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Subject: Completely OT - DVDs Posted by: Myboyjack - Leader [4443038] Thu, Jul 11, 2002, 12:08 I have become, for lack of a better term, a DVD addict. I collect them, obsessively, like I used horde baseball cards. I always enjoyed movies - but after college I was usually too busy to get to see more than a few movies a year. However, now, with the combined forces of the advent of DVDs and a bad case of insomnia, I'm able to watch a dozen movies a week or more. I love all extra features on DVDs like the directors' commentaries, deleted scenes, prodcutions notes, etc. Anyway, I'm approaching about 300 titles on my "collection" and I'm running short on new movies to see. I'd like suggestions and/or descriptins on your favroite movies with particular attention to foreign films or older films. (I've probally got most of the movies I would want made in the last twenty years.) Also, anybody else share this affliction of DVDphilia? Should we have a support group? Tell me about something good you've seen lately. Any sugestions will appreciated. | |||||||
[Lengthy or complex threads may require a slight delay before updating.] | ||||||||
| 290 | Perm Dude ID: 1660610 Fri, Jul 06, 2007, 13:40 | Zen, have you seen The Hunting of the President? I just came across that website yesterday. | ||||||
| 291 | Myboyjack ID: 8216923 Fri, Jul 06, 2007, 13:50 |
Nice Zen. I'm both excited and a little skeptical about Herzog working in the Hollywood system he's always loathed. Most of his grear films were made using the same single camera he stole from the German film school he dropped out of in the '60s. A Hollywood crew and budget? Hope we get the same Herzog. I highly recommend Little Dieter Needs to Fly, the Herzog documentary the this new film is based. | ||||||
| 292 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Fri, Jul 06, 2007, 14:02 |
Just added The Hunting of the President and Little Dieter Needs to Fly to my Queue. Thanks. MBJ, if you haven't yet, read that article I linked above. Few directors can survive the meatgrinder that is the Hollywood machine... I think Werner is one. | ||||||
| 293 | walk ID: 75112114 Fri, Jul 06, 2007, 14:43 |
Yeah, I saw Notes when it came out at the Angelika...a little fatal attraction-esque, but intense and just superb acting. Densch was not the lead though and Blanchett was not supporting...the Academy got their nominations reversed, but whatever. I also want to see Rescue Dawn. Werner Herzog did the documentary about this Dieter pilot ten years ago...he makes good films. It is supposed to be very intense, with some major disturbing scenes of imprisonment and inhumanity. Bale is a force...he was great in The Machinist. He loves the roles that immerse, and require him to lose half his weight. - walk | ||||||
| 294 | Tree ID: 3533298 Fri, Jul 06, 2007, 14:54 |
have you seen The Hunting of the President? I just came across that website yesterday. man. i just watched that preview. how positively chilling. i really want to see this now. | ||||||
| 295 | Perm Dude ID: 1660610 Fri, Jul 06, 2007, 15:16 | Yeah, the fact that the trailer ends with Susan McDougal, who was under tremendous pressure to lie about Clinton, is very interesting. Some of these people were much more interested in hurting Clinton than in finding the truth. | ||||||
| 296 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Mon, Jul 23, 2007, 11:57 |
I saw Sicko over the weekend and I really, really liked it, easily Michael Moore's best film. I am a Moore fan, but truth be told, he is just a good filmmaker, not a great one. In my mind, this topic is the least controversial one he's tackled, I mean, other than HMO and Drug company lobbyists, who here thinks that America's health care has no flaws? The stories Moore relates rip your heart out and shreds it to pieces. It sure is nice that there is a small theater pub in town that is showing it. Living in the boonies is the death of quality moviegoing. Re post 277 - Did anyone catch the Simpsons last night? The 9:00pm episode was a spoof of the Up Series and was pretty damn funny. | ||||||
| 297 | Seattle Zen ID: 86541617 Wed, Sep 05, 2007, 01:46 | The Lives of Others was simply outstanding, I can't recommend it enough. | ||||||
| 298 | Seattle Zen ID: 529121611 Sun, Feb 17, 2008, 16:00 |
