The Recommended Movies Thread

[BaaBaa.]

DJANGO UNCHAINED

Two words...........fantastic Entertainment

Tarrantinto is best off screen though

Where was Clint Eastwood?

Yeah, his typical cameo was pointless, great movie though!

[sandman67]

Re the quality of copies, and ones that have "watermarking" on them. As Richard rightly pointed out they are what are termed "Screeners". These are taken from preview DVDs and are usually as good as DVDRIP, but occasionally they can be a wee bit duff. The ones that are about at the moment are all great, but as Rich said some still have the occasional watermark on screen for a while, and others have had that blurred out digitally.

The reason that there are a scad of them about is because its the time when the previews are passed out prior to award judging season so journos and agents can do the hype thing to get chatter moving.

Anyways.... on to business

LAWLESS

This is a Prohibition era gang drama with a difference, as it concerns the source of the whisky - the illegal moonshine stills run by the Shiner mountain men.

Its 1931, and the Bonduorant brothers are making a fine living off moonshine they run to locals and the mass market buyers. Forrest, the head of the clan is the strong and silent type who has a high and respected reputation amongst his fellow Shiners. Howard, the middle brother is a bit of a drunk, but Forrest's solid strongarm man. Then there is the weak link...the youngest brother Jack who is a wannabe gangster. All is going well till a twisted and corrupt federal agent comes into town and starts to crack down brutally, targeting the brothers as they are the only ones to stand up to him. When Forrest is wounded in a fight Jack takes it on himself to run the whisky to an ex-Chicago mobster and starts to try to live out his dreams....but that pesky agent has him marked and Jacks stupidity is putting everything and everyone in the firing line.

Its a great watch, and the acting by Guy Pierce, Jason Clarke, Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman amongst others is top marks - how a Brit (Tom Hardy) pulls off a mountain man accent is amazing and a mark of his skill as an actor. But as with the brothers the weak link is Shia LeBoef who plays Jack. This plonker is a talentless no mark who plays the same frantic teary bleary twat character in every film, and he should stick to Transformers and other teen panty wetter fare, as in a high drama piece like this he is well out of his league and barely manages to keep up with the rest.

Anyway, its a great LEGENDS OF THE FALL sort of watch, and trots along nicely. Out and about in lovely crisp DVDRIP formats now, and a definite three cheers keeper.



And finally, FILM NOIR season on Sandman TV has carried on with a flurry of Bogart classics, a frisson of Neo-Noir moderns, and even a comedy. May I suggest, if your eyes are bored of the standard Hollydud tosh, you check out the following screen gems:

THE MALTESE FALCON, THE BIG SLEEP, DARK PASSAGE and KEY LARGO - all utter screen magic classic film noir with Bogart in full on cyncial hard man wise cracker mode. Go on, douse your screen in cig smoke and whisky fumes, revel in black and white wonder, and give your eyes a feast.

MULHOLLAND FALLS - this is a modern neo-noir set in the atomic age of 50s LA, and stars an ensemble cast of A listers. Great watch from start to end.

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE and MILLERS CROSSING - two neo-noir greats from The Cohen Brothers of FARGO fame. Both excellent watches.

DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID - funny as hell Steve Martin comedy which splices Steve in with scenes cut from all the classic noir flicks of the 40s and 50s. A real comedy gem, and a great tribute to the genre.

Well chums, theres my reccs from the noir genre. Now I'm off to see a shamus about this cheap dame who needs either a slug on the chin or a slug from his 45. Don't take any wooden nickles mateys.

[STEVE G]

THE MALTESE FALCON, THE BIG SLEEP, DARK PASSAGE and KEY LARGO - all utter screen magic classic film noir with Bogart in full on cyncial hard man wise cracker mode. Go on, douse your screen in cig smoke and whisky fumes, revel in black and white wonder, and give your eyes a feast.

I love those old Bogart movies and watch them endlessly as the rubbish coming out of Hollywood now has no attraction for me at all, I'm also a big fan of Casablanca and To Have and Have Not.

[Homer]

But as with the brothers the weak link is Shia LeBoef who plays Jack.

Absolutely.

[pharvey]

Rightly or wrongly, I thought rather than start a new thread I would post this here - please move if inappropriate.

Golden Globe winners - perhaps some good DVD suggestions amongst them!!

[sateeb]

Game Change is a great movie...Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris.

Couldn't get into Hatfields and McCoys

Homeland keeps getting better.

[dtaai-maai]

Watched Django Unchained last night and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. And the star of the show for me was Christoph Waltz, who I see won the Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor.

The soundtrack was interesting and original (in its concept) and the flawed good guys were spot on.
An excellent modern western.



(There was one phrase used during the movie that struck me as very modern and out of place, but I wondered if it was deliberate. Of course, I forgot to make a note of it, so if anybody watches it in the next few days, keep part of one ear open and see if you can spot it.)

[pharvey]

Loved the first season of "Homeland" - absolutely superb, and looking forward to watching season 2. Agree with Sateeb in that I couldn't really get into "Hatfields and McCoys". Have not downloaded "Game Change" - just not appealing to me, but reports are starting to change my mind.

Have downloaded but not watched "The Hobbit", "Lincoln", "Skyfall", "Django Unchained", "Argo" and "House of lies", which I'm thoroughly looking forward to......... Once I finish this bl**dy job, could be a weekend in vegetating on the sofa!!

One I can't find however, is a decent copy of "Life of Pi" - one I'd really like to see.

[Big Boy]

One I can't find however, is a decent copy of "Life of Pi" - one I'd really like to see.

Friends in the UK who have seen it say it's really dire.

[Vital Spark]

Interesting BB. I've read the book, but have yet to see the film. Maybe to appreciate the film you need to read the book - as it's pretty weird and surreal in places. As I was reading the book I thought that there was no way this could be made into a film. Perhaps I was right...

VS

[Big Boy]

I'm only repeating what friends have said - I must admit, the trailer at the cinema did make the movie look very interesting.

[dtaai-maai]

Inspired by last night's quiz, I'm going through the Oscar nominations for Best Film for the last few years to see what I've missed (quite a lot, actually - SM, leave those 50s Bogart movies alone, I rely on you! ), and came across this little gem of an opening line from a review:

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, often shortened as Precious

[BaaBaa.]

Couldn't get into Hatfields and McCoys

Homeland keeps getting better.

Wrong thread.

[sateeb]

If you read the thread it was in response to pharveys post about the golden globe awards...

[BaaBaa.]

Meh!