The Video Rental Thread

Started by Gold Trumpet, April 06, 2003, 10:56:11 AM

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Ravi

I rented The Office last night.  The DVD of the first series includes a 40 minute documentary and 10 minutes worth of deleted scenes.  Is there a second series?  It was very funny.

Redlum

Some of the films I rented recently:

Of Mice and Men - Sinise was great casting. I didnt really like the bookends of him on the train. And the final scene I thought was handled too coldly compared to the book. Overall though I thought it was pretty good.

All the Presidents Men - Great. Real edge of the seat stuff.

The Maltese Falcon - Overall I enjoyed, would have preferred if the secretary had been fleshed out a bit more - I think it needed a likeable female lead. Its refreshing to watch a crime film that doesn't treat you like an idiot.

The Conversation - What really stands out for me was that final shot. Fantastic.  Great score, too.

Swimming with Sharks - Entertaining enough but the "this isnt one of those stories" narration at the beginning really felt unecessary. And kind of bugged for the rest of the film.
\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

Redlum

Quote from: RaviI rented The Office last night.  The DVD of the first series includes a 40 minute documentary and 10 minutes worth of deleted scenes.  Is there a second series?  It was very funny.

Yeah. And two great half-hour Christmas specials that rounded the whole thing off brilliantly. Last ever episodes.
\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

SHAFTR

Quote from: ®edlum
The Conversation - What really stands out for me was that final shot. Fantastic.

.

or the first shot.
"Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that i'll probably regret soon"

Redlum

Maybe. The case of the couple he was trailing felt kind of weak to me. The real story was about Hackmans character and because I didnt connect to the case he was working on at all it just really felt like diversion to me. So despite being a fitting way to open, I'd still pick the last shot.
\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

samsong

thank God for the library (my dad made me cancel netflix...)

Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 - a fluid narrative that meanders a bit but that's overlookable due to the film's free-spirited nature... after all, it's New Wave (probably my favorite era in all of cinema).  Varda's work may be slightly less mature than Godard's or Truffaut's but is just as potent in its ability to capture the essence of both Paris and life on film.  Wonderful experience... a gem.

Akira Kurosawa's Scandal - This is one of Kurosawa's earlier efforts and, though not as tightly wound or precisely executed, stands as a testament to the man's genius. Scandal (a film I didnt know existed) fits perfectly in Kurosawa's cannon, a scathing commentary of society -- in this case the media -- and human nature that ultimately affirms life and gives hope.  How Kurosawa does it is beyond me, because Scandal is, for the most part, ridiculously bitter.  But by the end I was in tears.  Not his best work, but that doesn't say much for a man who's considered a god in the world of cinema, and rightfully so.  Highly recommended for Kurosawa lovers and cineastes alike.

SHAFTR

Quote from: samsong
Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 - a fluid narrative that meanders a bit but that's overlookable due to the film's free-spirited nature... after all, it's New Wave (probably my favorite era in all of cinema).  Varda's work may be slightly less mature than Godard's or Truffaut's but is just as potent in its ability to capture the essence of both Paris and life on film.  Wonderful experience... a gem.

.

agreed.  I love the idea that it is pretty much in real time.
"Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that i'll probably regret soon"

Weak2ndAct

I don't have cable, so this is what I watch:

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: See my gushing post elsewhere.  Just wonderful.
WINDTALKERS: I turned it off an hour in.  What a total piece of fucking garbage.  What the hell happened to John Woo?  Oh, that's right, he's a sell-out whore.
UNFAITHFUL: Diane Lane is hot.  Richard Gere murdering people w/ snow globes is not.  What a ludicrous turn to take in the movie.  Blah.
THE UNTOUCHABLES: Loved it when I was a kid, hadn't watched it in a really long time.  And wow, Kevin Costner was really bad in this movie.  Some of his line delivery is sooooooo horrendous.  "Didn't you hear what I said?  What is this, a game?"  Despite the haggard acting, a lot of things still hold up, namely DePalma's stylistic flourishes and Connery's performance.  And how could you not love DeNiro's baseball speech?  It's movies like this that remind me that DePalma's better as a hired gun and not as the originator of his material.
INTERNAL AFFAIRS: Lord knows why I picked this up.  My dad always mentioned to me that Richard Gere was a 'good bad guy' in this, so why not?  The movie is rehashed-by-the-numbers Hollywood cop-storytelling, and surprisingly enough, written by Henry Bean and directed by Mike Figgis.  Where the movie almost succeeds is taking the 'affairs' part of the title literally.  The story is very sexual, and the dialogue even more so (some of Gere's dialogue would make Howard Stern blush).  Andy Garcia is a hot-headed Latin, married and monogamous, Gere's a whore, will fuck anything on two-legs, and has more kids than fingers.  And Gere wants to fuck Garcia's wife, just to teach him a lesson.  If the cop story had been dialed down a bit, the sexual politics upped a couple notches, the story might have actually been something interesting.
AMERICAN WEDDING: I didn't laugh once, and the not even the prospect of Nikki Ziering's big fake tits could keep me interested.
BLACK HAWK DOWN: First impression in theatres: big thumbs down, too mired in Saving Private Ryan's style and storytelling to take it seriously.  Second viewing a few years later: I'm much kinder to it.  There's no denying the film is extremely well put together, and it's even harder to deny that the film is pretty entertaining just as a pure action flick.  While I might not get all weepy and patriotic, I'll settle for some tight contemporary warfare-action.
RETURNER: Japanese sci-fi/action movie now on dvd.  It's basically: Richard Kelly meets Spielberg meets the Matrix.  If you see it, you'll get the analogy.  Not enough action.
THE HILLS HAVE EYES: Saw it is a kid, liked it.  Now I can't even get past how fucking 70's this movie is-- in a bad way.  Bad 70's filmmaking, bad 70's acting, bad 70's music, bad 70's everything.

