Your Recomendations: I Can Haz Them?

[B-side]

I'm looking for 5 recommendations. The 5 will be decided by whenever I feel like 5 films have been recommended I actually have some interest in. Basically, make me interested in your recommendation and it'll be chosen. I am not confined to Netflix for this, so feel free to drop nearly any title. Also, try to keep them around 2 hours or less as I'll be watching them on my computer:). Here is a newly adjusted top films list for reference:

Barry Lyndon (Kubrick, 1975)
In a Year With 13 Moons (Fassbinder, 1978)
Once Upon a Time in America (Leone, 1984)
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean, 1962)
Dead Ringers (Cronenberg, 1988)
Passion of Anna (Bergman, 1969)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
Nostalghia (Tarkovsky, 1983)
F for Fake (Welles, 1974)
A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes, 1974)
Fitzcarraldo (Herzog, 1982)
Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
Autumn Sonata (Bergman, 1978)
Faces (Cassavetes, 1968)
The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)
Fando y Lis (Jodorowsky, 1968)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)
Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1975)
City Lights (Chaplin, 1931)
The Wayward Cloud (Ming-Liang, 2005)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Leone, 1966)
A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick, 1971)
Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
Eraserhead (Lynch, 1977)
Opening Night (Cassavetes, 1977)
Ran (Kurosawa, 1985)
Breaking the Waves (Trier, 1996)
Santa Sangre (Jodorowsky, 1989)

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Peppermint Frappe (carlos saura)

watch it. be amazed.

[B-side]

Peppermint Frappe (carlos saura)

watch it. be amazed.

Sounds interesting.

[Amnesiac]

Calendar (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106504/combined), Atom Egoyan.

[Qrazy]

Toby Dammit - Fellini

[transmogrifier]

Les Miserables, Claude Lelouch (1995)

Set during WW2, a meta-adaptation, with Jean-Paul Belmondo taking on three roles. Big, sweeping, classical, awesome.

[B-side]

It'd be a big help if you guys had links to certifiable torrents of the films, too.

[transmogrifier]

I don't think I've ever seen it as a torrent before. Sorry. Watch it anyway if you can.

[B-side]

I don't think I've ever seen it as a torrent before. Sorry. Watch it anyway if you can.

My Netflix expired yesterday, so you'll have to come up with another one. I did find a torrent for it, but it was Russian.:lol:

I'm a horrible writer, but I'll review each recommendation, too.

[Raiders]

Do NOT link to any torrents here please.

For a rec:

Todd Haynes' Safe
Bela Tarr's Werckmeister Harmonies
Barbara Loden's Wanda

[Boner M]

Three underseen faves:

What Happened Was, Tom Noonan
News From Home, Chantal Akerman
Moonrise, Frank Borzage

[Russ]

BS, don't miss these:

The Scenic Route (Mark Rappaport, 1978) - It's on Rosenbaum's Alternate 100 list.

Crime Wave (John Paisz, 1985) - The scene in the cornfield with Dr. Jolly - watch it and you'll know where the scene with The Cowboy in Mulholland Drive came from.

Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965) :)

[Grouchy]

Check the "Best Movies I've Seen Recently" on my sig. All three of those are recommended.

[megladon8]

Le Samourai.

[B-side]

Do NOT link to any torrents here please.

For a rec:

Todd Haynes' Safe
Bela Tarr's Werckmeister Harmonies
Barbara Loden's Wanda

Whoops. Sorry. I actually gave Werckmeister about 20 minutes or so a while back and was bored to tears. I'll be giving it another shot in the near future. Safe is one I've been aiming to see for a while now. Consider it amongst the 5.

[B-side]

BS, don't miss these:

The Scenic Route (Mark Rappaport, 1978) - It's on Rosenbaum's Alternate 100 list.

Crime Wave (John Paisz, 1985) - The scene in the cornfield with Dr. Jolly - watch it and you'll know where the scene with The Cowboy in Mulholland Drive came from.

Mickey One (Arthur Penn, 1965) :)

The copy of Mickey One you gave me doesn't work.:sad:

The Scenic Route has my interest moreso than Crime Wave, though I'm interested in that, too, if only for the origin of "The Cowboy".:P

[B-side]

Three underseen faves:

What Happened Was, Tom Noonan
News From Home, Chantal Akerman
Moonrise, Frank Borzage

If I can find What Happened Was..., it's in the 5.:)

[B-side]

Le Samourai.

