Dirty Recommendations

[sola sistim]

hmm..
some of my favorite movies would have to be:
Anchorman: this is a rather funny comedy. soooo many good quotes.
Garden State: this is one hell of a weird/quirky movie.quite funny in parts.

[GforGroove]

Originally Posted by chino

The Last life in Universe... such a great weird film.

I follow this one.. gorgeous movie!!

and well for everyone interested on reach the top of the top and the meaning of existence.. My favorite new movie and one of the best all time!:

I *heart* Huckabees!!!!

[gambit]

All anime recommendations:

Perfect Blue - very creepy film; deals with a falling pop star and the people dying all around her.
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece as far as I'm concerned.
My Neighbor Totoro - it may be a family film, but Miyazaki can make them absolutely amazing.
The Grave of the Fireflies - feeling too happy lately? Then watch this film and be utterly depressed. (Seriously, this is a fantastic film about two Japanese orphans during WWII.)
Ghost in the Shell - watch the new edition on DVD (the one with the silver cover); it has a better dub, which helps in understanding this cyberpunk classic.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - just for the hell of it; can't go wrong with interplanetary bounty hunters.

[Animal Boything]

As long as we're talking Anime, we must not forget Akira, which still holds my prize for best animation ever, as well as being just a really good movie... especially now that you can actually get a decent translation. Miyazaki is cool and all, but don't forget the classics!

[grady]

Originally Posted by GforGroove

I follow this one.. gorgeous movie!!

and well for everyone interested on reach the top of the top and the meaning of existence.. My favorite new movie and one of the best all time!:

I *heart* Huckabees!!!!

HERE HERE!!

I LOVE THIS FILM as well and totally agree with Jerry. Such a great and amazing film. It's on the list.

[gambit]

Originally Posted by Animal Boything

As long as we're talking Anime, we must not forget Akira, which still holds my prize for best animation ever, as well as being just a really good movie... especially now that you can actually get a decent translation. Miyazaki is cool and all, but don't forget the classics!

Yeah, I watched Akira for the first time when it was released on two-disc DVD however long ago, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed. Considering it was made in the mid-80s, the animation was superb and still holds up, but I wasn't in awe of it as I'm sure most people were when it came out. And I didn't think the story was that amazing either. I'm not saying it was a bad film or that it's not a classic; I just wasn't impressed by it in the 21st century.

[b.miller]

i still contend that the first half of Akira is great but I've never liked the second half much... too much yelling of names.


This post is gonna be several mini-reviews for a bunch of movies I saw recently that I liked. i recommend each one if/when you can see them.

Domino Tony Scott continues to explore his shotgun-blast style of coverage, going just as crazy now as Oliver Stone went when he did NBK and JFK and Nixon. So don't expect shots to last any longer than 5 seconds... but if you go for that particular style of storytelling, this is a really really fun movie. Hot Chicks, Guns, and mescalin... what more do you really need?

Wolf Creek This is an Australian horror film that's about a group of kids that... you know... get terrorized. What's great about this movie though is that it manages to avoid a good 90% of the cliches and pitfalls that are now racing through your head. Who knows, maybe it's because it's Australian, but it never devolves into the current hollywood cookie cutter of what horror films are like nowadays. I was reminded more of films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and especially The Hills Have Eyes for it's pacing and character. Really good film.

Strings This is a marionette epic... I think it's Dutch or Norwegian or something... somewhere up there but I managed to see a French print with an english audio track. From what I understand though, it's out on DVD and rentable. What makes this film so cool, and believe me it's REALLY cool, is that the marionettes have a complete mythology and belief system around their strings, tying them directly to their mortality. The film explores this concept as a worldview while simultaneously following this huge storyline with opposing armies at war and political strife and all kinds of stuff. There are these beautiful shots up at the sky, above the trees and everything, where you can see thousands and thousands of strings going down to control each marionette. You see how they die, how they are born, how they get hurt and heal, how they live in this world where they fully acknowledge their dependence on these strings but at the same time act with complete free will. It's a really wild ride and well worth seeing.

Feast The project greenlight movie... It's good fun for a midnight movie or a drunken movie or something like that. Don't expect shakespeare or anything, but if you let yourself open up to it and just enjoy it for what it is, it's a pretty fun time.

Zathura Favreau's new one from the same guy who wrote Jumanji and The Polar Express. It's certainly kind of like Jumanji in that there's a boardgame involved and kids play it and get into magical danger, but the tone of the movie, the theme of the movie and most importantly the quality of the movie are all much different (in most cases better). The two kids do an absolutely excellent job, especially the younger one, and the whole space/50s sci-fi theme to it works really well. Kids probably already want to check it out but it's still enjoyable for people like me (27).

P.S. I don't think anyone read them when i was at QT6 but just in case some of you did, I'm currently in the midst of something called FantasticFest that's going on here in Austin. It's basically a 4-day film festival showing only horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic films. These recommendations are basically what I saw during this first day (I saw Domino last Sunday). These mini-reviews came out of entries I made to my movie journal, so if you're at all interested in more details or more films in this vein then you can check them out by hittting up THIS PAGE throughout the weekend.

[ffolkes]

Originally Posted by gambit

Yeah, I watched Akira for the first time when it was released on two-disc DVD however long ago, and to be honest, I wasn't impressed. Considering it was made in the mid-80s, the animation was superb and still holds up, but I wasn't in awe of it as I'm sure most people were when it came out. And I didn't think the story was that amazing either. I'm not saying it was a bad film or that it's not a classic; I just wasn't impressed by it in the 21st century.

That's funny, cos i have it the other way around.

I absolutely loved Akira, and i still do. The only bad thing about it is that every other Anime movie that i've seen later on has paled in comparison...
Nothing has made such an impact on me like Akira did.

TETSUOOOO!

KANEDAAAAA!

AAAAAAAAGH!

(that's for u, b. miller)

[ffolkes]

Originally Posted by b.miller

Domino,
Wolf Creek

I've waited for Wolf Creek ever since i first heard the reviews... It's supposedly very disturbing and shocking, which is pretty much up my alley.

Another horror movie that i desperately want to see is The Descent, which has enjoyed rave reviews. It's also a British movie so it might avoid the hollywood horror cliche bullshit, much like Wolf Creek did. I hear that 2005 has been in fact the best year for horror movies for ages... That's great.

As to Domino, i also want to see that one. I was a huge fan of Man On Fire, and i've always liked Tony's distinct visual style. Man On Fire appealed to me greatly cos of it's unforgiving nature, and also the acting was very first class IMO. (Dakota Fanning was stellar, and Denzel Washington slammed another powerhouse performance) Not too sure about Keira Knightley in Domino though, but i'm willing to give it a go.

[b.miller]

yeah give it a go... she's pretty badass as Domino.