BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Sam L
Date: 20 Feb 03 - 08:54 AM

Wasn't there a thread once about who would play You in Mudcat The Movie? Anyway, it's a game we used to play at work, and when I was that age, I looked almost exactly like the murdered kid in In The Bedroom.

I used to rely a bit on New Yorker reviews, before Anthony Lane, and David Denby, who I can't count on. If they liked a movie, I might not, but the odds were pretty good. If they panned it, I almost invariably did not care for it. Denby alienated me by comparing American Beauty favorably against Boogie Nights, which I much prefer in terms of story-craft. And one of them favourably reviewed Windtalkers which is so horrible a war movie, I started hoping everyone would just kill each other simultaneously, like the scene in Reservoir Dogs.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST,Bat Goddess at Work
Date: 20 Feb 03 - 08:32 AM

How could I forget yet another wonderful Canadian film, "Beautiful Dreamer"?!?

Walt Whitman humanizing the lives of the inmates of an asylum as well as the family of the overseer. The asparagus eating scene is exceptional.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Cluin
Date: 20 Feb 03 - 02:16 AM

Might be useful: IMDb's Bottom 100 films.

Can't argue with any of those choices.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 10:36 PM

The Ya Ya book is much better, Linn, imo. Course I read it first.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 07:28 PM

Bertolucci has a knack of creating exceptionally long, but really good films. "1900" was released at 4 hours, cut down from 6. Personally, I'd really like to see all 6 hours.

"In the Bedroom" was a very well crafted film, even though the fake Maine accents drove me crazy. I'm glad I watched it, but I'll never watch it again. Way too depressing. I also found, especially early in the film, that I was yelling at a couple of the main characters a lot, trying to convince them that what they were doing was stupid, dangerous, and even (in the case of the not yet divorced young woman) legally dangerous.

Recently watched chick flick that I enjoyed enough to read the book is "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood" -- and I'm not from the South.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 06:41 PM

"Used Cars," with Kurt Russell. early George Lucas.
Never thought anyone could train a dog to sell a car!

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Gervase
Date: 19 Feb 03 - 05:02 AM

Hell, so many films I remember with affection.
I've got a soft spot for food films - Babette's Feast, Tampopo, Like Water for Chocolate and Chocolat are up there among my favourites.
Looking at my own small video collection it seems pretty weird, but they're all films I love:
Withnail & I
If...
The Wicker Man
Land & Freedom
Trainspotting
Il Postino
Kieslowski's trilogy (superb films, and well suggested, Micca!)
The Dead (a flawed film, but essential for a Joyce nut!)
The Wallace and Gromit trilogy
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (why the Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys rate Jerry Lewis when they produced Jacques Tati I'll never work out)
Gosford Park
A Clockwork Orange
Manon des Sources
Jean de Fleurette
...plus various children's films of varying awfulness reserved for rainy days to keep the little buggers quiet!

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Alba
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 10:19 PM

Thank you Lepus Rex. I will now attempt to get it and see it again. It is a great movie and I can try and get it now you have given me the name again!!

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 08:38 PM

Alba, the film about the Mongol family was called "Urga," or "Close to Eden" in the US. I agree, great movie. Love the scene where Gombo tries to buy condoms.

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 08:15 PM

I think it's never worth taking any notice of reviews as a way of telling whether you are going to think a film is good or bad. About the only thing they are good for is to give you an idea of what genre of film they are.

Personal recommendations are a different thing, but you have to know the people concerned. There are some friends who, if they recommend a film, I know I'll hate it. That's very handy.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Alba
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 07:09 PM

sorry about the really bad spelling bout folks.......Translation is
soubds = sounds oscure = obscure cuaght =caught.....just finished shovelling and haven't quite recovered yet.......Alba

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Helen
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 06:50 PM

Weird coincidence - and off-topic:

JohnB, I had never heard of Harry Manx until last night when I happened to watch on Oz tv a live show of his at a small venue in Sydney called The Basement (where the best blues and other interesting performers perform).

Manx was excellent, with some unusual music.

I love Eddie Cantor movies, and the Marx Brothers of course.

