Suggest and rate movies

[xzc]

I have no problem with that notion. I just don't like movies that preach, even if what they preach is something I agree with.

What if they preach a philosophy that denies the irrefutable fact that everyone has a type?

Thinking in terms of types makes things easy to understand, but I think it's a mistake to take a useful map of the world for the world itself.

[xzc]

Coriolanus-- unfortunately with my 600 strong collection i won't have the time to give much of a list unless perhaps you are looking for the top 5 or something small like that, or even the top 5 by a genre like comedy/drama etc...

Top 5s are fine.

Historical epics

Generally don't like them.

Character-based comedies

Generally hate them.

Slow but thought-provoking dramas

Very rarely like them.

All non-stop action

Yup. The Raid: Redemption was amazing.

Meaningful action with a message

Eh...

LOL comedies

Like them.

Unique/subtle comedies

Great...

Films one learns a lot from

That's most movies if you look hard enough, but if you're talking about educational films, then I'm not a big fan.

Documentaries

Generally dislike them unless it's about something I find interesting, and I'm ashamed to say that's not much.

Political documentaries/activist films

Meh them.

Movies set in the future

Love them.

Or perhaps... any favourite actors/actresses? Or general mood of film? Any specifics would help.
Also i could screenshot the complete list but would only have titles then

Liam Neeson and Gary Oldman are awesome. I can't think of anything else.

[barcelonic]

[hit me up when im back in mid-July if you fancy any more recommendations ]

mostly excluding ones you've likely seen & in no particular order...

TOP 5 LOL COMEDIES
Zoolander
Big Stan
Fierce Creatures
Joe Dirt
Galaxy Quest


TOP 5 UNIQUE and/or SUBTLE COMEDIES
Griff The Inivisble
Hesher
Gentlemen Broncos
A Film With Me In It
Wag The Dog


TOP 5 NON-STOP ACTIONS
District 9
Source Code
Lockout
Battle Of Los Angeles
Attack The Block (also a comedy)


TOP 5 OTHER
The Yes Men 1 & 2
Kill The Irishman
Triangle
Shelter (kind of a horror tho)
Harsh Times


TOP 5 FUTURE/futuristic MOVIES
TRON : Legacy
Solaris
The Thirteenth Floor
Terminator: Salvation
Gamer


TOP 5 NEESON/OLDMAN
Taken / Leon (probably seen both right?)
Murder In The First
The Next Three Days
The Grey
The Book Of Eli

PS. Im also a Neeson fan btw, and i think his career is going in an exciting new direction - he's finally getting some good 'tough guy' type roles and watch that space as he has some epic-looking films coming up!

And as i said before also keep an eye out for Tom Hardy films, of which there are some good ones coming out it seems

[SIATD v2]

Without wishing to digress too much, does anyone else find the main problem with the Transformers trilogy is it is subtle military propaganda for kids?

I am with you except for the word 'subtle'. 'SCREAMING' would be more appropriate, in my eyes. Look at where their secret base is - Diego Garcia, an island that was cleared of its inhabitants in possibly the most horrible way so that the US could build a secret base there.

'Blockbusters' are paid for by cross-promotions, which is why everyone in the movies uses Apple computers turned to face the camera - this much we all know I'm sure.

But when a movie want to use military equipment such as tanks/helicopters etc... it comes at an even greater cost. The US military demand to have influence over how the military is portrayed in the film (think of Black Hawk Down) in these cases, and in many cases have final say on the script altogether. For many producers, having their movie being pro-US is not such a sacrifice when they get to makes these impressive movies, but there are at least two clear messages radiating from Transformers....

A) US troops are all swell guys
B) Military action is exciting!

This may not make a typical American sign up for armed service but I worry about the millions of younger Americans who watch this as children and subsequently join the military or even just maintain these beliefs about the nature of the military itself.

I'd worry about more about the SCREAMING eugenics propaganda than the military propaganda, but that's not to say the sheer extent of military propaganda isn't worrysome.

However, if you enjoyed Transformers I can recommend Battleship. It is incredibly cheesy, utterly predictable, so silly that I can't tell if it's a pastiche or its just been made by very stupid people, but immensely enjoyable. Plus there's all kinds of fun propaganda in it. Basically, it's Transformers without the hour of teenage romance dross thrown in to make it more profitable. And as a result it has been a giant turkey.

