movie recommendations

[Fiach]

i liked the gestapo guy , he was awesome, pretty good film, but i was expecting a dirty dozen movie with more action, but once i got into it i really enjoyed it alot.

[mmosu]

Yeah, agreed on that actor Fiach, I don't recall his name but he played the part extremely well.  In fact I felt the acting was very strong overall, especially with the number of fake accents some of the characters went through.  It was believable, and that's what good acting is all about at the end of the day.  My favorite character was the one they called the "Bear Jew" - I loved the scene where he used the Nazi officers head for batting practice, that would be a nasty way to go but he deserved it  ;D

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah, great flick, and as usual with Tarantino's stuff, a long build up to some very intense action, then another long build up. Lots of talking and subtitles, so if that turns you off, you might want to think again about seeing it.

Now, moving up a couple wars, there's "Hurt Locker" which is IMO a must see for EVERYONE.

[Art Blade]

cheers, will keep my eyes peeled for that one, D_B  :)

[mmosu]

I heard Hurt Locker is intense.

[RedRaven]

was going to see Hurt Locker at the weekend but things changed so will be next weekend, read and heard some really good reviews about it, also unusually for a war film its directed by a woman too.  Looking forward to it.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah, I think it's one of the best films I've seen in a few years.

[mandru]

The Flying Karamazov Brothers: The Comedy of Errors.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2702592702804198144#  pt.#1 1:01:51

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2702592702804198144#docid=8492497755937114017  pt.#2 1:08:56

I'm going to apologize in advance for a few reasons.

1. What I'm gong to put forward isn't exactly a movie.

2. While funny it is corny. When I say corny I mean it's whole kernel corn dipped into a batter of corn meal and corn whiskey and deep fried in corn oil corny.

3. Only part of its corniness is how old it is. It was taped in 1987 and while the video quality suffers it is passable.

4. Bad news: It's not exactly a movie and it's Shakespeare. Good news it's available as a free download so if the overload of corniness pushes you into anaphylactic shock you can shut it off, seek emergency medical attention and you are not out the price of a movie ticket!

5. Did I mention it is corny?

OK, now that I've probably scared you completely away I have try to win you back.

The Flying Karamazov Brothers are a comedy juggling troupe that got their start as street performers and worked their way up through Renaissance Fairs, TV variety shows, some commercials and even played the band of desert nomads that captured actor Danny DeVito and taught him to fire walk in the Michael Douglass' movie The Jewel of the Nile.

These irreverent, irrelevant pranksters get inside this classic Shakespearean play and stretch it so far out of shape that you wouldn't recognize it except for the persistence of that quick paced pun riddled archaic dialect it was written in.

There were parts of this that struck me as being so funny I almost split a gut laughing.

One sight gag that was paired up with the line "Behold a man much maligned" and when I recognized the person who was standing on the balcony instead of the innocent brother, who in any other production would have been there, caused me to laugh so hard I missed several of the following lines of dialog.

It may not be your cup of tea and you may have to shut it off without reaching the end but I am willing to bet that you will get a couple good laughs if only in the first 5 minutes of pt #1.

Oh by the way, the clown with the broom in that first 5 minutes, for those of you that saw Jewel of the Nile, you may recognize him as the Jewel.   ;)

I saw this when it first aired on one of the PBS channels (Public Broadcasting Stations sponsored in part by the U.S. government) and thought it was lost forever. I only stumbled back across it two nights ago while trying to describe a performance I'd seen in the early '80s by the Flying Karamazov Brothers at a street fair in Seattle. When I tried to Google them I hit the jackpot!

Hey! If Shakespeare had known about cream pies you can bet he would have included them into many of his scripts.  ;D

[Art Blade]

Phew :)

I've just finished watching Part1. "Hey, where're you going, this is my monologue!" :)
And "on doomsday, she'd burn a week longer than the rest of the world." omg  ;D 

Quite artistic, flawless, funny (It didn't make me laugh out loud, but it kept me smiling most of the time) and a strange mixture of circus with stage play.

I liked the clown the most :)

[mandru]

Quite artistic, flawless, funny (It didn't make me laugh out loud, but it kept me smiling most of the time)

People are more likely to laugh out loud in a group than they are when they see the same thing alone.

That group dynamic was something I hadn't considered when posting this. These guys were street performers and having been to several of their live shows where the audience was a spontaneous flash crowd, I've probably been infected and preconditioned by contagious laughter syndrome.

