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  1. #1
    Suspended Smokey's Avatar
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    Cool Best of HBO Films.

    I had HBO on and off for last 25 years, and these are some of their [made for HBO] movies that I thought were pretty good and deserve a recognition. And most are available on DVDs. For complete list of HBO movies, Click Here.

    1. Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (1998): Laurence Fishburne star as a an ex convict that try go strait and lead a normal life. But his past life keep hunting him.


    2. Don King: Only in America (1997): This one of my all time favorite. Ving Rhames put in an amazing performance as Don King. And story heavyweights he turned into champs. His talking to the camera is hilarious.


    3. Gotti (1996): The story is slightly weak, but Armand Assante as John Gotti pull it thru. The video quality on DVD is not up to par in this movie.


    4. The Rat Pack (1998): They were Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford and life in the fast lane look like the only way to go. The sound quality on this DVD is first rate.


    5. Truman (1995): Gary Sinise stars as Harry S. Truman, a reluctant president who was faced with very hard choices. Amazing performance by Gary Sinise.


    6. The Cherokee Kid (1998): A young homesteader stumbles his way around the Old West-and becomes a legend-in this comedy-western. With Sinbad and James Coburn.

  2. #2
    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    I would pick...

    AND THE BAND PLAYED ON (1993) w/ Mathew Modine
    CONSPIRACY (2001)
    DEADLY VOYAGE (1996) with Omar Epps
    ELEPHANT (2003) Dir. Gus van Sant
    THE ENEMY WITHIN (1994) Forrest Whitaker
    GOTTI (1996)
    IN PURSUIT OF HONOR (1995) w/ Don Johnson
    INTRODUCING DOROTHY DANDRIDGE w/ Halle Barry
    NORMA JEAN AND MARILYN w/ Mira Sorvino
    ONE MAN's WAR (1991) w/ Anthony Hopkins
    RASPUTIN (1996)
    RKO 281
    61*
    SUGARTIME (1994) w. John Turturro
    THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN w/ Laurence Fishburn and a superb cast
    TRUMAN(1995)

  3. #3
    Suspended Smokey's Avatar
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    Thanks for movie suggestions.

    Some of mentioned movie seem not to be available on DVDs and/nor are schedule to be shown. But one might get lucky and run cross some of them at walmart bargain bin or Blockbuster.

    Also noticed that some of movies are in full screen, especially those before DVD era. But one thing is certain that HBO movies are not short in casting of great actors and actresses.
    Last edited by Smokey; 06-13-2007 at 07:48 PM.

  4. #4
    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    a common theme..

    Quote Originally Posted by Smokey
    Thanks for movie suggestions.

    Some of mentioned movie seem not to be available on DVDs and/nor are schedule to be shown. But one get lucky and run cross some them at walmart bargain bin or Blockbuster.

    Also noticed that some of movies are in full screen, especially those before DVD era. But one thing is certain that HBO movies are not short in casting of great actors and actresses.
    If you take a deep hard look at the entire HBO film collection you can easily see a pattern begin to emerge. Most of the films seem to be based on historical events that are semi-familiar, but are not mainstream enough for a Hollywood big-budget production, i.e. RASPUTIN comes to mind. Also, they tend to make movies around strong political views or things like Race, Religion, etc. Often times what is appealing though is that they take lesser known stories (yet great stories) and just let that unfold with some good actors and with a restricted budget. This is probably why people enjoy them, even if it's on a smaller scale.

  5. #5
    Can a crooner get a gig? dean_martin's Avatar
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    I didn't realize American Splendor was an HBO Film. I liked it but I don't know whether that's because I was already a fan of the documentary "Crumb."

    Speaking of documentaries, one of the best I've seen came from HBO's America Undercover series. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. It's captivating. At first I was outraged at the "injustice" that is being depicted, but after things began to sink in I realized how active the filmmakers were in the telling of the story which seems a little suspicious. Anyhow, it's a powerful story and was quite polarizing in its time.

    The Hitcher (1986) is one of my all-time faves for pure entertainment from back in my early college days. Try this: Everybody drinks each time C. Thomas Howell's character upchucks.

  6. #6
    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dean_martin
    I didn't realize American Splendor was an HBO Film. I liked it but I don't know whether that's because I was already a fan of the documentary "Crumb."

