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The D&D [Instant Watch] Film Society
Thomamelas
Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
Netflix's Instant Watch offers access to a truly staggering number of films. But this choice can sometimes be overwhelming. There are simply so many films from so many genres and periods that finding the good stuff can be intimidating. The D&D [Instant Watch] Film Society is here to help. This Film Series will be ranging from the low brow comedies to the high brow dramas. We'll be offering a sample of films designed to offer some informed choices about the offerings available on Netflix. Each week a forumer will present a movie for your viewing pleasure. These are films they feel passionate about. Some of these films may be in genres, movements or periods you have decided you don't like. I suggest you try them anyway, there are always gems to be found in any kind of movie style. Here are our presenters and the weeks they will be presenting:
Week 1: Bogart, Midnight Run
Week 2: Preacher, Spartan
Week 3: Jacobkosh, Blue Velvet
Week 4: Thomamelas, The Searchers
Week 5: Gim, Play Time
Week 6: Ryadic, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Week 7: Xenogears of Bore, The Love Guru
Week 8: Elki, Sans Soleil
Week 9: JamesKeenan, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Week 10: Drez, Show Me Love
Week 11: Fluffy, Our Beloved Flopsy Bunny Friend, Brick
Week 12: Quid, Red Cliff
Week 13: Thanatos, Falling Down
Each film will be presented on the Monday of each week. If you're interested on being added to the list, then send me a PM with the movie you'd like to add. But understand, I want to see a wall of text. A well written, and thought out wall of text. This should be a film that you care deeply about, one that you can speak for hours about. New Rule. We aren't MST3k, unless we're doing an MST3k episode. If the movie is awful, then it needs to be awful in a good way. Things that are bad in a bad way, leave be.
Now I know that some of you are thinking "Thom, that's great and it helps solve my issue for one film each week. But what do I do the rest of the time"? Well here are some tools that can help you organize what's available on Netflix.
Instant Watcher. Instant Watcher allows you to see movies that users have selected, as well as what's new on Instant Watch. It also lets you sort by Genre, by high Rotten Tomatoes scores, and by films with positive ratings from the NY Times. I have no idea why Netflix doesn't have this functionality but they don't.
Streaming Soon While Instant Watcher focuses on what is available in Netflix, Streaming Soon shows what's coming soon.
Instant Watch Database Instant Watch Database is a search engine for Instant Watch. Designed to let people have detailed searches. For instance if I want to know the list of every Courtroom Drama made between 1950 and 1980 with a PG rating, and staring Gregory Peck, it will give you just such a list.
iPhone/iPad App
Feel free to discuss any general Netflix news as well as movie suggestions in the meantime. If people would like to organize group showings of the films in the series via Xbox Live or Vent, contact me and I can place times in the OP.
For those still wondering what they should watch here are some suggestions:
Action:
Black Dynamite: An homage to the blaxploitation films of the 70's.
Die Hard: The first and best of the series.
Heartbreak Ridge: A tounge in cheek look at the invasion of Grenada with Clint Eastwood.
Drama:
Reguarding Henry: Harrison Ford plays a deeply cold man who is gravely injured in a shooting. As he relearns to walk, his outlook on life changes.
Boyz N the Hood: The story of a young man trying make his way through the streets of LA while growing up. Perhaps one of the finest movies of it's decade.
Cool Hand Luke: Paul Newman played a lot of anti-heroes in his time, but Cool Hand Luke is perhaps one of his finest.
Comedies:
Short Circuit: Robot Johny Five becomes alive due to a freak accident and must run and hide from the defense contractor that wants him back.
Liar, Liar: Jim Carrey's finest role.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: The film adaptation of Tom Stoppard's play looks at Hamlet from the point of view of the two interchangeable messengers.
Television:
Married with Children: The Bundys were the anti-Cosbys.
Top Gear: Three friends fucking about with cars. More then simply a car show. It has some truly beautiful cinematography and a wonderful sense of humor.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Opera.
Indie:
Wings of Desire: Wim Wenders' story about an angel that falls in love with a woman. The first half is intensely depressing, but the second half is as intensely uplifting.
The Brother from Another Planet: Joe Morton plays an escaped alien slave that makes it to Earth. Joe Morton's performance as a mute will make you wonder why the man doesn't get more work.
Broken Flowers: Bill Murry plays a man who learns he has a 19 year old son.
Edit: Jacobkosh's Movie added.
Edit: Ryadic enters the fray.
