F308GTB wrote:I must be in a samurai mood this week. Watched The Seven Samurai over the weekend on bluray and tonight was 13 Assassins streamed on netflix. The Kurosawa flick obviously deserves its kudos, but 13 Assassins was a damn fine film as well.
No doubt The Seven Samurai is great but I havent seen 13 Assassins yet. Just made my "must watch soon" list.
I havent seen the movie yet but I got the Aussie one sheet for the movie in...There are better posters for it but I got as part of a package from down under.
Rented War Horse this past weekend. I was really looking forward to watching it, and I came away rather luke warm. It didn't pull me in as much as I thought it would. I felt the character development wasn't quite as deep, although the story was pretty gripping. It was definitely worth the $1.62 I paid through Red Box. I just expected a little bit more.
An interesting, but bit depressing documentary, can be streamed off Netflix (and I think for free on Hulu) - Strictly Background. Lots of dreamers out there. Lots.
Another good documentary I saw last week - Knuckle. A bit of a Hatfield-McCoy battle but with Irish Traveller families in the present day.
The British Film Institute came out with their every decade top 10, and Citizen Kane no longer occupies the top spot. Never understood the appeal of that film. The new #1? Vertigo. Can't quibble with the greatness of Hitchcock. A couple of weeks ago Cinemark was showing North by Northwest in the big screen. Wife and I went to that - first time to see a Hitchcock film in large format.
"Buck." It's a documentary about a real life "horse whisperer." The fictional movie of that name was based on this guy. I don't even have much interest in horses and I loved the film. It was amazing to see the gentle and loving approach he takes to training horses in contrast to what he went through as a child.
F308GTB wrote:The British Film Institute came out with their every decade top 10, and Citizen Kane no longer occupies the top spot. Never understood the appeal of that film. The new #1? Vertigo. Can't quibble with the greatness of Hitchcock. A couple of weeks ago Cinemark was showing North by Northwest in the big screen. Wife and I went to that - first time to see a Hitchcock film in large format.
Citizen Kane was great because it was so far ahead of it's time. Welles was trying all types of things that had never been done with film. He was a newcomer to Hollywood who was given free reign to create the film he wanted. He changed the way movies were made. It's also an epic story about the loss of childhood innocence and the life long struggle to regain it.
"Be tolerant of those who describe a sporting moment as their best ever. We do not lack imagination, nor have we had sad and barren lives; it is just that real life is paler, duller, and contains less potential for unexpected delirium." -Nick Hornby
F308GTB wrote:The British Film Institute came out with their every decade top 10, and Citizen Kane no longer occupies the top spot. Never understood the appeal of that film. The new #1? Vertigo. Can't quibble with the greatness of Hitchcock. A couple of weeks ago Cinemark was showing North by Northwest in the big screen. Wife and I went to that - first time to see a Hitchcock film in large format.
I understand ousting a Citizen Kane from the top spot for a Hitchcock but why Vertigo? Dont get me wrong as a Hitchcock fan I love it but I would still put North By Northwest, Notorious, Dial M for Murder and Rope ahead of it.
Film, like music, is VERY subjective. One mans masterpiece can be another mans trash. No one is wrong.
Speaking of not wrong.
10spro wrote:Finally had the chance to watch 'The Dark Knight Rises'. One word: Awesome!
This list is utter rubbish. Any list of top films that can't find space for Casablanca in the Top 50 might was well subtitled "Look at me, Ma! I'm an iconoclast!"
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
RobVarak wrote:This list is utter rubbish. Any list of top films that can't find space for Casablanca in the Top 50 might was well subtitled "Look at me, Ma! I'm an iconoclast!"
RobVarak wrote:This list is utter rubbish. Any list of top films that can't find space for Casablanca in the Top 50 might was well subtitled "Look at me, Ma! I'm an iconoclast!"
Pretty strange but it is the BFI. Not that the AFI is any better but at least they have watched Casablanca.
I only go by my top 100 list anyway ...and sorry Jimmy... Dumb and Dumber doesnt cut it
RobVarak wrote:This list is utter rubbish. Any list of top films that can't find space for Casablanca in the Top 50 might was well subtitled "Look at me, Ma! I'm an iconoclast!"
RobVarak wrote:This list is utter rubbish. Any list of top films that can't find space for Casablanca in the Top 50 might was well subtitled "Look at me, Ma! I'm an iconoclast!"
They might have had to bump Mulholland Drive.
A swing and a miffed.
Anyone got that one as high as their #28 all time?
IMO, Bill Burr is the best comedian out today and his new special is up exclusively on Netflix starting today. His brand of comedy is right up my alley. I listen to his podcast (Monday Morning Podcast) every week. Anyways, if you have Nextflix and want to laugh for an hour go watch it.
With a four-year old and the high quality of episodic television, I rarely have the time or motivation to watch a movie. However, I found myself home alone and too tired to get off the couch, right as Contagion was starting.
For a movie that was about the dangers of epidemic transmission by mundane means, it was surprisingly sterile. It got off to a great start with Matt Damon's character, but then went Movie-of-the-Week and packed in way too many characters in too short of a time. It reminded me again why I would much rather watch something like Homeland than most movies. TV series have time to spread out, to explore the characters, to build interest in the plot. Contagion simply felt too condensed, so that by the time everything hit the fan, the solution was already coming to light. I feel that way with a lot of movies that I see.
Haven't seen it in a few years but tonight we watched Home for the Holidays again. Best Thanksgiving movie around. Very honest portrayal of family life - the good and the bad. Everyone can probably relate to a character in the movie and see your own relatives in the movie.
Watched "Queen of Versailles" on netflix. If you lime documentaries, this one will grab your attention. It starts as a story about the largest home ever built in the US but takes a major turn due to the crash of 2008. Sure made me feel good for my solid middle class lifestyle.
Superb performance by Richard Gere in "Arbitrage." Should earn an Oscar nomination, even though no one is beating Daniel Day-Lewis this year for his portrayal of Lincoln.
"Arbitrage" is a good movie, too. The film is a morality play that shows how the rich can buy their way out of almost any crime in America.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
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