Movie/TV recommendations

[Moosferatu]

I've been watching Justified after someone on a local Detroit NPR station mentioned it recently. It's a solid show. Timothy Olyphant's character is extremely similar to his character from Deadwood, though less irritating. There's also a comical amount of shooting that seems to happen in every episode. But, other than that, the show is well made, well written, is enjoyable to watch, and to date has a complete lack of annoying characters/actors.

[Rueler]

He also lent me The Fantastic Mr. Fox which is the best movie I've seen in at least a year.

I completely agree. Anybody who likes Wes Anderson's style of movies would love this.

By the way, to anyone interested, Moon is on Netflix instant. I highly recommend it.

[Squid Division]

I too heartily recommend Justified. It's basically a western set in modern Kentucky. It's not absolutely amazing or anything, but the characters are good and the actors are great. It's the only show I've ever actually watched weekly on TV since I was about 14.

[Nachimir]

Moscow Belgium is an excellent film. It's a romantic drama with some amazingly constructed scenes and plenty of tension around age and class struggles. It's not as whimsical as the trailer makes it look, and puts itself well away from the cheese and idealism that tend to infest any US/Brit films dealing with similar subjects.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Eastbound & Down

HBO's latest comedy... I absolutely loved it. Only 6 episodes, so it's not a big commitment, either.

I was looking for a good video to link to, but the best I could find is this: A bunch scenes from various episodes. It's a very good show, though.

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[Thyroid]

Anyone see Treme yet? It's David Simon's new show.

[MrHoatzin]

Anyone see Treme yet? It's David Simon's new show.

:tup:

[Garple]

but I've heard from a lot of people who didn't like/get it.

If you're saying I didn't get it, I resent that. What the hell is there to get? The actual horror element was so lazy and uninspired and the neo-80s vibe is kind of cool on its own for aesthetic reasons, but it didn't seem to do anything to make the film better. The main actress had a near mesmerizing screen presence and it was kind of a laugh to see Greta Gerwig (queen of the mumblecore genre of indie films) do something more typical. But I like my horror to be either scary or cheezy enough to be amusing and this film sat blandly between those two extremes.

[Garple]

I completely agree. Anybody who likes Wes Anderson's style of movies would love this.

Also, for anyone who's way behind on movies like I am, I'm going to throw in a recommendation for the Tim Burton produced "9" (watched it last night and was quite impressed)...watch that and Fantastic Mr. Fox in one night as a double feature. Along those same lines, this reminds me, I really really need to see "Up"

[Hermie]

If you're saying I didn't get it, I resent that. What the hell is there to get? The actual horror element was so lazy and uninspired and the neo-80s vibe is kind of cool on its own for aesthetic reasons, but it didn't seem to do anything to make the film better. The main actress had a near mesmerizing screen presence and it was kind of a laugh to see Greta Gerwig (queen of the mumblecore genre of indie films) do something more typical. But I like my horror to be either scary or cheezy enough to be amusing and this film sat blandly between those two extremes.

I didn't mean to imply that you missed the point, rather that you didn't get what people found so great about it. ^^ I'm not here to insult anyone's movie intelligence. o/

[Kolzig]

Has anyone watched the remake of the V series?

Seems like are really using some cheap looking computer graphics on the backgrounds all the time. Most of the show seems to be filmed in front of a green screen.

I think it was on 3-4 month hiatus in the USA and has started again. They are also bringing it to Europe as the Finnish pay channels started showing it.

The new show has made me really want to watch the original show from the 80's. I never saw it completely as my family thought it's too horrifying for me to watch.

[JonCole]

Has anyone watched the remake of the V series?

Seems like are really using some cheap looking computer graphics on the backgrounds all the time. Most of the show seems to be filmed in front of a green screen.

I think it was on 3-4 month hiatus in the USA and has started again. They are also bringing it to Europe as the Finnish pay channels started showing it.

The new show has made me really want to watch the original show from the 80's. I never saw it completely as my family thought it's too horrifying for me to watch.

Yeah, I've been watching it. The graphics are pretty damn corny, but I can see why they would be, considering it's a television show and not a movie. They probably didn't want to invest a ton of capital into special effects for a series revival that's essentially a gamble. The reason for the hiatus was that they only made the first four episodes for ABC... only after the success of those first four episodes did ABC decide to order a whole season.

[ysbreker]

Anyone see Treme yet? It's David Simon's new show.

I love love love the music in it. I wonder if you can get a soundtrack of each episode.