Then there was Jabberwocky.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Alba
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 06:42 PM

Songcatcher is reasonably good. Lovely music and the story is ok. It's worth a look for the music, but not for the acting and story line.
Photographing fairies is a wonderful film, thanks for reminding me Bat Goddess.
another few I enjoyed:
In the bedroom
The score...(good twist in the tale)
The big sleep..classic
Also anyone who can tell me the name of a mongolian film I saw. I know it's soubds as if I am being oscure but I am not really. I cuaght it by chance in a cinema one night. The story is of a husband and wife.....with an amazing scene in which their daughter (about 10 years old) plays the piano accordian. Great film, but I can't remember it's name !!!!!!.... anyone know it?????Alba

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 05:00 PM

Steve-o,

I saw Tortilla Soup a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed it.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Beccy
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 04:22 PM

I haven't been brave enough to try it myself, because of the gosh-awful reviews "Songcatcher" got. Has anyone else seen it? What are your thoughts?

(Seems a crying shame for it to be a real stinker if Iris Dement is in it.)

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 03:45 PM

"Photographing Fairies" is a 1997 British film. Ben Kingsley's in it. It's part of my permanent library -- you can find several reviews on line. Cynical photographer who sets out to debunk, ends up a believer.

Gotta go let IN the stupid cat who thought she wanted to go OUT and is now clammering at the door. (Except for the shoveled paths, there's a new 2 feet worth of fluffy stuff on top of the old snow. Just got Tom's car shoveled out but I don't think mine will be extricated by tomorrow morning, so he'll have to play chauffeur so I can get to work.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Peg
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 03:38 PM

agreed about Harvey Keitel's ass; Jane Campion seems to be in love with it as we are treated to a full rear view in Holy Smoke, too.

re: Cinema Paradiso: do try to get the director's cut; it has a LOT added to it and really changes the story and I preferred it to the original release version which I found a bit manipulative and sentimental: the new version is a much fuller story and, like many director's cuts (which ironically have MORE footage; which is why i want that Weir film because he actually CUT six minutes out of the later release!) is actually what the filmmaker intended before studio and/or distributor pressure forced the cutting down of length to make it more palatable/marketable to audiences...which is why most commercial releases have to be two hours or under...

another director's cut well worth watching for this reason: The Last Emperor by Bertolucci. Four Hours Long and all of it mesmerizing.
And The Exorcist.

another obscure art-film I love: The Wizard of Loneliness with Lukas Haas and Dylan Baker.

and one that is hard to find: Luc Besson's brilliant post-apocalyptic story, Le Dernier Combat.

peg

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Kim C
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 03:19 PM

Did anyone mention Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? I really enjoyed that one. I have my own copy. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Sam L
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 03:09 PM

I forgot Fly Away Home, McGrath. And that girl--can't think of her name now, had one of the greatest oscar acceptance speeches for her part in the Piano.

Bat Goddess, what is Photographing Fairies?

Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid was fun to watch just for certain continuity issues. Bob Dylan was fond of changing hats and argued with Peckinpah about it--"I woulda had time to change hats, when I went behind the shed"! You have to watch for it.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST,herc
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 02:55 PM

Oh, I forgot about dark: In A Bad day at Black Rock, Spencer Tracy is a one-armed vet who don't want no trouble, but still has to punch the crap out of a very young Ernest Borgnine and an equally young Lee Marvin. It's a good one. And then there's of course the lurking, silent menace of Robert Mitchum's Cape Fear.

(Babe is a first rate classic. It really is "the Citizen Kane of talking pig movies.")

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST,JohnB
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 02:28 PM

Even the "Orangeville" Library has a great collection of DVD's, Rick.
Actually seeing as you posted this on Saturday night, you should have come up to Orangeville to see Harry Manx, it was a great night.
Some from the Library, others I just had to buy etc.

Le Cage aux Folles(SP)both 1 and 2 the original Birdcage, beats the daylights out of RW version IMO.
Priscilla, same vane different take
Seven Samurai and Ran
Il Postino
Brassed Off
Shine, another Aussie one I think
The Prisoner Series.
Songcatcher, no I don't really mean it but someone had to mention it.
Sorry not much new stuff in there.
JohnB

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST,L'invité Détesté
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 02:15 PM

Double feature:

'For a Few Dollars More'...spaghetti western with an excellent score. The shoot-out at the end is classic...tied to music as effectively as any piece of film I've ever seen.

