Great Films! Comment or Suggest Some....

[APTA-2048]

I liked the short film Terminus. Great use of art in the Montreal Metro, and one of those movies that make you think further than you normally would.

A recent made for TV move I watched and found to be pretty good is the BBC's Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle. A kind of "feel-good" movie that is not imediately apparent in the begining.

 

[JasonParis]

I'd like to check out Victoria Day this weekend. It is set in 1988 Toronto.

 

[urbandreamer]

I finally watched "Withnail and I." Overall, not very impressed. (Although the setting is stunning, and I'd happily live in a rotten English cottage over a multi-million dollar Toronto condo.)

Perhaps if I was 17 and into DS&R&R, and grew up in the 905, I'd have loved it?

 

[Build Up]

Im going to watch a movie with some of my friends and we all agreed that we wanted to see a comedy so its either the hangover or land of the lost. which one is better because ive heard some people say each movies were bad and some people said they were good so which one should we pick. (if any of you have seen them)

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Im going to watch a movie with some of my friends and we all agreed that we wanted to see a comedy so its either the hangover or land of the lost. which one is better because ive heard some people say each movies were bad and some people said they were good so which one should we pick. (if any of you have seen them)

I never read reviews or let anyone tell me about a film prior to seeing it, I want to go into it with an open mind and no expectations. That said, when a film is recommended to me by someone who's opinion I may not be sure of I often take a glance at Rotten Tomatoes and of course IMDB. I just look at ratings before I go to the cinema or rent the DVD/Blu ray, but I don't read any more than that.
I haven't seen either, however Rotten Tomatoes currently rates Hangover at 78%, Land of the Lost at 28% - IMDB rates Hangover at 8.4/10 & Land/Lost at 5.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/

 

[interchange42]

Go see Food, Inc. at the Cumberland.

Wow. Amazing what we get fed.

42

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Go see Food, Inc. at the Cumberland.

Wow. Amazing what we get fed.

42

Several years ago I read "Fast Food Nation" (disregard the film, I highly recommend the book) and I learned way more than I ever wanted to know about the crap we put into our bodies. That said, it had a tremendous impact on me and lead me to greatly alter what I purchase, and consume. I can't wait to see this.

 

[Translude15]

Taxi Driver is a personal favourite of mine. I highly recommended it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

 

[Mr.Colley]

I highly recommend Transforms 2 for those who were fans of the original series. The second movie was better then the first. It's not often that I say that. But its true.

 

[indense]

Grave of the Fireflies - Excellent film about two orphans struggling to survive during World War II.

Princess Mononoke - Compelling film with a great (but not heavy handed) message.

Fistful of Dollars

Last weekend I went to the Ghibli museum in Tokyo. Amazing place. The building looks like a lost Gaudi design. Unfortunately they don't allow photographs inside. Totoro is my favourite of the Ghibli films but Grave of the Fireflies still makes me cry every time I see it. Mononoke is good. I prefer Spirited Away though. Haven't seen Ponyo yet. Waiting for subtitles.

And I prefer Yojimbo to the remake - Fistful of Dollars. Toshiro Mifune could kick Clint's ass. Check it out if you haven't.

Other great Kurosawa films:

The Seven Samurai (Sure there's no Steve McQueen but I believe I have already mentioned Mifune-san's kicking of asses. Much better than The Magnificent Seven and the 207 minute running time just flies by.
Rashomon (The story of a rape and murder as told from three distinct points of view. Mifune-san again.)
Ikiru (No Mifune-san but another Kurosawa favourite from the Seven Samurai stars - Takashi Shimura. Great movie about a government beaurocrat who decides to make a difference.)
High and Low (A kidnapper is holding the son of a rich businessman (Mifune-san) for ransom. Unfortunately, he accidentally grabbed the son of the businessman's chauffeur instead. Oops. Doesn't matter, he still wants his money. Does the businessman pay and bankrupt himself? That's the first half of the film. The second have becomes a fantastic police procedural. I have nightmares of the Hollywood remake with Mel Gibson getting his son back and then single-handedly tracking down and catching the kidnapper (and then torturing him.))

Any Kurosawa is great but these are my favourites.

And finally, I'll throw a plug out there for an amazing Korean movie - Old Boy.

 

[Brian69]

Kurosawa was among the best--so many great films he did.