[syntheticgerbil]

So I made the mistake of watching 500 Days of Summer (since I'm sort of a sucker for love stories and all, no joke) and about the fifth band reference in I realized I was not hip enough for this movie. Not only did it throw out way too many 70s and 80s TV references as default for filler conversation, it tended to get way too quirky for its own good for the fantasy sequences. Quirk is fine if the fantasy is balancing out the real life sequences, but the substance of the relationship pretty much didn't exist for much of the movie time. Luckily no one drove around in a moped, but this seemed like it was much more a movie for someone who is twenty something, getting their masters, and likes to make papercraft orchids as a hobby. I guess that's fine, but that's not at all my type of people.

Either way, I would guess the Donkey Kong sounds on the arcade table the dudes play at that is never shown is lost on most of the intended audience.

This is not to say I hate all movies where the writer name drops all of his favorite bands and references to silly TV shows. The only slacker type movie similar in this style that I have ever truly enjoyed was High Fidelity, but that movie did so many things right and the references and name dropping were consistent with each characters likes and it wasn't portrayed as a sexy or hip thing but coming from men's obsessions and need to categorize everything. It was also all very relevant (and sad in a way) to the record store environment the people were in.

It also helped that the John Cusack character wasn't so much of a neutered male as the main character in 500 Days of Summer, but more of a selfish guy that just kind of screws things up. I don't really want to be told in love story over and over to feel bad for the love lost main character.

Anyways, High Fidelity is great, but my favorite love story movie is The Fisher King. I don't think anything tops that movie. I can relate to every character in there except the psych patient with the bleeding head. They all seemed that real. Maybe some would be distracted with how gruesome or bizarre it can get, but I'd say it's worth a watch. So that's my recommendation to add to this thread.

[toblix]

So I saw part of a show the other day called Inside the Actor's Studio, and there were all these Hollywood actors shown being on the show. However, the host seemed to be the most pretentious man I have ever seen in all my years in showbiz. Is he a respected grand old man of this magnificent craft we call acting, or is he just some pretentious douche?

[MrHoatzin]

So I saw part of a show the other day called Inside the Actor's Studio, and there were all these Hollywood actors shown being on the show. However, the host seemed to be the most pretentious man I have ever seen in all my years in showbiz. Is he a respected grand old man of this magnificent craft we call acting, or is he just some pretentious douche?

I think at this point James Lipton is an act more than an actual human. He's been at it for 20 years now. I find his affect hysterical. In small doses.

[brkl]

James Lipton is not pretentious. http://videosift.com/video/James-Lipton-recites-K-Fed-Freestyle

[toblix]

Anyone notice he looks like a fat, bearded Patrick Stewart?

[ThunderPeel2001]

So I saw part of a show the other day called Inside the Actor's Studio, and there were all these Hollywood actors shown being on the show. However, the host seemed to be the most pretentious man I have ever seen in all my years in showbiz. Is he a respected grand old man of this magnificent craft we call acting, or is he just some pretentious douche?

He's a legend!

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(Yes, I know this isn't him, but he's still a legend.)

Edited April 23, 2010 by ThunderPeel2001

[ThunderPeel2001]

James Lipton is not pretentious. http://videosift.com/video/James-Lipton-recites-K-Fed-Freestyle

Yes, and he's one of the few people who managed to come across well on Ali G...

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Edited April 23, 2010 by ThunderPeel2001

[Lu]

Yea, he seems to have a really good sense of humour. Not to mention his role on Arrested Development as the warden.

[miffy495]

Damn, I was just about to mention that one. 'Blix, if you haven't seen Arrested Development and you want to see that guy being amazingly funny, check it out. Also, his frequent appearances on animated shows (I know of at least The Simpsons and Family Guy having him on) show exactly how seriously he takes his 'actor's studio' persona.

[Kolzig]

So I saw part of a show the other day called Inside the Actor's Studio, and there were all these Hollywood actors shown being on the show. However, the host seemed to be the most pretentious man I have ever seen in all my years in showbiz. Is he a respected grand old man of this magnificent craft we call acting, or is he just some pretentious douche?

I have watched his show sometimes when I had the pay channel that shows it here in Finland.

I've also seen him countless times in Conan O'Brien's shows and he is a funny guy. I don't think him as a pretentious douche. He undestands to make jokes about himself.

[Thyroid]

So I've been looking out for movies with great dialogue. The Coens (The Big Lebowski especially) come to mind, as do Casablanca and The Big Sleep. I got Sweet Smell of Success to watch a few days ago, as someone mentioned the dialogue was good. Charlie Kaufman writes good dialogue.

Anything I'm missing? Surely films have had great dialogue writers over the years? The sharper and wittier the writing, the better.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[DanJW]

I really like the dialogue in Wes Anderson's movies. The nuances bear repeated viewings. Of course they are not to everyone's taste.