I finally got around to seeing Inland Empire, David Lynch's 2006 movie. I am a big Lynch fan, have been since Blue Velvet. First, I wish I had seen this on the big screen. Whatever you think of the film, you cannot deny that it is intense and its intensity was meant to be seen in a theater. I put this into the DVD player last night around 9:30pm, which is late for my wife and I. I had no idea the thing was 3 hours long. The movie had a linear feel with a explainable plot for the first hour. Then things, ah, fall apart. My wife went to bed two hours in. I was committed. How would I describe this movie? Well, when we woke up this morning, I told my wife, "I'd like to tell you how the movie ended, but I couldn't pretend to describe the last hour." If I were to guess, I say 90% of the American viewing public would hate this movie. Make the whole state of Iowa watch this movie and fully half of them would get up and leave about half way through. Wereas Mulholland Drive could be compared to a late cubist Picaso, Inland Empire is a Jackson Pollock. This movie starts in Hollywood and ends up on the island of Alexander Sokurov, a bizarre place, trust me. I cannot think of another major feature film put out by a studio that is anywhere as strange as this. Laura Dern has more faces of "confusion" than Inuit have names for snow. I'll watch this movie again some day, after my brain heals up. I'm curious what others thought of it and if this movie will be a part of film classes in colleges for years to come or panned by academia. | ||||||
| 299 | WiddleAvi ID: 251113917 Mon, Feb 18, 2008, 19:17 |
SZ - I am a big fan of David Lynch movies but this one just flat out sucked !! I made it through the whole thing hoping that at some point it would 'come together'. I felt I really wasted 3 hrs with this one. | ||||||
| 300 | Seattle Zen ID: 529121611 Mon, Feb 18, 2008, 21:08 | I don't think you are alone feeling that way, WiddleAvi. Imagine what a non-Lynch fan would think of that flick. | ||||||
| 301 | Seattle Zen ID: 29241823 Sat, Apr 19, 2008, 11:21 |
I just watched two outstanding documentaries by Louis Malle about the United States called God's Country and And the Pursuit of Happiness. God's Country really spoke to me because it was filmed a mere 40 miles west of my childhood home in 1979. In the 70's, I lived on the western edge of the Twin Cities, everything further west was exactly like Glencoe, the town in which this film is set. I think may of us would suspect that a famous Parisian avantguard film maker, the son of nobility, could not make this film without being condescending. Malle succeeds here, though. You'll have to see it yourself. 85% of the film was shot in 1979, the last part is six years later. The Reagan years were not good for family farms. And the Pursuit of Happiness is about immigrants to America. Malle, who married Candace Bergan, became an American citizen and decided to document the lives of recent immigrants around the US. Watching this movie, it is truly amazing how little has changed regarding the "immigration issue". This film could have been shot in 2007, word for word. There is talk of building a fence along the border, Arabs saying that terrorism in the MidEast causes them to be discriminated, it goes on and on. This film was shot in 1985-86. You've got to see this, I can't say how eerie it is to see an issue - immigration - that has reappeared in exactly the same way 22 years later. If you remember what happened in response to the immigration issue in 1985-86, the Republican in the White House, towards the end of his second term, initiated and passed an Amnesty program that basically put immigration issue to bed for well over a decade. Wouldn't be surprised to see that happen again. | ||||||
| 302 | Seattle Zen ID: 29241823 Sat, Apr 19, 2008, 23:21 |
Those two movies are in the new Malle box set The Documentaries of Louis Malle There are five other movies in the box set. I am looking forward to the others. | ||||||
| 303 | Boldwin ID: 463471413 Sat, Apr 19, 2008, 23:57 |
SZ Hilarious review of Inland Empire. Let's just call that his 'Hey, I got these bills to pay and I'm a few too many years removed from a hit, I know, I can cobble this stuff together' phase. 'More confused looks than Inuits have words for snow'...ROFL...tell me you came up with that line on your own. | ||||||
| 304 | Seattle Zen ID: 29241823 Sun, Apr 20, 2008, 01:32 |
tell me you came up with that line on your own. Yeah, that's mine. Glad to make you smile. :) | ||||||
| 305 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Tue, May 27, 2008, 17:26 |
