^ A film from 2009 that truly surprised me, was A Single Man. My favourite for now, and pretty underrated imo.

http://www.movieposter.com/posters/a...n/41/MPW-20686

^Surprisingly good film. Perfectly made.
But there's something fishy about Kate Winslet's nudity scenes occurring in ALL her films. This can't be a simple coincidence...

Purchased this recently myself after having loved the book for years. Was wary as to how well it would translate to film, so you give me hope yet!

;)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._(Swedish).jpg

It manages to both be haunting, chilling and cold as well as beautiful, sweet and innocent. What a beautiful film.

this post makes me like you more. i love todd field, and i eagerly await blood meridian, his new project.

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...hp0CoOjuPM.jpg

Bit of a long shot as it's the bonus DVD on Slayer's Latest album and only clocks in at 20 mins but in it's own right, it's an interesting piece with some nice ideas and an unusual approach to the usual short film.

NSFW (Part One from yt):


It does all make sense when viewed as it was intended. Although I think the Slayer music could have easily been skipped.

http://image.wangchao.net.cn/bt/1242386730890.jpg

卧虎藏龙 [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]

I wanted martial arts and great action sequences and that's what I got - excellent film.

http://www.mrosen.com/public.assets/...ys%20Later.jpg

Not bad at all.

Emperor of the North
http://www.movieposter.com/posters/a...n/27/A70-13993
I've always been partial to hobo movies/documentaries, but this was just through the roof. Its amazing how in reality the hobo was the menace, but I loved him and rooted for him the whole way. Shack, the train conductor, rivals Nurse Ratchet of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for all-time greatest villian. I mean his eyes practically pop out of his head. The struggle for superiority between the these two characters kept my eyes glued. I will buy this and I will watch it many many times.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bHSVCs9rX0...s400/Borgy.jpg

I want to be a hobo.

11/10

Stand By Me
http://www.pentaclerecords.net/darien3/stand_by_me.jpg
Cute, feelgoody, wholesome but nothing to get too excited about. I can imagine old people really liking it though.

6/10

Frozen River
http://www.videocritiques.com/affich...en%20river.jpg
I love films that slap you with a bit of reality and this one does it well. As stereotypical and insensitive as it may sound, poor people have poor ways. Its amazing how quickly you can spiral downward when you make one bad decision out of desperation. And this film shows exactly that. The acting is superb from everyone with the exception of the one Indian woman, which I was a little dissapointed with since she played such a key role. Nevertheless
10/10

http://bluemoviereviews.files.wordpr...-afternoon.jpg

Dog Day Afternoon
Every once in a while I watch an older movie for the first time that's so incredibly good that I'm sort of disappointed in myself for not having watched it sooner. This is one of those. Amazing, amazing movie and I was surprised to realize how many movies I've seen that were clearly influenced by it.

Love this movie. Borgnine is just an arsehole throughout.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nth_poster.jpg

Top notch.

In theaters:
http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/images/201...ch-405x600.jpg

On my own time at home:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...deOutMovie.jpg

The former was interesting and the first 3D movie I ever went to see. I probably wouldn't like it at all really, were it not for the 3D, but it was a good time.

The latter was bizarre, but I actually enjoyed it.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/43/...shqxvidfus.jpg
Plot holes a plenty but as far as B movie sci-fi hokum goes, it was decent enough. Decent set design and a relative lack of cliches means it's probably worth another watch.

^

You really do watch a lot of trash - some good stuff as well, mind.
But a lot of trash nonetheless.
I don't understand people's appreciation for B movies
Then again, I'm not a fan of cheese.

I grew up with video nasties, 80's OTT action and B movies and can differentiate between the aims via more serious movies.

I am easily at home discussing Fulci Zombie movies or the socio-political attributes of Ken Loach.

Besides that, I do enjoy seeing people ripped limb from limb ;)

Just because I watch Van Damme films doesn't mean I don't know my movies. I know they are crap and that's the difference.

Everyone who watches them knows they're crap, that's why I don't get the appeal!
Usually when I want something a bit light hearted
I'll watch a rubbish comedy which cheers me up somewhat.
Different strokes for different folks.

I have to be up in 7 hours and I'm tempted to watch another film. Has anyone seen Oldboy? Is it any good?
And is it part of a trilogy, I heard it was part of a revenge trilogy or something.
Do you need to watch the first film to 'get it', or are they all stand alone independent films?