'Tampopo'...Japanese comedy, 'noodle' western. About a woman who wants to start a noodle shop and seeks the assistance of various people. The noodle fight is a great parody of the Sergio Leone film mentioned above. Tampopo...a great one.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 02:11 PM

The silly thing is that video stores (well, Blockbuster anyway) seem to think in terms of new releases, as if they were cinemas. They should be more like bookstores, where the new boks might get special displays, but the old ones are there as wel; or real libraries.

The other thing that alwasu surprises me when I think about it is howe very few films I really like have I ever really seen. I mean seen in a cinema, because that's really the only way to see a film. Televisions are a pale shadow ofvthe real thing, and wodl be even if I won they lottery and had one of those huge home cinema setups.

Here's a few more that don't seem to have cropped up, sticking to ones in the last few years:

Shine
Bloody Sunday
Bowling for Columbine
Babe
Awakenings
Fly Away Home
Mrs Brown
Shadowlands
To the West
Waking Ned

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST,herc
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 02:10 PM

The thread lives on when Rick can't take anymore, but I must comment that Waking Ned Devine is a can't-lose choice. I also wanted to recommend The Castle, even if I had to read this whole thread to see that SharonG beat me to it. An extraordinary, inspiring drama of one man's unwavering commitment to stand up and do what he KNOWS is right, against all odds.

You also mentioned reality. For some reason, I seem to like low-budget films in which people drive Fords, in the deep South. So, in that regard, I think you would also be pleased with Ulee's Gold. (Seemed to fit my reality, anyway.)

Dan
(For the anti-snob lurking within you: I rented the Bourne Identity, a spy flick (but he can't remember who he is!!), expecting the worst and enjoyed it a lot.)
(Road to Perdition will finally be out on February 25.)

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 02:00 PM

"Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and everything else by Buñuel.

Definitely "Jesus of Montreal" -- and "Hail, Mary" and a wonderful little film starring Bette Midler originally entitled "The Incredible Mr. J" but retitled "The Thorn" after the release of "The Rose." Very, very funny.

Linn (dragging her sorry posterior out the door to shovel some more)

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Maryrrf
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 01:11 PM

I'm coming to this thread late, but I have the same problem. Every now and then I go to my local Blockbuster to rent a movie and there is usually nothing of interest to me - just the same old same old same old action, comedy, suspense, thriller etc. with the same formula type plots. There used to be a local video store that had at least some selection of "off the beaten track" films but soon after Blockbuster moved into the area they went out of business. But the fact that Blockbuster lost money on "niche" films says something. Most people want the commercial, mainstream films just like most people want commercial, slick, mainstream music. Blockbuster is just giving the majority of people what they want. Much like commerical radio stations.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Micca
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 11:54 AM

How about "Man of Flowers" or "Golden Braid" (both by Paul Cox the Australian director, or anything else of his)
"Woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown", Almodovar
Cinema Paradiso( I defy ANYONE that loves film to keep a dry eye during the last 10 minutes of this one)
Jesus of Montreal
The Unbearable lightness of being
Monsieur Hire
Death in a French Garden
Death in Venice
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
"Life and nothing But" Bertrand Tavernier ( Brilliant this one too)

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Steve-o
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 11:47 AM

"Eat Drink, Man Woman" reminded me of another more recent sweetheart of a film- "Tortilla Soup". And the food's wonderful there too.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 18 Feb 03 - 11:47 AM

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" wasn't released on video for years . . . and I think it was ONLY released in the director's cut. You might find a bootleg copy somewhere, though.

Forgot to mention one of my all time faves that I can't locate a copy of (had one in the shop but Tom sold it along with the rest of the stock): "Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment" with Vanessa Redgrave and David Warner.

"Blue Country" is also a wonderfully feel good French film.
"Jules et Jim"
"Le Bal" which doesn't need subtitles as there is no dialog in the entire film. Nor is there in "Final Conflict."
"Something Wicked This Way Comes"
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Stranger Than Paradise"
"Salome's Last Dance"
"Lair of the White Worm"
"Raging Bull"
"Princess Bride", "Time Bandits", "Shrek" and others of that ilk.
"Photographing Fairies"
"Women In Love" (ohmagawd! Alan Bates and Oliver Reed in the same film!)
"Never On a Sunday"
"Night On Earth"
"Map of the Human Heart" (Canadian, British, French & Australian)

"Lumiere" is another cool flick for cineastes.

