The Recommended Movies Thread
Re: Movies on DVD
Cannabis Kid, watched it tonight and well worth a couple of hours of your time
Re: Movies on DVD
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Crap. Fails on script, direction and acting. Half the biggest laughs are in the trailer.
Since Blazing Saddles, making a parody Western requires a fresh brilliant take on the genera or clueless arrogance. A Million Ways is the latter.
The Producer / Director / Writer / Male Lead had the golden touch. He started in TV Animation, created 3 series, 1 of which was canceled. Combined, they ran for 26 seasons. His first live action movie was a big hit. A Million Ways, his second movie, is predicted to not cover it's costs.
Crap. Fails on script, direction and acting. Half the biggest laughs are in the trailer.
Since Blazing Saddles, making a parody Western requires a fresh brilliant take on the genera or clueless arrogance. A Million Ways is the latter.
The Producer / Director / Writer / Male Lead had the golden touch. He started in TV Animation, created 3 series, 1 of which was canceled. Combined, they ran for 26 seasons. His first live action movie was a big hit. A Million Ways, his second movie, is predicted to not cover it's costs.
Re: Movies on DVD
I guess that Seth McFarlane is not your cup of tea then.
“Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
― George Carlin
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” -George Orwell.
― George Carlin
“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” -George Orwell.
Re: Movies on DVD
He is, somewhat. I enjoyed 'Ted', which I can't say about most of the comedy films made by writer / directors of his generation. 'Family Guy' is great at times, but uneven. Luckily, my sister shares my taste in comedy, so she lets me know about the better episodes.sateeb wrote:I guess that Seth McFarlane is not your cup of tea then.
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sandman67
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Re: Movies on DVD
CALVARY
Bit of a surprise in that while the flick is sold as a black comedy, be certain that the comedy is as black as a priests cassock and as dry as the Empty Quarter.
Brendan Gleeson plays Father Lavelle, a good priest in a bad town. His rural parish, on the bleak beauty of the Sligo coast, seems full of unrepentant sinners of every stripe and variant despite Father Lavelle's best efforts. But Father Lavelle has an even more pressing issue, as one Sunday during confessional one of his parishioners promises to kill him in revenge for being abused as a child by another priest. Given a week to live, Father Lavelle struggles to set things right with his parish as the darkness steadily closes in on him and the day of doom approaches.
Gleeson really carries the whole film like a cross, as the comedy gradually takes second place to deeper philosophy and pathos in what becomes less of a comedy and more of a Shakespearian tragedy. He has a scenery chewing screen presence in whatever role he plays, and here shines like a lighthouse. Like Anthony Hopkins he has a way with even the simplest of lines, and the pauses when he speaks hold their own volume. Listening to his delivery is a pleasure in itself. The scenery and cinematography is also stunning, full of windswept coastlines and seedy Irish backwoods pubs. A mark of how good it is as a film is even though its pretty obvious what the end will be, when it does come along that last 20 minutes is a real punch in the throat. Even though the laughs are thin and dry, I loved it and it made me think, which is always good in a flick I think
Out and about in lovely crisp DVDRIPs everywhere and a definite recc. Three hail marys and a keeper.
If you are looking for a more bawdy comedy check out the flick THE GUARD from much the same crew and cast, or for a similar slapstick boozy laugh combined with a sci-fi horror twist check out the equally excellent GRABBERS.
Bit of a surprise in that while the flick is sold as a black comedy, be certain that the comedy is as black as a priests cassock and as dry as the Empty Quarter.
Brendan Gleeson plays Father Lavelle, a good priest in a bad town. His rural parish, on the bleak beauty of the Sligo coast, seems full of unrepentant sinners of every stripe and variant despite Father Lavelle's best efforts. But Father Lavelle has an even more pressing issue, as one Sunday during confessional one of his parishioners promises to kill him in revenge for being abused as a child by another priest. Given a week to live, Father Lavelle struggles to set things right with his parish as the darkness steadily closes in on him and the day of doom approaches.
