Netflix: instaView rec's

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Originally Posted by My Pet Powder Goat

Stoked about 'Snowpiercer' and 'Django unchained' on netflix! I've already watched Snowpiercer twice to go with my movie screening earlier this summer,

'Django unchained' is one of the better movies to date by QT. probably just behind 'Inglorious bastards' but not by much. .

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I couldn't make it through Django Unchained or Snowpiercer. Both get rave reviews and I usually like well reviewed movies but my stubborn male brain has real issues with suspending disbelief while watching some movies. For Django it was the cartoon violence + wonky scenery that did it (you're in the deep south one second and the Rockies another). For Snowpiercer it was the entire premise. If a movie is obviously ironic then I enjoy the absurdity and I especially enjoy realistic films. It's that middle ground that I can't swallow. It's like my subconscious is screaming , "The director is a moron" while I'm trying to fucking relax and watch a movie. Yeah, I need professional help.

Snowpiercer put me to sleep.

Django is yet another piece of the pomo puzzle factory where we're reminded that America's problems are due to Southerners.

Blue Ruin was good for low-budget IMO, though the lead guy looked too much like 2 different people, the diogenes at first and the sullen son of privilege 2d. Eve Plumb did not remind me of Jan Brady at all.

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Originally Posted by jma233

I couldn't make it through Django Unchained or Snowpiercer. Both get rave reviews and I usually like well reviewed movies but my stubborn male brain has real issues with suspending disbelief while watching some movies. For Django it was the cartoon violence + wonky scenery that did it (you're in the deep south one second and the Rockies another). Yeah, I need professional help.

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It did jump from one local to the next rather abruptly, but was over the course of a winter as they were traveling to hunt fugitive. I'll agree the sudden change was jarring, but my understanding is some of those shots were supposed to be homages to other classic westerns.

re; trouble "suspending disbelief" are you properly medicated? That helps:biggrin:

Spiral

Dust to Glory (2005)

The British comedy Peep Show is fantastic. I'm not sure what popular show to compare it to, but I imagine people who like Archer and It's Always Sunny will appreciate it.

I thought Snowpiercer was interesting. It was more original than most action movies, and I liked Tilda Swinton's weirdo villainess. But what the fuck was up with the gutting of the fish before the fight scene? I kept waiting for some exposition on how that made any sense but it never came (or did I miss it?).

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Originally Posted by creaky fossil

Django is yet another piece of the pomo puzzle factory where we're reminded that America's problems are due to Southerners.

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Sounds like a documentary.

Wasn't a huge fan of Killing Them Softly

Nebraska with Bruce Dern.

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Originally Posted by AKbruin

I thought Snowpiercer was interesting. It was more original than most action movies, and I liked Tilda Swinton's weirdo villainess. But what the fuck was up with the gutting of the fish before the fight scene? I kept waiting for some exposition on how that made any sense but it never came (or did I miss it?).

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Just watched that the other night. No idea, I was pretty buzzed by that point in the movie. Thought it was a decent sci-fi flick though

STRETCH
This flick has a solid cast, quick pacing, and is pretty damn entertaining. It's written and directed by Joe Carnahan, best known for Narc and Smokin' Aces. Oh yeah, this film almost forgives his cinematic ransgressions The A-Team and The Grey...

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Originally Posted by mcski

Sounds like a documentary.

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no, that was Black Snake Moan

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Originally Posted by YetiMan

Dust to Glory (2005)

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oh yeah

New season of SOA...

Shit, I'll admit it. I went through Diary of A Nymphomaniac Vols 1 &2 despite really thinking Lars Von Trier should just do everybody a favor and just off himself already.
Really not at all hot but I guess an interesting character study. Although the scene where the two hung African guys are arguing about who gets which hole in the DP was kinda funny I guess.

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Originally Posted by YetiMan

Dust to Glory (2005)

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Excellent.

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Originally Posted by AKbruin

The British comedy Peep Show is fantastic. I'm not sure what popular show to compare it to, but I imagine people who like Archer and It's Always Sunny will appreciate it.

I thought Snowpiercer was interesting. It was more original than most action movies, and I liked Tilda Swinton's weirdo villainess. But what the fuck was up with the gutting of the fish before the fight scene? I kept waiting for some exposition on how that made any sense but it never came (or did I miss it?).

