Need New Movie + Video Suggestions

[Peter W. Meek]

Just watched Harper and The Drowning Pool (based on the Ross MacDonald novels) tonight. The direction of Harper was a bit stiff and unrealistic, but TDP was quite a bit better. OK for an evening's entertainment, but Paul Newman has done MUCH better.

It is really funny to see what Hollywood thought young people were doing for entertainment in the early '70s. For $50 they could have hired an actual young person to critique those scenes and get them somewhat accurate. (They might not have been able to show them in theaters, but at least they would have been realistic.)

[Roy Hersh]

Finally! I got around to watching PRECIOUS. Powerful and poignant. What a lunatic of a mother and father she had and amazing how her entire life morphed when she had someone who believed in her and broke down the walls. Big and grotesque wall.

[John M.]

Genre: Drama, Suspense

[John M.]

Genre: Suspense, Drama
Title: Red Rock West
Stars Nicholas Cage, Laura Flynn Boyle and Dennis Hopper. Rather dark movie--Jophn Dahl directs it. A sleeper movie--a heavy dose of noir. One of those where you pretty much know what's going to happen but you stay and watch anyway---and there are twists. About 18 years old.

[Peter W. Meek]

Genre: Suspense, Drama
Title: Red Rock West
Stars Nicholas Cage, Laura Flynn Boyle and Dennis Hopper. Rather dark movie--Jophn Dahl directs it. A sleeper movie--a heavy dose of noir. One of those where you pretty much know what's going to happen but you stay and watch anyway---and there are twists. About 18 years old.

Great movie. If you like Coen Brothers movies, you will probably like this one.

[Roy Hersh]

The Blind Side is a movie worth watching. A true story that is well acted. Admittedly, I have never been a Sandra Bullock fan by any stretch of the imagination, as I find her typically "forgettable" at best. Here she did a stellar job of acting and my favorite scene was when she had walked away from a gang member calling her "bitch" and then got back in his face. Unlikely, but it made the movie a little better. I'm not sure that if you could care less about football, if this would have any real appeal. On the flipside, if you are a fan, I think most would really enjoy this.

Just my

[Eric Menchen]

Watched Julie & Julia this weekend. My wife really enjoyed it, and I thought it was worthwhile.

[Roy Hersh]

Rental last night

Going as far back as: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; I've been a loyal fan of Pedro Almodovar. His slick edits, curvaceous canvas of women, cartoonish characterizations at times and absolutely ribald sense of humor in his flicks; has kept me watching one after the other for two+ decades now. His latest film, was one that took me a while to latch onto although it is now stocked by Netflix.

Broken Embraces is an interesting character study, centered on two protagonists and one is the uber-voluptuous Penelope Cruz who just gets hotter as she ages. She's been part of the Almodovar "entourage" for many years now and possibly her best films have been directed by him (Volver for sure!). Anyway, if you don't mind reading your films and some interesting plot diversions, along with absolutely tragic and bizarre elements, this is a fine film that deserves to be seen twice. The first time to catch all of the dialogue, the second for the brilliant imagery and classic Almodovar edits that harken back to some of his early films.

2009 A-

[Espen S.]

Yay, a movie thread!

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Directed by: Terry Gilliam

Genre: Adventure/Mystery

A very strange and bizarre movie about a travelling theater, and a journey into peoples imagination. This is the late Heath Ledger's last movie. If you know Gilliam, you know what you get. If not, beware.. this is not your typical Hollywood movie. A lot of very well-known actors in this one, including Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer, Peter Stormare, and even Tom Waits as the devil.
I found this really fascinating, and I highly recommend it, if you like this kind of movies.

[Glenn E.]

Finally saw The Hurt Locker.

Good movie. I'm not sure that I see what everyone was raving about (and awarding Oscars for), but it was absolutely a very good movie. I was just expecting something epic based on the reviews and the Oscars, and really didn't see it that way.

[Roy Hersh]

I've never been a big Gilliam fan, having first seen Brazil in the mid-1980s in the theater and a few times since .. and others too. But given the amazing cast you mentioned, I am absolutely going to rent this one. Thanks for the suggestion. That is exactly the reason I created this thread. I've watched movies suggested by others here too and have found some winners and some, well, not.

