There are a couple of movies that I wanted to get out and see in the theater but haven’t had the chance to yet. The first movie I heard was refreshingly honest was the movie Juno. I already bought the soundtrack on iTunes and have enjoyed listening to it. The other movie I wanted to see was Dan in Real Life with one of my favorite actors, Steve Carell. My brother told me it was pretty good.

That got me thinking this morning about some of my favorite movies that actually challenged you and made you think as well as entertaining you. Don’t get me wrong, there’s times I feel like turning my brain off and watching some brainless multi-million dollar blockbuster full of explosions and special effects. But if you want to get off the couch with something to think about check out these movies.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
by Focus Features – Starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst
This movie won the Oscar in 2005 for Best Writing and Best Original Screenplay and for good reason. It stars Jim Carrey in a role opposite Kate Winslet that at first makes you ask, Why did they cast him? But after you get past the weirdness of watching Jim Carrey play a serious role that doesn’t suck you’re drawn in. The first time I watched this movie I kept thinking about it for days. It helps you realize that our lives are shaped as much by the bad things that happen to us as well as the good things. Oh, the only other weird thing was seeing Elijah Wood and not thinking of him as Frodo.

Garden State
by Fox Searchlight – Starring Zach Braff, Natalie Portman
Many people only know Zach Braff from his comedic role on Scrubs (which is hilarious by the way) but don’t know that he is actually a very intelligent, deep-thinking individual who adapts well to movies like Garden State. This isn’t a “pretty” or “polished” movie. It shows you life with all of it’s grit and grime. It reminds you that we’re all just messed up people looking for acceptance and love. Natalie Portman does an awesome job opposite Braff playing the part of the eccentric, outgoing girl who lives life with everything she’s got. As an added bonus, the soundtrack to Garden State was hand-picked by Zach Braff and is still my favorite movie soundtrack ever!

Little Miss Sunshine
by Fox Searchlight – Starring Steve Karell, Greg Kinnear
This is another Fox Searchlight film that is worth watching. It was the recipient of two Academy Awards in 2007 and is an absolute delight to watch. What I loved about it was how real it was. From the mom trying to keep the family together to the foul-mouthed Grandpa (played by Alan Arkin) to the teenage son who can’t believe he got stuck with such a “loser” of a family. Watching this movie will remind you that families are not perfect, but they are better when we can pull together through our differences.

The Last Kiss
by DreamWorks Pictures – Starring Zach Braff, Rachel Bilson
When this movie came out I knew I had to watch it if for no other reason because of Zach Braff. I anticipated a good, introspective movie but I never expected it to grab me the way that it did. I should mention that I watched it when I was 29 and struggling with the thought of moving even further into adulthood in my 30s and what that meant for me. This movie hit me square between the eyes. Granted, not everyone is going to be affected by this move the way that I was but I think that somewhere along the line every guy begins to ask himself who he is. This is a classic illustration that the grass on the other side of the fence is still grass. The pressures of relationships and commitment are themes that carry through beautifully in this film. The dialog from the last scene still sticks with me to this day. Again, if you like good music check out the The Last Kiss Soundtrack, put together by Zach Braff. Not as good as Garden State but still awesome!

Hotel Rwanda
by Lions Gate Films – Starring Don Cheadle, Nick Nolte
This is one movie that, in my opinion, everyone needs to watch. It tells the story of the genocide that happened in Rwanda in 1994 when the Hutu military and militia killed over 800,000 Tutsis over approximately 100 days while the world barely noticed. It’s one of the great travesties that our generation will have to answer for. You would think that after our world has seen the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children killed at the hands of genocidal violence we would never allow something like that to happen again. And yet right now with the conflict in Darfur there are millions of displaced refugees and hundreds of thousands more dead from the fighting in that region (read more here). Movies like this help to remind us that we are incredibly short-sighted as human beings and we rarely learn from our mistakes.

What movies have challenged you?