Sad day yesterday with the passing of Sidney Pollock. The wife and I decided to watch Michael Clayton just as I was browsing the Web, I saw his obit. Didn't realize he played the senior partner in the movie. It was also eerie to hear him say, "we need to get rid of this cancer." He looked great, you would never guess he was 73. I don't think he knew he had cancer when he filmed the movie. I have always thought he was one of the best acting directors ever. As for the movie, I generally really dislike attorney or court room movies, but this one was great. George Clooney was outstanding, the plot had a ton of twists, all very well done, nothing stupid. Great flick. | ||||||
| 306 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Tue, Sep 23, 2008, 13:20 |
If you are wondering what is taking up all of Baldwin's bandwidth, it's this FREE download of Michael Moore's newest flick - Slacker Uprising!  He'll be reading Michael's 2008 Election guide in the meantime, so we might not get as many updates about deathcare hospitals in Florida.  read more... "Slacker Uprising" takes place in the wake of "Fahrenheit 9/11," during the run-up to the 2004 election, as I traveled for 42 days across America, visiting 62 cities in a failed attempt to remove George W. Bush from office. My goal was to help turn out a record number of young voters and others who had never voted before. (That part was a success. Young adults voted in greater numbers than in any election since 18-year-olds were given the right to vote. And the youth vote was the only age group that John Kerry won.) What I encountered during the tour and the filming was both inspiring and frightening, so I thought, hey, this might make for a funny and enlightening movie! Each night, thousands would show up to volunteer in the Slacker Army against Bush. This drove local Republicans nuts. In one state they tried to have me arrested. At two colleges, rich donors offered to donate more money to the college if they would ban me from campus. Nearly a half-dozen universities kept the Slacker Uprising tour off their campuses. But there was no stopping this movement. By the time we got to Florida, 16,000 people a night were showing up. | ||||||
| 307 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Wed, Oct 08, 2008, 17:36 |
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was outstanding. It had some excellent performances and Mr. Affleck deserved his Oscar nomination. This is the kind of Western that I love: deeply philosophical, outstanding cinematography - and by that I don't mean beautiful shots of Monument Valley, I mean every shot - and a heavy dose of realism. There are so many great films being made today, it really makes me happy. | ||||||
| 308 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Fri, Oct 17, 2008, 14:43 |
I just watched Mongol and it was outstanding! It's the first of a trilogy on the life of Genghis Khan by Sergei Bodrov. I read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World a few years ago and I was amazed at how little I knew about the 1200's, in which the Mongols came to rule the world. The story is remarkable, mind blowing really, when you think of such a tiny clan of people creating a huge empire. The first movie of the trilogy is the amazing story of the Khan's numerous times cheating death and rise to power. Truly, you should read the book, then watch the movie. | ||||||
| 309 | Tree ID: 13714198 Fri, Oct 17, 2008, 15:19 |
i was just reading how Mongol has some nice little historical inaccuracies going for it. from Yahoo... ...Sergei Bodrov's "Mongol" does have its fair share of problems. The biggest one being that Khan is seen to be a dedicated and devoted husband to his wife Borte. And though his first wife was indeed an important figure in his life, he was hardly a paragon of monogamous virtue: According to an article in "The American Journal of Human Genetics," roughly 8% of all men in Asia are descendants from Khan. | ||||||
| 310 | Seattle Zen ID: 49112418 Fri, Oct 17, 2008, 16:06 |
I'd hardly call that a "historical inaccuracy". First, the life of Genghis Khan is "legendary", much of what we know is questionable. This is a retelling of these legends. Second, I have serious doubts about some offhand reference to some uncited journal article. The movie never implied the Khan was monogamous, just crazy about Borte, nor did the movie cover the age when he was a great ruler and perhaps impregnated other women. I was surprised Bodrov choose to skip the story of him killing his half brother, which is featured heavily in the book I mentioned. | ||||||
| 311 | Perm Dude ID: 19150238 Mon, Feb 23, 2009, 13:00 | Kate Winslet on the Oscars | ||||||
