Uplifting Culture for 2017

January 2, 2017 4:45 AM

The Guardian has a new series on uplifting culture for 2017 that includes films that are uplifting (rather than the often cliched 'inspirational' genre).

- Raging Bull (imdb)
- The Pursuit of Happyness (imdb)
- October Sky (imdb)
- The Class/Entre les murs (imdb)
- Goodbye Mr Chips (imdb)
- It's a Wonderful Life (imdb)
- Groundhog Day (imdb)
- Sing Street (imdb)
- We are the Best! (imdb)
- Good Vibrations (imdb)
- About Schmidt (imdb)

posted by ellieBOA (24 comments total)

Whelp, just when I was figuring out what to do with my back-to-work post-holiday-cheer self! Right at the heart of the "inspirational sports movie" genre with nationalist overtones to match but damn if I don't find Miracle legitimately spirit-lifting.
posted by athirstforsalt at 6:01 AM on January 2, 2017

Submitted: Akeelah and the Bee, an "inspirational sports movie" (complete with training montage) about spelling.
posted by Flannery Culp at 7:20 AM on January 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is probably my favorite film of this sort of 2016. Maybe Moana, but that's maybe cheating by going Disney.
posted by Artw at 8:22 AM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

We Are The Best is indeed a great film.
posted by GuyZero at 8:29 AM on January 2, 2017 [7 favorites]

Dystopias Are Not Enough
posted by Artw at 8:33 AM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Hunt for the Wilderpeople is probably my favorite film of this sort of 2016.

I don't know if there is a list for films with the best line reading of "shit just got real," but this film cinches it.
posted by maxsparber at 9:02 AM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

We Are The Best is indeed a great film

saw it and Sing Street within a short period, found a lot to like about both ... with Sing Street winning me over a little more mainly for its choice to let the actual music the band was making be a fantasy element. Because in no way could a loose accumulation of young teens EVER sound so effective and good ... except in their own minds. Which I suspect is the point. The right sound at the right time doesn't just inspire us to great and beautiful things, it makes us great and beautiful ... at least until the song ends.
posted by philip-random at 9:08 AM on January 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

From last year, my recommendation would be Mia Hansen-Løve's "Things to Come" starring Isabelle Huppert, the very definition of "uplifting" in human form.
posted by sapagan at 9:33 AM on January 2, 2017

I don't know if there is a list for films with the best line reading of "shit just got real," but this film cinches it.

Best Sam Neill. Best use of music from the Flake ad.
posted by Artw at 9:57 AM on January 2, 2017

Best recreation of a 1980s Toyota ad starring Barry Crump.
posted by maxsparber at 10:11 AM on January 2, 2017

Heh.
posted by Artw at 10:23 AM on January 2, 2017

Poor Scotty.
posted by maxsparber at 10:24 AM on January 2, 2017

Frances Ha is my favourite 'uplifting' film of the last few years.
posted by Flashman at 10:44 AM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

We Are The Best is indeed the best.

One thing I found inspiring: in Stockholm there are drop in centers for youth that are staffed and have rock instruments to mess around on. After the Second US Civil War which I anticipate starting in 2017, I am inspired to help Californistan build these youth centers too.
posted by latkes at 10:56 AM on January 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

Maybe I'm a weirdo but Trainspotting is so inspiring to me. That ending monologue over Born Slippy just grips me every single time. One of my best friends and I talk about how every viewing of that movie is like going to therapy for us. Definitely weirdos.
posted by gucci mane at 11:21 AM on January 2, 2017

Also, Jiro Dreams Of Sushi feels very uplifting for me as well. Not sure why. Perhaps it's the nicely composed shots of a sushi master rolling sushi repeatedly.
posted by gucci mane at 11:23 AM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

What a lovely idea for a series. I too really dislike most of the movies labelled as "inspirational," but I do like movies that strike me as uplifting in some way.

My recommendation: Dark Horse, a documentary about a depressed Welsh mining town that clubs together to buy a racehorse that they raise on an allotment--who then turns out to be a top class competitor. Just such an understated but uplifting message of hope.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 11:39 AM on January 2, 2017

Maybe it's too easy, but submitted for your review I present The Full Monty, because it has so very much heart and humor and depth.
posted by ZakDaddy at 11:58 AM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

I just watched Pride (2014) last night, and it would fit this list handily.
posted by pxe2000 at 12:54 PM on January 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

What about Up?
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:58 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

I loved Brooklyn for this.
posted by vasi at 3:43 PM on January 2, 2017

Raging Bull, really? (This is not a eponysterical defence of Rocky.)
posted by eyeofthetiger at 4:22 PM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Breaking Away was the best sports movie of its era in this regard, I think. The walk that David and his father take through the IU campus, talking about the limestone buildings, the local quarries, and the dad's history as a cutter is wonderful.

Plus you get Daniel Stern as wry as humanly possible, Jackie Earle Haley smashing a clock with his fist, peak Dennis Quaid, and the great Paul Dooley, who once wrote for the PBS kid's show The Electric Company.
posted by Caxton1476 at 8:40 PM on January 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

What about Hildago?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317648/?ref_=nv_sr_1
posted by Billiken at 7:26 AM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]