Recommended Movies

Dave Buznik gets sentenced to anger management classes even though he didn’t act out in anger! In the course of the movie, we learn that he really does have anger issues that he has become an expert at repressing. His instructor has some unusual methods of bringing out Dave’s problems so they can be worked on. More info about Anger Management.

Elliot Richards, a guy with poor social skills, wants to date a gal who he thinks is out of his league. He makes a pact with the devil that he can get wishes. This movie is great at covering the concept that we need to be specific in what we ask for. If we are not specific, how will the Universe know what to send to us, and how will we know if we got what we really wanted? More info about Bedazzled.

This movie is based on the events leading up to the 2008 economic crisis. It’s amazing to learn about some of the stuff that happens and the things that are ignored. If you want to learn about the crisis, this is the movie to watch. You will also learn about how economics work on Wall Street. More info about The Big Short.

Braveheart is the story of William Wallace and how he led the Scottish against the British. He did not seek to become a leader, although he was brave enough to stand up and accept the role of leadership. This is a great movie about what a leader can do when he really puts his heart into what he believes in. More info about Braveheart.

A minor league baseball player is the sole heir of his uncle’s vast fortune. His uncle wants to make sure that Montgomery Brewster won’t waste the fortune has a stipulation: $30 Million must be spent in 30 days with nothing to show for it. He also cannot tell anyone why he is spending the money so fast! He learns that there is more to life than just money. More info about Brewster’s Millions.

Bruce is a reporter for a TV station. He is not happy with his life and in frustration yells out to the Universe that he could do a better job than God is doing. He gets the opportunity to fill in for God. The job is not as easy as he first thought it would be. He learns a lot about himself and life in the process. More info about Bruce Almighty.

Marcus is an assistant basketball coach who is struggling. He gets a DUI and is sentenced to 90 days of community service as a basketball coach for a community basketball team with mental disabilities. He does his best to teach them basketball and, in the process, he learns a lot from them. More info about Champions.

An architect comes to possess a special remote that gives him the ability to control life. He uses the remote in ways to avoid the unenjoyable parts of life. Over time, he finds himself using the remote more and more. Eventually, he finds that he has missed a lot of life. We won’t enjoy everything in our life. That is a part of life is a part of life, and we need to learn to appreciate all parts of our lives. More info about Click.

This cartoon about a family of cavemen is both entertaining and teaches some great lessons. The dad requires his family to follow the rules of survival, although they are based in fear of change. Anything new is bad! They meet a young man named Guy, and he turns their world upside-down. He teaches them that new ideas can make their lives better. We can fall into the same trap of thinking that just because something worked in the past, we should keep doing it. When we accept new ideas and change, our lives can exceed what we can currently imagine. More info about The Croods.

Dave Kovack has a temp agency. He gets hired to pose as a double for the US President. Due to the president having a stroke later that night, Dave is asked to fill in for longer! The take aways from this movie are: (1) When Dave looked and acted the part he was accepted without question. (2) You may be fooled about who is working with you and who is just using you for their gain. (3) Dave got into the role and he “owned it” after a while. This is not a political movie – even though it is about politicians. More info about the movie Dave.

Evan is a US Congressman. Unexpectedly, he is given the task of building an ark. Things work out amazingly will as long as he is working on the ark. He is ridiculed for the crazy project he is working on. Sometimes our life purpose may not be something we thought we would ever do. When we run with opportunities that come our way, we can align ourselves with the Universe and things work out better than we could have imagined! More info about Evan Almighty.

Tripp is in his thirties and still living at home. He is content to still be at home because even though his parents hope he would move out, their actions make it easier for him to remain living at home. They end up hiring a gal to help get him to move out. This is an enjoyable movie with many adventures and misadventures! In the end, Tripp learns that he is not progressing in life the way he should. More info about Failure to Launch.

Jack Campbell is an investment broker that is working on a huge deal. In the middle of that deal, he is given a glimpse of what his life could have been if he had gone down a different path in life. He learns that there is more to life than just money. The choices in our life determine our path. At the same time, we can choose to change our course if we choose to. More info about The Family Man.

Ray, an Iowa farmer has a vision of an old-fashioned baseball game happening in his cornfield. He follows his dream, builds a professional baseball field where his cornfield was, and found an author who was influential in the farmer’s life. The main theme of the movie is, “Build it and they will come!” More info about Field of Dreams.

Forrest Gump is born both mentally and physically disabled. With the help and encouragement of his mother, he doesn’t let any of that stop him. He not only goes on to live a life that is way more fulfilling than the typical person lives. We don’t need special skills, talents, or intelligence to live life to its fullest. Forrest lives in the present and accepts opportunities as they come his way. We can learn a lot from him! More info about Forrest Gump.

A non-player character (NPC) starts to feel like there is more to life than what he is experiencing. When he puts on a pair of player sunglasses, he is able to see the whole world differently. Because his view of the world has changed, he changes his whole life. When we can learn to see the world differently (we don’t have to put on sunglasses, though), we can change our lives. More info about Free Guy.

Dick and Jane have a nice house in the suburbs, and they are working hard to get ahead. Their life changes when Dick gets a sudden promotion just before the company collapses! Things go from bad to worse for them. Their life takes a turn for the better when they eventually accept their situation and take responsibility to fix their situation. (I am not promoting or encouraging any illegal activity!) More info about Fun with Dick and Jane.

I have heard that this movie is repetitive. It can be looked at that way. When we look deeper into the movie, we see a weatherman, Phil, who does the bare minimum in his job. He is not happy with his life, nor the on-location spot he has to cover (again!). He is stuck repeating the same day over and over. His life turns around when he commits to improving himself and focusing on helping others. This is an enjoyable movie with a great message. More info about Groundhog Day.

A young man leaves his home in India to come to America to achieve fame and fortune like his friend did… only to find that his friend made up his story. Ramu doesn’t let that stop him. He goes in search of his dream. His breakthrough comes from him being in the right place at the right time and he decides to run with it. More info about The Guru.

In this animated movie the superheroes are forced into hiding due to lawsuits over them saving people who didn’t want to be saved. We can view this as a movie about being true to yourself and living up to your potential. Also, just because you are given an opportunity to follow your dream does not always mean that it’s good for your. More info about The Incredibles.

This animated movie does a great job explaining how our brain works. Some of the things covered are core memories, emotions, handling change, and the stories we tell ourselves. While this is a movie geared towards kids, there is some good humor that grown ups can enjoy. More info about Inside Out.

Two middle aged salesmen find themselves out of a when their company goes under. They somehow get an internship with Google. There are plenty of adventures and misadventures the two “non-techies” have while surrounded by interns who are half their age. We can all learn things from people who are different from us. Differences can add a certain amount of depth to things. More info on The Internship.

Phil has a phone addiction suffers his phone being destroyed! The new phone he gets has an AI assistant that works really hard to make his life better. Through the help of the assistant, and through trying to get away from the domineering assistant, his life does get better. What things do we have in our lives that we need less of, and what could we use more of in our lives. More info about Jexi.

Eddie is introduced to a pill that increases his cognitive abilities and awareness. He goes from being an unfocused writer struggling with life in general to a limitless person. Because it is a pill, there are side effects that he suffers. When we can change our thinking, we can see the world differently, and our life can change incredibly. More info about Limitless.

This Dr. Suess movie has some great lessons in it. People tend to believe that things that are common and accepted are “normal”. There are two characters that go in search of their dream… the Once-ler and Ted. The Once-ler did not know what his dream was – he just knew he would find it! Ted wanted to woo a girl, and he was willing to go outside his comfort zone (town) to get what he needed. We can also see the effects of unchecked ambition. The last point is the lengths people in power will go to in order to maintain their power. More info about The Lorax.

Stanley Ipkiss, a timid bank teller, discovers a mask, that when he puts it on he becomes a completely different person. He becomes funny, outgoing, and basically is able to become an exaggerated, cartoonish version of his true self. When we do the opposite and take our mask off and let our true self be seen our life can change in unimaginable ways. More info about The Mask.

A successful marketing agent assumes that his wife is having an affair and decides to go for a drive. He gets held-up by a mugger and there is a mix-up with some criminals. The movie covers how a change of our mind can drastically impact our actions. Also, so many things are not what they seem. (I do not encourage any illegal activity!) More info about Nothing to Lose.

Peter works for a tech company that is getting software ready for the Y2K panic. He hates his job and feels stuck in life. After being hypnotized, he is able to relax and be himself. This completely changes his life and things start working for him. While I don’t recommend doing what he does, we can still learn about the benefits of being ourselves. More info about Office Space.

Three childhood friends come up with a desperate idea to get themselves out of trouble… create a friend named Ricky Stanicky! They keep using Ricky to either get out of things, or to do the things they want to do. This lie keeps growing and getting more elaborate as the years go by. 25 years later, their lie catches up with them and they have to introduce Ricky to their family. The two main take aways from this movie are: 1. We can do things to help us, then we can continue to hang onto these techniques even if they are not really helping us or in our best interest. And 2. We can change ourselves if we put our mind to it. We can even do amazing things! More info about Ricky Stanicky.

Hal is interested in outer beauty. A chance encounter with Tony Robbins causes his perception to change so that he sees people based on their inner beauty, completely changing his life. This is a great movie that shows that there is more than physical beauty to people. More info about Shallow Hal.

Andy Dufresne is wrongly accused of murder and is sent to prison. While in prison he sees opportunities to help other people, including fellow prisoners, prison guards, and the warden. He was also persistent in improving things – he wrote letters (many, many letters!) asking for a better library in the prison. Even if we find ourselves in an unfavorable, or limiting situation, we can still be our best self and look for opportunities. More info about The Shawshank Redemption.

Jim is a VP for a mortgage fund and is fired for being too aggressive. He decides that he needs to make a big change in his life and gets a job at a waffle restaurant called “Papa’s”. This is a great movie about how life’s path can have twists and turns and we can find opportunities in unusual places. More info about Waffle Street.

Carl, a banker has been run over by life. Things don’t go his way. Everything is negative for him and he tries to get through life by hiding from it. A friend introduces him to a Yes seminar, and at the seminar he has to say YES to everything! In real life, we need to learn to say yes to more things. There is a balance, though, and the things we say yes to need to align with our values. More info about Yes Man.