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Academic/Intelligent Films

BlarpBlarp
edited October 2008 in Movies
Many reviewers and analysts of cinema enjoy talking about "intelligent" or "academic" films. What makes a film "intelligent" though? The internet tells me it's "Something clever with layers and depth that could possibly take several viewings to understand. Films like "Pi","Memento", foreign films and great adaptations of great novels"

Are there such a thing? Or is it just elitist film snobbery?
"Intelligent" films I enjoy are:
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Anything by Kubrick
The Shawshank Redemtion and The Green Mile
City Of God

What do you consider "intelligent" films?
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Comments

  • csrjjsmpcsrjjsmp
    Most people say "Primer" takes several viewings to understand. I don't know that it makes sense to call a film intelligent, but I, along with quite a few intelligent people i know all really like it.
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    I would count Amélie and Fight Club. Run Lola Run also has deeper meanings which many people pass over when watching it the first time.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Harrison Bergeron is one of my favorite films like that. It really makes you think.
  • GeoGeo
    Here's what I don't understand: How come more of these amazing films aren't prevalent in this day and age? We used to have amazing things like 2001 or Shawshank Redemption, now all we have is shit like Meet the Spartans and the neverending stream of American Pie movies. Christ, I miss the old days of movies.
  • Dr. TimoDr. Timo
    edited October 2008
    Until the end of the World, by Wim Wenders, has to be my favorite (closely edging out Tuvalu). The mailman delivered the four and a half hour directors cut just this morning, so I may change my mind ;). Regardless, this movie is a fascinating combination of sci-fi and road movie, but its languid pace may be off-putting.
    Post edited by Dr. Timo on
  • YoshoKatanaYoshoKatana
    I would have to put 8 1/2 (Fellini) and American Psycho on the list as well. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, 2046, and Chungking Express are also fantastic.
  • RymRym
    Christ, I miss the old days of movies.
    No, you don't. The good movies stand out due to the filter of time: most of the movies from back then are awful. Most movies from today are similarly awful, and will similarly be forgotten in 2030 when someone on some forum complains about how all the good movies were made back in our day.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    edited October 2008
    Here's what I don't understand: How come more of these amazing films aren't prevalent in this day and age? We used to have amazing things like 2001 or Shawshank Redemption, now all we have is shit like Meet the Spartans and the neverending stream of American Pie movies. Christ, I miss the old days of movies.
    We have a lot of good independent films coming out these days, and there are still plenty of good movies out there. I'm not sure that they're all "best movie EVAR!!" quality, but they stand up well in their own right. Wall-E, for example, is probably my favorite Pixar movie ever. Might not be particularly earth-shattering, but it gets its message across effectively.

    Everything is Illuminated is a movie that I can't recommend enough. Everyone should see it. I've heard that the book is better, but I'm having a hard time imagining how.

    Also, I'm a huge fan of Wes Anderson. Not sure if you count him the "academic" school of filmmakers, but he makes goddamn good movies.

    EDIT: What Rym said.
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • ......
    Everything is Illuminated is a movie that I can't recommend enough. Everyone should see it. I've heard that the book is better, but I'm having a hard time imagining how.
    I have the book, I haven't finished it yet, but I don't like it that much. That is to say, I do not like the writing style.

    And Rym's right about the time filter.
  • CremlianCremlian
    Independence day is a classic :-p
  • GeoGeo
    edited October 2008
    Christ, I miss the old days of movies.
    No, you don't. The good movies stand out due to the filter of time: most of the movies from back then are awful. Most movies from today are similarly awful, and will similarly be forgotten in 2030 when someone on some forum complains about how all the good movies were made back in our day.
    Do I detect some disdain for the film industry, Rym?
    Post edited by Geo on
  • RymRym
    Do I detect some disdain for the film industry, Rym?
    Not at all. Everthing follows that general principle. Most anime, movies, books, bands, concerts, songs, music videos, television shows, and videogames are eminently forgettable. We remember the 1% of things that are truly worthwhile.
  • GeoGeo
    Do I detect some disdain for the film industry, Rym?
    Not at all. Everthing follows that general principle. Most anime, movies, books, bands, concerts, songs, music videos, television shows, and videogames are eminently forgettable. We remember the 1% of things that are truly worthwhile.
    Okay then... what are the films that are NOT eminently forgettable to you then?
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited October 2008
    Christ, I miss the old days of movies.
    No, you don't. The good movies stand out due to the filter of time: most of the movies from back then are awful. Most movies from today are similarly awful, and will similarly be forgotten in 2030 when someone on some forum complains about how all the good movies were made back in our day.
    True. I remember the 70s when every other film was a disaster story that invariably featured Ernest Borgnine.
    Do I detect some disdain for the film industry, Rym?
    Not at all. Everthing follows that general principle. Most anime, movies, books, bands, concerts, songs, music videos, television shows, and videogames are eminently forgettable. We remember the 1% of things that are truly worthwhile.
    True again. Everyone remembers the song, Let's Stay Together, but who remembers Seasons in the Sun?

