in a town...!
Jan. 18th, 2008 10:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabRIP, Bobby Fischer, you strange, obnoxious, brilliant, neurotic, self hating Jew expat chess champ, you.
I have seen approximately one zillion movies over the last two weeks but since I've flipped the DVDs over and over at Amoeba since then, without keeping a list, I've forgotten most or all. So I'll just single out the ones that were good enough to remember, namely:
Feast, the 3rd season Project Greenlight winner and a perfect example of the horror/comedy. Think Sean of the Dead or even Grindhouse. Group of folks trapped in a bar while the zombie apocalypse (or whatever) tries to get in. Bar the doors, load the rifles, protect yer mama, etc etc etc. Featuring Navi Arwat (Numb3rs, Thoughtcrimes) in an ass-kicking horror hero role, and some other awesome people too.
Criminal, with Maggie Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly and Diego Luna. I sat down to watch this and immediately thought I'd seen it already. Which was not outside the realm of possibility, because I do tend to seek and consume any and all heist/caper movies within consuming distance, and I'm good at forgetting titles. But I am not good at forgetting Maggie Gyllenhaal's crazy flared nostrils, and I had definitely not seen those in a heist context before, so I settled in and figured I hadn't seen this, but that it just shared qualities with this Argentinian heist film Nine Queens that I'm quite fond of, only with currency instead of stamps. Of course it turned out later to be, in fact, the American remake of Nine Queens, so I get points for recognizing it to begin with -- but either way, it's still a delightful snappy heist film in its own right, and John C. Reilly really IS a doable leading man. Also Diego Luna is friggin gorgeous.
Bad Blood (Coisa Ruim), a Portuguese thriller on the Tartan imprint. Good old-fashioned "family moves back to their ancestral home only to find dark secrets lurking there" kind of story, erring on the psychological thriller side more than the horror side, and pretty disturbing and creepy. Think a Portuguese version of any of those blockbuster Jodie Foster-protecting-her-daughter kind of dramas, coupled with some M. Night Shymalayan small town creepy tradition ambiance.
The Weight of Water, Kathryn Bigelow-directed interpretation of the Anita Shreve novel. Starts out feeling like simply one of the better made-for-TV thrillers, but with an extra hot and talented cast lead by Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack and Sarah Polley, and filled out by Josh Lucas and Elisabeth Hurley. No, for serious. Both Catherine McCormack and Sarah Polley carry this film on their quite substantial shoulders; McCormack is a reporter gone back to a distant New England island to research the murder of two Norweigan immigrants over a century ago, and Sarah Polley is the lone survivor of that massacre, seen in flashback. There's a definite socio-political comment made near the end of the film that is less than awesome, but the rest is all moody, creepy, twisted and atmospheric. Also, there's SEAN PENN.
So, you? I'm looking for movies that fit in one of three o genres, either the heist/caper/con artist genre, or the "a group of friends go into the woods on a camping trip only to encounter such and such supernatural horror" horror genre. Anything that takes place in a distant cabin, down a dark road, at a country house or beach house, or on a college campus gets extra points. And then, the Tartan Asia Horror probably-will-be-remade-with-Sarah-Michelle-Gellar genre.
I've seen all the Mamet capers and probably lots of others, the Oceans Eleven and Italians Job and Thomas Crown Affairs, both original and remake -- but STILL, if there's an awesome caper out there that I haven't seen, I WANT it, so don't be afraid to rec me things I've probably already seen.
As for cheap horror, I'll take anything from The Descent/The Cave/The Hole/The Cabin type to House of Wax/Scream/Urban Legend type, just, anything, dude, bring it ON.
As for Asian horror, I like good old The Grudge/The Eye/The Ring type movies, anything Pang brothers, etc etc. Again, go ahead and rec it even if you think I've seen it. Also, any remakes of any Asian horror gratefully received.
And for those of you not interested in caper or horror flicks, please enjoy an NBC News Correspondant's defense of the new Britney Album.
I have seen approximately one zillion movies over the last two weeks but since I've flipped the DVDs over and over at Amoeba since then, without keeping a list, I've forgotten most or all. So I'll just single out the ones that were good enough to remember, namely:
Feast, the 3rd season Project Greenlight winner and a perfect example of the horror/comedy. Think Sean of the Dead or even Grindhouse. Group of folks trapped in a bar while the zombie apocalypse (or whatever) tries to get in. Bar the doors, load the rifles, protect yer mama, etc etc etc. Featuring Navi Arwat (Numb3rs, Thoughtcrimes) in an ass-kicking horror hero role, and some other awesome people too.
