The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please)

mayankk · 17th September 2016, 14:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

For all who think Interstellar is confusing, please watch Mulholland Drive.

You should watch Predestination, if you haven't already.
I was trying to explain it to my wife yesterday, and accidentally pulled my brains out of my armpit!

srvm · 17th September 2016, 14:51

Loved the discussion on Nolan movies. I'm not going to add more here.

But I thought if someone is interested in movies made for intelligent audience then the 'Back to the future' trilogy from the 80s is a brilliant example. Directed by Robert Zemeckis (of Forrest Gump etc. fame)
Very light-hearted take on time-travel and related issues with a lot of Easter eggs thrown in for the intelligent and observant movie-goer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

.........
P.s. Thanks for the 'Following' headsup. Got any more suggestions?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dark.knight

............
I've a very limited choice.. I've almost entirely stopped watching mainstream cinema for now. Action, horror, comedy etc all stopped. I've just been watching intelligent, horizon-expanding cinema for the past couple of years now.. Locke is a good movie, Will Smiths iRobot will always be a favourite, Camp X-ray is a brilliant movie.. best movie made post 2010's I'll dare to say yet I'm willing to bet that less than 2% of the public would've heard of it, Moneyball was a good movie as was Rescue Dawn and The Machinist. Plenty of good cinema to be found.. just not the ones shown on Indian t.v.

Eddy · 17th September 2016, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankk

You should watch Predestination, if you haven't already.
I was trying to explain it to my wife yesterday, and accidentally pulled my brains out of my armpit!

Predestination is lovely

But please do see Mulhollad Drive (without your wife). It's in a different league altogether.

The movie had such a profound effect on me that I was terrified to watch Interstellar and Inception.

Eddy · 19th September 2016, 10:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

Eagerly awaiting first hand reviews of "Robinson Crusoe". I am hoping it will be a good watch for my 5 year old.

Please avoid

I saw the movie with my kid. Although she enjoyed the 3D effects, the storyline is too boring to keep a 5 year old hooked, let alone adults.

The movie was a drag.

Robinson Crusoe = 2 Stars: Only because my daughter wanted to watch a "Shipwreck" movie & for the 3D effects.

PGNarain · 19th September 2016, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by srvm

Loved the discussion on Nolan movies. I'm not going to add more here...

Been going through this thread for some time and felt like adding that of all the Nolan movies being discussed, it is surprising that no one has bought up Momento. It was Nolan's first main stream hollywood movie and also the first movie for which he recd his first Academy nomination (for screenplay).

Any Nolan fan /anti-fan must watch this movie for it brilliant screenplay and writing by Chris Nolan and his brother. The movie went onto to inspire domestic remakes by Tollywood and Bollywood as well.

asingh1977 · 19th September 2016, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

For all who think Interstellar is confusing, please watch Mulholland Drive.

Mulholland Drive, is in a league of its own to be honest. I watched it with some friends, and they were not that happy that I made them watch it. Specially when some of the adventurous scenes happened. Or when they actually realized the true plot of the movie. Some were quite disgusted. It is confusing also. Interstellar, is just techie confusing. Anyone who can keep track of technical (read: to be looked as scientific) jargon, can pretty much understand it.

YashD · 22nd September 2016, 07:11

The movie cropped up in a conversation with a close friend who recommended me to watch it simply because of it's storyline.

In Time (2011) - Live forever or die trying! The concept is really unique.

Unfortunately, I felt the star cast to be extremely weak, Justin Timberlake simply couldn't pull off the tough guy character and the lack of chemistry between the two leads made things worse.The script had a lot of potential but wasn't well executed, would have loved to see more character development.

What I liked about the movie was how much it made me think, the muscle car use in the futuristic era was a cool touch but the car chase scene was a huge let down! It felt like the actors are driving at 5 kmph.

The special effects too are below average but then again I will recommend you to watch it once simply because of it's fantastic storyline. I would love to watch a prequel of the flick understanding the concept behind how people have stopped aging.

