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by Kaos-Industries 1695 days ago
Great suggestions here, many that I've either never heard of or never considered - I look forward to checking them out and please keep them coming, I'm hopeful this can turn into a masterthread to keep coming back and discovering motivational media.

Should maybe have done this earlier but adding a few of the ones I've already watched.

Technical Motivation:

  - Silicon Valley (TV show, 2014-2019)
  - The Social Network (2010)
  - The Imitation Game (2014)
  - Halt & Catch Fire (TV show, 2014-2017)
  - Iron Man (2008)
  - Primer (2004)
  - The Martian (2015)
  - Hidden Figures (2016)
  - Flight of the Phoenix (1965 original or 2004 remake)
"Sales" Motivation:

  - The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
  - Door to Door (2002) - Underrated straight-to-TV film about a man with cerebral palsy who wants to become a door-to-door salesman
  - Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - Pure sales, persistence and Pacino 
  - Salesman (1969 documentary) (As above, but instead of Pacino it's real door-to-door bible salesmen and what they go through)
Honorable Mentions:

- Mr Robot (2015-2019): probably the most thrilling and technically accurate depiction of technology and hacking ever put to a screen, but as someone else said it's also very dystopian and depressing, and not too motivational except in the brief bursts that they show Elliot setting up a hack. Either way no VisualBasic GUIs here.

- Flash of Genius (2008): about the inventor of the modern windshield wiper who had it stolen from Ford and sued them. The premise is motivational, but I personally found it more of a cautionary tale on what you can lose for your principles when you go up against the giants.

1 comments

A similar one to Flash of Genius, which I didn't include on my motivational list because it is also a cautionary tale, but which also deserves mention is Tucker: the man and his dream (1988).