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Netflix Instant View, 360 and You
Medium Dave
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, all of us with 360s (and Netflix) are enjoying the Netflix integration, yes? After seeing some bantering back and forth on the merits of Primer (it's fucking awesome is the correct response) in the NXE thread I thought this would be a good “movies and TV that are Instant View on Netflix†thread. I've had Netflix for over 3 years and with 3 DVDs a week, I still have over 300 movies on my queue, despite my voracious devouring each week and I'm always looking for new flicks to check out.
There's a shitton of movies out there and I know for damn sure there's a lot of people who won't try a movie they haven't heard of if someone doesn't recommend/force it on them. So why not do quick thumbnails of movies that everyone should see? Smaller stuff, indie stuff, older stuff, foreign stuff, flicks people would probably overlook while picking up stupid shit like the newest Saw abortion.
Do a name drop and brief synopsis and a quick check to see if it's Instant View and maybe some of these great flicks will become someone's new favorite.
The Signal – Fantastic little horror movie. Creepy, bloody and really funny at times, this is a hundred times better than Asian Horror Remake #13.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – In my opinion, one of the best love stories ever. It's bittersweet and despite involving some fantastic tech, more human and real than 99% of other “love†stories.
Pan's Labyrinth – You may know the director of this as the guy who brought you the Hellboys and Blade 2. I dig those movies. This is in an entirely different galaxy of great. An adult fairy tale that is also one gorgeous looking movie.
Deep Rising – This movie is stupid. And I love it for that. Giant monsters, Treat Williams, guns and Famke Jannsen in a tank top riding on a jet ski...it's all there, all glorious, all ridiculous and all fun as hell.
No Country For Old Men – If you watched this and didn't like it, you're part of the problem. FACT. Drugs, money and Javier Bardem playing a man who could be the personification of Death, this is one of the finest crime thrillers ever made. Aside: any bitching about the ending gets you a slap, douchebag.
There's a shitton of movies out there and I know for damn sure there's a lot of people who won't try a movie they haven't heard of if someone doesn't recommend/force it on them. So why not do quick thumbnails of movies that everyone should see? Smaller stuff, indie stuff, older stuff, foreign stuff, flicks people would probably overlook while picking up stupid shit like the newest Saw abortion.
Do a name drop and brief synopsis and a quick check to see if it's Instant View and maybe some of these great flicks will become someone's new favorite.
The Signal – Fantastic little horror movie. Creepy, bloody and really funny at times, this is a hundred times better than Asian Horror Remake #13.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – In my opinion, one of the best love stories ever. It's bittersweet and despite involving some fantastic tech, more human and real than 99% of other “love†stories.
Pan's Labyrinth – You may know the director of this as the guy who brought you the Hellboys and Blade 2. I dig those movies. This is in an entirely different galaxy of great. An adult fairy tale that is also one gorgeous looking movie.
Deep Rising – This movie is stupid. And I love it for that. Giant monsters, Treat Williams, guns and Famke Jannsen in a tank top riding on a jet ski...it's all there, all glorious, all ridiculous and all fun as hell.
No Country For Old Men – If you watched this and didn't like it, you're part of the problem. FACT. Drugs, money and Javier Bardem playing a man who could be the personification of Death, this is one of the finest crime thrillers ever made. Aside: any bitching about the ending gets you a slap, douchebag.
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Zach Galafanakis Special- Maybe it's because he reminds me of my old pot dealing printmaking neighbor but it's hilarious. Watch it if you like cringe comedy.
Ratatouille- kind of obvious, but it's one of the great 3d films that makes up for a lot o the shittiness in the genre (shrek)
Drunken Master- It's sad they don't offer original language tracks for their dubbed selections. Still an awesome movie, and the reason why Jackie is still bathing in money.
Ong-Bak- This is a movie worth owning and I'd recommend you track down an Asian version. But if you watch it on Netflix just fast forward to all the fight scenes because they re-edit the movie and molest the continuity and ruin the film. Not to mention video game quality dubbing. Same goes for "The Protector" also available on watch instant, except with that one I wouldn't bother with tracking down the original because it doesn't hold up as a good film at all, apart from the fight scenes. Ong bak was at least competently crafted for a fight movie.
