quote:

---

written by wong828
J-Lo was involved with giant snakes? What was she doin' with 'em?

---

Hahaha, I'm just going to assume you know what movie I was referring to and leave the answer to that question to your imagination.

K-Dog

Equilibrium -- good choice, K-Dog. It's a little cheesy, but one hell of a good movie compared to the Matrix sequels. It's an excellent rent, trust me.

i agree with k-dog about no man's land, with its eastern european humor.

i also would like to add Kandahar, an Iranian film. The subject matter is serious (life under the Taliban), but there pervades a dark humor throughout the film.

I'll go with 1997's "The Assignment", a thriller about Carlos the Jackal, starring Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley. The direction and action are intense, the script is intelligent, and it just delivers on so many levels. I didn't expect anything, and I was pretty much blown away.

If you've never seen Positive I.D. I recommend giving it a watch. Andy Anderson did the screenwriting, producing, directing and editing, and while the acting is nothing of note, the writing is above-par. A fun little story if nothing else.

I will second the recommendation of Kandahar. A very good film about a woman who's family fled Afghanistan to Canada when she was young. Years later, she has become a reporter and she heads back to Kandahar to find her sister who lost her legs to a land mine and was left behind when they fled the country. Her sister has sent her a letter saying that she has decided to commit suicide during the last eclipse of the 20th century, and this is what sets her out to find and hopefully rescue her.
This movie's strength is brilliant cinematography and some wonderful dark humour. A friend of mine who watched it with his very sensitive girlfriend said he wasn't sure if he should be laughing, as his girlfriend seemed to be taking it all too seriously, and he had a hard time enjoying it because of that. I told him to watch it again without her, and laugh out loud whenever you feel like it, and he ended up enjoying it a lot more the second time. The film is obviously set in a harsh and depressing world, and for me at least, that can create some of the best humour.

Another movie I will recommend is Cube, a low budget movie made in Canada. There is also a sequel to it called Hypercube that is very disappointing, which I would avoid. The original was made at a film school in Toronto by students, and was the directors first project. The movie is all filmed on one set, and relies on lighting changes for different rooms. It does have some flaws in the script and acting areas, but is a neat little sci-fi film nonetheless! For a movie made in three weeks and on $300,000 Canadian, it is a major accomplishment. Check it out!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Smenkharon,

I would recommend a movie called The Tao of Steve. It stars the incredibly annoying, but very talented Donal Logue. It is a small movie that was shot in New Mexico, by first and only time director, Jennifer Goodman.

Another one is Plunkett and MacLeane. This movie kicked ass! It has Johnny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle and Liv Tyler. It is a movie about a pair of Robbers in the late 18th century. There is some techno music in it which I thought was wierd, but it was very fitting in fact. My friends and I were literally cheering at the end of this one.

Gonna have to second Jakal on Plunkett and Maclean. Very fun movie. I am going to recommend three movies...because I want to.

Night Breed Many of you have seen this, but it seems to have been passed over by the general population. It's not a great movie, just something different. If you are in the mood for weird, check it out.

The Spanish Prisoner I had to recommend a Mamet film. This movie is slower paced, compared to many of his other, but stick with it. It's worth it in the end.

The BelieverThis is a 2001 film starring Ryan Gosling. He plays the ultimate walking contradiction, a Jewish Nazi. His performance is amazing. I think he has a big career ahead of him.

I recently saw "Broken Wings" (an Isreali Film) and loved it. The acting is tremendous.

Also "Bus 174" is a "don't miss". I can't believe it didn't get more attention from oscar.

"All the Real Girls" isen't exactly a little known movie, but I'm surprised how few people saw it.

"Les Fils" came and went so fast I doubt anyone thought it was worth going to. But rent it, it's brilliant!

Whoa, Willie! How did I leave "Barbarosa"(1982) off my best western list? Too much of something, I guess. "Barbarosa" is a gritty but humorous "revenge" western starring Willie Nelson and Gary Busey. It's got a wonderful script which tells a family saga that plays out as a legend. Both Willie and Gary are excellent, Willie so much so that he should have become a BIG movie star. I think you'll enjoy this even if you never watch westerns.

