Films you've seen recently and would unreservedly recommend:

[DannyL]

I didn't really like the way it was made, like I said, but the story is so powerful, and the reactions and involvement of her friends so moving, I kinda just got over that. They go through every emotion - happy memories, tears, bewilderment, laughter, dickheadness (one of her exs). This part of the film felt so "everyman" to me. You could imagine yourself or your friends responding in just the same ways. I felt close to them, 'cos they're all English, Londoners, not too much older than me, probably had a lot of the same experiences growing up.

 

[IdleRich]

Quite enjoyed The Ides of March last night. Taut political play about Democratic primaries that feels pretty appropriate now (or would have done when it came out six months or so ago). Perhaps rests a little too much on coincidence but is nicely cynical about the whole thing. In the end at least.

 

[petergunn]

totally great and ridiculous canadian low brow comedy that captures the oil town/quick money essence of Calgary at the moment...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1555747/

it's on netflix right now...

 

[yyaldrin]

Gonna recommend Chronicle (2012), not because I was blown away by it but because it positively surprised me, which doesn't happen to often when I watch movies. It's like a combination between a found-footage film ([REC.], The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, etc.) and this recent revival of superhero movies (the Marvel stuff, Kick-Ass, etc.). Story is quite simple, some kids gain superpowers and are able to move stuff and fly by telekinesis. Sometimes these found-footage films can be quite nauseating but an original feature of this film is that the guy behind the camera is one of the "superheroes" and is able to move the camera by telekinesis as well, so shaky shots are alternated by steady shots. The CGI is sparse but done very good and effective.

 

[IdleRich]

I found a copy of a film called The Final Programme for sale on Saturday on a stall in Camden - something I'd idly (ha) wanted to see for a while. The series of books (by Michael Moorcock) on which it's based are crazy and I wondered how much of the stuff would be sacrificed in converting the first one into a kitschy seventies spy movie - luckily the answer was, not too much. It was kitschy and silly but it had enough sense to laugh at itself in the right places and it was genuinely psychedelic in parts, of necessity some of the book was sacrificed to fit it in but the general atmosphere was retained and the pace was so fast that it stayed interesting all the way through. Recommended I'd say.


Seems like more of an inspiration for Austin Powers than James Bond ever was.
Then I watched Walkabout which I've never seen before - it was beautiful and interesting up to a point but I preferred the less feted film we watched the day before.

 

[luka]

walkabouts not bad but it is sort of ridiculous. like that series of shots of australian wildlife. all these exotic things, just a parade of them for no reason. that made me laugh.

 

[IdleRich]

Yeah, exactly. I read that the filming was delayed and so Jenny Agutter turned sixteen before they went to film it - and Nicholas Roeg was "Brilliant, we'll put in a skinny dipping scene now it's legal" - seems as though that must have been the decision process for the whole movie.
But anyone know any other psychedelic sci-fi films that might be similar to The Final Programme let me know.

 

[stephenk]

I'm a big alex cox fan. he's an interesting dude who makes interesting films. everyone knows the repo man/sid + nancy/straight to hell trio but my favorite, and I think his best, is walker. it's about this guy. he made it (with cooperation of the Sandinista government) at the height of the Contra War as an allegory - tho the source material is totally nuts in its own right - so it's full of deliberate anachronisms and overt modern-day references (and of course trademark cox surrealism) in the guise of a historical drama, which went way, way over the head of audiences and most critics at the time. it apparently got cox blacklisted from Hollywood. the whole thing is one of those unbelievable herzog + kinski in the jungle, coppola heart of darkness making of film stories. oh yes + joe strummer wrote the score.

here it is in its entirety on YT

ah nice, thanks for the tip!

 

[scatterheart]

Omg. Just watched the Room just now. Surely Tommy Wiseau is god of the trolls. It's inept in EVERY single way possible. Comedy genius.

Oh hi Youtube . .

 

[Benny Bunter]

^^^ jesus thats bad. You sat through the whole thing?

 

[scatterheart]

Seriously, it's mesmerizingly bad. Once you make it past the lengthy 'sex' scenes at the beginning things get marvellously worse (better). I don't know what planet Wiseau (directer, writer and actor of film) is from but he's just wrong in every way. So many classic lines in this film too. Ha, probably shouldn't be in this thread but I really don't know if I'd give it 0.5 stars or 5. Toss a coin.

 

[e/y]

It's pretty hard to pick a favourite scene from The Room, but I think for me it would be this one:


Everything that is terrible about the movie - pointless scene, terrible dialogue / acting / editing, all in under one minute..

 

[Benny Bunter]

Seriously, it's mesmerizingly bad. Once you make it past the lengthy 'sex' scenes at the beginning things get marvellously worse (better). I don't know what planet Wiseau (directer, writer and actor of film) is from but he's just wrong in every way. So many classic lines in this film too. Ha, probably shouldn't be in this thread but I really don't know if I'd give it 0.5 stars or 5. Toss a coin.

omg this guy...

 

[scatterheart]

It's pretty hard to pick a favourite scene from The Room, but I think for me it would be this one:


Everything that is terrible about the movie - pointless scene, terrible dialogue / acting / editing, all in under one minute..

Hehe that's a favourite although this just edges it for me


I'm not usually one for the 'so bad it's good' thing but this is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. I guess it depends on your humour. It's kind of heart warming that its attracted a massive cult following over the years.

 

[rubberdingyrapids]

ive still not seen the room. but i did see ed wood's glen or glenda finally the other week. and the scene where the voiceover is talking about gender confusion and you see shots of great big phallic pieces of metal going up and down is one of the greatest sequences i think ive ever seen in a film. i dont know how anyone can not love ed wood.

 

[Bangpuss]

Carnal Knowledge by Mike Nichols, starring Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel (!)

A brilliantly executed tale of two guys who basically spend the whole film talking about chasing tail. Hard to believe that some cinema owners were arrested for screening it when it came out in 1971. There's a couple of nude scenes (with Ann-Margret -- woof!) and one use of the word cunt. But that's as racy as it gets. I think it's such an indictment of marriage, monogamy and the male psyche that it was probably deemed to be subverting society's values yadda yadda. The best Mike Nichols film I've seen. The dialogue is so snappy it nearly had my fingers off.

 

[yyaldrin]

Saw The Flowers of War by Yimou Zhang (Hero, House of Flying Daggers). It's about the "rape of Nanking" by the Japanese army. It features Christian Bale which tempered my expectations because putting westerners in Asian movies or vice versa hardly work out in my opinion. The film was a lot more darker, grimmer and greyer then the rest of his oeuvre but he picks his moments very nice when he throws with colours every now and then. Very nice contrast and creatively done. Christian Bale was all right and the women were absolutely gorgeous.

 

[craner]

I have a soft spot for Mike Nichols films, not the ones everybody knows either, but things like Heartburn, Working Girl and Charlie Wilson's War, films you'd be thrown off a film course for enjoying.

 

[e/y]

oh, I thought Charlie Wilson's War was absolutely terrible. not just the story itself, but everything else. I thought Roberts and Hanks were really irritating, too.

 

[grizzleb]

Haha, Charlie Wilsons War has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen.