DVD Rental Day (2004 - 2010)

[brettac1]

I like all of those films except Big Fish, Chicago, and Chocolat.

[RyDogg66]

Interestingly enough, I filled my queue with mostly foreign films and documentaries

 

Stranger Than Fiction

Volver

Little Children

Blood Diamond

The Squid and The Whale

Kinsey

Miller's Crossing

The Constant Gardener

Syrianna

Goodbye, Lenin!

The Motorcycle Diaries

Pan's Labyrinth

I like Killing Flies

This Film Is Not yet rated

Who Killed The Electric Car?

Al Franken: God Spoke

And a documentary that is one word, one word that is banned on this site, and on TV in general.

[mothershipconnection]

Looks like a decent list. I haven't seen more than half of those, but I like all of the ones I've seen. "Who killed the electric car" is very good, but maybe that's because it sparked an interesting conversation between a group of us who'd recently seen it. It's one of the better documentaries I've seen recently, but that's moreso because most of the others have sucked.

[RyDogg66]

Well, If I see half of those, Ill be surprised. If I can do one a week I'd be thrilled.

[Katuluu]

I'll try and come up with a list of movies that you can look thru and see if you like them. Gimme a couple days though.

[Team Canada]

Interestingly enough, I filled my queue with mostly foreign films and documentaries

 

 

Looks like we have pretty similar tastes.

 

Of that list, I hated Squid, but have seen and enjoyed most of the others there.

[Katuluu]

The Squid and the Whale was my favorite movie of two years ago. I'm a huge Noah Baumbach fan. If you like it make sure to check out Kicking and Screaming and The Life Aquatic as well.

[RyDogg66]

I'll try and come up with a list of movies that you can look thru and see if you like them. Gimme a couple days though.

Thanks Kat! I'll look for it later this week.

 

[RobertR]

Netflix is best for foreign films, little independents, non-big name classics, and the like.

 

Recent movies that spring to mind that might be off the radar a bit:

 

Brick (You have to be willing to roll with the central conceit though, a 1940s style PI movie and dialogue filtered through 21st century high school students.)

 

The Lives of Others (Probably fits somewhat in the spy thriller genre. It was overshadowed by Pan's Labyrinth, but it's a terrific film in its own right.)

 

Bloody Sunday

 

Black Book is out on September 25th. You probably could do a Resistance trilogy of Rome Open City, Army of Shadows (finally came to America last year), and Black Book.

 

Robert

[Fatter than Joey]

Oh, and is Netflix good?

 

Yep. I buy people Xmas subscriptions and never a complaint.

[brettac1]

RyDogg, if you like music documentaries, here's a couple that came out in the past couple of years to check out:

 

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

Townes Van Zandt: Be Here to Love Me

We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen

 

They are all awesome.

[Fatter than Joey]

Did you ever see "The American Movie" -- about those 2 dudes in WIS trying to make a horror movie -- I really enjoyed that.

[RobertR]

A few classics that I viewed recently.

 

Sabotage

1936 Hitchcock film based on Joseph Conrad's Secret Agent. It's an early Hitchcock thriller with all the signs of his greatness to come, although I think it's a cut below its contemporaries The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes. There's a timebomb scene on public transportation that must of had everyone on the edges of their seats in 1936 that's still timely in the wake of the London subway bombings.

 

Our Hospitality

A silent comedy starring Buster Keaton. It centers around a Hatfield/McCoy style feud and Keaton plays a young man that returns to his family home, falls for the girl of the feuding family, and has to dodge the assassination attempts of her relatives. There's a terrific comedy sequence focusing on the first type of trains, and probably using gags that couldn't fit into The General, and a jaw dropping final rescue stunt. It's as good a stunt as I've seen in any movie.

 

Steamboat Bill Jr.

Another Buster Keaton silent comedy. It follows much of the same formula as Our Hospitality, rival families, fish out of water, falls for the girl from the other family, etc. There's less of an emphasis on stunts in this one, mostly some pratfalls, and more of an emphasis on comedy acting, particularly a sequence where Keaton tries on multiple hats. That is until the end where a big storm strikes the town and buildings literally start collapsing around Keaton. Or flying away. It's a wonder he wasn't killed with some of these stunts. Seriously, it's the perfect antidote for too much CGI.

 

Robert

[homer]

RyDogg,

One of my favorite movies of all time is a Brazillian movie called "City of God". Same director as Constant Gardener. It's a crime drama set in the slums of Rio. Terrific, terrific, movie that's been mentioned in several posts around here.

[RyDogg66]

Cool, I'll put it on my list. As it kept popping up as a recommended choice based on other movies I have seen and liked.

[brettac1]

After you watch "City of God" and love it, watch "City of Men", too.

[RyDogg66]

Hey what is the standard shipping time for Netflix movies? I joined Monday, they shipped Tuesday and it was estimated to arrive yesterday. I still havent gotten it. I was under the impression it would be two days, max. What is the usual wait time like? I live in Oshkosh.

[homer]

I just watched The Lives of Others per RobertR's recommendation and it is a fantastic film. Thanks for the tip, Robert.

 

 

RyDogg,

I think the smaller the city the longer it takes. I live in Chicago and have about a two day turnaround (mail one on Monday morning, get a new one on Wednesday)

[Principessa21]

I liked "Lives of Others," but I still thought that "Pan's Labyrnth" should have won the Oscar.

 

Has anyone seen "Perfume?" I liked it, but since I didn't read the book, I was wondering what those who did thought.

[Katuluu]

I haven't read Perfume either, but from what I have heard the film is fairly faithful to the book, but the cave scene is greatly accelerated. In the book it lasts ~year while in the film it's closer to a month or so. But visually the film is stunning, as are all of Tykwer's films. The movie is also pretty risky and definitely isn't for everyone, and it isn't anything like his other films. That all being said I loved it, and if you go into it with an open mind I think you stand a pretty god chance of being entertained.

[Fatter than Joey]

I live in a town of 900 people or so -- I put the movie in the mail Mon., and usually I get the replacement Wed.

 

I think though if you get something a bit more obscure, i.e. non-new releases, it may take longer as that movie may not be at your closest hub.

[RyDogg66]

I gotta tell ya, Im doing this 2-week free trial with Netflix, I was planning on continuing the subscription, but the mail came today and still nothing. I ordered on Monday, they shipped Tuesday with an expected arrival date of Wednesday and here we are Friday and still no movies.

 

I am NOT pleased. If it's gonna be 4 day turnaround I dont see any reason to keep the subscription.

[Fatter than Joey]

Ask your mailman if he has seen any good movies lately

[homer]

RyDogg,

You should send Netflix an email and complain.

[RyDogg66]

Yeah, I called them. They apologized but just said they "must have been lost in the mail" like this sort of thing happens all the time. Which, by the way, does this happen a lot?

 

They then said they'd reship them...but they wont be going out until Monday. So I guess they dont ship on Saturdays? Man, what kind of operation are they running over there? Oh well, I was hoping to have some movies to watch this weekend.