57 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
David Cronenberg's 2011 film dramatizing the relationships between Freud, Jung, and Sabina Spielrein — based on John Kerr's book and Christopher Hampton's play — with Michael Fassbender as Jung, Keira Knightley as Spielrein, and Viggo Mortensen as Freud.
Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 animated film — set in a cyberpunk Tokyo after a nuclear explosion — about motorcycle gangs, psychic powers, and government conspiracy — the film that introduced anime to Western audiences and defined the cyberpunk aesthetic.
Sam Mendes's 1999 film depicting the suburban crisis of Lester Burnham — an American man's midlife revolt against his hollow suburban existence — winning five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director — one of the defining cultural statements of American suburban alienation.
Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician — 7-time Mr. Olympia, Terminator franchise star, Governor of California (2003–2011) — author of Total Recall, which details his blueprint for success across three completely distinct careers.
Denis Villeneuve's 2016 film adaptation of Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life — about a linguist who learns an alien language that gives her non-linear time perception — widely praised as the most intellectually serious mainstream science fiction film of the decade.
Robert Zemeckis's 1985 comedy science fiction film about a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 — one of the highest-grossing films of its decade, notable for its tight screenplay, perfect casting, and inventive time travel logic.
Mel Brooks's 1974 satirical Western — featuring a Black sheriff (Cleavon Little) appointed to a racist frontier town — which uses Western genre conventions to satirize American racism and Hollywood's erasure of race from the Western genre.
British-American entertainer who was the most celebrated entertainer of American servicemen during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War — his USO tours bringing comedy to over a million soldiers — and one of the most successful entertainers in the history of American comedy, film, and television.
American filmmaker who directed Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission: Impossible — known for elaborate set pieces, split-screen techniques, and homages to Hitchcock — and who was a core member of the New Hollywood generation.
American screenwriter, director, and showrunner — co-creator of Rounders (1998), Ocean's Thirteen, and Billions (Showtime) — who created a podcast (The Moment) and who represents the creative entrepreneur approach to Hollywood.
British-American film director — Memento (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), Oppenheimer (2023) — one of the few directors who simultaneously achieves artistic ambition and consistent commercial dominance.
American playwright and screenwriter — author of Glengarry Glen Ross, American Buffalo, Speed-the-Plow — screenwriter for The Verdict, The Untouchables, Wag the Dog — who publicly converted from liberal to conservative and wrote The Secret Knowledge explaining his political evolution.
French-Canadian film director — Arrival (2016), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Dune Part One (2021), Dune Part Two (2024) — widely considered the greatest living science fiction filmmaker.
American filmmaker who directed Dirty Harry, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Escape from Alcatraz, and Coogan's Bluff — and who was Clint Eastwood's primary directorial mentor — making him one of the most commercially effective Hollywood directors of the 1950s–70s.
Denis Villeneuve's 2024 second installment of his Dune adaptation — covering Paul Atreides's rise among the Fremen and assumption of the messianic role — widely praised as one of the best science fiction films in recent decades. (See also Lenny: Dune Part Two, ID 322.)
Denis Villeneuve's 2024 second installment of his Dune adaptation — covering Paul Atreides's rise among the Fremen and his assumption of the messianic role — widely praised as one of the best science fiction films in decades.
American filmmaker who directed The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation — arguably the greatest run of films by any director in the 1970s — while also founding American Zoetrope as an independent studio.
American filmmaker who created Star Wars and Indiana Jones — and who built Industrial Light & Magic as the most innovative visual effects company in history — before selling Lucasfilm to Disney for $4B in 2012.
Ridley Scott's 2024 sequel to Gladiator — set years after the original, following Lucius (son of Lucilla, nephew of Maximus) who becomes a gladiator after his home is conquered by Roman general Acacius.
Spike Jonze's 2013 film about a lonely writer who falls in love with an AI operating system — the most prescient mainstream film about artificial general intelligence, human-AI relationships, and the nature of consciousness.
Swedish filmmaker who directed The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, and Fanny and Alexander — the director most associated with cinema as a medium for philosophical and theological inquiry — and whose films explore God's silence, death, and the agonies of intimate relationships.
Christopher Nolan's 2014 science fiction epic about a team of astronauts traveling through a wormhole to find habitable planets for humanity — notable for its collaboration with physicist Kip Thane and its visually accurate depiction of black holes and time dilation.
American Jungian analyst and MBTI/typology scholar who developed an 8-function model of psychological type (extending Jung's typology) and who has written on integrity, film, and character structure — founding member of the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco.
American actor and filmmaker — Third Rock from the Sun (childhood), Inception, 500 Days of Summer, The Dark Knight Rises — founder of HitRECord (collaborative creative platform) — who has parlayed an acting career into a broader engagement with internet creativity.
1985 semi-biographical film about the founding of Def Jam Records — featuring Run-DMC, LL Cool J, the Fat Boys, and Sheila E — which was the first major hip-hop film and served as a promotional vehicle for Def Jam's early roster.
Josh Safdie's 2024 film about Marty Reisman — a legendary American ping pong champion from the 1950s–60s — known for the Safdie brothers' characteristically intense character study approach applied to the world of competitive table tennis.
American comedian, writer, and director who made The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights — one of the great American comedy filmmakers — who has EGOT status and is famous for Jewish comedy, genre parody, and transgressive humor.
Steven Spielberg's 2002 adaptation of Philip K. Dick's story — about a pre-crime police force that arrests people before they commit crimes — notable for its UX design (gesture interface) and its exploration of free will vs. determinism.
American film director — Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987), JFK (1991), Nixon (1995), Any Given Sunday (1999) — Vietnam veteran whose films brought the Vietnam War experience, corporate excess, and political conspiracy into mainstream cinema.
John Woo's 2008 epic film depicting the Battle of Red Cliffs (208 AD) from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms — the battle in which Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu defeated Cao Cao's vast navy through intelligence and deception — the most expensive Chinese film made to that point.
British film director — Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), The Martian (2015), Dune (abandoned), Napoleon (2023) — one of the most visually ambitious directors in Hollywood history.
American actor whose extraordinary acting talent, catastrophic drug addiction in the late 1990s, and remarkable comeback as Iron Man in the MCU make him the most famous real-world narrative of addiction, loss, and redemption in Hollywood.
American filmmaker who directed The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia — and who revolutionized the aesthetics of violence in American cinema through slow-motion death sequences — while maintaining a reputation as a difficult, alcoholic genius.
Mel Brooks's 1987 parody of Star Wars — featuring Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) and President Skroob — a satirical comedy that targets the Star Wars franchise and Hollywood science fiction.
Sam Raimi's 2004 Spider-Man sequel — widely considered the best superhero film ever made by many critics — notable for Peter Parker's identity crisis (wanting to give up being Spider-Man) and Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus.
American philosopher at Harvard who wrote The World Viewed (on film), The Claim of Reason (on Wittgenstein), and Pursuits of Happiness (on Hollywood comedy of remarriage) — and who made Emerson and Thoreau philosophically central in a way they had not been in analytic philosophy.
Tacita Dean is a British artist known for film and photographic works exploring duration and memory, and a friend of Nolan's.
David Fincher's 2023 Netflix film about a hitman whose controlled worldview begins to unravel — a methodical study of professionalism, routine, and the psychology of someone who has optimized their humanity out.
The Wachowski sisters' 1999 science fiction film — a hacker discovers reality is a computer simulation enslaving humanity — combining bullet-time action choreography with philosophy (Descartes, Baudrillard, Plato's cave) in a mainstream blockbuster.
American animator and entrepreneur — co-founder of The Walt Disney Company — creator of Mickey Mouse, Snow White (first feature-length animated film), Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, and the concept of the theme park (Disneyland, 1955) — one of the most creatively productive entrepreneurs in American history.
John Badham's 1983 film about a teenager who hacks into a government computer and nearly triggers nuclear war — notable for its early depiction of computer hacking and its famous AI conclusion ('The only winning move is not to play').
Charlie Chaplin was a pivotal figure in the silent film era, embodying the struggles and hopes of the working class through his iconic character, the 'Little Tramp', and pioneering cinematic techniques that continue to influence filmmakers today.
Ian McKellen is a renowned English actor who has been a major figure in British theatre and film, known for his commanding stage presence and iconic roles in Shakespearean productions and popular franchises like X-Men and The Lord of the Rings.
Laurence Olivier was a British actor who dominated the stage and screen in the mid-20th century, embodying the cultural force of classical theatre and film during a period of great social change.
David Frankel's 2006 film starring Meryl Streep as a fictionalized Anna Wintour — the defining cultural document of the fashion industry and editorial power.
1989 superhero film directed by Tim Burton — starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker — the film that defined the dark, expressionistic aesthetic of the modern superhero blockbuster — the first major studio superhero film of the blockbuster era.
2009 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron — set on the moon Pandora — depicting a conflict between an indigenous alien species (the Na'vi) and a human mining corporation — the highest-grossing film in history — a landmark in motion-capture and 3D filmmaking technology.
American animation studio that revolutionized computer-generated filmmaking — creating 27 consecutive films that all opened at #1, with a combination of technical innovation and emotionally sophisticated storytelling.
Walt Disney's original collaborator and the animator who designed Mickey Mouse — one of the most technically gifted animators in Hollywood history, though overshadowed by Disney's business genius.
American music and entertainment mogul who founded Asylum Records, Geffen Records, and co-founded DreamWorks — one of the most powerful figures in American entertainment across five decades.
2000 American Psycho film directed by Mary Harron — adapted from Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 novel — starring Christian Bale as investment banker Patrick Bateman — a savage satire of 1980s Wall Street masculinity, consumerism, and the hollowness of identity.
Mexican filmmaker born 1964 in Guadalajara. Director of Pan's Labyrinth (2006), The Shape of Water (2017, Academy Award Best Picture), Crimson Peak, The Devil's Backbone, and Hellboy. His films fuse fairy tale, myth, horror, and political allegory, treating monsters as more humane than humans.
2019 psychological thriller directed by Todd Phillips — starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck — an origin story for the DC villain Joker — depicting the descent of a mentally ill, socially marginalized man into nihilistic violence — the highest-grossing R-rated film at the time of release.
Brian Jay Jones's biography of George Lucas — covering the creation of THX 1138, American Graffiti, Star Wars, and the building of the LucasFilm empire.
Candy Darling (born James Lawrence Slattery) was an American actress and transgender woman who became one of Andy Warhol's most celebrated superstars. Famous for her platinum-blonde glamour and old-Hollywood affect, she appeared in Warhol films and was immortalized in Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. She died of lymphoma at 29.
2017 superhero film directed by Patty Jenkins — starring Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman — the first major female-led, female-directed superhero blockbuster — set in World War I — the highest-grossing film by a female director at the time of release.
2008 Pixar animated film directed by Andrew Stanton — depicting a small waste-collecting robot left alone on an abandoned Earth — nearly silent for its first act — a formally experimental animated film combining ecological warning, love story, and critique of consumer passivity into the most acclaimed Pixar production.