ALL of Christopher Guest's films (and include "This Is Spinal Tap).

Then there's my obscure loves: "Vampire Hookers" (with John Carradine wandering around bemoaning the fact that there's nothing to mix with blood other than vodka and the girls bemoaning the fact that they've not had a suntan in 400 years) and "Oversexed Rugsuckers From Mars" where Martians try to cross human beings with vacuum cleaners in hopes of creating a species better at cleaning up after themselves. "Polish Vampire In Burbank." Oh, not quite as obscure, but "Killer Klowns from Outer Space", too.

Gotta go shovel.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Alba
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 09:31 PM

Lots of great movies out there but can you find them at the local vid store...there lies the issue!!!!!! some of my favorites are
Amelie
The shipping news (good yarn)
The usual suspects    "
K pax (Iknow that the last 3 have Kevin Spacey in them but great stories..and hey I like Kev)
Les enfants de paradis( wrong spelling probably..amazing movie though)
Cinema Paradiso
Il Postino
The van
Trainspotting
Signs...had me nervous!
I could go on and on but I won't......got some great suggestions for movies from this...Thank you all....Be Happy...ALBA

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 08:06 PM

Since everyone's mentioning Australian films, I'll add my favourite: "Praise," starring Peter Fenton and Sacha Horlerl, based on a book by (looking for author's name... never read it) Andrew McGahan. It centers around the the relationship between Gordon, an undersexed asthmatic loser and Cynthia, a nymphomaciac with some really bad eczema. And it's funny, real AND dark, Rick.

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Kim C
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 05:39 PM

Did anyone mention Shadow of the Vampire? Willem Dafoe as the vampire is the single most intriguing piece of acting I have ever, EVER seen.

I liked Signs for the suspense factor. I'm not a screamer and it had me screaming. I think it didn't live up to its full potential, but I enjoyed it and thought it was worth the rental price.

I don't like Blockbuster. Mister and I almost always go to Hollywood Video, and they have LOTS of movies over 5 years old. They even have a Cult Favorites section.

Peg, I thought The Piano would have been better without Harvey Keitel's full monty.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 05:33 PM

Ahhhh Cheerleaders having showers! Used to go to a lot of those flicks!

Ued to know almost everyone connected with "I heard the Mermaids Singing"

Still more gems.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Sam L
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 05:18 PM

Shrek and also the Toy Stories are excellent and innovative movies.

For Robert Duval fans, did I mention that Tomorrow, from the Faulkner story, is Duval as an inarticulate mountain man, pitch-perfect?

He's also in The Stone Boy which I still believe I am the only person who ever saw.

Also a Chinese movie called Not One Less. Okay for kids too, I think--you'd have to be extremely restrictive not to think so.

   I also thought The Blair Witch Project was a brilliant handling of a ghost story in film. A very folk sort of brilliant, too. I love good horror, and it's a bit of a lost art. Old fave--invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Helen
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 04:53 PM

Blade Runner (the director's cut)
I agree with Brother from Another Planet - haven't seen that for years.
My Brilliant Career was directed by an Oz called


      Gillian Armstrong


http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=B79948

who also directed Little Women, Mrs Soffel, etc and a lovely little movie called The Singer and the Dancer with one of my favourite Oz actors, Ruth Cracknell, who died recently, and (totally off topic) went to the same Infants School I did. She became a national treasure when she portrayed an old woman suffering from dementia in the comedy called Mother & Son.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Peg
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 04:47 PM

As I am currently teaching an Australian Cinema class I would be remiss if I did not mention the following excellent films from Oz and New Zealand directors:

Walkabout
Picnic at Hanging Rock (if anyone finds this on VHS or DVD in a version that is NOT the director's cut please let me know!)
Gallipoli
The Devil's Playground
Dead Calm
Sweetie
(already mentioned) An Angel at My Table
The Piano
Portrait of a Lady
Romper Stomper
Angel Baby
The Price of Milk
The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
Muriel's Wedding

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Beccy
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 04:43 PM

Okay, one more... "Eat Drink Man Woman" directed by Ang Lee. One piece of advice, though. Do NOT watch this movie without having a good supply of GOOD QUALITY Chinese take-out handy- you will regret it.