md

Quote from: Weak2ndActI don't have cable, so this is what I watch:

so then how do you watch curb?

been curious since i guess you are a professional screenwriter, how much do you right a day, a week? thanks[/quote]
"look hard at what pleases you and even harder at what doesn't" ~ carolyn forche

Weak2ndAct

Quote from: mdso then how do you watch curb?

been curious since i guess you are a professional screenwriter, how much do you right a day, a week? thanks
My friends that have cable tape it.

I don't feel that *professional* right now.  I'm waiting for some legalese to be ironed out, and am dragging my feet on other things.  It all comes in spurts.  Won't write for a couple weeks, then will write every day, all day for a week.

NEON MERCURY

...i didn't rent this but....bought it used....

"in the name of the father"....pure masterpiece of cinema....no one can  talk bad about this film......

modage

Quote from: NEON MERCURY"in the name of the father"....pure masterpiece of cinema....no one can  talk bad about this film......
in the name of the father smells like vinegar.  and doesnt wash its hands.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

mogwai

Quote from: abuck1220cinemania (really liked it)
saw that one last night. what a nutters!!

Weak2ndAct

More more more how do you like it how do you like it more more more:

THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS: Is this movie based on a play?  Because it's as fucking staged and confined as one.  The peformances by Channing and Stiles are fine, but that's as good as the compliments can get.  Ultimately, the story builds to a 'men are evil' climax that's never quite earned, and another final twist of sorts negates said climax, making the whole affair quite unsatisfying.
DECADE UNDER THE INFLUENCE: Hogwash.  See my rant in the Xixax awards.
DAY OF THE DEAD: For some ungodly reason, I'd never even knew this movie had existed until the new Anchor Bay dvd was released.  While the acting may be stilted (though I expected it), I actually found it to be quite a wonderful film.  28 Days Later seems to have lifted plenty from this flick-- military men thinking they're in charge, yet end up being more ghastly then the monsters themselves-- which makes Boyle's collapsed finale even more transparent.   The end to Romero's trilogy (for now, unless Dead Reckoning ever gets made) is a satisfying conclusion of sorts, and there's a definite arc to all three films that I didn't expect from, well, zombie movies.  Sure, the mayhem doesn't really hit till the final 40 minutes, but the setups are all there for the conclusion.  It really does work.  Also, Roger Avary's commentary is also worth a listen just for the sheer fact that his enthusiasm for zombies and cinema is quite infectous.
WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP: Amazing.  See my other post in Dvd Talk.
SCHOOL OF ROCK: I love Mike White.  Again, he's created a sublimely fun outsider story that works w/in the typical 'Hollywood structure,' yet has the smarts to transcend it.  I also really dig 'Orange County,' which I was truly prepared to loathe.  Linklater's direction is paint-by-numbers, but there's nothing I could truly fault him for.  He let Jack Black take his performance way past over-the-top (it worked for me), and the kids were all perfectly cast.  I hate to sound corny, but this was the first movie I'd seen in ages that I could describe as... joyous.  It was great to see the kids rock out at the end, and I loved the musical messages the film offered.  How this film didn't do better at the box office baffles me, though I suspect it will have a long life on the dvd format.
TEARS OF THE SUN: No character, no setup, just absolute garbage.  Proof that Fuqua really just stumbled ass-backwards into 'Training Day' and really is the hack-extraordinaire everyone thought he was before that film took off.

Ghostboy

Quote from: samsongthank God for the library

Every six months or so, I go through a period where I realize how many great movies the library has, and I'll get a bunch...and then after a while forget again, leaving many treasures still unseen, waiting for my next epiphany.

Right now, I've got Steamboat Bill, Jr. The General and The Last Picture Show (old favorites that I felt like revisiting) and Woman In The Dunes, Scenes From A Marriage and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf all checked out. Only have one left to watch, so I'll be returning soon. Being unemployed has suddenly opened up lots of time to watch movies.