Ahh. Yes. Another one I've managed to avoid. It's in the 5.

[Qrazy]

Ahh. Yes. Another one I've managed to avoid. It's in the 5.

Are you not going to watch Toby Dammit? I think it's just your style.

[B-side]

Are you not going to watch Toby Dammit? I think it's just your style.

That's definitely one I wanna see. Can't manage to find a copy without the other films included, though. I have Safe, Le Samourai and What Happened Was... all ready to go.

[Qrazy]

That's definitely one I wanna see. Can't manage to find a copy without the other films included, though. I have Safe, Le Samourai and What Happened Was... all ready to go.

So just download all and ignore the other two. The Malle is weak but not awful, the Vadim is bad.

[soitgoes...]

News From Home, Chantal Akerman


I'd like to second this nomination.

Also:

Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Frank Tashlin)

[Qrazy]

I'd like to second this nomination.

Also:

Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Frank Tashlin)

B was bored by Tarr... you really think he's going to want to sit through News from Home?

[soitgoes...]

B was bored by Tarr... you really think he's going to want to sit through News from Home?
I thought News from Home was great and I'm just a tad above meh on the Tarr. So take that!

[B-side]

B was bored by Tarr... you really think he's going to want to sit through News from Home?

I'm a Tarkovsky fan. Does that make my prospects any better?:lol:

[B-side]

I'd like to second this nomination.

Also:

Los Olvidados (Luis Buñuel)
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (Frank Tashlin)

To be honest, I'm not too big on Bunuel so far. I've seen Un Chien Andalou, Belle de Jour and The Exterminating Angel. The Exterminating Angel being my preference of the two features. The other one isn't really grabbing me right now. Got any more?

[soitgoes...]

To be honest, I'm not too big on Bunuel so far. I've seen Un Chien Andalou, Belle de Jour and The Exterminating Angel. The Exterminating Angel being my preference of the two features. The other one isn't really grabbing me right now. Got any more?

Punishment Park
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Atomic Cafe

[B-side]

Punishment Park
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Atomic Cafe

Punishment Park sounds excellent.

The 5 is now complete.

Safe (Haynes, 1995)
Punishment Park (Watkins, 1971)
Toby Dammit (Fellini, 1968)
What Happened Was... (Noonan, 1994)
Le Samourai (Melville, 1970)

All of the recs are noted, though, so don't think I ignored any of them.

Thanks.:)

[Lazlo]

All the Real Girls (Green, 2003)

[Qrazy]

I thought News from Home was great and I'm just a tad above meh on the Tarr. So take that!

Value appraisals aside, I liked News from Home too, but it is a fairly slow moving film. I would presume (perhaps incorrectly) that your above meh on Tarr is not a result of perceived tedium.

[Qrazy]

I'm a Tarkovsky fan. Does that make my prospects any better?:lol:

Not really, I would have thought they'd make your prospects good for Tarr though. In terms of Akerman hmmm... I don't really know who I'd compare her to... she cites Godard, Brakhage, Snow and Warhol as major influences.

[B-side]

Not really, I would have thought they'd make your prospects good for Tarr though. In terms of Akerman hmmm... I don't really know who I'd compare her to... she cites Godard, Brakhage, Snow and Warhol as major influences.

I tried to watch La Captive a while back. That didn't go too well. Found it aesthetically bland and just a generally uninteresting affair.

[B-side]

All the Real Girls (Green, 2003)

Seen it. Liked it a lot.

[Qrazy]

I tried to watch La Captive a while back. That didn't go too well. Found it aesthetically bland and just a generally uninteresting affair.

I don't think you'll like New From Home but I'd be interested to find out if I'm right in this assumption.

[trotchky]

Yeast - Mary Bronstein
Visitor Q - Takashi Miike
Rachel Getting Married - Jon Demme

^last 3 movies I saw that I would recommend to people who aren't me.

[trotchky]

Nashville - Robert Altman
The Long Goodbye - Robert Altman
McCabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman

^3 masterpieces by Robert Altman (who I did not see on your favorite films list).

[Beau]

I recommend...

Tony Manero
Pixote
Blissfully Yours
Tokyo Drifter

I think they might be up your alley. Maybe.

[B-side]

I recommend...

Tony Manero
Pixote
Blissfully Yours
Tokyo Drifter

I think they might be up your alley. Maybe.

Noted.


*recs*

Sadly, I'm only just "discovering" Altman. Late to the party, I'm finding. I really enjoyed Images and 3 Women. Outside of those 2, I liked McCabe, though it's been far too long, and found Prairie Home Companion to be amusing. Those 3 you recommended are on my radar for sure.
--------------------------------------------------------------

It will likely be a few days before I watch my first film as I'm staying with a friend right now.

[Grouchy]

I recommend...

Tony Manero
How was this one?

[Beau]

How was this one?

I really liked it. I wrote about it here. (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showpost.php?p=15370952&postcount=4189) The protagonist can be a bit impenetrable at times, but as I explain, that's part of the trick, part of why the film keeps growing with time, amassing meaning and horror in memory. I think Brightside might like it. I think it has that mixture of gritty realism and non-realistic expressiveness he seems to go for.

[B-side]

Thanks to Epistemophobia, I found out what was preventing my KG downloads from working -- my torrent program. I've always used FlashGet. Don't know if anyone is familiar with it, but it operates exactly like uTorrent and others. Apparently, KG blocks it. Well, I downloaded uTorrent and What Happened Was... started downloading immediately. All that's left to get is Toby Dammit and I'll have all 5 at the ready. No saying when I'll watch my first film as my sleeping schedule is weird right now and doesn't lend itself to watching films on the family computer, but within the next few days I'll likely have my first film watched.

[B-side]

http://videodetective.com/photos/143/00602936_.jpg

What Happened Was... is a terrific examination of the pathos of 2 lonely New Yorkers while they endure their first date. This is my first Noonan film. I'd read sporadic praise of him from a poster on RT, but never sought out any of his films. I'm now happy I did.

What Happened Was... starts out watching Jackie, the first of our two characters, as she tries to find the right outfit and sets up her apartment for her upcoming date, essentially establishing her persona. The camera swirls around her immaculately kept apartment and focuses on her poster of the Broadway play Cats and a picture of Martin Luther King Jr., further establishing her character. Through one of the many apartment windows we see into another apartment across the street in which a TV is on that shows a woman's face being closely examined, no doubt mirroring the camera's ongoing introspection of Jackie. Suddenly, Michael rings the bell. The awkward small talk begins.

The two characters create meaningless conversation to fill awkward silences and to avoid any discussion of any real depth or of a personal nature. In that same apartment across the street, we see a man overwhelming a woman, possibly raping her or attempting to beat her. This too mirrors the current situation in Jackie's apartment as Michael is condescending and smug. He's a paralegal. She's but a secretary. The distance between them grows.

Michael is writing a book. Jackie has already written a "children's book" titled the same as the film. I'll leave the details of her book out as they're rather important. After she reads him a chapter of her book, they get closer. Her flirtation is hardly subtle. She's very lonely. He's a bit cold. Eventually, he gives in. He kisses her. She goes to take it further, he backs off. Such is his nature. She feels rejected and embarrassed. Such is her nature. Both of them are lonely and confused. Their lives are stagnant. The big city of New York swallows the "extras", as Michael and Jackie call the unacknowledged citizens. These two are among them. We leave them on an ambiguous note, but we know they are different people for experiencing this night of revelation.

[B-side]

http://www.thelmagazine.com/lmag_blog/files/Images/toby.jpg

Toby Dammit is gleefully absurd and surreal. Stamp is crazy. Lot of fog. Celebrity worship. Temptation. References to other working directors. I liked it. A lot. Won't/can't say much more than that. Will likely watch again very soon.

[B-side]

http://dearjesus.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/punishment_park1.jpg

Punishment Park was engaging, visceral and uniquely mounted. Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of politics pervading my films too much. But this is a film that's politics is hard to disagree with. The fact that a gunshot actually went off and an actor dropped -- though unharmed -- subsequently leading the film crew to react in panic is shocking. The interviews with each of the accused were all interesting, though the same can't be said of all the characters and their interviews actually in Punishment Park. The film as a whole didn't exactly bowl me over, but it's pretty great.

[B-side]

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4516/95safewe0.jpg

The world is sick. News anchors and talking heads recite fatalistic material. Pollution is rampant. Modernity is ugly. People are overly sensitive. Can't handle the world as it is. Does Haynes both condemn our increasingly industrialized and cold world as well as criticize those that can't seem to adjust? He seems to be rather sympathetic to Carol. Perhaps she's just an extreme example of what can happen when the "perfect" life proves not so perfect after all. Good film.