Recommendations/Pans for DVD Rentals - Your Opinion Welcome

[stopbush]

I just went one-for-three in DVD rentals on new releases:

Under the Tuscan Sun - Good. Beautiful locations, Diane Lane, and a non-formula story. Well worth renting.

Lost in Translation - what in the hell was that about? I can't believe it's up for Oscars. I love Bill Murray, but this was a big, BIG nothing.

Le Divorce - another waste of time. Not a comedy, hardly a drama. French men are bad people, Americans are money grubbers. Looks like Kate Hudson, Sam Waterston, Bebe Neuwirth, Leslie Caron, Naomi whats-her-name and the rest signed on for a paycheck and a few months in Paris. Only redeeming factor: seeing Hudson in some La Perla for about 7 seconds.

Any GOOD movies I should rent this weekend?

[Kamika]

1. want tv series suggestions?

topic

[stopbush]

2. Not really n/t

[jedicord]

3. The Chase

With Charlie Sheen. You have to have a sense of humor and a skewed imagination, but you gotta see that movie.

[kmla]

4. Don't know who recommended it, but "Happy Accidents" is good.

There was a thread a couple of months ago about this movie - somebody recommended it highly. I saw it starting on IFC one night, and decided to watch.

Pretty good. Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei. (She's so cute...):loveya:

[LiviaOlivia]

5. Just watched "Underground"

a Serbian movie from 1995 that won Best Film at Cannes. The DVD addition is new, Dec. 2003. A long movie but fabulous.

[Flaxbee]

6. Seabiscuit!

You might have already seen it. I loooved it, but I would, because I'm a horse person. It's a great story, though, good acting, some nice scenery of what SoCal might have looked like before the permanent smog descended.

I'll stop everything I'm doing and watch "Sense and Sensibility" or "Ronin", I also liked "About a Boy". Hmm.

I'm looking forward to "Under the Tuscan Sun", and have "Lost in Translation" ready for the weekend, I hope I like it more than you did!

Does "Le Divorce" even have any good Paris scenery? I've read the book, and was hoping the movie was at least mildly entertaining.

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. I just recently watched "Blue" and "White" and "Red"

All excellent, especially Blue!

I suggest them highly.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. You might like "Tampopo", if you can get Japanese films

Or "Farewell My Concubine", or another one that deeply moved me, "The Road Home" (Chinese film).

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. I LOVED "Lost in Translation"

I thought it was subtle, funny and beautiful. Plus (and I'm probably revealing too much here), I really indentified with both main characters.

My wife liked it so much she watched it twice in a row.

[enough]

10. The House of Fools

A recent Russian (I think) movie that takes place in Chechnya during the war. Sounds grim, but it is fascinating, and not grim throughout.

Based on a true story of the inmates of an insane asylum who are randomly stranded in their building (an old villa) with nobody to help them as the war blows through, interacting with a band of Chechnyan rebels, and then with the Russians.

Visually and psychologically interesting, not preachy, but realistic about what war is.

[enough]

11. Marooned in Iraq

Just saw this last night.

A beautiful movie that takes place in northern Iraq right after the Iran-Iraq war (when the US was still supporting Saddam).

Iranian Kurds forced into Iraq by Saddam's bombings.

Incredible mountains, amazing people, a passionate story, phenomenal music (the main characters are musicians).

And a view into the human reality of "geopolitics." But it's not a documentary or a history lesson. Very dramatic, with some visuals you will never forget (like a group of schoolchildren on a crazy "field trip" walking across the snow in single file, avoiding mines.) A great movie.

[nuxvomica]

12. I heartily recommend "Crime Spree"

A gang of French criminals fly to Chicago to pull off a big heist but they get double-crossed. Though there is some violence, the movie is hilarious and stars Gerard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Abe Vigoda and some terrific French actors. This is a comedy but the cover art makes it look like a gritty crime drama.

[Enraged_Ape]

13. Avoid League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

as you would SARS, Republican bathhouses, and Justin Timberlake.

[bikebloke]

14. The Cuckoo

A Russian film taking place in northern Finland at the end of the war. There's a Finnish soldier who's been chained to a rock, left with food, water and a sniper's rifle. A Russian soldier arrested for being politically incorrect. And a Lapp woman living alone on a farm. And they all speak different languages.

Edit: Blimey, I'm all toes today.

