DVD Rental Day (2011 - ?)

[DuWayne Steurer]

Really wish people would start utilizing this thread more. I watched a lot of movies I otherwise would have missed because of this thread.

[Godspeed]

I pretty much only stream these days, so my selection is somewhat limited.

 

• The Last Stand (Netflix) - Arnold Schwarzenegger as an everyman sherrif? Hmm, works well enough considering his age. The film never rises above the occasion to be anything other than a run-of-the-mill action flick, but it certainly doesn't offend. Competent, and better than I expected.
   
   
   
  
• Price Check (Netflix) - 90 minutes of Parker Posey doing Parker Posey things. Take that as either a warning or a enticement, depending on your disposition. Surprisingly, I can go either way on her. As such, the film wasn't terrible. Hey, I've seen worse lately.
   
   
   
  
• Devil's Pass (Netflix) - Blair Witch in Siberia. That's all that needs to be said.
   
   
  
• The Bling Ring (Amazon Prime) - The best thing about this movie is that it's only 91 minutes. That's the only positive I got out of watching 5 conceited, heartless, douchebag teenagers burglarize the vacant homes of celebrities. I don't mean to misdirect here, that last sentence probably makes it sound way more interesting than the film actually was.
   
  It's basically 20 minutes of fashion montages (snooze), 10 minutes of celebrity googling (seriously), and 60 minutes of watching the teenage characters act somehow more superficial and vapid than the owners of the homes they break into (okay, that's actually the one aspect not completely cliched). I watched it in 3 chunks and just punished myself in continuing rounds 2 and 3.
   
  Thoughts wrapped up in 3 words in honor of my 3 separate starts of the movie: Pointless. Garbage. Avoid.

[paul253]

I'm thinking of renting Captain Philips. The plot never really interested me but I've heard nothing but good things about the movie. Anyone here see it? Was it worth the time?

[homer]

I'm thinking of renting Captain Philips. The plot never really interested me but I've heard nothing but good things about the movie. Anyone here see it? Was it worth the time?

 

I have not. But if you want an alternative that's pretty good I suggest A Hijacking. Basically, it's the exact same premise but more of a drama than an action thriller kind of movie....and it's Danish guys instead of Tom Hanks.

[homer]

Really wish people would start utilizing this thread more. I watched a lot of movies I otherwise would have missed because of this thread.

 

 

Agreed. I have been watching a ton of below the radar stuff but haven't been posting. I'll try to make it more of a habit. It's healthy for me as a filmmaker to do that anyway.

[ilikewisco]

I'm thinking of renting Captain Philips. The plot never really interested me but I've heard nothing but good things about the movie. Anyone here see it? Was it worth the time?

 

I really enjoyed it. The movie is a little more than just the ship getting hijacked and I thought the main pirate was really good in it.

[DuWayne Steurer]

So.....anyways

 

Grabbed The Worlds End at the red box Friday night, and really to sum it up, if you liked Hot Fuzz, you cant not like this.

 

Simon Pegg has a savagely vulgar sense of humor. If you're offended by the F word, stay far, far away.

[TooLiveBrew]

So.....anyways

 

Grabbed The Worlds End at the red box Friday night, and really to sum it up, if you liked Hot Fuzz, you cant not like this.

 

Simon Pegg has a savagely vulgar sense of humor. If you're offended by the F word, stay far, far away.

Well, there's a review that'll make me watch The Worlds End! Good to hear.

[chadomac]

I will agree that The Bling Ring was a steaming pile, although it was the first time I ever found myself attracted to Emma Watson.

[homer]

Prisoners

 

Wow. Great film. It's about the disappearance of two girls in a city in Pennsylvania. A suspect is caught and subsequently released due to lack of evidence. One of the fathers, convinced this is the guy, decides to take matters into his own hands while the investigation goes in a different direction. Shot by Roger Deakins (who also shot Skyfall most recently among many other awesome movies) and directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villenueve, the oftentimes brutal and uncomfortable film gets its point across definitively. Lots of odd twists and turns in this one lead to a fairly surprising end. I'm not a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal but he really put on a great performance here. And if you like this one, Villanueve has a film called Incendies that is really good as well. Or if you like this genre, another good one to check out is 7 Days - not for the squeamish.

 

Available on Netflix DVD and Amazon Instant Video

 

Cutie and The Boxer

 

Oscar nominated doc about married Japanese artists living in New York City. He is 80 years old and uses boxing gloves to create modernist paintings. She's 30 years his junior and likes to draw. The movie starts at the surface of their marriage and slowly peels back layers to reveal a complex, almost symbiotic, relationship. Very good film and worthy of the nomination. Worth watching just for the closing credit sequence.

 

Available on Netflix Instant Download and Amazon Instant Video

[RobertR]

A few Oscar related viewings.

 

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS - Paul Greengrass shows all of his talents, including taking a complicated story with many parts and making it clear. Hanks is terrific in an everyman role and he shows something in the last 5 minutes that I didn't know he had in him. Very good support and the movie is edited tight, for maximum tension. Really terrific.

 

THE LONE RANGER - It has problems. It's overlong and Act 2 is convoluted, Johnny Depp's "crazy injun" Tonto goes too far over the top at times, and it has difficulty managing the ideas of native American genocide and exploitation of foreign workers with it's often Princess Bride tone. But, it looks gorgeous, Gore Verbinski knows his way around a setpiece, a good many of the jokes land, and the climax is as rousing a climax as any this year as they basically decide, let's remake Buster Keaton's The General. It's a flawed film, but an overhated one.

 

THE ACT OF KILLING - The most visceral reaction I had to a movie in the last year. It's bizarre, it's chilling, and it almost made me physically ill at times. But, it definitely gets across the power of the film, both as something that seduces people and makes them let down their guard (something Erroll Morris undoubtedly appreciated) and as an empathy engine that causes those making films to put themselves in the shoes of their characters.

 

I didn't see them on home video, but I certainly can recommend THE SQUARE (some truly terrific "you are there" filmmaking), CUTIE AND THE BOXER (a complicated relationship shown with real nuance and understanding), 20 FEET FROM STARDOM (a real crowdpleaser with a great soundtrack), THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN (a terrific drama with footstompling Bluegrass music), THE GREAT BEAUTY (a modern day, gorgeous, La Dolce Vita), BLUE JASMINE (Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins are terrific), 12 YEARS A SLAVE (brutal and unblinking, but not a repetitive screed with terrific performances), and GRAVITY, although I wonder if GRAVITY will play nearly as well as it does on the big screen.

[homer]

I Saw the Devil - Korean revenge flick about a secret service agent whose wife is brutally murdered by a serial killer. The hero goes on the hunt and after disposing of a few suspects, he catches the killer....with over an hour left in the movie. That's when things get disturbing. The movie asks the question "When does the hero become the villain?". Stylized and gory, this is an intense thriller and certainly not for the squeamish. (the killer is played by the main guy in Old Boy in case anyone has seen that gem). Very good if you're in the mood.

 

Available on Netflix instant download and Amazon Instant Video

 

 

The Snowtown Murders You'd think after seeing a semi disturbing movie like I Saw the Devil, I'd move on to lighter fare like Anchorman 2. But instead I watched a movie even more disturbing. This Australian film documents the activities of John Bunting, the worst serial killer in Australian history. This is not your normal serial killer. He had help....lots of it. Including from a 16 year old boy that he "trains" to be a man. Only one really brutal kill scene which was disturbing not necessarily due to gore but because of the situation...and the fact that it went on for like 10 minutes. IMO, the direction was superb and the acting outstanding. They were not afraid to hold on a character's reaction for what seemed like minutes in order to build tension. Again, thumbs up if you're in the mood for a sparse and disturbing murder flick.

 

Available on Netflix instant download and Amazon Instant Video.

[homer]

Short Term 12

 

Excellent indy flick from 2013. It's about a group home for foster kids. After a wayward girl arrives on the scene, one of her caretakers begins to associate her own past with the girl's situation. As the film progresses, we learn more and more about the caretaker's history and why she ended up working with troubled kids. Really terrific performances by a largely no-name cast, this one will make you laugh and cry and everything in between. Wonderful script and wonderful film.

[Katuluu]

Short Term 12 is phenomenal. I can't recommend it enough.

[jjkoestler]

Has anyone checked out the Oldboy remake? I saw it in the Redbox, but I'm skeptical.

[homer]

Short Term 12 is phenomenal. I can't recommend it enough.

 

 

Welcome back, Kat! Hope you are able to post in this thread going forward.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

Welcome back, Kat! Hope you are able to post in this thread going forward.

 

Maybe this will help.

 

http://cdn.caughtoffside.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/ringtail-lemur-face-bg.jpg

[RobertR]

Yeah, Short Term 12 is really good. Brie Larson especially.

 

Some stuff I've been catching on DVD.

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - I think it's a bit better than the first one, and certainly adding a lot of capable adults to the cast helps. Recreating the games makes the second half a bit repetitive with the first, but it ends with a bang.

 

Take Shelter - I think Michael Shannon is outstanding in this. This and Mud make Jeff Nichols a director to keep an eye on.

 

Barking Dogs Never Bite - Bong Joon-ho's first film is mostly a dark comedy, and is pretty funny at that. At least if you deal with fake cruelty to dogs. You can see a lot of his social class concerns in this one. Memories of Murder is a big jump up from this, but this is still an enjoyable film.

American Hustle - I was entertained by it, but think it's a bit less than the sum of its parts. Certainly, it has less to say about the American dream than it thinks it does. I'm kind of put off by the fact that we don't need a Scorsese pastiche when Scorsese is still making movies, and David O. Russell doesn't really use that pastiche to make any sort of a comment. The cast is fantastic though.

 

The Wolf of Wall Street - Proof of why we don't need Scorsese pastiches when he's still putting out films at this level. Who knew DiCaprio had a gift for comedy, physical comedy at that. It's way over the line and I kind of love it for that. It's been a long time since Scorsese made a film as purely funny as it and the three hours just flew by for me.

 

Nanook of the North - Terrific documentary from 1922. You can tell it was highly influential. Nanook is a very memorable character as well.

 

This is the End - I laughed some. The folks making the film do have talent and know how to poke fun at themselves, although nothing cuts too deep. I was disappointed in the second half though when they go for riffs on Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, like those two films haven't been riffed upon enough in the last 40+ years, and felt that they didn't really know how to end it. Emma Watson is wasted.

 

Snowpiercer - A region free viewing, convinces me that this is one of the best comic book action movies of the year. The better Chris Evans action movie if you were to ask me and you can tell that it's the work of an auteur. It manages to lay its influences on its sleeve, clearly Bong Joon-ho is a fan of Terry Gilliam, while also never being an imitation. It helps that the allegory holds together, perhaps because it's simple. Yeah, some of the special effects aren't great, but that's easy to overlook. Highly recommended.

[Raw Biz]

Has anyone checked out the Oldboy remake? I saw it in the Redbox, but I'm skeptical.

 

It's not bad. Love that they kept the long fight scene.

[RobDeer 45]

Many of you have written your reviews of these movies but just wanted to give my opinion.

 

Captain Phillips - Awesome movie. Really had me the whole way through. Hanks was so good and really amazing at the end.

 

American Hustle - Didn't do it for me really. It was entertaining, but I just didn't love it.

 

Wolf of Wall Street - Tremendous. Agree, over the top, and I love it for that. Leo is one of my favorites and he was a blast in this movie.

 

Anchorman 2 - Good laughs. I was worried they were going to try to recycle jokes from the first one, which they did a little at the beginning. I had a lot of big laughs but it seemed to slow towards the end.

 

Enough Said Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are some of my favorite actors. I thought this movie was entertaining. Nothing crazy here but the wife wanted a romantic comedy and this one worked for me.

[Katuluu]

 

Maybe this will help.

 

 

I wish to subscribe to my newsletter.

[RobDeer 45]

The Way Way Back

I kept ignoring this on HBO and finally saw it as a recommendation on IMDB so I watched the trailer. Seemed good so I gave it a shot. Wow, I really liked this one. I was looking for a feel good movie and that's what I got. Some good laughs. This one really surprised me and I'm glad I watched it.

 

We are the Millers

Had no idea this was more of a raunchy comedy, which I enjoy. This one too, surprised me. There are some dumb parts, but overall, I laughed pretty hard at this one. Looking forward to part two!

 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Overall pretty solid but I felt it could have been better. I had a harder time getting in to this right away. I also felt like there were a few areas that needed more information/time to develop. Another feel good movie to cap off a solid week of movies that made me laugh and smile.

 

Anyone have any recommendations similar to The Way Way back and Secret Life? Just curious because I'm kind of digging the feel good stories right now.

[homer]

Despues de Lucia (After Lucia)

 

This Mexican drama is about a man and his daughter trying to pick up the pieces of the death of their wife/mother. After moving from their home town to Mexico City, the daughter falls victim to a vicious prank by her new schoolmates. This results in her being bullied severely. She refuses to tell her dad partly out of embarrassment and partly because he is barely able to keep it together after the loss of his wife.

 

The movie is REALLY slow to start out. I very nearly paused it to do something else but about halfway through Act II the action picks up along with the tension. It's one of those movies where you know something bad is gonna happen but you just don't know when. Minimal camera moves and long, static shots force the viewer to study the characters and the scene itself. If you aren't paying attention you might miss a look or an ominous nod. I really enjoyed this film but I don't think it's everybody's cup of tea.

 

Available on Netflix instant download.

[Katuluu]

Saw How to Train Your Dragon 2 last week. It's incredible. Stands a good chance of being the best movie I watch all year.

[RobertR]

Mothra vs. Godzilla

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster

Invasion of Astro Monster

 

Probably the peak of the classic Godzilla movies, save for the first which is clearly above anything that came after and maybe King Kong vs Godzilla. Colorful, some fun plotting, lots of great miniature work, and at least they're trying with the human side of the story. I'm amused that Ghidorah is basically The Avengers.

 

 

Portrait From Life

Marry Me

Spaceways

Night of the Big Heat

 

I've been digging through the lesser known works of Terence Fisher, most famous for his Hammer gothics. Spaceways is the only one that's readily available and it's pretty bad, based on a talky radio play and showing it. Night of the Big Heat is a monster invasion film from the 60s, and may show up on Svengoolie at some point, but it's okay at best while clearly recycling Island of Terror and throwing in an adultery melodrama for the human part of the story. Portrait from Life is a post-WWII mystery thriller that's quite good and has a lot to say about human refugees, obsession, British indifference, etc. It should be more readily available. Marry Me is essentially an anthology film, centered around a marriage bureau, of which only one story really stands out and which Fisher was invested in.

 

Alan Partridge

 

I enjoy Steve Coogan a lot, so this had a lot going for it as he basically ends up as a go between for a hostage situation at a radio station, now going corporate, that he inadvertently caused. Unfortunately, it doesn't really go to anywhere really interesting and only Colm Meaney makes much of an impression among the supporting cast. Maybe if it was directed with a bit more verve or if I was more familiar with the television work that inspired the movie, but it's fairly one note on first impression.

 

Frozen

 

I wanted to see what the big deal was and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's definitely a film that works best in context with classic Disney animation as they play with the formula to give the female characters power and agency. I don't need to hear "Let it Go" out of context again, but it works really well in context. The ice animation effects are quite good. Lots works. It's not an adult film, but as an all ages film it manages to say enough to keep it interesting and worthy of analysis.

 

It also feels about 10 minutes could have been shaved off as the trolls feel completely unnecessary to the film. I was kind of enjoying the fact that it was a film with no real villain and what looked like a climax where people talk it out (or perhaps sing it out), so of course they have to shove in a villain and a big, bombastic climax. I'm also a bit disappointed that they seemed to forget that they were a musical near the end and they really could have used a number on the level of "Let it Go" for the climax. It plays with the form up to a point, but doesn't always follow through.

 

Still, I can fully understand why it struck a chord with its target demographic.