Film Swapping with E [Archive]

Ezee E

08-25-2008, 05:13 AM

I have a crapload of movies in my Netflix queue. I'm sure that some of them have been stuck in the middle for years, and may never get the chance of being seen.

Therefore I request that you either recommend a movie off this queue, or suggest another that I need to see. It will immediately be bumped to the top of the queue, and eventually watched, barring brand new movies and TV shows I'm interested in.

Upon watching, I'll post a review here, and then recommend one to you.

My Queue (http://rss.netflix.com/QueueRSS?id=P14144896907620446 92615261086879908) or just recommend me one!

Thanks!

FILM SWAPPING:
1)Bullet Ballet by origami_mustache -- DONE ***
2)Quai des Orfevres by Derek -- DONE ***
3)Charley Varrick by Boner M -- DONE ***
4)The Virgin Spring by Kurious Jorge -- DONE ****(M)
5)You Can Count on Me by Pop Trash -- DONE *** 1/2
6)Grave of the Fireflies by Skitch -- DONE ****
7)To Be Or Not To Be by philosophe_rouge -- DONE ***
8)Purple Rose of Cairo by ledfloyd - DONE ***
9)Two-Lane Blacktop by chrisnu - DONE **
10)A Short Film About Killing by soitgoes...
11)The Hitch-Hiker by Rowland
12)Bob Roberts by MadMan

origami_mustache

08-25-2008, 05:39 AM

Bullet Ballet...I love Tsukamoto and actually haven't heard thoughts from others on many of his films.

Derek

08-25-2008, 05:41 AM

Quai des Orfevres - my favorite Clouzot.

Boner M

08-25-2008, 05:45 AM

Charley Varrick. Seems like your kinda film.

Kurious Jorge v3.1

08-25-2008, 05:56 AM

The Virgin Spring

Ang Lee loves it.

Philosophe_rouge

08-25-2008, 06:04 AM

Have you seen Catch-22? If not, I recommend that.

Watashi

08-25-2008, 06:16 AM

Link not working.

Pop Trash

08-25-2008, 07:39 AM

You Can Count on Me is a fantastic and deeply humanist examination of adult sibling dynamics.

Skitch

08-25-2008, 12:15 PM

Hard Boiled, Graveyard of the Fireflies.

Ezee E

08-25-2008, 02:47 PM

Have you seen Catch-22? If not, I recommend that.
I have seen it. I prefer it over M*A*S*H in fact.

Ezee E

08-25-2008, 02:48 PM

Link not working.
Seems to be working for the others. I guess just take a shot.

But sweet, I'm glad I did this so far.

Philosophe_rouge

08-25-2008, 06:44 PM

I have seen it. I prefer it over M*A*S*H in fact.

Ooo, okay then... how about To Be or Not to Be (1942)?

Ezee E

08-25-2008, 06:45 PM

Ooo, okay then... how about To Be or Not to Be (1942)?
done.

ledfloyd

08-25-2008, 08:27 PM

Purple Rose of Cairo or Shadow of a Doubt

chrisnu

08-25-2008, 09:32 PM

Two-Lane Blacktop.

soitgoes...

08-26-2008, 03:58 AM

Men with Guns. Enjoy!

Ezee E

08-26-2008, 04:06 AM

Men with Guns. Enjoy!
Currently unavailable from Netflix.

soitgoes...

08-26-2008, 04:14 AM

Uh... A Short Film About Killing. Enjoy!

Rowland

08-26-2008, 04:30 AM

Ida Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker.

Ezee E

09-26-2008, 04:44 AM

Bullet Ballet as recommended by Origami_mustache

http://www.bergen-filmklubb.no/images/Bullet_Ballet_stort.jpg

Yep, I am still going to follow through on this. Albeit slowly as all the movies from earlier in the year that I missed are getting released on DVD.

Anyways, Bullet Ballet is much different from what I expected as I knew nothing beyond its logline. Instead of getting the bullet-filled fiesta I expected, it was a gritty, revenge-filled, bizarre film. Low-budget looking, but incredibly appealing to look at, it's actually the first Asian film that I can think of that has this type of appearance.

