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February 24, 2015 at 03:00 AM
There’s an iciness to today’s films as we discover a dystopian ice age; an avalanche of regret; and, a great disappearing act.
But enough talk, let’s examine five more of 2014′s best movies for business professionals.
20. Snowpiercer
Starring Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton
Directed by Joon-ho Bong
What’s it about: Global warming has finally hit the earth, or rather, a global ice age has hit. The planet’s only survivors are on a train that circles the earth. If it stops, everyone on board, the few remaining humans on earth, will freeze to death.
Why watch it: Not everyone on the train is happy with their lot in life and their attempts to move up in the world is captured with a bloody, balletic flare.
Interesting factoid: Snowpiercer is the third dystopian film starring John Hurt, who previously starred in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and V for Vendetta (2005).
Business takeaway: Never accept your place on the corporate ladder; always strive for more.
Memorable scene: The scene where Mason (Tilda Swinton) orders her henchmen to hold a fellow passenger’s arm outside the train, exposing it to the arctic air.
Memorable quote:
Mason: Order is the barrier that holds back the flood of death. We must all of us on this train of life remain in our allotted station. We must each of us occupy our preordained particular position. Would you wear a shoe on your head? Of course you wouldn’t wear a shoe on your head. A shoe doesn’t belong on your head. A shoe belongs on your foot. A hat belongs on your head. I am a hat. You are a shoe.
Next up: Force Majeure
19. Force Majeure
Starring Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren
Directed by Ruben Östlund
What’s it about: A Swedish family takes to the Alps for a family vacation only to find an avalanche, both literally and figuratively, in their path.
Why watch it: For the visual beauty of the Alps that is a constant counterpoint to the disintegrating strands of a failed relationship.
Interesting factoid: One of the movie’s final scenes, where a bus gets stranded, is almost a shot-for-shot reenactment of a viral video known as ”Idiot Spanish busdriver almost kills students.”
Business takeaway: While avalanches are tough, the ones you love can often be even tougher; so, word of advice: Don’t let the those loved ones down.
Memorable scene: The epic avalanche scene is at once terrifying and yet reminiscent of the best and worst moments of Seinfeld’s George Costanza.
Memorable quote:
Fanny: There’s nothing in your head that you haven’t said!
Next up: Still Alice
18. Still Alice
Starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart
Directed by Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland
What’s it about: In a horrifying case of irony, a linguistics professor (Oscar winner Julianne Moore) begins to forget words. From there the news gets worse as she receives a devastating diagnosis.
Why watch it: Still Alice easily could have gone down a sickly saccharine road too often seen in Lifetime network movies, but Moore and costars Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart refuse to let that happen with performances that will leave you emotionally exhausted and wanting to give your loved ones a hug.
Interesting factoid: Co-director Richard Glatzer, who suffers from ALS and can’t speak, directed the film using a text to speech app on an iPad.
Business takeaway: You never know when a fatal diagnosis may hit you so make every day count.
Memorable scene: The bedroom scene where Alice tells her husband that she’s losing her mind.
