Apr
24
Netflix #21 - The Iron Giant - Suggested by no one
No one recommended this one, but it’s one I’ve wanted to see ever since I found out it was directed by Brad Bird. As you may or may not know, Brad Bird was responsible for one of the best (if not the best) Pixar movie The Incredibles (at least until I see Wall-E which I suspect will take the top spot). It was just as good as I had hoped and made me wish they made more traditional animation movies these days. There’s definitely a place for them in the world, just not in the form of Home on the Range. Anyway the movie was really great and sweet. It was refreshing seeing the traditional animation in the 1950’s setting, and not in the hyperkinetic animation style that runs so rampant in other cartoons. Oh, and I may have cried at the end. Shut up.
Netflix #22 - Harold and Maude - Suggested by FDot, GoKitty, Emily, Hayden, Topncal, and Grim Reality Girl
This one was quite a surprise. I’ve never heard of this movie until about a bajillion of you recommended it and I had no idea what to suspect, but it turned out to be really great, quirky and fun. And it was made before quirky was trendy, and people didn’t try too hard to achieve quirkiness. Honest to blog! Even after I added it to my queue, I didn’t realize that there was such an extreme age difference between the two lead characters. Ruth Gordon as Maude was absolutely fantastic as the crazy yet awesome old lady. And Bud Cort was great as the crazy yet potentially awesome Harold, and kinda cute too, but have you seen him lately? Not so much. Did you know he played the priest at Wilhelmina Slater’s wedding in Ugly Betty? Liar. Oh, and the soundtrack by Cat Stevens was awesome. Especially this one, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out:
I need some fresh recommendations. Even if you’ve already made them, I need a refresher, and going back into all my old comments is too much for my feeble mind to comprehend. Thanks!
April 24th, 2008 at 5:48 am
Angels In America
The Royal Tenenbaums
Snatch
Night Watch
The Kingdom
April 24th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Love Harold and Maude.
Have you seen Eagle vs Shark
A really great N.Z. film with the actor from Flight of the Concordes a sitcom with funny songs - also worth a watch.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:51 am
How can you not cry…or, um, *nearly* cry…at the end of Iron Giant? Great great movie and hugely underrated at the time of its release.
I agree with Ben — Snatch is a classic. Another movie I watch again and again: Starship Troopers. Also, Se7en is a great, moody, character-driven whodunnit.
And not a movie, but most of the seasons are now out on DVD: Kids in the Hall.
April 24th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Have you seen Volver? I just watched that recently and LUVED it. Iron Giant is somewhere on my netflix queue. Maybe I should move it closer to the top …
April 24th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Looking back at ppls comments here - they have some good suggestions.
Angels in America - great
Night Watch - great (Day Watch kind-of sucked)
The Kingdom - great
I also just watched Volver last month and loved it.
My constant recommendation - The House of Yes
April 24th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I can’t remember reading if you saw this one or not but if you liked the soundtrack of H&M, you might enjoy Once. If you like the Beatles, Across the Universe…
April 24th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Angels in America is a good call.
Have you seen Imaginary Heroes? Sigourney Weaver, Emile Hirsch, and Jeff Daniels star in this indie flick about a dysfunctional family. Oh, and did I mention Michelle Williams is in it too? I really love it.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Iron Giant was fantastic and was really well done. For something fun, get Kung Fu Hustle, it’s silly but very funny, if you like kung fu movies.
For a much heavier movie get Hard Cady with Ellen Paige. I found it intense and is stayed with me for a while.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I’ve seen Hard Candy. It’s a difficult movie to swallow, but really interesting.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I’m not the best source for movie recs, as I’ve only seen about two dozen in my entire life, but I did see a gem that you may not know about called Whalerider. It’s a NZ movie. Really good.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Loved the Iron Giant as well.
And I have another reason, other than his abs, to LOVE Dave S. Anyone who recommends the Kids In The Hall is someone who’s baby I want to have. If I could…you understand….