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Allegory:
Fish = people.

Fish in the aquarium get eaten periodically to balance the system as explained at the sushi bar. As explained later the tail section is "balanced" every so often.

And's it time to cull 74% of the population.

Okay. But it's a pretty contrived allegorical vehicle. Figuratively, it needs both the subsequent sushi scene and the Ed Harris scene for retrospective context. Except that, literally, it didn't make any sense within the scene where it occurs. I say all this having nevertheless enjoyed the scene for its weirdness. I think that kind of sums up Snowpiercer for me: Logically unsound in so many ways but still enjoyable in its weirdness and originality.

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Originally Posted by AKbruin

Okay. But it's a pretty contrived allegorical vehicle. Figuratively, it needs both the subsequent sushi scene and the Ed Harris scene for retrospective context. Except that, literally, it didn't make any sense within the scene where it occurs. I say all this having nevertheless enjoyed the scene for its weirdness. I think that kind of sums up Snowpiercer for me: Logically unsound in so many ways but still enjoyable in its weirdness and originality.

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If you Google "sushi allegory in Snowpiercer" you get a grip of reviews touching upon the subject:

http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8


PS
AKbruin:
the first paragraph of this review pretty much echoes everything you posted about Snowpiercer earlier:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-...b_5562282.html
Would be interesting to see if the whole sushi thing is contained in the original source material, the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige...

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Originally Posted by AKbruin

Okay. But it's a pretty contrived allegorical vehicle. Figuratively, it needs both the subsequent sushi scene and the Ed Harris scene for retrospective context. Except that, literally, it didn't make any sense within the scene where it occurs. I say all this having nevertheless enjoyed the scene for its weirdness. I think that kind of sums up Snowpiercer for me: Logically unsound in so many ways but still enjoyable in its weirdness and originality.

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Probably made sense to the dudes with axes, but of course no sense at the time to you, me or the "tail". Seemed "menacing" at the time. But yeah, not the best movie.

okay, i'mma go out on a limb here (and I didn't bother to read all those reviews I linked to above, fwiw, so as far as I know, this is an original thought I just came up with):

the fish = the train.

a train has a head, middle, and tail, just like a fish.
in many cultures the eyes and cheeks of the fish are considered a desirable delicacy.
meanwhile, the tail is usually discarded.

in Snowpiercer, the front (head) of the train was the promised land, highly desired and a delicacy experienced by few.
the tail of the train is where all the discarded people were kept.

not sure what the middle of the train represents, since in sushi terms that's the meatiest part of the fish, but I'm just riffing here...

head = brain

tail = ass

"you got your head up your ass" isn't a compliment

middle = middle, middle-manager, person who makes boss's whims palatable to those tasked with implementing them (other middles), or person who metes out punishment to those to be punished (tails/asses)

I thought the allegorical shit in Snowpiercer was old & tired and Barney-Purple-Dinosaur simplistic, the only thing that almost kept me from falling asleep was the Terry Gilliam vibe of Tilda Swinton's appearance for the first time she's on screen

the mood being something like Blade Runner / Brazil was cool, I just don't think fairy tale & sci fi themes mesh well, they remind me of 21st c pop / indie music, just throwing awkward shit together then calling it "ironic"

this probably means I'm just old, live long enough and what was innovative in your youth becomes regurgitated in the next generation's young adulthood

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I started watching Stretch last night but started too late and fell asleep, up to where I dozed off it was wild, funny, interesting.

Kind of a drag they rode that train for so long only to find out in the end that they would be lunch.

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Originally Posted by splat

Kind of a drag they rode that train for so long only to find out in the end that they would be lunch.

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Hah!, That what I was thinking.

Stretch.

Good shit. Kinda reminded me of that Russel Brand whack job rock star movie.

Can't wait to stream this Dam film after catching an ad earlier today on the Dirtbag Diaries:
http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70305212?trkid=13462100

Also, Infierno was a very solid call, thanks for the tip. I usually don't like watching subtitles away from the big screen but it didn't really bother me at all here.

I couldn't make it through more than 13 minutes of Virunga.

I'd never heard of Snowpiercer until this thread. Tried watching - it was terrible. Nonsensical plot (it's so cold that the last survivors are living on a moving train? Seriously?) , no character development (why do we care about our protagonists?), video game looking CGI effects...