Edit: Week 7 added, and Gim given proper credit
Edit: Week 8 added, and "We're not MST3k" rule added.
Edit: Week 9 added.
Edit: Links to the films have been added.
Edit: Week 10 added.
Edit: Week 11 added.
Week 1: Bogart, Midnight Run
Week 2: Preacher, Spartan
Week 3: Jacobkosh, Blue Velvet
Week 4: Thomamelas, The Searchers
Week 5: Gim, Play Time
Week 6: Ryadic, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
Week 7: Xenogears of Bore, The Love Guru
Week 8: Elki, Sans Soleil
Week 9: JamesKeenan, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Week 10: Drez, Show Me Love
Week 11: Fluffy, Our Beloved Flopsy Bunny Friend, Brick
Week 12: Quid, Red Cliff
Week 13: Thanatos, Falling Down
Each film will be presented on the Monday of each week. If you're interested on being added to the list, then send me a PM with the movie you'd like to add. But understand, I want to see a wall of text. A well written, and thought out wall of text. This should be a film that you care deeply about, one that you can speak for hours about. New Rule. We aren't MST3k, unless we're doing an MST3k episode. If the movie is awful, then it needs to be awful in a good way. Things that are bad in a bad way, leave be.
Now I know that some of you are thinking "Thom, that's great and it helps solve my issue for one film each week. But what do I do the rest of the time"? Well here are some tools that can help you organize what's available on Netflix.
Instant Watcher. Instant Watcher allows you to see movies that users have selected, as well as what's new on Instant Watch. It also lets you sort by Genre, by high Rotten Tomatoes scores, and by films with positive ratings from the NY Times. I have no idea why Netflix doesn't have this functionality but they don't.
Streaming Soon While Instant Watcher focuses on what is available in Netflix, Streaming Soon shows what's coming soon.
Instant Watch Database Instant Watch Database is a search engine for Instant Watch. Designed to let people have detailed searches. For instance if I want to know the list of every Courtroom Drama made between 1950 and 1980 with a PG rating, and staring Gregory Peck, it will give you just such a list.
iPhone/iPad App
Feel free to discuss any general Netflix news as well as movie suggestions in the meantime. If people would like to organize group showings of the films in the series via Xbox Live or Vent, contact me and I can place times in the OP.
For those still wondering what they should watch here are some suggestions:
Action:
Black Dynamite: An homage to the blaxploitation films of the 70's.
Die Hard: The first and best of the series.
Heartbreak Ridge: A tounge in cheek look at the invasion of Grenada with Clint Eastwood.
Drama:
Reguarding Henry: Harrison Ford plays a deeply cold man who is gravely injured in a shooting. As he relearns to walk, his outlook on life changes.
Boyz N the Hood: The story of a young man trying make his way through the streets of LA while growing up. Perhaps one of the finest movies of it's decade.
Cool Hand Luke: Paul Newman played a lot of anti-heroes in his time, but Cool Hand Luke is perhaps one of his finest.
Comedies:
Short Circuit: Robot Johny Five becomes alive due to a freak accident and must run and hide from the defense contractor that wants him back.
Liar, Liar: Jim Carrey's finest role.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: The film adaptation of Tom Stoppard's play looks at Hamlet from the point of view of the two interchangeable messengers.
Television:
Married with Children: The Bundys were the anti-Cosbys.
Top Gear: Three friends fucking about with cars. More then simply a car show. It has some truly beautiful cinematography and a wonderful sense of humor.
Battlestar Galactica: The Space Opera.
Indie:
Wings of Desire: Wim Wenders' story about an angel that falls in love with a woman. The first half is intensely depressing, but the second half is as intensely uplifting.
The Brother from Another Planet: Joe Morton plays an escaped alien slave that makes it to Earth. Joe Morton's performance as a mute will make you wonder why the man doesn't get more work.
Broken Flowers: Bill Murry plays a man who learns he has a 19 year old son.
Edit: Jacobkosh's Movie added.
Edit: Ryadic enters the fray.
Edit: Week 7 added, and Gim given proper credit
Edit: Week 8 added, and "We're not MST3k" rule added.
Edit: Week 9 added.
Edit: Links to the films have been added.
Edit: Week 10 added.
Edit: Week 11 added.
Thomamelas on
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I was watching The Tick on it tonight and man is it good.
He has surprisingly few films on Instant Watch.
As for suggestions in the meantime. One that I watched recently which probably won't jump out at a lot of people, but I highly recommend seeing, is The Snow Walker. (Netflix synopsis below)
It's a refreshingly simple, subdued story, and for the most part pretty realistic.
