Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

Ronin The Professional Hunt for Red October

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

^ overlooked?

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=floridaorange;867230]^ overlooked?[/QUOTE]

highly recommended :D

and maybe overlooked. With all the crap spewed out today, I'm enjoying some of these old gold ones. My canadian roommate is 23 and has never seen either of these movies.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

oh a youngin, I hear ya :)

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

It opened in 7th place at the box office this weekend, so I'm considering it overlooked. It also made the rather fatal mistake of showing the creature in the advertising campaign, but [b]Splice[/b] was so delightfully creepy and very David Cronenberg it really met and exceeded my expectations (that even with the Sundance film fest hype that was behind it).

It's not an out and out horror film per se, more of a film that screws with your head and what the definition of family is in this day and age. More thoughtful than a film than goes for cheap scares. It's from the guy that directed Cube, which might win over some viewers.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

^I think I am going to go check that out for sure after work sometime late this week. It has been getting good reviews all around and it looks pretty solid from the trailer. Normally I hate any type of stupid monster horror movies because they always suck but I've heard this is more like what you are describing.

I am a member of the Kerasotes 5 Buck Club where after a couple of weeks of release certain movies are 5$. Well they just got bought out by AMC and I recieved an email the other week stating that AMC is going to have any movie anytime after release for 5$ Mon - Thurs. Woo!

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Localizer;867233]highly recommended :D

and maybe overlooked. With all the crap spewed out today, I'm enjoying some of these old gold ones. My canadian roommate is 23 and has never seen either of these movies.[/QUOTE]

Go figure... could not imagine anyone not having seen those yet.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

Mongol

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

^i've had that one for a while but havent watched it yet. looks good. about to check out Red Cliff by John Woo.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=res0nat0r;867361]^i've had that one for a while but havent watched it yet. looks good. about to check out Red Cliff by John Woo.[/QUOTE]

Get the Blu ray extended cut. I've seen the North American theatrical release and the two part original that was screened in China. The cut down North American version is fucking brutal.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

hummmm

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[IMG]http://imgur.com/qDEgo.jpg[/IMG]

Don't get put off by Paul Walker in this, this is actually really good. Crazy noir/fairy tale type visuals and storytelling. Violent and lots of action, but this movie was a lot better than I anticipated, great stuff imo.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

yeah thats a good film...although his acting is pretty poor

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

I made the mistake of watching this one and this truly felt like the most monumental waste of 2 hours of my life. Forest Whittaker as a self-made pigeon-loving Ninja battling a group of overweight, broke bunch of senior Italian wannabe mafias with the random appearance of a hot chick at the scene of a crime and a french speaking ice-cream delivery man for a best friend.

I mean fuck seriously what the fucking fuckity fuck was the writers frame of mind. [B]0/10[/B]

[QUOTE=i!!ustrious;775192]brilliant idea for a thread.

im actually gonna go watch [URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165798/"]ghost dog[/URL] tonight. very thoughful film, imo it's overlooked.

[IMG]http://i25.tinypic.com/2d6mft3.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

:lol:

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Kamal;877096]I made the mistake of watching this one and this truly felt like the most monumental waste of 2 hours of my life. Forest Whittaker as a self-made pigeon-loving Ninja battling a group of overweight, broke bunch of senior Italian wannabe mafias with the random appearance of a hot chick at the scene of a crime and a french speaking ice-cream delivery man for a best friend.

I mean fuck seriously what the fucking fuckity fuck was the writers frame of mind. [B]0/10[/B][/QUOTE]

I have to say that that is exactly how I felt when i saw it...I was almost convince to have a watch again and see if I missed something because of the comments of some ppl and then my brother caught me downloading it and said "no way are we wasting HD space for that piece of shit" lol

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

I mean honestly, even if it was meant to be a satire, I can understand. They could've thrown in some humor at various stages to highlight its satirical nature. But it wasn't. The producers constantly tried to drum up the dark nature of the flick through all the angry rap music playing in the background and Whittaker's serious pot-bellied 1.5 eyed pissed of stare throughout.

The messenger pigeon was the creme-de-la-creme of stupidity.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Kamal;877156]I Whittaker's serious pot-bellied 1.5 eyed pissed of stare throughout. [/QUOTE]

:roflmao:

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

^Klassic Kamal

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[B]Movies[/B]

City of God Amelie Ink A Mighty Wind

[B]Documentaries[/B]

Baraka Chronos Lost in La Mancha Sharkwater

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Kamal;877156]I mean honestly, even if it was meant to be a satire, I can understand. They could've thrown in some humor at various stages to highlight its satirical nature. But it wasn't. The producers constantly tried to drum up the dark nature of the flick through all the angry rap music playing in the background and Whittaker's serious pot-bellied 1.5 eyed pissed of stare throughout.

The messenger pigeon was the creme-de-la-creme of stupidity.[/QUOTE]

that movie did make my balls itch, such a terrible movie it was....

i'm loving wonderland, and the imaginarium of dr parnassus

good doc to watch is dr.gonzo, pretty funny i think

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

The thing about Ghost Dog is that it's heavily referencing the old Samurai movies from Japan, with a strong influence being Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sanjuro saga. It's very pulpy, very arty, but I really dug how Jim Jarmusch put together the Western Hip Hop influence and the Samurai film together.

Without Ghost Dog, there probably wouldn't have been a Kill Bill. They're not really all that far apart, except that Ghost Dog goes for a much more Zen philosophical approach, quoting the Hagakure between acts and framing it in a quieter, less flashy style, where Kill Bill goes for a much more Spaghetti Western, pop culture bonanza approach that Tarantino is known for.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

dude if you could draw out the "heavy reference" to the old Samurai movies from this one, then you're one generous critic. Other than being a quiet/solitary dude (which Whittaker pretty much plays out in every movie he's been in), even after reading what you say, I cant draw a single parallel to the life of a Samurai.

Bottom line, all that matters to me when I watch a movie is the final product. That's why Kill Bill is what it is and what Ghost Dog turned out to be. I could have a mega-block buster planned out in my mind but if I don't know squat about movie making..... then there isn't anything left to make believe.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Kamal;877435]dude if you could draw out the "heavy reference" to the old Samurai movies from this one, then you're one generous critic. Other than being a quiet/solitary dude (which Whittaker pretty much plays out in every movie he's been in), even after reading what you say, I cant draw a single parallel to the life of a Samurai. [/quote]

That's not really a fair thing to say about Whiitaker's career - it wasn't that long ago that he won the Oscar for Last King of Scotland. Plus his work on The Shield, Good Morning Vietnam and a host of other films shows that he can do a lot more than just play an introvert. The guy played Charlie "Bird" Parker with Clint Eastwood directing, and got nominated for an Oscar for that role as well.

As for the parallel to the life of the samurai, what about the quotes from The Hagakure that separated each act? While it may come across as fortune cookie wisdom, it's actually a pretty revered book that expanded on the Bushido code immensely. Sort of a Japanese version of Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

[quote]Bottom line, all that matters to me when I watch a movie is the final product. That's why Kill Bill is what it is and what Ghost Dog turned out to be. I could have a mega-block buster planned out in my mind but if I don't know squat about movie making..... then there isn't anything left to make believe.[/QUOTE]

I understand, and totally respect what you're saying. I've always said that regardless of what critics think, the bottom line is if you the viewer feel that you've gotten value out of the money and/or time you've spent with whatever it is you're watching. You didn't and hey, that's unfortunate.

I've always felt my job as a critic isn't so much to dictate taste (which a lot of readers have felt I'm doing, simply because I have the printed word in a publication behind me), but to help set the proper expectations, or help people understand how a movie can be appreciated more than just sitting down in front of their DVD player/TV/computer/whatever. Some people want and/or appreciate that, others don't feel the need for it. Some movies need the proper frame of mind or even a reference in order to really "get" everything the director/writer/producer is trying to convery (like Starship Troopers - most people see it as a near brain dead action/sci fi romp and completely miss the hugely subversive political undertones the film is actually stating), like how a dj set is planned out with track selection and how it's mixed - the songs might not have as much impact on their own, but are a sum greater than their individual parts when the dj puts it all together.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

I understand what you're saying about what was intended by the makers of the movie but from an average movie goer's perspective, a movie shouldn't be a 120 minute session of video and sound, it should be a truly immersive experience. the average joe shouldn't be expected to research a movie before watching it. it is the responsibility of the producers/directors to ensure nothing is left "up in the air". even if presumptions or undertones need to be made, they must be presented throughout the movie so moviegoers know exactly what is on the the producers mind. take for example the role leonardo dicaprio played in blood diamond. he was an aggressive, conniving, rhodesian accent speaking angry soldier and it isn't until he reveals what happened to his parents that it totally fits together how and why he's doing what he's doing and why he's got his agenda.

yes there were quotes from the The Hagakure but most watching ghost dog wouldn't know the significance of it to being a samurai or even why the words from the text were introduced in the first place. we shouldn't be expected to pay to watch a the movie and then be expected to research it as well, just so that a bad movie can be well credited and we can level with the producers to appreciate how they intended to make it.

just like most old school djs don't relate to people mixing sets on computers with software, most people who have watched samurai movies/movies about warriors come to have a certain level of expectation from a warrior (especially in the case of a samurai). whittaker didn't fit the part on so many levels, he stole cars, used guns, wasn't physically fit for the role, I mean no part of him even related to being a samurai other than the scene where he's swinging the sword on the terrace. even then, you can easily make out he was struggling with the moves. heck they could've even spiffed up the plot by introducing worthy opponents but nearly all of his opponents were in their 60's? and what was the deal with trying to whack him? just cause he made the girl be a witness to his first job? so many things weren't immediate.

unfortunately, the "samurai" in this movie was just another delusional mercenary who believed he was a legendary japanese fighter but couldn't carry out the part, which is why the movie has turned out the way it has.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

I love Forest Whitaker and most everything he does, and also loved his character on The Shield. I am late to this movie and have heard both sides of the story, I am going to check it out, I can dig the undertones and can not fault it for that if I know thats how the movie is geared. Mulholland Drive anyone? After watching that, then reading about wtf I just saw, and watching again, that is an amazing flick, so maybe this could be the same.

FYI: Highsteppa I love your commentary and keep it up, 1000x better than anything I come up with after all the flicks I watch every week.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Kamal;877478]I understand what you're saying about what was intended by the makers of the movie but from an average movie goer's perspective, a movie shouldn't be a 120 minute session of video and sound, it should be a truly immersive experience. the average joe shouldn't be expected to research a movie before watching it. it is the responsibility of the producers/directors to ensure nothing is left "up in the air". even if presumptions or undertones need to be made, they must be presented throughout the movie so moviegoers know exactly what is on the the producers mind. take for example the role leonardo dicaprio played in blood diamond. he was an aggressive, conniving, rhodesian accent speaking angry soldier and it isn't until he reveals what happened to his parents that it totally fits together how and why he's doing what he's doing and why he's got his agenda. [/QUOTE]

Okay, but that's a very mainstream film (Blood Diamond) which you're comparing to something that was described as art house when it was released (Ghost Dog). The intentions and the technique that each director has is very different from one another. Blood Diamond is designed through and through to be a multiplex movie and is very traditional with how it's made, and therefore it's made and marketed with the audience that would expect a beginning, middle and end with very few, if any loose ends to be tied up. When it comes to something art house, the director and producer might not feel or even want to feed the audience everything, and even major studio, very mainstream movies leave loose ends on purpose in order to advance the feel of the movie over the story - think about the briefcase in Pulp Fiction or the same thing in Ronin. Alfred Hitchcock said (quite correctly) that you really don't need to know what's in the briefcase - it's the fact that everyone wants the briefcase that makes it so much more interesting, [I]especially[/I] when you don't ever tell them what's in it. Even films like They Live with the conclusion of the film showing everything being revealed to humanity, the question you're left with is "now what?".

Art house films try to push the boundaries of narrative often, leaving the audience to figure out what they're going to take away from it when it's over. Even Stanley Kubrick was pretty notorious for leaving some of his films extremely open ended, some might say even unfinished with films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket - they don't always follow a common storytelling narrative that has a clear beginning, middle and end.

[quote] yes there were quotes from the The Hagakure but most watching ghost dog wouldn't know the significance of it to being a samurai or even why the words from the text were introduced in the first place. we shouldn't be expected to pay to watch a the movie and then be expected to research it as well, just so that a bad movie can be well credited and we can level with the producers to appreciate how they intended to make it.[/quote]Maybe that's not what you're looking for in a film, but there is an audience out there that does - think about how openly Quentin Tarantino "samples" from other films with ideas or even scenes or settings. There's a ton of people out there that go out and look for the films that he borrows from, simply out of curiosity, which is why you get a flood of DVD releases for those films when people start to identify what he's taking from. Movies like Lady Snowblood when Kill Bill came out, or the original movie that Inglorious Basterds was based on. Some people want their movie going experience to be a learning experience, but again, it depends on the audience it's going after. Jim Jarmusch isn't exactly a mainstream filmmaker - see Coffee and Cigarettes as an example of him simply putting a bunch of people together in a series of vignettes/skits and basing it around a theme that's reflected in the title, and I think that maybe you might have gotten a bit of the wrong impression or mindset because this was an art house movie that managed to cross over a bit into the mainstream.

[quote] just like most old school djs don't relate to people mixing sets on computers with software, most people who have watched samurai movies/movies about warriors come to have a certain level of expectation from a warrior (especially in the case of a samurai). whittaker didn't fit the part on so many levels, he stole cars, used guns, wasn't physically fit for the role, I mean no part of him even related to being a samurai other than the scene where he's swinging the sword on the terrace. even then, you can easily make out he was struggling with the moves. heck they could've even spiffed up the plot by introducing worthy opponents but nearly all of his opponents were in their 60's? and what was the deal with trying to whack him? just cause he made the girl be a witness to his first job? so many things weren't immediate.[/quote]Well, that might not fit your idea of a Samurai, but then again, the Samurai is a bit of a romanticized image - people figure that they're nobility (they're not - they're servants/vassals, like Ghost Dog was), that they were law abiding (again, they usually weren't - they just had the Daimyo's/Lord backing by name alone and were just as capable of abusing their appointed authority like anyone else in any age) and that they exclusively used swords (again, they didn't - it was a prime weapon and a symbol of their authority and profession, but they used a whole arsenal of weapons like the daikyu/long bow, naginata/long spear/pole arm and a variety of others).

The fact that Ghost Dog was working for the mafia showed that he was working in a very similar structure in this day and age that the samurai did back in the feudal era of Japan - mafia dons weren't that different from Daimyo's of Japan. They ruled over certain territories, collected taxes from the people that lived under their rule and often had the final say over the law of the land that they ruled over, contested only by a higher authority in the hierarchy - the goodfellas/wiseguys were pretty much similar to the samurai in the sense that they carried out the orders of their bosses, and followed a code of conduct - for the samurai, it was the bushido code, I'm not sure of the actual term for the code that the mafia observe.

[quote] unfortunately, the "samurai" in this movie was just another delusional mercenary who believed he was a legendary japanese fighter but couldn't carry out the part, which is why the movie has turned out the way it has.[/quote]And that's the jab of the movie - you're seeing a guy who is viewed by others as delusional, but he still follows the code rigidly that the samurai does in his conduct and a sense of honor.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=Highsteppa;877551]Okay, but that's a very mainstream film (Blood Diamond) which you're comparing to something that was described as art house when it was released (Ghost Dog). The intentions and the technique that each director has is very different from one another. Blood Diamond is designed through and through to be a multiplex movie and is very traditional with how it's made, and therefore it's made and marketed with the audience that would expect a beginning, middle and end with very few, if any loose ends to be tied up. When it comes to something art house, the director and producer might not feel or even want to feed the audience everything, and even major studio, very mainstream movies leave loose ends on purpose in order to advance the feel of the movie over the story - think about the briefcase in Pulp Fiction or the same thing in Ronin. Alfred Hitchcock said (quite correctly) that you really don't need to know what's in the briefcase - it's the fact that everyone wants the briefcase that makes it so much more interesting, [I]especially[/I] when you don't ever tell them what's in it. Even films like They Live with the conclusion of the film showing everything being revealed to humanity, the question you're left with is "now what?".

Art house films try to push the boundaries of narrative often, leaving the audience to figure out what they're going to take away from it when it's over. Even Stanley Kubrick was pretty notorious for leaving some of his films extremely open ended, some might say even unfinished with films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket - they don't always follow a common storytelling narrative that has a clear beginning, middle and end.[/QUOTE]

Wow of course imo, those are some rather far reaching parallels to draw, especially with Ronin which was in an entirely different league. More than the briefcase, (for me) Ronin's mysterious draw more was DeNiro's character and his mysterious background. He pretty much carried the entire movie solo on his shoulders. What part of Ronin can you draw a parallel to Ghost Dog? I'm asking cause I've evidently clearly missed it.

Moreover, I acknowledge that the unsaid/unshown specifics in a movie bring out its mystery, but what in Ghost Dog is it? Yes Whittaker has chosen the Samurai lifestyle and other than reading the book and the sword swinging scene, what in your opinion does he do was reminiscent of being a Samurai?

