Recently viewed movie thread - Rental Edition (4 Viewers)

[Disco Stu]

Adoration

Atom Egoyan effort really hits the mark. One of the top three movies I've seen this year. Talky drama with provocative situations, stellar acting and insightful, no-gimmick direction. I highly recommend this, but remember its a complicated story about family, loss, racism and social networking. No one get shot and there are no car chases.

4.5/5 stars

Due to my movie hiatus, I didn't even realize this film existed. Thanks for posting it. I Atom Egoyan movies.

Holy crap. I didn't know about this either!

Available to watch instantly on Netflix.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Try Lucio Fulci's "New York Ripper." If you're into extreme cinema, this is about as ####ed up as it gets.

Netflix doesn't have it.

Unfortunately, it does.

Just adds it down below with an "unknown" availability date. I've had older movies there (ie A Chinese Ghost Story) for 3+ years now as well.

 

[krista4]

Un Prophète - 5/5. outstanding. one of the best this year easily...

This is in my Netflix overflow queue (along with Adoration, so I guess I had heard of it but forgotten). Loved The Beat That My Heart Skipped, by the same director. Going to bump this one into the queue ASAP.

 

[cosjobs]

Synecdoche, New York -- I have no idea why this movie has received so much praise. It is as if the industry admires Charlie Kaufman so much that they wanted to give him this gift. This movie was the most mind boggling (not in a good way) movie I have seen since Southland Tales. All the ideas presented have no direction and no conclusion. Character after character is introduced then disappears all without a purpose, all without a structure. Perhaps that was the intent of Kaufman to place the main character down the path of his own destruction by creating a world of false realities and then demonstrating them to the audience in the same fashion as the false world that has been created. I had a headache after the first hour and then gave up hoping for some structure figuring that the winding path would have a conclusion to the twists I was running down. Instead I was lead down more paths. If this movie is genius I am glad that I fall into average on scale of intelligence.

I like a lot of weird crap that general audiences hate. I almost always love analyzing these type of mind #####, even the aforementioned Southland Tales.But I didn't "get" this film either, I'll give it a try again in a few years.

As do I. Some of my favorite films are Brazil, Naked Lunch and Orson Welles' version of The Trial. I even sort of enjoyed the style of Southland Tales and until re-watching it for the most part enjoyed it. I don't really have any desire to give Synecdoche another shot and am still confused as to why it received so much love other then people assuming they "get" Kaufman. Reading reviews suggesting different theories only to have other people disprove the review. This wasn't like a Coen movie that at times on first watching seems over your head but then you find was carefully constructed. This was random ideas being spliced together to try to cover the various events life tosses at people in a very unsuccessful manner because the director refuses to give any clue to the audience as to what is going on.

I haven't seen either of those two, but they both look awesome. Thanks for the recommendation.

Naked Lunch was tedious and the title is very misleading.

I liked Naked Lunch the best of those in this discussion. It helps to be a Wm. Burroughs fan.

 

[krista4]

watched "frozen river" last night. the lead actress in it got an oscar nomination for the role last year. it was very meh for me. it didn't really build to anything.

I saw this a long time ago and still remember it well. I thought it was exceptional.

This was one of the movies I finally got around to watching in the past few days. I'm in cosjobs' camp on this one--thought it was compelling and phenomenal.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Adoration

Atom Egoyan effort really hits the mark. One of the top three movies I've seen this year. Talky drama with provocative situations, stellar acting and insightful, no-gimmick direction. I highly recommend this, but remember its a complicated story about family, loss, racism and social networking. No one get shot and there are no car chases.

4.5/5 stars

Due to my movie hiatus, I didn't even realize this film existed. Thanks for posting it. I Atom Egoyan movies.

Holy crap. I didn't know about this either!

Available to watch instantly on Netflix.

I love that feature. Problem is, my 42" plasma looks so great, I'd rather wait for the DVD or the Blu Ray.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Try Lucio Fulci's "New York Ripper." If you're into extreme cinema, this is about as ####ed up as it gets.

Netflix doesn't have it.

Unfortunately, it does.

Just adds it down below with an "unknown" availability date. I've had older movies there (ie A Chinese Ghost Story) for 3+ years now as well.

