The images of angels in movies range from funny to meticulous, and it is the latter type of movies about angels that the expectation of ‘Legion’ is like in the fall. But before you watch yet another of the many movies coming out in 2010 about the end of the world, enjoy some other great movies about angels on this list:
Dogma – After ‘Good Will Hunting’, Matthew Damon and Ben Affleck just don’t seem quite sure what to do with each other. So their representation of two fallen angels who destroy existence by proving God (via Alanis Morisette) really makes sense, right? And so one of the most dramatic films about angels you’ll ever see unfolds with a ridiculous storyline nowhere near the scope of ‘Clergy’, and it’s true that the shame of the angry castaway angels doesn’t succeed with their mission; Kevin Smith could have really crucified himself with religious figures if the two angels wanted to end one of his most wonderful films here.
Life is Wonderful – And here is one of the movies here about one of my all time favorite angels: Clarence, angel He is trying to get his wings under Christmas time by saving the stricken George Bailey. This is one of those movies you’re going to see about angels that will forever have kids ringing bells to give angels Christmas presents around the holidays (“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings”).
Wings of Desire – This is one of the most romantic films about angels you will ever see, about an angel guarding our world silently who falls in love with a trapeze artist and the idea of humanity. Another of the popular movies about angels, ‘City of Angels’, is not on this list, because this very beautiful and poetic movie is much better, and it gets good points for its excellent use Peter Falk in the movie ever.
A Guy Named Joe – And here is another film about angels, this kind of romantic and winged. Spencer Tracy fighter plays a pilot who dies and is sent back to Earth as a guardian angel for another pilot…who thought he was in love with a girl to be with him before he died. You’re going to see a bunch of sad movies about angels, but those who believe in guardian angels should enjoy them.
A Matter of Life and Death – This is one of the better movies on this list, about angels leading the heavenly judge. One of Powell and Pressburger’s many beautifully-shot films, a dreamy technical affair with an escalator to heaven and a truly touching love story of how love conquers all (or death). There are of course some annoying plot points (angels run things in heaven like we do on earth, apparently), but this is often considered one of the best British films ever made, and a definite spectacle.
Constantine – And here is one of the best movies about angels…starring Keanu Reeves. He plays a cynical, weird smoking detective (cynicism and chain smoking always walking in hand) who sends half-demons to hell. A film about angels, demons, and half-demons, and Tilda Swinton features the angelic gender-bending angel Gabriel. Like ‘Legion’, it’s one of the darkest films about angels you’ll see, but it also shares its telltale beginning-of-the-year release date.
Prophecy – And here is yet another movie on this list that tries to change the way we think about angels, turning them from guardians into bad warriors. It’s not one of the best movies you’ll ever see, but this movie about a celestial power struggle featuring Eric Stoltz and Christopher Walken as angels is one of the most terrifying of the rare angel genre.
The Bishop’s Wife – Now one of the happier movies about angels on this list. Cary Grant plays the sweetest angel you’ll ever see as Bishop (David Niven). as a cathedral was built. But the Bishop soon noticed that the angel did not help him to create this physical structure, but to repair the cracks in his life. It’s another one of the better guardian angel movies on this list, since you can understand why angels hate people in so many other movies (they always do better than us, and they don’t get paid for it).
A Life Less Ordinary – Here is another film about angels here that tries to be something romantic, about angels playing love in Heaven. In dark romantic comedies those classic kidnapper-falls-in-love-with-kidnapped love stories are known, but when he twists it prodigiously, so as to turn the angels of love into criminals and rapists themselves. For one of the more mind-blowing and “less mainstream” movies about angels you’ll see, check out this star-studded affair with Ewan McGregor, Cameron Diaz, and Holly Hunter.
Angels in the Outfield – This same title was used for two movies about angels and baseball, a 1951 film starring Janet Leigh and Paul Douglas, who receives some heavenly help with his baseball bat (the Pirates) in return for swearing off an evil mind. This is the better of the two movies, but the 1994 remake is one of the few movies about angels that were aimed at kids, about a nursery kid who secretly enjoys into ball games to watch a terrific team, the California Angels. When his estranged father tells him that the family is going to die when “the Angels win,” he takes this letter, prays, and receives a little heavenly help. So whether you are looking for classic about angels or movies about angels for kids. This one title has you covered.
So whether you’re looking for horror movies about angels like Legion or prefer the Guardian Angels variety, there’s sure to be one of the angels on this list that’s bound to be winged (or, in many cases, winged) of the streets.
Sources:
http://www.filmsite.org/fantasyfilms2.html
www.wikipedia.com