Criminal, with Maggie Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly and Diego Luna. I sat down to watch this and immediately thought I'd seen it already. Which was not outside the realm of possibility, because I do tend to seek and consume any and all heist/caper movies within consuming distance, and I'm good at forgetting titles. But I am not good at forgetting Maggie Gyllenhaal's crazy flared nostrils, and I had definitely not seen those in a heist context before, so I settled in and figured I hadn't seen this, but that it just shared qualities with this Argentinian heist film Nine Queens that I'm quite fond of, only with currency instead of stamps. Of course it turned out later to be, in fact, the American remake of Nine Queens, so I get points for recognizing it to begin with -- but either way, it's still a delightful snappy heist film in its own right, and John C. Reilly really IS a doable leading man. Also Diego Luna is friggin gorgeous.
Bad Blood (Coisa Ruim), a Portuguese thriller on the Tartan imprint. Good old-fashioned "family moves back to their ancestral home only to find dark secrets lurking there" kind of story, erring on the psychological thriller side more than the horror side, and pretty disturbing and creepy. Think a Portuguese version of any of those blockbuster Jodie Foster-protecting-her-daughter kind of dramas, coupled with some M. Night Shymalayan small town creepy tradition ambiance.
The Weight of Water, Kathryn Bigelow-directed interpretation of the Anita Shreve novel. Starts out feeling like simply one of the better made-for-TV thrillers, but with an extra hot and talented cast lead by Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack and Sarah Polley, and filled out by Josh Lucas and Elisabeth Hurley. No, for serious. Both Catherine McCormack and Sarah Polley carry this film on their quite substantial shoulders; McCormack is a reporter gone back to a distant New England island to research the murder of two Norweigan immigrants over a century ago, and Sarah Polley is the lone survivor of that massacre, seen in flashback. There's a definite socio-political comment made near the end of the film that is less than awesome, but the rest is all moody, creepy, twisted and atmospheric. Also, there's SEAN PENN.
So, you? I'm looking for movies that fit in one of three o genres, either the heist/caper/con artist genre, or the "a group of friends go into the woods on a camping trip only to encounter such and such supernatural horror" horror genre. Anything that takes place in a distant cabin, down a dark road, at a country house or beach house, or on a college campus gets extra points. And then, the Tartan Asia Horror probably-will-be-remade-with-Sarah-Michelle-Gellar genre.
I've seen all the Mamet capers and probably lots of others, the Oceans Eleven and Italians Job and Thomas Crown Affairs, both original and remake -- but STILL, if there's an awesome caper out there that I haven't seen, I WANT it, so don't be afraid to rec me things I've probably already seen.
As for cheap horror, I'll take anything from The Descent/The Cave/The Hole/The Cabin type to House of Wax/Scream/Urban Legend type, just, anything, dude, bring it ON.
As for Asian horror, I like good old The Grudge/The Eye/The Ring type movies, anything Pang brothers, etc etc. Again, go ahead and rec it even if you think I've seen it. Also, any remakes of any Asian horror gratefully received.
And for those of you not interested in caper or horror flicks, please enjoy an NBC News Correspondant's defense of the new Britney Album.
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 07:32 am (UTC)Edited to add - here are some more I've enjoyed over the years --
Layer Cake
Going in Style
To Catch a Thief
Quick Change
The Grifters
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
A Fish Called Wanda
The Great Train Robbery
Wallace and Gromit - The Wrong Trouses
And, of course, The Sting.
And The Great Muppet Caper!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 08:59 am (UTC)The Hot Rock
Charade
Rififi
How To Steal A Million
The Killing
The Lavender Hill Mob
I'm sure there's tons more that aren't occuring to me in the middle of the night.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 10:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-19 05:45 pm (UTC)Not quite a caper movie, but another little Aussie gem: Dirty Deeds (http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Deeds-Bryan-Brown/dp/B0000CABJJ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1200763231&sr=8-3) (not to be confused with a later U.S. flick of the same title). Bryan Brown's a Sydney mobster in the 60s, Toni Collette's his wife, Sam Neill's a dirty cop -- and John Goodman's an American Mafioso sent to muscle in; quirkiness ensues.
(Crap. Now I'm homesick.)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-20 10:24 am (UTC)Along similar lines, Sidney Lumet's The Group (ca. 1965-ish), which follows a group of Vassar '33 girls starting at graduation and going almost up to Pearl Harbor. The cast is amazing, including Candice Bergen as an ice queen/dyke and Jessica Walter(!) as a repressed writer. Lots to say about feminism, obviously, but also privilege, sex, love, and family, by birth and by choice.