Whether currently in theatres, or on DVD, recommend a movie here.


Currently In Theatres:


Munich - Pretty interresting movie, doesn't really pull any punches on the Palestinian - Isreali confilt. Not the typical trite-ness of Spieldburg flicks.

Syriana - Great movie. Complicated at the beginning, but if you pay attention, it's a great showcase on how the oil industry is affecting the relations of the world.


Just Out On DVD:

Four Brothers - A John Singleton movie. A thinking-mans action movie with some cool twists in it. A fun movie, and a few nice lessons scattered throughout.


Older:

Snatch - A Guy Ritchie flick about the London underbelly. Think Britain's answer to Pulp Ficion, only even more stylized and a bit more flashy. A personal favorite of mine.

Rashoman - Got this for Christmas. Probably Akira Kurosawa's (my favorite director of all time) most famous film. A murder is told through 4 different perspectives. An absolutely fantastic look on how perspective is always a relative look on reality.



Add on. :brow:

Older - The Royal Tenenbaums (2001). Great cast (Gene Hackman, Ben Stiller, Danny Glover, Owen Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Luke Wilson) and a really off kilter film. It's not made for the masses, but it runs with a strange vibe that is captivating to me.

Out on DVD (has been for a little) - Crash, has a great cast...chocked full of irony.

Older - Something the Lord Made - not a very well known movie but it is excellent. Is about a surgeon in the mid 1900s and his black assistant. Deals a little with racism.

Crash is a good one. I have been meaning to see The Royal Tenenbaums.


Keep em coming people.

Hero and House of Flying Daggers - Awesome fight scenes and not bad overall.

Hey if it’s a movie thread you know I’ll get in my two cents…


Loved Syriana. It was definitely not lite entertainment, and the plot is a little hard to follow, but the film is mesmerizing and whips past at light speed.

I didn’t like Four Brothers as much as you did. Don’t get me wrong I thought it was okay, a decent rental. But for some reason I’m still expecting more from Singleton, and he continues to disappoint.

I too share your passion for Kurosawa. I have to argue with your point about Rashoman being AK’s most famous film; I think that title still goes to Seven Samurai (which I watched on Boxing Day).

As far as recommendations go

In theatres, I haven’t seen much in current release other than Syriana, so I’ll have to defer to others.

On DVD: I, like KamikaZ, would highly recommend trying out some of Kurosawa’s works. Both Yojimbo (remade by Sergio Leone as “A Fistful of Dollars”) and Sanjuro are both extremely entertaining and fairly accessible. If you enjoy westerns, you should find these right up your alley. The same can be said of Seven Samurai (which was of course remade into The Magnificent Seven). This is one of my favourite films; highly entertaining and beautifully shot. I of course recommend it also, but at just over 200 minutes in length it might be a bit much for someone not used to reading subtitles. Recently reissued by those brilliant folks at the “Criterion Collection” is one of Kurosawa’s later masterpieces; Ran is AK’s treatment of Shakespeare’s King Lear and the newly remastered film is simply breathtaking. In my mind Ran has always been one of the most beautiful films ever made, but until this Criterion release the DVD versions have looked like garbage. Along with the improved image quality the latest offering also has Dolby 5.1 remastered audio, excellent feature length commentary by film historian Stephen Price and to top it off it also includes the brilliant feature documentary AK. Another Kurosawa title I’d highly recommend is Ikiru, it’s a more contemporary film (sorry no samurai in this one), but it features an amazing performance by Takashi Shimura and is truly an inspiring film that will haunt you for weeks after viewing it (if not longer).

