Amazon Prime Instant Video Rec

THE MERCENARY
Directed by Sergio Corbucci, 1968
Starring Franco Nero
Score by Ennio Morricone

While not quite as seminal as Corbucci's 1966 classic Django (also starring Nero) or his later efforts-The Great Silence and Companeros--The Mercenary is a fun romp that populates the more comedic side of the Spaghetti Western cinescape.
It actually plays better on a second viewing, too (I watched it twice because at first the plot was a little confusing, which tends to be the case with a lot of these films).
Nero is charismatic beyond compare and co-star Tony Musante is fantastic as the "revolutionary" Paco. And then there is Jack Palance. His turn as the creepy jheri curled Curly is a scene stealer par excellance.
Corbucci's direction is pretty straightforward, but there are quite a few cool, recurring visual motifs. And Morricone's score is fantastic.

Additionally, if you are a Quentin Tarantino fan, this movie is mentioned throughout Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Corbucci is name dropped a few times in that film, as well).

Men At Work!
Ha!!

(i'm an idiot)

Metal Hurlant Chronicles. Discovered this pleasant and most unexpected surprise Friday night on Amazon. For those unfamiliar, Metal Hurlant was the French mag that was the ORIGINAL Heavy Metal, so you'll definitely recognize the overall vibe, but definitely some of the stories of this short anthology series straight outta France from 2012 (how did I miss out on this one for so long?!)

Just a heads up that it's pretty ultra-low budget, almost looking like 90s PC game FMV and acting that is at times local community theater cheesy, but if you can overlook that and through the lens of the original comic, some of the stories within are freaking great. It's short, so I blasted through the first season in one sitting and couldn't get enough. If you enjoyed the original Heavy Metal comics or the film (some awesome HM easter eggs are in there), or the newer Love, Death & Robots, then give this one a go!

Bonus: Michael Jai White plays a role in the first episode! Score!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8lgLQLHs98

the wire is a good TV show on Amazon prime

Super insightful first post.

RED LINE

Stumbled upon this gonzo anime feature last night.
Imagine Speed Racer filtered through Death Race 2000 and a thousand times more visually arresting than Aeon Flux. Then squirt some Vitamin L into your eye sockets and crank the Techno up to 11.
The first 12 minutes alone are off-the-nuts.
Sure, the plot is thin and the characters are a bit one-dimensional (our protagonist is a pastiche of Elvis on 'ludes and Johnny Bravo), but this is a film that is purely about sight and sound and to this end it wins.
I am rather straight-edged these days, but methinks it would be heightened if one were to get blazed immaculately prior to viewing.

RIYL
Aeon Flux; Batman Ninja; Animatrix; Ninja Scroll; Fist of the Northstar; Cowboy Bebop; Afro Samurai

Ray Donovan season 1 is free on Prime until 12/1.

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Originally Posted by billyk

Ray Donovan season 1 is free on Prime until 12/1.

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Sweet! Been stalking RD, but couldn’t find it ‘free’. Stoked. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by dookey67

Vinnie Jones

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https://i2-prod.chroniclelive.co.uk/...615b/Gazza.jpg

MARLINA THE MURDERER IN FOUR ACTS
I stumbled upon this Indonesian film because it was billed as a unique take on the classic revenge western. And while it is indeed that, it is also rather austere in nature and somewhat slow and methodical. But this lends a certain hypnotism to the whole affair. The cinematography, for example, is lush and expansive, capturing the rich, yet harsh conditions of the Indonesian countryside. The film has some great understated acting, especially from the lead and there is quite a bit of understated dark humor percolating beneath the surface. In the end it is a rather thought provoking examination of third world patriarchal tinged societies; an existential I Spit On Your Grave minus the grindhouse, if you will.

RIYL: Monos; A Woman, A Gun, And A Noodle Shop

Unchained: The Untold Story of Freestyle Motocross

These guys are Gods. 80 minutes. Wow.

FWIW, all* of the pre-Daniel Craig James Bond cinematic adventures are up on Prime, including the unofficial Sean Connery vehicle Never Say Never Again.

*Casino Royal starring David Niven is not available. :)

Man in High Castle final season is up next on my binge list.

Jack Ryan Season 2: ugh.

