'Nother one…
The Beast
Set in Afghanistan, about a Soviet tank crew. Kinda a cross between “Rambo III” and “Das Boot.” Kick-ass tank action, thanks to technical advisor Dale Dye.
“Out of commission, become a pillbox. Out of ammo, become a bunker. Out of time…become heroes.”
[QUOTE=RealityChuck]
I’ve been doing a series of comments (now a blog) on movies that have been overlooked. It’s currently at http://greatbutforgotten.blogspot.com, with older comments at http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/gbf
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Aha! This is where the Forces of Nature recommendation came from! I’ve been searching this thread and this forum trying to figure it out and getting nowhere.
Watched it the other night and liked it – a romantic comedy, but not a typical one, and both Affleck and Bullock were really good. I agree, let’s cut out the Affleck-bashing; he’s made some darned entertaining films, and a couple of reallly good ones. This was more the former than the latter, but I liked it enough to want to figure out who’d recommended it so I could thank him or her.
Thanks.
[QUOTE=Tapioca Dextrin]
If you’ve ever read any of F Paul Wilson’s work, you might try Others which is a collection of three (very) short films. It’s one of very few DVDs I own that’s literally home made (i.e. burned on a DVD-R).
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I should have paid attention to the “If you’ve ever read…” part of that sentence. I haven’t, so I was disappointed in what I have seen of this DVD. I only watched “Foet” and “Traps”.
SPOILERS; but not really.
In “Foet”, a woman admires a friend’s purse. Friend tells her the purse is made of the skin of aborted fetuses. Woman is appalled but intrigued and ends of buying one of her own. Woman has a nightmare about it and goes to return her purse then changes her mind. The End.
In “Traps”, a man sets mousetraps in his attic. In the end something in the attic kills man. The End.
Both of these are pretty good IDEAS for short films. But you need to turn an idea into a story before you load any film into the camera.
There’s a third one on the DVD, but life is short. Maybe I’ll watch it someday.
[QUOTE=jackelope]
Cunctator: Ha! Good one! Everyone knows Australia is IN New Zealand!
Twickster: You might check out Last Night, a Canadian film by Don McKellar. (I think I first heard about it here on the Dope.)
It does something that I almost always enjoy, which is to examine what would happen if the actual world we live in were changed by one material fact, but otherwise left intact. (Other works to do this include the movie Touch and Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.) In this case, the scenario is “What if everyone knew the world were going to end in a few weeks?” It doesn’t go into why the world is ending; the movie is not about a struggle for survival, but about how people choose to spend time when they know with certainty that time is limited. Very interesting movie. Also it stars the fetching Sandra Oh, of Sideways and Grey’s Anatomy.
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I recommend the above film as well. I bought a copy of it recently.
I also really liked Strangers in Good Company, but I don’t think most folks would care for it. It is, I believe, a mostly unscripted story, almost a documentary, about a group of mostly older women whose bus breaks down when they’re trying to locate a house that one of them used to live in out in the Canadian countryside. They find another abandoned house to stay in for a few nights and then we get to know them through their stories. A very quiet, intimate kind of film, very little action, lots of talking.
[QUOTE=twickster]
Cashback, in a way that totally intrigued me – I not only added it to my Netflix queue, I put it at the top.
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7/10
Interesting movie but let down a little by the very predictable ending I felt.
Thanks for the advice all the same 
[QUOTE=Ponster]
7/10
Interesting movie but let down a little by the very predictable ending I felt.
Thanks for the advice all the same
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Yeah, no last minute 180s certainly – but given the overall uniqueness of the vision, I didn’t feel cheated. I gave it 4/5 (and I’m very stingy with my stars).
[QUOTE=twickster]
Yeah, no last minute 180s certainly – but given the overall uniqueness of the vision, I didn’t feel cheated. I gave it 4/5 (and I’m very stingy with my stars).
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I watched it Friday night - the first of these recommendations to make it to the top of my queue. I liked it pretty well, but I thought the soccer game bogged down the story. twickster, did you recognize Sharon, his love interest, as Georgiana Darcy from the A&E P&P? I spent the whole movie trying to figure out where I’d seen her before. And Ben plays Oliver Wood in the Harry Potter movies.
Last night I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I liked very much.
I have, believe it or not, never seen the A&E P&P.
I’m right now getting ready to settle in for an afternoon of knitting and movies – I have Seconds from Netflix and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from the library, and just need to decide what to watch first.
A Simple Plan starring Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thorton, and Bridget Fonda. It was directed by Sam Raimi, who did the Spiderman movies, but a Simple Plan is a small character driven film with lots of twists and turns. I’m always surprised by how few people have seen it.
[QUOTE=Quartz]
I doubt many Americans have seen Dog Soldiers. A great little horror film, even for someone like me who doesn’t go for Horror.
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Watched it but thankfully managed to get through it without changing my underpants,but it was touch and go at some points.
Brilliant movie!
L’Homme du Train (France 2002)
Das Leben der Anderen (Germany 2006)
Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (West Germany 1972)
Quills: The fact that Geoffrey Rush plays the Marquis de Sade may bother some, but it’s well-written and well-acted. And no, it’s not about sadism.
It’s also the first time I appreciated Joaquin Phoenix as an actor.
[QUOTE=Sefton]
Quills: The fact that Geoffrey Rush plays the Marquis de Sade may bother some, but it’s well-written and well-acted. And no, it’s not about sadism.
It’s also the first time I appreciated Joaquin Phoenix as an actor.
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Second this. It’s a great movie, if a bit bleak.
[QUOTE=jayjay]
Second this. It’s a great movie, if a bit bleak.
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And not particularly historically accurate either. Still, neither was Elizabeth and that was a great film.
Rough Magic ,1995, Russell Crowe and Bridget Fonda, set in the 1950’s, Crowe a detective, Fonda a magician’s assistant, magic, Mexico.
I Know Where I’m Going 1945, Scotland, changes in plans, charm.
Haunted , with Aidan Quinn and Kate Beckinsale.
[QUOTE=twickster]
I’m right now getting ready to settle in for an afternoon of knitting and movies – I have Seconds from Netflix and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from the library, and just need to decide what to watch first.
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And the winner was … Seconds. What a weird freaking movie. '60s angst on the eve of the Summer of Love. Excellent recommendation – thanks Buns3000 (and anyone else who seconded it)!
Let’s see:
From Perú: “Caídos del Cielo” . Three short stories.
From Argentina: “Nueve Reinas” (The dubbed version is Nine Queens)
From Spain: “Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown”. A filamfinity guy says the dubbing is terrible. Stick to subtitles.
“Copenhagen”. Based on a play. C’mon a film with Bohr and Heisemberg! (It’s the thinking-man’s I.Q.)
Creation of the Humanoids from 1962. I saw this one once, as a kid. I recall it being pretty good. Subdued, without any action scenes, but interesting ideas. An all-but-forgotten science fiction film. I see it’s now available on DVD. I’ll have to get a copy.
Nowhere in Africa (2001)
Battle Royale (2000)!
In order to curb rising tension, the Japanese government selects one class from the entire high school system to go to an island where they get a random weapon and are sent out to kill each other. It is much, much better than I make it sound. The sequel, alas, is considerably worse than I could make it sound.