Watching Movies of Life - the Movie Meditation
These descriptions of certain emotional states of mind are intended to encourage us to watch specific aspects of our life as if they were a movie. A five star movie in this list is not rated necessarily as a highly entertaining, mainstream movie. Instead, a good movie suggested here may more accurately reflect the drama of life in all its facets -- the shadow of an emotion as well as its positive side. Find out what moves you and learn to simply let it be. Meditation is watching, unidentified and non-judging.
I -- Innocent Visionary
The shadow side
Looking for sex and eternal power, success, glory, proving one's power and importance through by sex, also the eternal virgin who keeps her sex for "the one", having the best and being extraordinary, being silly and superficial, having a crush for high speed, running over sensitive people, overachieving towards ones goals, being goal-driven, the end justifies any means, being the top dog, the leader, the eternal winner who has nothing to lose, powertrips, "I have the biggest one and I am the biggest one", having no meaning in life, not feeling anything, being unable to relate, not accepting any rules, being a lonely wolf.
The light side
Reaching any goal, also immaterial goals, having a natural connection towards one self, transcending sex and family, loving oneself and living it, being able to motivate people for something bigger, fulfilling one's potential, being able to lead sensitively, living naturally, being innocent and whole, being ordinary and extraordinary, comprehending polarities and unifying them, being a visionary
Movies with these themes
Elegy
David Kepesh (Ben Kingsley) is a cultural critic and professor. Once married, he has a son who has never forgiven him for leaving his mother. His relationships with women are usually casual and brief. Believing himself to be an independent and self-actualized individual, he encounters Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz), a beautiful and confident student who attends one of his lectures. She captures his attention like no other woman, and to his surprise, they begin a serious relationship. David is also in a casual relationship with Carolyn (Patricia Clarkson). Carolyn finds out more about his interest in Consuela, and leaves him.
The Bucket List
Blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers (Freeman) and billionaire hospital magnate Edward Cole (Nicholson) meet for the first time in the hospital after both have been diagnosed with cancer. They become friends as they undergo their respective treatments. Carter is a gifted amateur historian and family man who had wanted to become a history professor, but in his youth had been "broke, black, and with a baby on the way" and thus never rose above his job at the McCreath body shop. Cole is a corporate tycoon, eccentric loner, four times divorced, who enjoys nothing more than tormenting his personal valet/servant, Matthew, whom he calls Thomas (Hayes). He quickly befriends Carter, making Matthew serve Carter as well as him and ordering his doctor (Morrow) to familiarise himself with Carter's health...
Troy
Agamemnon of Mycenae and his army are in Thessaly, Greece, looking to expand his military might and empire. His army prepares to engage in combat against a host of soldiers under the Thessalonian king, Triopas. Rather than suffer great losses, Triopas agrees to Agamemnon's proposal to settle the matter in the traditional way - through a decisive match between the heroes of the opposing armies. Achilles is summoned by Agamemnon, and arrives after being woken by a messenger boy. He easily kills the greatest and most accomplished warrior of Thessaly, Boagrius. Accepting defeat, Triopas presents Achilles with a scepter as a token for his king. Achilles however refuses, saying "He's not my king."...
Failure to Launch
The movie opens with Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) and Melissa (Katheryn Winnick) on a dinner date. Things seem to be going well, until Melissa sees an elderly couple sharing dinner and it prompts her to ask Tripp, "Where is our relationship going?" Tripp says that he sees it going back to his place that night. His place is a lovely two-story home. While they're in the heat of passion in Tripp's bedroom, Tripp's dad Al (Terry Bradshaw) walks in without knocking. Melissa, as well as being embarrassed by Al introducing himself and shaking hands with her while she's holding the covers up over herself, is angry that Tripp still hasn't moved out from his parents' house, and storms out. Tripp doesn't seem too upset about it. Al, and Tripp's mom Sue (Kathy Bates), are shown listening to her leave as if it's a common occurrence...
40 Days and 40 Nights
Matt is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, Nicole (Vinessa Shaw), though it's been six months since she broke up with him. His obsession makes it impossible for him to have relationships with other women. Matt confides to his brother John (Adam Trese), a priest-in-training, that he has sexual problems because of his obsession. Realizing that Lent is about to start, Matt tells John that he's going to do without sex for 40 days and 40 nights. This, he concludes, will force him to get over Nicole and cure his problem. John warns Matt that celibacy is not easy...
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
This movie details the adventures of once-famed oceanographer and documentarian Steve Zissou (Bill Murray). His latest film covers the death of his best friend Esteban du Plantier (Seymour Cassel) by an animal Zissou describes as a "Jaguar shark". For his next project he is determined to find the creature and destroy it.
