Movie recommendations?

To rent, that is. I'm not a big movie watcher, but I think this is going to be a good weekend for it (rainy). I really like movies that are a bit off the beaten path. For example I thought Run Lola Run and Memento were both great. It can be any kind of movie (drama, comedy, action, etc.).

So, what's good?

TIA

I don't rent a lot of movies either, the last one was "Miracle", which was quite good. Now, remember this is coming from a Canadian hockey nut, who remembers the event vividly. But it's the first "hockey" movie I've seen that has realistic hockey scenes. Not exactly off the beaten path, though.

Weird little movies:

Henry Foole
The Zero Effect
Adaptation
The Cooler
Spellbound (the recent spelling bee doc, not the Hitch movie)
Slaughterhouse 5
Ghost World
Night on Earth

Been renting the 1st season of The Sopranos. Pretty good, if a bit soapy.

Go to the movies page here and look at the top 20 thread. Tons of great stuff listed there.

http://forums.audioreview.com/favorite-films/heres-top-twenty-list-films-4762.html

Don't know if you're into Anime, but Spirited Away was worth watching repeatedly -- so much so, I bought it. Excellent, excellent movie. Watch the dub first.

Equilibrium was great fun -- weird combination of action and drama and 1984-ish Orwellian future sci-fi. Put the Matrix comparisons completely out of your mind, it's nothing like the Matrix.

Have you ever seen Pink Floyd's The Wall? A visual feast.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 recently came out on DVD -- if you like martial arts movies, this is a must-see.

187 and Out of Sight are a couple others that come to mind.

Oh, and Go was another pretty good example of "sideways" storytelling, though Run Lola Run was better (and more unique). Plus, it gives most of the cast of Dawson's Creek the chance to say the f-word and the s-word.

Oh, yeah, good call on Adaptation there, Troy -- definitely off the beaten path.

Good call on Spirited Away. it was the best reviewed movie of 2002.

Kill Bill was a blast.

Punch Drunk Love was a real surprise too. I would have never thought that Adam Sandler could be tollerable. It was the director that made it good, I guess. See Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia too.

If you liked the unpredictability of Run Lola Runa and Memento, run, don't walk, to rent

The Salton Sea (some parts hard to take but ulitmately worthwhile) and

Go.

True Romance. How good did Patricia Arquette look in this flick? Very very good. Stars Slater, Hopper, Walken, Sizemore, Kilmer, S. Jackson, Pitt, Gandolfini, Pinchot, Oldman, and many others. Written by Tarrantino, Directed by Tony Scott, very violent with loads of black humor.

For a good music/romance movie, I'd recommend a goofy John Cusack flick, High Fidelity. Great sondtrack. Jack Black steals every scene he comes near.

For a hi energy flick, with some different, but good music, Bend It Like Beckham delivers.

Thanks for the recommendations, guys. Some of those movies look pretty interesting, and some I've even heard of. I'll see what I can find.

I have seen Kill Bill Vol. 1 and thought it was great. Oh, and I've seen Ghost World too, and thought it was pretty good. Lately, it seems like I'm watching stuff like Toy Story (1 and 2), Finding Nemo, Shrek (1 and 2), Ice Age, Monsters Inc., etc, -- some of them many times. (Got an idea of who I'm watching movies with?)

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The Godfather, Part 2
A Clockwork Orange
A Day at the Races
Raising Arizona
Dr. Strangelove
Do The Right Thing
Schindlers List
Goodfellas
Fargo

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Mark, I've seen all of these and enjoyed them all. I'm a big fan of the Godfather trilogy and Goodfellas. Dr. Strangelove is probably one of my faves of all time too. Just a classic.

What is The Party? It's on both Mark's and Troy's lists, but I'm not sure I've even heard of it.

My gf has never seen the likes of Usual Suspects, L.A. Confidential, or The Princess Bride (all of which someone was telling her about), so I'm guessing I'll be seeing all of those again soon. I have 5 or 6 early Hitchcock DVDs lying around that I haven't watched either. Decisions, decisions.

The Party? the hilarious Peter Sellers screamer (I say that in a good way). "Birdie Num Nums Birdie Num Nums" and "Howdy Pardner"?

if theres such a genre as understated farcical slapstick, this is it. A blake Edwards gem. Not as good as S.O.B. but still good despite AMG's **1/2.

SPOILER_____VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV______

Untalented extra accidentally destroys gazillion dollar set, gets fired by producer, and then inadvertently asked to the producer's big party and totally wrecks it. Paucity of dialogue. Carol Wayne = yummy

And of course, if we're talking about Adaptation, it would only be fair to mention it's even more bizarre predecessor...Being John Malkovich. If you like strange, than Being John Malkovich should suit your taste nicely.