    Speaking of documentaries, one of the best I've seen came from HBO's America Undercover series. Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. It's captivating. At first I was outraged at the "injustice" that is being depicted, but after things began to sink in I realized how active the filmmakers were in the telling of the story which seems a little suspicious. Anyhow, it's a powerful story and was quite polarizing in its time.

    The Hitcher (1986) is one of my all-time faves for pure entertainment from back in my early college days. Try this: Everybody drinks each time C. Thomas Howell's character upchucks.
    I completely agree with you on the PARADISE LOST documentary. It's on DVD and the music by Metallica helps for sure. I remember watching it and initially thinking that the boys "did it", then further into it I remember thinking that it all didn't seem to add up. There was also a follow-up made called ...PARADISE LOST 2: REVELATIONS, which I have also seen from 4 years later and basically focuses on the boys life in prison and the parents coping from both sides of the issue. It's equally strong and goes to show you how successful the first film was and how engaging that people wanted to know more even a few years later. I am still not convinced the the boys in jail are the ones that did it, in fact it's a messy situation all the way around. I don't know that they are 100% innocent either. To me, the father John Byers is such a kookie guy that he probably did it, most of the evidence points to him, but I suppose it's easier to believe that a bunch of metalhead, potsmoking, devilworshipping friends did it instead of the father. I suppose.

  7. #7
    Sgt. At Arms Worf101's Avatar
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    Errrr..

    Award Winners.

    "Lackwanna Blues"

    "Something the Lord Made"

    "Warm Springs

    The Gathering Storm

    "The Tuskegee Airmen

    My Faves.

    Da Worfster

  8. #8
    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Worf101
    Award Winners.

    "Lackwanna Blues"

    "Something the Lord Made"

    "Warm Springs

    The Gathering Storm

    "The Tuskegee Airmen

    My Faves.

    Da Worfster
    Unfortunately I haven't had HBO is about 5 years and have missed some of these. Although I heard great things from them.

  9. #9
    Can a crooner get a gig? dean_martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeruvianSkies
    To me, the father John Byers is such a kookie guy that he probably did it, most of the evidence points to him, but I suppose it's easier to believe that a bunch of metalhead, potsmoking, devilworshipping friends did it instead of the father. I suppose.
    Byers was/is the step-father of one of the murdered boys. My earlier comment about the filmmakers taking an active role in the story stems from their relationship with Byers. I remember that the filmmakers accepted a knife as a gift from Byers (in the interest of maintaining objectivity, they probably shouldn't have accepted "gifts") which had a blade similar to the blade allegedly used on the boys. The filmmakers turned the knife over to the authorities or the defense lawyers, I can't remember which. I also think the filmmakers may have egged on Byers's on-camera "kookiness". Yeah, Byers came across as someone who should have been a suspect, but I've wondered whether the filmmakers intentionally depicted him that way, i.e., set him up to exaggerate his actions on camera, took advantage of his kookiness, etc. Still, that's a totally different issue from whether there was enough evidence to convict those teens. Along those lines, even though there was almost no physical evidence linking the teens to the murders, I think the significance of the confessions of 2 of the 3 teens, one of which was recanted, was downplayed by the filmmakers. I think it's interesting that you and I went in opposite directions on their guilt. I didn't think they did it at first, then after thinking about it for several days I began to think they probably did do it. I haven't watched this in several years. I have a VHS copy, but will eventually get it on dvd. As for the follow-up, I was really expecting some "revelations" like new evidence linking someone else to the crime or a confession from Byers but those types of "revelations" were missing. I guess that was just too much to hope for from a non-fiction story.

  10. #10
    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dean_martin
    Byers was/is the step-father of one of the murdered boys. My earlier comment about the filmmakers taking an active role in the story stems from their relationship with Byers. I remember that the filmmakers accepted a knife as a gift from Byers (in the interest of maintaining objectivity, they probably shouldn't have accepted "gifts") which had a blade similar to the blade allegedly used on the boys. The filmmakers turned the knife over to the authorities or the defense lawyers, I can't remember which. I also think the filmmakers may have egged on Byers's on-camera "kookiness". Yeah, Byers came across as someone who should have been a suspect, but I've wondered whether the filmmakers intentionally depicted him that way, i.e., set him up to exaggerate his actions on camera, took advantage of his kookiness, etc. Still, that's a totally different issue from whether there was enough evidence to convict those teens. Along those lines, even though there was almost no physical evidence linking the teens to the murders, I think the significance of the confessions of 2 of the 3 teens, one of which was recanted, was downplayed by the filmmakers. I think it's interesting that you and I went in opposite directions on their guilt. I didn't think they did it at first, then after thinking about it for several days I began to think they probably did do it. I haven't watched this in several years. I have a VHS copy, but will eventually get it on dvd. As for the follow-up, I was really expecting some "revelations" like new evidence linking someone else to the crime or a confession from Byers but those types of "revelations" were missing. I guess that was just too much to hope for from a non-fiction story.
    2 Questions:

    Do you know when Echols is suppose to receive lethal injection?

