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Cinema Picks...
Okay, cinema is a little pretentious. Still, for better or for worse, wanted to share a great--my personal value judgment--Italian film. Everything one should expect from Italy. Best of Youth. All six hours of it are streaming on Netflix. I, of course, liked the images of the women. Especially a young Jasmine Trinca, portraying a wacko--literally--in the first part of the film If I must justify the film, there's a great photography sub-plot. A female photographer makes images--Leica, I believe--towards the beginning of the film. It's so rich I don't expect I'll spoil it for anyone to suggest that she has her images, later, in a gallery. Look for the kicker to come back with 1 hour and 20 minutes left. For the sake of full disclosure, I'll admit that one self-appointed Netflix critic found it melodramatic. I promise you that you have wasted more time on the Mayhem forums than it will take to enjoy this film. RBD Mar 19 15 05:35 pm Link Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out :-) I bought an AppleTV last month. I'm exploring Netflix, etc., for the first time. I need to fill out my list of things to watch. --- I just watched the original Zorro on Netflix, before voice was added to movies. It was fun. I'm also zooming through 8 seasons of Magnum PI Mar 19 15 06:56 pm Link Who wants to watch six hours of rich Italian dialogue and cinematography, Click? I do, and I'd do it again in a New York nano-second. Netflix is flawed--isn't everything?--and they've made most of the good stuff DVD only. I have nothing against Tom Selleck--he's more than accomplished--but I've enjoyed the Jesse Stone series much more. These are from novels by Robert Parker. Pensive, philosophical, ambiguous. You can still stream a couple on Netflix... but the rest you'll have to get the DVDs. Well worth it. RBD Mar 20 15 07:46 pm Link Because everyone here is so much more up-to-date than I am, I'm certain everyone else knows this one. Cinderella Man. Russell Crowe--he's money in the bank--and some actress, Renee Ze..... Sorry, I'm not good a spelling. My impression is that this Renee woman is perfectly capable of any kind of beauty one could ask for, but in this film it's underplayed. Still, she's an important part of what makes this film work. RBD Mar 21 15 03:51 pm Link Anyone else notice that the latest--and last--season of Mad Men is up on Netflix? I see binge viewing ahead. RBD Mar 24 15 01:06 pm Link I strongly recommend that everyone stop what they are doing right now and stream Force Majeure, available on Netflix. Disclaimer: I LOVE Scandinavian film. LOVE LOVE LOVE. And this amazing Swedish film just adds to the love. We watched it last night and I am already looking forward to seeing it again. 93% on RT, 87 out of 100 on Metacritic. Mar 24 15 01:24 pm Link Thanks, I'll check it out. I liked the old Fellini flicks. If you want a hoot, check out 'Housebound' - a quirky Aussie horror movie. Mar 24 15 02:47 pm Link I actually have been quite taken with the "hunger games" movies. to think I thought it was just kids stuff like twilight. I think they are pretty serious films about a future if given enough time could actually happen. other than that I binge watched this TV show everyone had been telling me to watch but I just kept putting off. it was called "breaking bad". its about a science teacher who becomes a meth cook. I totally recommend it. it was amazing, and had a finale that got it right...in a time of series whose finales were pretty bad...sopranos I'm looking i your direction. Mar 24 15 02:49 pm Link kickfight wrote: it was great. when I tell people the premise of the movie.....they are immediately hooked. Mar 24 15 03:12 pm Link Tony From Syracuse wrote: Mar 24 15 04:05 pm Link kickfight wrote: pfft, i'm still trying to wrap my head around a swedish dude named jose gonzalez. jk, love his work. and junip make some very interesting videos, too. Mar 24 15 04:21 pm Link GK photo wrote: Great stuff. His cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop" is killer (even though I miss Liz Fraser's vocals). GK photo wrote: It's definitely not for everyone. Mar 24 15 04:27 pm Link GK photo wrote: kickfight wrote: i love this song, and video (very swedish, indeed). Mar 24 15 04:31 