Well, if you're serious about enjoying some extreme cinema, the entire Dario Argento tome is available on Netflix

 

[krista4]

Up In The AirThe reviews of this drive me crazy. I thought it was awful. I wanted to like it too. Thank You for Smoking was good and Juno was great. I'm on board.The reviews of this strike me as elitists. Kind of like a movie for first class world travelers. Just bits about rental cars, hotels and luggage. Lots of filler in this movie. All the potential potential great scenes fizzled. Clooney's backpack speech, his talk with Kenny Powers. Nothing materialized. Very dissappointing. Vera's butt was nice though.

Another from my recent spate of movie-viewing. Not a big fan of this one for a while, as all the characters seemed terribly cliched, but something happened around the time when they got to the wedding in Wisconsin that made me change my mind...a little. 3/5

 

[krista4]

Adoration

Atom Egoyan effort really hits the mark. One of the top three movies I've seen this year. Talky drama with provocative situations, stellar acting and insightful, no-gimmick direction. I highly recommend this, but remember its a complicated story about family, loss, racism and social networking. No one get shot and there are no car chases.

4.5/5 stars

Due to my movie hiatus, I didn't even realize this film existed. Thanks for posting it. I Atom Egoyan movies.

Holy crap. I didn't know about this either!

Available to watch instantly on Netflix.

I love that feature. Problem is, my 42" plasma looks so great, I'd rather wait for the DVD or the Blu Ray.

You don't watch the Watch Instantly ones on your TV?

 

[jdoggydogg]

You don't watch the Watch Instantly ones on your TV?

I can stream those into my Playstation 3 and I've used that a lot. Still, nothing compares to a Blu Ray disc. So if the movie is visually stunning or one of my favorite directors, I always wait for the Blu Ray.

 

[krista4]

50 pages behind now and giving up. Too much to wade through. Need to know, though--did jdoggydogg ever give Slumdog Millionaire another try, and if so, what did he think?

Aside from the two mentioned above, also recently watched much-discussed-in-this-thread The Wrestler (3.5/5) and the following:

Facing Windows: You know how people who love foreign films (like me) will sometimes obnoxiously talk about how great a movie is because it is nothing like what Hollywood turns out? How foreign films can tell stories of real life better than American ones can? Yeah, this is not that film. It was chock full of the kind of melodrama, cliches, and overdone "heartfelt" moments that I couldn't even watch the whole thing. 1.5/5

The Devil Came on Horseback: Documentary about a former Marine who becomes an official "observer" in Darfur. Absolutely fascinating and educational about the region, its history, and the war there, but containing some of the most horrific visual images you can imagine. Sooooo hard to watch, because it's all real. If you can stomach it, well worth watching, but the most wrenching documentary I've watched since Dear Zachary. Much better made than the latter, though. 4.5/5

 

[saintfool]

Up In The AirThe reviews of this drive me crazy. I thought it was awful. I wanted to like it too. Thank You for Smoking was good and Juno was great. I'm on board.The reviews of this strike me as elitists. Kind of like a movie for first class world travelers. Just bits about rental cars, hotels and luggage. Lots of filler in this movie. All the potential potential great scenes fizzled. Clooney's backpack speech, his talk with Kenny Powers. Nothing materialized. Very dissappointing. Vera's butt was nice though.

Another from my recent spate of movie-viewing. Not a big fan of this one for a while, as all the characters seemed terribly cliched, but something happened around the time when they got to the wedding in Wisconsin that made me change my mind...a little. 3/5

i'm a little surprised by your reluctance to ream this movie a new one. it's a nice enough but that's about it.

 

[krista4]

You don't watch the Watch Instantly ones on your TV?

I can stream those into my Playstation 3 and I've used that a lot. Still, nothing compares to a Blu Ray disc. So if the movie is visually stunning or one of my favorite directors, I always wait for the Blu Ray.

Understand on the Blu Ray; just wasn't sure why you would need a DVD rather than streaming through Playstation, Wii, etc.

 

[jdoggydogg]

The Atheism Tapes

Watched almost all of these on Netflix. Amazing. I was avoiding these because while I am an Atheist, I really don't need to hear a bunch of opinions that I already agree with. But this is fascinating stuff. And some of it is so evenhanded, I think that even certain religious people might enjoy them. This isn't rife with anti-religious dogma. Rather, it's full of excellent discussions about existentialism. Highly recommended.

 

[krista4]

Up In The AirThe reviews of this drive me crazy. I thought it was awful. I wanted to like it too. Thank You for Smoking was good and Juno was great. I'm on board.The reviews of this strike me as elitists. Kind of like a movie for first class world travelers. Just bits about rental cars, hotels and luggage. Lots of filler in this movie. All the potential potential great scenes fizzled. Clooney's backpack speech, his talk with Kenny Powers. Nothing materialized. Very dissappointing. Vera's butt was nice though.

