Sun Side
12 Angry Men
Jurors debate the guilt or innocence of an 18-year-old on trial for murder and facing death. A study of holding sacred doubt against insurmountable surety.
As Good As It Gets
No human being is unlovable or incapable of being loved.
Dances With Wolves (Extended Cut)
Quiet nature, open sky, violence, dehumanization, love
Dead Poets Society
Coming-of-age ecstasis bristling against conformist tradition
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Extended Cut)
Gorgeous mythopoetic parable which underscores the necessity of steadfastness
The Sound of Music
Inviolable power of love and music fluster suppressive paradigms
Scent of a Woman
A dual rite-of-passage tale of a boy learning to become a man and wayward sufferer learning to become an elder. Contains the greatest ending monologue in film.
Pinocchio
Stunningly animated Disney classic tale of a puppet come to life. The evolution beyond a provisional life into self-actualization
Shadow Side
A Clockwork Orange
Dystopian remediation of a deranged psycho-social situation
Children of Men
The breaking point of the human spirit writ large
Rosemary’s Baby
Gaslighting, betrayal, in inhumane pursuit of perverse incentives
Funny Games
Sadistic experiment
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Godfather & The Godfather II
The clawing of institutional corruption
Glengarry Glen Ross
A savage, dog-eat-dog, on t
All things are governed by yin & yang. The paradox is that each is polar and yet contains the other.
Sun side/shadow side of a mountain. Mountains are inherently perfect.
These are masterpieces that speak profoundly to the human condition.
This is not an exhaustive list of film masterpieces; These are masterpieces that speak profoundly to the human condition. So even though a masterpiece like The Shining, for example, may seem like an obvious choice on the Shadow Side, because it features a supernatural corrupting force,
Not for the weak or stomach nor fragile of mind.