HUGS….
April 24th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Kamikaze Girls!
Yaji and Kita, The Midnight Pilgrims (if you can find it)!
They are Japanese (not anime) but don’t let that stop you! Super, super fun, both of them.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Polt: I got to see their live show “Kids in the Hall: Live as we’ll ever be” when it came to Columbus a couple weekends ago. E-mail me (david@lifeonthecbus.com) and I’ll rave to you about it when I get home tonight.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I LOVE Ruth Gordon. A few films with her are “Rosemary’s Baby”, (Great), and “Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice”, (this one may be only for Ruth Gordon fans)
April 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Fern Gully. Hands down. Best Movie EVER.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:57 am
For tastless lowbrow comedy you have to see these John Water’s classics:
Female Trouble
Polyester
Edith Massey was the worst actress but her poor delivery made her classic lines even that much more funny.
Later John Water’s films worth seeing:
Serial Mom
Pecker
I have left out Pink Flamingos because no one should ever see that movie for the first time alone.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:59 am
The Constant Gardener
Mysterious Skin
Dancer in the Dark - but only if you can tolerate Bjork.
The Way We Were
The City of Lost Children - if you like Jean Pierre Jeunet and being fucked up in the head.
And Craiggers, you MUST go to the “Watch Instantly” section of Netflix and watch Madame Tutli-Putli, a wonderful and haunting French animated short. Seriously, you MUST.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Camp
Tremors
The Tune (by Bill Plympton)
Rocky Horror Picture Show (though preferably a midnight show in the city)
The Star Wars Holiday Special (not Netflixable, but someone should have it)
April 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Its ok that you cried like a pussy. The Iron Giant is designed to yank those heartstrings.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Big Trouble
Galaxy Quest
Encino Man (I know, I know, but I like it anyway)
April 24th, 2008 at 10:32 am
cb - Thanks, pussy.
Sue - Galaxay Quest is one of my favorite movies ever.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Unfortunately, Bud Cort did not age well. He’s had a lot of small roles in movies… usually indie (like the father in But I’m a Cheerleader).
Party Girl
Amadeus
The Graduate
Bus Stop
Some Like it Hot
Rebel Without a Cause
East of Eden
Murder by Death
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Lars and the Real Girl
Ghostworld
Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness (in that order)
April 24th, 2008 at 11:08 am
David - The Way We Were is excellent. It’s referenced in a lot of other movies and tv shows, so you may as well watch it to know what everyone is talking about.
GoKitty - is East of Eden worth seeing? The book is definitely worth reading.
Ummmmm, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is one of my favs.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Oh, then I highly recommend The Iron Giant. I think it’s one of the best pieces of American animation ever made and made me sit up and notice Brad Bird, who has failed to disappoint in the other films he’s done.
You know he’s doing a live-action movie next about the 1906 San Fransisco and guess who doing some of the effects? That’s right! Pixar!
April 24th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Howard - Did you just recommend the movie I just reviewed?
April 24th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Iron Giant makes me cry too.
Lars and the Real Girl
The Man From Earth
Waitress
Darjeeling Limited
April 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Paris Je T’aime
The East Side Boys
April 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I heartily agree that the original “Kingdom” by Lars Von Triers was terrific - very scary. Haven’t seen the Stephen King version yet. Murder by Death is a comedy classic. Love, Love, LOVE Galaxy Quest.
Joshua is a very creepy and different twist on the evil kid movie. Has Sam Rockwell from GQ.
Shoot to Kill is an awesome buddy action movie with Sidney Poiter and Tom Berenger.
Have you seen Planet Terror yet?
April 24th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Se7en is definitely awesome.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Trainspotting
Sid & Nancy
April 24th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
I’ll throw my two cents out there and recommend a few. Some of these have already been mentioned so that should tell you that there is strength in numbers… (not so subtle hint)
~Amadeus
~Female Trouble (The.Best.Camp.Movie.Ever)
~The Grifters (I recommended this to you once before)
~Triumph of the Spirit (Holocost movie starring Willem Defoe - bring the kleenex!)