    I remember when I was teaching at Millersburg Military School we were talking about movies at lunch. We were telling each other about our favorite movies, and the movies we talked about were movies like Ordinary People, Casablanca, The Graduate, Blade Runner, and so forth. This ROTC sergeant said his favorite movie was Animal House. We all kind of laughed at that from that point on since, while Animal House has many fine features, it doesn't belong in the list of movies we were discussing.
    Do I detect some disdain for the film industry, Rym?
    Not at all. Everthing follows that general principle. Most anime, movies, books, bands, concerts, songs, music videos, television shows, and videogames are eminently forgettable. We remember the 1% of things that are truly worthwhile.
    Okay then... what are the films that are NOT eminently forgettable to you then?
    Blade Runner, 2001, The Right Stuff, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers, The Unforgiven, Soylent Green, Godfather I and II, Platoon, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    edited October 2008
    One thing I've noticed about these is that none of them are comedic in any fashion. Can anyone think of any comedy films that are smart enough to be in the list of greats, or do they all end up being simply too silly? Is it possible that comedy itself have qualities that make it more irrelevant as time passes?

    On a side note, if anyone suggests anything by Woody Allen, slap yourself (meaning you, not the forum member).
    Post edited by GreatTeacherMacRoss on
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited October 2008
    On a side note, if anyone suggests anything by Woody Allen, slap yourself (meaning you, not the forum member).
    What do you have against Woody Allen? Manhattan is one of my favorites, and would definitely be on my list of memorable films. Love and Death was both good and hilarious. Radio Days, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Bananas, What's Up, Tiger Lilly, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Annie Hall, The Jade Scorpion, and Zelig were all brilliant. I always feel rapturously happy whenever I see a Woody Allen movie. I'll have to admit that I didn't like Sleeper, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, and Stardust Memories as much, but if I were to pick a director to film a movie about my life, it would be Woody Allen.

    Duck Soup is a comedy that should be a lasting, classic memorable movie, as is Mash.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • CremlianCremlian
    One thing I've noticed about these is that none of them are comedic in any fashion. Can anyone think of any comedy films that are smart enough to be in the list of greats, or do they all end up being simply too silly? Is it possible that comedy itself have qualities that make it more irrelevant as time passes?

    On a side note, if anyone suggests anything by Woody Allen, slap yourself (meaning you, not the forum member).
    Must I mention Dr. Strangelove.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    My Dinner with Andre.
  • ......
    One thing I've noticed about these is that none of them are comedic in any fashion. Can anyone think of any comedy films that are smart enough to be in the list of greats, or do they all end up being simply too silly? Is it possible that comedy itself have qualities that make it more irrelevant as time passes?
    I personally enjoy Patch Adams, but that film is just sweet (can't think of a proper applicable word here), not per se academic or intelligent. In the least it's more intelligent than most other comedies.

    Also, I think a list of academic/intelligent films is a list of moving and deep stories. The majority of comedies has a rather shallow story just to have a platform to make fun on. Also, now I want to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I don't remember if I saw it in its entirety.
  • misakyramisakyra
    One thing I've noticed about these is that none of them are comedic in any fashion. Can anyone think of any comedy films that are smart enough to be in the list of greats, or do they all end up being simply too silly? Is it possible that comedy itself have qualities that make it more irrelevant as time passes?
    I think part of the problem with comedies is that they use the culture of the time in which they're made, even if they're set in another time. This pretty much makes comedy and endurance mutually exclusive. Not to say that older comedies can't be great, but a comedy from the 70's is, by it's very nature, not going to be as funny to an average movie-goer in 2008.

