25 best conservative movies of the last 25 years (some odd choices)

[SoCalDem]

Link takes you to National Review for the rest of their "odd" list"

The Best Conservative Movies

Once in a blue moon, Hollywood releases a conservative movie, or at least a film that resonates with conservatives in a particular way. Because conservatives love movies — and especially debates about movies — we decided to produce a list of the 25 best conservative movies of the last 25 years. Our approach in selecting them doesn’t rise to the level of an actual methodology, but there was a method to it. We asked readers of National Review Online to submit nominations. Hundreds of suggestions came in, along with explanations and arguments. We considered each one, tallied them up, and consulted a number of film buffs and professional movie-makers.

We do not claim that the writers, directors, producers, gaffers, and key grips involved with these films are conservative. We certainly make no such assertion about the actors. Yet the results are indisputable: Conservatives enjoy these films because they are great movies that offer compelling messages about freedom, families, patriotism, traditions, and more.

— JOHN J. MILLER


1. The Lives of Others (2007): “I think that this is the best movie I ever saw,” said William F. Buckley Jr. upon leaving the theater (according to his column on the film). The tale, set in East Germany in 1984, is one part romantic drama, one part political thriller. It chronicles life under a totalitarian regime as the Stasi secretly monitors the activities of a playwright who is suspected of harboring doubts about Communism. Critics showered the movie with praise and it won an Oscar for best foreign-language film (it’s in German). More Buckley: “The tension mounts to heart-stopping pitch and I felt the impulse to rush out into the street and drag passersby in to watch the story unfold.”

— John J. Miller


2. The Incredibles (2004): This animated film skips pop-culture references and gross jokes in favor of a story that celebrates marriage, courage, responsibility, and high achievement. A family of superheroes — Mr. Incredible, his wife Elastigirl, and their children — are living an anonymous life in the suburbs, thanks to a society that doesn’t appreciate their unique talents. Then it comes to need them. In one scene, son Dash, a super-speedy runner, wants to try out for track. Mom claims it wouldn’t be fair. “Dad says our powers make us special!” Dash objects. “Everyone is special,” Mom demurs, to which Dash mutters, “Which means nobody is.”

— Frederica Mathewes-Greene writes for Beliefnet.com.


3. Metropolitan (1990): Whit Stillman’s Oscar-nominated debut takes a red-headed outsider into the luxurious drawing rooms and debutante balls of New York’s Upper East Side elite. One character, a committed socialist, falls for the discreet charm of the urban haute bourgeoisie. Another plaintively theorizes the inevitable doom of his class. A reader of Jane Austen wonders what’s wrong with a novel’s having a virtuous heroine. And a roguish defender of standards and detachable collars delivers more sophisticated conservative one-liners than a year’s worth of Yale Party of the Right debates. With mocking affection, gentle irony, and a blizzard of witty dialogue, Stillman manages the impossible: He brings us to see what is admirable and necessary in the customs and conventions of America’s upper class.

— Mark Henrie is the editor of Doomed Bourgeois in Love: Essays on the Films of Whit Stillman.


4. Forrest Gump (1994): It won an Oscar for best picture — beating Pulp Fiction, a movie that’s far more expressive of Hollywood’s worldview. Tom Hanks plays the title character, an amiable dunce who is far too smart to embrace the lethal values of the 1960s. The love of his life, wonderfully played by Robin Wright Penn, chooses a different path; she becomes a drug-addled hippie, with disastrous results. Forrest’s IQ may be room temperature, but he serves as an unexpected font of wisdom. Put ’em on a Whitman’s Sampler, but Mama Gump’s famous words about life’s being like a box of chocolates ring true.

— Charlotte Hays is co-author of Somebody Is Going to Die If Lilly Beth Doesn’t Catch That Bouquet.


snip

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Life is like a box of Republicons pretending to be ethical conservatives." - Forrest G.

"There is a vast amount of horseshit to wade through."

