Movie/TV recommendations

[brkl]

What happy, proud space-prostitutes? You don't mean the Geishas, do you?

I mean Inara and company.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I mean Inara and company.

You mean the Courtesans/Geishas then. I think prostitute is a pretty harsh word for a Courtesan, myself. But there you go.

[Sully907]

Finally borrowed Deadwood on DVD from a friend. I miss out on a lot of great shows and movies because I mostly read and game instead. Man, this show is as great as advertised, I saw Ian McShane on Kings first, but after this, I think I have a mancrush on him or something lol.

[brkl]

My view of historical courtesans would be that the cultures that had them were so totally male dominated it was possible to have this class of prostitutes that was accepted into courts (when regular old whoring was probably illegal). A veneer of respectability.

[ThunderPeel2001]

My view of historical courtesans would be that the cultures that had them were so totally male dominated it was possible to have this class of prostitutes that was accepted into courts (when regular old whoring was probably illegal). A veneer of respectability.

Fair enough, but I don't think it's fair to call it a veneer. Courtesans were treated as equals by the upper-classes of their society. They were highly educated, sophisticated, and respected.

I've forgotten, why are we discussing this again?

Edit: Because Joss Whedon touches upon prostitution in two of his series. I remember now. FWIW, the idea from Dollhouse came about from a lunch he had with Eliza Dushku. She was saying how she was surrounded by people telling her how and what she should be, and pulling her into different directions. And it had gotten to a point where she was beginning to lose her own sense of who she was and what she wanted. Whedon said, "Hey! That's what your new show should be about!".

So it really came about from someone losing a sense of who they were as a result of people trying to shape them into something else... Not really a meditation on prostitution. But anyway, I suppose it is interesting.

Edited January 8, 2011 by ThunderPeel2001

[Ben X]

HEY syntheticgerbil, please list Gilliam's films in order of your preference!

[Nevsky]

I really should get around to seeing The Adventures of Baron Munchausen someday. Brazil is one of my all-time favourite movies, and Twelve Monkeys/Fisher King aren't that far behind.

[Moosferatu]

Finally borrowed Deadwood on DVD from a friend. I miss out on a lot of great shows and movies because I mostly read and game instead. Man, this show is as great as advertised, I saw Ian McShane on Kings first, but after this, I think I have a mancrush on him or something lol.

No kidding. I adore him in Deadwood. Have you seen True Grit yet? The dialog is reminiscent of Deadwood, though with fewer cocksuckers.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I'm a huge Gilliam fan, but I've never seen The Brothers Grimm or Tideland. I also haven't seen 12 Monkeys in ages (and I never was fan, as much as I wanted to be), and I haven't seen The Fisher King in ages, either (but I LOVED it when I saw it -- I hope I still will if I see it again).

Brazil is probably my personal fave.

In other news: The King's Speech is great!

[syntheticgerbil]

HEY syntheticgerbil, please list Gilliam's films in order of your preference!

Oh man... Parnassus is probably wrong for now because I need to watch it at home closely with subtitles. I saw it in the theatre and got increasingly confused in the last 20 minutes. There was a lot of mumbling and rushed plot expose.

1) Fisher King

2) 12 Monkeys

3) Brazil

4) Adventures of Baron Munchausen (It's moved way up!)

5) Time Bandits

6) Holy Grail

7) Brothers Grimm

8) Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

9) Fear and Loathing

10) Tideland

11) Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky is so difficult to get through and not fall asleep while Tideland would probably be higher if I understood what the hell was up with the last 15 minutes of the movie and why the ending was stupidly abrupt.

...and I haven't seen The Fisher King in ages, either (but I LOVED it when I saw it -- I hope I still will if I see it again).

It definitely needs some sort of rerelease, I think it got kind of buried for a film that did pretty well for Gilliam and the studio without fights, while Munchausen and Brazil all get the deluxe treatment. That said, I do have Fisher King on laserdisc, one of the nerdiest things I think I own. But the laserdisc player was about 10 bucks and is big and metal, simultaneously serving the purpose of a TV stand.

[Nappi]

Tideland is one of the most (for the lack of better word) distressing movies I have ever seen. Despite being almost light-hearted at times, it actually made me feel physically ill at times. Not a bad thing necessarily, but I don't think I will be watching it again anytime soon.

I'll have to find Brazil somewhere.

[Hermie]

Caught Tron today, the plot was diffuse at best, but the effects were pretty.

That is, until we stepped outside and saw the sky covered in green, dancing Northern lights. Nature beats computers every time.

[Nappi]

Thought I'd watch The Royal Tenenbaums to cheer me up even though I wasn't even feeling particularly sad to begin with. Well now I am. The movie caught me completely off guard and made me its bitch cry. Very unusual comedy that wasn't ruined by Owen Wilson.