My Rating: 6.5/10

pratyush6 · 22nd September 2016, 08:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

Predestination is lovely

But please do see Mulhollad Drive (without your wife). It's in a different league altogether.

The movie had such a profound effect on me that I was terrified to watch Interstellar and Inception.

Predestination is among my favorites, I have not seen Mulhollad Drive because of the reason you mentioned.

Still remember a dialogue from Predestination - "A snake that eats his own tail...."!

For fans of the sci-fi genre, may I suggest Ex-Machina (remember has a few avoidable scenes). But a really good movie.

reignofchaos · 22nd September 2016, 10:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

Predestination is lovely

But please do see Mulhollad Drive (without your wife). It's in a different league altogether.

The movie had such a profound effect on me that I was terrified to watch Interstellar and Inception.

The king of the mind bending genre is Primer. Made by 3 guys on a 10000$ budget, it is a brilliant brilliant movie.

Took me a couple of watches to gather the plot fully. Predestination is a piece of cake in comparison.

pratyush6 · 22nd September 2016, 11:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

The king of the mind bending genre is Primer. Made by 3 guys on a 10000$ budget, it is a brilliant brilliant movie.

Took me a couple of watches to gather the plot fully. Predestination is a piece of cake in comparison.

I agree, but I just could not sit through the jargons and the below par acting. I hope to watch it some day. Predestination on the other hand is pretty interesting.

dark.knight · 30th September 2016, 09:57

Classic/Offbeat movie reviews coming your way :

- Lolita : Having always said that I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick, still it took me this long to see Lolita, a movie about a man's enamourment of a young girl while having married her mother after a one-sided whirlwind romance and what exactly happens when the feelings of enamourment turn mutual. The subject matter is slightly controversial (which of Kubricks movies aren't?) but its very subtle and it has an old world charm to it, its a black and white movie after all. Dialogues are fantastic, has a feel of a play/theatre like all classic movies did, no controversial scenes or bad language, its almost a kiddy movie compared to the filth that is Hollywood today. 10/10

- Dr.Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Stop the Bomb : Without doubt the longest movie title ever, another Kubrick classic about a rogue American brigadier who instigates war with USSR by secretly bypassing his superiors, the movie follows Dr.Strangelove an ex-Nazi militaryman discussing within the Pentagon boardroom on how exactly the side-effects of this instigation can be mitigated and consequences lessened. Classic cinema at its very best, another black & white and I don't care that it is. 12/10.

- Above Suspicion : Starring former Superman actor Christopher Reeve, this is one of my old favourites and is a suspense movie and a classic. No spoilers, it simply has to be watched for his acting, Christopher Reeve is one of the most under-rated actors ever. Some scenes are R Rated so viewer discretion advised.

- Somewhere in Time : Another favourite and again starring Christopher Reeve. This time is an out-and-out romance/love story and it works well. Fans of the genre will watch this without question. Neither too sappy or emotional, nor too modern and sloppy, it finds a great balance when unveiling true love.

- School Ties : Again a simple movie starring Brendan Fraser who portrays the role of a young Jewish man from a middle class household in a then-intolerant Philadelphia setting (Jews were always comfortable and recognised in NY/NJ and parts of L.A but outside of that they were targeted in those days). The movie looks into what happens when the Jew joins a staunch Catholic school for want of good education and how he manages to keep the secret (or not). A good one-time watch if the topic manages to intrigue the viewer.

sukhoi30 · 30th September 2016, 16:29

The Magnificent Seven

My Rating : 4/5

If you are interested in Cowboy/Western Movies then you should not miss this. It has been a long time since western classics like The Good, Bad and the ugly;Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid;Hang 'em High etc. ruled the box office in Hollywood.
The story is the same as before (refer the earlier Magnificent Seven or the Japanese Seven Samurai) ... the exception here is that the lead (as Sam Chisolm) is performed by African American Denzel Washington. The entire movie rides on his shoulders though you cannot belittle the performance of the others like Chris Pratt (as Faraday) and Ethan Hawk (as Goodnight).
I liked the act of Chris Pratt the best though because of his style and posture. The seven cowboys include a Chinese guy (uses knife as weapon) and a native Indian guy (uses bow and arrow as weapon) instead of guns. Probably the makers wanted to show some different elements rather than just guns firing.
The movie has lot of gun fights and many horse riding scenes are shot brilliantly. In the first 30 mins or so you could get a bit bored because of the slow introduction of the various characters. But in the later half, the movie picks up tempo and you will ride with the riders. So, if you are a fan of western classics, do watch it in the big screen.

dark.knight · 13th October 2016, 00:37

Recounting my late teens and a hobby of sorts of watching every Arnie movie possible.. here's my rankings :

1) Terminator 2 (of course)

2) Collateral Damage

3) Running Man

4) End of Days

5) Commando

6) Red Heat

7) Raw Deal

8) Eraser

9) The 6th Day

10) Total Recall

The list mentions 10 but I've successfully managed to watch all of his 30+ movies even though half of them are unwatchable in my book (almost as bad as Bollywood). I'm unforgiving of bad actors & I shred them to bits without a thought but Arnie seems to have escaped that completely.. there's something about him that simply makes up for his thick Austrian accent, semi-controversial life, average acting skills (intentionally mainstream shall I say) and a very different actor overall from what Hollywood ever has experienced till date.. he has charisma and determination by the tonnes else there's no way he could've survived in America leave alone become the number one action actor ever and a politician to boot. I hate biographies and each one of them has put me to sleep in 10 mins and 2 pages max but I read his biography Total Recall in one go.. worse yet it may have been one of the more inspiring books I've ever touched (4.1/5 in Goodreads). The Austrian Oak, perhaps the man with the strongest legacy cemented in Hollywood - Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger.

14000rpm · 13th October 2016, 13:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

The king of the mind bending genre is Primer. Made by 3 guys on a 10000$ budget, it is a brilliant brilliant movie.

Took me a couple of watches to gather the plot fully. Predestination is a piece of cake in comparison.

Primer is indeed one of the most complex but brilliant movies in recent times.
Brilliance also in the director making it so that the audience would go back to the hall to see it again and again to understand it better.

However, if you have seen it and haven't understood it quite, this video below breaks it down further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUzy-xPf0MI

narayans80 · 13th October 2016, 14:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankk

You should watch Predestination

Predestination wasn't quite confusing actually. We actually guessed what was coming before it actually came

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

But please do see Mulhollad Drive (without your wife).

Mulholland Drive is long in my radar. We've seen almost all movies together,including Incendies and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Any reason why so?

22nd September 2016, 07:11	#6547
YashD BHPian Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Kolkata Posts: 555 Thanked: 1,030 Times	Re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) The movie cropped up in a conversation with a close friend who recommended me to watch it simply because of it's storyline. In Time (2011) - Live forever or die trying! The concept is really unique. Unfortunately, I felt the star cast to be extremely weak, Justin Timberlake simply couldn't pull off the tough guy character and the lack of chemistry between the two leads made things worse.The script had a lot of potential but wasn't well executed, would have loved to see more character development. What I liked about the movie was how much it made me think, the muscle car use in the futuristic era was a cool touch but the car chase scene was a huge let down! It felt like the actors are driving at 5 kmph. The special effects too are below average but then again I will recommend you to watch it once simply because of it's fantastic storyline. I would love to watch a prequel of the flick understanding the concept behind how people have stopped aging. My Rating: 6.5/10
	() Thanks

30th September 2016, 09:57	#6551
dark.knight Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Beans Town Posts: 1,847 Thanked: 8,351 Times	Re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Classic/Offbeat movie reviews coming your way : - Lolita : Having always said that I'm a fan of Stanley Kubrick, still it took me this long to see Lolita, a movie about a man's enamourment of a young girl while having married her mother after a one-sided whirlwind romance and what exactly happens when the feelings of enamourment turn mutual. The subject matter is slightly controversial (which of Kubricks movies aren't?) but its very subtle and it has an old world charm to it, its a black and white movie after all. Dialogues are fantastic, has a feel of a play/theatre like all classic movies did, no controversial scenes or bad language, its almost a kiddy movie compared to the filth that is Hollywood today. 10/10 - Dr.Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Stop the Bomb : Without doubt the longest movie title ever, another Kubrick classic about a rogue American brigadier who instigates war with USSR by secretly bypassing his superiors, the movie follows Dr.Strangelove an ex-Nazi militaryman discussing within the Pentagon boardroom on how exactly the side-effects of this instigation can be mitigated and consequences lessened. Classic cinema at its very best, another black & white and I don't care that it is. 12/10. - Above Suspicion : Starring former Superman actor Christopher Reeve, this is one of my old favourites and is a suspense movie and a classic. No spoilers, it simply has to be watched for his acting, Christopher Reeve is one of the most under-rated actors ever. Some scenes are R Rated so viewer discretion advised. - Somewhere in Time : Another favourite and again starring Christopher Reeve. This time is an out-and-out romance/love story and it works well. Fans of the genre will watch this without question. Neither too sappy or emotional, nor too modern and sloppy, it finds a great balance when unveiling true love. - School Ties : Again a simple movie starring Brendan Fraser who portrays the role of a young Jewish man from a middle class household in a then-intolerant Philadelphia setting (Jews were always comfortable and recognised in NY/NJ and parts of L.A but outside of that they were targeted in those days). The movie looks into what happens when the Jew joins a staunch Catholic school for want of good education and how he manages to keep the secret (or not). A good one-time watch if the topic manages to intrigue the viewer.
	() Thanks

30th September 2016, 16:29	#6552
sukhoi30 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Mumbai Posts: 344 Thanked: 505 Times	Re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) The Magnificent Seven My Rating : 4/5 If you are interested in Cowboy/Western Movies then you should not miss this. It has been a long time since western classics like The Good, Bad and the ugly;Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid;Hang 'em High etc. ruled the box office in Hollywood. The story is the same as before (refer the earlier Magnificent Seven or the Japanese Seven Samurai) ... the exception here is that the lead (as Sam Chisolm) is performed by African American Denzel Washington. The entire movie rides on his shoulders though you cannot belittle the performance of the others like Chris Pratt (as Faraday) and Ethan Hawk (as Goodnight). I liked the act of Chris Pratt the best though because of his style and posture. The seven cowboys include a Chinese guy (uses knife as weapon) and a native Indian guy (uses bow and arrow as weapon) instead of guns. Probably the makers wanted to show some different elements rather than just guns firing. The movie has lot of gun fights and many horse riding scenes are shot brilliantly. In the first 30 mins or so you could get a bit bored because of the slow introduction of the various characters. But in the later half, the movie picks up tempo and you will ride with the riders. So, if you are a fan of western classics, do watch it in the big screen.
	() Thanks

13th October 2016, 00:37	#6553
dark.knight Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Beans Town Posts: 1,847 Thanked: 8,351 Times	Re: The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please) Recounting my late teens and a hobby of sorts of watching every Arnie movie possible.. here's my rankings : 1) Terminator 2 (of course) 2) Collateral Damage 3) Running Man 4) End of Days 5) Commando 6) Red Heat 7) Raw Deal 8) Eraser 9) The 6th Day 10) Total Recall The list mentions 10 but I've successfully managed to watch all of his 30+ movies even though half of them are unwatchable in my book (almost as bad as Bollywood). I'm unforgiving of bad actors & I shred them to bits without a thought but Arnie seems to have escaped that completely.. there's something about him that simply makes up for his thick Austrian accent, semi-controversial life, average acting skills (intentionally mainstream shall I say) and a very different actor overall from what Hollywood ever has experienced till date.. he has charisma and determination by the tonnes else there's no way he could've survived in America leave alone become the number one action actor ever and a politician to boot. I hate biographies and each one of them has put me to sleep in 10 mins and 2 pages max but I read his biography Total Recall in one go.. worse yet it may have been one of the more inspiring books I've ever touched (4.1/5 in Goodreads). The Austrian Oak, perhaps the man with the strongest legacy cemented in Hollywood - Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger.
	() Thanks