| 312 | Seattle Zen ID: 501202711 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 01:37 |
I just finished watching God on Trial and I must tell you that it is awesome, unbelievably intense.  This is Sir Anthony Sher who makes the penultimate argument after sitting silent for the first 80% of the movie. I won't tell you anything about what happens, but let me assure you that this is a deep, philosophical and religious discussion set in one of our bleakest settings of modern times. You will not fail to be moved. | ||||||
| 313 | Baldwin ID: 9123198 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 11:49 | Would you be equally interested in hearing God's defense? | ||||||
| 314 | Seattle Zen ID: 131402810 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 11:58 |
Would you be equally interested in hearing God's defense? Have you seen God on Trial, Baldwin? God was given a defense, very well reasoned and argued. I really think you would be intrigued by this piece, there is a lot of scripture as evidence, you will get a doctrinal workout. | ||||||
| 315 | Baldwin ID: 9123198 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 12:27 |
I've already listened to a portion on youtube. I expect to watch it all that way. Defending God is easy when you understand the plan he set in motion as soon as mankind declared themselves independent from his program. It is no more difficult than defending the father of the prodigal son. | ||||||
| 316 | Boxman ID: 571114225 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 14:16 |
I'll be seeing this but I find it interesting that the movie is about putting God On Trial during times of unimaginable suffering. If only they knew the story of Job they would realize there are rewards for staying faithful during dark hours. | ||||||
| 317 | Mattinglyinthehall ID: 37838313 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 14:55 | I never understood why the book of Job is seen as a comforting message for people experiencing hardship. | ||||||
| 318 | Boldwin ID: 581202816 Sat, Feb 28, 2009, 18:31 |
It assures us that...
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| 319 | Seattle Zen ID: 123442611 Sun, Apr 26, 2009, 13:51 |
It was Oscar night here as I had the house to myself, so I watched Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler. I don't know which slum was worse. There was depravity, the crass underbelly of of a society that doesn't care one whit about its untouchables. Then there was Mumbai. I was prepared for the teen novel cheese serving as a plot of Slumdog, but I wasn't prepared for how outstanding the acting was, particularly by the children. I loved the soundtrack, I loved the cinematography, I liked the plot devices. What I really wanted to see happen was the police chief look around his office and see little clues the kid used in his story everywhere, then have the kid go from a limp into a perfect walk and have Peter Postlewaite pick him up :) Perhaps you have heard that Slumdog Millionaire has caused quite an uproar of disapproval in India and my response is "good!". Indian society does not like to have an honest mirror thrown in their face. Trying my best not to sound cliche, this was a cultural milestone both in India and here in the US. This was the first widely released movie in the US with an entire Indian cast (not caste!) and it won an Oscar! Here's to hoping that we see many more Indian actors in standard US movies. And, how could you not LOVE the Bollywood dance piece at the end. Michael/Janet Jackson dance choreography is alive and well in Mumbai. Do we have to start calling it Mullywood? The Wrestler featured Marisa Torme's unbelievably hot naked body, oh, and Mickey Rourke's roided, leather tanned carcass as well. Rourke does a great job of expressing a constant aching pain, he is certainly not afraid of looking ugly for it seemed they highlighted his botched, hamfisted face lifts rather than hide them. It's funny, Darren Aronofsky's Pi has my favorite soundtrack of all time, bar none. This soundtrack may very well be the worst, but it is perfect for the movie. Just like the action with all the disgusting blood, hearing Poison and Quiet Riot is supposed to be like fingernails on a chalkboard. "Kurt Cobain, that pussy, had to come along an ruin it"! I was expecting just a little bit more from Rourke's performance as everyone was so gaga over it. This role was the role of Rourke's lifetime, but the star of this movie is Darren Aronofsky, the extremely talented director. The question you have after watching this movie is "WTF is wrong with these people!" and by "these people" I mean the fans. What the hell? It's like watching human dog fighting where the dogs whisper into each others ears about what move is coming next. MITH and Tree, what's wrong with you guys! | ||||||