pm Link GK photo wrote: Yup. Totally part of my "road trip" playlists (along with Beta Band and Grizzly Bear and some of Beck's more introspective stuff and such). That "Rope and Summit" EP has a track featuring a variant of the "Motorik" beat which Neu! perfected, and it was much fun to mix them in there as well. Mar 24 15 04:37 pm Link R Bruce Duncan wrote: Not a bad way to withdraw from the daily grind for a rejuvenating break. Mar 25 15 10:11 am Link Documentary fans should note that Life Itself has also recently become available for streaming on Netflix. Roger Ebert's final days are intermingled with an autobiographical review of his life and career culled from the book of the same name. An excellent, heartbreaking tribute to not only Roger but also his TV partner Gene Siskel. Mar 25 15 10:30 am Link Found this review in the Los Angeles Times this morning: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mo … olumn.html While We're Young. I love this director: his work with Greta Gerwig is to-die-for. Can't wait to see this. RBD Mar 27 15 11:30 am Link Well... it would seem most of the boys know more about Scandinavian film than I? It's not an issue. For those who frequent Netflix, though, I'll be happy to suggest Wallander--Henning Mankell's Wallander--and The Girl Who Played With Fire. Salander, the protagonist in the latter, is entirely non-conformist, pretty, perhaps beautiful in her own unconventional way, and tougher than any role John Wayne ever played. It looks like they changed the titles for "The Girl" series. My memory is that there were three films. Look. Netflix is full of really great Scandinavian titles. But Netflix has a peculiar habit of making their own English language versions of great foreign films. I haven't wasted my time on any. Because the originals are so good. Mar 28 15 11:30 pm Link Okay. I was wrong. It's not the first time. The trilogy is still up. But the titles are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. This is not for the faint of heart. Really intense film. So yes... the Scandinavians make movies. RBD Mar 28 15 11:37 pm Link Spitfire Grill. I'd seen it before. Perhaps multiple times. RBD Mar 31 15 10:14 pm Link Speaking of Scandinavian titles made into English: check out The Killing series. Excellent! Soundtrack is cool too. Apr 01 15 01:56 pm Link Sorry to have neglected this thread. Especially in view of the California Drought squabbling that has erupted. Did I tell you about the time my cattle-ranching cousin sold off the cattle? No rain. She was a hard-as-nails Californian. Anyway, as I wander through Netflix I will typically click on an actor or actress I like, or director. Last night I watched "Glory." Director, Edward Zwick. One could do worse. I just finished Legends of the Fall. Montana ranchers. Unfortunately, you'll have to order the DVDs. You won't be disappointed. RBD Apr 08 15 07:19 pm Link I have not owned a television for decades. Do you believe they're destined to become some kind of ancient 20th century artifact? Anyway, I found this series on Netflix: About A Boy. I was probably doing a Minnie Driver search. I adore her. And certainly knew Nick Hornby, who wrote the original book. The episodes are short--it's television--but laugh-out-loud hilarious. More than a little relief from our 21st century existential gloom. RBD Apr 16 15 07:25 pm Link For a little relief from the idiocy of the Mayhem forums, pull up Bella on Netflix. It's streaming. A little ethnic. But... I'm a Californian. And my ex-is South American. A lovely, if ultimately sad film RBD Apr 18 15 05:29 pm Link Anyone else watching Yves Saint Laurent on Netflix? It would seem to be a topic of interest. Apr 22 15 01:40 am Link In more current cinema, relegated to 20th Century Brit history, both The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything were very enjoyable viewing experiences. Apr 22 15 08:28 am Link I was pleasantly surprised by the silent film Napoleon by Abel Ganz. Among its pleasures is the performance of Antonin Artaud who played Marat. The Francophile in me loved it. But then, I was raised in a family where Napoleon was at least no worse than the people he was fighting. Apr 22 15 10:29 pm Link A couple of nights ago, "A Time to Kill" from the Grisham novel. On DVD. Five stars. RBD