= Forrest G.

[liberal N proud]

2. And that's all I've got to say about that

[Somawas]

13. "Amiable dunce" describes so many conservatives.

Except for the mean ones.

[Brickbat]

3. I love the line from "The Pursuit of Happyness": "They’re black, but there’s no racial undertone or

subtext." Then why mention it?

Also, about Juno, one of the "best pro-life movies": "The film has its faults, including a number of crass moments and a pregnant high-school student with an unrealistic level of self-confidence." Wait, what?

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. Juno? Did they miss the scene where Juno makes her pro-life friend look like a fool?

[cascadiance]

57. Diablo Cody, Iowa grad, who wrote Juno script is certainly no Republican fan!

http://defamer.gawker.com/5065136/diablo-cody-claims-a-mccain-presidency-is-one-doodle-that-cant-be-undid

"I was getting contacted by so many people regarding the plight of young pregnancy that I was beginning to think I was the leading obstetrician in this country or something," Diablo said at the MTV Networks Election Effect Panel Discussion in NYC.

She laughed off questions about her teen comedy "glamorizing teen pregnancy."

"If I would have know that I wielded that kind of power, I would have written a movie called Don't Vote for McCain," Diablo joked.

...

Later, Cody opined on Sarah Palin:

"I think Sarah Palin is creepy actually," Diablo says. "Creepier than McCain. But you know I think my beliefs have been very liberal my entire life, so naturally I'm voting for Obama. I used to think that McCain wouldn't make a bad President to be honest, but I think this election has exposed so much ugliness that its just cemented my beliefs."

[cascadiance]

61. If they had TV series, they perhaps would have added Babylon 5. It was Bush and KKKRove's favorite!

A usenet post from the show's creator, J. Michael Straczynski some years back. His comment at the end is priceless!

It's amazing what conservatives pick as their "favorites" when arguably a show like Babylon 5 is a direct social commentary against creeping fascism that Bush and Rove so much epitomized in real life. Perhaps they liked it for the same reasons some other conservatives like Starship Troopers, when they don't see that it in effect it was heavy satire predicting the fascist Fox News like media of its future that came after the movie was created.

Kind of like Rush Limbaugh using The Pretenders for his theme song!

https://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated/browse_frm/thread/887aaec99134ade1?dq&hl=en&lr&ie=UTF-8&prev=/groups?hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DISO-8859-1%26q%3Drec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

So I was talking to Doug Netter this afternoon, who had in turn spoken with
Bruce Boxleitner earlier in the day about the year 2 DVD. In the course of
that conversation, Bruce mentioned something that Doug in turn mentioned to me.

To wit:

Bruce had been at the White House about a month ago, in the company of wife
Melissa Gilbert, president of the Screen Actors Guild, for a discussion with
some of the functionaries there concerning acting roles moving north of the
Canadian border.

As they're talking, in a long conference room, in the middle of the meeting the
door oens and Karl Rove -- main strategist for the Republican Party and power
behind the White House throne -- comes in. He says (paraphrased from memory)
to Melissa, "I hope you'll forgive me, but I actually here to see Bruce."

He then tells Bruce, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm a big science fiction
fan, and that Babylon 5 is the best science fiction television series *ever*."

Then there's a pause, and he adds....

"And the President thinks so too."

Upon hearing this, I went to lie down for a spell, but I fully expect to be
back on my feet by Spring, latest.

jms

[WinkyDink]

4. "Forrest Gump"? Somebody missed the anti-war message.

[GoCubsGo]

8. Or, the fact that his "drug-addicted" friend was...

...physically and sexually abused as a child? Or, that their hero fathered his own child out of wedlock? I guess those are "conservative values", too. The same with his achieving his fame and fortune predominately from sheer luck.

[GoCubsGo]

10. "Ghostbusters"???

They're shitting me, right? Oh, yeah. That Eeeevvilll EPA guy...