I'd much prefer a free, ad-driven thing like Hulu.
you give them your credit card info, and cancel before the bill date.
See, this is useful. I hated No Country For Old Men and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, so now I know to avoid the other movies you recommended.
If that's what you prefer, be sure to check out PlayOn. It lets you access Hulu from your 360 (or PS3).
Win/win? I think so.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Eternal Sunshine though, that's pretty much my favorite movie.
I recommend Contact, I watched it last night with the instant queue. It's glorious.
Okay, lay it on me. I hated the movie because of the ending.
EDIT: This shouldn't really be directed at you, but at Ethugs. You're saying we have different tastes, which is cool. But Ethugs seems to think that anyone who doesn't like the same movies he likes is an idiot.
edit: Apparently I sound like more of a jackass than I intend to. Nothing personal.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Also, it's perfectly possible to dislike a great movie and still have decent taste. See: Blade Runner thread over in D&D. I can see somebody disliking No Country for Old Men. Though adding Eternal Sunshine makes things a little hazier. Still, these are hardly movies that I'd expect to be universally liked.
By the way it's not Lou Ellen, it's Llewellyn.
I really love Planet Terror / Death Proof both separately and combined together in Grindhouse.
Also Big Trouble in Little China and motherflippin' Ghostbusters 1 & 2.
"What's that?"
"I think it's The Girl from Ipanema."
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
Sorry, I didn't really think what I wrote was a spoiler. I've tagged it anyways.
And yes, I get the ending, I just don't think it's particularly clever, nor does it make for a good movie.
EDIT: Just thought of the video game analogy. NCFOM tries to make a narrative point by messing with the structure of the movie. That's akin to a game trying to make a point by messing with its playability.... i.e. Space Giraffe. I can *get* the point that Minter is trying to make, but that doesn't mean I think it's either a) profound, or b) any fun to play.
Also, so I'm not just coming in here and whining, here's some recommendations:
The King of Kong - the documentary about dudes trying to get high scores in Donkey Kong.
Mean Girls - While marketed at teen girls, this is actually a movie anyone would like. Great for Tina Fey fans.
Seven - About a serial killer, from the director of Fight Club.
None of these are particularly obscure, but I'm sure some people might have missed them.
Outsourced - From IMDB: After his entire department is outsourced, an American novelty products salesman heads to India to train his replacement. Cute little indie flick, heartwarming and all that good stuff.
Cashback - also From IMDB: After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild. It was funny and weird.
I also watched the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie for the first time...
And then wished you had the DVD on hand to burn it, right?
Then, Primer again so you have a slightly greater chance of comprehending it.
Also, Six String Samurai.
Sukiyaki Western Django is basically a modern Kurusawa film with some current Japanese style thrown in.
Ice Pirates - Fun low-budget sci-fi flick with Robert Urich, Ron Perlman, and Anjelica Huston. I watched this many times when I was a kid, and it's held up surprisingly well. Also, "may they all end in thirst" is my new favorite curse.
The Wind That Shakes The Barley - Compelling historical drama set in Northern Ireland in 1920 during and after the revolt. Won the Palme D'or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
Tremors - Everybody's seen this. Except you. You know who you are.
Once Upon A Time In China 2 - Jet Li's best movie, IMO.
Fear of A Black Hat - 'This Is Spinal Tap' applied to old-school rap culture.
Tremors FTW.
Also has the first 2 evening with kevin smiths, which I dig because I'm a loser sometimes
Hook is another treasure of mine.
Plenty of other stuff, too.
Also, Deliverance is on there. There's much more to the movie than...
RETARDEDLY COMMON CULTURAL MEME SPOILER
...and anybody who hasn't seen it ought to.
Seriously, don't be afraid to click the spoiler. You already know it. Trust me. I figured just in case......
So I was having a couple beers the other night while browsing things I could watch instantly. My heart fucking STOPPED when I saw the title and cover art of this one.
Here is a short story.
Christmas eve 2004 I lived at a house with 5 other people. On that night we all got drunk and watched this movie my weird roommate brought in. It was awesome. I could never remember the name of that movie, only it was something about buddy holly with a sword going to take dead elvis' place as the king of las (I find out later is lost) vegas.
That night the house burned down (another story in itself).