~Heathers
~House of Sand & Fog
April 24th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I’ll have to echo booboo1: Heathers is a must-see.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Ooooh Drop Dead Gorgeous. I can recite the entire film from memory. I effing love it.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Yes! Kids in the Hall - so funny!
Waking Ned Devine
The Goodbye Girl
Pieces of April
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
April 24th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Jeff - I’ve never read the book, East of Eden, but in my opinion its James Dean’s best movie.
I’m going to second:
The Goodbye Girl
The Grifters
and add:
The Last Seduction
Mommie Dearest (just to gay it up)
April 25th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Also loved the Iron Giant and based on your teary-eyed love for said film and Pixar, I highly recommend two Japanese animated films:
Spirited Away
Howl’s Moving Castle
John Lasseter of Pixar is a huge fan of the director (whose name I forget). The (old-style) animation is incredibly beautiful, detailed and imaginative and the stories–although aimed at a…ahem…younger audience–are quirky and fun. The same director has done a bunch of movies, and they are all fun, but these two really stand out for me.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Death at a Funeral
Kinky Boots
The Dinner Game (french w/subtitles)
The Blond Man with one black shoe (french w/subtitles old movie 1970s)
Tripplettes of Belleview
The Dajeeling (something like that) Limited
Spirited Away
April 25th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Spirited Away
Die Mommie Die
The Opposite of Sex
Female Trouble
Kicking and Screaming (The Noah Baumbach Movie, not that god awful Will Ferrell movie)
Velvet Goldmine
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
April 25th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I just came back to this posting for my own Netflix queue and I am suprised that no one recommended Office Space
April 26th, 2008 at 1:23 am
I agree with the Volver peeps but Almodovar’s other film “Bad Education” is FAR superior and way better!! (and you get to see Gael Garcia Bernal….and all his glory….)
I recently watched “The Namesake” and “Blue Velvet” again…both good! As well as my cheezy fav- “Return to Me”…. hehe
April 27th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Since seeing your post just caught Harold and Maude again for the first time in ages. Glad you liked it. Think I was too young to appreciate it when I first saw it, but fell in love with it this time round.
As far as recommendations go, must agree with the peeps on ‘The Grifters’, ‘Blue Velevet’ and anything with James Dean (eg East of Eden, Rebel).
If you can get it, recently saw ‘Breakfast on Pluto’, which is great (directed by Neil Jordan of ‘The Crying Game’, which is also well worth a look if you haven’t already seen it).
Possible ‘classics’ to look out for:
‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane’*
‘Sunset Boulevard’ (with Gloria Swanson, not the musical version)*
‘Now Voyager’*
‘Charade’*
‘The Maltese Falcon’
‘Casablanca’
‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’* (including both the amazing ‘Diamonds are a girl’s best friend’, and Jane Russell doing an incredible Marylin Munroe impersonation)
(*=Kinda of teh gay)
More recent and kinda of teh gay:
The History Boys
Wonderboys
Get Real
Beautiful Thing
The Broken Hearts Club
Bedrooms and Hallways
Also, I found ‘Another Gay Movie’ very funny although it’s not to everyone’s taste. It’s kind of an extreme ‘American Pie’(which I also enjoyed sadly), but queer. There are definite problems with it, but if you like your crude satire with plenty of cute boys then it might be worth a look.
Apologies for this very long post and probably repeating recommendations. Happy movie-ing,
Jum
April 28th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
1. A Room with a View
2. Maurice
3. Smiles of a Summer Night.
April 28th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
A Star is Born (1954)
A Star is Born (1938)
Camille
Anna Karenina (Garbo)
All About Eve
Talk to Her
All About My Mother
Diva (French film)