Gleeson really carries the whole film like a cross, as the comedy gradually takes second place to deeper philosophy and pathos in what becomes less of a comedy and more of a Shakespearian tragedy. He has a scenery chewing screen presence in whatever role he plays, and here shines like a lighthouse. Like Anthony Hopkins he has a way with even the simplest of lines, and the pauses when he speaks hold their own volume. Listening to his delivery is a pleasure in itself. The scenery and cinematography is also stunning, full of windswept coastlines and seedy Irish backwoods pubs. A mark of how good it is as a film is even though its pretty obvious what the end will be, when it does come along that last 20 minutes is a real punch in the throat. Even though the laughs are thin and dry, I loved it and it made me think, which is always good in a flick I think
Out and about in lovely crisp DVDRIPs everywhere and a definite recc. Three hail marys and a keeper.
If you are looking for a more bawdy comedy check out the flick THE GUARD from much the same crew and cast, or for a similar slapstick boozy laugh combined with a sci-fi horror twist check out the equally excellent GRABBERS.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Re: Movies on DVD
I assume this has come out in DVD as I downloaded it in Blueray format recently.
Anyway, for lovers of Scarlett Johansson, last year's release of "Under the Skin" could well be for you. (I've been in love with her since I saw "Lost in Translation" years ago).
I read the book a number of months ago and wasn't quite sure about it but knowing that the film with Scarlett had come out in 2013, I was eagerly awaiting the DVD version.
If the book was strange, then the film's plain weird. Basic plot is that Scarlett is an alien who's come to earth to replace another who's died. She's in human form. Her task is to drive around Glasgow in a transit van and pick up blokes. This she does pretty successfully. She takes them back to her "pad" and strange things start to happen. The men are basically put in limbo, sent to the spaceship - I'm not quite sure. Have to read the book again. There are some very strange scenes.
The turning point is when she sees herself in the mirror and starts to develop some kind of human emotions. She then goes AWOL in the country from her helpers/overseers (around Loch Lomond, I reckon) and...... well, I won't spoil the film.
There's some great cinematography under the direction of Jonathan Glazer, very little dialogue and lots of nudity.
It's a weird film but if you like lots of Scarlett Johansson (in more ways than one) then take a look. It's all pretty sad at the end.
Anyway, for lovers of Scarlett Johansson, last year's release of "Under the Skin" could well be for you. (I've been in love with her since I saw "Lost in Translation" years ago).
I read the book a number of months ago and wasn't quite sure about it but knowing that the film with Scarlett had come out in 2013, I was eagerly awaiting the DVD version.
If the book was strange, then the film's plain weird. Basic plot is that Scarlett is an alien who's come to earth to replace another who's died. She's in human form. Her task is to drive around Glasgow in a transit van and pick up blokes. This she does pretty successfully. She takes them back to her "pad" and strange things start to happen. The men are basically put in limbo, sent to the spaceship - I'm not quite sure. Have to read the book again. There are some very strange scenes.
The turning point is when she sees herself in the mirror and starts to develop some kind of human emotions. She then goes AWOL in the country from her helpers/overseers (around Loch Lomond, I reckon) and...... well, I won't spoil the film.
There's some great cinematography under the direction of Jonathan Glazer, very little dialogue and lots of nudity.
It's a weird film but if you like lots of Scarlett Johansson (in more ways than one) then take a look. It's all pretty sad at the end.
Re: Movies on DVD
On a related note ...
Nine minute video explaining Michael Bay's visual style. Non-judgemental about his films as a whole, in fact, never raises the issue. Recommended.
Nine minute video explaining Michael Bay's visual style. Non-judgemental about his films as a whole, in fact, never raises the issue. Recommended.
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sandman67
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Re: Movies on DVD
RIGOR MORTIS
It takes something special for me to like a horror film, and they are usually Asian....guess what?
A stomping little number all the way from Hong Kong that tells the creepy story of a washed up actor who after a personal tragedy involving his family ends up slumming it and moving into a long empty apartment in a dilapidated tenement building whose occupants are not all they seem to be. The diner manager is a self described ex-ghost hunter, and the man who runs the holy junk shop seems to be his nemesis...a necromancer. Theres a crazy woman wandering the corridors, a ghostly pale kid, and more than one restless and very hungry ghost to worry about.
Its a homage to old Hong Kong comedy horror hopping vampire flicks like "Mr Vampire" and "Encounters of the Spooky Kind"....so imagine all the chop socky fun and games of KUNG FU HUSTLE with a horror sheen added, or Hong Kongs answer to CABIN IN THE WOODS. The visual effects are cutting edge and top notch, and the storyline is great, running from full on action to quite touching and sad sequences....and as its Asian theres a sting in its tail.
Top class stuff, and out and about in fully subbed hi rez loveliness. Get at it!