Steve's crew aboard his research vessel Belafonte includes Pelé dos Santos (Seu Jorge), safety expert and Brazilian musician who sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese; Klaus Daimler (Willem Dafoe), a lovable German second-in-command who views Steve and Esteban as father figures and feels threatened by Steve's presumed son, Ned Plimpton (Owen Wilson). Minor crew members include Vikram Ray (Waris Ahluwalia), a Sikh cameraman, described in Zissou's featured film documentary as a man "born on the Ganges"; Bobby Ogata (Niels Koizumi), Team Zissou's frogman who is usually seen eating (in the film he was seen eating a banana as Ned was diving and a sandwich in the sauna); Vladimir Wolodarsky (Noah Taylor), crew experimentator and original score composer; Renzo Pietro (Pamel Wdowczak), screen editor; and Anne-Marie Sakowitz (Robyn Cohen), a usually topless script girl. Sakowitz, along with a pack of unpaid college interns (who attend the University of North Alaska) jump ship after the crew is raided by pirates. The interns who leave only get incompletes for this "course."...
Lost in Translation
Aging movie star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) has arrived in Tokyo to film a Suntory whisky advertisement (a reference to real-life Hollywood actors who do foreign celebrity advertising, including Sofia Coppola's father, Francis Ford Coppola, who did Suntory commercials with Akira Kurosawa during the filming of Kagemusha[1]).
Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) is the young wife of a celebrity photographer on assignment in Tokyo. Left behind by her husband when he goes to his photo shoots, she is unsure of her present and her future and about the man she has married. Bob's relationship with his wife of 25 years is clearly tired and lacking in romance, as revealed in his telephone calls back to the US. Bob and Charlotte, both lonely and aimless, meet in the bar of the hotel where they are both staying and strike up a friendship. The two explore Tokyo together, experiencing the differences between Japanese and American culture. The two grow close through their adventures and the time they spend together when neither can sleep...
Tallageda Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) was born to "go fast". He was born in the back seat of his father's car, and raised solely by his mother Lucy Bobby (Jane Lynch) while his drug addict and alcoholic father Reese Bobby (Gary Cole) is absent. Many years later, while working on a pit crew as the jackman for a race team, he replaces an uninterested driver named Terry Cheveaux (Adam McKay) and ends up finishing third despite starting mid-race in last place. Ricky quickly soars to the top of NASCAR, achieving fame and fortune at Dennit Racing and meeting his future wife, Carley (Leslie Bibb). He arranges to get his best friend, Cal (John C. Reilly), as the second driver of the team. While on top of the racing world, Ricky is challenged by gay French Formula One driver Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen). Girard outperforms Ricky on the track and becomes NASCAR's top driver. Ricky, desperate to regain his dominance, pushes himself too hard and ends up in a spectacular wreck, during which he believes that he is on fire, although there is no fire. While recovering, he persists in the belief that he is paralyzed, though he clearly is not. He eventually recovers from his crash and tests at Rockingham Speedway, where he underperforms and fails to regain a place on the team. Carley, yearning to be married to a top NASCAR driver, plans a divorce and a marriage to Cal before Ricky gets home that night...
Fearless
Jet Li portrays the life of martial arts master Huo Yuanjia. The plot differs greatly from the actual life of Huo Yuanjia.
The movie starts off with Huo Yuanjia fighting 3 Westerners: a boxer, a spearfighter, and a fencer. Huo Yuanjia beats them all, and makes it his habit to bow to the opponent. Just as he is about to fight a fourth and final challenger, Anno Tanaka from Japan, Huo Yuanjia has a flashback.
The story flashes back to when Huo Yuanjia was a small boy. His father, Huo Endi, was a great fighter but did not want his asthmatic son to follow in his footsteps, and hence refused to teach Yuanjia martial arts. Huo secretly watched his father's training and taught himself how to fight...
Take the Lead
Rock, the film's underdog protagonist, arrives at a school dance with a water-damaged ticket and is denied entrance by Mr. Temple (John Ortiz) and Principal James (Alfre Woodard). Rock leaves and encounters some thugs, who lead him to vandalize Principal James's car. Pierre Dulaine (Antonio Banderas), a classical dance instructor, catches Rock in the act, but Rock runs away before Pierre can question him further.
The next morning at the school, Pierre waits to see the principal as Mr. Temple discusses the detention program with Principal James. Pierre explains to the principal that he was a witness to the vandalism on her car, and eventually offers to take over Mr. Temple's detention shift, to which Principal James agrees, although she is sure that he will not last more than a day...
Remark
Although the movie list is inspired by Tibetan Pulsing typologies on the human mind, it does not claim to be completely accurate in its assessment.
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