[SIATD v2]

The Transformers movies were a hot steaming pile because the writing was dumb. When it's used as a crutch for bad writing, bad acting, and bad directing, then yes, but that's hardly the fault of CGI. I've thought that maybe it's bad because the overwhelming majority of movie budgets goes towards CGI, leaving little room for anything else. Maybe it's also that only summer blockbusters seem use it, or maybe they're the only ones who can hope to make their money back from using it. I don't know. I'll agree with you that most movies that make heavy use of CGI are shit, but I don't blame CGI.

I do, because it makes movies technocratic. It used to be that there were all kinds of things you couldn't show in a movie, and hence you had to get good actors, good writers, maybe (heaven forbid) some ideas and themes in there. Now, CGI basically says 'what do you want to put on the screen?' and so you end up with incredibly shallow, vapid, immature films. It is partly about budgets, but it's also about what CGI has enabled. I very much blame it for that.

As I have said many times before, the best two films ever made are Robocop and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? If any of you have not yet seen these films then drop whatever you are doing and get on with it.

Seen 'em. What's the attraction? This isn't like a hipster thing where you say you think the greatest thing is something everyone else has seen but overlooked, like how some people will herp derp about how Dr. Seuss is the greatest philosopher, is it?

No no no no no no no, nothing of the sort. I genuinely believe those are, when I look back on the (however many) films I've watched in my life, those two endure above all others. Also, I've seen both dozens of times but never get bored watching them.

I love Robocop because it's a post-industrial dystopia come transhuman sci-fi epic come conspiracy thriller. And I just love the noises, the fact that they've actually got a dude inside a robo-suit, the too cool for school dialogue, the twists, the way the police cars always cause a spark on the ramp as they exit the underground carpark, the satirical news broadcasts and adverts that are the hallmark of most of Verhoeven's great films. Basically, it has everything a growing boy needs in a movie. Plus Robocop would kick the arse of Alien, Predator, Terminator, and any other mothafucka going, with the possible exception of Black Dynamite.

I love Who Framed Roger Rabbit? because, similarly, it's a Hollywood satire (or more specifically, a Disney satire) masked as a classic noir detective/conspiracy story, with a whole load of existential quandaries thrown in, like the classic line about 'I can't help it, I'm just drawn this way'. I like movies that are constantly pulling me in different directions, and that blend genres without you really noticing or caring. Plus I find Roger a really funny character, really endearing.

However, if someone wishes to challenge my claims regarding these two movies then I am certainly prepared to duel over it.

[barcelonic]

Lol ye screaming for you & I perhaps but not so much for those poor, unwitting child soldiers of tomorrow

And Diego Garcia is an issue I'm often bringing up in political discussions with my mother who is a proud UK citizen. If i've got this right, the UK were actually the instigators of this most devious displacement, and then gave it to the US military - ?

As for Battleship, its not out on Bluray yet and i always wait for the hi-res versions of movies cus i have the setup to watch 'em and you can only watch a movie for the first time once.

I'm also expecting soon on the bluray release calendar - Hunger Games & Hick

PS. You know there's a Robocop remake in production with GARY OLDMAN (capitalised for benefit of Coriolanus)

[SIATD v2]

Lol ye screaming for you & I perhaps but not so much for those poor, unwitting child soldiers of tomorrow

Perhaps.

And Diego Garcia is an issue I'm often bringing up in political discussions with my mother who is a proud UK citizen. If i've got this right, the UK were actually the instigators of this most devious displacement, and then gave it to the US military - ?

Yes, that's correct. 'Our boys' from the UK carried out a campaign of psychological warfare against the inhabitants, including murdering their pets, and I think we now rent is to the US to do... something.

PS. You know there's a Robocop remake in production with GARY OLDMAN (capitalised for benefit of Coriolanus)

I do, yes. I expect it will be ruined by CGI but we'll see.

[xzc]

[hit me up when im back in mid-July if you fancy any more recommendations ]

mostly excluding ones you've likely seen & in no particular order...

TOP 5 LOL COMEDIES
Zoolander
Big Stan
Fierce Creatures
Joe Dirt
Galaxy Quest

Thanks dude.

I've seen Zoolander - like it and quote it a lot - and I've seen Joe Dirt and Galaxy Quest. Will give the rest a try.

TOP 5 FUTURE/futuristic MOVIES
TRON : Legacy
Solaris
The Thirteenth Floor
Terminator: Salvation
Gamer

I saw Thirteenth Floor. Actually, I called the ending 20 minutes into the movie.

TOP 5 NEESON/OLDMAN
Taken / Leon (probably seen both right?)
Murder In The First
The Next Three Days
The Grey
The Book Of Eli

I've seen The Grey - which is great -, Taken and Leon.