| 320 | nerveclinic Leader ID: 05047110 Sun, Apr 26, 2009, 14:23 |
I really enjoyed Slumdog also, and yes what a brilliant feel good dance ending. Perhaps you have heard that Slumdog Millionaire has caused quite an uproar of disapproval in India and my response is "good!". Well my perspective is that, that is, at best, not even half true. Indians are by far the majority population here in Dubai so I read story after story about this. More then half of India LOVED the movie, embraced the movie, proudly declared it their own with Indian actors, music and Mumbai as the background. The people that didn't like it was generally the slum dwellers themselves who likely never saw the movie, they just hated the title, "Slum DOG" as they felt that referred to them, they were being called "dog". Dog is a big insult in India. There were parties all over India for the Oscars, and there was lots of very proud Indian press in Dubai raving about the movie and "India's" great achievement... even though it was a British film. Indian society does not like to have an honest mirror thrown in their face. Not sure where this comes from, maybe you read an article I didn't, but all the "criticisms" of the movie that I read anyway, were for reasons other then this. The biggest criticisms were the title, and the way the slum dwellers felt they were being portrayed. Of course it's very possible you've read some things there in the American press I haven't. | ||||||
| 321 | Seattle Zen ID: 123442611 Sun, Apr 26, 2009, 15:19 |
Indian society does not like to have an honest mirror thrown in their face. This was a quote from a friend from the subcontinent. I, too, had read that people were very unhappy with the word "dog" in the title. I also believe that many, many fundamentalist Hindus who hate pretty much anything on film were making their angry selves well known. I'm glad that cosmopolitan Indians, the type who emigrate to places like the US and Dubai, were proud of the movie. | ||||||
| 322 | Razor ID: 41323216 Sun, Apr 26, 2009, 17:52 | Slumdog was well received in India for the most part. There were objections to the name. The larger worry was that Westerners would perceive India the wrong way, which is to say that they worried that the horrid conditions depicted in the move were wide spread. While present to some degree in some form another, it is not the norm and certainly not everywhere. But saying India does not like to have an honest mirror thrown in its face is erroneous. Why would they object to something they experience in some way or another everyday? | ||||||
| 323 | Seattle Zen ID: 1410391215 Fri, May 07, 2010, 13:33 |
A movie about my all-time favorite director, starring Daniel Day Lewis, featuring Dame Judy Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and a scantily clad Penelope Anne Cruz, what could possible go wrong? Well, they could start SINGING! Nine was absolutely AWFUL. | ||||||
| 324 | Tree ID: 248472317 Fri, May 07, 2010, 14:02 | SZ - i loved 9, just because it was so unintentionally awful. i went in expecting to hate it, so that's probably why i enjoyed it. | ||||||
| 325 | Great One ID: 54457712 Fri, May 07, 2010, 14:08 |
My friend from India did not like the way it was depicted, but thats just one opinion. And I guess if thats the way it really is then whatever. But I don't really know cause I am not there to get that opinion. I do know after last weekend to not leave the Inner Harbor in Baltimore so I can say The Wire accurately is accurate lol... I thought you meant "9" the animated movie with John c Reilly and Elijah Wood produced by Tim Burton also out last year. I enjoyed that. | ||||||
| 326 | Seattle Zen Leader ID: 055343019 Sun, Jun 20, 2010, 23:47 | I just watched the best movie of 2009 - Revanche, an Austrian flick with some hot sex and "adult situations". Just watch it! | ||||||
| 327 | Perm Dude ID: 5510572522 Mon, Aug 09, 2010, 15:13 |
The sheep have taken over Hobbiton! | ||||||
| 328 | Perm Dude ID: 5510572522 Sun, Aug 15, 2010, 23:45 | Just watched The Hangover with my wife. Laugh out loud funny throughout most of it. Maybe a little too over-the-top for some, but it was well done. | ||||||
