If you missed these excellent Top Ten recent releases to inspire social change, add them to your online video queue or head down to your nearest video store, grab some microwave popcorn, and let the inspiration begin!

Can movies inspire real change? Of course they can! Films change people, who in turn change the world. Although most folks go to the movies for entertainment, film can affect your tastes and preferences, your desires, your ethical and political views, and in some cases, even your perception of things like time and space. On a macro level, films can highlight important issues in a world where visual media has become a predominant source of knowledge and information.

Watching movies with a message makes your world a little bit bigger than it was before, but if you’re like me and have a busy schedule, it can be hard to make time to see every great film that comes out each week. Thank goodness for DVDs! Don’t forget to at Ecoencore.org to find out how you can donate your used DVDs to help out some of your favorite environmental causes.

1) Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington? - Frank Popper’s excellent documentary about Jeff Smith, a political science professor at Washington University who decides to run for congress in 2004. Popper follows the engaging young candidate on the campaign trail, and proves that an unknown individual with no financial backing can make a difference.

2) Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man ” Whether or not you’re a friend of Ralph’s, this is a great documentary about the professional and personal life of Ralph Nader. The film uses interviews and archival footage to present an in-depth portrait of one of the most controversial figures in American politics and consumer activism.

3) Helvetica ” thoughts on what the font might be that you’re sending your emails out in? Chances are it’s Helvetica. Not only do we see it on our computers, but on street signs, corporate logos, and letter writing programs. This unique documentary takes us on a trip through the history of the most popular font on the planet, and offers us an inside view of its development and universal appeal.

4) Into Great Silence ” This prize-winning film, directed by Philip Groening, depicts the beautiful and austere Grande Chartreuse monastery, where resident monks break their daily silence only to pray and sing.

5) Peaceful Warrior ” This inspiring drama is based on the true story and best-selling autobiographical novel by gymnastic superstar Dan Millman, who discovers a world of wisdom and spiritual understanding after sustaining an injury that changes his life forever.

6) Protagonist ” The lives of a martial arts student, a bank robber, a German tourist and an “ex-gay” evangelist come together in this engaging documentary based on the dramatic structure of the Greek tragedian Euripides.

7) Freedom Writers ” A teacher (Hillary Swank) leads a group of at-risk students on a challenging school project: to study The Diary of Anne Frank, and then use this history as a lesson while journaling about their own troubled lives, in an attempt to break the cycles of despair that threaten their futures.

8 ) This is England ” This semiautobiographical film, directed by Shane Meadows, is the story of a young boy who falls in with a gang of skinheads after his father is killed in the Falkland War. Set in 1983, this drama shows how the anger and pain associated with loss can make once susceptible to many of the negative elements that seem to be beyond our control.

9) No End In Sight ” This Oscar-nominated documentary by Charles Ferguson traces the decisions that led up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and the handling of the occupation by the Bush administration.

10) Ten Canoes ” Lessons of fidelity, tradition, and family loyalty are explored in this beautifully filmed “cinematic walkabout,” told in the Aboriginal language of Ganalbingu, depicting the ancestral fable about warrior Ridjimiraril’s sibling rivalry for his bride’s hand.