Expanding Your Creative Consciousness Part 1: Films

According to Bobby G

A huge unlock for me over my life and career has been knowing a lot about a lot of things. People throw the word polymath around a lot, but few genuinely achieve that status. I don’t believe I have, despite knowing a lot about marketing, writing, design, advertising, finance, entrepreneurship, gardening, music, psychology, various sciences, human performance, nutrition, exercise, graphic design history, and human history.

This isn’t a brag article. When I write, I always intend to inspire you to greatness.

We were told as children that curiosity killed the cat. I’m telling you now that was a dangerous lie. Curiosity unleashes joy and your potential.

In part one of three, I’m presenting you with a list of films that I believe you must see. These movies are embedded in our society. Are they the best, most awarded films that make up everyone’s top 100? No. But they’re conversation starters. Some launched entire genres, some are pure creative expression, and some are just classics you’d better know—especially if you want to hang around me.

The late, great David Lynch had the perfect metaphor for our consciousness. His words:

If you have a golf-ball-sized consciousness, when you read a book, you’ll have a golf-ball-sized understanding; when you look out a window, a golf-ball-sized awareness; when you wake up in the morning, a golf-ball-sized wakefulness; and as you go about your day, a golf-ball-sized inner happiness. But if you can expand that consciousness, make it grow, then when you read about that book, you’ll have more understanding; when you look out, more awareness; when you wake up, more wakefulness; as you go about your day, more inner happiness.

Lynch used this metaphor to advocate for Transcendental Meditation, which I practice and advocate for as well. But it also applies more broadly to expanding your consciousness. As the philosopher and educator John Dewey essentially said, you have to put things into your mind to get things out.

This is the classic feed your mind mantra. I’ve written and spoken about this countless times. It’s what fuels our imagination and creativity. And it’s what makes you interesting, well-read, and—more to your interest—more desirable in work and life.

That said, this isn’t a list of films about marketing. It’s a list of films that everyone who cares about marketing should see and know. Again, the reason I recommend this list—and it’s definitely a truncated one—is to help you become more interesting because you’ve expanded your consciousness with cinematic brilliance.

Let’s get to the list.

In no conscious order—but believe me, my subconscious thought this through:

1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
   Director: Quentin Tarantino
   Writers: Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary
   Why watch: Because no film has ever made philosophical burger talk and a glowing briefcase feel this cool.
2. Eraserhead (1977)
   Director: David Lynch
   Writer: David Lynch
   Why watch: It’s the cinematic equivalent of a bizarre midnight fever dream that somehow stays in your head for years.
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
   Director: Stanley Kubrick
   Writers: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke
   Why watch: Because one perfectly thrown bone cut might be the greatest edit in movie history.
4. The Thing (1982)
   Director: John Carpenter
   Writer: Bill Lancaster
   Why watch: It proves that paranoia, snow, and practical effects can create nightmare fuel that never ages.
5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
   Director: Irvin Kershner
   Writers: Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan (story by George Lucas)
   Why watch: It’s the rare sequel that made everything darker, cooler, and infinitely more quotable.
6. Dolemite (1975)
   Director: D’Urville Martin
   Writers: Rudy Ray Moore, Jerry Jones
   Why watch: Rudy Ray Moore’s swagger alone could power a small city.
7. Delicatessen (1991)
   Directors: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro
   Writers: Gilles Adrien, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro
   Why watch: Because only the French could make cannibalism feel oddly whimsical.
8. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
   Director: Roberto Benigni
   Writers: Roberto Benigni, Vincenzo Cerami
   Why watch: A rare film that manages to make you laugh, cry, and rethink life all in one sitting.
9. The Flying Guillotine (1975)
   Director: Ho Meng-hua
   Writer: Ni Kuang
   Why watch: The weapon is exactly what it sounds like—and it’s every bit as wild as you’re imagining.
10. The Seventh Seal (1957)
    Director: Ingmar Bergman
    Writer: Ingmar Bergman
    Why watch: Because a knight playing chess with Death might be the coolest existential image ever filmed.
11. 12 Angry Men (1957)
    Director: Sidney Lumet
    Writer: Reginald Rose
    Why watch: Twelve guys in one room somehow create more tension than most action movies.
12. Watership Down (1978)
    Director: Martin Rosen
    Writer: Martin Rosen
    Why watch: It looks like a sweet bunny cartoon… until it very much isn’t.
13. Fantasia (1940)
    Directors: Multiple (supervised by Walt Disney)
    Writers: Joe Grant, Dick Huemer
    Why watch: Dancing hippos, sorcerer’s hats, and classical music somehow become cinematic magic.
14. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
    Director: Sylvain Chomet
    Writer: Sylvain Chomet
    Why watch: Nearly wordless storytelling that’s weird, charming, and unforgettable.
15. Taxi Driver (1976)
    Director: Martin Scorsese
    Writer: Paul Schrader
    Why watch: Because “You talkin’ to me?” became one of cinema’s most legendary moments.
16. On the Waterfront (1954)
    Director: Elia Kazan
    Writer: Budd Schulberg
    Why watch: Marlon Brando delivers one of the most powerful performances ever captured on film.
17. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
    Director: Guillermo del Toro
    Writer: Guillermo del Toro
    Why watch: A dark fairy tale where the monsters are magical, and the humans are terrifying.
18. Following (1998)
    Director: Christopher Nolan
    Writer: Christopher Nolan
    Why watch: Nolan’s scrappy debut already shows his love of twisty, brain-bending storytelling.
19. Bad Santa (2003)
    Director: Terry Zwigoff
    Writers: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
    Why watch: Billy Bob Thornton plays the most gloriously inappropriate Santa ever put on screen.
20. The Dirty Dozen (1967)
    Director: Robert Aldrich
    Writers: Nunnally Johnson, Lukas Heller
    Why watch: Because sending twelve criminals on a suicide mission is peak classic war-movie energy.

Films I have not seen, that I must watch, as recommended by Alex:

• Burden of Dreams (1982)
  Director: Les Blank
  Writers: Les Blank, Maureen Gosling
  Why watch: A testament of what sheer determination, talent, and a wee bit of delusion can enable you to achieve.

• Taste of Cherry (1997)
  Director: Abbas Kiarostami
  Writer: Abbas Kiarostami
  Why watch: An exploration of mortality and the power of human connection to reconcile even the most difficult of situations.

• Gummo (1997)
  Director: Harmony Korine
  Writer: Harmony Korine
  Why watch: A film that pushes the boundaries of creative storytelling to its absolute limits—a prime example of how a storyteller’s own experiences can inform the work they create.

• Paris, Texas (1984)
  Director: Wim Wenders
  Writer: Sam Shepard (story by Sam Shepard, L. M. Kit Carson, and Walter Donohue)
  Why watch: An extraordinarily beautiful film that explores the subject of redemption and the reclaiming of one’s own destiny.

Like with any highly touted list of “must-dos,” I’m sure you have an opinion. Which is the point! I’d love for you to share that with me. What did I miss, what should I have missed, and what do you recommend I put on my must-watch but haven’t yet list? 

This is a three-part series. I said that already. But if you have been following along with my writing, I have been sharing what I have been watching, reading, and listening to, too. Up next, part two: either my must-do list for listening or reading. I’m thinking of listening, I’ll do tracks and full albums, that will be fun. Though I must admit, the reading list feels daunting…