Is that the movie that ends in a Mexican standoff?
I recently watched *Talhotblond *based on a Doper’s recommendation in a thread on documentaries. It’s about a love triangle that forms on the web and goes terribly awry. I couldn’t believe how irrational those people were acting. And just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does!
And I don’t know if this counts as a “hidden gem” because it’s fairly popular, but I watched all three seasons of Nickelodean’s *Avatar: The Last Airbender *over Netflix streaming. I knew nothing about it until I saw the first trailers for the movie adaptation several months ago and I thought it looked cool and I heard it was based on a cartoon series. When I saw that all three seasons of the series were available to watch instantly by Netflix, I dove in. Now, I am a 37 year old man and I don’t watch a lot of cartoons anymore, but I LOVED it. It’s basically one long story, told over the course of about 60 episodes. It sounds like a big commitment, but each episode is only about 22 minutes and they have great characters, an engrossing story that is well-paced, awesome action sequences–I watched all three seasons in just a few weeks. It deals with some serious issues, but it’s also fun and lighthearted. It’s made for kids, but can definitely be enjoyed by us grown-up kids.
I never went to see the movie because of the awful reviews it got. It sounds like Shamalan really screwed it up.
Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan
Might just be me, but the transfer did not seem that great, but so much of the movie is conversation that it did not make that much difference.
From IMDB: A group of young upper-class Manhattanites are blithely passing through the gala debutante season, when an unusual outsider joins them and stirs them up.
Gah! If I never see this again, it’ll be too soon. Beautiful movie, but SO SAD. Spouse and I netflixed it based on someone’s recommendation “hey, you two like anime, right? this is a good one!”
Amazing movie. Probably the most depressing thing I have ever watched.
Although we just saw Tideland, that was a close second - it doesn’t bode well when there is an introduction by the director (Terry Gilliam, who I normally love) saying that he expects you (the viewer) will hate this movie. He was right.
I discovered Skins, a British drama series a few weeks ago. I’m 5 eps into the first season and really enjoying it. Lots of kids behaving badly, often hilariously, but also some good poignant stuff. Feels a lot different than the usual US TV fare.
And I’m a sucker for almost any kind of Documentary, and found Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa to be pretty good, if the subject matter seems of any interest to you.
A lot of what’s available on Netflix streaming isn’t fantastic, but there’s certainly gems to be found. Good thread! I’m definitely going to check out some of the others suggested here.
Hmm, no i don’t think so.
Second Avatar: The Last Airbender. My 7yo loved it and so did I.
I’m watching Veronica Mars now - it’s fun in a semi-brainless way, good for when I’m cooking dinner.
We watched *Cashback *a few weeks back. It wasn’t my favorite, but I know it gets recommendations here, and it was different and entertaining.
We watched Big Trouble last week. Great, wacky movie based on Dave Barry’s novel. Its release got messed up because of 9/11 (it features a bomb getting through airport security), and so it never really got much notice, but it’s got Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Jason Lee, Stanley Tucci, Sofia Vergara, Patrick Warburton, Janeane Garofalo, Zoey Deschanel, and a fantastic turn by Dennis Farina.
I loved *Severance *- might have to check it out again. I see that *Session 9 *is also available instantly - very good, scary movie!
That’s why it means something when I say Dear Zachary might just be sadder. I mean, both movies make typical sad movies look pleasant…sort of.
Then DON’T see The Road with Viggo Aragorn.
The first ten minutes are brutal. You watch them and end up in a bit shell shocked. Then you have another hour and fifty minutes. And it doesn’t get better.
It was the first time I can remember wanting a character to die. Not because I didn’t like the character, who was excellent. But because it was the happiest ending I could imagine for her.
Good Lord! Dear Zachary is far more depressing than the Road! The Road is child’s play compared to Graveyard of the Fireflies or Dear Zachary.
Yes, I’ve seen the Road. It’s sad, but nowhere as sad as Fireflies or Zachary(and Zachary is a true story).
Blood: The Last Vampire, a superb short (45 minutes) anime movie set on a US military base in Japan in the 1960s. Great art and action.
Shutter, a Thai horror movie in the Japanese ghost genre (e.g. Ju-On, Ringu, etc). Very creepy.
Wild China, a documentary focused on the rarely seen wild areas of China, including bats that fish (like eagles) with freakin’ sonar, man!
Seraphine is a true story of an artist in France just before WWI and the fallout. You almost don’t need the subtitles as the imagery of the movie tell you the story- you feel as if you are there. It won numerous European awards but was largely ignored in the U.S.
Coincidentally, a documentary The Rape of Europa about protecting artwork during WWII is also just awesome in its storytelling.
Planet B-Boy is a fun documentary about one year at the world break dancing competition.
I’m loving the fact that the Starz miniseries** Pillars of the Earth** is available on Netflix instant, only a few hours after the episodes air on television. Medieval melodrama.
Yeah, this is great. It was filmed with Chinese television and has great access to everywhere in China.
I highly recommend a 2008 documentary, Prodigal Sons. The thumbnail sketch is that a transsexual woman goes to her high school reunion in Montana. It ends up being about a lot more than that, but I wouldn’t read any further. I watched tonight, and thought it was fascinating.
I see that the entire run of Blood+, the anime series based on the movie, is available via instant watch. Much better than the movie. IMHO.
Last night I watched “Doctor Diaries”, which is a Nova special where they’ve followed a number of doctors for 20+ years through med school, residency, and their professional careers. Very good, although I wish it was longer and more in-depth. Made me cry twice.
Mods, could we close this thread and merge it with Netflix Instant Queue Recommendations - the movie thread for people with no patience.
When I logged into the website just now, neither of these was available for instant viewing. The former says DVD/Blu-ray only, and the latter doesn’t seem to be available in any format at present (it has a “Save” button). And yes, I do have the instant viewing feature enabled on my account.
You’re saying you watched both of these on instant Netflix over the past week?
ETA: just noticed your comment about the latter film.