OT: Movie rental suggestions

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:49 pm

Couldn't agree with you more on "Crash," Spooky. I saw it earlier this year and thought it was pretty good. Watched it again last month with a more critical, analytical eye and realized just how cliched and predictable it was.

I mean, what are the chances that the woman that Matt Dillon's bigoted cop character would rescue from the burning car was the same black woman he fingerf*cked while performing an illegal search just a few days earlier, especially in a city of 20 million people? And of course, Ludacris' angry black man character couldn't go a scene without saying "motherf*cker." Hell, he wouldn't be a young black guy without that, right? And the scene where Ludacris and his buddy car-jack the DA was beyond stupid. I could cite more examples, but I've already spoiled enough.

"Crash" was an hour of stupid character stories -- in which prejudice was repeatedly RAMMED down the viewers' throat without any other character development -- followed by almost another hour of painfully cliched, drawn-out stories of their individual redemption. It was first-year film school crap.

I can't remember a worse movie earning Best Picture since "Gladiator." "Gladiator" was a glorified Stallone action flick with Russell Crowe replacing Stallone. But at least it wasn't as cliched as "Crash."

If "Crash" was the Best Picture of 2005, then last year was a really sh*tty year for movies.

If you're looking for a great summer comedy, my wife and I nearly pissed our respective pants watching "Wedding Crashers." Funny, funny flick.

I saw "Cars" with my two older kids on Tuesday, and it was very good. Probably about 20 minutes too long, as it dragged a touch in the middle, but a very good movie for young and old.

Take care,
PK

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:51 pm

I thought Crash was pretty good. Not best picture good, but pretty good. I've never really seen a movie that won best picture and thought to myself that it was the best movie of the year. I guess I'm just not good at movie critiques.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:55 pm

I liked Gladiator and didnt see it as a Stallone type pic.
I think it was alot more semi remake of "The Fall of the Roman Empire" than it was a Rambo or Tango & Cash.

Anyway I liked it..so

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 1:58 pm

Well, I think "American Beauty" and "Fargo" are the best American movies of the last 10 years, so you know the kinds of flicks I like. I think "American Beauty" is the best movie of the last 10 years, hands down.

Take care,
PK

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:05 pm

pk500 wrote:Well, I think "American Beauty" and "Fargo" are the best American movies of the last 10 years, so you know the kinds of flicks I like. I think "American Beauty" is the best movie of the last 10 years, hands down.

Take care,
PK

Im 50/50 on those...ya I loved Fargo but was okay but not in love with American Beauty.

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:16 pm

American Beauty was pretty good, Kevin Spacey is excellent, as always.

Some of my favorite movies the past 15 years or so:

Good Will Hunting (my handle is inspired by this!)
Pulp Fiction
Shaolin Soccer
Glengarry Glen Ross
Terminator 2
Apollo 13
Shawshank's Redemption
Batman Begins
LoTR trilogy
The Bourne Identity

An eclectic bunch

EDIT: Crash was pretty lame. The racist message was good (how it affects everyone and especially those unintentionally), but it got the Hollywood ending which I thought, sucked.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:20 pm

Of course Crash's plot was preopsterous and impossibly unlikely. But so are Raymond Carver's short stories, which seemed to me to be the screenplay's direct antecedant. Like Shakespeare, the writer used archetypes to convey and illustrate human nature. Old device that worked very well in this movie.

The interweaving storylines are a device that exagerates the interlocking nature of community. It's like an painter using "unrealistic" colors or a musician using non-musical elements or odd instrumentation to make a point. Of course people THAT affected by race are not likely to run into others similarly situated. But by showing what happens when they do interact is like a grans social experiment.

Dismissing the movie because it's not "realistic" is totally missing the point. Crash was a statement about the way people use and react to race and the interlocking stories a way to show a wide range of human motivations and behavior, from heinous to virtuous. The irony of the movie is that "racist" behavior is almost always motivated by some completely non-racial element.

Real personalities are seldom as clearly defined as the characters in the movie, but seeing such starkly drawn characters forces the viewer to ask questions about the character and himself. The characters are intentionally written as archetypes rather than fully-drawn people. They're more provocative that way.

For example, I would guess that none of us like to think of ourselves as exhibiting the darker elements of Matt Dillon's character. But when you see him under the strain of caring for his dad he becomes sympathetic and you wonder what sort of behavioral change you would undergo in the same crucible. He bites the head off the insurance woman not because she's black (although race is a cudgel he chooses to wield), but because he's coming apart at the seems as he sees his dad withering.

PK's criticism is one I've seen levelled at this movie 1000x, so he's in good company. But I just can't see it from that perspective.
Definitely agree about Gladiator, though. Horribly overrated.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:41 pm

Rob:

Speaking of short stories, Haggis easily could have made "Crash" a short film, and that's my problem with it. There was hardly any character development at all. The characters were NOT starkly drawn at all -- they were cartoon stereotypes!