[Ian David]

19. Actually, I agree with them on Ghostbusters. There is a Conservative thread running through it. n/t

[Recursion]

29. Same way with Groundhog Day

I think it's Ramis.

[HughBeaumont]

11. Exactly. His success was pretty much "falling, with style".

[toddaa]

5. I hate it when the put Brazil on their list

These "conservative" movie lists pop up from time to time, and Brazil always ends up on it. It's one of my favorite movies.

[HughBeaumont]

9. This line sounds like everything that our conservative governments allowed and put in place:

Terrorist bombings, national-security scares, universal police surveillance, bureaucratic arrogance, a callous elite, perversion of science, and government use of torture evoke the worst aspects of the modern megastate.

[Blue_Tires]

20. In all their movie/song lists, conservatives don't do nuance very well

Someone should remind them that the film was made during the Thatcher era...

[JHB]

44. True. Most of these have one pet point upon which they hang the "conservative" label...

...e.g., the reviling of celebrity do-gooders in "Team America"

And a number of those are universal or not strictly conservative (Groundhog Day?)

[superduperfarleft]

24. Yes, a movie by the raging right-winger Terry Gilliam.

Who is such a conservative that he renounced his US citizenship in 2006 in protest of Bush's presidency. :rofl:

[DCKit]

25. Obviously, because they don't get it.

The same as when the read the New Testament or the Constitution.

There's some kind of filter (some might say "birth defect") that allows them to take only and exactly what they want or need from everything they see or hear.

The same goes for several movies on that list - they simply don't see anything that doesn't fit their preconceived world-view.

[nxylas]

52. Well, it was co-written by Tom Stoppard

A man whose experiences under communism made him a conservative of sorts - though not a dumbfuck, teabagger type of conservative, merely a Cold War hawk.

[Warren DeMontague]

54. It went WAY over their heads.

First off, the so-called "terrorism" in Brazil is clearly part of the totalitarian control scheme. The only real "terrorist" is the guy who freelances fixing peoples' air conditioners.

[walldude]

69. Man it went over their heads, flew up into the ionosphere

traveled around the world 3 times and came back as a Conservative movie... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


I said this in another post but it reminds me of Reagan using "Born In The USA" as a theme song.

I love when they show their absolute lack of understanding of liberal arts. They are called "liberal" arts for a reason.

[Poboy]

62. Terry Guilliam is a great director. Brazil, Time Bandits, Adv. Baron Munch., 12 Monkeys, etc.

I think its the DeNiero character. Notice he is the only American in the movie. The 'mavrick heating repairman', who operates on his own, without license or authority. The thing is, even 'liberals' don't want big brother, so just because you are against prying, snooping and complete government control, that makes you an alleged 'conservative'? Seems it is THEY who have a love of that.

[uppityperson]

80. maybe that is what they are aiming for rather than the cautionary tale we see it as?

That one struck me also. And Forrest Gump.

[Canuckistanian]

6. They put "The Incredibles" on because of ONE LINE?

Well, I guess they didn't have much to choose from without padding.

[LeftishBrit]

7. 'Brazil'?

Considering that this is about a society that has sacrificed democracy and reason to its obsession with the threat of terrorism- I would say that it's about the most UNsuitable film for those who support the Bushies!

[walldude]

68. There are a few on this list that made me laugh

but none more than Brazil. I always love when Republicans take something that is the polar opposite of their values and try to use it as a "Pro-Conservative" thing.

Reminds me of Reagans use of Born In The USA...

[chillspike]

12. Laughable

"Groundhog Day"??? Yeah, okay.

I have to take major issue with the claim "The Pursuit of Happyness" is a Conservative movie.