A few perhaps lesser seen gems that I’d also like to HIGHLY recommend:

Audition (1999) Directed by Takashi Miike
Best in Show (2000) Directed by Christopher Guest
Bubba Ho-tep (2002) Directed by Don Coscarelli
Hell in the Pacific (1968) Directed by John Boorman
I Heart Huckabees (2004) Directed by David O. Russell
Last Action Hero (1993) Directed by John McTiernan
Miller's Crossing (1990) Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Network (1976) Directed by Sidney Lumet
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Directed by Sergio Leone
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) Directed by Sergio Leone
Party, The (1968) Directed by Blake Edwards
Paths of Glory (1957) Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Pickup on South Street (1953) Directed by Samuel Fuller
Shaun of the Dead (2004) Directed by Edgar Wright
Starship Troopers (1997) Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Thin Red Line, The (1998) Directed by Terrence Malick
This Gun for Hire (1942) Directed by Frank Tuttle
Top Secret! (1984) Directed by Jim Abrahams and David Zucker
Touch of Evil (1958) Directed by Orson Welles



Time for me to.... "Shut up already....damn!" :smile:

edit: because I'm not the world's strongest typist. My fingers are all thumbs... Bwa ha ha ha! God I' just crack myself up sometimes.

Hey if it’s a movie thread you know I’ll get in my two cents…


Loved Syriana. It was definitely not lite entertainment, and the plot is a little hard to follow, but the film is mesmerizing and whips past at light speed.

I didn’t like Four Brothers as much as you did. Don’t get me wrong I thought it was okay, a decent rental. But for some reason I’m still expecting more from Singleton, and he continues to disappoint.

I too share your passion for Kurosawa. I have to argue worth your point about Rashoman being AK’s most famous film; I think that title still goes to Seven Samurai (which I watched on Boxing Day).

As far as recommendations go

In theatres, I haven’t seen much in current release other than Syriana, so I’ll have to defer to others.

On DVD: I, like KamikaZ, would highly recommend trying out some of Kurosawa’s works. Both Yojimbo (remade by Sergio Leone as “A Fistful of Dollars”) and Sanjuro are both extremely entertaining and fairly accessible. If you enloy westerns, you should find these right up your alley. The same can be said of Seven Samurai (which was of course remade into The Magnificent Seven). This is one of my favourite films; highly entertaining and beautifully shot. I of course recommend it also, but at just over 200 minutes in length it might be a bit much for someone not used to reading subtitles. Recently reissued by those brilliant folks at the “Criterion Collection” is one of Kurosawa’s later masterpieces; Ran is AK’s treatment of Shakespeare’s King Lear and the newly remastered film is simply breathtaking. In my mind Ran has always been one of the most beautiful films ever made, but until this Criterion release the DVD versions have looked like garbage. Along with the improved image quality the latest offering also has Dolby 5.1 remastered audio, excellent feature length commentary by film historian Stephen Price and to top it off it also includes the brilliant feature documentary AK. Another Kurosawa title I’d highly recommend is Ikiru, it’s a more contemporary film (sorry no samurai in this one), but it features an amazing performance by Takashi Shimura and is truly an inspiring film that will haunt you for weeks after viewing it (if not longer).

A few perhaps lesser seen gems that I’d also like to HIGHLY recommend:

Audition (1999) Directed by Takashi Miike
Best in Show (2000) Directed by Christopher Guest
Bubba Ho-tep (2002) Directed by Don Coscarelli
Hell in the Pacific (1968) Directed by John Boorman
I Heart Huckabees (2004) Directed by David O. Russell
Last Action Hero (1993) Directed by John McTiernan
Miller's Crossing (1990) Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Network (1976) Directed by Sidney Lumet
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Directed by Sergio Leone
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969) Directed by Sergio Leone
Party, The (1968) Directed by Blake Edwards
Paths of Glory (1957) Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Pickup on South Street (1953) Directed by Samuel Fuller
Shaun of the Dead (2004) Directed by Edgar Wright
Starship Troopers (1997) Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Thin Red Line, The (1998) Directed by Terrence Malick
This Gun for Hire (1942) Directed by Frank Tuttle
Top Secret! (1984) Directed by Jim Abrahams and David Zucker
Touch of Evil (1958) Directed by Orson Welles

Time for me to.... "Shut up already....damn!" :smile:


I agree with you to a degree about Seven Samurai being his most famous; however I think Rashoman is right up there. No question that Seven Samurai is probably the most influential film to date (I can draw countless similarities between it and modern films).