Just by a few actions, we knew Matt Dillon was a racist cop. But why? We knew Brendan Fraser and Sandy Bullock were white elites in the community who feared blacks. But why? Because they were white elites? Or something else? We knew the shopkeeper was suspicious of other races and that his daughter was more enlightened. But why? Ludacris' character seemed to be almost a ghetto philosopher before he carjacked Fraser and Bullock. Why? What caused him to look at the world with more depth than a typical thug? Well, the hell if Haggis even tried to attempt to show that. And so on and so on with all of the other characters.

The subplots of the movie were so f*cking basic, so elementary. "You're white, I'm black, so we must hate each other." "I'm Arab, you're Oriental, so we don't trust each other." Yeah, but why? And Haggis never even attempted to answer that question.

So without that character development, which is a problem when you're trying to weave all of these little stories into a tidy package without making the movie four hours long, all you have is a tapestry of superficial cliches.

It took Haggis all of about 50 minutes to establish in "Crash" that people can be racist, and strange things can happen when all of this racism boils over and intertwines in a cauldron like L.A. OK -- I got the point after about 50 minutes. So what the hell was the last hour about?

Cliched stories of redemption -- that's it. Sixty minutes of filler.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for seemingly incongruent stories paralleling and then meshing in a movie. But Haggis needs to watch Soderbergh's "Traffic" to see how that technique is really done. "Traffic" is a f*cking brilliant movie -- I'd put it right with "American Beauty" and "Fargo" in my pantheon of the last 10 years.

"Crash" is far from a brilliant movie.

Take care,
PK

peabody · Post by **peabody** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 3:00 pm

I saw quite a few movies last year, so here’s my list of 2005 movies that I liked in no particular order:

Munich (Very Good)
Batman Begins (Maybe my favorite of the year)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Interesting Documentary)
Good Night and Good Luck
Jarhead (Very Good)
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Syriana
The Chronicles of Narnia
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Kingdom of Heaven (Saw it in the theaters, bought the DVD and always seem to watch it on cable whenever I come across it flipping through the channels)
Serenity (I wasn’t expecting much from this movie, but it was actually pretty good. It got overlooked in my opinion)
War of the Worlds (Best dumb movie I ever saw)
Wallace and Gromit
Crash (I liked it, but is far from the best)
Constantine
March of the Penguins (I know a documentary about penguins may not sound interesting, but I liked it)
Red Eye

I’m not saying any of these are the greatest movies ever made, but I feel they are quite deserving of a rental for an enjoyable evening of movie watching.

A couple movies I did not like:
Zathura
The Skeleton Key
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Since having our baby in January, I haven’t been to the theaters.

Recently rented Freedomland. I can’t say I’d recommend this. I’d probably give it 2.0 to 2.5 out of 4 stars. Some parts are very good (Julianne Moore is very good in this movie as a very psychologically messed up mother) but some parts are just completely over the top. This movie could have been much better than it was.

I really want to see V for Vendetta when it comes out.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:08 pm

I thought the latest Harrison Ford movie "Firewall" was great.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:27 am

Zeppo wrote:Syriana is one of the best movies I've seen in the last year or so. I didn't expect it to be an action thriller, and thus wasn't disappointed when it turned out not to be one. I hadn't seen such an intellectually engaging movie in quite some time, and despite some practical holes in the plot in the service of the greater thematic issues, I enjoyed it a great deal.

I just watched this tonight. Fantastic movie, IMO. Come at it with patience and attention, and without looking for explosions.

Zeppo's right: it's a rare hollywood flick that manages to be intellectually engaging. Leaves you with coal in your gut, though...and snipes at the ignorant optimism you may not even know you possess.

I'm turning into more of a Gaghan fan now.

SoMisss2000 · Post by **SoMisss2000** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:07 am

I'm sure i'm the last one to see this movie as it's 2 years old but I finally got around to watching Million Dollar Baby. We have so many dvds around of movies that I haven't watched yet. I decided to watch this movie tonite and loved it.

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 1:50 am

SoMisss2000 wrote:I'm sure i'm the last one to see this movie as it's 2 years old but I finally got around to watching Million Dollar Baby. We have so many dvds around of movies that I haven't watched yet. I decided to watch this movie tonite and loved it.

Fantastic movie.... Morgan and Eastwood are always great together even though Morgan's role is minor..... Hillary Swank also played an awesome part.

I watched 16 blocks tonight.. it was not that bad once I got past Mos Def's voice.... man the way he talks is extremely annoying.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:09 am

Yeah I rented 16 Blocks and Man on Fire this weekend. Watched Man on Fire tonight and that is one good movie. I thought it was pretty damn creative and different. Anyone else see it?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 10:05 am

I've been eager to see Syriana since it was released on DVD, even more so after praise by you cats.

As a soccer fan, I enjoyed "Green Street Hooligans." Quite a departure role for Elijah Wood.

Take care,
PK

TheHiddenTrack · Post by **TheHiddenTrack** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:05 pm

pk500 wrote:Rob:

Speaking of short stories, Haggis easily could have made "Crash" a short film, and that's my problem with it. There was hardly any character development at all. The characters were NOT starkly drawn at all -- they were cartoon stereotypes!

