The Movies I Liked

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I watched "Midnight Special" a couple of days ago.

Excellent movie. I loved it!

The movie comes with a super team:
- Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols, whose work I love (I've seen all his work except "Loving", which I hope to watch soon).
- Excellent cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Shepard, Adam Driver and the main character is played by a talented young boy whose name I did not catch.

The plot of the movie feels very much like a Stephen King novel, and it has a strong Indie movie feel to it (true to Jeff Nichols's style). The movie is studio backed, but I don't think the suits got a lot of say in how it was made. There's lots of action that's not gratuitously presented, and there's a mild dose of spirituality to go with the sci-fi theme.

If you like Indie sci-fi (a la "Another Earth", "Primer", "Predestination", etc.), you'll love this movie. And if you folks have not watched the rest of Jeff Nichols's movies, I urge you to watch them all! Most of you would have watched "Mud", but "Take Shelter" was lost in the noise of the commercial movies, and very few have even heard of "Shotgun Stories", which is the earthiest and most heart-tuggingly real family drama I can remember watching.
 
esanthosh said:
The Lobster (2015)

I can only describe this as an absurd deadpan dark comedy. If you have not watched Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth, you should. You can draw a lot of parallels between the two films. It immediately reminded me of Wes Anderson, whose colorful, quirky films seem to happen in a special 'Wes Anderson universe'. You can tell it is a Wes' film just by looking at the composition of a shot. I can't say Yorgos fits into the same mold given that I have watched only two of his films and the rest don't seem to be in the same mold going by IMDB comments. But, Dogtooth and this make a very good combination. I liked Dogtooth better because it increased in absurdity and weirdness quotient throughout its running time. Lobster is a more restrained effort while retaining the deadpan, quirks and social satire. I quite liked Colin Farrell's toned down, pot bellied performance here.
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I've had this with me for the longest time, and I still have not watched it yet. I'll get down to it fast, heh heh.

"Dogtooth", huh? That's one of those movies that puts out the kind of atmosphere I love! The kind that makes you very, very squirmy and uncomfortable, but has a very strange charm and pull: A bit like going down a roller coaster, not quite comfortable, but VERY enjoyable :D

Have you watched "Borgman"? "Borgman" takes that absurd/unreal/surreal feel of "Dogtooth", locks you in a room with it, pressurizes it with a bit more of the same atmosphere, and throws the key away. You should try all of the rest of Alex van Warmerdam's movies, heh heh. They are probably what getting mildly high on psychedelics feels like, if that is an enjoyable feeling :p

And @esanthosh, thanks for giving me that push to start watching movies again! Our conversation (last month, I think) has got me watching at least 2 movies a week on the regular. :)
 
hydra said:
I've had this with me for the longest time, and I still have not watched it yet. I'll get down to it fast, heh heh.

"Dogtooth", huh? That's one of those movies that puts out the kind of atmosphere I love! The kind that makes you very, very squirmy and uncomfortable, but has a very strange charm and pull: A bit like going down a roller coaster, not quite comfortable, but VERY enjoyable :D

Have you watched "Borgman"? "Borgman" takes that absurd/unreal/surreal feel of "Dogtooth", locks you in a room with it, pressurizes it with a bit more of the same atmosphere, and throws the key away. You should try all of the rest of Alex van Warmerdam's movies, heh heh. They are probably what getting mildly high on psychedelics feels like, if that is an enjoyable feeling :p

And @esanthosh, thanks for giving me that push to start watching movies again! Our conversation (last month, I think) has got me watching at least 2 movies a week on the regular. :)
Click to expand...

Already watched Borgman...It's unpredictable plot another silent killing movie without tense..!!!
 
Arrival (2016) and Contact (1997)

I just watched 'Arrival' twice. The first time I watched it, I liked it very much. One movie which often comes up in comparison to 'Arrival' is 'Contact', given that both have female leads and the similar way they approach the aliens. So, I re-watched both 'Contact' and 'Arrival' yesterday, just to compare them myself.

When I first watched 'Contact' many years ago, the science of it flew right over my head. Now that I am familiar with both 'Cosmos' and the personal viewpoints held by Carl Sagan, I liked 'Contact' much better. 'Contact' has way more science than 'Arrival'. 'Contact' also deals with bureaucracy and the debate between religion and science a lot, lot more. Jodie Foster is excellent as Ellie and has a lot more to do than Amy Adams thanks to the well fleshed out character with more backstory. However, 'Contact' also has a bit of typical hollywood cheesiness.

I re-watched 'Arrival', this time with a lot more skepticism, but liked it all the same. Even though 'Arrival' deals with subjects in the realm of 'science fiction', it is not a movie about 'science'. For someone who starts with 'science is the cornerstone of civilization', Ian is never shown to be doing much 'science' in the movie (which is disappointing, considering he does it in the short story). I didn't get great insights on linguistics from Louise either. When I think back, there are a few other things that don't sit well with me. But, when I was watching it (both times), I didn't care much about them because of the way scenes unfolded.

That said, 'Arrival' does deal with one of my pet questions about the human experience. When I watched it again, I caught a few things I didn't fully grasp the first time. Though it has been described as 'smart' or 'thinking person's sci-fi', I'd say for me, it is more about the experience and emotions. 'Contact' is more about science and scientists, whereas 'Arrival' is all about Louise. I like both, but I am slightly partial towards 'Contact'. I now have to go re-watch '2001' to see if I still think it is better than both of them :)
 
esanthosh said:
Arrival (2016) and Contact (1997)

I just watched 'Arrival' twice. The first time I watched it, I liked it very much. One movie which often comes up in comparison to 'Arrival' is 'Contact', given that both have female leads and the similar way they approach the aliens. So, I re-watched both 'Contact' and 'Arrival' yesterday, just to compare them myself.

When I first watched 'Contact' many years ago, the science of it flew right over my head. Now that I am familiar with both 'Cosmos' and the personal viewpoints held by Carl Sagan, I liked 'Contact' much better. 'Contact' has way more science than 'Arrival'. 'Contact' also deals with bureaucracy and the debate between religion and science a lot, lot more. Jodie Foster is excellent as Ellie and has a lot more to do than Amy Adams thanks to the well fleshed out character with more backstory. However, 'Contact' also has a bit of typical Hollywood cheesiness.

I re-watched 'Arrival', this time with a lot more skepticism, but liked it all the same. Even though 'Arrival' deals with subjects in the realm of 'science fiction', it is not a movie about 'science'. For someone who starts with 'science is the cornerstone of civilization', Ian is never shown to be doing much 'science' in the movie (which is disappointing, considering he does it in the short story). I didn't get great insights on linguistics from Louise either. When I think back, there are a few other things that don't sit well with me. But, when I was watching it (both times), I didn't care much about them because of the way scenes unfolded.

That said, 'Arrival' does deal with one of my pet questions about the human experience. When I watched it again, I caught a few things I didn't fully grasp the first time. Though it has been described as 'smart' or 'thinking person's sci-fi', I'd say for me, it is more about the experience and emotions. 'Contact' is more about science and scientists, whereas 'Arrival' is all about Louise. I like both, but I am slightly partial towards 'Contact'. I now have to go re-watch '2001' to see if I still think it is better than both of them :)
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Good to see your review...more than research and lot of patience intentionally to re-watch the same movie:):clapping:

What I do....I watch a trailer to instead of re-watch and recollect storyline. Mostly avoid re-watch, go with new one.
 
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Mel Gibson again proves top-notch director did wonderfully made war film "Hacksaw Ridge" after Braveheart. This movie is base on true events in Okinawa during the bloodiest battle of WWII. Battlefield visuals and scenes are very realistic and blood shattered good cinematography and best performed.

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
R | 2h 19min | Drama, History, War | 4 November 2016
 
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esanthosh said:
When I first watched 'Contact' many years ago, the science of it flew right over my head. Now that I am familiar with both 'Cosmos' and the personal viewpoints held by Carl Sagan, I liked 'Contact' much better. 'Contact' has way more science than 'Arrival'. 'Contact' also deals with bureaucracy and the debate between religion and science a lot, lot more. Jodie Foster is excellent as Ellie and has a lot more to do than Amy Adams thanks to the well fleshed out character with more backstory. However, 'Contact' also has a bit of typical hollywood cheesiness.
Click to expand...

Contact was one HELL of Movie, one of my Favs, I have seen it number of times. Arrival .... yet to see, if Arrival is half as good as Contact I think I am going it like it ... :)
 
shreeux said:
UNBELIAVEBLE...Based on true events, Late November 1941. A group of 28 Russian soldiers fights against 54 Nazi tanks for several days. The movie was well made with excellent cinemaphotography and sound effects.

Dvadtsat vosem panfilovtsev (2016)
1h 45min | Action, Drama, History | 24 November 2016 (Russia)


While watching this movie, remembrance of another tank movie by Russians, this also good to watch....White Tiger
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Where did you see this Russian Movie, I can't find it anywhere. BTW my fave tank movie is The Beast Of Wars
 
Hacksaw Ridge ...wowo after a long time one powerhouse of a movie. HOwever my fav and all time top movie will still remain Black hawk down,, but Hacksaw Ridge will certainly comes under top 10 all time war movies. The war scenes were top notch ...again ..All thanks to the super high standards that were set by just mind blowing war scenes by Saving Private Ryan ...any out and out war move that has come up after that had to match it up else lose its worth.

What did not attain to my movie critic senses was the melodrama, the slow mo scenes, which even though less. Takes away the brutal aspect of war depicted, plus few of the dialogues were a bit off track. Over all a highly satisfying movie...7/10 for this one
 
sam9s said:
Hacksaw Ridge ...wowo after a long time one powerhouse of a movie. HOwever my fav and all time top movie will still remain Black hawk down,, but Hacksaw Ridge will certainly comes under top 10 all time war movies. The war scenes were top notch ...again ..All thanks to the super high standards that were set by just mind blowing war scenes by Saving Private Ryan ...any out and out war move that has come up after that had to match it up else lose its worth.

What did not attain to my movie critic senses was the melodrama, the slow mo scenes, which even though less. Takes away the brutal aspect of war depicted, plus few of the dialogues were a bit off track. Over all a highly satisfying movie...7/10 for this one
Click to expand...


My fav's...

My Way (2011)
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
 
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