The movie does have some second half flaws as the film starts going more into smaller gangs, a weak love story, but the visuals are appealing enough for me to enjoy it.

My Recommendation to Origami:
13 Tzameti

B-side

09-26-2008, 06:50 AM

A Real Young Girl (Breillat, 1976)

SirNewt

09-28-2008, 02:28 AM

You can actually move Harold and Kumar down the queue. If your a fan of the first the second is a letdown. Sorry if I rained on your parade. I'm not going to recommend it for a swap but you should see Ken Burns' The Civil War sooner than later. It's phenomenal.

Ezee E

09-28-2008, 03:57 AM

Ezee E

10-24-2008, 07:48 PM

Pop Trash's recommendation will be seen this weekend.

Ezee E

10-28-2008, 05:52 AM

You Can Count On Me as recommended by Pop Trash

http://www.markruffalo.net/albums/album02/cap128.sized.jpeg

It seemed like for a good 3-4 years that there was just one ensemble movie after another coming out. Some were great, most were okay. I managed to miss this one, and it resided in my Netflix queue, mostly with interest because Martin Scorsese was the executive producer.

Thanks to Pop Trash, I have gotten around to seeing it, and this is one of the "great" ensemble pieces. It still features what I'd say 3/4 of these pieces have, which is adultery, but Matthew Broderick is just perfect as the micromanagerial loser that has no managerial skills at all.

The highlight of the movie is Mark Ruffalo, as the freespirited troublemaker, who really just needs someone to support him. You just never know what his character will do next.

Thanks Pop Fresh. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Snow Angels. It's a little more weighty, but still fine performances all around in a small town.

Pop Trash

10-31-2008, 07:27 PM

You Can Count On Me as recommended by Pop Trash

It seemed like for a good 3-4 years that there was just one ensemble movie after another coming out. Some were great, most were okay. I managed to miss this one, and it resided in my Netflix queue, mostly with interest because Martin Scorsese was the executive producer.

Thanks to Pop Trash, I have gotten around to seeing it, and this is one of the "great" ensemble pieces. It still features what I'd say 3/4 of these pieces have, which is adultery, but Matthew Broderick is just perfect as the micromanagerial loser that has no managerial skills at all.

The highlight of the movie is Mark Ruffalo, as the freespirited troublemaker, who really just needs someone to support him. You just never know what his character will do next.

Thanks Pop Fresh. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Snow Angels. It's a little more weighty, but still fine performances all around in a small town.

Rep. I'm glad you liked it. I still put this in my top ten films of this decade. You hardly hear about it anymore, perhaps because it might come off as "slight" compared to Mullholland Drive or Eternal Sunshine or other films that get sighted as being the "best of the 00s." But I think its laid back, natural charm gets real people just right. I know people like this. In fact I might be more like Mark Ruffalo's character than I care to admit. Plus it's a really good portrait of adult sibling relationships, something you don't see to often.

What's interesting is that I was blown away by Ruffalo's performance in this but this was the first time I had seen him in anything. I wonder if people who watch this now for the first time will think as highly since he has been in many other films since this?

Ezee E

10-31-2008, 08:54 PM

Rep. I'm glad you liked it. I still put this in my top ten films of this decade. You hardly hear about it anymore, perhaps because it might come off as "slight" compared to Mullholland Drive or Eternal Sunshine or other films that get sighted as being the "best of the 00s." But I think its laid back, natural charm gets real people just right. I know people like this. In fact I might be more like Mark Ruffalo's character than I care to admit. Plus it's a really good portrait of adult sibling relationships, something you don't see to often.

What's interesting is that I was blown away by Ruffalo's performance in this but this was the first time I had seen him in anything. I wonder if people who watch this now for the first time will think as highly since he has been in many other films since this?
It's still his best performance to date.

monolith94

11-01-2008, 02:42 PM

Yes, but his "Eternal Sunshine" performance came close, imo. And then there was Zodiac, which was a little behind Eternal Sunshine. I still hold out high hopes for him, though.

Ezee E

11-05-2008, 03:45 AM

Derek's movie, Quai des Orfevres, is up next.

