Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics Book, Movie & Podcast Reviews The Netflix Thread

No problem either way. I personally like some commentary as you made... but what ever people want to contribute is fine.

The Tiger and the Snow

This is a movie that we watched recently that was surprisingly good. We did not expect the movie's ending. Roberto Benigni wrote and stars in this Italian movie that takes you from Rome to Bagdad and back. With Jean Reno and Nicoletta Braschi. Highly recommended.

Another one, "The Italian", is not really Italian at all. Rather, it is about a boy in a Russian orphanage. Very satisfying.

The Italian

Sky

One of my favorites was Something The Lord Made. An HBO movie...and not a fancy film by any means. Some might even find it a bit smarmy. The icing on the cake was the added info/epilogue. Specifically, the part about the dog. I also thought Mos Def did a kick-ass job.

Another one at the top of my list is The Straight Story. But then, I've always been a David Lynch fan. He manages to get right inside my Self and hit major chords.

Door to Door made me cry - always a good thing - and I even sent for the company catalog. If you see the film, you'll know what I'm talking about. (Their stuff looks pretty good!)

A couple others I enjoyed were The Chorus...simple and endearing...and Hilary and Jackie, which was dark and intense. But I often like dark and intense.

Currently, I have Basquiat waiting to be watched.

Hey, Phil...The Bicycle Thief made me crazy, made me want to scream. I guess that makes it good...in a way. I don't think I'll be watching it again, though, any time soon!

From the GLBT genre, I recommend: FAQ

It's about life-on-the-street of a kid that moves to Hollywood because his parents throw him out because he's gay and he ends up putting a "family" together on his own terms.

By-the-way, it's pretty common for gays to "put a family together" of friends and strangers.

Indeed!

I saw Cinema Paradiso 'accidentally' (the movie we went to see was sold out), quite some time ago (nobody had heard of it, this was before it won at Cannes)... and after I got out of the theater, it took me a good 20 minutes for me to come back to my own world - I literally forgot who I was! - and I thought the same thing "wow I didn't know they still made movies like that!".

It wasn't a movie, it was an experience.

...

On a completely different path, I saw a very decent UK flick this weekend, called 'Hot Fuzz'... very funny, in the inimitable British sense, although there is a bit of murder going on...

Just added all the above to my queue, which is starting to equal my unread book shelf in length. Will report eventually. May have seen "Hillary and Jackie" before, or possibly the other play/movie about her, "Duet for One." That wasn't good but the subject was.

LOVE that movie. Though I must admit, I worship at the altar of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. They also wrote Shaun of the Dead, a wonderfully funny homage to the zombie movies that have come before it. And if you like zombie movies, you must see Fido starring Billy Connolly as the lead zombie (it's not your typical zombie movie, it's theatrical release was pretty much limited to the tiny independent theaters).

If you find you like Simon Pegg and are a fan of all things Sci-Fi then see if you can find the tv series Spaced, unfortunately it hasn't been released on DVD in the states (I watched it when it was on BBC America), but if you have a region free dvd player, and you can find them, they are worth the watch. (I know someone who bought one, just for that series) You can also find it out on the internet if one is so inclined. Last time I looked Stage9 of the Divx site still has them.

Oh, DRAT - I won't watch zombie movies; years ago I had a recurring zombie nightmare so awful I won't watch anything that might trigger it. But Billy Connolly?? A zombieBilly Connolly?

Oh my...there may be nightmares ahead...have to think about this one.

Okay, I started thinking about a movie I saw last week, which led to three more winners, so this is my Asian-movie post. Quotes indicate a Netflix description.

Raise the Red Lantern
"As the fourth wife, Songlian finds herself at the bottom of an oppressive hierarchy, in which competition for the master's attention -- and the attendant privileges it carries -- is intense." This is a gorgeous movie, and one in which sound is as important as sight. The relationships between the women are carefully drawn. Every time I thought I knew where the movie was going, it shook me off and went elsewhere. This is a classic, with good reason. 1996, China

To Live
"...a tapestry of personal and political events, following the struggles of an impoverished husband and wife (Ge You and Li) from their heyday in the 1940s to the hardships that accompanied the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s." One of the things I loved about this movie was that it seemed to me to be a good portrait of what lower-level Communists believed they were building, and what happened as it went wrong.

As with "Red Lantern," I found this movie breathtaking; it's one I want to watch several times because I know I missed a lot. Gong Li stars in both of these movies. 1991, China

Travelers and Magicians
"A westernized civil servant travels to the capital city of Thimphu and then on to the United States. During his journey, a monk tells him a folk tale about a peasant boy who steps across a dream barrier into a remote forest shack, where he promptly embarks on an affair with a shaman's wife." Again, a movie I need to re-watch. It's very gentle, not a lot of action, good story, a beautiful film. 2003, Bhutan

Grave of the Fireflies
"Named Best Animated Feature at the 1994 Chicago International Children's Film Festival, this film proves that not all anime tales are pixie-dust fantasies or brutal sci-fi standoffs. Orphans Seita (and Setsuko fight for survival in post-World War II Japan, but society is harsh. Soon, they come to the somber conclusion that they can neither escape the hardships of war nor find enough food to survive." This is possibly the strongest anti-war movie I've ever seen. It follows the two children as they struggle to survive after the firebombings of (Tokyo, I believe.) Immediately after watching it, I bought a copy...and I've never quite convinced myself to watch it again. This is a very powerful movie. Japan, 1988