Entertainment that Inspires You?

[dor]

Its amazing how much time people spend engaging in passive entertainment, games, movies, music, internet...

As many of us know so much of it is incredibly negative and sending bad messages -

Media companies, particularly those that pedal stuff like gansta rap, claim it's harmless. I think that's a lot of hogwash - i am not for censorship, but mass media definately influences people especially younger impressionable teenagers and children. ANYWAY...i personally am trying to elminate all 'bad' entertainment -I think entertainment can definitely inspire and invigorate you but it has to be the right kind...anyway, I thought it might be nice to share entertainment you find inspiring and why- so rather than '7 habits' type books -please list fiction and fictional movies, music. or fine art/artists...

For example:
the works of painter John Singer Sargent's images inspire me because they are realistic, but seem to capture the noblity of people's spirits.

[Tabs]

I love movies with strong female leads, I am not talking about YaYa Sisterhood (sorry if I got the name wrong) but I love characters like Laura Croft, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Cat Woman, Ecks vs Sever (if anyone saw the movie), Charlie's Angels, Electra in Daredevil (the movies don't have to be Oscar worthy but as long as the leading lady can kick a..) I leave feeling empowered and invincible if only for the night. I love going to watch movies; it is the only opportunity I get to shut down my brain and concentrate on one thing. I don't even do that in my sleep.

Music: I love Van Morrison's Poetic Champions Compose, I picked up the album because I heard a song on a movie and gradually listened to the entire album, it took me almost a year to realize what the man was singing about, talk about a light bulb moment. The album starts with songs like The Mystery, a couple of songs later it is "I forgot that love existed", then "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child", "Someone like you," "Give me my rapture," then "Did you get healed” I could have sworn the man was singing the story of my life a few years ago and boy was I healed, I still am every time I listen to the album. I did the next best thing and brought another Van Morrison album and he talks about enlightenment, another favorite song of mine, he says, "What is the sound of one hand clapping? Enlightenment don't know what it is." I was hooked, Van Morrison's albums are a study in every thing self-help, personal development, spirituality, Buddhism all while walking through the mind of a tortured soul. I love it. BTW once tried to get a copy of Poetic Champions Compose on Amazon it cost almost $60 or the CD and it is not available on Itunes.

I will not start talking about art, design, books, architecture (I have an ongoing affair with the Chrysler Building the façade is a work of Divine Design.) I think I have said more than enough already. Thanks for the question, entertainment when used correctly is one of the best ways to stop and smell the roses.

Cheers

[dor]

Originally Posted by Tabs

Thanks for the question, entertainment when used correctly is one of the best ways to stop and smell the roses.

Cheers

I heard someone describe an inspiring film ='When i walked out, i felt the life i was leading when i walked in was a little too small for me"
it doesn't have to be direclty inspirational -as in 'the secret ' or something but that kind of entertainment can really 'recharge' your batteries and make you want to live more 'fully' ....
that's the difference, i think between good entertainment and time-waste stuff like soap operas and reality shows - something where you just get caught up in scandal and other people's problems to forget your own.

[Michelle]

Oprah. I love her! But since we don't get her show over here, I stick to reading her magazine. For Christmas my boyfriend gave me her 6 DVD 20th Anniversary Set. I am always uplifted after spending time "with Oprah."

[Perseus]

I don't know much about poetry (something I want to change someday), but my favorite poem has to be 'If' by Rudyard Kipling, every time I read the words I feel inspired to improve.

One movie that I think is great is The Seven Samurai. I watched it with my father when I was younger and I was surprised how entertaining it was because it takes a lot of patience to watch it(its three hours long, black and white, and in Japanese with English subtitles), but its also incredibly detailed with a good story line and has a lot of very interesting characters. I think it has good messages running through it too. This film made me think about entertainment in a very different way.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Perseus

One movie that I think is great is The Seven Samurai.

The old swashbucklers (errol flynn in the sea haw, captain blood, robin hood, )
british empire movies (Gunga din, Lives of a bengal lancer, beau geste)
I think represent a better kind of hero that exists today , the 'evil' characters are strong in the old movies - but these days for example - kevin costner's robin hood - the evil character was more compelling while costner was 'boring' compare that to Errol Flynn in the 1940 classic!

I should add, for a pick-me-up there's nothing quite like PG Wodehouse books or on DVD the jeeves/wooster series - fun, lighthearted comedy.

[calluna]

For reading, I love history and biography. There's a lot of value in pondering the past, why things happened the way they did, how it could have been different, how people have reacted to stressors in different times or different cultures.

There's a very good new-ish book called "The River of Doubt" by Candice Millard about Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 trip down an uncharted river in the Amazon that is one of the most harrowing, and interesting, adventures I've read in a long time. I'm also in the midst of an ongoing love affair with "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, on Abraham Lincoln and his Cabinet. Both are extremely thought-provoking.

Calluna

[dor]

Originally Posted by calluna

There's a very good new-ish book called "The River of Doubt" by Candice Millard about Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 trip down an uncharted river in the Amazon that is one of the most harrowing, and interesting, adventures I've read in a long time.

Read Theodore Roosevelt's "bio 'the rise of theodore roosevelt" by e. morris -
talk about an achiever! it reads like a novel (the author originally intended it to be a screenplay)

[Love]

TV Shows: The biggest loser, trading spaces, oprah, dr. phil, tyra
Movies: The pursuit of happyness, the movie with jaime escalante and the high school kids (can't remember the name) Lean on Me

Books: A Wind in the Door

[dorothy hanna]

All these sound like good passive entertainment.

In passive entertainment I like The Rose Tatto. A movie made in the 50's , by Tennesee Wiliams, starring Burt Lancaster, and Anna Magnani.
I also like anything by Mark Twain.
A 1937 movie, musical starring Nelson Eddie, and Jenette McDonald, "Naughty Mariettea".

Really, too many movies etc to mention, but in reality T.V. I do like Survivor, and the Amazing Race.

In the not so passive enterainment world, I grew up in a generationally musically gifted family. I was surrounded by, and participated in nightly, and daily, singlely, and together, the family activley entertaing themselves with singing, dancing, and writing their own songs (music, and lyrics) etc...When we were reading, we were reading out loud to each other.
We'd take turns being the reader, while the others went about doing dishes, or laundry, or gardening, or whatever, and the reader would follow the others around, and read the story, or the information outloud for the others to listen to, and occasionally we'd stop, and have discusion on the topic etc...
Generally, each reader took an hour turn.

We had fun playing with tape recorders all the while, and have hours of tapes of our reading, and discussions and filled with funny dialouge and laughter. It's so fun for the children to listen to it all years later. Hearing themselves singing in the background as all is on tape.

Also, in active entertainment, we, as a family cleared woody areas, built 3 houses from the ground up, dug and put in all the septic systems, built fences, and chicken houses, and sheds.
We hatched chicken, and turkey eggs with homemade incubators, and raised these to adulthood.
We raise goats, and bottle feed some.
My father taught us to make our own kites, and we flew them every year.
We went, and still go fishing on a regular basis.
We learned about, and practiced food canning, and made cumquat jelly, and made our own grapejuice from our grapevine we grew ourselves.

Oh my. We had, and still have such a wonderfully active entertainment life.
We were all so surprised to find, when we grew up, and met, and married into other families, just how passively these people lived their entire lives.

They go to work, they come home, they don't have to turn on the T.V., as it is never turned off. They barely talk about the day with each other except in the form of sharing complaints about work woes.

I am so happy to be me. Now, I have cd's of my own children singing the songs that they've written themselves. I'm so glad they choose to hangout with each other, and a few close friends that are like minded, and talented.
I am so blessed!

[Chrome]

I recommend any of Werner Herzog's films, especially Aguirre, the Wrath of God.

[Tabs]

Originally Posted by dor

I heard someone describe an inspiring film ='When i walked out, i felt the life i was leading when i walked in was a little too small for me"

Perfect quote, that is how I feel when I watch a movie that inspires me, not only look at the character’s life and journey, I think of the actress or actor and think of the work they put into creating the character. When I watched Lord of the Rings, all I could think of what the power of Peter Jackson's imagination to visualize on such a massive scale, something so grand not to talk about directing and producing the films. I know he adapted a book and had help, but wow!