As to the Hurt Locker, I enjoyed it very much. Was it Best Picture material? I dunno ... I am not a fan of expanding from 5 to 10 movies a year up for "O" nominations, when the field is so littered with mediocrity to begin with. 95% of the time, when I go to see a movie in the theater, it is not because I've read a review of it. I typically choose my theater going carefully, typically based on director/actor/actress and/or screenwriter. I don't agree with any one film reviewer and no longer bother with newspaper reviews on film. I prefer the classic critic like Pauline Kael, who I find a brilliant evaluator of talent ... although oft disagree with her perceptions, I love her style. Back to Hurt Locker. I think that having heard the hype on this in advance and gone in with unreasonable expectations based on its winning the big O, then it would be hard for it to stand up to that type of scrutiny. I find it very rare that any movie can, very rare. So, that's why I don't read ahead when going in person to see it. Renting or pay-per, then that's a different story. But I still say, that knowing too much about a movie is going to kill the vast majority of even the great ones. I like the element of surprise when watching any fine film. That said, I liked the Hurt Locker quite a bit ... but knew nothing before seeing it. In years where there were only 5 selections for Best Pic, I would never have voted for this as the winner.

[Dylan Howard]

I saw Law Abiding Citizen, unfortunately. Its a must miss! Glad it was free...

[Andy Velebil]

Finally saw The Hurt Locker.

Good movie. I'm not sure that I see what everyone was raving about (and awarding Oscars for), but it was absolutely a very good movie. I was just expecting something epic based on the reviews and the Oscars, and really didn't see it that way.

I really think this movie appeals to a more narrow audience. More specifically, anyone who's been in a combat zone or any other field of work where you've dealt with people trying to hurt or kill you. Or others who've had to deal with the psychological aftermath their loved ones have experienced. There's a psychological side to the movie that many could really never truly understand unless they've been in similar situations and that's why I think some people didn't like it or were only so-so about it. It's so hard to express that into a movie where the general public would understand it, but the Hurt Locker did one of the better jobs IMO.

[Marc J.]

The other day we rented Mongol and I was very impressed by it. Basically this film documents the early years of Genghis Khan - before he set out to conquer the known world. It was a very interesting story and the cinematography was outstanding. At the end of the movie I felt as though I had a much better understanding of why he felt so compelled to do what he did in later life.

Marc

[Andy Velebil]

The other day we rented Mongol and I was very impressed by it. Basically this film documents the early years of Genghis Khan - before he set out to conquer the known world. It was a very interesting story and the cinematography was outstanding. At the end of the movie I felt as though I had a much better understanding of why he felt so compelled to do what he did in later life.

Marc

Someone told him he could no longer have Port?

[Roy Hersh]

Here is why I don't read up on movies ahead of time. Last night I watched INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, a fine film by Tarantino. Not only was I not prepared for this to be another film on the Nazi era, but had no idea how darkly funny this movie was going to be too. Just when you think there could never be a fresh idea when it comes to depicting Nazis on film ... this movie departs into a very different realm. Watching scalps being removed and worse, may be very troublesome for some viewers who shun from violent images.

[Derek T.]

Brilliant film. I watched it at the cinema a few monts ago and had no idea what i was walking into. Humour, drama humanity issues, etc, etc, etc - it's got the lot. I think the guy who won the Oscar for it really deserved it for palying a brilliant part.

[Espen S.]

I don't like to read up on movies either, except for those you just can't avoid, with huge trailers everywhere. Some of my favourite movies are the ones that caught me completely off-guard and blew me away.
Inglorious was one of those. I know Tarantino, and this is really his style, but still... I couldn't even imagine something like this.

Speaking of nazis, you probably won't find this anywhere in the states, but if you do, I highly recommend it. A Norwegian nazi-zombie movie called "Død snø" (Dead Snow). Extremely violent and funny, and very original. Don't watch if you can't stand lots of violence and blood. (By the way, can you Americans see the "Ø" letter ?)

Another one that really blew me away is a French movie from Jean-Pierre Jeunet called "The city of lost children". Find a subtitled version and watch that. NOT the dubbed one, it just doesn't work at all. A surreal futuristic fantasy movie, some kind of bizarre children's story. Great if you have as strange humour as me.

[Peter W. Meek]

(By the way, can you Americans see the "Ø" letter ?)

I see both the UC and lc 'barred O' on a Mac/Safari, although many websites fail to show special characters properly with that combo.

[Glenn E.]

(By the way, can you Americans see the "Ø" letter ?)

I can see it fine, but that's because I have virtually every possible alphabet installed on my computer. Off the top of my head I can't remember what was installed by default, but since Windows is a very global operating system it wouldn't surprise me if it were on all Windows 7 computers by default.