If I see them do something silly I laugh because I've experienced them while being part of a crowd. I guess I have that auto response already programmed into me. That reaction may not be transmittable through video. Pity, out loud laughter is a great exercise for the heart.   ;D

In the first five minutes of the start that I mentioned in my post above, where the clown puts his hat on and it seemingly disappears, his startled reaction when he finds the hat again almost caused me to pitch over backwards in my chair I was laughing so hard.

Having already been exposed to their over the top silliness I have no auto-immune protection against it. Live contact contamination etched my threshold of resistance away long ago.  ;)

[Art Blade]

At least I've watched the entire first part (one hour) to get an idea, but I couldn't motivate myself to go for the second part in a row. Probably a thing to remember, you know, for rainy days :)

[Art Blade]

I've just watched Inglorious Basterds on DVD.

Beforehand, especially to RedRaven: This might be something for you as there is a lot of German involved, with subtitles. The German is authentic, apart from strong accents imitating Hitler and Goebbels way of speaking and the fact that they used language spoken back then (avoiding fashion words and modern expressions). They really used real German actors (finally someone did)! So for me it was fun to watch, language-wise, and I thought the French at the beginning and sometime in between sounded rather accurate, but I can't tell if it really was.

The film itself made me feel uncomfortable most of the time, for two reasons. In general, that is good because I believe it was intentional.

1) The way the movie presented the inhumanly evil, insidious and sadistic Nazi called "Jew Hunter," Col. Hans Landa (Austrian -- not German-- actor Christoph Waltz) with his great rethorical ability and at the same time great mimic and acting was a complete success.

2) The way they set it up was, well, outrageous. But that is Tarantino style, and I can live with it. I never felt uncomfortable with his style before, but the mixture of using his own style along with that kind of subject and of course the way he presented it was not comedy. It was a tragedy, a drama. There were a couple of moments that bore some dark humor, but it really is not a comedy. Something new in Tarantino. Usually he's so over the top (and under, as well) that you expect nothing less, but hey, here he treated a sensible theme and a historic subject. Weird, crazy, outrageous, but not funny.

Like that, this movie actually made me feel something again, which had gone lost with all those cliché movies out there. So, I am thankful, he managed to show less horror (the brutal scenes were over-the-top and almost a welcome relief) but make the audience feel more of the horror of Nazi-Deutschland than most of the flicks out there do.

Kudos, Tarantino  :-X

[RedRaven]

Cheers Art, been wanting to see it for a while now. My first exposure to Tarantino was Pulp Fiction, went to see it at the cinema and when the end credits started to roll I went straight back to the ticket booth for the next showing, then went again the day after with a few friends who had not seen it. Since then I've been waiting for him to tackle a war film. Now just need to see it.

Finally got to see The Hurt Locker at the weekend, very good film. Not like any other war film I've seen. Dont want to say too much about it so as not to spoil it for those who have not seen it. I do recommend it to anyone who enjoys films of that genre. If for no other reason than is set in a current and on-going conflict, unlike the vast majority of war films which are 'after the fact'. There has been a few films made and released set within the second Iraq conflict but would say this is the best one yet. Director Kathryn Bigelow also directed Strange Days & K-19 Widowmaker. Both good films too.
Will certainly be getting the DVD as soon as its released. :-X

[Art Blade]

did you just mention strange days?! I love that film!  :-X

[Art Blade]

FYI
I've just merged the "Inglorious Basterds" topic.
It blends in well here and we won't be posting about various films in two different topics (which we had just started). Enjoy the talk and keep posting :)
Thank you

[RedRaven]

did you just mention strange days?! I love that film!  :-X

Sure did, was first film saw Tom Sizemore in, he is a good and under-rated actor I reckon. Think he is really good in Saving Private Ryan & Black Hawk Down as well as Strange Days. And speaking of Strange Days, wonder how long it will be until the 'wet-ware' technology in it will become THE way to play games ???
If any of you like Sci-fi films that are dark, mature story based as opposed to fancy effects and expensive sets then you should check it out. It is a very good example of 'near-future' possibilities (although a little out of date as its set on new years eve 1999, but it was made way back in 1995).

And as a bonus its got Vincent D`Onofrio in it too :-X

(ps- cheers for merging topics Art, meant to suggest it yesterday but forgot!)

[Art Blade]

I've meant to merge it earlier, but as long as we kept to that particular film, I let it go on, and now that we started deviating, it really was about time  ;D

The film Strange Days is so, so cool. Still is! Absolutely must-see. A film of near equal qualities regarding dark future springs to mind, called Blade Runner. 1982, and still cool (cult) :)

[fragger]

The film Strange Days is so, so cool. Still is! Absolutely must-see. A film of near equal qualities regarding dark future springs to mind, called Blade Runner. 1982, and still cool (cult) :)

Some great recommendations guys, I haven't seen Strange Days, The Hurt Locker or Inglorious Basterds, but I've been encouraged by your comments here to do so.