That's pretty much exactly my plan.
Also, suggestions from me:
The Man From Earth
Hopscotch
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Serenity
Yojimbo
Seven Samurai
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Memento
Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion
Moon
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Sandlot
The Hudsucker Proxy
The Fugitive
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Iron Man
I think that's good enough for now. I do highly recommend Buckaroo Banzai, though.
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The animated series, not the live action one right?
RIGHT?!
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I didn't see the animated one on Instant Watch, though from having seen it before I know I love it.
I was surprised how good the live action series is.
It was very good but they relegated it to a crap Friday slot
You know what, I'll let you fluff me. In fact, if your write-up is not up before I leave for work, you'll get a message with my email so you could send it to me, and I'll read it there and be ready to watch as soon as I get home, when I'm at my maximum fluffage.
The writeup will almost certainly not be up before you leave for work, and will be done when I get back from work tomorrow.
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No I meant the actual film, Bronson.
Edit: Oh God also an American Ninja 5
I'd rather people waited.
but I need to figure out what
Yayy netflix!
my instant queue currently stands somewhere in the 170's and it gets larger every week.
Also, since most of us are watching netflix through the 360, I'd like to point out that most instant watch movies on the 360 allow a theater style MST3K group experience with party chat. It slightly shrinks the size of the film to make room for the avatars and screen, but if you're on a decent sized LCD it doesn't make a huge difference.
It would be cool to actually start a PA crew movie night where we watch good and shitty movies and discuss/laugh at them.
I'd like to start off by recommending we do this with the Friday the 13th series, which is currently available.
I played around with the idea of doing that, but limits on the Xbox Live party system and the time issues just seemed like it would be a hassle. If you want to set it up, I will gladly put the times in the OP.
There is a lot of stuff on my instant queue that is just "Oh, I'd like to rewatch that sometime." or "That movie sounds awful but maybe I'll be bored one day."
I might be up for a PA Movie Night on my 360.
We had fun just talking while we watched it. It reminded me a lot of college movie nights.
Also, MST3K is available for on demand, so we could actually MST3K MST3K and cause a black hole.
whoaaaa
what if you post about it as you do it and then someone comments on your posts with witty rejoinders?
you can make it so it is just normal screen size, but you have chat enabled, basically. it is one of the buttons, I forget which.
but they're listening to every word I say
Ahhh, well that will solve the problem then.
I'll look through my queue tonight and figure out some times. Maybe Wednesday night?
Midnight Run is my favourite buddy movie and a masterclass in screen chemistry.
This is the trailer.
Very little of that dialogue is actually in the final cut, and that minute and a half itself is pretty unrepresentative of the film. To be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find a minute and a half of the movie where someone isn't shouting "FUCK" at the top of their lungs, so you can kind of understand that. Anyway, Midnight Run isn't the kind of film you can sell on the basis of the plot, or a few clips.
Robert De Niro plays Jack Walsh, an ex-cop kicked off the force by corrupt colleagues, and who now scrapes a living as a bounty hunter dragging in scumbags he used to arrest for the wonderfully low-rent bail bondsman Moscone, played by the incomparably sleazy Joe Pantaliano. Charles Grodin plays Jonathan Mardukis, an accountant who embezzled millions of dollars from mobster Jimmy Serrano and then gave it all to charity before sensibly going on the run. Walsh is sent after Mardukis, and has to get to him from New York to an LA jail before the mob, the FBI, or a rival bounty hunter gets to him first. You will be unsurprised to learn that Mardukis and Walsh are not thrilled with each other's company. And that's the plot. They have chases, gun fights, fist-fights, helicopters attacking them and so on on the way, but all that's besides the point. The reason to watch this film is the pairing of Grodin and De Niro.
It is not, at first sight, an appetising prospect. "From the director who bought you Gigli, and the writer of The Whole Ten Yards, comes a comedy starring that well-known comic genius Robert De Niro, alongside the guy from those movies about a St. Bernard". And since both Robin Wiliams and Cher were once mooted for the role of Mardukis, the film could have been even less enticing. It's certainly true that the film isn't perfect. This isn't a masterpiece of cinema verite, nor is it emblematic of sea-change in the art form; it has almost no ambitions beyond being a buddy movie, some scenes don't work, the direction is often merely workmanlike, and I have difficulty believing that De Niro can kill a helicopter with a handgun.
