Philosophical Films I Like

I love watching movies, but there is a lot of garbage out there. I think it is important to watch movies, if one wishes to be a Christian engaged in culture. More people watch movies than read a novel these days I think, so watching a movie is part of being culturally literate. Sure, there are movies that are meant to just entertain you, like Transformers, and I am not interested in those. What I am interested in are movies that might interest the philosophically inclined, or may encourage the layman to think about philosophical issues. I'll list some of my favorites down below, but as time rolls on, I'll add some more.

The Matrix Trilogy: This is the very obvious choice. Issues like free will and determinism, the nature of reality, skepticism, qualia and more are all issues the film brings up, sometimes very explicitly. Also, Kung Fu. The second part is the best of the three. 

Ex Machina: There are a lot of movies that deal with artificial intelligence and whether or not computers can really think. The Matrix is one of them. But what sets Ex Machina apart is that it actually discusses philosophers by name, like John Searle, who deal with the problem, and they try to apply these experiments in real life.

Snow Piercer: Social class and class warfare are major themes in this movie, and is creatively represented by the cars of a train. Whether people can be subjugated and where proper authority lies are also themes. Also, some Christological symbols.

Eye in the Sky: Just war theory is debated in this movie. Collateral damage, consequentialism and human value are discussed back and forth in a race against time.

The Watchmen: There are a lot of superhero movies, but none quite like this one. The nature of good and evil, divine foreknowledge, utilitarianism, vigilanty justice and love are all brought up. Team Rorschach.

The Tree of Life: This one is more existential. Terrance Malick directed this movie, and for those who don't know, but he did study philosophy, and he has written a translation of, I think it was either Hegel or Heidegger, and it's available at CSULB. Life and death, and dealing with grief are important themes, but, there is a lot that is communicated visually that I can't really explain with words. One of my favorites movies.

Inception: Is this all a dream? If it was, would it matter?

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