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| Cover of Knowing [Blu-ray] |
The films that I'll be listing in my April postings will not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming. The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.
The genre for the letter "K" is perhaps the most esoteric of all of the film categories I'll be presenting. K represents Knowledge as in something special a character already knows or knowledge that has to be obtained or deciphered within the story framework. This can be arguably the case for nearly all stories, but in the films I will name here the knowledge is in a structural wholeness of mind and that knowledge is the key element of the story. Confusing I suppose, but this is the best I've come up with for now to describe this type of film.
I'll toss out these titles and then you can tell me what you think and perhaps name some of your choices:
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)-- Richard Gere plays the role of a writer who begins to receive cryptic knowledge and realizes the messages are prophecies of disastrous events to come. As he seeks the meaning of the visionary knowledge he becomes involved in a disaster he has foreseen.
The Celestine Prophecy (2006) --Based on the mega-best selling book, this movie generally gets terrible reviews, but as one not swayed by reviews I liked it because of the philosophical content. The story concerns a man who is drawn to Peru to investigate a system of religious related thought and philosophy. I enjoyed the film for the story and images portrayed. I thought it was an interesting diversion.
What Dreams May Come (1998) -- Based on a book by the great writer Richard Matheson, who has had many of his stories given the big screen treatment, this film has a mixed following. The effects are beautiful and the story is thought-provoking. The film features the oft-annoying Robin Williams in one of his more tolerable roles and Cuba Gooding Jr as a guardian angel. Though I might not agree with all of the theology of this movie, the film presents some interesting ideas.
The Believers (2007) -- This very unknown low budget straight-to-DVD film is one that I rather enjoyed. Two paramedics answer an emergency call in a remote area and are abducted by what appears to be an extreme religious cult that claims to have knowledge of a forthcoming destruction of the world. The acting is good, the story is interesting, and the ending is very strong. In fact this film has one of my favorite endings in that I thought it was very well done.
Knowing (2009)-- Nicolas Cage (one of my favorites) stars as a widowed father who obtains some very specific knowledge about the end of the world. Now that he has that knowledge what will he do with it and will anyone believe him? I loved this film especially for the special effects.
The Matrix (1999) and sequels -- This film series is all about knowledge and mind-bending thought concepts. If you haven't seen these you really should.
Do you think this micro-genre makes sense? Which of these films have you seen? What films about knowledge might you add?
Ran across an interesting blog yesterday. Check out
I...Reach! This blogger is taking my daily theme and
doing the Indian regional version. I'm flattered, Srividya!