    That said, a comedy that I really enjoyed was Stranger than Fiction. It was smart, had a semi-enduring topic, and featured Will Farrell in a role that required him to be subdued.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited October 2008
    Not to say that older comedies can't be great, but a comedy from the 70's is, by it's very nature, not going to be as funny to an average movie-goer in 2008.
    Animal House (1978). Airplane might count, but, technically, it came out in 1980. 1980 was, for all intents and purposes, still the 70s.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • ......
    That said, a comedy that I really enjoyed was Stranger than Fiction. It was smart, had a semi-enduring topic, and featured Will Farrell in a role that required him to be subdued.
    Oh yes, Stranger than Fiction, that was a nice film. Though the ending was a little far fetched if you ask me, then again, it was a perfectly great throwback to the start of the film.
  • AprecheApreche
    I think part of the problem with comedies is that they use the culture of the time in which they're made, even if they're set in another time. This pretty much makes comedy and endurance mutually exclusive. Not to say that older comedies can't be great, but a comedy from the 70's is, by it's very nature, not going to be as funny to an average movie-goer in 2008.
    Ah, no. There are some comedies that make topical jokes. For example, if you were to watch an old Lewis Black comedy special 40 years from now, it probably won't be that funny since most of his jokes were relevant to the news of the time. However, something like Monty Python or Loony Toons has timeless comedy. Silly walks will be funny as long as there are people who walk.
  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    Not to say that older comedies can't be great, but a comedy from the 70's is, by it's very nature, not going to be as funny to an average movie-goer in 2008.
    Airplane.
    Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    Not to say that older comedies can't be great, but a comedy from the 70's is, by it's very nature, not going to be as funny to an average movie-goer in 2008.
    Airplane.
    Blazing SaddlesandYoung Frankenstein.
    Yes. I forgot they were 70s films because I didn't see them until sometime in the 80s. High Anxiety and Silent Movie probably still hold up as well.
  • MrRobotoMrRoboto
    Good Comedy = Mel Brooks

    I think people are getting off topic here, some of the movies are not Academic/Intelligent. Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream, Matrix I, City of God, Science of Dreams, American Beauty, American History X, 25th Hour, to name a few good and more recent movies.
  • SparkybuzzedSparkybuzzed
    You guys have hit most of my great film loves. I'd just like to champion the cause of elitism and snobbery. It's not wrong to like quality art. In fact, spend time trying to educate the idiots that pay to see movies like "Meet the Spartans" by showing them good movies. Be an art snob. Revel in it. Educate others.
  • beefybeefy
    Not to say that older comedies can't be great, but a comedy from the 70's is, by it's very nature, not going to be as funny to an average movie-goer in 2008.
    Animal House(1978).Airplanemight count, but, technically, it came out in 1980. 1980 was, for all intents and purposes, still the 70s.
    Movies like Airplane, that parody people and events that were going on that time, just don't age well. On the other hand, I can still watch Animal House and laugh at it. Also, I think we tend to forget that the "good old days", weren't as good as we remember them. Also there were plenty of bad movies in the 50's, 60s, and 70's. Just watch reruns of Mysttery Science Theater 3000 for examples of that :)

    As an example, I was 17 when Saturday Night Fever came out. I thought it was a great movie at the time. Then maybe 10 years later I saw it on a flight I was on, and just had to ask myself what the hell I saw in it at the time.
  • Li_AkahiLi_Akahi
    idiots that pay to see movies like "Meet the Spartans"
    These people cannot be educated, believe me. I have tried.
  • AprecheApreche
    As an example, I was 17 when Saturday Night Fever came out. I thought it was a great movie at the time. Then maybe 10 years later I saw it on a flight I was on, and just had to ask myself what the hell I saw in it at the time.
    Fuck you! Saturday Night Fever rocks the house.
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