Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

Fredrik_S wrote:

Watched The Raven tonight. John Cusack is so dreamy. Not bad, if a bit predictable.

Hmm. The wife and I couldn't get through it. I like John Cusack, but there was something totally ungripping (shut up, it's a word) about this show to us. We both liked Sherlock Holmes a whole lot better. It seemed to be going for a similar feel - albeit a lot less gory - with a lot more success.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:
muraii wrote:

I feel about Lebowski the way some feel of Raising Arizona.

It's the only movie in which you can stand Nicolas Cage?

Bingo.

Oh.

(As an aside, though it's been some time, I liked Wild at Heart--no, I mean, Wild at Heart.)

muraii wrote:
Bonus_Eruptus wrote:
muraii wrote:

I feel about Lebowski the way some feel of Raising Arizona.

It's the only movie in which you can stand Nicolas Cage?

Bingo.

Oh.

(As an aside, though it's been some time, I liked Wild at Heart--no, I mean, Wild at Heart.)

I liked Wild at Heart.

My description of "clueless people being loud" applies as well to The Big Lebowski as it does to Raising Arizona. I just don't get them.

iaintgotnopants wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:

Can any Coen brothers fans sell me on The Hudsucker Proxy? I tried to watch it 4-5 years ago and lost interest pretty quickly.

How far did you get and what didn't you like about it? If you didn't get very far and just got bored because it starts kind of slow, I would suggest giving it another chance. If your issue was with the characters and Jennifer Jason Leigh's stupid accent, than you can probably give it a pass. It's actually one of my favorites of their movies but I can totally understand why people don't like it.

That is exactly what I was going to say.

Sad news (for me at least): All the MST3K episodes that were available streaming have been taken down. Now you can only watch the MST3K movie instant play.

OTOH, Amazon Prime does have the ORIGINAL Mitchell, pre-MST3K version. I really, really don't think that's worth it without the riffs. Except for the scene where Mitchell tells off the 8 year old boy.

Sad news (for me at least): All the MST3K episodes that were available streaming have been taken down. Now you can only watch the MST3K movie instant play.

OTOH, Amazon Prime does have the ORIGINAL Mitchell, pre-MST3K version. I really, really don't think that's worth it without the riffs. Except for the scene where Mitchell tells off the 8 year old boy.

Ranger Rick wrote:
iaintgotnopants wrote:
S0LIDARITY wrote:

Can any Coen brothers fans sell me on The Hudsucker Proxy? I tried to watch it 4-5 years ago and lost interest pretty quickly.

How far did you get and what didn't you like about it? If you didn't get very far and just got bored because it starts kind of slow, I would suggest giving it another chance. If your issue was with the characters and Jennifer Jason Leigh's stupid accent, than you can probably give it a pass. It's actually one of my favorites of their movies but I can totally understand why people don't like it.

That is exactly what I was going to say.

Oh right. I think I just got bored or lost. It's been a long time but I'll get around to giving it another shot.

concentric wrote:

OTOH, Amazon Prime does have the ORIGINAL Mitchell, pre-MST3K version. I really, really don't think that's worth it without the riffs. Except for the scene where Mitchell tells off the 8 year old boy.

I love that episode of MST3K and cannot imagine trying to watch the film without the riffing.

There's always Club MST3K.

ruhk wrote:

There's always Club MST3K.

Many thanks! Very handy as well to get an idea of how good the episode is likely to be.

concentric wrote:
ruhk wrote:

There's always Club MST3K.

Many thanks! Very handy as well to get an idea of how good the episode is likely to be.

It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

ruhk wrote:

There's always Club MST3K.

OMG how can this sexy thing exist legally?

Let us not question the legality of such things, or else we'll surely aggro the vicious lawyers of entertainment and media and lose something wonderful.

Back on topic, I forget who recommended me Hoodlum, but it was a pretty good flick. Unfortunately it seemed to have something about it, like Red Tails. I wonder if it's hard for a film maker to draw real talent in terms of writing and directing to a drama with a primarily black cast, because both movies feel like they could have been done better. Dialogue felt forced in places, poor exposition or trite character building, awkward edits and cuts, so on and so forth. It also felt like it was drawing on its predecessors. More than one scene reminded me of The Godfather or the recently seen Untouchables. Could be a mark of the genre, could be homage, could be a sheer lack of creativity.

But while on a technical level it failed to be a five star film, there was enough to like. In particular, my favorite line of the whole film:

"How do you sleep at night?"
"What makes you think I sleep at all?"

I gave it 3/5 stars and would recommend it at least once if you're on a 1930's gangster flick kick.

ruhk wrote:

There's always Club MST3K.

You monster! I have homework to do.

muraii wrote:

(As an aside, though it's been some time, I liked Wild at Heart--no, I mean, Wild at Heart.)

I consider Wild at Heart to be one of the worst movies ever made. I watched it with a roommate at the time, and the only reason we stuck through 3/4ths of the movie was because we just didn't think it could stay that bad ... instead, it got worse.

