The Recommended Movies Thread

Post by **sandman67** » Fri Jan 18, 2013 4:26 pm

DM: "SM, leave those 50s Bogart movies alone, I rely on you!"

Mate thats a pretty thin option at the mo as the current and upcoming crop of releases just really isnt my bag at all. Ive gone way off romcoms, am sick of seeing films like Jack Reacher, not into Life Of Pi as a book or film, meh...... still, just dropped the latest Pacino comedy crime flick STAND UP GUYS which is out as a DVDSCR so will be reviewing that later.

Been watching a slew of my Shakespeare films and TV plays but will leave the retrospective reviews of those aside as its a niche market really. Had a full spread STAR WARS day the other day with all six back to back.

Really really down and low for the last few days. My beloved cat went missing a few nights ago and hasnt reappeared. I think one of the fecking mangy vermin cat killing soi dogs may have either had him or just chased him so far hes wandered off. Life just aint the same without Mr Squeek, and the house is big n empty.

Post by **richard** » Fri Jan 18, 2013 5:04 pm

[quote= Life just aint the same without Mr Squeek, and the house is big n empty.[/quote]

Convert it into a cinema mate

I'll sell the ice-creams and popcorn

Homer · Post by **Homer** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:23 pm

Killer Joe

Brilliant, riveting, stomach churning.

This is a review and a warning. Watched it because of reviews that said it's among the director's (William Friedkin) best work. His best is better than most ever achieve even once. Also said that Matthew McConaughey was riveting and brilliant. Gotta agree with both.

Reviews also said it's filled sexual perversion, psychological intimidation, horrifyingly deep humiliation, and sudden violence. Right on all counts. But the reviews also said it was funny, as in twisted humor or black humor. I like that sort of humor. This film had none of it. I could see where the audience was expected to chuckle or groan at the humor, maybe even laugh out loud. But the character's dysfunctions weren't strong enough to be cartoonish. Some of the characters were well below average IQ, but again not stupid enough to be cartoonish. These could be real people, so what happened was horrifying. To laugh at the twisted humor one would have to be detached from the horror. Friedkin and McConaughey were too bleeping good to make that possible for me.

To reviewer quotes to sum it up. "Killer Joe will both infuriate and impress, but when it impresses there is nothing quite like it. It plays on the senses and lingers in the mind, McConaughey is brilliant and Friedkin finds himself in his best form in years" and "It is so focused on the depravity at its heart that watching it is like subjecting yourself to a nightmare that sucks the air slowly from your lungs.". The first quote was a positive review, the second a negative. Can you handle a film that does both? Then see it.

Available on torrent sites as a Blue Ray rip.

Post by **sandman67** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:37 am

Nice one Homer....will take a looksee as that slipped past my radar

Two that didnt

STAND UP GUYS

Its a good season for crime flicks it seems, from the serious like KILLING THEM SOFTLY to the oddball off the wall ones like SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS. Anyway, this falls somewhere between the two in cool and stylish, funny and bittersweet land where films like THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD live. And like that classic this is a tale of old school gangsters on a downbound train ride.

When Val gets out of prison after a 28 year stretch his best mate Doc is there to greet him and take him out on a celebratory night out on the tiles. Doc also has a skeleton in the cupboard....their old gangland boss Clap Hands has given him till 10am the next day to kill Val or he gets it as well. Val has been expecting this, so the two decide to really whoop it up. They bust their old getaway driver mate Hirsch out of the old peoples home, boost a hot sports car, and set out for one last wild night of fun and villainy before the hammer must fall at 10am.