They are stand alone, so you can watch them easily enough on their own merit. I actually prefer Lady Vengeance out of the trilogy. It's a trilogy that is thematic and not chronological but then I only watch crap so you may need a second opinion ;)

Mr Vengeance > Oldboy > Lady Vengeance

Can't go wrong really either way. They really go in order of style (Least to most) but Oldboy's the most reknowned so easiest to go with that and not worry about the others.

I thought Oldboy was amazing (and pretty disturbing), definitely worth watching. You definitely don't need to see the other two movies to get it. I think it's only a trilogy in terms of the themes anyway, there's no ongoing narrative or characters as far as I'm aware.

Ahem...

I'll end up watching all 3.
But I fancied watching Oldboy first, mainly because it's SUPPOSED to be the best out of the series. Whether that rings true remains to be seen.
I still need to watch Once Upon A Time In America, criminal that I haven't already seen it.
How highly do you rate that good sir? (I will need a second opinion either way. :p:)


Yeah, I got that impression it was just theme related rather than character related.

One day someone will get me ;) Tarantino love cheese as well as serious film BTW ;)

Not that he is the be all and end all of movies..far from it.

Wrong!

Tarantino IS the be all and end all.
I know he loves cheese, and pays homage to it in every single one of his films one way or another.
That said, Morrissey loves racism.
I love Morrissey, but we don't share a love for the same thing in that dept.

I'm looking forward to watching Oldboy.
I think it's gonna be pretty good, if not brilliant.

I rest my case.

Tarantinos favourite Horror film? The Beyond. An Italian B movie with huge gaps in logic but still a classic but that's OK because it's him!

I don't disagree with him at all but I think that if you watched The Beyond ( it's cut over here and still without a correct aspect ratio print) you would absolutely hate it if it was a sole recommendation but if the chin solely recommended it, then you would be falling all over yourself to watch it and indeed; love it.

Just like music, people should open their minds regarding any form of media and not diss them because they are not professional enough.

I know what you're saying, a lot of people don't watch films if they have to read subtitles. But if it's Inglourious Basterds... then it's a different story. (Although, granted - not all of it is subbed.)

Tarantino loves Dazed & Confused - I really disliked Dazed & Confused. So that's not necessarily true, just because I'm a fan of his doesn't mean his taste in films is absolutely the be all and end all.

He's known for being this great film connoisseur, I wonder how many films he's actually seen in his life time. He seems like he's seen quite a lot.

I've heard heard he watches several movie a day, every day, plus he used to work in a video store of course. So I'd imagine the answer is definitely "a lot".

My answer would be 'a lot' too, but I'd love to know a proper figure.

1,000? 2,000? 10,000? Who knows.

The video store thing has become infamous, I dunno how someone can watch 'several' a day.

I could manage 1 a day, even that's a bit much.

Wait, you didn't like Dazed & Confused?

http://iconsoffright.com/news/Curse%...ankenstein.jpg

Ridiculously awesome movie. Quality enough throughout, Cushing solidified himself as one of my favourite actors. As much of an arsehole that Victor is, I don't think there are many that would actively like him. For every ****head or sexist comment or egocentric action he makes, you just see his grim determination, and you want to see him get his result.

Certainly one of my favourite anti-hero of all time.

I actually just watched that recently, and I have to say, was a tad underwhelmed. It's epic (4 hours) and well acted, but nowhere near as good as the first two Godfather flicks (I correlate the two because the storyline is rather similar). Frankly, I could have gone without watching it...:\

And I share your lack of understanding for trash film lovers. Especially if you like them when you're sober. Maybe that's the deal tho, maybe Lee's a stoner! :laughing:

Nope, people's reasons for it being a great film are "well, it's not meant to have a plot".

It was dull. I didn't hate it, I just thought it was quite mediocre. Really unlikeable characters, far too American as well.
I just couldn't relate to it at all.

I think you're right there.
I think you have to look at which came first, when you watch 2 films that are very similar. The film that came first must have influenced the film that came later on, even if it doesn't rip it off.
You'll always prefer the more original and fresh film. I think that's the case with The Godfather and OUATIA.
I'm gonna hold off for a while to watch OUATIA, mainly because I have to be in the mood to watch a 3 and a half hour film.