Defenders of capitalism like to point to the movie The Pursuit of Happyness as some kind of proof positive defense of capitalism. But, in fact, that movie is one of its greatest indictments. Every time the main protagonist in the movie lost something, like his wife, his apartment or the motel room he was staying in, it was because of the demands of capitalism. The demands of capitalism (mainly the necessity for money) and his quite genuine struggle and inability to meet them knocked every beam out from under that guys life and left him and his son sleeping in a subway system bathroom. That's capitalism for you. Your rich boss insensitively leaving you paying the cab fare when you can't even afford food. And the only time the main character was offered any kind of relief from his struggle and misery came from the quite LIBERAL and SOCIALISTIC program of a homeless shelter. The fact, in the end, that he was the only one out of hundreds of applicants to close more deals and thus land the sole available position at that dreadful company only stresses the dog-eat-dog social-darwinistic nature of capitalism all the more. In other words, Capitalism only works for exceptions. I call BullShit on The Pursuit of Happyness being a "Conservative movie". It's a complete indictment of Capitalism.

[Bluenorthwest]

42. The Pursuit of Happyness blurb is the quintessential blurb in this

list. Most of these blurbs are conservative views of the film, not even trying to make the case that the films themselves are conservative. That writer sees not 'racial subtext' perhaps because such issues are in fact part of the text. The specificity of the story and the nature of the central character both leave all the discrimination and disparity to be as they were, present like a building, like a bus, not a thing that needs neon melodrama to point it out. It just is. This film and the man who lived it and wrote it had a singular focus, his eye was on his goal, not on the bigotry, the buildings, the bus. This film in fact has much in common with last year's The Road. Different kind of zombies involved. But in that 'there are only 5 stories' way, both films are about a man with a goal, a son to deliver to that goal, and many thoughtless beings presenting barriers and dangers to reaching that goal. One is a very realistic version, the other a kind of nightmare. Basically the same story. Same hero. What the blurb author misses is that there is no particular reason to ponder the morality of your antagonists, be they zombies or business people. They are simply that which must be overcome, passed by, one way or the other. In the eyes of the zombie, it too is just in a pursuit of happyness, and that is in fact and indeed another story. The one conservatives do not know how to make.

[Erose999]

14. #19 - "We were soldiers". My dad served with Col. Hal Moore, who he described as "a real prick".

He said Moore would stand around the long lines for discharge and try to convince departing soldiers to "re-up". He would say things like "you won't have to wait in line to re-up".

[Erose999]

18. Also, I don't think that they realize that "America FUCK YEAH!!1!" in #24 is making fun of the cons.

[Initech]

66. Especially when you consider that Matt Stone and Trey Parker aren't exactly hardcore neocons.

[Ian David]

15. Some of those are just insane. Others grossly characterize Liberalism.

Team America?

REALLY?


Team America "saves" Paris

[Blue_Tires]

16. "The Lives of Others" is NOT a conservative film just because they call it one

and they don't get to claim it...

[Recursion]

30. Eh. I heard serious debates before 1989 between liberals and conservatives...

...over which Germany they would rather live in. I can understand why he put it there.

[Ichingcarpenter]

32. "The Lives of Others" was liked because they love the Stasi

and the vindictive society it produces by turning citizens against each other in the interests of national unity and collective security.


The movie serves as a major warning to ourselves and our elected leaders about where overzealousness and a lack of respect for individuals and their liberties can lead.


Watch the movie with English subtitles on youTube 13 parts


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaGQvhQvjIo

[Populist_Prole]

67. 'Lives of others' Conservative?

That's a surprise. I liked the film so much I bought the DVD. I didn't then, and am shocked now that cons would herald this film. If anything it would make them look inward with dismay. Patriot Act anybody?

I agree with the other observations too, about how simple minded cons are for liking it just because it casts bad light on communism ( which it rightly does )

[nxylas]

51. Apparently, if you hate communism, you're a conservative

They don't seem to notice that liberals don't exactly do too well in communist regimes.

[Ian David]

17. I would put "Bee Movie" on their list. IMHO, it's an anti-Union anti-Labor diatribe.

Also, "Birth of a Nation" and the original "King Kong" belong on the list of Conservative movies.