Another from my recent spate of movie-viewing. Not a big fan of this one for a while, as all the characters seemed terribly cliched, but something happened around the time when they got to the wedding in Wisconsin that made me change my mind...a little. 3/5

i'm a little surprised by your reluctance to ream this movie a new one. it's a nice enough but that's about it.

I was between a 2.5 and a 3 on it and could go either way. Agree it's nothing special, but it had a few moments that brought it back for me.

 

[jdoggydogg]

50 pages behind now and giving up. Too much to wade through. Need to know, though--did jdoggydogg ever give Slumdog Millionaire another try, and if so, what did he think?

I still haven't. But I am planning on giving it another shot. I love Boyle's "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later," and "Sunshine." So he's far too talented a director for me to not give it a second chance.

 

[jdoggydogg]

You don't watch the Watch Instantly ones on your TV?

I can stream those into my Playstation 3 and I've used that a lot. Still, nothing compares to a Blu Ray disc. So if the movie is visually stunning or one of my favorite directors, I always wait for the Blu Ray.

Understand on the Blu Ray; just wasn't sure why you would need a DVD rather than streaming through Playstation, Wii, etc.

The one problem I have with steaming Netflix PS3 is there are tons of movies that aren't on there.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Understand on the Blu Ray; just wasn't sure why you would need a DVD rather than streaming through Playstation, Wii, etc.

How does one do this exactly? Just joined back on Netflix and I have a Wii

 

[krista4]

50 pages behind now and giving up. Too much to wade through. Need to know, though--did jdoggydogg ever give Slumdog Millionaire another try, and if so, what did he think?

I still haven't. But I am planning on giving it another shot. I love Boyle's "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later," and "Sunshine." So he's far too talented a director for me to not give it a second chance.

OK, well I won't go off on another rant about how much I hated it until you watch it again, then.

 

[krista4]

Understand on the Blu Ray; just wasn't sure why you would need a DVD rather than streaming through Playstation, Wii, etc.

How does one do this exactly? Just joined back on Netflix and I have a Wii

They have to send you a disc for it. Look on the Netflix site--there's a link there somewhere.ETA: Doesn't cost anything to get it.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

Understand on the Blu Ray; just wasn't sure why you would need a DVD rather than streaming through Playstation, Wii, etc.

How does one do this exactly? Just joined back on Netflix and I have a Wii

I think you just have to go to www.netflix.com/wii and from there you'll order a free disc. When you get it, just put it in your Wii like you would a game, be hooked up to the internet, and you're in business.

 

[jdoggydogg]

50 pages behind now and giving up. Too much to wade through. Need to know, though--did jdoggydogg ever give Slumdog Millionaire another try, and if so, what did he think?

I still haven't. But I am planning on giving it another shot. I love Boyle's "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later," and "Sunshine." So he's far too talented a director for me to not give it a second chance.

OK, well I won't go off on another rant about how much I hated it until you watch it again, then.

That you hated it does not bode well for my second chance. But the movie is well-respected enough that I need to see the entire movie before I can say it sucks.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Auto Focus

I haven't re-watched this in awhile. But I was thinking about this movie today. Really good stuff. Willem Dafoe is one of my favorite actors, and I think he deserved an Oscar for his performance in this movie.

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

 

[Statorama]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

Gotta disagree here. I can only go by season one, but it was basically a soap opera. Maybe it got better in season two The eye candy is off the charts good though

 

[Aaron Rudnicki]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

Gotta disagree here. I can only go by season one, but it was basically a soap opera. Maybe it got better in season two The eye candy is off the charts good though

season two is awful. 3 was really good though. 4 was solid. I think that's all of them.it is a bit like a soap opera though. probably not for everyone but a really well-made show, IMO.Peter Berg generally knows what he's doing.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

Watched about half of the first season and gave up on it. Only time I've quit on a show other than 24.

 

[Statorama]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

Gotta disagree here. I can only go by season one, but it was basically a soap opera. Maybe it got better in season two The eye candy is off the charts good though

season two is awful. 3 was really good though. 4 was solid. I think that's all of them.it is a bit like a soap opera though. probably not for everyone but a really well-made show, IMO.

Peter Berg generally knows what he's doing.