Helix - SyFy series that popped up. Not bad.

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Originally Posted by splat

Helix - SyFy series that popped up. Not bad.

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just marathoned all 13 episodes this week.
my sentiments, exactly: not bad.
it sucked me in, that's for sure, despite lots of familiar tropes borrowed from the likes of John Carpenter's The Thing, The Andromeda Strain, Highlander, and [insert your choice of zombie film here].
still, it was nice to see The Rocketeer getting some work...

it got greenlit for Season 2, btw, which is supposed to hit SyFy early 2015...

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Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

I couldn't make it through more than 13 minutes of Virunga.

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Starts slow but gets really good imo. Some of the footage is incredible....lots of undercover, hidden camera footage of oil company employees trying to justify why they essentially invade these foreign countries for their oil. The paltry bribes to buy off officials is also enlightening. Why not steal the oil if it only costs a couple thousand in bribes?

This documentary basically provided a nice, succinct 'script' as to why so many countries in Africa and the Middle East are so fucked up.

No, it starts out making me want to cry.

Lillyhammer Season 3, bitches!

I cannot for the life of me seem to find a good listing of the soundtrack to that show. Guess I should keep Shazam handy.

^^^^nice - thanks, been waiting for that. Funny show.

Just watched The Last Days. Spanish apocalypse flick with a pretty interesting premise: what if everybody suddenly got severe agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) so basically got stuck inside wherever they happened to be at the time.

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Originally Posted by LegoSkier

Just watched The Last Days. Spanish apocalypse flick with a pretty interesting premise: what if everybody suddenly got severe agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) so basically got stuck inside wherever they happened to be at the time.

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Creaky Fossil recommended this one awhile back, but he mistakenly referred to it as a French film. :)

I watched it a few months back and was kind of non-plussed by it. I found the premise to be the most engaging aspect of the film, but didn't feel that the overall execution/story lived up to the clever premise: i viewed it more as a commentary on today's society where everybody spends way too much time sitting behind a desk in a controlled office environment and as such they acquired an immune deficiency toward nature/the outdoors.

French Spanish WTF it's all the same in Andorra

I agree with that take dookey, the "syndrome" or whatever you'd call it that has caused the agoraphobic behavior, it wasn't explained as it would be in a USA made movie, it's not really the driving force of the story, nobody's worried about what caused it or what will alleviate it, so you're left with how people are reacting to it. suggests metaphor more than true scifi, IMO. more eraserhead than CSI: Miami.

Scifi alert:

Agents of Shield is on netflix. Picks up where the last Captain America flick left off, different angle.

I fukkin love it. Caught some episodes on Hulu, but not all, especially the first 10 or so that develop the story.

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Originally Posted by creaky fossil

French Spanish WTF it's all the same in Andorra

I agree with that take dookey, the "syndrome" or whatever you'd call it that has caused the agoraphobic behavior, it wasn't explained as it would be in a USA made movie, it's not really the driving force of the story, nobody's worried about what caused it or what will alleviate it, so you're left with how people are reacting to it. suggests metaphor more than true scifi, IMO. more eraserhead than CSI: Miami.

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I actually prefer this in a scifi movie. Leave some unknowns for the audience to wonder about. When a difficult to deduce subject is explained on film the results are almost always disappointing. Midichlorians anyone?

Good example of a scifi movie that takes this concept to the extreme is Primer. I think a lot of people do a big wtf when they see this movie but I fucking loved it.

unfortunately most people in Murika want everything spoonfed when they're being passively entertained, and thus our movies TV etc tend to be simple stupid obvious dull, and sometimes maybe scary -- which, generally, means visually disturbing unless you have no imagination and need to be bludgeoned with obviousness (Saw, for example).

witness a movie like Soderbergh's version of Solaris, and its "critical reception". Americans have been weaned on some stupidfuck formulaic idea of fiction, where you need a concrete "backstory" and characters you "care about" and believable "resolutions". if anything's left open, the movie is considered stupid and meandering and aimless. sometimes "pretentious" or "phony."

meanwhile, reality TV and other stupid confessional/exhibitionist crap continues its cancer-like growth in prevalence and popularity

Been on a documentary splurge lately.
Whitey: U.S.A. v. James J. Bulger
Birth of the Living Dead
Muscle Shoals
Nature Fortress of Bears
Burts Buzz