| 329 | Seattle Zen Leader ID: 055343019 Sun, Aug 15, 2010, 23:50 | I thought The Hangover was outstanding. And you know who I thought had the best performance... Mike Tyson, he was great! His reaction when the guys explained why they had a police car, priceless! | ||||||
| 330 | Seattle Zen ID: 10732616 Thu, Aug 19, 2010, 17:03 | Whoa, speaking of Mike Tyson in The Hangover, Mike says, "I did it to feed my drug habit". | ||||||
| 331 | Seattle Zen Leader ID: 055343019 Tue, Oct 05, 2010, 11:10 |
Oy, I watched A Serious Man last night, the Coen Brother's latest, and it was pretty good. It's the type of movie that we would be inundated with if Jews ran Hollywood. Thank Hashem that will never happen! It's somewhat autobiographical as the Coens grew up in Minnesota and it is set at the time of their youth. You learn that marijuana enhances your ability to recite Hebrew. Like any good Jewish/Old Testament fable, it's a head scratcher at times. I enjoyed it. Next up - Herzog's latest My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done | ||||||
| 332 | Seattle Zen ID: 10732616 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 14:22 |
This thread is long overdue for a bump. My Son, My Son... More like, My God, My God, WTF Herzog? That was HORRIBLE! Couldn't finish it. It dawned on me that 56 UP should be released in 2012. Damn, time flies! I can't say that 2011 was a great movie year for me, looking at my Netflix history it seems my 5 year old has been quite influential on what movies have been arriving by mail. The past two years I have watched somewhere around 15 Woody Allen movies with my 18 year old, that has been great. We have also seen quite a few Zhang Yimou titles. I want to introduce her to Federico Fellini next. I just recently watched Biutiful, the Alejandro González Iñárritu feature staring Javier Bardem. Extremely powerful and depressing, be warned. I also really enjoyed The Princess of Montpensier, a French period piece, late 16th century, just an excellent movie. If you want to know why Greece is so f'ed up, this might shed some light:  This movie was a foreign movie Oscar nominated feature. My sister recommended I watch it, and after you watch it, you will realize how skin crawling that really is. I have not seen anything like this before, it will stay with you for a while. If you want to watch an excellent dock-mockumentary, you really ought to check out Exit Through the Gift Shop, it has more layers than an onion. Plus, I happen to love Banksey and other featured street artists. | ||||||
| 333 | sarge33rd ID: 31011813 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 14:40 |
not a comment on a movie, but rather on the whole home movie "thing". 1st, was Beta vs VCR. Then CD, DVD and the Hi-Def vs Blu-Ray. Can we just stop already at Blu-Ray? I dont wanna have to replace my entire library every 4 or so years because the old player wore out and they dont make that format player anymore. | ||||||
| 334 | weykool ID: 28102713 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 14:55 |
The next player will be a device that you have implanted in your tooth and you merely DL movies over the 10G network straight to your brain. Sarge, does your 8-track player still work? | ||||||
| 335 | sarge33rd ID: 381040814 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 15:40 |
lol last one of those I had, quit when my son 'fed' it. He was 2 or 3 at the time, and had apparently overheard me complain that the damn thing had "eaten" another of my tapes. I came home from work and found the 8-track stuffed full of spaghettios. :( Wife said, "Now, before you go off...Al shared his lunch with your 8-track so it wouldnt be hungry anymore and wouldnt eat your tapes". *sigh* | ||||||
| 336 | Myboyjack ID: 36452617 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 16:32 | Zen - Agree with you on My Son, my son..... It was slop. And you know it pains me to say that about my boy, Werner. | ||||||
| 337 | biliruben ID: 358252515 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 16:44 | Exit through the giftshop was good, but it sure was a bit hard for me to discern doc from moc. Banksy came out looking too good, so I assume it was more moc. | ||||||
| 338 | Seattle Zen ID: 10732616 Tue, Nov 08, 2011, 17:39 |
but it sure was a bit hard for me to discern doc from moc That was the genius of the movie. Actually, the best way to describe the movie was a piece of Banksey guerrilla art itself. | ||||||
| 339 | Seattle Zen ID: 3310162612 Thu, Feb 14, 2013, 18:17 |
Overdue for a bump. Re post 277, has it been 7 years already? 56 Up | ||||||
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