PS. Im also a Neeson fan btw, and i think his career is going in an exciting new direction - he's finally getting some good 'tough guy' type roles and watch that space as he has some epic-looking films coming up!

Taken 2 is coming out soon.

And as i said before also keep an eye out for Tom Hardy films, of which there are some good ones coming out it seems

Well, he's Bane, so of course.

[Gobbo]

I have no problem with that notion. I just don't like movies that preach, even if what they preach is something I agree with.

What if they preach a philosophy that denies the irrefutable fact that everyone has a type?

Thinking in terms of types makes things easy to understand, but I think it's a mistake to take a useful map of the world for the world itself.

Funny, I think it's a mistake to do things you know are impossible just because you refuse to admit logical certainties. Until the next time we address your untenable childish stance.

[Gobbo]

In terms of movies I was always recommend that are not philosophical (in the main) I have to say, 'Snatch' is definitely my favorite.

I could watch that movie over and over and over. To me it's the most entertaining movie ever made. All the lines are brilliant, insanely good cinematography, it has twists and turns, and the soundtrack is fucking phenomenal.


"Have anything to declare?"
"Yeah: don't fucking go to England."

[Gobbo]

Taken

Literally one of the worst movies ever made. Shit dialogue (and I mean shit, pure American war propaganda), completely unoriginal, boring, predictable, stupid loop holes and bad cinematography.

The best part of it was Liam Neason. Not anything he does, just that it was him, and not like... Freddie Prince Jr., who I'm sure would have made it just marginally worse. Complete shit film with no redeeming qualities anyone here could list off other than 'Yeah it's cool when he kills that terrorist' or some inane American thing.

I can believe there is a second on coming out, though. Obviously Americans think Taken is some cool movie cause they're Americans.

[Moreno]

Taken

Literally one of the worst movies ever made. Shit dialogue (and I mean shit, pure American war propaganda), completely unoriginal, boring, predictable, stupid loop holes and bad cinematography.

The best part of it was Liam Neason. Not anything he does, just that it was him, and not like... Freddie Prince Jr., who I'm sure would have made it just marginally worse. Complete shit film with no redeeming qualities anyone here could list off other than 'Yeah it's cool when he kills that terrorist' or some inane American thing.

I can believe there is a second on coming out, though. Obviously Americans think Taken is some cool movie cause they're Americans.

I actually though it was well done trash. Sure, I cringed at the various messages and more so than with most movies by a significant chunk, but I thought it was competent empty trash for would be american ubermenshes in their dreams.

The Grey, which was basically the same movie but with Wolves instread of 'darker than white people men' as the enemy, was a better movie and I respect the ending, but I cringed at the messages here also, at least some of them.

Liam is now 60 and seems to be trying to come off virile with these machine films. neither comes close to a top several hundred films.

[Gobbo]

If anyone here can specifically tell me why Taken was a good movie, I will give it thought.

But you can't say 'Yeah, it was cool trash' cause that still makes it trash, and you're probably American so the reasons why it would cool is still shitty military cultural conditioning.

Let's be honest: there is nothing good about that movie, whatsoever, other than Liam Neason being cool.

When it was halfway through I was giving serious thought if it was written, produced, and directed by the military. Like the whole thing.

[Moreno]

If anyone here can specifically tell me why Taken was a good movie, I will give it thought.

But you can't say 'Yeah, it was cool trash' cause that still makes it trash, and you're probably American so the reasons why it would cool is still shitty military cultural conditioning.

I didn't say it was cool. Yes amongst other nationalities I am american. my wife enjoyed it and she's as american as Olaf Palme. And tell you why it was a good movie? I mean, there's taste. maybe that day I wanted a justified rage romp, who knows. I certainly didn't come away positively inclined toward the NSA or CIA or something.

Let's be honest: there is nothing good about that movie, whatsoever, other than Liam Neason being cool.

I thought the action was fine.
And yes, he's charismatic.

When it was halfway through I was giving serious thought if it was written, produced, and directed by the military. Like the whole thing.

Of course, it is propaganda for intel and special ops people, or really any man - cop, CEO, whatever - who neglects his family and treats people poorly, but 'really' has a heart of Gold and 'really' is the hero and all other men are fags. Bruce Willis made a career out of this.

Most films have terrible themes. Even ones I like the political side tend to have crappy ideas about how to have integrity or interact with other humans or some other mainstream idea of the good, the right, love, when to feel guilty, who the bad are, what a man is, etc.. I have to tune them out, and emotionally reframe what is going on.

[Gobbo]

You still haven't said why it's good.