Just by a few actions, we knew Matt Dillon was a racist cop. But why? We knew Brendan Fraser and Sandy Bullock were white elites in the community who feared blacks. But why? Because they were white elites? Or something else? We knew the shopkeeper was suspicious of other races and that his daughter was more enlightened. But why? Ludacris' character seemed to be almost a ghetto philosopher before he carjacked Fraser and Bullock. Why? What caused him to look at the world with more depth than a typical thug? Well, the hell if Haggis even tried to attempt to show that. And so on and so on with all of the other characters.

The subplots of the movie were so f*cking basic, so elementary. "You're white, I'm black, so we must hate each other." "I'm Arab, you're Oriental, so we don't trust each other." Yeah, but why? And Haggis never even attempted to answer that question.

So without that character development, which is a problem when you're trying to weave all of these little stories into a tidy package without making the movie four hours long, all you have is a tapestry of superficial cliches.

It took Haggis all of about 50 minutes to establish in "Crash" that people can be racist, and strange things can happen when all of this racism boils over and intertwines in a cauldron like L.A. OK -- I got the point after about 50 minutes. So what the hell was the last hour about?

Cliched stories of redemption -- that's it. Sixty minutes of filler.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for seemingly incongruent stories paralleling and then meshing in a movie. But Haggis needs to watch Soderbergh's "Traffic" to see how that technique is really done. "Traffic" is a f*cking brilliant movie -- I'd put it right with "American Beauty" and "Fargo" in my pantheon of the last 10 years.

"Crash" is far from a brilliant movie.

Take care,
PK

Exactly.

I didn't hate the movie, but my expectations were high.

TheHiddenTrack · Post by **TheHiddenTrack** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:10 pm

My list of relatively new movies that everyone should watch:

City Of God
Do The Right Thing
The Station Agent
Amelie
American Beauty
Almost Famous
The Truman Show
The Big Lebowski
The Shawshank Redemption
Lost in Translation
Pulp Fiction
Goodfellas

Documentaries:

Capturing The Friedmans
Grizzly Man
American Movie

There's a lot more I could list but that's a start.

TheHiddenTrack · Post by **TheHiddenTrack** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:55 pm

I think everyone should see Dark Days.

It's a documentary.

"Documentarian Marc Singer focuses his camera on a group of homeless people who live deep underground in an abandoned New York City railroad tunnel. By day, they scavenge for food on the mean streets of Manhattan. At night, they retreat to the tunnel, where they've built huts out of scrap metal, plastic and plywood."

That's a pretty good description. He basically lived with them and lost all of his money making the movie. Eventually he got the financial help needed to complete the process...amazing story (worth the rental alone), and it's in the special features.

It gives you a new perspective and has a great ending.

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:27 pm

I forgot to add, if any of you have not seen City of God yet, do so asap!

It is truly a brilliant and entertaining movie. It is a foreign film so unless you know Portugese (no flopping/diving here

) you have to read subtitles. I love this movie, and the director went on and directed The Constant Gardener (which my favorite actress Rachel Weiss won an Oscar last year).

Both films are excellent, but CoG is a must see.

TheHiddenTrack · Post by **TheHiddenTrack** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:04 pm

WillHunting wrote:I forgot to add, if any of you have not seen City of God yet, do so asap!

It is truly a brilliant and entertaining movie. It is a foreign film so unless you know Portugese (no flopping/diving here ) you have to read subtitles. I love this movie, and the director went on and directed The Constant Gardener (which my favorite actress Rachel Weiss won an Oscar last year).

Both films are excellent, but CoG is a must see.

Very good film.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 10:37 pm

The best documentary film I've seen in the past couple years is Murder Ball. Just outstanding and very inspirational. Better than March of the Penguins in my opinion.

I'm quite interested in watching Dark Days and Capturing the Friedmans. Thanks for the suggestions!

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a rather humorous and entertaining movie. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer were superb in their roles. The plot however was a little strange, but it kept my attention all the way through. Outline: A murder mystery brings together a private eye, a struggling actress, and a thief masquerading as an actor.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:00 pm

I watched Eight Below last night and highly recommend it especially for anyone who loves dogs, absolutely great movie.

devilsjaw · Post by **devilsjaw** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:24 am

I thought Syriana was an excellent movie.

Also, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a very funny movie, and once again proves why I think Val Kilmer is such a great actor (aside from the Batman Forever debacle!).

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:32 pm

WillHunting wrote:I forgot to add, if any of you have not seen City of God yet, do so asap!

It is truly a brilliant and entertaining movie. It is a foreign film so unless you know Portugese (no flopping/diving here ) you have to read subtitles. I love this movie, and the director went on and directed The Constant Gardener (which my favorite actress Rachel Weiss won an Oscar last year).

Both films are excellent, but CoG is a must see.

I'll second that. City of God is brilliant.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Wed Jul 19, 2006 9:39 pm

My wife and I watched "The Ringer" last week. Expecting a raunchy movie at the expense of the mentally challenged...we were completely wrong. Check it out. The mentally challenged actors are the stars of the movie and they were great.