I enjoyed season one. Nothing earth shattering or new, but pretty well put together plot and decent acting. Season 2 was like a shitty effort to make jack into Claire in Homeland. When the entire plot revolves around the lead that making one retarded move after another, the viewing gets tedious. Just way too many moments that strained credulity, which was kind of opposite of Tom Clancy books. I felt bad that the actors weren’t given better material. 2/5

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Originally Posted by mcski

Jack Ryan Season 2: ugh.

I enjoyed season one. Nothing earth shattering or new, but pretty well put together plot and decent acting. Season 2 was like a shitty effort to make jack into Claire in Homeland. When the entire plot revolves around the lead that making one retarded move after another, the viewing gets tedious. Just way too many moments that strained credulity, which was kind of opposite of Tom Clancy books. I felt bad that the actors weren’t given better material. 2/5

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I had fun watching it and making fun of all the idiotic things done:

-discussion of super secret classified material in coffee shop with guy you just met? Sure!
-black ops night time mission on boat - everyone wear all black, bring a black boat, but make sure you leave those head lights on! Don't bother using the night vision goggles you brought.
-we need to go get our guy back! Let's fly the American chopper right in and land on the roof of the hostile foreign presidential palace!

Whew! Thought it was just me; kept waiting for the switch to rational plot. Never happened. So many holes.

There were dozens. I’m almost tempted to watch the damn thing again to document all the retardedness, Chup hit some big ones

-We need to hire mercenaries to go after an isolated prison camp in the jungle, but we should be cool w 5 guys attacking a presidential palace fortified by an entire army. We have plans for the building but we won’t worry about getting into a firefight in the banquet hall to spice things up!

Atrocious, even for M. Bay.

GUTLAND

This film is a wonderfully understated twist on the "mysterious stranger" trope.
It moves along with a slow-burning sense of surrealism and just the right amount of oddity to keep you enthralled. It keeps you guessing as to what is really going on with strange, off-kilter plot twists that don't really resonate until post-viewing.
It's filmed in a lush manner, pushing pastoral visages onto the viewer and creating a mildly hallucinatory aura.
It's also the first Luxembourgian film I have ever seen (it's in German and Luxembourgish with subtitles).
Completely worth a watch if you dig strangely quiet thrillers.

RIYL
Blue Velvet; The Ardennes; Borgman; Black Spot (the French/Belgian TV series); Border (aka Grans);

I'm detecting a theme in your preferences, Dooks: lush, hallucinogenic, and off-kilter.

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Originally Posted by PB

I'm detecting a theme in your preferences, Dooks: lush and hallucinogenic.

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:)

Guess I'mma have to come up with some new descriptive adjectives, eh?

I do dig me some bugged out "arty" shit, though.
HUGE fan of Nicholas Winding Refn, DePalma, Panos Cosmatos, Kubrick, Lynch, Noe, Argento, Miike, and others.
:)

“Made of Stone”

Great soundtrack.

https://youtu.be/2oMZkW0RjE4

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Originally Posted by mcski

Super insightful first post.

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apparantly he just dropped the mic. Who can blame him?

Sorry to read that Goliath turns to shit. I'm on the third episode and it's awesome so far.

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Originally Posted by 4matic

“Made of Stone”

Great soundtrack.

https://youtu.be/2oMZkW0RjE4

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i will watch that, thx

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Originally Posted by dookey67

The Expanse, Season 5...

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/...KvwSr8MvEm8Hho

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I watched the first three seasons of The Expanse in the last month and enjoyed it.
Season four goes live tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by ACH

I watched the first three seasons of The Expanse in the last month and enjoyed it.
Season four goes live tomorrow.

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You mentioned this the other week. Been meaning to watch.

Grand Tour Special on Prime tomorrow too.

Fleabag is a great show and should be in everyone’s queue if they haven’t seen it

I recently re-visited KILLING ZOE, the debut feature film from Roger Avary (he co-wrote and produced Pulp Fiction). I remember thinking it was not all that great when it was first released back in 1994, but I feel it has aged nicely. Eric Stoltz is solid (where has dude been hiding recently? He's such a good actor...) and Julie Delphy is wonderfully understated. The supporting cast is great and the film just percolates with a dirty and grungy nastiness that doesn't exist in many cinematic stories these days.