I got the Criterion (thank God for them BTW) version of Ran for Christmas. Clearly, one of the most visually appealing film for the colors and the cinemetography. A personal favorite and in my top 10 ever (along with Seven Samurai and Yojimbo).

Buoy, have you ever seen Kagemusha? It was filmed right before Ran, and was basically the most expensive film ever made in Japan at the time. I'd HIGHLY recommend you check it out.

BTW, some real gems on that list. Most notably, Miler's Crossing and Once Upon A Time In America.

Yes I own the Crirerion release of Kagemusha as well. That film got quite a bit of hype here in North America when it was released. Kurosawa has never been as acclaimed in his own country the way he is around the world, this was mainly due to the Japanese film elite being unhappy with Kurosawa allowing western filmmakers to influence his work. Even Kurosawa's early works such as Seven Samurai and Yojimbo are greatly influenced by the films of John Ford. To both Japanese film purists and the Japanese ticket buying public this was really frowned upon. This resulted in dwindling box office for his films until finally in the seventies he found himself no longer able to get the financial backing required to make his movies in Japan. This is why Dersu Uzala the film prior to Kagemusha was a Japanese/Russian co-production, he simply couldn't get the money to get the film made. It wasn't until George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg decided to step up financially that Kagemusha was able to be produced and because of the notoriety those two directors brought with them the film received quite a bit of publicity in the US (and Canada). I'm sure it was an add in Rolling Stone (which at that point was already a tired old mag) that brought the film to my attention. It is a stunning film visually, but in my mind doesn't rank among AK's best works.

Kurosawa films in my collection:

Stray Dog (1949)
Rashômon (1950)
Ikiru (1952)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Throne of Blood (1957)
Hidden Fortress (1958)
Yojimbo (1961)
Sanjuro (1962)
High and Low (1964)
Kagemusha (1980)
Ran (1985)
Dreams 1990

all but Dreams are Criterion releases.

Have you seen Inagki's Samurai Trilogy (Musashi Miyamoto, Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Duel on Ganryu Island) or Okamoto's Sword of Doom? All four films have been released by Criterion and all are outstanding.

A couple of additions to my earlier recommendations:

One False Move (1992) Directed by Carl Franklin Great, gritty, crime drama and Franklin's first film.

TV.
Band of Brothers ... Awesome HBO mini-series, no amount of praise would be too much
Mr Show - Hilarious HBO sketch comedy series is still my favourite TV comedy (all four seasons are available on DVD)
Penn & Teller's Bullsh it! (annoying that I can't properly type the name of a TV series on these boards.... Come on it's frickin' BULL****... I think I was five years old when I first said that, but apparently it's still just tooooo much) It has lots of great fodder for critical minds. I've often thought Rolltide would particularly love this (if he hasn't seen it already). (First season available on DVD)

[QUOTE=titanbuoy]

Have you seen Inagki's Samurai Trilogy (Musashi Miyamoto, Duel at Ichijoji Temple and Duel on Ganryu Island) or Okamoto's Sword of Doom? All four films have been released by Criterion and all are outstanding.



QUOTE]

If you're refering the the ones Mifune starred in, then yeah I own them; all are fantastic. I have yet to see Sword of Doom, but want to desperately (heard it was some of the best swordplay on film).

You should check out Samurai Assassain. My personal favorite non-Kurosawa, Japanese flick.


Since we're branching into TV, go buy The Wire DVDs (HBO). The best TV Drama I've ever witnessed.

Not that I watch a lot of movies, but "Memento" freaked me right out. By the time it was over, I had short term memory loss!
I understand that the DVD has a setting that allows you to watch it backwards. Gotta try that sometime.

I kinda like those types of mindfreak movies..."The Butterfly Effect" and "Being John Malkovich".

Why can I imagine Kami walking around the streets of D.C in a ninja suit. :ha: :chuck:

Not that I watch a lot of movies, but "Memento" freaked me right out. By the time it was over, I had short term memory loss!
I understand that the DVD has a setting that allows you to watch it backwards. Gotta try that sometime.

