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Intrepid Homoludens 07-13-2005 11:44 PM

Recent movies seen
 
Well, big R and I are consummating our recent Netflix membership and I'm finally catching up on my movies, so I recommend....

The Aviator - Beautiful cinematography; straightforward, vanilla direction by Martin Scorcese; performance by Cat Blanchett of the legendary Kate Hepburn worthy of the Oscar she won for it; Leo diCaprio, despite his nice enough performance, was really badly miscast as Howard Hughes - he just doesn't possess the chiseled good looks, stature, and charisma (he's too damn young looking for the part!); Kate Beckingsale as Ava Gardner is pathetic, and more so Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow.

Babette's Feast - Easily among my favourites of all time. This is an homage to humanistic sacrifice and the power of art to elevate the soul. To lump it as merely a 'food film' is to be stupid, it soars far beyond that.

Tampopo - Japanese director Juzo Itami's social commentary and satire on various fascinations, obsessions, and symbolisms on food. A widowed mother undertakes a near impossible quest to make the perfect bowl of ramen noodles, thus recruiting a ragtag band of gourmet chefs and gourmands to help her out. It's on my list of all time favourites as well, and is still as funny and sensually provocative as ever since I first saw it well over ten years ago.

We need to fill in our queues some more. We got Spirited Away and Million Dollar Baby waiting. Does anyone recommend anything else?

Fairygdmther 07-14-2005 12:12 AM

Trep, I'm afraid I have nothing yet to add, but I am interested in this thread as I just this week got my first films from Netflix. I am woefully behind on movies, so I have much catching up to do.

Lynsie

Intrepid Homoludens 07-14-2005 12:25 AM

:D Welcome to the 21st century of movie renting. Netflix boasts over 45,000 titles, so you'll definitely be busy for a while.

squarejawhero 07-14-2005 12:35 AM

I've just seen Spanglish, which was better than it had any right to be. I've got The Life Aquatic to watch, too... and also saw Steamboy, which was great, and Kung Fu Hustle, which was superb.

Ooh, one of my fave films recently was Zatoichi. Great, absurd, art/comedy/samurai film from Takeshi Kitano.

Intrepid Homoludens 07-14-2005 12:58 AM

I just remembered, I got House Of Flying Daggers on queue as well.

samIamsad 07-14-2005 01:42 AM

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest for the first time in years. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! :9~


Salo... Not. :D

Glenn Epic 07-14-2005 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens
I just remembered, I got House Of Flying Daggers on queue as well.

Can you please explain to me how netflicks works. Do you pay per movie? or weekly/monthly/yearly? I assume you download the movies, if so how big are the files? how fast are the download speeds? Thanks in advance.

gillyruless 07-14-2005 05:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenn Epic
Can you please explain to me how netflicks works. Do you pay per movie? or weekly/monthly/yearly? I assume you download the movies, if so how big are the files? how fast are the download speeds? Thanks in advance.

Glenn, Netflix is not a DL service. It's a DVD rental via snail mail. They actually mail you a physical DVD. There is a monthly fee. Once you pick your movies, they mail the DVDs to you. When you return the DVDs, they they ship out the next DVDs that you selected and placed in the rental queue. I love Netflix because it bay far has the best and biggest foreign movie selections of any major service.

Ninja Dodo 07-14-2005 05:47 AM

I really didn't get House of Flying Daggers...

Spoiler:
the love triangle was overdone, the fighting repetitive, the strings showing and what's with the constant attempted raping on the ground? That scene is in the movie like three times. The ending I thought was an exercise in futility. The scene with the drums in the beginning is great but after that it just goes downhill completely. "Are you for real?" she asks. Crappy translation or crappy dialogue... who knows? :shifty:

I much prefer Hero and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Some films I recommend though (don't know if you've seen these): Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Les Visiteurs (hilarious French comedy)... and kinda new but also Madagascar and Batman Begins. Are they out of cinemas yet where you are?

A good Swedish film btw is "****ing Åmål" directed by Lukas Moodyson. It was released under the lame title "Show me love" in the US, I believe. On that note, "Jägarna" is pretty damn good too.

insane_cobra 07-14-2005 06:16 AM

Just saw Donnie Darko for the fourth or fifth time. Anyone watched the director's cut? Which one do you prefer?

gillyruless 07-14-2005 06:23 AM

City of God - A powerful movie. It does feature some brutal scenes so City of God is not a movie you want to see when you feel like getting warm and cozy. Don't let that discourage you though, it's as beautiful as it is violent and brutal. Some people called it Brazilian Goodfellas and I for one think that this is even better than Goodfellas. One of the Netflix reviewers said how physically beautiful people look and I have to agree with her. There are so many gorgeous people featured in the movie, you almost want to move to Brazil!


Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, ... and Spring
- One of the most beautifully shot and framed movies that I have seen in years. It's a Korean movie, and I must say that at the end of the movie, I felt proud that Korean movie industry is now capable of producing classics. You would get more out of the movie if you are familiar with the basic concepts of the Buddhism and Asian sentiments, but even if you don't, you will be moved by natural and spiritual beauty that the movie presents. You might also want to check out another Korean masterpiece with Buddhist theme, Why has Bodhi Dharma Left for the East?.

pinkgothic 07-14-2005 06:41 AM

Haven't yet, but am going to see Madagaskar today :D

Ninja Dodo 07-14-2005 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gillyruless
City of God - A powerful movie. It does feature some brutal scenes so City of God is not a movie you want to see when you feel like getting warm and cozy. Don't let that discourage you though, it's as beautiful as it is violent and brutal. Some people called it Brazilian Goodfellas and I for one think that this is even better than Goodfellas. One of the Netflix reviewers said how physically beautiful people look and I have to agree with her. There are so many gorgeous people featured in the movie, you almost want to move to Brazil!

Actually, yeah... that's a great film.

squarejawhero 07-14-2005 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo
I really didn't get House of Flying Daggers...

Spoiler:
the love triangle was overdone, the fighting repetitive, the strings showing and what's with the constant attempted raping on the ground? That scene is in the movie like three times. The ending I thought was an exercise in futility. The scene with the drums in the beginning is great but after that it just goes downhill completely. "Are you for real?" she asks. Crappy translation or crappy dialogue... who knows? :shifty:

I much prefer Hero and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

Some films I recommend though (don't know if you've seen these): Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Les Visiteurs (hilarious French comedy)... and kinda new but also Madagascar and Batman Begins. Are they out of cinemas yet where you are?

A good Swedish film btw is "****ing Åmål" directed by Lukas Moodyson. It was released under the lame title "Show me love" in the US, I believe. On that note, "Jägarna" is pretty damn good too.

So glad I'm not the only one who thinks Flying Daggers was overhyped. I completely agree, you found the same problems with it as I.

Spoiler:
But you missed out the comedy fight at the end where they repeatedly hit eachother like a scene from Vic and Bob.
:D

Once A Villain 07-14-2005 08:17 AM

I've seen all the films you mentioned Trep (what kind of film buff would I be otherwise?), and frankly I just can't wait to hear your thoughts on Million Dollar Baby. It's not that Tampopo and Babette's Feast aren't worth discussing, it's just that I've discussed them many times over the years already. Update me when you see Million Dollar Baby. If the film doesn't move you, then I'm not sure you have a pulse. :P

By the way gilly, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring was my favorite film of last year (even though it was made in 2003, the states didn't get a release until 2004). City of God was also very good.

smashing 07-14-2005 08:22 AM

I don't know anything about this netfix thingie, cos I'm really half the globe away from most of you guys here. A nice show I did watch last year was Collateral. The actions' so-so, but the conversation are rather interesting, touching aspects of existentialism and even a bit of I-ching. Definitely recommended if you'd yet to watch it.

Once A Villain 07-14-2005 08:24 AM

Yes! Collateral was a great surprise. I expected a slick Michael Mann actioner, but what I got was a rather intelligent film with some action scenes.

smashing 07-14-2005 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Once A Villain
Yes! Collateral was a great surprise. I expected a slick Michael Mann actioner, but what I got was a rather intelligent film with some action scenes.

I love the show really, for I'm no action lover. Thought I was going into the theater to watch a thriller, well at least thwt was the preconceptions I'd held from the trailer. Boy! Was I surprise to find little mystery, little action, and a lot of deep thoughts!

SakSquash 07-14-2005 08:29 AM

Net flix is awesome. Every few months or so I sign up, rent a bunch of dvds, burn the......er.....watch them, and send them right back out. Lately, i've been buying dvds at flea markets for $5 a pop, and i've recently seen Timeline, which isn't nearly as bad as most critics make it out to be, because it's just a fun movie. Watership Down is pretty good as well, but watch it before you read the book. Whenever I read a book before I see a movie, the movie seems like it's rushing to fit things in to a smaller time frame. Speaking of which, the Count of Monte Cristo is a good movie as well. It's a lot different than the book, but good in its own right.

Right now, i'm just trying to work my way through The Dead Zone...man, great show.

Once A Villain 07-14-2005 08:36 AM

Trep, since you asked about recommendations I would need to know if you and/or big R have any limitations imposed at all in your film viewing. You probably don't, but I just have to ask because I run into people all the time who won't watch anything made before 1970 or that may be in black and white. Do any of these things apply to you? Until I know the answer to that, I can recommend two movies off the top of my head that are modern, wonderful, and have excellent Criterion DVD editions (you may have already seen these):

1. Do the Right Thing - Easily Spike Lee's best film (no contest really). Just don't judge it during the cheesy opening credits, it's a brilliant movie.

2. Short Cuts - A great Robert Altman film (it inspired Magnolia, another great movie) from the mid-90s that weaves together the stories of about 20 characters from all walks of life.


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