bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Monday, June 28, 2004 ::

The 100 Most Spiritually Significant Films
A wonderful list (alphabetized, not ranked) from Arts and Faith, an online forum for discussion about faith and the arts. The list includes single-paragraph commentaries of what makes each flick spiritually significant. Blade Runner, for instance, makes the list because "it graphically illustrates the plight of humankind separated from God" and, like the Philip K. Dick novel it is based on, explores "the essence of what it is to be human, and the urge to confront one’s creator with questions about our imperfections and the inevitability of death."

Many of the usual suspects are there: The Matrix is there, of course, as is Schindler's List and others you'd expect to find. But the list includes a few nice suprises:
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1981), Woody Allen.

Life of Brian (1979), Terry Jones (director), written by Jones and the rest of the Monty Python crew. A movie less about satirizing Jesus than a parody of "biblical epics and most of all hypocritical faith."

Groundhog Day (1993), Harold Ramis. Bill Murray portrays a weatherman trapped in the same day, over and over again. He "moves from initial disbelief to amusement, despair, and exploitation before accepting his predicament and realizing that if he only has one day to live, he needs to live it to its fullest."

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Frank Darabont.

A couple of my favorites are missing. I still maintain that The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are spiritually significant films.

Link via ChristianityToday Movies, which caught flack for titling this article about the list "Movies Every Christian Should See." Writing about that gaffe, CT online editor Mark Moring explains: "Within hours, we'd received a number of angry e-mails, taking us to task for recommending some of those films -- some of which are quite disturbing. I quickly rewrote the title (it's now simply 'Moving Pictures'), realizing I'd screwed up with the original title. A 'spiritually significant' film is not, after all, necessarily one that every believer should see. I apologize for that error in judgment."

:: Andrew 08:27 + ::
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