Three cheers and a solid gold keeper.
It takes something special for me to like a horror film, and they are usually Asian....guess what?
A stomping little number all the way from Hong Kong that tells the creepy story of a washed up actor who after a personal tragedy involving his family ends up slumming it and moving into a long empty apartment in a dilapidated tenement building whose occupants are not all they seem to be. The diner manager is a self described ex-ghost hunter, and the man who runs the holy junk shop seems to be his nemesis...a necromancer. Theres a crazy woman wandering the corridors, a ghostly pale kid, and more than one restless and very hungry ghost to worry about.
Its a homage to old Hong Kong comedy horror hopping vampire flicks like "Mr Vampire" and "Encounters of the Spooky Kind"....so imagine all the chop socky fun and games of KUNG FU HUSTLE with a horror sheen added, or Hong Kongs answer to CABIN IN THE WOODS. The visual effects are cutting edge and top notch, and the storyline is great, running from full on action to quite touching and sad sequences....and as its Asian theres a sting in its tail.
Top class stuff, and out and about in fully subbed hi rez loveliness. Get at it!
Three cheers and a solid gold keeper.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
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sandman67
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Re: Movies on DVD
THE ZERO THEOREM
Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite film makers, returns to the directors seat in this slice of Gillamesque madness which takes his earlier classic BRAZIL and replaces the sinister mad 1940s Big Brother world of that film with a futuristic Blade Runner On Bad Acid dystopian nightmare all his own. Its familiar Gilliam ground - a social misfit at odds with society who works for a Big Brother like company tries to break free of his Kafkaesque world, aided by a rebellious technician and a beautiful woman who he loves despite her relative untouchability. Here though the nightmare world is full of bizarre technology and computers which seem to be the dominant species, the humans that run them more like worker ants than people. The gutted fish like TV screens and typewriter keyboards of Brazil have been replaced by ultra modern flatscreens and oversized game controllers, the trilbys and trenchcoats with clownish baseball caps and dayglo plastic raincoats.
As with all of Gilliams films its beautifully filmed and chock full of minute details and insane colours, like some crack pipe kaleidoscope in which our characters are trapped in a meaningless existence and are desperate to escape. The cast is excellent, and acting from Christoph Waltz, Melanie Thierry and David Thewlis a joy to watch.
I loved it, but then Im a fan of Gilliams work, but it did feel like a rehash of Brazil in places and plays out pretty much the same way. A definite recc if you like Gilliam's stuff, but if you dont then this may fall flat for you.
I give it three cheers and call it as a keeper. Give it a spin and see what you think
Terry Gilliam, one of my favorite film makers, returns to the directors seat in this slice of Gillamesque madness which takes his earlier classic BRAZIL and replaces the sinister mad 1940s Big Brother world of that film with a futuristic Blade Runner On Bad Acid dystopian nightmare all his own. Its familiar Gilliam ground - a social misfit at odds with society who works for a Big Brother like company tries to break free of his Kafkaesque world, aided by a rebellious technician and a beautiful woman who he loves despite her relative untouchability. Here though the nightmare world is full of bizarre technology and computers which seem to be the dominant species, the humans that run them more like worker ants than people. The gutted fish like TV screens and typewriter keyboards of Brazil have been replaced by ultra modern flatscreens and oversized game controllers, the trilbys and trenchcoats with clownish baseball caps and dayglo plastic raincoats.
As with all of Gilliams films its beautifully filmed and chock full of minute details and insane colours, like some crack pipe kaleidoscope in which our characters are trapped in a meaningless existence and are desperate to escape. The cast is excellent, and acting from Christoph Waltz, Melanie Thierry and David Thewlis a joy to watch.
I loved it, but then Im a fan of Gilliams work, but it did feel like a rehash of Brazil in places and plays out pretty much the same way. A definite recc if you like Gilliam's stuff, but if you dont then this may fall flat for you.
I give it three cheers and call it as a keeper. Give it a spin and see what you think
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Re: Movies on DVD
Blue Ruin
A spare, tension laden vengeance thriller. Far better than I expected, even knowing it premiered at Cannes and won an award.
Dwight, a homeless man, is picked up by the local police so they can gently inform him about a man being released from prison. Dwight seeks revenge. He has nothing to live for, nothing to lose, and few resources. Not your standard Hollywood vengeance story, not even close. The characters and problems are authentic, Dwight doesn't turn into a cold blooded assassin, the action happens in short bursts, while the tension builds and builds and builds.