Then there is Mr. Clint Eastwood, born 1930, directed two epic award winning films in 2006, one year, I think I have no excuses for not accomplishing my goals ever.

I like to walk out of a movie feeling like I could and should do more with my life.

Cheers

[Dive Bomb]

I'm going to say music like Van Halen, Motley Crue, Skid Row, etc. That stuff always inspires me to take action and to remain upbeat. I love the production, guitars, and all that. Runnin With The Devil by Van Halen is one song that really inspires me. All about living in the now and doing it with flair.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Dive Bomb

I'm going to say music like Van Halen, Motley Crue, Skid Row, etc. That stuff always inspires me to take action and to remain upbeat. I love the production, guitars, and all that. Runnin With The Devil by Van Halen is one song that really inspires me. All about living in the now and doing it with flair.

I don't personally like them but I think Van Halen always had an upbeat fun feeling to their music as opposed to other hard rock /heavy metal which was kind of sobmer.

Chrome....who ?

[mtrimpe]

Strangely enough I must say, The Devil Wears Prada, viewing it as a study on the dark side of being at the top.

Furthermore, I like movies with that depict life in 'the bottom of society' in such a way that every next step seems a perfectly reasonable one given the character's circumstances, like 'Christiane F.' or 'Requiem For A Dream'.

I believe it's good to learn not to just look at the good and exclude the bad in order to remain happy, we should learn to be aware of the sadness around us and realize that they are us as well.

[quin]

Musical Theatre
Whilst my boyfriend complains that "musical theatre is never really about anything", I've always found that it instills in me a belief that I really can do anything Because they are such a collaborative process, performing in amateur theatre always gives me so much pride and a great sense of accomplishment.

I can't wait until I start rehearsing for Hot Mikado in February!

[C33]

uninvolved.

If you actively watch movies, you are not doing anything passive at all.

For example, I have been watching a few teen movies lately to study the plots.

Sometimes, a movie can change one's life, by inspiring the viewer to take action. So I believe there is no such thing as passive entertainment but passive audiences.

My 2 cents.

A movie that really inspired me was: A fond kiss by Ken Loach.

[Liara Covert]

Wim Wenders films such as
1) Paris, Texas
2) Wings of Desire
3) and many others

[JoannaC]

I love books and movies. I find lots inspiring. I recently got the dvd of Slings and Arrows, a Canadian mini-series about the behind the scenes drama at a Shakespeare festival. Each season (about 6 episodes each) focused on one play (Hamlet in S1 and Macbeth in S2) and the quality of the writing and acting was just superb.

One of my favourite books is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. I don't tned to like sci-fi in book form (I prefer movied and tv for that) but this was like sci-fi that wasn't really sci-fi per se. The premise was basically that life is discovered in other planets, and while the governments are arguing about what to do, the Jesuits send a private ship. We open with the sole survivor coming back to earth alone and completely traumatized, and we then flash back to what happened and how it all went wrong. There IS some sci-fi in there, but the heart of the novel is really about the main character's crisis of faith. He is a preist who lost his faith, and the discovery had restored it. He came to believe he had been chosen for something special, and when it all went wrong, he had to accept that maybe that was G-d's will too.

I also adore the work of J.M. Coetzee, Margaret Atwood and Douglas Coupland. And I love poetry. And music, I had come to believe that modern music had forsaken me as I never found any radio hits I liked. But since, I have discovered that I am an indie girl, and have been finding great stuff.

[dor]

I just saw this last night
IQBAL
Iqbal
its about a deaf dumb kid who wants to be a cricket bowler...and no I don't know anything about cricket and you don't need to .....

yes it has every sport cliche in the book and is corny but it was also heart warming and inspiring.....and if unconsciously shows a lot of the 'techniques' of I-M or CV...

[ChrisLee589]

The Rocky movies are always inspiring. For music, The Taste of Ink by the Used, What You Are by Dave Matthews, anything from Jimi Hendrix, Kashmire by Led Zeppelin. Those are the my favorite "pump up" songs anyway.