And yet.
It's been one of my favourite movies for almost twenty years, ever since I first hired it from the tiny VHS video rental place on the way home from school. The chemistry between De Niro and Grodin is one of the best I've ever seen, and is all the more remarkable because it's a chemistry that exists not only between two actors obviously enjoying themselves, but also between the characters they play. Too many buddy movies have their lead pair dynamic revolve around artificial one-liners, knowing winks to the audience and a partnership made up of one cool guy and one comedy doofus. If Midnight Run were made today I'm sure they'd get someone like Steve Carrell to play Mardukis, and he'd be egged on by an eager director to present a neurotic hive of mannerisms and self-conscious schtick, while Walsh would be played by, I dunno, The Rock or Nic Cage, gurning frustration to the camera at every opportunity. Lessons about friendship would no doubt be learned. Instead, we get Grodin and De Niro, and every single exchange they have in the movie seems to spring naturally from the characters they portray: neither has been designated by a scriptwriter as 'the funny one', and neither is guilty of ever trying to force a laugh out of their odd couple dynamic.
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Improvising many of his scenes with Grodin (at one point looking right at the camera and opining "what a pain in the ass this guy is"), the two leads bounce brilliantly off each other (De Niro cites it as one of the movies he most enjoyed making), Grodin constantly nagging De Niro into ulcerating anger. Grodin picks at De Niro every single second they're together, berating his measly tipping, his smoking, his lack of sensitivity and his furious silences. And De Niro responds with some of his best work on the screen, managing to make Walsh both hilarious and poignant, furious and bedraggled, a man clinging to his dignity and his incorruptibility in a business even he admits is "fucking miserable". Brest said later that he would leave the camera running when a scene was done just in case De Niro added a little touch, like the watch, a tic that pays off near the end in an entirely improvised scene in a boxcar.
I said earlier that the movies action scenes are kind of besides the point, but they're still pretty good action scenes.
The supporting cast is also fantastic. Dennis Farina, a real life ex-cop and tough guy, is both chillingly cruel and hilariously pissed off as Jimmy Seranno, the mobster Mardukis ripped off; Yaphet Kotto as Agent Alonso Mosley; Pantaliano as Eddie Moscone, a two faced shyster who would sell his own mother if he could turn a profit on the deal; John Ashton, a thick, unshaven slob who dogs Walsh's tail throughout the movie. The two asshole mobsters Serrano put on Walsh deserve a mention as well, affectionately known by their boss as moron number 1 and moron number 2. They even got Jack Kehoe in to play a role, a sure sign that someone wants quality in every part, no matter how tiny.
There are so many little moments of delight it's tough to pick a favourite. De Niro turning to camera and flashing an FBI badge after filching it from Kotto's pocket; the furrowed brow of Kotto as he surveys the wreckage left by a car chase through the desert that leaves a count of trashed Police cruisers that would not shame a Burt Reynolds movie; "fistophobia". And then there is the swearing. If you've ever seen the film on TV the chances are some fuckwit has dubbed over and cut out most of the incredibly brilliant swearing that goes on in this movie, an act I consider to be artistic vandalism akin to spraying DWAYNE 4 SHARONDA in neon yellow paint on a Carravaggio. This is fifth dan, black belt swearing, of the kind rarely seen outside of The Sopranos or a Martin Scorcese movie. Profanity spews forth from every character as freely and naturally as carbon dioxide is exhaled from the mouths of ordinary mortals. It's wonderful.
As I said earlier, this isn't a masterpiece of cinematic style or a visionary film from an auteur at the top of his game. It's just a buddy movie. But in their exchanges and the hard-earned moments of connection and understanding between the two, De Niro and Grodin manage to engage your senses of empathy and humour at the same time. The film is not an Ibsenesque tragedy, and ends as you probably suspected it would, but the happy ending has been earned by the sterling character work from the its two leads, and rings true. I've seen the film many times, and every time it's been like a reunion with an old friend, clinking a beer together and then settling back into an easy chair to bask in the comforting glow of company you know will neither disappoint nor bore you. It will never start a cult of cinema showings where the audience dress as their favourite characters, and it will not inspire a wave of young film-making Turks to follow in its footsteps.
It is just a buddy movie, after all. Sometimes, that's all you want.
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Excellent stuff, Bogart. I look forward to seeing this film.
I haven't seen Midnight Run in years but I fully plan to rectify that tonight.
My suspension of disbelief was occasionally tested
related to the topic and I'm happy about it