Ezee E

12-01-2008, 06:37 PM

Quai des Orfevres as recommended by Derek
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/Suzy_Delair_in_Quai_des_Orfevr es.jpg

You gotta like it when there's one scene in a movie that suddenly propels the movie into becoming very interesting. The only problem with this one is that it took 50 minutes to get there, as strong violins play in the theater as a woman is told to swear on her grandmother on her location of a certain night.

From here on, I was hooked, and I initially gave this two and a half, but I'll have to bump it up to three after writing this. Sure, the investigation and procedural part of this movie are pretty obvious, and sub-par, but it's the performances of the investigator, the two women, and the effects of the war on just about everyone. The cops are tired, the people seem to be paranoid, never checking their coats in, scared by simple questioning by cops. Subtle details make it different then your typical noir.

Ezee E

12-01-2008, 06:39 PM

Virgin Spring will be coming up next.

Kurious Jorge v3.1

12-06-2008, 01:22 AM

Virgin Spring will be coming up next.

excellent.

Ezee E

12-06-2008, 11:23 PM

The Virgin Spring as recommended by Kurious Jorge

http://www.timeout.com/img/33540/w513/image.jpg

Wow, just wow.

I think this may now be my favorite Ingmar Bergman film. The story can basically be spoiled in one sentence, but it's the compositions, the strength of the acting, and the testing of faith that cannot be described. Only Ingmar Bergman can have directed this movie so well. Later remade, quite horribly, in Last House on the Left, you can see the differences.

What stood out in particular for me was the emphasis on the eyes. Bergman has always been great at closeups, but the eyes in this movie always seemed to be a focal point. Next is the use of sounds in the scenery. Early on, birds are chirping, the wind seems to be going so nicely, and chickens are clucking friendly. Then, it all starts to disappear, just adding to the nervousness that the movie brings without obvious dialog. Powerful stuff.

Thanks a ton Jorge!

Boner's Charley Varrick will be next.

dreamdead

12-07-2008, 12:56 PM

Indeed. Though much of it is predicated on an understanding of human weakness and tragic foreknowledge, it remains to my eyes Bergman's best testament of faith, even if his later films further question or deny this sentiment.

Though the film has the framework of a schematic allegory, the shifting dynamic of philosophical alliances is fluid and it generates most of the tension in the film’s second half as Bergman contrasts the initial examination of innocence with a new examination of tragic vengeance. Yet the film again allows for a dialectic and doesn't enforce rigidity in its vengeance, which is why the ending is so communal and powerful. A clear masterpiece from a filmmaker with several...

Ezee E

01-22-2009, 04:19 PM

CHARLEY VARRICK -- as recommended by Boner M

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/it/thumb/a/a3/Charley_Varrick.jpg/300px-Charley_Varrick.jpg

Here's one that I've never heard of, and if it weren't for this, I probably would've never gotten around to it, unless we did a Don Siegel Consensus (2010?). Even then, it didn't seem like anything I'd jump at.

I'm glad I did see it. I've been very lucky with these recommendations as I haven't seen a bad one yet. Charley Varrick is an entertaining heist/man-on-the-run movie with Walter Mathau in one of his best performances I've seen him in. We see where Tarantino stole a line for Pulp Fiction, a great conflict between the cop and robber (and then the mafia makes it all the better), the heist scene at the beginning is excellent, and then the excellent ending tops it off. A plane flipping over. Beat that Batman!

This almost seems like a plot that leads into No Country For Old Men, but goes for more of an actiony approach, and if Woody Harrelson's character was the lead hitman instead of Anton Chigurh.

Fun movie. Thanks BM!

Next is: Graveyard of the Fireflies

Boner M

01-22-2009, 10:03 PM

Glad you liked it. I really dug how some of the subplots just tightened the screws rather than distracted from the tension; the whole deal with the bank manager is what I'm mainly thinking of.

More films should end with bi-plane chases, IMO.

Ezee E

01-22-2009, 10:55 PM

More films should end with bi-plane chases, IMO.

Indeed.

Ezee E

02-07-2009, 08:23 PM

Grave of the Fireflies is one of a kind when it comes to animated movies. Being a Japanese animated movie, you'd think it would be labeled with the Ghibli films, and while it is, I say it has more in common with Vittorio DeSica.