And yeah, I wouldn't put it past him. :p:

While I suppose I can see a similarity in the arcs of The Godfather (as a whole trilogy, though) and OUATIA, it seemed to me the style of the two camps is really sort of different. Once Upon a Time... is dreamier, I guess--quieter, more nonlinear. Like The Godfather takes a great emotional core and applies it to a complex plot, where OUATIA is more focused exclusively on getting at the intricate details of emotions (DeNiro's in particular) through the use of a somewhat more incidental plot.

It's my favorite Leone film and it's very much a Leone film, so I don't like comparing it to The Godfather cos it really does feel like its own entity. It definitely does take patience, though--not only is it 3 hours and 49 minutes, it's VERY slowly paced, which means it feels even twice as long as that. Worth it, though.

As far as Dazed & Confused goes, it *does* have a plot--or rather several--it's just the focus is on an ensemble of small ones, rather than a traditional central one. What makes that movie great is its tone--it's a "teen" movie that's almost devoid of false sentiment, which is really kind of hard to do. There are ups and downs but as a whole piece, it's kind of almost ambivalent, which is probably the most realistic depiction you could give of that age and demographic. It IS really American, though (hell, it's set in Texas)--that's definitely a legit criticism.

Also, I've kinda been known to watch "several" films a day, especially lately when I was basically working from home doing a boring, tedious job that didn't require 100% of my attention. Even outside that, sometimes it's kind of fun--like the other day, when it was rainy and gross out and we didn't have much else to do, my boyfriend and I watched 3 movies back-to-back (Psycho, Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion and Braveheart). That's actually part of how our relationship was founded: "Oh, you just wanna hang out and watch movies today? We'll get along juuuuuuuuust fine."

Actually I disagree with you there, it's didn't feel slow paced at all, that's the one positive thing about it, it may have been long, but I didn't feel like it was a particular chore to go through. Just thought I'd encourage anyone reading, it's not a contemplative mood piece like some Tarkovsky film, it's got a fairly interesting plot which makes it very watchable. I just thought it definitely lacked any particular directorial flourishes which made Once upon a time in the West so spectacular. There was nothing there that would make me think it's a Leone film, like framing or the particular use of sound. Maybe it's because the setting is so different.

And now that you mention emotions, I guess that was another thing that the film lacked, I didn't get any feel of De Niro's character, or any other to be honest. They're all just...there. Which made the rather baffling last half hour a bit of an anticlimax. :\

Well, if Dazed & Confused DOES have a plot. It's a pretty shitty one. It's just something I couldn't really relate to, it's not by any means a bad film - I do actually like Richard Linklater, I consider Waking Life and Before Sunrise two of my favourite films. But Dazed & Confused didn't hit the right notes for me.
I know it's overly American, but a lot of my favourite films are steeped in American identity.
I think it's because it's a hang out movie, and the appeal is you want these people to be your friends. I found them all really unlikeable, even the ones you're meant to like.
I'd like to know what Americans think of films steeped in British identity - Trainspotting, This is England etc.

.

Is Scotland not part of Britain anymore?!

Pretty much the major reason why I liked it so much. But I'm an unabashed americophile (yes, it just became a word).

Huh. It's interesting that we had such different experiences.

To be fair, I don't think it was exactly a chore--I don't mind the length necessarily, it just did seem really very long (but then so did Once Upon a Time in the West and the Dollars trilogy). And yeah, the setting is really different, but he has the same affinity for really long, relatively static takes, a lot of close-ups of faces, passages with little dialog (although somewhat less of those). Plus the lights, music and that kind of slightly dusty quality the film itself had.

And how the emotion is conveyed, I guess is part of that, cos it's definitely subtle and Noodles is a really complex character. It's been a while since I've seen it so I don't feel like I can go into that much detail, but I remember the whole movie basically being about his relationship with Max.

Actually, I might watch that again this week since I have some time off...

Well of course it is, but I don't think Trainspotting is British in any way. It's Scottish. Just like I couldn't relate to This Is England that much because i'm not English, I don't think you can relate to some of the parts if you're English. Some exceptions of course.

It's interesting coming across that in movies/TV because I guess I don't think about it as much without a language barrier but there is a distinct otherness there. To me, though, I've never come across anything where that made it at all unrelatable, it just gives it another layer of interest--like "Oh... that's a bit different, innit?"

BTW, I've never seen This is England, but I'm looking it up now and I'm intrigued. Would your mention be an actual recommendation, or just a comment on its "Britishness?"