A reader at Hollywood Jesus sent in an inquiry for help preparing a class he's teaching on rules and rule breaking. He's got the obvious clips in hand, but would like some other films on the topic.

Ideas?

Ferris Beuller's Day Off
Eight Men Out
Shake Hands with the Devil (the non-doc) especially the scene where Dallaire refuses to withdraw his troops.

The Spiderwick Chronicles, of course! (Don't read the book!)
Lawrence of Arabia

This topic has been moved to the better-suited "Film Awards, Festivals, and Lists" forum...

Thank you very much for listing this and for linking this site. This looks like a great resource.

To go into a little more detail, I work primarily with youth and young adults, and in that work I use a ton of movies. However, we are doing a two week series where four of us are all teaching in different classrooms on the Ten Commandments. These classes will be available for all ages but will primarily be adults. I was asked to use the style that I normally do which is to use video clips from movies or TV or possibly songs.

The first week we are looking at the first four commandments and the second week the last six. I cannot find many movies that really focus on the Ten Commandments, so instead I want to use that first week to look at the backgound... what they were delivered from and the ideas behind why God gave them the Ten Commandments in the first place but also look at how these rules or commandments differ from different rules that have been handed down or given or simply posted. That is why I am looking for movies with rules and seeing how those rules are applied and followed or not followed.

I know most of the movies some of you have listed, but not all of them so I will try to look at the others.

Thank you all for your help and I look forward to getting to know some of you through this site.

I'm not allowed to post a new thread, so I thought I would add to this one with the hopes someone might see this. I think I have gotten what I need for the rules, but now I am looking for a movie where someone discovers God amidst other gods. And by this it could be someone who looks around and sees people chasing after money, sex, fame, whatever, and somehow they discover God... I don't know if a movie like this exists I am just seeking something with a focus for the first four commandments. Something where we see or find God in our world and realize that everything else pales in comparison.

Thanks for any help you all can give.

(FWIW, you should be allowed to, now...)

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

I don't know how you would get around the language or overall tone, but I may have one for you. The moment in Pulp Fiction, where Jules is convinced he's witnessed a miracle - that "God came down and stopped those bullets" - is a transforming moment for that character.

Along those same lines (language, violence, and tone) I would suggest Fight Club for the way it first makes nihilism look fun and cool and then turns it on it's head by the end. Edward Norton's character is completely lost and although he does not find God, he at least recognizes that "there's nothing good about my life" or words to that effect.