Neorealist films are pretty hard to comment on because they are pretty straightforward. If effective, they can be incredibly powerful, and Grave of the Fireflies has many of those scenes. You have an idea of the outcome, but you just don't know how it'll happen. It's possibly the saddest animated movie there is, with hardly scenes of refreshing humor, and they don't belong.

All should see this, and thanks Skitch for recommending it.

Skitch

02-08-2009, 01:33 PM

Awesome. I never thought a serious animated film could bring me to tears, but that film did. Glad you enjoyed.

Ezee E

03-24-2009, 06:09 PM

philosophe's recommendation To Be Or Not To Be is on its way.

Where has she been anyway?

MadMan

03-24-2009, 06:22 PM

E I recommend you rent Bob Roberts and watch it if you haven't done so already. I saw it back in Janurary and found it to be an excellent political satire.

B-side

03-25-2009, 02:13 AM

Any chance I can get in on this?

Ezee E

03-29-2009, 11:56 AM

To Be Or Not To Be - recommended by philosophe_rouge

It's rare to find a consistently funny comedy that took place before the 1950's that doesn't involve Chaplin, Buster, W.C. Fields, or the Marx Brothers. Quickly thinking about it, there's the great His Girl Friday and...

You get the point. This movie is consistently funny, and three stars may too small for this movie for that reason, as the comedy works with slapstick, quick-witted dialog, and long-running jokes, which is rare even in comedies that are made now.

NEXT: Purple Rose of Cairo

And fire away Brightside.

dreamdead

03-29-2009, 12:39 PM

It's rare to find a consistently funny comedy that took place before the 1950's that doesn't involve Chaplin, Buster, W.C. Fields, or the Marx Brothers. Quickly thinking about it, there's the great His Girl Friday and...

Have you seen either Trouble in Paradise or The Awful Truth? While you're making a generality here and likely do have other pre-1950s film comedies that you can come up with, these here are to my eyes two of the very best. They are covertly sexy, offer up fascinating reversals of gender relations, and suggest the licentiousness that these films could still contain, if their directors were expert enough...

Ezee E

03-29-2009, 01:26 PM

Have you seen either Trouble in Paradise or The Awful Truth? While you're making a generality here and likely do have other pre-1950s film comedies that you can come up with, these here are to my eyes two of the very best. They are covertly sexy, offer up fascinating reversals of gender relations, and suggest the licentiousness that these films could still contain, if their directors were expert enough...
I have not seen either.

Derek

03-29-2009, 06:04 PM

To Be Or Not To Be - recommended by philosophe_rouge

It's rare to find a consistently funny comedy that took place before the 1950's that doesn't involve Chaplin, Buster, W.C. Fields, or the Marx Brothers. Quickly thinking about it, there's the great His Girl Friday and...

Not a fan of screwball comedies? Also, Lubitsch is one of the all-time great comedic directors so check out more from him as well as Preston Sturges.

B-side

03-31-2009, 10:21 AM

Ezee, I'll give you a few different recs, you can pick from them. Is that cool?

In a Year With 13 Moons (Fassbinder, 1978)
Santa Sangre (Jodorowsky, 1989)
Passion of Anna (Bergman, 1969)

Ezee E

03-31-2009, 11:34 AM

Ezee, I'll give you a few different recs, you can pick from them. Is that cool?

In a Year With 13 Moons (Fassbinder, 1978)
Santa Sangre (Jodorowsky, 1989)
Passion of Anna (Bergman, 1969)
It was suppose to be from my queue, but I'll go for the Bergman I guess.... :)

ledfloyd

03-31-2009, 07:56 PM

Qrazy

03-31-2009, 08:06 PM

I recommend Ashes and Diamonds (Wajda) or if you've seen it, Harakiri (Kobayashi).

I disrecommend The Deadly Companions, go for Ride the High Country.

From your queue I recommend Le Trou, Scarecrow and Nostalghia.

Ezee E

03-31-2009, 08:58 PM

:crazy:
Thanks for your feedback and recommendations. Repped.

Sycophant

03-31-2009, 09:12 PM

Like thirding or fourthing the Sturges rec. Also, watch The Awful Truth.