Berg is excellent

 

[jdoggydogg]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

I liked the movie, so it sounds like the show's worth checking out.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

Gotta disagree here. I can only go by season one, but it was basically a soap opera. Maybe it got better in season two The eye candy is off the charts good though

season two is awful. 3 was really good though. 4 was solid. I think that's all of them.it is a bit like a soap opera though. probably not for everyone but a really well-made show, IMO.Peter Berg generally knows what he's doing.

I can do soap operas. I love The Tudors, but that's essentially a soap opera with naked chicks.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

Watched about half of the first season and gave up on it. Only time I've quit on a show other than 24.

Hmmmmmmm...I'll still at least rent a DVD or two.

 

[Disco Stu]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

Watched about half of the first season and gave up on it. Only time I've quit on a show other than 24.

Hmmmmmmm...I'll still at least rent a DVD or two.

Another Watch Instantly option. Seasons 1-3 are available.I've never seen the movie or the tv series, but the book was good. My parents probably ask me four times a year if I watch that show. They love it.

 

[jdoggydogg]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

Watched about half of the first season and gave up on it. Only time I've quit on a show other than 24.

Hmmmmmmm...I'll still at least rent a DVD or two.

Another Watch Instantly option. Seasons 1-3 are available.I've never seen the movie or the tv series, but the book was good. My parents probably ask me four times a year if I watch that show. They love it.

 

[gump]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

great show

Gotta disagree here. I can only go by season one, but it was basically a soap opera. Maybe it got better in season two The eye candy is off the charts good though

season two is awful. 3 was really good though. 4 was solid. I think that's all of them.it is a bit like a soap opera though. probably not for everyone but a really well-made show, IMO.Peter Berg generally knows what he's doing.

It's one of the few shows my wife and I can watch together. Enough female drama for her (will he get the girl), enough male drama for me (will he get the first down).Plus it's shot in a different way.

 

[Bojang0301]

As a Lynch fan, I like weird, but I couldn't really do Naked Lunch either. Maybe I will revisit someday, but I didn't make it through it in my only attempt.

Naked Lunch was David Cronenberg who did The Fly, History of Violence and Eastern Promises.

[Naked Lunch was tedious and the title is very misleading.

I still haven't. But I am planning on giving it another shot. I love Boyle's "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later," and "Sunshine." So he's far too talented a director for me to not give it a second chance.

Slumdog was overrated much in the same manner Hurt Locker was this year. If Slumdog was an American or even British movie it wouldn't have recieved half the attention it did because it is extremely formulaic. Boyle is good but he also did The Beach.

 

[jdoggydogg]

As a Lynch fan, I like weird, but I couldn't really do Naked Lunch either. Maybe I will revisit someday, but I didn't make it through it in my only attempt.

Naked Lunch was David Cronenberg who did The Fly, History of Violence and Eastern Promises.

[Naked Lunch was tedious and the title is very misleading.

I still haven't. But I am planning on giving it another shot. I love Boyle's "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later," and "Sunshine." So he's far too talented a director for me to not give it a second chance.

Slumdog was overrated much in the same manner Hurt Locker was this year. If Slumdog was an American or even British movie it wouldn't have recieved half the attention it did because it is extremely formulaic. Boyle is good but he also did The Beach.

Yeah, I couldn't finish The Beach, either.

 

[Bojang0301]

Network - What a punch to the stomach. This immediately goes toward the top of my list for all time favorites. Simply put: one of the greatest screenplays, ensemble acting and movies of all time. Some movies mold as they grow older and others age like a fine wine. This one was most certainly the later. Almost as prophetic as the main character Howard Beale. William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall and Ned Beatty were all at the very top of their game.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Slumdog was overrated much in the same manner Hurt Locker was this year. If Slumdog was an American or even British movie it wouldn't have recieved half the attention it did because it is extremely formulaic. Boyle is good but he also did The Beach.

Yeah, I couldn't finish The Beach, either.

I dont remember much about it, and I think I disliked the ending, but I thought The Beach was decent. Certainly good enough to finish

 

[Bojang0301]

Slumdog was overrated much in the same manner Hurt Locker was this year. If Slumdog was an American or even British movie it wouldn't have recieved half the attention it did because it is extremely formulaic. Boyle is good but he also did The Beach.

Yeah, I couldn't finish The Beach, either.

I dont remember much about it, and I think I disliked the ending, but I thought The Beach was decent. Certainly good enough to finish

I finished it but I was done with it after:

 

[Kenny Powers]

Slumdog was overrated much in the same manner Hurt Locker was this year. If Slumdog was an American or even British movie it wouldn't have recieved half the attention it did because it is extremely formulaic. Boyle is good but he also did The Beach.