I kinda like those types of mindfreak movies..."The Butterfly Effect" and "Being John Malkovich".

Saw had that affect at the end.

Why can I imagine Kami walking around the streets of D.C in a ninja suit. :ha: :chuck:

:ha:

I'm a sucker for kung-fu/Japanese flicks. I just love the style they bring.:grrr:

Saw had that affect at the end.


When I saw the 2nd one, my mind was numb from the amount of violence.

Cinderella Man was excellent. I bought it for a few people for xmas.

When I saw the 2nd one, my mind was numb from the amount of violence.

That scene with the needles got to me. :eek:

Saw I was much better then II I reckon.

Cinderella Man was excellent. I bought it for a few people for xmas.


As an amauter fighter, the boxing was fairly well done. Raging Bull remains the best IMO. I just felt like I had seen the movie before. Pretty cliched.

That scene with the needles got to me. :eek:

Saw I was much better then II I reckon.


I actually didn't see the ending to the first one coming. I was actually :hmm: to see Danny Glover get killed.

nah, that ending really screwed me over.
But throughout #2 I was trying to think of ways it happened again, I found it a little stupid with the chick though.

Bad Santa - One of the funniest movies I ever seen.

Yeah, Badder Santa was my joint when it came out.



Tommy Boy...wow. If you haven't seen it, it's Chris Farley in his prime. That has me crying when I watch it.

SpaceBalls, Galaxy Quest....just off the top of my head since they were on tv last night ;)

watched unleashed with Jet Li before, not a bad movie actually. Different to what i thought it would be.

I wonder how it would go down if I suggested a Book Thread. :winker:

Out on DVD (has been for a little) - Crash, has a great cast...chocked full of irony.

Older - Something the Lord Made - not a very well known movie but it is excellent. Is about a surgeon in the mid 1900s and his black assistant. Deals a little with racism.

Gotta agree with Something the Lord Made, especially interesting to me since my son was born with a congenital heart defect. It's a great movie and very telling of the times.

I wonder how it would go down if I suggested a Book Thread. :winker:

Good idea.

Maybe too kiddie for some, but I'm reading the Harry Potter books now. I think they're really good, easy reading.

You should check out Samurai Assassain. My personal favorite non-Kurosawa, Japanese flick

Hey I just ordered this on Amazon based on your recommendation. Although honestly I did go to IMDb and do a little research first. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I get it, but I let you know what I think of it once I do. Thanks for the tip.

Not that I watch a lot of movies, but "Memento" freaked me right out. By the time it was over, I had short term memory loss!
I understand that the DVD has a setting that allows you to watch it backwards. Gotta try that sometime.

I kinda like those types of mindfreak movies..."The Butterfly Effect" and "Being John Malkovich".

I loved Memento also. I know there is indeed an easter egg that allows you to watch the film in chronological order. I've just been too apathetic to look into it further.

Abre los ojos (1997) Directed by Alejandro Amenábar is an amazing mindf*** movie. It was remade as Vanilla Sky by Cameron Crowe (which I enjoyed also). But the original is definitely the stronger film. Audition by Takashi Miike (included in my original recommendations) is also pretty mind blowing

Saw had that affect at the end.

I resisted watching this for a while but I checked it out last week and was pleasantly surprised. I've heard some pretty negative things about the sequel. Again I'd have to strongly recommend checking out Miike's Audition or Ichi the Killer (warning: neither film is for the faint of heart)

Cinderella Man was excellent. I bought it for a few people for xmas.

I have to confess enjoying this too. I probably wouldn't buy it, but yeah I fell into the story completely. I thought Paul Giamatti was excellent.

Bad Santa - One of the funniest movies I ever seen.

I bought this last year without seeing it. I watched it once, found it pretty distasteful and more importantly not funny (cuz hey tasteless is fine if you make me laugh). So many people whose opinions I respect really love this movie, I'm going to have to force myself to watch it again. I find that comedies are the most sensitive to the viewer's mood, sometimes if you're in a pissy enough mood the funniest of films can be rendered into crap. I don't recall this being the case but perhaps I was just having a crap day when I initially watched Badder Santa.

