Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#101

Post by xxxtentachyon » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

trykondev wrote: post #27

My answer might sound like a joke, but I'm being sincere -- the Adam Sandler movie "Click" had a profound impact on me. I saw that movie in theatres on a total whim when I was a teenager. After watching the movie, I felt extremely emotionally affected -- I literally spent the drive home sobbing. I felt so moved by how the movie showed time passing by, especially as the main character started to lose control of how qu…

Click is just an easier way to get to the point of Nietzsche’s “eternal recurrence of the same” thought experiment. If (in the absence of things like destitution) you’ve chosen to live your life in such a way that you wanted to skip through significant parts of it, is it really a life well-lived?

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#102

Post by salimmadjd » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

Omie6541 wrote: post #15

Samsara - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsara_(2011_film) 4 years of filming in locations from 25 countries using 70mm cameras. No narration, just spectacular captures of life. They say it's a form of guided meditation. I can't really explain how it affects me in detail. Certainly in a very positive way though. I feel humble.

I was in Yosemite photographing when they were trying to film the Yosemite scene from the “Tunnel View” perspective. The cinematographer had left his light meter in the van that was in the valley. I used my camera with long lens and histogram to give him his exposure off the El Capitan.

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#103

Post by clairity » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 3:58 PM UTC

squeezingswirls wrote: post #94

clairity wrote: post #20

crouching tiger, hidden dragon like all of the best wuxia, the fight scenes are dances that metaphorically relate interpersonal conflict and resolution. also, raw ambition and talent without vision and principle leads to (self-)destruction. bonus edit: spirited away a young girl comes of age by bridging the spirit world. a child apprehensive of change, an ethereal melancholy, ancestral and karmic deference for life.…

Another way to watch 'Spirited Away' is from the point of view of child prostitution. https://jpninfo.com/29501

that's an interesting take. and although i can see the fit, i prefer to look at it from a wider lens of children taking the torch from parents, debts and all. the first step of the harrowed journey to adulthood, in this case.

you can take prostitution specifically out of it, and still see lots of instances of children being burdened with the idiosyncracies of ancestors and environment. a child overcoming an unspecified gluttony of parents and society, if you will.

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#104

Post by torben-friis » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:01 PM UTC

qwe098cube wrote: post #66

Princess Mononoke [1] (1997) had an impact on how I value our environment and also was my gateway into anime [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke

> and also was my gateway into anime

Slightly off topic, any recommendations on that area? I've never checked out any anime besides children shows and would like to see something good, preferably mature and recent, to see if I'm missing out on something cool.

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#105

Post by mrfusion » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:02 PM UTC

dawnerd wrote: post #76

Couple of them: Children of Men, The Matrix, Le Jetée, Behind the Curve There’s a couple others I can’t for the life of me remember the name of but I can recall very vividly.

Why behind the curve?

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#106

Post by nisuni » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:02 PM UTC

fiftyacorn wrote: post #57

Vera drake. It's about a woman who does abortions when it was illegal in UK. She is caught and ends up in jail. It shows whatever your stance on abortion that making it illegal doesn't stop it and is risky for women The film also shows the hypocrisy of the well off woman who can still get an abortion. While the poor can't access this Finally when the film was released it struggled in America as people expected Vera d…

> It shows whatever your stance on abortion that making it illegal doesn't stop it

That’s not an argument. Making homicide illegal does not stop serial killers, is this a good reason for legalizing homicide?

I am not taking a side on the dispute, but: are you in favor of abortion? Then just say openly that, according to your system of values, a fetus of N months can be rightfully killed, for some value of N.

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#107

Post by torben-friis » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:04 PM UTC

trykondev wrote: post #27

My answer might sound like a joke, but I'm being sincere -- the Adam Sandler movie "Click" had a profound impact on me. I saw that movie in theatres on a total whim when I was a teenager. After watching the movie, I felt extremely emotionally affected -- I literally spent the drive home sobbing. I felt so moved by how the movie showed time passing by, especially as the main character started to lose control of how qu…

I found Richard Curtis' About Time (which also packs an emotional punch in what's supposed to be a light comedy) to be a similar take on the passage of time, only much much more uplifting.

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#108

Post by icefo » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:05 PM UTC

nknealk wrote: post #74

Wall-E. The first like 15 minutes have no dialog. The rest of the movie is a profound commentary on modern life told as a children’s story

I really like most of the Pixar movies. I find them enjoyable both from a children and adult point of view while still touching pretty deep subject (inside out, up...)

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#109

Post by hinkley » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:06 PM UTC

spanhandler wrote: post #65

Team America: World Police. Now I get to hear the AIDS song and “America, Fuck Yeah” in my head at least once every day for the rest of my life. It’s changed my mind about the concept of entertainment being so crap that it’s actual brain poison that the wise will avoid, which I thought was just old stick-in-the-mud folks being old. But no, it’s real. Be careful what you expose your brain to. Bonus round: the wiener-m…

The sky is blue and all the leaves are green

The air’s as pure as a baked potato

I think you know precisely what I mean

When I say it’s a schpledoinkle day

Re: Ask HN: Films that made you see the world differently?

#110

Post by KineticLensman » Sat, Aug 08, 2020, 4:08 PM UTC

nlh wrote: post #87

Devs (2020, FX/Hulu). Not a movie, but movie-like (8-part series). I’m not religious and I don’t believe in the traditional religious god. But Devs presents a fascinating framework for what that could look like that passes the nerd/science test (with some obvious creative/technological liberties).

> that passes the nerd/science test

Apart from the fact that it completely ignores...

[spoiler]

... the uncertainty principle and stochastic processes so that a single computer can confidently model the past and future of the universe. This blew it for me.