a grabbag of mixed morality issues, shades all the way from total complacency to total active expressions of determnation, alienation due to convictions, atonement and acceptance of fate.
Filmed inside an actual decomissioned battleship named Valley Forge, noteable castmembers included as "The Drones" were amputees who walked on their hands inside the little robot costumes giving a baffleing lifelike effect for creating these very integral parts of the plot.
This film is interesting in so much as it was directed by Douglas Trumbull, so there was clearly an insistance on excellance of special effects.
I'm still not fully convinced Joan Baez can be seen to fit in to the soundtrack of a film such as this, and sometimes the sound of her voice can be a little alarming to the contemporary viewer. It only happens about twice though so I don't think there should be too much danger to your sensibilities, especially after this warning.
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The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
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The Shadow (1994)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
The thinking mans clear choise for adventure super hero type movies. The Shadow and his contemporaries have only one "gadget" and that is to be able to cloud the minds of others, basically to be able to fully convince people to accept any illusion. This of course gives them unparralelled power for mayhem in the world.
High levels of mixed morality, battles for inevitable redemption, expressions of control and power without force, studies in issues surrounding manipulation by strong will-power with definite inferences to actual socio-psychology and alienation due to arcane knowledge and mysticism.
Some very impressive special effects and not a bad sound-track.
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The Golden Child (1986)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
This is very representational piece of transitional genre in cinematic terms. As an Eddie Murphy film it is a comedy and one of his best dramatic pieces while maintaining the elements of his action pieces. It has a lot of reasonable mysticism with dark and light overtones and definitely does some noteable chalenge to conventional concepts of morality and redemtion.
Quite a good soundtrack too.
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The Roommate (1984)
Opening Titles, RealVideo 34kbps
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The Prophecy (1995)
10 min excerpt, RealVideo 34kbps
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Dr. Strangelove (1964)
30 min excerpt, RealVideo 34kbps
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The Andromeda Strain (1971)
20 min excerpt, RealVideo 34kbps
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Withnail & I (1987)
20 min excerpt, RealVideo 34kbps
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Zachariah (1971)
20 min excerpt, RealVideo 34kbps
Zachariah
Simon
Being There
Seven Faces of Dr. Lao
Harold and Maude
Seven Days in May
The Silver Fleet
Inherit The Wind, original version
Twelve Angry Men, original version
Anatomy of a Murder
The Verdict
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Fail Safe
Fitzcarraldo
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Cool Hand Luke
The Killing of Sister George
Strange Brew
Zardoz
On The Beach
The Gumball Rally
Time Bandits
The Italian Job
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Buckaroo Banzai
Impromptu
Gothic
Soylent Green
The Exorcist
Colossus: The Forbin Project
THX 1138:4EB
THX 1138
The Moonshine War
Das Boot, AKA The Boat
Salvador
Shooter
The Year of Living Dangerously
The Killing Fields
Air America
Altered States
Videodrome
Cadence
After Hours
The King of Comedy
Vice Versa, Original 1948 version
Getting Straight
The Last Valley
Simon
Dragonslayer
Johnny Dangerously
And Justice for All
Lord Jim
Network
Ferris Bullers Day Off
Twelve Monkeys
The Chase, 1994, Charlie Sheen, Henry Rollins
Four Rooms
Lady Jane
The Illustrated Man
The Great Santini
The Missouri Breaks
The Sand Pebbles
Spartacus
Lost Horizon, original 1937 version
Kelly's Heroes
The Odd Angry Shot
The Cars That Ate Paris
Easy Rider
Stone
Gardens of Stone
The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Man with the Golden Arm
Rope
MASH, The original Robert Altman Film
Catch 22
Slaughterhouse Five
These Are the Damned
A Clockwork Orange
Midnight Express
The Abyss, The special edition directors cut only
The Shining
From Here to Eternity
My Cousin Vinny
The Razor's Edge, original 1946 version
The Razor's Edge, 1984 remake