[Thyroid]

I'll have to find Brazil somewhere.

Good movie.

Make sure it's not the theatrical cut, which was this weird-ass P.O.S. that the studio edited into existence when they snatched the footage out of Terry Gilliam's hands.

[Roderick]

Saw Dark City for the first time and holy shit, does it prefigure The Matrix by a year! http://galeon.hispavista.com/cinerama/actu2/matrixdarkcity.htm

[ThunderPeel2001]

Make sure it's not the theatrical cut, which was this weird-ass P.O.S. that the studio edited into existence when they snatched the footage out of Terry Gilliam's hands.

Actually, that's not entirely true. The studio cut was never released theatrically, only as a "TV version". It's highly unlikely you'd stumble across it by accident... so no need to worry.

[MrHoatzin]

That cut (the happy ending cut) is actually included in the box set, as a curiosity of editing, with a foreword by Gilliam. It is interesting to see how completely and thoroughly crappy editing can nerf a story. I tried to watch it and was bored, couldn't finish. They've somehow managed to completely decharm the story.

Also, I'd say Fear and Loathing is my favorite of his movies.

[JonCole]

I started watching Bones on Netflix Instant View. Some people have asked me why I'm interested in the series because it falls into the often tread field of crime procedurals and I guess my response is that this is really the first one I've decided to actually jump on board with. Not to mention the fact that it seems far more devoted to the actual characters on an episode-by-episode basis in a way that not many other crime television shows do.

[ThunderPeel2001]

That cut (the happy ending cut) is actually included in the box set, as a curiosity of editing, with a foreword by Gilliam. It is interesting to see how completely and thoroughly crappy editing can nerf a story. I tried to watch it and was bored, couldn't finish. They've somehow managed to completely decharm the story.

Also, I'd say Fear and Loathing is my favorite of his movies.

The "Love Conquers All" version is despicably bad, but I did make it to the end... Most of the time with my face like this:

[Orv]

Saw Dark City for the first time and holy shit, does it prefigure The Matrix by a year! http://galeon.hispavista.com/cinerama/actu2/matrixdarkcity.htm

Great movie, there's a reason it's a "cult classic"

[Snooglebum]

I just saw Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son From His Father, and wow. Wow. See this movie. Right. Fucking. Now. Don't read anything about it. Don't go to the website. Don't spoil yourself on it, it'll ruin the movie. All I'll say is that it's a documentary, it's intense, it's heart wrenching, and amazing.

See it. Now.

[syntheticgerbil]

That cut (the happy ending cut) is actually included in the box set, as a curiosity of editing, with a foreword by Gilliam. It is interesting to see how completely and thoroughly crappy editing can nerf a story. I tried to watch it and was bored, couldn't finish. They've somehow managed to completely decharm the story.

What I find the most strange about that cut is a majority of the scenes that stayed the same tend to be alternate takes with different dialogue or shot with different camera angles. It did not make a ton of sense why different versions of the same or similar shots were used. I saw it a years ago though and haven't rewatched it. I don't remember if there was something in the extras for the DVD that explained why the US company used different shots.

[ThunderPeel2001]

What I find the most strange about that cut is a majority of the scenes that stayed the same tend to be alternate takes with different dialogue or shot with different camera angles. It did not make a ton of sense why different versions of the same or similar shots were used. I saw it a years ago though and haven't rewatched it. I don't remember if there was something in the extras for the DVD that explained why the US company used different shots.

Don't remember different takes, but I do remember they added more of the love story. Gilliam cut a lot of the girl's dialogue, because he didn't like her performance, but Sheinberg added it all back in... leading to extended versions of those scenes. Could that be what you're thinking of, or have I just forgotten the different takes they used?

[syntheticgerbil]

Possibly, my memory must have failed me. I'll have to go back and fast forward through the DVD soon.

I want to say I thought the parts with extended dialogue leading off the same scenes were all leading off different shots, but I'm probably just thinking of the extended scenes fully as alternate takes.

[toblix]

I'm a couple of episodes into season 2 of Fringe now, and while I haven't been blown away yet, I found that there is a bit of entertainment to be had if I try to avoid all the lame stuff like doing something incredible in one episode, and then being totally amazed by something less incredible in the next, or that a lot of the dialogue is painful TV FBI agent douchebaggery, or that a lot of it isn't science or "fringe science", it's just stupid retarded shit that would never work, or the constant focus on the professor being SO TOTALLY FUCKING WEIRD HOLY SHIT. In a way, it feels like The X-Files for a dumber audience, but I guess that's just me being dumb, not realizing that Fringe is probably a better series overall.