[QUOTE=Highsteppa;877551] Maybe that's not what you're looking for in a film, but there is an audience out there that does - think about how openly Quentin Tarantino "samples" from other films with ideas or even scenes or settings. There's a ton of people out there that go out and look for the films that he borrows from, simply out of curiosity, which is why you get a flood of DVD releases for those films when people start to identify what he's taking from. Movies like Lady Snowblood when Kill Bill came out, or the original movie that Inglorious Basterds was based on. Some people want their movie going experience to be a learning experience, but again, it depends on the audience it's going after. Jim Jarmusch isn't exactly a mainstream filmmaker - see Coffee and Cigarettes as an example of him simply putting a bunch of people together in a series of vignettes/skits and basing it around a theme that's reflected in the title, and I think that maybe you might have gotten a bit of the wrong impression or mindset because this was an art house movie that managed to cross over a bit into the mainstream.[/QUOTE]

Don't get me wrong, I WANT my movie experience to be a learning one. But I expect to learn from the movie itself, I don't want to come back from the movie, head to the internet to learn what The Hagakure is. Instead of wasting 80% of movie time showing Whittaker strolling the streets, it would've been so much easier to have introduced scenes that drew parallels to the Samurai lifestyle and bettered Whittaker's character.

[QUOTE=Highsteppa;877551]Well, that might not fit your idea of a Samurai, but then again, the Samurai is a bit of a romanticized image - people figure that they're nobility (they're not - they're servants/vassals, like Ghost Dog was), that they were law abiding (again, they usually weren't - they just had the Daimyo's/Lord backing by name alone and were just as capable of abusing their appointed authority like anyone else in any age) and that they exclusively used swords (again, they didn't - it was a prime weapon and a symbol of their authority and profession, but they used a whole arsenal of weapons like the daikyu/long bow, naginata/long spear/pole arm and a variety of others).

The fact that Ghost Dog was working for the mafia showed that he was working in a very similar structure in this day and age that the samurai did back in the feudal era of Japan - mafia dons weren't that different from Daimyo's of Japan. They ruled over certain territories, collected taxes from the people that lived under their rule and often had the final say over the law of the land that they ruled over, contested only by a higher authority in the hierarchy - the goodfellas/wiseguys were pretty much similar to the samurai in the sense that they carried out the orders of their bosses, and followed a code of conduct - for the samurai, it was the bushido code, I'm not sure of the actual term for the code that the mafia observe.[/QUOTE]

I never said they were noble or law-abiding. They were warriors who did what their masters instructed them to even if it was illegal/immoral. But, amongst Samurais, they had codes of conduct/honor and were an elite class of warriors. What in the movie did you feel Whittaker (or the producers) bought out that glorified this? Other than the quotes throughout the movie and again, Whittaker was reading a book on the ways of the samurai at the beginning, for me, nothing in the movie introduced or even represented the Samurai Lifestyle. That mixed with the fact that perhaps an out-of-shape guy being a Samurai would be like taking a Double Decker bus to the races.

[QUOTE=Highsteppa;877551]And that's the jab of the movie - you're seeing a guy who is viewed by others as delusional, but he still follows the code rigidly that the samurai does in his conduct and a sense of honor.[/QUOTE]

[I]"rigidly...sense of honor"[/I]. You saw it in the movie, I didn't at all, we'll just agree to disagree :)

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

Death Note

watch it on Hulu

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

Has anyone seen [URL="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253798/"]"Out Cold"[/URL]?

Was it funny?

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

aint heard of it. digging up old zack galifianakis flicks are we?

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=res0nat0r;877535]. [B][U]Mulholland Drive anyone?[/U][/B] After watching that, then reading about wtf I just saw, and watching again, that is an amazing flick, so maybe this could be the same.

Watched it about a month ago and really enjoyed it again. Nice to see all the good solid actors again

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=res0nat0r;880648]aint heard of it. digging up old zack galifianakis flicks are we?[/QUOTE]

almost.

...a friend of mine recommended it after we discussed "dinner with the schmucks."

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

cool...never even heard of that one in passing until you mentioned it yesterday....probably pretty bleh, but you never know.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=PROG;879382]Death Note

watch it on Hulu[/QUOTE]

Seriously how strange was this movie??

Could not stop watching right till the end and then wham I almost lost it (if it has ended any other way)

Sitting through all 3 parts was torture though.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

Big Trouble In Little China

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

^i love that movie.

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[IMG]http://imgur.com/3QHtV.jpg[/IMG]

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

The girl next door, watched it again last night - love that movie!

Re: Highly Recommended (and overlooked) Movies

[QUOTE=res0nat0r;889760][IMG]http://imgur.com/3QHtV.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Not the best film IMO but worth the watch for the historical value...and to put cinematography into context.