I loved the scene in Old Boy where the "prisoner" fights his way through the goon squad. Just an amazing scene.

 

[doady]

Last weekend I went to the Ghibli museum in Tokyo. Amazing place. The building looks like a lost Gaudi design. Unfortunately they don't allow photographs inside. Totoro is my favourite of the Ghibli films but Grave of the Fireflies still makes me cry every time I see it. Mononoke is good. I prefer Spirited Away though. Haven't seen Ponyo yet. Waiting for subtitles.

I didn't know Grave of the Fireflies was made by Studio Ghibli. Until now, I thought all Studio Ghibli films were Miyazaki films...

And I prefer Yojimbo to the remake - Fistful of Dollars. Toshiro Mifune could kick Clint's ass. Check it out if you haven't.

Other great Kurosawa films:

The Seven Samurai (Sure there's no Steve McQueen but I believe I have already mentioned Mifune-san's kicking of asses. Much better than The Magnificent Seven and the 207 minute running time just flies by.
Rashomon (The story of a rape and murder as told from three distinct points of view. Mifune-san again.)
Ikiru (No Mifune-san but another Kurosawa favourite from the Seven Samurai stars - Takashi Shimura. Great movie about a government beaurocrat who decides to make a difference.)
High and Low (A kidnapper is holding the son of a rich businessman (Mifune-san) for ransom. Unfortunately, he accidentally grabbed the son of the businessman's chauffeur instead. Oops. Doesn't matter, he still wants his money. Does the businessman pay and bankrupt himself? That's the first half of the film. The second have becomes a fantastic police procedural. I have nightmares of the Hollywood remake with Mel Gibson getting his son back and then single-handedly tracking down and catching the kidnapper (and then torturing him.))

Any Kurosawa is great but these are my favourites.

And finally, I'll throw a plug out there for an amazing Korean movie - Old Boy.

Seven Samurai and Yojimbo are great. I also saw Ran, but I didn't like it. Those are the only Kurosawa movies I've seen.

There are other good samurai movies though. Anyone seen Zatoichi (the new one)? That was great movie also. I also seen Gohatto, which also has Beat Takeshi in it.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I just watched One Week. Absolutely amazing!

If you are proud of Canada, and love this country as much as I do, then you should watch this.
It's not the acting that makes it so great. There really isn't all that much acting in it actually. It's the scenery, and the wordless emotions expressed through the entire movie that really just tugs at your heart strings.
http://www.oneweek.ca/

Really good recommendation Khris, Canuks everywhere should give this movie a chance, I thought it was really well done.

While on the subject of great Canadian films, I can't recommend too many movies much higher than "C.R.A.Z.Y." (2005). Anyone who lived through or grew up in the 70's will really appreciate this film, even more so if you grew up in the 'burbs. The film begins in the early 70's and continues through the 80's in suburban Montreal. It's in French with subs. but don't let that dissuade you, films simply don't get much better than this.
Arguably, this is one of the best Canadian film ever made. Check out the detail in the film from wardrobe, cigarette packages of the day and even those stubby bear bottles to name only a few. This movie is nearly perfect on every level; the story, writing, direction, performances, cinematography and a soundtrack that will rock your world. In fact, much of the film's budget was in securing and paying for the music rights. The sad part in the saga of "C.R.A.Z.Y." is that it never got a release in the US because the distributor couldn't afford to license the music in the film in the USA the Director (rightfully) refused to replace any of the tracks. Such a shame. This would not only have won a huge audience but would have walked away with the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film if it had the opportunity to be seen, and distributed in the US (it cleaned up at the Genie Awards that year).

Below is the artwork for both the DVD and Blu ray (yes, a Canadian film on Blu ray!) -

 

[indense]

There are other good samurai movies though. Anyone seen Zatoichi (the new one)? That was great movie also. I also seen Gohatto, which also has Beat Takeshi in it.

Zatoichi was fun. Haven't seen Gohatto. I see Takeshi Kitano (Beat Takeshi) on some TV show or another almost everyday. He is looking really, really old. His sidekick on MXC - Kenny Blankenship - is actually a governor of some prefecture and the last week or so has been talking about running for Prime Minister.

 

[Therion]

Prepare the tissues if you see Grave of the Fireflies. Extremely saddening. I remember I watched it because it got a great recommendation on Roger and Ebert. They were not wrong.