Al Pacino, Chris Walken and Alan Alda are perfect as the three old buddy bad boys, and the script that mixes comedy, action and pathos with equal aplomb is a corker. Even the end is kick ass and a surprise. Its a crime caper classic, a solid gold keeper and an easy three cheers all the way.

and on to the next one, and its off into real world Tom Clancy land with

ZERO DARK THIRTY

This is Katheryn Bigelow's dramatised version of the chain of events from 9/11 to the death of Osama Bin Laden, and its been stirring a lot of hornets up for its content. I gotta say I agree with the critics. The first act is nothing but a tissue thin gung ho justification for the CIA black prison regime and torture camps, and its a damn shame as it does taint the rest of the film. I actually found myself skipping segments as I just found that bit sickening, especially in it the way such a disgrace is justified, despite the fact that even the CIA admitted the intell that got Bin Laden had nothing to do with the torture.

And now for another kick in the nuts. As to the actual representation of an intelligence process and tradecraft its a piss poor attempt. BODY OF LIES is one of the best - this is a lot of over dramatised hysterics and behavior I can assure you would get anyone sacked, let alone a low level agent like the central character. It pretends to present a realistic story, yet it doesnt in any way represent how the work is done and the methods used. And that lets the story down. BOL made that process both realistic and interesting. There is none of that here.

Anyway, the rest of the film is structured very well, as you would expect from Bigelow. Its sort of divided up into "acts", each covering a stage of the history, focusing on the one woman intell show who is the main character. And it does keep you sucked in, with its pacy script and excellent acting from all concerned. The biggest disappointment though is the actual end operation, which is IMHO filmed pretty poorly and in large parts just a murky mess.

So in a way its a middle of the road Tom Clancy-esque of a film pretending to be a true account of events. Its a shame, as this is in now way even close to her other earlier films, especially THE HURT LOCKER, and it aint no JARHEAD either. Well worth a watch, and certainly well worth a download, but its not a keeper, and for the letdowns that could have been done much better scores a two cheers.

Both out and about in pretty crispy DVDSCR formats all over the place, and both worth a drop, even if you will end up binning the second.

Post by **richard** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:25 pm

TABLE FOR FIVE

Can't get it anywhere

HELP, Please

Post by **Big Boy** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:31 pm

Just Google 'TABLE FOR FIVE torrent'

Post by **GLCQuantum** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:50 pm

Post by **richard** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:19 pm

Big Boy wrote:Just Google 'TABLE FOR FIVE torrent'

THANKS BB,

I'd forgotten that route

Post by **pharvey** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:32 pm

Bit of a "Moviefest" yesterday, a day off (and back home)....... and time to vegetate!! Once in a while I do this and can quite easily collapse in front of the flat-screen with plenty of munchies and a couple of tinnies... The Long Haired General did join me for "Ling Ling Chi" (007), but was not in for a "session on the sofa"

So, finally got to see a few movies that I'd downloaded and not yet seen. They've no doubt already been reviewed, so I shan't go into detail other than to highly recommend them for those who have not yet seen.

"Skyfall" - absolutely superb, agree with many in that this is the best Bond film yet... funnily enough was on the BBC News this morning as it's being released in China this week.... but with several "cuts" which the Chinese had insisted upon. Glad I watched the download rather than watch in the cinema here - the LHG agrees wholeheartedly and she also thoroughly enjoyed the movie!!

"Taken 2" - Again, great movie - thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth a watch and in the words of SM, "A Solid Gold Keeper"!!

"Life of Pi" - To be honest, I had been looking forward to this for some time, but comments from BB (repeating comments from his friends), had me a little worried. However, I really did enjoy it - having not read the book, I can't say how true it is to the written version, but although very surreal, I would recommend at least a download. Certainly not for all tastes....... but everyone to their own!! Decent copies now obviously around - mine was fantastic quality.

"Seven Psychopaths" - Ahem.... Thanks for this one SM!! Bizzare as you like (although my "tinnies" were running low by this movie), but again, thoroughly enjoyed it - Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson are great as always, Colin Farrell plays his part very well...... shall be having obscure dreams for a little while...

Unfortunately it was very much back to work today, and traveling tomorrow so shan't be having another "Moviefest" for a while. HOWEVER - I can still download the bloody things, so keep up the great recommendations SM & Co.

Post by **sandman67** » Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:10 pm

SILENT HILL : REVELATIONS

The second outing for the horror PC game becomes film genre, and unfortunately while it is still a good watch, its not up to the grade of the first film, which for the genre was excellent. They should have left it at the end of film 1....which was wonderfully open ended and vague as to what had happened. Sometimes one outing is all that needs be made.

Sharon, the little girl from film 1, has escaped the hellish ashen world of Silent Hill, but she has no memories of what happened there, or of the fact her mother Rose is still trapped there. Sharon spends her life on the run with her father, both trying to avoid the attentions of the crazy cultists The Order who want to drag Sharon back to Silent Hill so they can destroy Sharon's demon twin half Alyssa. And as Sharon approaches her 18th birthday Alyssa appears in her dreams more and more warning her to stay away. Unfortunately The Order catch up with the pair, and after kidnapping Sharon's father find the only way to get her back to the town from hell.....where she must now follow to rescue her father.

Its a worthy effort and integrates with film 1 nicely, introducing monsters and demons old and new. But its just not as complex and multi layered as the first film, and has none of that films "European" style open endedness and clever dovetailing of the three Silent Hill worlds (the real world, "Ash world" and "Dark world"), nor any of the false plot arcs that kept you guessing. This is much more linear and simplistic, even down to the CGI effects which are definitely not a patch on film 1, and that is why it suffers. It also looks like the budget for this one was a good deal slimmer, and it shows in places. Still well worth a watch if you liked the first one, and as it is so linear is easily watchable if you missed the first.

Out and about in crisp WEBRIP formats. Its a keeper as I loved film 1, but it is definitely only a two cheers one.

Homer · Post by **Homer** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:17 pm

Django, one more time.

In an interview made at the time of the film's release, Tarantino discussed the first Django film and explained how it relates to his film. He explains the first film took the spaghetti western to a new level of screen violence. It's success meant that 'Django' was used subsequently in the title of many films because it meant something to the potential audience. Some films with Django in the title didn't have a character named Django. He also said "I'm proud to say we are part .. we are .. uh .. in the long line of healthy tradition of unrelated Django ripoffs." But he showed his respect to the original by giving a small part to the actor who played Django.

The 38 min interview: http://www.npr.org/2012/12/18/167062665 ... d-director

IMDB films with 'Django' in the title. I stopped counting at 50, skipping the reviews of Tarantino's movie and one on Django Reinhardt. http://www.imdb.com/find?q=django&s=tt

Post by **sandman67** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:04 pm

THE LIABILITY

Small budget but big hitting Brit crime film that is very much in the tradition of classic film noir style twisty plotted film making.

Adam is your typical boy racey hoodie yoof idiot who while out on a burn up crashes his stepfathers expensive Merc. This is a real problem, as Adam's stepdad is an orrible violent crim with his fat grubby fingers in all sorts of nastyness, including human traffiking for the sex trade, and he hates Adam with a passion. So he makes Adam an offer of work - drive for his associate Roy. Adam soon learns that the insular and unfriendly Roy is in fact a hit man who his father contracts to remove problems. Roy seems to be having an end of career crisis of sorts, and so he draws Adam slowly into his work and world. But is all as it seems, and can Adam trust Roy....as after all Roy kills people for money. When a job gets badly out of hand Adam is left questioning everything, but maybe he wont get to the answers he needs in time. After all, he is in a car with Roy....

This is a great little film, and Tim Roth excels as usual with his portrayal of the unsociable and amoral hit man, as does the other male lead who portrays the idiotic hoodie wannabe bad guy. The scripting is top class, and delivers a few twists and turns as it unravels like a ball of wool in the paws of a cat. It may not be big budget, but what they have done with the money they had is spot on.

Out and about in DVDRIPS all over the place, and also if you are quick on YouTube at

A solid, gritty and twisty three cheers.

Post by **dtaai-maai** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:39 pm

Watched LINCOLN yesterday and, while I thoroughly enjoyed some fine acting, I have to say I found the film slightly disappointing. I've just looked back at SM's review, and have copied the most relevant parts below.

sandman67 wrote:LINCOLN

The film is about the few months when Abraham had to make the devils bargain between passing the 13th Amendment that would outlaw forever the stain of slavery, or ending the bloody conflict of The American Civil War as it ground into its fourth bloody year of industrialised slaughter.

Beautifully staged and shot, and acted to the highest by an ensemble cast led by the character actor giant Daniel Day Lewis it is a masterpiece painted in muted shades of sepia propelled more by words than image. And there lies its one fault. At times it is by necessity stodgy and convoluted, and to any but a historian familiar with the names of the characters and factions involved a little confusing.

If you are expecting thrills and spills look elsewhere, ditto battlefields and bandstands. This is pure political drama and educational history made entertainment and art, tough going at times but compelling and a joy to watch. Day Lewis brings a giant of history to life with a glint in his eye, a quiet smile and a backwoods drawl, aging with stress as you watch him limp into history with a crooked back, and is a wonder to behold.

"educational history made entertainment and art, tough going at times but compelling and a joy to watch" ...to which I would say, "Well, yes, I suppose so, sort of"

I think my main issue with the film is that it was to a large degree dependent on the personalities of the main characters, and I was a bit reluctant to simply take their (the actors and director) word for it.

Post by **sandman67** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:34 pm

DM

Daniel Day Lewis is notorious for being a full blown method actor who gets into being the character by doing massive amounts of intensive research, and then "living" as that character 24/7 during the whole filming process. There is an interview on the Directors version of Gangs of New York I have where Liam Neeson explains what its like to work with DDL, and he explains how even off set and out around town DDL maintained his character in full on Bill The Butcher mode and always referred to Neeson as "Priest" - the name of Neeson's character. DDL even harmed one eye by insisting on wearing the "bald eagle glass eye" contact lens more than he should have, and did a course in butchery.

With a historical figure like Lincoln all we have are the speeches on paper and biographical notes and recollections of those who lived along side him and knew him. For example DDL got the Lincoln stoop (as he was very self conscious apparently of his frame) and his gangly awkward walk down pat....both of which come from biographies of people who had written about Lincoln at his own time.

I think DDL did a stand up job, and lets face it the film was basically just him and Tommy Lee Jones with an ensemble supporting cast behind them. I wont, like some, throw a brick at DDL for his method acting style, I think he is an astoundingly good actor.

I loved it as a work of historical drama, but it did get a bit turgid about two thirds through. For a Brit a lot also gets lost as the story gets mired down in characters of the side actors.

Post by **sandman67** » Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:48 pm

Also on Sandman TV of late

went on a bit of a Tim Roth wander after THE LIABILITY and took in:

TO KILL A KING - excellent historical drama about the end of the English Civil War and events leading up to the execution of Charles I by Cromwell and his Puritans. Top stuff.
THE LEGEND OF 1900 - another beautiful film, quite arty and sad, all about an orphan and piano playing genius who spends his whole life aboard a 1930s cruise ship, as seen by his mate the trumpet player who tells his tale to a pawnbroker.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK - the Marvel reboot of the Hulk franchise starring Ed Norton as Dr Banner, Tim Roth as his psychotic military nemesis, and a big green CGI biffer as the Hulk. Love it, and its not easy being green!

yet to be watched later - RESERVOIR DOGS - no further words are needed.

Im also gonna watch METROPOLIS later - German early cinemas classic contribution to sci-fi. Dropped the original versions of THE GOLEM and THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI off YouTube last night and will line them up for a watch. I love the early German cinema horror thrillers.

On the cards later in the week will be an evening of "Arabian nights" style films with shed loads of Sinbad flicks and of course my all time fave in the genre the 1940s Sabu/Alexander Korda version of THE THIEF OF BAGDAD which Ive loved since being a kid.

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