[Elidor]

15. In the Bedroom

Saw this last weekend and it was rather disturbing, but very good, well-acted and not the usual Hollywood crap. Tom Wilkinson is also one of my favorite actors, and movies like this and Normal are the reason why. Not a fun movie, but very compelling.

[BigMcLargehuge]

18. Oh man, was that a great flick or what?

I saw it on cable, blew me away I was so pissed I didn't see it in its short theatrical run.

[Butterflies]

16. Requiem for a Dream

is the only DVD I've seen in the last 6 months or so that has stayed in my mind. It was so well acted and visually interesting that I still think about it (and I've rented at least 20 DVDs since that one.) I've always loved Ellen Burstyn.

[BigMcLargehuge]

17. based on your above choices I recommend -

Amelie - a French magical-realist film, looks great, has some great funny moments, and oozes happiness.

The Whole Wide World - Starring Vincent D'Onfrio and Rene Zelwegger. About the personal life of genre writer Robert E. Howard, authorm of Conan the Barbarian and Kull he Conqueror. Great film, sad, funny, interesting, and beautifully acted.

The Importance of Being Earnest - Colin Firth, and a bunch of other people you've probably heard of and too numerous to list here. This adaptation of Wilde's play is a little overdone, but the literary humor is still there.

[TahitiNut]

25. I loved 'Amelie'

That was an extraordinary film... and the Art Direction/Cinematogrphy was terrific.

[peekaloo]

19. American Splendor

if you like offbeat, this one's a winner. Based on the comic books about a file clerk, Harvey Pekar, it's a nice mixture of fact and fiction and the superhero in all of us. Paul Giammatti does a great job portraying Harvey.

then again I loved LIT. :shrug:

[TahitiNut]

20. "Melvin Goes To Dinner"

http://www.melvingoestodinner.com/

Some of the most natural acting I've ever seen.

[TahitiNut]

21. "Pumpkin"

This is one of the most unusual movies I've ever seen. The directorial skill at keeping the "just over the edge" tone is quite amazing. Kids under 10 might not even notice the surreal tone ... but it stunned me how completely consistent it was kept from beginning to end. If you like "Punch Drunk Love" you'll probably love "Pumpkin" ... but I wouldn't equate the tone of "Pumpkin" to anything I've seen by either Hoffman or the Cohen Brothers.

http://www.realgoodmovies.com/pumpkin.php

[slackdude]

27. I loved Pumpkin!

A lot of people I know hated it, but I really loved it (and I probably still would have loved it even if I didn't have a big old crush on Christina Ricci). I'm a sucker for movies that make fun of sorrority/fraternity type snobbery. I loved the music too. Besides the Belle and Sebastian songs, that music they played during the fight scene was killer.

[TahitiNut]

22. "Freaky Friday"

One of the better remakes I've seen. The skill with which Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan portray their 'possessed' persona's is quite remarkable ... supporting the suspension of disbelief needed to enjoy this movie.

No, no really deep meaning despite a "message" anti-climax. Decent fun.

[TahitiNut]

23. "Secondhand Lions"

Worth it. I wouldn't watch it more than twice, but it's a very enjoyable flick.

[kimchi]

24. I was disappointed in Lost in Translation.

A few funny moments, but neither memorable nor poignant.

[spinbaby]

29. Me, too.

A very disappointing movie. The city of Tokyo was the star of this movie; the characters and plot were just boring. Thumbs down from me--I wish I'd gotten Under the Tuscan Sun instead.

[TahitiNut]

26. "Open Range"

I enjoyed this one. While I'm not particularly enamored with westerns (unless directed by Lawrence Kasden), this one was quite good. Costner's in decent form but Robert Duvall and Annette Bening are excellent.

[slackdude]

28. Run Ronnie Run

Whether or not you've seen Mr. Show, this movie is pee your pants with laughter funny. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/RunRonnieRun-1123526/

[K8-EEE]

30. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Lost In Translation!!

It was a slice of life story -- a love story without the sex! I thought the direction was amazing, how much you knew about the main characters and their marriages etc without a lot of dialogue.

Loved the location shots, loved the culture clashes and discoveries, LOVED Bill Murray -- I give it a big thumbs up!

Plus that movie was filmed in 27 days for 4 million dollars, they spend more than that on the damn superbowl commercials!