Good idea.

Maybe too kiddie for some, but I'm reading the Harry Potter books now. I think they're really good, easy reading.

my girlfriend bought the first one, we had never read Harry Pothead before, but I will borrow it after she has read it.

I cant believe the size of the first Harry Pothead compared to the latest, they just get bigger and bigger.

The first book is pretty short. I read it in less than a week a few hours at night. The 2nd one is just as short. I know the 3rd and 4th are longer.

Anyway, it's pretty easy reading, no words to look up in the dictionary :lol: I don't really think it's as "kiddie" as I originally thought it'd be. No more than LOTR I guess.

The Polar Express - in IMAX 3D

:thumb::thumb:

Heard some muscle heads having a deep conversation at the gym today about Harry Potter. Kind of suprising to hear that there :lol:

I tried Harry Potter. She's a good writer, I just can't get into that fantasy stuff....

Heard some muscle heads having a deep conversation at the gym today about Harry Potter. Kind of suprising to hear that there :lol:

:ha: I just imagine Stallone and Arnie talking about it for some reason.

Everyone I know likes Harry Pothead, i guess it is addictive.

She's a really talented writer, and is good at being vivid without being complicated. I think that's why they're so easy to get into.


Plus, you know how pop crazes are...

true, how many people read Lord of the Rings before it came out at the movies?

how many of them would know about the Hobbit and the Simillarion?

Gunny, I read them all...SEVERAL times. And it's "Silmarillion" ;)

You gotta give Tolkien big ups for turning a cute dragon/wizard/dwarf story into an entire world with it's own languages, alphabets, and Creation story.

i only read the Fellowship before the movie came out, my Dad has a 1954 version of LOTR, I tried it when i was about 14 and all that old english stuff put me to sleep.
My G/f has the book now but i will try it again after sheh as finished with it.

* I can never spell Silmarillion right.

btw she is loving Harry Potter.

Saw Narnia tonight, pretty good. Now I'll be interested in those books too.

I only read The Hobbit by Tolkien. A buddy read all of them and told me I had to read the LOTR books and the Silmarillion. I got the extended versions of the movies, yet he says there's still more info in the books. And reading is fun anyway :geek:

there is a tonne missing from the movies - like Tom Bombadil (thankfully) in the Fellowship of the Ring.

Watched Sin City before, very interesting movie.

Thought it was really good though.

Tom Bombadil

I haven't thought of that name in a while :lol: I think I misspelled and mispronounced Simarillion for about a year when I was reading those books. It's right up there with triology.

"I'm reading the the last book in the Lords of the Rings series it's called Simallarion. Have you read the original triology?" - me at 14...ouch :geek:

Has anyone seen the new extended version of Sin City? Is it worth shelling out the extra dough for?

it is a name I wish I could forget, he was a pain in the book, I am glad he wasnt in the movie.

I like the recomend a book thread. I read all the damn time, and when I go on my 5 mile runs a couple times a week I listen to Audio books on my MP3 Player. RIght now and I am listening to the Harry Potter Series, starting with book 1.

One movie I reckon is really funny is the Naked Gun gun series with Leslie Nelson (and on Family Guy with Stewie and Osama)

Of the ones mentioned already I loved Memento, Cinderella Man and like Polar Express heaps too ( my new Xmas eve movie with my kids).

With 3 kids under 6, the only movies I see at the cionema are kids movies (which I love). I see my share on flights though, including Crash - which I really enjoyed.

I hated Bad Santa. I just felt totally uncomfortable from start to finish.

My movie taste is pretty mainstream. The funniest movie I've seen in the last few years is Anchorman. Watched it on a plane and woke up half a dozen people in the middle of the night with my laughing.

Others I have liked - Million Dollar Baby, Manchurian Candidate and Minority Report.