My hubby and I also lean to the off-the-beaten-path when we pick movies. Here are a few recs that your local rental store should have....

Magnolia - outstanding cast. Even Tom Cruise was good.
Vanilla Sky - speaking of Tom Cruise, I'm not a fan of his, but this was a pretty good flick if you can get past the Tom Cruise/Penelope Cruz thing.
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover - it doesn't get much weirder than this
Avalon - a little known gem. Written and directed by Barry Levinson and one of his best IMHO. A nice little time piece about immigrants trying to make a life in the US.
The Talented Mr. Ripley - I thought I would hate this movie. I ended up loving it.
12 Monkeys - Brad Pitt proves he can actually act.


We're big Nicholas Cage fans. So I would also recommend...
Leaving Las Vegas - He deserved his Oscar for this one. Outstanding.
Wild at Heart - a David Lynch film, need I say more. Also starring Laura Dern. Willem Dafoe and Crispin Glover are also both it it. That's gotta hike the weirdness factor up a bit.

Well, that should keep you going for a while. I'd love to hear what you end up with and your thoughts. I'm always looking for good movie recs.

Wow, lots of good ones mentioned so far. I don't get a chance to watch that many, but I'll throw out five, some of which have already been mentioned by yourself and others

Memento
The Usual Suspects
Ghost in the Shell
Predator
Donnie Darko

Also a big 3rd or 4th on The Party. What a classic. Peter Sellers was brilliant in it. I've been meaning to rent a copy of <i>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</i>. Haven't seen it in ages and always loved that one. If you still do VHS, there's a couple Wim Wenders films that I love that still haven't made it to DVD in our backwoods USA. <i>Paris, Texas</i> with that moody Ry Cooder soundtrack and excellent performances by Harry Dean Stanton and Nastassja Kinski. And <i>Until The End Of The World</i> with great performances by Sam Neill, William Hurt and, in particular, Solveig Dommartin. Not a big Hurt fan but loved him in this one. Movie is kind of a convoluted tale that might require a couple viewings, but really cool cinematography and a pretty nice soundtrack too. I just like the feel of this movie a lot.

PS: and if you like Joe Pantoliano in Memento, another cool movie from back in the mid 90s was <i>Bound</i>, and not just because of the steamy love scenes between Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon http://members.mailaka.net/davey/tongue.gif

I love movies but never get to watch what I want. I watch a lot of Lilo & Stitch, Dora the Explorer, etc. too.

But I love those Naked Gun movies, ALIEN, ALIENS, Terminator, and most Hitchcock flicks.

I hear The Ring is a great horror flick.

Dave

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Originally Posted by dld

The Party? the hilarious Peter Sellers screamer (I say that in a good way). "Birdie Num Nums Birdie Num Nums" and "Howdy Pardner"?

if theres such a genre as understated farcical slapstick, this is it. A blake Edwards gem. Not as good as S.O.B. but still good despite AMG's **1/2.

SPOILER_____VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV______

Untalented extra accidentally destroys gazillion dollar set, gets fired by producer, and then inadvertently asked to the producer's big party and totally wrecks it. Paucity of dialogue. Carol Wayne = yummy

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I guess I don't know who Carol Wayne is, or don't remember what she did in The Party. IIRC, Claudine Longet was Sellars' love interest, and she was yummy indeed. Of course, that was before she developed a penchant for using ski bums for target practice..............at any rate, damn funny movie. And the psychedelic ending with the elephant in the pool and all is a great period piece. And while we're waxing nostalgic along these lines, nobody mentioned The Magic Christian????

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Originally Posted by Stone

To rent, that is. I'm not a big movie watcher, but I think this is going to be a good weekend for it (rainy). I really like movies that are a bit off the beaten path. For example I thought Run Lola Run and Memento were both great. It can be any kind of movie (drama, comedy, action, etc.).

So, what's good?

TIA

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and listen to this moron. Get "Lost in Translation", a most excellent recent release starring Bill Murry for which he received and Oscar nomination for best actor. It's a real hoot and one I will watch many more times.

Swishy

[QUOTE=tentoze]I guess I don't know who Carol Wayne is, or don't remember what she did in The Party. QUOTE]

Carol Wayne was the prototypical DBHLBB
Ditzy Big Haired Large Breasted Blonde. Serial number 00003 (I believe Monroe and Mansfield were 00001 & 00002 respectively)

In the movie I believe she may have been the cowboy movie actor's date or if not, she was a guest at the dinner table for sure.

Was a semi regular on Carson many years ago.

[QUOTE=dld]

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Originally Posted by tentoze

I guess I don't know who Carol Wayne is, or don't remember what she did in The Party. QUOTE]

Carol Wayne was the prototypical DBHLBB
Ditzy Big Haired Large Breasted Blonde. Serial number 00003 (I believe Monroe and Mansfield were 00001 & 00002 respectively)

In the movie I believe she may have been the cowboy movie actor's date or if not, she was a guest at the dinner table for sure.

Was a semi regular on Carson many years ago.

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Seems familiar, but the ski-bum killer was droolingly fine..................

You know, I almost went back and added 12 Monkeys. Yet another good call.

If you have to watch some kid movies, Spirited Away definitely qualifies (there's nothing that can't be seen in it, unlike, for example, Blood, or Mezzo Forte, or Kite...). Also, the classic, Jungle Book, and the contemporary instant classic, Emperor's New Groove. The anime Metropolis is also pretty safe...I think...you may want confirmation on that...I'm not remembering anything that can't be seen by kids...it's wonderful eye-candy, highly stylized...(EDIT: seems Troy confirms below that it's pretty safe.)

I'm embarassed to say that I actually watch those without a kid around to justify it.

Alright, not really (embarassed, that is). They're good movies.

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Originally Posted by Stone

To rent, that is. I'm not a big movie watcher, but I think this is going to be a good weekend for it (rainy). I really like movies that are a bit off the beaten path. For example I thought Run Lola Run and Memento were both great. It can be any kind of movie (drama, comedy, action, etc.).

So, what's good?

TIA

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In case you missed 'em:

Office Space: a good quirky comedy
Fight Club: I did not expect to like this one, but afterward thought it was excellent

P.S. put the kid to bed before either of these

The anime Metropolis is really good. I love the use of big band jazz in it. The color pallet is remarkable.

I don't have any qualms about watching it without kids.

Slightly violent (a fairly graphic assassination), but not much worse than other kid flicks.

Personally, I don't see it at as a little kids movie tho. Maybe smart 8 or 9 year olds.

Office Space= 5 stars. Should be in the documentary section. I LIVED that job. It's why I work for myself now.

The Party is probably Sellars best work. He's SO damn funny in this thing and it has a great swingin' 60s vibe that's REAL, unlike the forced 60s feel of the Austin Powers movies or "Catch me if you can". Claudine Longet is nauseating with her French babydoll manner, but the rest of it is a slapstick riot.

Some very good films of recent years that many people missed

The War Zone
Margaret's Museum
Felicia's Journey
waydowntown
Spider
Emporte Moi(Set Me Free)
Maelstrom
Blue, Blanc, Rouge(Three Colours)
Run Lola Run
The Nasty Girl

Some extremely enjoyable films that many have missed
High Fidelity
Talk to Her
Swingers
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
The Producers
Slap Shot
Young Frankenstein

Some great films:

Schindler's List
Clockwork Orange
2001: A Space Oddysey
Pulp Fiction
Goodfellas
JFK
Leaving Las Vegas
American Beauty
The Shawshank Redemption
Quiz Show
The Third Man
The Seven Samurai
Le Grande Illusion
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jaws
E.T.
The Last Seduction
Monster's Ball
Monster
Sling Blade
Dawn of the Dead(1979)
Strange Days
The English Patient
Laurence of Arabia
Dr. Strangelove
Walkabout
Rabbit Proof Fence
Gods and Monsters
Shakespeare in Love
Saving Private Ryan
Wall Street
Platoon
Born on the Fourth of July
Amadeus
Death of a Salesman(Malkovich/Hoffman version)

And heck why not try Ebert's greatest list - I still don't get the love for 81/2 but whatever. http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/greatmovies/

Ohh and if you have the time:

I, Claudius (Mini series ~13 hours)

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Originally Posted by RGA

Some very good films of recent years that many people missed


I, Claudius (Mini series ~13 hours)

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Wow, you dont often hear I Claudius recommendations. Damn, that was in the pre cable days and was prolly the only reasoin we watched it, nothing else on. And that was a good thing. Absolutely tremendous, riveting series. I think I'd put it down, along with Lonesome Dove and Shogun, as the best mini series ever and also give it a hearty recommendation.

****, Joe Bob say check it out!! .

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Originally Posted by ForeverAutumn

Wild at Heart - a David Lynch film, need I say more. Also starring Laura Dern. Willem Dafoe and Crispin Glover are also both it it. That's gotta hike the weirdness factor up a bit.

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Have you seen RIVER'S EDGE? Also stars Crispin Glover.. w/ Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper in one of his best rolls.. the werido "Feck"

This of course, brings me to mention my favorite Dennis Hopper performance, David Lynch's film BLUE VELVET. His portrayal of psycho Frank Booth is just amazing. If you dig WILD AT HEART, this one is a must-see also. Also stars Laura Dern (again, Lynch must like her, Kyle McLachlan, Dean Stockwell and Isabella Rossellini.

I'll toss in one of my favorite movies, and the first DVD I bought.. HEAT, starring De Niro (master theif) and Pacino (veteran cop). Some great system-testing explosions and gunfire in this one. Also, guy who plays the president on 24 plays a getaway driver. Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore and Ashley Judd also star.

NP: Amorphis ELEGY.. actually, this one is pretty decent.. technical metal, sort of in the vein of Iron Maiden, but with a little more synth flourish and a little more cruch. Has about half and half clean/growl vocals. Really enjoying this one this morning.

-jar

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Originally Posted by -Jar-

Have you seen RIVER'S EDGE? Also stars Crispin Glover.. w/ Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper in one of his best rolls.. the werido "Feck"

This of course, brings me to mention my favorite Dennis Hopper performance, David Lynch's film BLUE VELVET. His portrayal of psycho Frank Booth is just amazing. If you dig WILD AT HEART, this one is a must-see also. Also stars Laura Dern (again, Lynch must like her, Kyle McLachlan, Dean Stockwell and Isabella Rossellini.

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Wild At Heart was the movie that my husband took me to on our first date. Not your typical first date movie. I knew right then that he was the guy for me. :D

After Wild At Heart, we had to rent Blue Velvet since I hadn't seen it. Since then, I've watched it several times. An excellent film. That was my first introduction to how creepy Dennis Hopper could be.

Which, of course, led him to rent River's Edge for me, as I hadn't seen that one either. More creepy Hopper.

Last night we watched Mulholland Drive on TV. I was glued to the set for the full three hours (with commercials) and at the end said, "WTF? I don't get it". That one was beyond David Lynch's usual weirdness and into what was the point territory. I like strange movies, but in the end the plot still needs to make sense. It seemed to me that he totally abandoned the plot in this one. Too much of it just didn't have any rhyme or reason. Any one else see this one?

[QUOTE=ForeverAutumn]That was my first introduction to how creepy Dennis Hopper could be.

Which, of course, led him to rent River's Edge for me, as I hadn't seen that one either. More creepy Hopper.

QUOTE]

Wild At Heart on yer first date? Wow! What a great flick.
For another creepy, not often seen Hopper/Cage movie, ya gotta get Red Rocks West. Nicolas Cage, Hopper, that skinny chick from Twin Peaks who was (is?) Jack Niocholson's girlfriend, and one mean ass sheriff makes for a good flick.

I've seen River's Edge but can't remember it.

Okay, so here's what I rented over the weekend:

Spirited Away - I watched this with my son and we both loved it. And I like that fact that he could watch it as they had the dialogue dubbed over in English. This is a Japanese animated fantasy, but not what I think of when I typically think of anime. It has a great story about a little girl who is separated from her parents and ends up in a completely different world. Great recommendation.

Go - Well, it was between this and The Party (I'll rent that next time), and I decided to pick Go. Turns out I had already seen this (or at least most of it). I liked this, but didn't love it. It reminds me somewhat of a Tarantino flick the way it was pieced together, but I thought at times it was pretty predictable. It definitely had some great moments, though.

Stone

My wife & daughter were out of town for the weekend, so I rented and watched the following DVDs:

Matchstick Men - Story of a couple of professional con men, one of whom (Nicholas Cage) is severely OCD. Into his life comes his long-lost 14-year-old daughter. Plot twists ensue. This was actually far better than I expected. Ridley Scott always does a good job. Worth renting.

The Cooler - Interesting look at life in Vegas, and a touching tale of unexpected love. William H. Macy, Maria Bello and Alec Baldwin are all excellent (especially Baldwin). Good movie, well worth renting.

21 Grams - Probably the winner of this film fest, but be advised. It ain't the feel-good hit of the summer. It's about heartbreak, sorrow, missed opportunities, and mortality. Top-notch acting, especially from Naomi Watts and Benicio del Toro. Worth renting, if you feel like you can take it.

Swimming Pool - Pretentious euro-crap, with a "twist" ending that's supposed to make you re-think everything. Don't bother. It needed more quality sex. But then, don't we all?