And what about "The Omega Man" and "I am Legend?"

They missed opportunities to put REAL Conservative movies on the list in exchange for taking cheap-shots at a Liberal straw man.

And remember: these are the people who are trying to claim Hitler was a Liberal.

[Erose999]

40. Well that list was put together by men of extrodinary intellect and refined taste, such as

Andrew Brietbart :sarcasm:

[JHB]

45. "taking cheap-shots at a Liberal straw man"

I don't think they missed a thing, since taking cheap-shots at Liberal straw men seems to be what conservatism is all about these days.

[GoCubsGo]

53. And, they missed the most obvious one of all...

Soylent Green.

[Ian David]

73. I think Soylent Green is a Liberal movie about where the GOP is sending us now.

A two-tiered dystopia society in the throes of Global Warming.

[Ian David]

21. They put "Serenity" on their secondary list of "Conservative" movies that didn't make the cut.

The only way Serenity can be "Conservative" is against a straw man version of what Liberals stand for.

Pacifying the populace through the covert use of a psychoactive gas isn't the sort of thing Liberals would do.

However, increasing the level of violence for the sake of violence IS the sort of thing Conservatives would do.

[progressoid]

41. I'm guessing they completely missed that part of the movie.

And they have "Three Kings" on the secondary list too. :wtf:

[Ian David]

74. They equate "mass pacification of the populace" with "gun control."

They also equate the Liberal ideal of non-violence with the idea of suppressing violence by any means necessary.

[superduperfarleft]

22. Red Dawn?

Gee. Well at least SOMEONE thought it was a good movie.

"this story of what was at stake in the Cold War endures. "

:rofl:

Exactly what was wrong with that stupid movie.

[DirkGently]

26. Red Dawn is classic badness. Sometimes your friend swallows an enemy transponder & thus must die.

[Recursion]

27. I'll confess to loving "Master and Commander"

Mostly because I've read the books so many times. But then again I have much less of a problem with Burkean conservatism than with the modern version.

[SoCalDem]

28. Too many people take ideas out of time & place

and try to mold them to fit the here & now..

[MadHound]

31. Somebody had to do some really extreme conservative interpretations

In order to classify most of these films as "conservative".

It just boggles the mind how conservatives will do this, twist and warp movies, books, TV, etc. in order to try and claim them as conservative.

[BuelahWitch]

33. Is this a recent article?

If so somebody is using fuzzy math. Three of those movies were made before 1986 (the 25 year mark).

[SoCalDem]

36. It's in the issue that comes out Feb 7th 2011

I noticed that too.. these are OLD movies..

[devilgrrl]

34. Try as they may - Conservatives are devoid of creativity - there is no such thing as a ....

"conservative movie".

[blondeatlast]

35. First dumbness in that list--Beliefnet is NOT conservative; basically, it's the anti-

conservative dumb Christian site.

[FormerDittoHead]

37. "Forrest Gump (1994): It won an Oscar for best picture — beating Pulp Fiction..."...

Great time of the year for reminding me how fucked up the Oscars are...

[JackDragna]

38. The writer doesn't get "The Incredibles" at all.

For that matter, I found the movie attempting to make an odd point. Dash (who has super speed) really wouldn't be showing how "exceptional" he is by beating the other kids at track when he has an inherent advantage. No amount of training or dedication made him any better. Then again, I guess that's what "exceptional" is to conservatives: being born into an advantageous situation, then pretending said circumstances make you better than everyone else.

[progressoid]

39. What about "An American Carol" or "The Fountainhead" ?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1190617/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041386/



Also, it seems like there is lots of killin in that list.

edit: I see that American Carol is on their overflow list on the bottom. Jeez.

[JHB]

46. "American Carol" barely made their back-up list?

Not surprising, since it actually says more about the modern conservative movement than anything about liberals.

Which shouldn't be surprising, since it's a BizzaroWorld trying to do a lampoon...

