Bowling for Columbine – We as the enlightened already know of the state of crisis North America is mired in. But for the great unwashed, those who don’t thumb Blackberries and runway models, movies such as Bowling for Columbine illuminate the dungeon that is Western ideology. Rightist politics are for the lowbrow and Michael Moore is a proponent of the worldly left. This makes Bowling for Columbine a refinement.

Director: Michael Moore
Release date: 11 October 2002
Cast: Narrated by Michael Moore

Catch Me if You Can – Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks match wits in this work of non-fictional suspense. The story of Frank Abagnale Jr. – mastermind con-man – who posed as a Pan Am Pilot, doctor and legal prosecutor. He was a gentleman and con-artist laureate before most see their first unrobed female body. Another blitz of fine taste and high living.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Release date: 2 January 2003
Cast: Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, James Brolin

Chaplin – Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest actors of the silent film era, one of the greatest directors of all time and one of the biggest producers of his age. Richard Attenborough completes a gargantuan task and manages to film the entirety of Charlie Chaplin’s life, from his origins in the music halls, to the heights of Hollywood, showing us the struggle and the triumph of one impossibly significant man.

Director: Richard Attenborough
Release date: 25 December 1992
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Gerladin Chaplin, Dan Aykroyd, Anthony Hopkins

The Corporation – The name is what we dedicate our every waking moment to. The film delves into the nuances of corporation, identifying why we’ve become so sycophantic to its needs. The makers of The Corporation humanize an entity, giving this Canadian documentary a wholly fresh perspective into the largest commercial institution.

Director: Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot
Release date: 4 June 2004
Cast: Narrated by Harold Crooks

Do The Right Thing – Spike Lee’s masterpiece about racial tensions during a heat wave in Brooklyn stands the test of time. With a soundtrack that includes Public Enemy’s seminal “Fight The Power” and appearances by frequent collaborator John Turturro, a fly young Rosie Perez and the director himself.

Director: Spike Lee
Release date: 30 June 1989
Cast: Spike Lee, Ossie Davis, Danny Aiello, Billy Nunn, Samuel L. Jackson

A Film About Jimi Hendrix – Boasting live footage of Hendrix’s legendary appearances at The Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock as well as interviews with family, friends and even professional rivals. This documentary is as complete a portrait as you could hope to find of Jimi, showing the thoughtful artist and the speaker humping, guitar burning genius.

Director: John Head, Joe Boyd, Gary Weis
Release date: 21 December 1973
Cast: Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Peter Townshend, Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix

Gandhi – There’s a palpable irony of a Briton – Ben Kingsley – portraying a man who stood against the Raj in India through non-violence. Gandhi was the mahatma or great soul. He was also the most gentle of gentlemen. This movie can be used as a historic reference for a man who had the strength to stand up again and again no matter how many times he was put down.

Director: Richard Attenborough
Release date: 8 November 1982
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgund, John Mills, Martin Sheen, Saeed Jaffrey

Grizzly Man – You would think that a tale that involves a man living with bears could only end one way. And you’d be right. Werner Herzog’s documentary about bear lover, Timothy Treadwell, starts off as a compelling account of a human’s relationship with nature. The film’s harrowing climax sees director Herzog listening to an audio recording of both the films subjects being killed by the very creatures they had sought to get closer to.

Director: Werner Herzog
Release date: 12 August 2005
Cast: Narrated by Werner Herzog

The Harder They Come – Widely regarded as one of the catalysts to reggae’s worldwide popularity, The Harder They Come is the story of Ivanhoe Martin (played by singer Jimmy Cliff). For viewers who have trouble understanding Jamaican patois there is a subtitled version of the film available, although it has a different ending from the version without.

Director: Perry Henzell
Release date: 8 February 1973
Cast: Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw, Ras Daniel Hartman

An Inconvenient Truth – A movie that focuses on the environmental downturn as global warming turns the glaciers to slush. Substantiated by ecumenical gatherings, and spearheaded by Al Gore, a man who was cheated out of the US Presidency. A documentary rivaled only by Bowling for Columbine. Very courtly, this doc is recommended to hopeful democrats, republicans, and potential representatives.

Director: Davis Guggenheim
Release date: 24 May 2006
Cast: Al Gore, The Earth

JCVD – This acronym stands for Jean-Claude Van Damme – the crestfallen poster boy of yesteryear attempting to recover from tax woes and fighting for custody of his daughter. A satirical look at Jean-Claude, who was once the envy of all gentleman. Now he fights to recapture the jealousy of martial arts hopefuls and men on the threshold of becoming refined gentlemen.

Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Release date: 4 June 2008
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Francois Damiens, Zinedine Soualem

Malcolm X – The biopic that Spike Lee always promised to deliver was as visceral a piece of cinema as anything he produced. Teaming up with Denzel Washington once again, Lee re-told the story of one of the most controversial radicals in American history. El Hajj Malik El Shabazz’s story is painstakingly recreated, from his days as Detroit Red to his conversion to Islam and his ultimately his death at the Audobon and many argue that Washington should not have had to wait until Training Day for his Oscar.