Apr 24 15 11:36 am Link Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Not certain whether I had seen this before. I expect most everyone has seen it. So this post may be coals to Newcastle. Especially interesting, I thought, in view of the fact that I am a photographer. The two brunette leads kick ass... and take no prisoners. RBD May 06 15 10:40 pm Link The Philadelphia Story, 1940. Hepburn, Stewart, and Grant. Some writer named Barry worked on this. Wonder what else he's done? Seventy five years old this year, and still side-splittingly funny. I expect they used to call this "Wit". RBD May 23 15 08:39 pm Link I expect most appropriately ignore this thread. It's not an issue. I am old, with tastes developed many years before the models I work with were born. And I love classics. Here's a cutting edge contemporary film by a director just out of the gate who has already earned an Academy Award. "Before I Disappear" It's dark, contemplative, graphic... and for the most part not pretty. Contemporary: Drugs, clubs, etc. Written, directed, produced by Shawn Christensen, and starring...Shawn Christensen. Auteur, and more. Is it possible to give a film more than five stars? RBD Streaming on Netflix. Don't miss it. Can I say this film is sweet? May 26 15 12:13 am Link Little did I know. Co-star: Fátima Ptacek. Discovered by Wilhelmina. Ralph Lauren, Benetton, The Gap. She's a baby. RBD May 26 15 12:27 am Link Having already--at least to my knowledge--cherry picked all the easy great films on Netflix, I ordered an oldie on DVD. Cabaret. Directed by Bob Fosse, with an exotic Liza Minelli whose great voice betrays her pedigree, a baby-faced Michael York, and... Marisa Berenson. I am so old I can remember falling out of my seat when I first saw Berenson. Of my generation, she's the one whose beauty I remember. And yes, a no brainer, a model. The film, mainly inspired by the work of some effete English writer, Christopher Isherwood, who... knew everyone who was anyone in the Oxbridge literary scene. When I put in the disc, I didn't know... whether I would still like the film. A musical. Don't know if the kids will like it. But check out this haunting scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN7r0Rr1Qyc To me, scary even now. RBD May 28 15 07:33 pm Link Just up on Netflix Streaming: Hector and the Search for Happiness Fast paced, both hilarious and touching. Toni Collette gets female lead billing, but... Rosamund Pike, drop dead gorgeous--can I say cute?--gets my vote. RBD Jun 09 15 04:34 pm Link R Bruce Duncan wrote: Cabaret...Made Academy History. It won 8 Oscars, including Best Directing by Bob Fosse...But Did not Win...Best Picture...The Godfather Won that. Jun 09 15 05:16 pm Link "Satantango" Director = Bela Tarr Not trying to be pretentious here. If you are into cinema, Bela Tarr is an amazing director that I highly recommend. "Satantango" is his masterpiece. 7 hours long, all in black and white; the director recommends that you watch it all in one sitting. If 7 hrs of Hungarian bleakness in Black and white sounds daunting, you can start with his other "normal length" films such as : etc Jun 09 15 05:16 pm Link R Bruce Duncan wrote: I really enjoyed Hector and the Search for Happiness but I also just finished binge watching Halt and Catch Fire -- Really enjoyed that. Jun 09 15 06:01 pm Link R Bruce Duncan wrote: I saw that one too. Jun 09 15 06:03 pm Link The Unbearable Lightness of Being, hit out of the ballpark by Daniel Day-Lewis and an amazing Juliette Binoche, in a cinematic interpretation of Milan Kundera's landmark novel of the 20th Century. For those interested in Kundera, here's his wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Milan_Kundera I'm not taking any credibility risks at all to say that The Unbearable Lightness of Being was one of the best novels of the 20th Century. One's emotional reaction to the film spans the spectrum of human feeling. All-in-all, book, acting and direction... an outstanding example of what can be achieved on film. RBD Jun 14 15 07:55 pm Link For fans of Scandinavian flicks: As It Is In Heaven starring the inimitable Michael Nyqvist. Sort of a salt-of-the-earth movie, but, and no apologies, "Uplifting.". Don't mistake this for a more recent release. RBD Jun 17 15 07:06 pm Link |