Seems like I've seen lots of kiddie movies lately....or maybe family movie is the term. Anyway, I just saw Lemony Snicket's and thought was really good. Does Jim Carey ever do any wrong? I liked the far-out-there story too (and the biting baby).

Kami mentioned Snatch, which was a great one. Someone told me about a similar movie awhile back, but I can't remember what it is :hmm: Y'all got any guesses?

I am not a huge fan on Jim Carrey, but he has made some very funny movies (Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber)

Fun With Dick and Jane looks good. Bruce Almighty was really good.

He's been in a whole lot of movies (some from the early 80's). So many that I haven't seen. I gotta catch up.

City Of God = The grimiest movie you'll ever see. It's in my top 5 alltime, but came out in like 2000. It's had a huge buzz for about a year now. Rent it now.

never heard of it, what is it about?

http://imdb.com/title/tt0317248/



City Of God > Insert movie title here

I love Kill Bill, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and I loved The Butterfly Effect (Director's Cut).

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Hey I think that may be the movie my friend was saying is kinda like Snatch. Maybe?

Much better than Snatch actually IMO.

Well I'll check it out then.

I liked snatch better.

Lock, Stock and two smoking Barrels is awesome.
That's the kind of movie you could watch twice in one evening.

Do you remember this classic?
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-7/788746/orange.jpg

Faint of heart need not apply for that one.

I liked snatch better.


Snatch was more stylized and more silly than Lock. Both are quality films though.

Damn @ none of you going out right now to your nearest Blockbuster and copping City Of God.

Damn @ none of you going out right now to your nearest Blockbuster and copping City Of God.

my nearest Blockbuster closed down.

my nearest Blockbuster closed down.
Since the mail is crap I guess netflix is out then?

what is it?

A mail delivery movie service. We get 3 movies watch them and overnight them back and they send us three more. The selection is huge. HUGE i tell you!!!!

Damn @ none of you going out right now to your nearest Blockbuster and copping City Of God.

City of God is a breathtaking experience. One of those movies that will creep into your thoughts for weeks after you view it. It's a visceral, stylish assault on your senses. I just watched Fernando Meirelles' (City of God's co-director) new film The Constant Gardner. It was really quite good also, but it's certainly not the jarring rollercoaster ride that City of God was.

Have you recieved your copy of Samurai Assassin yet? I got mine on monday (my recommendation inspired me to order it on Amazon Marketplace). :ha:

City of God is a breathtaking experience. One of those movies that will creep into your thoughts for weeks after you view it. It's a visceral, stylish assault on your senses. I just watched Fernando Meirelles' (City of God's co-director) new film The Constant Gardner. It was really quite good also, but it's certainly not the jarring rollercoaster ride that City of God was.


It's just a movie you have to experience once, even if it has a lot of ugly, ugly realities to it. Get it now.

Have you recieved your copy of Samurai Assassin yet? I got mine on monday (my recommendation inspired me to order it on Amazon Marketplace). :ha:

The sealed Amazon box is sitting right beside me. It arrived this afternoon.:)

I don't know if I'll have a chance to watch it tonight. I've been a model consumer this week, sinking lots of dough into DVD purchases.

This weeks newbies:

Lord of War
F for Fake
Fitzcarraldo
Burden of Dreams
The Constant Gardner
Hustle and Flow
The Grizzly Man
and today of course Samurai Assassin

Yikes... :greedy:

I dunno if you'll like Hustle And Flow, but I liked it a lot. It's about Memphis hip hop, so it's cool to me.


I have yet to see The Constant Gardner, I guess I should rent that...

Now I got a lot of good movie ideas from this thread. Thanks y'all :brow:

Hustle and Flow gets a thumbs up from me too.

what is it?
Do you remember when Jeff did the server thing and all of a sudden there were a bunch of ads between the posts? :suspect: That's Netflix! Everyday you saw tons of Net Flix ads and never took that in? :lol:

^ Hey TJ, you seeing this?:))
Hope Netflix doesn't get wind of how ineffective the ads are!:ha:

Saw Glory Road last night. I really enjoyed it though thought it had the potential to be even better. But it is an excellent family movie with a message.