    Do you know what happened to the third movie that they were suppose to make or release in 2007? It seems that isn't going to happen now and I didn't know if it either was pushed back or eliminated altogether.

  11. #11
    Suspended Smokey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeruvianSkies
    If you take a deep hard look at the entire HBO film collection you can easily see a pattern begin to emerge. Most of the films seem to be based on historical events that are semi-familiar, but are not mainstream enough for a Hollywood big-budget production, i.e. RASPUTIN comes to mind. Also, they tend to make movies around strong political views or things like Race, Religion, etc. Often times what is appealing though is that they take lesser known stories (yet great stories) and just let that unfold with some good actors and with a restricted budget.
    After thinking about it, you are absolutely right. I never thought about it that way. And they do good job at it. And as dean_martin said, their documentaries had a good point such as under cover series are captivating also.

    I couldn’t find it in their catalog, but in 90's HBO show a documentary about drug addicts that stole from store to get their fix. The camera went to stores with them and showed how those guys filled couple of big bag full of merchandise, and walked out of store unnoticed. It took alot of nerves.

  12. #12
    Can a crooner get a gig? dean_martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeruvianSkies
    2 Questions:

    Do you know when Echols is suppose to receive lethal injection?

    Do you know what happened to the third movie that they were suppose to make or release in 2007? It seems that isn't going to happen now and I didn't know if it either was pushed back or eliminated altogether.
    I don't know the answer to either of those questions. I did not hear about a third movie, but I haven't thought about these films in a long time. Smokey jogged my memory with his post. (Sorry it took a couple of days to follow up, PS. I went out of town for a couple of days with the family right after my last post. I thought I would have internet access, but didn't.)

  13. #13
    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dean_martin
    I don't know the answer to either of those questions. I did not hear about a third movie, but I haven't thought about these films in a long time. Smokey jogged my memory with his post. (Sorry it took a couple of days to follow up, PS. I went out of town for a couple of days with the family right after my last post. I thought I would have internet access, but didn't.)
    I did about an hour of research and found very little. There was a forum from a few years back (maybe around 2002/2003) that talked a little bit about a third film being released sometime in 2007, simply called: PARADISE LOST 3 or perhaps PARADISE LOST: REVELATIONS 2. Nothing concrete. Then, nothing appeared since then, there is also no mention on imdb about it either, and it was suppose to be from the same guys who did the previous 2 films. My guess is that either A. nothing really changed much since then and it would be too similar to the second film or B. they were unable to get financial backing again since the second film didn't really do as well as the first one. These are not the easiest films to finance as they are usually hit or miss, especially for a third time.

    I always felt that there was a huge amount of interest in this story, but much has changed in the past 7 years in other ways. Nowadays there is more stuff on TV like CourtTV and other similar shows devoted to killers and such that people sorta 'move on' after awhile with a certain case. As far as the lethal injection goes, there is also no date on that either, Eckels has a life sentence, which is wife (who he married while in prison) has been writing books and they both have been publishing many accounts since then on the case, but there is never any mention as to his date for lethal injection. Again, there was a thread from a forum that said he will probably die within 2 years, but this was from 2000/2001 and he is still alive today, so that must have been appealed.

    If you go to the cases website there are all sorts of events and news posted there, but nothing about the lethal injection.

  14. #14
    Sgt. At Arms Worf101's Avatar
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    On documentaries...

    There've been a couple of HBO documentaries that I thought "blurred the line" if not outright crossed the line. The one that stands out most in my mind was a documentary they did on Street Drug use. They followed about 4 people over about 5 years and their battles with drugs. One scene a guys down and out, having lost everything and he shoots up for the last time on camera, I KNOW they got him that fix and they lovingly filmed him killing himself (figuratively) the whole time. I fest uneasy and a little dirty after watching that.

    Da Worfster

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    Suspended Smokey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Worf101
    They followed about 4 people over about 5 years and their battles with drugs. One scene a guys down and out, having lost everything and he shoots up for the last time on camera, I KNOW they got him that fix and they lovingly filmed him killing himself (figuratively) the whole time. I fest uneasy and a little dirty after watching that.

    Da Worfster
    That is the same documentary I was referring to. Those four guys were the same ones that went to stores and came out with big bag of merchandise, unnoticed.

    I also remember the scene where they gave him his fix and filming him as he was passing out by an abandoned building. The bypasser who was watching made a comment that pretty soon, his body will turn up in one of these buildings.

  16. #16
    Can a crooner get a gig? dean_martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Worf101
    There've been a couple of HBO documentaries that I thought "blurred the line" if not outright crossed the line. The one that stands out most in my mind was a documentary they did on Street Drug use. They followed about 4 people over about 5 years and their battles with drugs. One scene a guys down and out, having lost everything and he shoots up for the last time on camera, I KNOW they got him that fix and they lovingly filmed him killing himself (figuratively) the whole time. I fest uneasy and a little dirty after watching that.

    Da Worfster
    That could be the influence of "reality" shows on documentaries. I guess in some circles the definition of documentary is being re-written to allow manipulation of subjects for dramatic effect and thus higher ratings which leads to mo'money. I knew those damn reality tv shows were no good!

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    Suspended PeruvianSkies's Avatar
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    on documentaries...

    Subjective, objective, biased, unbiased, and the reality is that from the moment you begin to hold the camera up to you eye and choose what goes inside the frame, you are already creating something that is including and excluding information. Therefore, it's impossible to make a documentary that shows everything in a highly unbiased fashion. There will always be more sides to any story and there is no way to truly understand or comprehend the full facet of that, but effective documentaries acknowledge that aspect and instead choose to narrow the focus down and pintpoint only a few things, but are certainly not claiming to disregard the other pieces that make up the pie. Every documentary has a slant, an angle, an agenda, a purpose and it's trying to accomplish just that.

  18. #18
    Can a crooner get a gig? dean_martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeruvianSkies
    Subjective, objective, biased, unbiased, and the reality is that from the moment you begin to hold the camera up to you eye and choose what goes inside the frame, you are already creating something that is including and excluding information. Therefore, it's impossible to make a documentary that shows everything in a highly unbiased fashion. There will always be more sides to any story and there is no way to truly understand or comprehend the full facet of that, but effective documentaries acknowledge that aspect and instead choose to narrow the focus down and pintpoint only a few things, but are certainly not claiming to disregard the other pieces that make up the pie. Every documentary has a slant, an angle, an agenda, a purpose and it's trying to accomplish just that.
    Sure. But presenting only the facts and inferences from the facts that support your agenda, position, argument or purpose is different from actively making or creating the facts. Getting the junkie his last fix ain't a depiction of the junkie. It's a depiction of the filmmaker helping the junkie OD, which, if anybody gave a damn, would be criminal in some jurisdictions. (Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the junkie in the scene you just watched would have eventually OD'ed without HBO's intervention. You must understand that the filmmakers had been working on this project for five years, were almost out of money and had to get this project to editing at that point in time to meet their production schedule. It was necessary to conclude the story. They can't be guilty. Look at how many awards they won.)

  19. #19
    Kam
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    filet - o - fish Kam's Avatar
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    i'd add The Life and Death of Peter Sellers to the list as well.
    /create

  20. #20
    Sgt. At Arms Worf101's Avatar
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    Hear, hear!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by dean_martin
    Sure. But presenting only the facts and inferences from the facts that support your agenda, position, argument or purpose is different from actively making or creating the facts. Getting the junkie his last fix ain't a depiction of the junkie. It's a depiction of the filmmaker helping the junkie OD, which, if anybody gave a damn, would be criminal in some jurisdictions. (Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the junkie in the scene you just watched would have eventually OD'ed without HBO's intervention. You must understand that the filmmakers had been working on this project for five years, were almost out of money and had to get this project to editing at that point in time to meet their production schedule. It was necessary to conclude the story. They can't be guilty. Look at how many awards they won.)
    Couldn't of said it any better. Yeah there are lines and then there are LINES! Filming one side of the drug trade is one thing, providing the drugs then filming their use is another thing altogether. What's next cutting break lines to get accident footage?

    Da Worfster

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