Yeah, I couldn't finish The Beach, either.

I dont remember much about it, and I think I disliked the ending, but I thought The Beach was decent. Certainly good enough to finish

I finished it but I was done with it after:
*** SPOILER ALERT! Click this link to display the potential spoiler text in this box. ***");document.close();

Dont remember this

 

[Mr. Mojo]

As a Lynch fan, I like weird, but I couldn't really do Naked Lunch either. Maybe I will revisit someday, but I didn't make it through it in my only attempt.

Naked Lunch was David Cronenberg who did The Fly, History of Violence and Eastern Promises.

[Naked Lunch was tedious and the title is very misleading.

I still haven't. But I am planning on giving it another shot. I love Boyle's "Trainspotting," "28 Days Later," and "Sunshine." So he's far too talented a director for me to not give it a second chance.

Slumdog was overrated much in the same manner Hurt Locker was this year. If Slumdog was an American or even British movie it wouldn't have recieved half the attention it did because it is extremely formulaic. Boyle is good but he also did The Beach.

I think Slumdog was one of the better Best Picture winners of recent years.Better than Hurt Locker and Million Dollar Baby.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I think Slumdog was one of the better Best Picture winners of recent years.Better than Hurt Locker and Million Dollar Baby.

If I were to rank my favorite Best Picture winners of the 2000's it would probably be:1. The Departed2. No Country For Old Men3. Return of the King4. Gladiator 5. A Beautiful Mind6. Slumdog Millionaire7. Crash8. Million Dollar Baby9. Chicago (havent seen, but no doubt it would be last)Hurt Locker (N/A, havent seen)

 

[offdee]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

TV show I most look forward to watching at this time (#1 on my DVR season passes). Past seasons are good, and this present season is quickly becoming my favorite of them all.

 

[SmoovySmoov]

As a Lynch fan, I like weird, but I couldn't really do Naked Lunch either. Maybe I will revisit someday, but I didn't make it through it in my only attempt.

Naked Lunch was David Cronenberg who did The Fly, History of Violence and Eastern Promises.

Oh, I know. I didn't mean that I thought it was Lynch. Just that I like Lynch, and therefore can do weird, but I didn't particularly dig that.

 

[jdoggydogg]

I think Slumdog was one of the better Best Picture winners of recent years.Better than Hurt Locker and Million Dollar Baby.

If I were to rank my favorite Best Picture winners of the 2000's it would probably be:1. The Departed2. No Country For Old Men3. Return of the King4. Gladiator 5. A Beautiful Mind6. Slumdog Millionaire7. Crash8. Million Dollar Baby9. Chicago (havent seen, but no doubt it would be last)Hurt Locker (N/A, havent seen)

I love The Departed and No Country. I even liked Gladiator. But the rest of those movies range from flawed (Million Dollar Baby) to flat out awful (Crash).

 

[jdoggydogg]

Does anyone here dig the TV series "Friday Night Lights"? Slashfilm.com raves about it.

TV show I most look forward to watching at this time (#1 on my DVR season passes). Past seasons are good, and this present season is quickly becoming my favorite of them all.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I think Slumdog was one of the better Best Picture winners of recent years.Better than Hurt Locker and Million Dollar Baby.

If I were to rank my favorite Best Picture winners of the 2000's it would probably be:1. The Departed2. No Country For Old Men3. Return of the King4. Gladiator 5. A Beautiful Mind6. Slumdog Millionaire7. Crash8. Million Dollar Baby9. Chicago (havent seen, but no doubt it would be last)Hurt Locker (N/A, havent seen)

Wow - this is actually a sad looking group of movies. The only one on there that would get into my top movies of the decade would be No Country. I think the others are all average at best.

 

[Bojang0301]

I think Slumdog was one of the better Best Picture winners of recent years.Better than Hurt Locker and Million Dollar Baby.

If I were to rank my favorite Best Picture winners of the 2000's it would probably be:1. The Departed2. No Country For Old Men3. Return of the King4. Gladiator 5. A Beautiful Mind6. Slumdog Millionaire7. Crash8. Million Dollar Baby9. Chicago (havent seen, but no doubt it would be last)Hurt Locker (N/A, havent seen)

Wow - this is actually a sad looking group of movies. The only one on there that would get into my top movies of the decade would be No Country. I think the others are all average at best.

 

[Iraqi Information Minister]

Anyone seen Mystery Train?