I give it 4 of 5 stars.

I just added Hustle and Flow & The Constant Gardener to the top of my list. They will be the next couple I get. I love Ralph Fiennes. He is a fantastic actor. He is also in The English Patient (which I loved) and the new Harry Potter.

So I had a chance to watch a couple of my shiny new DVD’s over the weekend.

Hustle & Flow was excellent. In short, a great film about having the courage to go after your dreams. Director Craig Brewer also wrote the screen play, and his intimacy with the story shows. Brewer shows an affinity for seventies blaxplotation films in both style and content. The film’s deeply flawed characters are well written and fully realized. Fine performances are given all around by a strong cast. Interesting to see actors generally thought of as comedic take on more dramatic roles (Anthony Anderson, DJ Qualls). Terrence Howard continues to shine; it’s easy to see why he’s been nominated for a bunch of awards. I can only recall seeing him in three films (Crash, Hart’s War and Four Brothers) and he’s always been excellent. I suspect that I’ll be seeing a lot of movies from him over the next twenty years. Special features on the disk are better than usual, with some behind the scenes stuff about the film’s producers’ futile efforts to get some studio backing for the film.

8.5 out of 10


Grizzly Man is the best documentary I’ve seen in years. Director Werner Herzog serves up the story of Timothy Treadwell; self proclaimed Grizzly Man. Herzog’s film consists mainly of footage shot by Treadwell himself during his many years in Alaska living amongst the grizzly bears, edited together with new interviews filmed specifically for the film. In the hands of a lesser artist Grizzly Man could have come off as either maudlin or trite, but in the hands of Herzog it is a truthful, yet empathetic film both tragic and haunting. I have to admit to being a huge fan of Herzog’s work (Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre: The Wrath of God). An intense and passionate filmmaker it is easy to see why Herzog would find Treadwell’s story hard to resist. I’m almost tempted to say this is the best documentary I’ve ever seen, but perhaps I should take some time to reflect upon the movie before making such goofy proclamations. I will however go so far as to say it’s the best film I’ve seen from 2005. I hope a few of you take the time to search out and watch this gem of a film.

9.5 out of 10

Just found this thread...

A ton of people read all of the LOTR books before the movies were ever thought of, just not nearly as many people that are still under 25...

Whoever recommended I heart Huckabees, that's a hilarious movie. It's got a lot of slapstick type humor, but as a philosophy major, there are a ton of levels to the movie, all of which are great.

My big recommendation: Confidence
Great movie about a group of con artists with an all star cast. Ed Burns, Rachel Weiss, Andy Garcia, and of course, Dustin Hoffman, in a hilarious role. Not a comedy, more of a twist and turn movie, i.e. The Usual Suspects (another classic not mentioned on this list). It's definitely not a family movie, but a good movie if you like movies that come at you with changing directions.

Have you recieved your copy of Samurai Assassin yet? I got mine on monday (my recommendation inspired me to order it on Amazon Marketplace). :ha:

I finally watched this yesterday. Great flick! Amazing complex, interweaving storyline; Okamoto's Sword of Doom is quite similar. Not the kind of film that you can give less than 100% of your attention to. Even as a long time viewer of Japanese films I still find Okamoto's work among the most difficult to follow. The sword play was excellent as was the acting. Okamoto really allows his actors to use a fairly realistic approach as opposed to Kurasawa who has always preferred more theatrical, stylized performances from his players. And what was up with those crazy-@ss, fluorescent green subtitles? :ha: I've never seen two different colors of subtitles being used to reflect who was speaking. Interesting idea, but a bit distracting.

In the special features there's an essay concerning the actual historical events upon which the film is loosely based. Have you tried to read it? I'm a pretty fast reader, but the pages just whip by a lightening speed so I'm forced to just skim the text and hence am not able to absorb all of the info fully. The frickin' thing won't even allow you to pause or slow play the pages. It's both annoying and funny.

But again, it was a great film, I'm really glad I picked it up. Big thanks for the recommendation KZ.