[Initech]

65. Or how about that lame Ben Stein documentary Expelled?

[Initech]

43. The Dark Knight? Really?

[JHB]

47. Bats uses "enhanced" interrogation techniques...

That's enough for them to scent-mark it...

[Initech]

64. Why so serious?

[NuclearDem]

48. 300, no shit?

I guess kicking diplomats into a bottomless pit, murdering politicians on the floor of the Senate, and CAPSLOCK are traditional conservative values.


YOU HEAR ME?! THIS.

IS.

CAPSLOCK!!!!!!!!!

[DirkGently]

81. The 300 certainly celebrates conservative values of being homoerotic & homophobic at the same time.

[Rabrrrrrr]

49. Whenever these assholes make these lists, I'm left mouth-agape, asking Did they read/see/listen it?!

Whether songs, books, or movies, the lists are always chock-full of unquestionably liberal/progressive materials or stuff that's basically neutral.

But conservatives have a strong tendency to not "get" art - for whatever reason, their brains just don't process things artistically.

But the fuckers spin spin spin to make anything be what they wish it to be.

"Brazil" as a conservative movie! "Forrest Gump" - :rofl:

Stupid fuckers.

[JHB]

77. Just use the old "Far Side" cartoon, adapted....

What dogs hear:

"blahblahblahblah Ginger! blahblahblah Ginger. blahblah Ginger blah"

They'll hone in on one thing that perks their ears/eyes, and ignore an entire raft of material that doesn't fit.

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. Sometimes a movie is just that. A movie.

Most of these are just movies.

[fishwax]

55. ah, these lists are always interesting

They certainly reveal that conservatives sometimes have trouble with nuance, etc., though they do a better job with films than they do with music, I think--the lists of conservative songs are usually even sillier.

[Recursion]

56. With all those Mel Gibson movies "The Patriot" didn't make it?

I remember conservatives loved that one when it came out.

[GSLevel9]

58. I never thought of FG as a Conservative movie... nt

[msanthrope]

59. Where's "The Passion of the Christ" on this list? I thought they liked snuff films, n/t

[KamaAina]

60. "Think of Wormtongue as Keith Olbermann"?!

Um, try Beckkk or the OxyMoron. Orcs. :P

[cascadiance]

63. Reefer Madness is missing...

"Bambi Meets Godzilla" as well. They need something to cheer for like that.

[walldude]

70. Well I don't think they were including "Documentaries"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Terry in Austin]

71. The things we learned today about conservatism

Master and Commander is a good conservative flick because it "makes no concessions to modern, egalitarian sensibilities" and shows a coherent society where "every man knows his duty and his place."

Gattaca is also a good conservative flick, because it shows that "without adherence to the ideal of universal human equality, it opens the door to the soft tyranny of Gattaca."

So, is this equality thing good or bad in conservative land?

Oh yeah -- did you know that having a "eugenically correct" world is a progressive fantasy? Me neither.

:shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

72. Egads, some of these are just strange

that includes the LOTR trilogy... yes tolkien was a conservative... with a small c... and these days in the US he'd be a radical lefty...

As to the book (and movie) did they miss the allusion to mass warfare? Or a few others?

Gattaca is a science fiction warning of a CONSERVATIVE dream. I am surprised that Pre-Crime didn't make it to the list.

[Ezlivin]

75. Where's "Faces of Death"?

That's definitely a conservative movie.

I would also add "Cannibal Girls" as long as they recognize it's a comedy.

[11 Bravo]

76. That list should begin and end with "Birth of a Nation".

[uppityperson]

78. "Brazil"? I guess it shows that many of us like the same message in many movies.

It is how we go about trying to do things that is different perhaps?

[RandomThoughts]

79. The Forest Gump thing leads to ego traps.

I think that movie is about humility.


or maybe not.


Maybe it is also about genuine love, the kind of love that is part of innocence.

[jaded_old_cynic]

82. What, no An American Carol?

:rofl: