EMPATHY's
Popular Films
for interpersonal and small group communication classes

In this section we provide recommendations of popular films, documentaries, and television shows which have instructional value. We will also post instructions for assignments using these resources.

Instructional videotapes, films, and audiotapes will normally be posted in "Other web sources" under the most appropriate subject heading, or in the instructional video section.

Page Index Assignments | Distributors/Reviewers | Films

 

Assignments
 
  • Film review assignment (Laura Joyce, Prince Georges Community College, Maryland) uses film "Twelve Angry Men" and questions the role of intrapersonal communication in decision-making. This assignment can be adapted to other films and communication issues.

 

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Distributors/Reviewers

 

  • All-Media Guide is a good web source for information (description) of movies and music. http://allmovie.com/
  • Teach with Movies: Character Development Index (James A. Frieden and Deborah Elliott). This is an index of films divided into 60+ category using nonacademic terms (e.g., ambition, cheating, friendship, self-esteem, suicide, etc.). The site is "family oriented" and designed to help concerned parents. If you go to the site’s home page, you can link to an interesting page of not-recommended films; the explanations are brief and amusing. The site seems to be well-maintained. http://teachwithmovies.org/character-development-index.htm

 

 

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Film/video (click on title for more information)
 
  • 12 Angry Men (1997) intrapersonal, group
  • 12 Monkeys (1995)
  • 187
  • Accidental Tourist (1988)
  • Agnes of God (1985)
  • All the Right Moves (1983)
  • Babe (The Pig) (1995) gender
  • Bed of Roses (1996) interpersonal
  • Ben Hur (1959)
  • Big Night (1996) intercultural, family, interpersonal
  • Birdcage, The (19??) nonverbal
  • Birdy (1984)
  • Blood in Blood Out: Bound By Honor (1993)
  • Born Yesterday (1993)
  • Bottlerocket (1996) group, interpersonal
  • Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  • Breakfast Club, The (1985)
  • Bridges of Madison County (1995) relationships
  • Broadcast News (1987)
  • Bugsy (1991)
  • Bull Durham (1988)
  • Butcher's Wife (1991) interpersonal
  • Casablanca (1942)
  • Cat People (1982)
  • Children of a Lesser God (1986) interpersonal, hearing impaired
  • Children Of Heaven, The (1999) family, intrapersonal
  • Citizen Kane (1941)
  • Clerks (1994)
  • Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
  • Cool Runnings (1993) systems theory
  • Copland
  • Corrina, Corrina (1994) family, interracial
  • Corruptor, The (1999) inter-ethnic, relationships
  • Cruel Intentions (1999) relationships
  • Curse Of The Cat People (1944)
  • Dangerous Liaisons (1988) interpersonal
  • Dangerous Minds (1995) school, interpersonal, intercultural
  • Death of a Salesman (1985)
  • Deep End of the Ocean, The (1999) family, relationships
  • Deer Hunter (1978)
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) nonverbal
  • Double Happiness (1994) code switching
  • Driving Miss Daisy (1989) inter-racial, interpersonal
  • East of Eden (1995)
  • Eight Men Out (1988)
  • Elizabeth
  • Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain, The (1995)
  • Falcon and the Snowman, The (1985)
  • Falling Down (1993)
  • Falling in Love (1984) nonverbal
  • Fame (1980)
  • Family Thing, A (1966) interracial, interpersonal
  • Fargo (1996) interpersonal
  • Fat City (1972)
  • Fifth Element, The
  • First Wive's Club (1996) gender, conflict
  • Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) nonverbal
  • Full Metal Jacket  (1987)
  • Full Monty, The
  • Gettysburg (1993)
  • Ghost (1990)
  • Go Fish (1994)
  • Gods and Monsters
  • Gods Must Be Crazy, The (1981) intercultural
  • Good Will Hunting
  • GoodFellas (1990)
  • Grand Canyon (1991)
  • Groundhog Day (1993)
  • Gung Ho (1986) intercultural
  • Harold and Maude (1971) intergenerational
  • Hero
  • High School
  • His Girl Friday (1940)
  • House of Spirits
  • How Stella Got Her Groove Back
  • Howard's End (1992)
  • In and Out
  • Interview with a Vampire (1994)
  • Jackie Brown
  • Jerry Maguire (1996) interpersonal
  • Joy Luck Club, The (1993) family, intercultural, gender
  • Kiss of Death (1995)
  • L. A. Confidential (1997) interpersonal
  • LA Story (1991) interpersonal
  • Lady Jane (1985)
  • League of Their Own, A (1992) gender
  • Lolita (1961)
  • Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
  • Lost in Yonkers (1993)
  • Major League (1989) gender
  • Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, The (1962)
  • Marathon Man (1976)
  • Martha and Ethel (1994) family, relationships
  • Meet Joe Black (1998) interpersonal
  • Memories of Me (1988)
  • Mi Vida Loca (1994)
  • Midnight Clear, A (1992)
  • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) interpersonal
  • Mighty, The (1998) interpersonal, disabilities
  • Mississippi Masala (1992) cross-cultural, inter-ethnic
  • Modern Times (Chaplin) (1936) organizational
  • Money Pit, The (1986)
  • Moonstruck (1987)
  • Mr. Baseball (1992) intercultural
  • Murder My Sweet (1944)
  • My Fellow Americans
  • Mystic Pizza (1988)
  • Native Son (1986)
  • Not Without My Daughter (1991) culture shock
  • Odd Couple, The (1968)
  • Officer and a Gentleman, An (1982)
  • On the Waterfront (1954)
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
  • One True Thing
  • Only the Lonely (1991) interpersonal, family, inter-ethnic
  • Outsiders, The (1983)
  • Passage to India (1984) interpersonal, intercultural
  • Patch of Blue, A (1965)
  • Phenomenon (1996) interpersonal
  • Pleasantville
  • Purple Rose of Cairo, The (1985)
  • Rain Man (1988)
  • Reality Bites (1994)
  • Rear Window (1954)
  • Reds
  • Remains of the Day (1993)
  • Rio Bravo (1959) group, interpersonal
  • Room With a View, A (1986) family, interpersonal
  • Roommates (1995) family, generational
  • Rosewood (1997) group, inter-racial
  • Rounders
  • Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1998) group, conflict
  • Rumble Fish (1983)
  • Safe (1995)
  • Saints and Sinners
  • Scent of a Woman (1974)
  • School Ties (1992)
  • Seize the Day  (1996) interpersonal
  • Seven Year Itch, The (1955)
  • Seven Years in Tibet (1997) interpersonal
  • Silent Fall (1994)
  • Singles (1992) group, interpersonal
  • Single Spark (1996) intrapersonal, interpersonal
  • Six Days, Seven Nights (1998) relationship
  • Smoke (1995) group
  • Smoke Signals (1998) relationship, inter-ethnic
  • Sneakers (1992)
  • Soul Food (1997) family
  • Stand and Deliver (1987)
  • Stand By Me (1986)
  • Stealing Heaven (1988)
  • Steel Magnolia's (1989) interpersonal, conflict
  • Step Mom
  • Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) interpersonal
  • Straw Dogs (1971)
  • Sum of Us, The (1994) family, gender
  • Switch (1991)
  • Tender Mercies (1992) family, interpersonal
  • Terms of Endearment (1983) family, interpersonal
  • There’s Something About Mary (1998) interpersonal
  • Thousand Acres, A (1997) family, interpersonal, intrapersonal
  • Time to Kill, A (1996) argumentation
  • Tootsie (1982)
  • Trading Places (1983)
  • Trainspotting
  • True Colors (1991)
  • True Romance, A (1993)
  • Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991)
  • Truman Show, The
  • Twigs (a play) (1984)
  • Ulee's Gold (1997) family
  • Unbearable Lightness of Being, The (1988)
  • Untouchables, The (1987)
  • Van, The (1996) interpersonal
  • Wag the Dog (1997) group, intrapersonal
  • War Games (1983)
  • War of the Roses (1989)
  • Water Land (1992)
  • Wedding Banquet, The (1993)
  • When Harry Met Sally (1989) interpersonal, nonverbal
  • Where the Day Takes You (1992) group
  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
  • Whole Town's Talking, The (1935)
  • Woman Under The Influence, A (1974)
  • Year of Living Dangerously, The (1982) interpersonal style
  • You’ve Got Mail (1998) mediated, interpersonal
  • Zebra Head (1992) cross-cultural, family
  • Zero Effect (1998) interpersonal

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