EDIT: Missed dreamdead's post when I was skimming before. I'd like to recommend something else, since I know I've seen and loved a lot of comedies from that era, but can't call any to mind right now.

But seriously, watch some Sturges. He's the best.

Sycophant

03-31-2009, 09:13 PM

And, dude, enjoy The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Ezee E

03-31-2009, 09:23 PM

Yeah, never seen any Sturges. THanks guys.

B-side

04-01-2009, 01:05 AM

It was suppose to be from my queue, but I'll go for the Bergman I guess.... :)

Oh, wow. Embarrassing. I'm a bit slow.:P

Anywho, hope you enjoy the Bergman.:lol:

balmakboor

04-01-2009, 03:31 AM

There's far too much great stuff in that queue to even know where to start, but I'll recommend you see Peeping Tom asap.

I adore You Can Count On Me by the way.

Ezee E

04-01-2009, 04:05 AM

There's far too much great stuff in that queue to even know where to start, but I'll recommend you see Peeping Tom asap.

I adore You Can Count On Me by the way.
I've actually seen Peeping Tom, but it's been probably... 8 years since I've seen it. I must see again for Powell week.

I actually have a lot of his stuff lined up. Can't believe that's the only one I've seen.

Qrazy

04-01-2009, 04:16 AM

There's far too much great stuff in that queue to even know where to start, but I'll recommend you see Peeping Tom asap.

I adore You Can Count On Me by the way.

Looking forward to Lonergan's follow-up Margaret (2009)?

balmakboor

04-02-2009, 03:48 AM

Looking forward to Lonergan's follow-up Margaret (2009)?

I guess I wasn't paying attention to what he was up to next. I love his character in You Can Count On Me though.

balmakboor

04-02-2009, 03:51 AM

I've actually seen Peeping Tom, but it's been probably... 8 years since I've seen it. I must see again for Powell week.

I actually have a lot of his stuff lined up. Can't believe that's the only one I've seen.

In that case, A Canterbury Tale has long been one of my favorites.

Ezee E

04-03-2009, 12:36 PM

ledfloyd's Purple Rose of Cairo should be coming in this weekend now.

balmakboor

04-03-2009, 03:12 PM

ledfloyd's Purple Rose of Cairo should be coming in this weekend now.

I love that movie.

Ezee E

04-09-2009, 05:42 PM

Ezee E

04-09-2009, 05:43 PM

Two-Lane Blacktop (chrisnu) is already here. Sweet. My second Monte Hellman.

Qrazy

04-09-2009, 05:49 PM

The Purple Rose of Cairo as recommended by ledfloyd

This is my favorite Allen movie of the 80's. Mia Farrow also becomes one of my favorite Allen characters in general, as a dreamer for love of movies. The use of escape by bringing in Jeff Daniels works great, and leads to some hilarious moments. You can tell this dialog is Woody Allen, and makes me realize how Woody Allen can only pull off Woody Allen.

This makes me think about the best decade for Allen.

They seem consistent to me, if it weren't for some horrible movies from the 2000s, I'd go with that one.

Hrm, I find all of the below greatly superior.

# Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
# Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
# Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
# Zelig (1983)

In fact aside from some of the light humor The Purple Rose of Cairo doesn't do much for me. I sort of see it as the beginning of Gordon Willis' descent.

chrisnu

04-09-2009, 06:23 PM

Two-Lane Blacktop (chrisnu) is already here. Sweet. My second Monte Hellman.
:cool:

Raiders

04-11-2009, 12:36 AM

In fact aside from some of the light humor The Purple Rose of Cairo doesn't do much for me. I sort of see it as the beginning of Gordon Willis' descent.

Your issues with the visuals in that movie will never make sense to me.

Qrazy

04-11-2009, 12:54 AM

Your issues with the visuals in that movie will never make sense to me.

Fair enough, that's one area of film analysis where I'm very poor at articulating why I think something is visually superior or inferior to something else. Narrative, character, even editing and sound design seem much easier to verbally tackle to me. On a side note, out of curiosity do you agree/disagree with me concerning my position that the visuals of The Fog are a drop off from Carpenter's best work (although stuff like Vampires is worse)... Or Weir's Fearless and Witness (both less interesting) compared to Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously (more visually interesting)... or Roma (worse) compared to Toby Dammit (just choosing two of Fellini's color films for now).

