5 Movies That Will Change Your Life and Paradigm

Are you looking for that profound movie experience that makes you wanna get up and sing? Tired of all these vapid, ridiculous Hollywood re-runs?

You are?!

Sounds like you could use 5 Movies That Will Change Your LIfe and Paradigm. This comprehensive list will rev up your mind, tickle your spirit, and, if your lucky, might even penetrate the very essence of your being.

You might see other lists out there dedicated to genre, quality, number of topless scenes, etc. But my list is different. It's a totally legitimate attempt at using films to improve the lives of my readers. These films are deep, powerful art, but they're also entertaining, engrossing, and downright awesome.

So how 'bout it - do you feel like changing your life today?

Set at a Buddhist temple floating on a remote valley lake surrounded by unbridled nature, a single Buddhist monk and his only student live a mininalist Zen life. We watch as the young boy (the student) grows up under the care of the monk, learning small lessons along with large ones with an oddly romantic equal handedness. The movie is hypnotic, mesmerising, it draws you in and never lets go.

There are hardly any spoken lines in the film at all - and as you watch, you realize how unnecessary verbal human communication is, and how we can understand everything through body language and facial expressions. Things are vibrantly metaphorical in this film, and yet everything in it is so simple. Symbols are boldly framed. For example, as your watching, see if you can notice what animal is assigned to each season. What does it mean?

This is a film that truly taps into the alluring elements of Buddhism, while at the same time using unrestrained realism. And in the real world, not even Buddhism is always that pretty. Without missing a beat, the film becomes almost purely symbolic at times.  Let the unassuming camera lead you into this natural, bewitching and beautiful world and you'll never want to leave.

Director: Ki-Duk Kim Starring: Ki-duk Kim, Yeong-su Oh More Info

A wonderfully whimsical French film about a spritely young woman who leads a fairly normal life but experiences it in an extraordinary way, this film comes in at number two for it's amazing universalism and a simply adorable story. Here we have a girl who lives a sheltered, melancholy life and stumbles onto an oppurtunity to help someone in a bizarre, touching way - by returning an old box of toys she finds in her apartment.

From then on, it's hells bells. Amelie, seized by the rush of seeing someone so happy they almost cry because of what she's done, decides to do more acts of anonymous kindness - that's right, she never takes credit. Everything she does is completely anonymous, and for her that is exactly why it's so exhilerating. She constructs intricate and specific acts of kindness for those people she sees almost every day - and all behind their backs.

While she may be a somewhat invisible force in people's lives (almost like fate), it's hard to take your eyes off of her! Not only that, but the world that she occupies is like a coloring book - that wonderful French technique of intensifying color is perfectly applied in this film. The beautiful Audrey Tautou gives a stunning performance, and it's no wonder that this is the film that launched her now steadily growing career.

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz More Info

It's no secret that you're more likely to find this movie on a pile of $1 VHS tapes at a still-in-transition video rental store than you are to see it as a top-rated Myspace movie, but The Shape of Things is in fact a memorable comment on beauty and modern culture.  Adam, an awkward, geeky museum guard is transformed into a good-looking, clean-cut man when he falls in love with Evelyn, a witty and beautiful art student who understands him like no one he's ever known.

Slowly but surely, Evelyn gains influence over Adam.  He's compliant by nature, growing up as a nerdy, keeps-to-himself kind of guy, and he's easily molded by his first true love.  It all seems so innocent, that she's in fact doing him a favor.  Soon his friends begin to question his transformiation, wondering if he's really being true to himself.  Adam, however, is quick to admit that he feels good looking good.

With many intelligent discussions on the subject included in the masterful dialogue, this film addresses the age old question: how much does art reflect life and life reflect art, and when do they become the same thing?  Along with being a scandalously good story, the film blurs the lines between life and art in a way that will have you considering both in a new, more inquisitive way.

Director: Neil LaBute Starring: Paul Rudd, Rachel Weisz, Gretchen Mol More Info

This film may be anime, but it's a wonderfully metaphorical journey into the realm of virtue, trust, and all things intangible.  A small girl and her parents stumble onto what looks like an abandoned theme park, but is in fact a meeting place between two worlds.  Chikiro, the girl, is hesitant while her parents are curious, and soon their curiosity gets the better of them; after they greedily gorge themselves on magical food they're turned into hogs and Chikiro is left alone.

Luckily for her, a spirit named Haku is drawn to her and helps her survive the spirit world that she is trapped in after night falls.  In a series of puzzling episodes, she strives to fit in amongst the spirits who despise the smell of humans while also scheming to somehow transform her parents back to normal. 

What's amazing about the structure of the spirit world imagined in this film is that it is a combination of human society and the natural animal world.  Creatures / spirits eat each other, are shaped like frogs, bugs and birds, and seem caught in an endless search for food; and yet they bicker over money, reward good manners, and work some pretty normal jobs (cooks, maids, stablemen etc.)  And on top of that, they have the power of magic, being in the spirit world and all.

Something to pay attention to in this film are the values that are being rewarded throughout.  The story twists and turns our ideas about what it means, exactly, to be virtuous.  You find yourself pondering large, meaningful questions about manners, loyalty, and free will even as you're being entertained by a beautifully imaginative animated spectacle.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki Starring: Rumi Hiragi, Miyu Irino More Info

There are many movies about the Holocaust, but few about awe-inspiring East Berlin. Germany examines their own tormented recent history in this deeply moving film about an agent of the secret police who becomes emotionally invested in the people he is spying on: an attractive intellectual couple who are trying to publish in the West the husband's writing, which directly criticizes East Berlin.

The key concept of the film is living vicariously. The police agent becomes so caught up in the real, human emotions that he's listening in on that it's almost as if he's living their lives with them. In a sense he kind of is, since he'll be controlling their legal fate, after all.

Obviously, there's a lot of watching going on here: we're watching him watch them watch out for each other. The act of watching becomes a ping-pong game, and you leave with a sense that someone is watching you, if even just God above. The film could be construed as a religious metaphor, but I like to think of it as a thesis on getting caught up in the beauty of a good story.

Director: Florian Henckel von Dommersmarck Starring: Ulrich Muhe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch More Info

I've tried Tarot cards, the South Beach diet, aura cleansing, Yoga Booty Ballet, and everything in between, but the one thing that REALLY changed my life and paradigm was 5 Movies that Will Change Your Life and Paradigm!

Once you've seen all 5, you're going to feel like the world... really is a beautiful place after all (and you thought it was just a big pain in the ass!), and that people don't really suck so bad, really (though they can smell bad sometimes). 

Now that you've changed your life, change someone else's!  Spread the word about the 5 Movies that Will Change Your Life and Paradigm, and together, we'll change the whole world! Yay!