Aetius wrote:
muraii wrote:

(As an aside, though it's been some time, I liked Wild at Heart--no, I mean, Wild at Heart.)

I consider Wild at Heart to be one of the worst movies ever made. I watched it with a roommate at the time, and the only reason we stuck through 3/4ths of the movie was because we just didn't think it could stay that bad ... instead, it got worse.

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Just ran across this discussion and thought I would toss out a few things that may have been mentioned. For TV series I have Psych and Burn Notice both awesome shows. I tend to watch a lot of foreign Asian martial arts and action epics. They usually require subtitles but usually are easily followed as they are mostly action. A couple off the top of my head.
1) Ip Man (Donnie Yen)
2) Warlords (Jet Li)
3) Red Cliff (its like a 6 hour epic broken into 2 parts or a theatrical version of only like 3 hours)
4) District B13 (lots of action great and high flying stunts)

Oh my goodness. Blackadder:

"You're a one, aren't you? When you should be whispering sweet conversational nothings like, 'Goodness, something twice the size of The Royal Barge has just hove into view in between the sheets."

Medmey, the sequal to B13 is on there also.

I finally got around to watching Time Traveler: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. It's nothing like the anime, but it's good in its own right. I guess both are based on a much older science fiction novel.

Not sure if it's been mentioned on here yet, but Headhunters is a clever little foreign film that I really enjoyed this week. Check it out.

Noticed that one of my favorite indie movies, Series 7 is on streaming now. It's kind of like Hunger Games done in a reality TV style, but with adults instead of kids. It's no budget, so some of the acting is a little iffy, but I liked it a ton.

So I saw "The Fourth Kind," on recommendation. To be fair, I don't normally like that type of movie and I didn't like this one either, but I won't belabor it.

What really threw me was the comparison between "actual" footage and "movie" footage. The bug-eyed, vaguely alienish Charlotte Milchard was a great casting choice for the "real" Dr. Tyler. Put her next to Milla Jovovich and have them say the same lines at the same time, and there's very little else you could do to remind me that I'm watching a movie. It also highlights just how far the movie goes to lie to the audience. When you label something as "actual" footage and include an interview with the director as himself, it's pretty clear that you want the audience to believe that what they're seeing is the real-life source material on which the film is based. But it's not. And I know that in a way all theater is lies, but there's a difference between telling an untrue story for entertainment and insisting that lies are truth in order to trick your audience into believing what they're seeing is real. What's the benefit to that? It just seems malicious to me.

My fiancee and I caught the first episode of House of Cards on Saturday. It was really, really good. Can't wait to watch the rest when we get a chance.

Aetius wrote:
muraii wrote:

(As an aside, though it's been some time, I liked Wild at Heart--no, I mean, Wild at Heart.)

I consider Wild at Heart to be one of the worst movies ever made. I watched it with a roommate at the time, and the only reason we stuck through 3/4ths of the movie was because we just didn't think it could stay that bad ... instead, it got worse.

That whole period of biographic, from real life or purely fictional, substance abusing musicians kind of rubs me wrong. The actors in Walk the Line were not particularly good singers (I might have preferred over-dubbing Cash and Carter), Jamie Fox is a very good singer which made him a good fit for Ray, Jeff Bridges at least was a touring singer. Then Gweneth Paltro had one after Bridges won the oscar.

I think of all of them, Walk Hard with John C. Reiley is my favorite, just for taking the piss out of these sinner-saint stories. You can Stream Walk Hard from Crackle.

KingGorilla wrote:
Aetius wrote:
muraii wrote:

(As an aside, though it's been some time, I liked Wild at Heart--no, I mean, Wild at Heart.)

I consider Wild at Heart to be one of the worst movies ever made. I watched it with a roommate at the time, and the only reason we stuck through 3/4ths of the movie was because we just didn't think it could stay that bad ... instead, it got worse.

That whole period of biographic, from real life or purely fictional, substance abusing musicians kind of rubs me wrong. The actors in Walk the Line were not particularly good singers (I might have preferred over-dubbing Cash and Carter), Jamie Fox is a very good singer which made him a good fit for Ray, Jeff Bridges at least was a touring singer. Then Gweneth Paltro had one after Bridges won the oscar.

I think of all of them, Walk Hard with John C. Reiley is my favorite, just for taking the piss out of these sinner-saint stories. You can Stream Walk Hard from Crackle.

Were you under the impression that Wild at Heart is a biopic about Elvis?

Nope, he did not die pooping at the end.

Nor is Wild at Heart (1990) a movie about any kind of substance abusing musician in the vein of Walk the Line (2005), Ray (2004), or Crazy Heart (2006). Just in case anyone was confused by your post.

Ah, I did, I thought Wild at Heart was Crazy Heart.

Thanks to the Star Wars pack for Pinball FX I've been a wee bit obsessed with pinball this week. I found this last night.

Special When Lit: A Pinball Documentary