Several scenes unfold without dialog. Words aren't needed when the writer - director can tell a story with images. He started as a cinematographer and it shows.
A spare, tension laden vengeance thriller. Far better than I expected, even knowing it premiered at Cannes and won an award.
Dwight, a homeless man, is picked up by the local police so they can gently inform him about a man being released from prison. Dwight seeks revenge. He has nothing to live for, nothing to lose, and few resources. Not your standard Hollywood vengeance story, not even close. The characters and problems are authentic, Dwight doesn't turn into a cold blooded assassin, the action happens in short bursts, while the tension builds and builds and builds.
Several scenes unfold without dialog. Words aren't needed when the writer - director can tell a story with images. He started as a cinematographer and it shows.
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sandman67
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Re: Movies on DVD
- goodbadugly.jpg (24.31 KiB) Viewed 1396 times
ARSENE LUPIN
Lovely little period drama come Indiana Jones style adventure flick from our French chums.
Arsene is a gentleman thief, a sort of French version of Raffles, who slinks his way through turn of the century France relieving the rich and thick of their shiny stuff. During a job he falls under the hypnotic spell of the mysterious and beautiful Countess Calistrogo, whose powers of longevity and ability to entrance men are used to persue the greatest prize of all...the hidden jewels of the defunct French royalty. But is she all she appears to be, and who are the dastardly bad lads on her tail?
Great little gallic adventure romp full of thrills, spills and Savate kicks in the mush and sticks to the noggin.
I loved it, but then again Im a big kid who loves Indiana Jones films. Definitely a three cheers keeper in my book. Out and about in lovely DVDRIPs with subs all over the place.
The Bad.......
THE SIGNAL
Definitely one of those flicks that looked good in the trailer, only to turn out as a complete pile of poop on viewing.
Three IT crazy hacker college kids decide to track down a mysterious hacker, trailing them to his concrete hillbilly heaven shack out in the middle of the Nevada desert. Yep....Nevada. You can see where this is going eh? They wake up after blacking out in a sinister govt bunker surrounded by techs and scientists, who insist they have been returned after being abducted......and yaaaaaaawn.
Tries hard to be sinsiter and twisty, failing miserably so badly that when the boom biffa bang and taaaah daaaaah ending comes along you have just lost all interest.
Cack, and I wont be getting the hour and a half back I wasted watching it.
One cheer for effort, two big thbbbbbts for delivery
and The Ugly.
THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2
Now I liked the reboot of the Spiderman franchise, and so was quite looking forward to the second installment. But oh dear, second installment curse kicks in. It sucks.
It sucks because whereas the first had a story line and a linear plot, this is just a slew of teen angst poor Petey cant have his cake and eat it...or pussy more like...... Tweelite tat for the panty wetter fan boys. Spliced very badly and very sparsely in between all this hand wringing and oh my cack is a piss poor gruel thin slop of rentavillain "just lob any bad guy at the plot....sod the sense we just need boom" crap.
And "The Ugly"? Well, as the makers seem to be heavily addicted to the 3D crack pipe its a headache inducing mess of flying debris and biffers every time there is an action scene....just incoherent jumbles of objects flying about at high speed edited by some tosspot with a 5 second attention span. If watching this doesnt make your stomach churn and head ache you must be going blind.
Utter shite. The film plot is arse, and the 3D nauseating.
Damn them....damn them all to hell!
Three Thbbbbbts
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
Re: Movies on DVD
*3 for the good. My kind of movieThe Ugly SM is for kids so a no no IMO
RICHARD OF LOXLEY
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
It’s none of my business what people say and think of me. I am what I am and do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. It makes life so much easier.
Re: Movies on DVD
Nothing wrong with being a big kidrichard wrote:The Ugly SM is for kids so a no no IMO
, but I saw the movie in cinema, and I'd rate it worse than Sandman's rating.Championship Plymouth Argyle 1 - 2 Leeds Utd 
Points 46; Position 23 RELEGATED
Points 46; Position 23 RELEGATED
Re: Movies on DVD
Sharknado 2: The Second One
Highest TV ratings ever for original movie on the SyFy network. Legalization of marijuana probably to blame. A third movie is in pre-production, so fans must wonder if the series jumped the shark in the second. Will the inexplicable resuscitation of Tara Reid's career have any aftersharks?
Torrents: http://torrentz.eu/search?f=sharknado+2
Highest TV ratings ever for original movie on the SyFy network. Legalization of marijuana probably to blame. A third movie is in pre-production, so fans must wonder if the series jumped the shark in the second. Will the inexplicable resuscitation of Tara Reid's career have any aftersharks?
Torrents: http://torrentz.eu/search?f=sharknado+2
- Sharknado2-poster.jpg (63.23 KiB) Viewed 1336 times
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sandman67
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Re: Movies on DVD
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
The makers of the utter toss that was the recent Spiderman 2 should be forced to sit down with me in a cinema watching this, with me punching them in the head screaming "THAT IS HOW YOU FILM A FECKING ACTION SEQUENCE YOU STUPID 3D CRACKHEADS!" Marvel Films comes through once again with the superman in stars and stripes, filling a lovely two hours with twisty plot arcs looped around some spectacular biffs, booms and bangs.
Cap is having second thoughts about the world he woke up in after his long sleep in the ice after film 1. Hes none too happy with the way SHIELD seems to do its shady business, and doesnt like the way that the good guys increasingly seem exactly like the bad guys just with a different cause. Just as this bout of existential angst hits him all hell breaks loose at SHIELD, and the whole house of cards comes a tumbling down care of those evil sneaky Nazi swine HYDRA. Added to this is a super soldier from the dark side complete with a metal arm and an attitude to kill....the Winter Soldier, a killer even the foxy asskicker in spandex and webbing The Black Widow has shivers about.
Its not quite as much fun and hammy as the first outing, but boy does it keep the eyes engaged, and brain as well thanks to the shifting plot arcs. Sadly they wasted at least one HYDRA super villain way too quickly, but in Marvelworld that doesnt mean he wont be back It does come close to getting bigged down in preachyness and cardboard cutout politics in a couple of places, but the set piece action sequences bring it back on track and look lovely, free as they are of 3D tossyness.
Definitely worth a watch, and I loved it for its bubblegum chewing biff bop a loo la fun and games with big things exploding. Out and about in crispy rips, so get at it. Three solid hurrahs and a definite keeper.
By the way, as always with fecking Marvel there are scenes cut into the credits - one at the end of the "cartoon" style credits which is a key lead in to the next flick, and one at the end of the main credits. This is Marvels replacement I suppose for shitey 3D....annoying as hell but I now know to fast forward.
The makers of the utter toss that was the recent Spiderman 2 should be forced to sit down with me in a cinema watching this, with me punching them in the head screaming "THAT IS HOW YOU FILM A FECKING ACTION SEQUENCE YOU STUPID 3D CRACKHEADS!" Marvel Films comes through once again with the superman in stars and stripes, filling a lovely two hours with twisty plot arcs looped around some spectacular biffs, booms and bangs.
Cap is having second thoughts about the world he woke up in after his long sleep in the ice after film 1. Hes none too happy with the way SHIELD seems to do its shady business, and doesnt like the way that the good guys increasingly seem exactly like the bad guys just with a different cause. Just as this bout of existential angst hits him all hell breaks loose at SHIELD, and the whole house of cards comes a tumbling down care of those evil sneaky Nazi swine HYDRA. Added to this is a super soldier from the dark side complete with a metal arm and an attitude to kill....the Winter Soldier, a killer even the foxy asskicker in spandex and webbing The Black Widow has shivers about.
Its not quite as much fun and hammy as the first outing, but boy does it keep the eyes engaged, and brain as well thanks to the shifting plot arcs. Sadly they wasted at least one HYDRA super villain way too quickly, but in Marvelworld that doesnt mean he wont be back
It does come close to getting bigged down in preachyness and cardboard cutout politics in a couple of places, but the set piece action sequences bring it back on track and look lovely, free as they are of 3D tossyness.Definitely worth a watch, and I loved it for its bubblegum chewing biff bop a loo la fun and games with big things exploding. Out and about in crispy rips, so get at it. Three solid hurrahs and a definite keeper.
By the way, as always with fecking Marvel there are scenes cut into the credits - one at the end of the "cartoon" style credits which is a key lead in to the next flick, and one at the end of the main credits. This is Marvels replacement I suppose for shitey 3D....annoying as hell but I now know to fast forward.
"Science flew men to the moon. Religion flew men into buildings."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."
"To sin by silence makes cowards of men."