Director: Spike Lee
Release date: 18 November 2002
Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Al Freeman Jr, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee

Man on Wire – A documentary effort focusing on a Frenchman’s intrepid, and illegal suspended crossing between the World Trade Center Towers on a tightrope. Philippe Petit – the daredevil in mention – was a daring specimen of scrupulous variety, who flouted the law to entertain the less venturesome.

Director: James Marsh
Release date: 1 August 2008
Cast: Philippe Petit as Himself

Mo’ Better Blues – One of three collaborations in the 1990s between Denzel Washington and Spike Lee and the only film to feature Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson and Washington together. Lee’s homage to jazz followed the life of trumpeter Bleek Gilliam from childhood to parenthood. Music for Washington and Snipes’ performances were provided by Terence Blanchard and Brantford Marsalis respectively.

Director: Spike Lee
Release date: 3 August 1990
Cast: Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Giancarlo Esposito

Murderball – Wheelchair bound gladiators undertake to crush one another in the throes of indoor rugby matches fashioned for the handicapped. But don’t call these guys handicapped. They could dislocate your spine with a glance. An eye-opening documentary, Murderball provides the athletic gentleman with new impetus for his weekly training.

Director: Henry Alex Rubin, Dana Adam Shapiro
Release date: 22 July 2005
Cast: The American and Canadian Men’s Paralympic wheelchair rugby teams.

Purple Rain – Before Dave Chappelle donned the purple Spandex matador outfit there was this. Prince starred in the movie loosely based on his own life as The Kid. When not struggling to come to terms with his own musical genius, clingy girlfriend and abusive father he could be found competing with Morris Day and Jerome (of The Time fame).

Director: Albert Magnoli
Release date: 27 July 1984
Cast: Prince, Apollonia, Morris Day and the Time

Ray – Jamie Foxx does an impeccable job of portraying everyone’s favorite piano playing blind man. For some reason, our most vivid memory of Mr. Charles is his Pepsi commercials from the early nineties. Funnily enough, our most vivid memory of the movie is Ray cooking fried chicken on a stovetop. Ridiculously stereotypical, dangerous and delicious all at the same time.

Director: Taylor Hackford
Release date: 29 October 2004
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Harry Lennix

The Right Stuff – If ever there was a film about the drama of human endeavor, this is it. The film starts with Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in 1947, and continues by documenting the race to get a man into space. The struggle of the aspiring astronauts and the pain of the spotlight for those who are successful is captured by Kaufman who shows us the full scope of the danger and the glory of the American space program.

Director: Phillip Kaufman
Release date: 21 October 1983
Cast: Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn, Levon Helm,

Super Size Me – Unheralded documentarian Morgan Spurlock disembowels the giant that is McDonalds fast food in his maiden film. A good heads-up to those attempting to stave off that waistline bulge induced by a sedentary lifestyle of Blackberry thumbing and Merlot sipping.

Director: Morgan Spurlock
Release date: 21 May 2004
Cast: Morgan Spurlock

This Is Spinal Tap – Is a mockumentary in a class of its own. Not only did Rob Reiner’s film send up heavy metal groups, it also parodies the documentaries that were made about them. Fictional, rock band Spinal Tap are joined on their American tour by a camera crew and proceed to ride roughshod over some of rock’s greatest heroes including a tongue-in-cheek homage to Black Sabbath’s infamous set design woes. The all-star cast includes the likes of Ed Begley Jr., Angelica Huston and Harry Shearer (the man who would go on to voice The Simpsons’ C. Montgomery Burns).

Director: Rob Reiner
Release date: 2 March 1984
Cast: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, Tony Hendra, June Chadwick

Walk the Line – Johnny Cash was a unifying force, beloved by convicts, lawmen, punks and rednecks alike. This movie highlights the passionate romance between Johnny Cash and June Carter that dominated his early life. Love is a burning flame, and Phoenix and Witherspoon capture that notion here. Johnny comported himself with a manliness we can all aspire to.

Director: James Mangold
Release date: 18 November 2005
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick

When We Were Kings – This Oscar winning documentary charts the classic Muhammad Ali / George Foreman bout in Zaire. The Footage of the build-up to the fight is included with Ali taking time out to speak on his beliefs as well as his feelings about Africa. Performances by James Brown and B.B. King are also featured, as is most of the legendary boxing match, including the famous knock-out punch – a beautiful moment in cinematic and boxing history. When the award was presented to the filmmakers at the Oscar Ceremony the two pugilists took to the stage to prove that any ill feelings between them were long gone.

Director: Leon Gast
Release date: 14 February 1997
Cast: Muhammed Ali, George Foreman, Don King, James Brown, Spike Lee