Or are you saying it has a good theme. hahahhaha

[Moreno]

You still haven't said why it's good.

Or are you saying it has a good theme. hahahhaha

Good is taste. The actions worked for me. I would have to sit down with you and watch the action again to explain why. I could suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy it. I can only assume there were some little clever tweaks in it and also LN moves differently from most action heroes, a kind of swaying big man, center of mass power, and that adds to the action simply because it is not the usual medium sized buff man motions.

Does this make it good? Can I demonstrate that you should have thought it was good? I don't know how that works. And since it was one of many, if better than most, I think, trash movies, the action is a blur in memory.

The Bourne movies I can see better in memory.

I got engaged in the fights, which is a lot of the film, and so it worked as a little roller coaster little 'I am beating up people I dislike' fantasy implant. For me. I think it was competently choreographed and compared to most actions films not so hysterically implausible or distracting enough so I didn't think too much, and hell I wasn't there to think.

Some action movies, probably most have cliche choreography and such ridiculous scenes that i am forced to think about the lack of logic. Here they kept me moving past the gaps fast enough, I could shut them out.

I can enjoy trash. I can enjoy deep movies. I can enjoy movies that are very emotional. I can enjoy movies that make me rethink things.

I seem to have multiple aesthetics.

Call it a guilty pleasure, not that I feel guilty.

[xzc]

If anyone here can specifically tell me why Taken was a good movie, I will give it thought.

Because the bad guys are Albanian, and we never appear in movies. That's why I first saw it.

But you can't say 'Yeah, it was cool trash' cause that still makes it trash, and you're probably American so the reasons why it would cool is still shitty military cultural conditioning.

Let's be honest: there is nothing good about that movie, whatsoever, other than Liam Neason being cool.

The whole movie is cool. The plot was simple. Daughter is kidnapped. Awesome dad goes to great lengths to save her and punish those who fucked with her/him. There were not many plot-holes, or at least none that come to mind, which is to say that there weren't any obvious ones that made the movie unbelievable. All movies don't need to be layered.

[xzc]

Funny, I think it's a mistake to do things you know are impossible just because you refuse to admit logical certainties.

Life is no argument, etc, etc.

untab

The conditions of life might include error.
-Last Boss of Philosophy

[Gobbo]

The whole movie is cool.

Yeah, you're right.

The conditions of life might include error.
-Last Boss of Philosophy

That's a good philosophy to live life by.

[Gobbo]

OK so big developments.

I'm 4 episodes into Twin Peaks, and I cannot say for sure yet, but this might be the best show I've ever watched. If you don't like Lynch, though... then it might seem like pure nonsense. I don't know how he does what he does, but it has to do with meditation and stuff.

[xzc]

When it was halfway through I was giving serious thought if it was written, produced, and directed by the military. Like the whole thing.

untab

also this, because it's hilarious

[barcelonic]

Gobbo i aint gonna try & sell u a film you don't like, but i wouldnt jump to presume those who like it are american - I'm not & am politically anti-american but i think 'good trash' just means its a comparatively good action film....
lets face it movies are not as good as they used to be and this one stands out as an '@ss-kicking' film because of Neeson's performance and what is a rather original script given the type of actions released in recent years

[SIATD v2]

Finally got around to watching Snatch. Twas pretty good - basically it's Lock Stock but with Brad Pitt playing a gypsy.

The thing is, no one actually talks like that, and the whole cockney gangster-geeza thing has been so overdone I didn't enjoy it as much as I might. Very funny in places, but like most gangster films is basically a glorification of psychopaths. Gladly, in this one most of the proper psychos get killed. Which is nice.

---------------

Other recent watches include Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough (the third in the series). Not as bad as the second, not as good as the original. Very cheap, but it's the sort of movie you can make well without spending a lot of money.

Also watched The Road, which is bleak as all hell. Very beautiful, in a stark and bloodless way. Bit cliche, particularly the dead wife (this isn't the X-Factor auditions - why does this poor bastard have a dead wife, isn't there enough jeopardy in surviving the apocalypse only to die slowly of lung cancer and have to look after a starving child?) but overall quite strong stuff. Do not make my mistake and watch it while drinking gin, it will make you want to kill yourself.

[Gobbo]

Yeah you have to consider a north American watching it. I hadn't ever see a British gangster. Or lock stock.

[SIATD v2]

Sure, coming from where you're from I can see the silly accents and dialogue being very funny. Lock Stock is worth a go, pretty much the same film but without the gypsies.

Snatch did inspire this bit of youtubing, which I love: