5. The Reluctant Fundamentalist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouXWUenv5_Y What Is It? Based on a massively popular book that was released back in 2008, The Reluctant Fundamentalist - aside from having a seriously off-putting title - is considered to be somewhat of a modern classic. The story, which concerns a Pakistani Wall Street worker having something of an American crisis, is the stuff of Oscar bait wet dreams. Why You'll Say You'll See It... "The Reluctant what? Fundamentalist? I... Oh, God, yeah, that book. What a great book, huh? Can't wait for the film version. Would make for stunning cinema. Absolutely stunning." Why You Really Want To See It... Admist all the trashy movies that we digest on a constant basis, there's no better way to sound like you're "in the cinematic know" than to have seen something edgy and based on a best-selling book (it's better if it has the word "fundamentalist" in the title). Bonus points, of course, if the movie in question concerns a foreign land or a foreign main character. Your main justification to sit through a movie with this title, then, is to say that you've sat through a movie with this title, and to call up your friend afterwards to have this conversation: "Hey, man, what you up to? Me? Oh, I just went to see The Reluctant Fundamentalist. You've never heard of it? Oh, man, I'll lend you the book, it's stunning." And that's precisely what foreign movies are for, isn't it? Bragging rights.