Art mentioned Blade Runner, that's a film I really like too, although I can't see L.A. looking like that  just 9 years from now ;D There's a Director's cut of it, but as far as I can recall it doesn't add a great deal to the film's running time. Still worth checking out though.

It's funny how time catches up with films set in the future, only to reveal how far off the mark they end up being. Nobody can predict the future of course, but sometimes I feel that they don't set these films far enough in the future. But then, I remember when 2001: A Space Odyssey came out around 1968. I was just a kid, but the "Space Race" was in top gear, the moon landings were imminent and at the time the idea didn't seem unreasonable at all that by 2001 there's be moon bases, Pan-Am space shuttles and orbital Hiltons. In fact, at that time I fully expected that by this  time I'd be able to take a holiday on the moon. Now it's 2010, and there's no moon bases, no orbital Hiltons, no Pan-Am space shuttles, and no Pan-Am. Alas... another childhood dream shattered...

[RedRaven]

although I can't see L.A. looking like that  just 9 years from now ;D 

Probably look more like Waterworld !


Seriously though, if you enjoy Bladerunner then I reckon you will like Strange Days. As its set in 1999 its not filled with hover cars and laser blasters.


When the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" came out watched the original with a friend before we went to see it. The original is brilliant, as for the remake - well, I fell asleep in the cinema :-\ . Have since attempted to sit and watch it 3 times but ended up doing other things as it played in the background. Shame really as Jennifer Connelly is a really good actress, right back to Labrynth with David Bowie.


Another good film with a twist is "Requiem for a Dream" by Darren Aronofsky. His earlier film "Pi" (as in 3.14159.....). Its black and white, but don't let that put you off. Its an interesting piece of film.

[fragger]

Probably look more like Waterworld !

;D ;D

I've heard the same critiques as yours of the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. A real snoozefest, evidently. I don't know why they bother.

I've heard of Pi, that's one I just haven't gotten around to yet, but want to.

I foresee a trip to the DVD rentals tomorrow. Or rather, the day after tomorrow, when I don't have to get up for w**k the next day.

Hmmm... "The Day After Tomorrow"... good name for a film ;D

[Art Blade]

I've got "Pi" for quite some time now and it is an interesting film. Nice reminder, Red :)

fragger, lol, someone in the past must have snuck up right behind you posting it, returned to the past, and made a bloody film called just that  ;D

[Art Blade]

Heh, I've just watched "Doghouse" on DVD (British horror comedy). Although I usually understand spoken English well, that was once again an example of how strong accents can be, a few of those lines were beyond me  ;D (London cockney and, if I'm not mistaken, scouse (Liverpool) accents) I like these accents, funny to listen to, but geez, if they're really on it... Especially Danny Dyer and Stephen Graham, love them!

Many films with either one or both of them, and more "lads" (Jason Statham and others) make me rub my hands in anticipation when I see "the gang" had been casted for yet another film. Some of those British films that I liked:

Snatch
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Human Traffic
Layer Cake
RocknRolla
This Is England
Severance
Revolver
The Bank Job
High Heels and Low Lifes

[RedRaven]

Out of that list have to say Layer cake is my favourite, some truely hilarious moments and an excellent cast. Colm Meaney is a much under-rated actor (probably better known as Chief O'brien in StarTrek TNG and DS9) but has done so much other stuff, very funny in Con Air too.

A couple of other British films you may want to check out are

Doomsday - Scifi / near future film with Rhona Mitra and Bob Hoskins.
Dog Soldiers - Small Army squad vs Werewolves in the Scottish highlands.

Both not as serious as the one as Art listed, but good fun.

[Art Blade]

I don't know if those are "serious" (apart from This Is England) -- they just sprung to mind. I've got that Doomsday, too :) But I don't think I've seen Dog Soldier.

Ahh, finally remembered this here (funny film)

Death at a Funeral

[Art Blade]

there's "Hurt Locker" which is IMO a must see for EVERYONE.

Although I don't know why everyone must see it, I agree that it is a very good non-WWII/non-vietnam war film. As RedRaven already mentioned, it's a very good film based around an ongoing conflict. I think it's probably the best anti-war film based on Iraq conflict. Mmosu alreay used a single word about it, and I think it's the first one I could think of to describe it: "intense."

What I very much like about it is the absence of the genre-typical "we are heroes (but we deny to say so)" cliché. Disturbingly close to what I wouldn't like to witness or live through myself, presented in a way that reminds me of blank bones freed from glorious flesh. Nice  :-X