Overlord is surprisingly good. If you like Nazi zombies

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Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

I had fun watching it and making fun of all the idiotic things done:

-discussion of super secret classified material in coffee shop with guy you just met? Sure!
-black ops night time mission on boat - everyone wear all black, bring a black boat, but make sure you leave those head lights on! Don't bother using the night vision goggles you brought.
-we need to go get our guy back! Let's fly the American chopper right in and land on the roof of the hostile foreign presidential palace!

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I love the spy genre and watched the first few episodes of season 1. Equally ridiculous scenes in them also. One was the first episode with the chopper landing in the water at the party to pick Jack up and bring him to headquarters in the first episode.

Another was when there was an enemy attack on the camp in the middle of the desert where the US was holding a prisoner that was almost like a Bin Laden guy. Open desert and somehow the bad guys were able to sneak up on the camp in broad daylight and then rescue the prisoner with a few jeeps with machine guns. As much as I wanted to like it I could not get by that nonsense.

Jim from The Office as a secret agent also did not work for me. Otherwise a good show:)

Watched this short documentary last night. It was enough to make me want to seek out more info about the guy.


https://www.amazon.com/Jacob-M-Appel/dp/B07Z9S5KJ1

There’s a movie on Amazon right now called Attack Force Z about Australian commandos on a secret mission in the Pacific theater in WW2. Young Mel Gibson, (like pre-road warrior young) young Sam Neal, some cool Klepper kayaks (folboats maybe?). I’m not saying it’s perfect but I remember really enjoying it when I was a kid and it was on HBO in the 80s and I watched it again the other day- still fun

HUNTERS looks really interesting and promising. Al Pacino and Logan Lerman as Nazi hunters in 1970s NYC....starts end of Feb.

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Originally Posted by ACH

I watched the first three seasons of The Expanse in the last month and enjoyed it.
Season four goes live tomorrow.

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Me and the mrs just power watched the first season last week and are now happily binging season 2. Nice one ACH, we're loving it!

Gogol

Stumbled upon this Russian series the other week. It's apparently the first part of a 3-part maxi-series (each "season" being 6 episodes). The series was actually released in theaters in Russia.

From what I was able to gather from Wikipedia (which I take with a grain of salt), the series is loosely based on the writings of Nikolai Gogol, who seems to have been Russia's answer to Edgar Allen Poe.

The series is like Sherlock Holmes crossed with supernatural shit.

Very slick gothic vibes. Cool atmosphere. Lottsa demons, ghosts, and malevolent entities.

Pretty cool.

In Russian with subtitles.

The Nose:

Major Kovalyov awakens to discover that his nose is missing. He grabs a mirror to see his face, and there is only a smooth, flat patch of skin in its place. He leaves his home to report the incident to the chief of police. On his way to the chief of police, Major Kovalyov sees his nose dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking official. His nose is already pretending to be a human being. He chases his nose into Kazan Cathedral, where he confronts his nose in the midst of prayer. The nose refuses to return to his face. Kovalyov becomes distracted by a pretty girl, and while he is not watching, the nose escapes.

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Originally Posted by spanghew

The Nose:

Major Kovalyov awakens to discover that his nose is missing. He grabs a mirror to see his face, and there is only a smooth, flat patch of skin in its place. He leaves his home to report the incident to the chief of police. On his way to the chief of police, Major Kovalyov sees his nose dressed in the uniform of a high-ranking official. His nose is already pretending to be a human being. He chases his nose into Kazan Cathedral, where he confronts his nose in the midst of prayer. The nose refuses to return to his face. Kovalyov becomes distracted by a pretty girl, and while he is not watching, the nose escapes.

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Spollers much?

I guess I can thank you for saving me/us the time of watching the entire show since you pretty much told us everything that happens...

::eek:

It's a short story. All that stuff happens in the first 3 pages . . . and plenty happens afterwards. There are plenty more where that came from, all the way up to Dead Souls, so all is not lost . . .

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Originally Posted by spanghew

It's a short story. All that stuff happens in the first 3 pages . . . and plenty happens afterwards. There are plenty more where that came from, all the way up to Dead Souls, so all is not lost . . .

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Color me confused...is "The Nose" a short story by Nikolai Gogol or is it a show streaming on Amazon Prime?