The pivotal character is an elderly Chinese chef with 3 young adult daughters who either live in or gather at his home each Sunday for a massive feast that he prepares. It's a very good film and it makes me MIGHTY hungry.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Bill D
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 04:25 PM

The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe (1972)

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 04:18 PM

Glad I'm not the only one who thoroughly enjoyed "Quatermass and the Pit" -- I own a copy.

Add John Sayles' films to the list: "Matewan" (that makes this a music thread -- Hazel Dickens is in it), "Return of the Secaucus 7", "Brother From Another Planet," "Lianna" and a few others (but my brain is cramping right now having just driven home in the snow that isn't yet the East coast storm).

"Repo Man"
"Pi" (well, actually the title is the symbol for pi)
"I've Heard the Mermaids Singing"
"Rosalie Goes Shopping" (by the same director, etc. as "Baghdad Cafe")
"Z"
"Bambi Meets Godzilla"
"Brassed Off" (and a GREAT soundtrack!!!)
"Canadian Bacon" and anything by Michael Moore
"Closely Watched Trains"
"Cousin Cousine"
"Diabolique"
"Dim Sum"
"No Way to Treat a Lady" (and anything else Rod Steiger is in)
"84, Charing Cross Road"
"Isadora"
"Labyrinth"
"Mindwalk"
"Half Moon Street"

I gotta go under-react for awhile -- maybe watch a movie.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Beccy
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 03:14 PM

Bad me! Bad! Bad! I completely forgot about "Little Voice" with Jane Horrocks, Brenda Blethyn and Michael Caine. LOVE IT! It is a fabulous comedy.
Michael Caine sent me into tears at the end... "It's over, it's over... it's f#*@king OVER!"

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 03:09 PM

But, I'm a cheerleader

Shower

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 02:44 PM

For the record, Brother From Another Planet is out on DVD at a cut-rate price... a great little movie. as is Matawan.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 02:44 PM

romper stomper

american history x

slc punk

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Socorro
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 02:42 PM

Chinatown, for sure, but probably everybody's seen that (otherwise i can't understand why it hasn't been mentioned). & how about Nashville by Altman? another one probably everyone's seen.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: HuwG
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 02:16 PM

You might try Quatermass and the Pit, for a mix of horror and science-fiction.

Or, Hound of the Baskervilles for a classic Hammer Horror starring Peter Cushing and Cristopher Lee.

Or, another British horror classic, An american Werewolf in London


According to IMDb, all these should be available in one format or another in the US.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Beccy
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 01:36 PM

Okay- you MUST see "Burnt By the Sun". It's a Russian film set during Stalin's weeding out of those who were "disloyal" and re-education camps. It's a beautiful story about a family man and his wife and daughter. The wife's ex-lover comes to visit (he's now secret police)...GREAT STUFF! I think it got some indie film fest awards.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 01:30 PM

Well, Rick, it looks like your viewing for the next year is cut out for you!

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 01:21 PM

Rare Birds...great movie..very funny, well acted.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: GUEST,SharonG
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 01:09 PM

No one has mentioned
The Castle- an Australian movie about a man who believes his home is his castle- even if it is right next the airport runway .....very funny.

And not funny, but sweet- The Secret of Roan Inish

And surprisingly fun- Newsies- a Disney musical (!) based fairly closely on the 1899 newsboys strike in New York- cult favorite for teen-age girls because 90% of the cast is teenaged boys. Maybe it's just because my kids have watched it so many times that I've started to believe them.

If you can find it- Black Cat, White Cat- a movie about gypsies filmed with real gypsies as the actors.

Subject: RE: BS: WARNING! SNOB THREAD. Renting a film.
From: Mudlark
Date: 17 Feb 03 - 01:04 PM

If you go by directors, rather than titles, I recommend Jim Jarmusch, Mike Leigh (secrets/lies, etc...the acting in all his films is simply superb), John Sayles (a hard to find early one of his, Brother from Another Planet, is worth the hunt).

And one of my favorite just plain funny movies is Tapeheads, w/a very young Tim Robbins and John Cusack ("You've tried the best, now try the rest!"). John Cusack was very good as an unlikely assassin in a movie called Grosspoint something or other...I like his sister too