So, for essentially 4 years I have been trying to remember this movie, and it is right fucking there. I watched it, and it was everything I remembered, mostly because I was drunk the first time, and this time.
XBL - Follow Freeman
You jive him, he'll wash you away!
Oh, that is queued so hard.
That was basically my gripe with it. I thought the whole character was tired and seen before. I did really enjoy the cinematography for nerd reasons, but I don't think I'd recommend as much as everyone else apparently does.
Wait, is this even a discussion thread? Maybe I should have just left. Sorry. I'll do it now.
Continuing in the same vein, I give you what must be one of the single most absurd movies ever filmed that was not a porno:
Isaac Hayes plays an ex-football player turned bounty hunter fighting pimps on the mean streets of LA. And this is all you need to know. Featuring Yaphet Kotto and Nichelle Nichols, in a film I'd wager both wish they could forget.
It was fucking great. It's not just cheap scares like in some horror movies, there was a genuinely creepy atmosphere and compelling story. I loved what I saw through my half covered eyes.
GFWL: studaud (for SF4)
They also have Shaft, Shaft Goes To Africa, Superfly, and Black Mama, White Mama.
Tremors...you know, speaking of the joy that is Deep Rising...Deep Rising is Tremors at sea. Which is awesome. And I still want Lost to wind up being on the island the other side of which has Treat and Famke. Crossover!
Trouble Man was just added like a motherfucker.
Dead Like Me Season 1 and 2 - cool little dramady TV show about a poor little dead girl...who is now a grim reaper. If you managed to catch the wonderful Wonderfalls or the fantastic Pushing Daisies, it's the same creator and has the same feel.
The Amateurs - a movie about a small town pulling together to make a porno. Before you cry, "Knock off!" this came out well before Zack and Miri. It is also the cleanest and non-nudity filled movie about making a porno ever, which makes it even funnier.
The Office Brit version - So you like the American version? Watch this one to see what all the fuss is about. The American version has become it's own (very great) animal at this point, but the Brit version is still the king of painfully hard to watch comedy. The episodes with Finch have me grinding me teeth in fury. Hooray!
Lethal Weapon: Awesomely fun buddy cop goodness due to Gibson and Glover. Mullet.
Soldier: Slightly underrated SF action flick. The SF isn't very good and the action is merely okay, and there are plenty of cheesy contrivances--but I found Kurt Russell's ultra-laconic misery pretty captivating. Also, cheesy action movies are enjoyable.
The Abyss: As with a fair amount of James Cameron's films, the melodrama and dialogue get truly cringe-worthy at times. The SF elements are barely explored and mostly put in the movie as a plot device, but the action is compelling and I liked the actors. And Cameron's effects are, as always, marvelous.
Dirty Harry: I love Clint Eastwood, so I loved this film, though I can't help but feel that the plot hasn't held up well over time, and that Harry's "bad cop"ness was pretty tame--but then, I'm a 23-year-old whose definitive cop figure is Jack Bauer.
Ghost in the Shell: Turned it off. I've tried this one out before, and dubbed or subbed, I can't stand the dialogue for more than ten minutes. But I'm not an anime fan, so, you know.
Stand By Me: Pre-baby God Wesley Crusher? Tell me it ain't so. A really good, unique film that I liked a lot. It's hard to find decent child actors and even harder to direct them, and Rob Reiner did a fine job of it. Stephen King shines through clearly in this one.
L.A. Confidential: Mmm, crime. I still really like this movie, although I feel the story isn't told very clearly, mainly because I enjoy the presentation, characters, and especially the acting.
Blade Runner: Really captures cyberpunk as it is in literature, and cyberpunk is a lot more compelling to me on the screen than in fictional form, because I can appreciate an overt stylistic approach a lot more in a visual medium than I can in a literary one. There's substance, too, and Harrison Ford in his golden age. That's why this movie is a classic.
Aliens: Still just as fun as the first time I saw it. Again, James Cameron pushes the characters a little over the top, but it's all in good fun and works better here than in The Abyss. Just an all-around blast to watch. It's the only way to be sure.
Absolute Power: Clint Eastwood is still a badass as an old guy. A crime drama that's a bit by-the-numbers, but I still enjoyed it.
I'd recommend Tank Girl for anyone who likes a big dose of weirdness. Season 1 of the Doctor Who revived series too.
> turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.