To be clear I don't think Purple Rose is a badly shot film per se. I just see it as a large aesthetic shift in Willis' career (who I consider once a master of the medium) and much less interesting than Broadway Danny Rose from the year before. Contrasting his work on the first two Godfathers with his work on Part III there's just so much less inspiration to his compositions. Every once in a while he'll have a strong isolated shot such as Michael's death at the end of the third but overall... ehh. And then there's his work on stuff such as Malice and The Money Pit, ugh.

I'm greatly anticipating the following primarily for his involvement.

# The Paper Chase (1973)
# Bad Company (1972)
# Klute (1971)
# The Landlord (1970)

Although the films do look somewhat interesting in and of themselves and the directors are relatively strong.

Ezee E

04-18-2009, 02:42 AM

It had to happen eventually. A movie from this list that I didn't like, and Two-Lane Blacktop is the first.

Strangely enough, this is a movie that I really wanted to like, but The Driver was such a bland and uninteresting character to me that it really hurt it all for me. I also thought there were moments that could've been trimmed as it's just cars sitting still or nothing happening at all. At the beginning it's getting the sense of times, but eventually it gets out of hand.

Why couldn't it just be Warren Oates the entire time? He must be one of the Best Forgotten Actors from that time. Yes, he's known here, but outside the film world, he's invisible.

Still, thanks Chrisnu.

Qrazy

04-18-2009, 02:52 AM

It had to happen eventually. A movie from this list that I didn't like, and Two-Lane Blacktop is the first.

I'm with you, similar rating.

soitgoes...

04-18-2009, 05:58 AM

Kieslowski fool!

Qrazy

04-18-2009, 06:08 AM

Kieslowski fool!

Do you prefer The Decalogue edition or the film version? I think I prefer the Decalogue edition. The added scenes just did not seem necessary to me. The stuff with the girl ties things up a little too cleanly.

chrisnu

04-18-2009, 07:53 AM

You're welcome. I can understand the reservations regarding the movement of the story. I think I'm due to see more of Warren Oates myself.

soitgoes...

04-18-2009, 08:04 AM

Do you prefer The Decalogue edition or the film version? I think I prefer the Decalogue edition. The added scenes just did not seem necessary to me. The stuff with the girl ties things up a little too cleanly.So I've seen most of Kieslowski's documentary shorts, his late pan-European works, and a couple other of his Polish feature length films, but only the first three Decalogue segments, for whatever reason. I do think his film version is great though. Even if it is longer, it is still a scant 84 minutes, and I thought it near perfect.

Qrazy

04-18-2009, 08:10 AM

So I've seen most of Kieslowski's documentary shorts, his late pan-European works, and a couple other of his Polish feature length films, but only the first three Decalogue segments, for whatever reason. I do think his film version is great though. Even if it is longer, it is still a scant 84 minutes, and I thought it near perfect.

Ah well, Decalogue 1, 10 and the ones that were turned into Short Film about Killing and Short film about Love were my favorites. Decalogue 10 is great because it's Kieslowski doing comedy.

On a more Japanese note I'm currently procuring Cruel Story of Youth and Three Outlaw Samurai because of your ratings.

soitgoes...

04-18-2009, 11:13 AM

On a more Japanese note I'm currently procuring Cruel Story of Youth and Three Outlaw Samurai because of your ratings.
Well I hope you enjoy them both. Cruel Story of Youth is much more fresh in my mind, so I'd have an easier time discussing it. Plus an added bonus of joining Derek in the joys of Oshima!

ledfloyd

04-18-2009, 11:16 AM

i think the 80s is allen's best decade and for awhile i considered purple rose of cairo the high point. though hannah and her sisters and crimes and misdemeanors probably beat it out for me. rose is one of the best films i've seen about love of cinema though. right up there with cinema paradiso.

i was surprised to see broadway danny rose on that list qrazy. as far as his 80s work goes i'd say it's in the lower tier for me.

Qrazy

04-18-2009, 04:08 PM