Cube is definitely underappreciated, after I saw it I couldn't stop thinking about it and I had to watch it again. One movie that I don't think many have seen is The Red Violin, rented it because it had Sam Jackson, liked it because of Sam Jackson but also because of the interesting journey of a rare violin throughout time.

Here is my top twenty. This is not a order of priority, I am just listing them as I think of them.

1. Waking the Dead
2. Dirty Pretty Things - Eccentro it was a great film
3. Apartment Zero
4. Monsieur Hire
5. Way of the Gun - agree with you K-Dog
6. Equilibrium - agree with your choice K-Dog
7. Romper Stomper
8. Dark City
9. The Sweet Hereafter
10. King of the Hill
11. The Frighteners
12. The Ref
13. Deep Cover
14. Wonder Boys
15. Zero Effect
16. The Quick and the Dead
17. Bound
18. Fresh
19. Beautiful Girls
20. Safe

quote:

---

Originally posted by touched:
6. Equilibrium - agree with your choice K-Dog

---

I tried watching this on TV the other night and found it kind of boring. I dunno, its an interesting concept and probably would lend itself better to a novel. The premise, for those of you not in the know, no on ein the future can have emotions-------well, there goes all your taut emotional scenes pfft

Heaven's Gate, anyone?

quote:

---

Also "Bus 174" is a "don't miss". I can't believe it didn't get more attention from oscar.

---

Ack, that film was a disgrace! I appear to be one of the few who thought that it was horribly put together with inconsistent, hypocritical arguments. The hostage footage was pretty tense, but that didn't make it a good doco by any means.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pat:

quote:

---

Also "Bus 174" is a "don't miss". I can't believe it didn't get more attention from oscar.

---

Ack, that film was a disgrace! I appear to be one of the few who thought that it was horribly put together with inconsistent, hypocritical arguments. The hostage footage was pretty tense, but that didn't make it a good doco by any means.

---

Youre also the one who liked "Heaven's Gate"

Heh

Sorry. The oppurtunity was there....

How about Hubert Selby, Jr's "Last Exit to Brooklyn"? (directed by Uli Edel of "Twin Peaks" fame.) The film details a union strike, ostensibly in New York City in the 1950s, but was competely filmed in Germany! The atmosphere is incredible, and it's a riveting combo of STRONG drama and HILARIOUS comedy. I'll admit some of the characters and situations are difficult to relate to, but the overall effect is incendiary, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Stephen Lang, Burt Young, Jerry Orbach and Ricki Lake all give solid performances. It's pretty much a one-of-a-kind film, which might actually MAKE you thankful. Still highly recommended, and you might get an in-joke from "Pulp Fiction", which came out later.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

The fact that no one has mentioned Bob Roberts seems to show either that it's little-seen and under appreciated; or seen, but people think it's seen enough not to qualify as little-seen.
In any event, I highly recommend it.
It is a briliant satirical political commentary(with music!)... and a damn sight better than Embedded.
---
Seen.

also agree with the believer and zero effect..along with: wet hot american summer, 200 cigarettes, pecker, the opposite of sex, true romance, the anniversary party, brotherhood of the wolf...ah so many.

[font=Optima][SIZE=7]A Perfect World[/SIZE][/font]

Director: Clint Eastwood
Year: 1993
Country: USA

[IMG]http://w1.1396.telia.com/~u139601017/jtlowther2.jpeg[/IMG]

Kevin Costner gives his greatest performance in this Clint Eastwood directed masterpiece that tells a story of love and coming to terms with yourself in the most unlikely of places and situations. Regardless of the film being split down the line by the critics. This thing is a fucking, no holds barred, gut-wrenching masterpiece that manages to work on many levels and emotions at once. Costner plays a prison escapee on the run with another bandit in the 1960's midwest. On the way they kidnap a small boy named Phillip, acted remarkably well by such a young child 7-year old T.J. Lowther. Costner gets rid of the other dude and together with Phillip the two hit the road and flee from the law. Clint Eastwood plays the man in charge of hunting down Costner's character through the backwoods and byways of Texas and Oklahoma. Along with Eastwood is Laura Dern and the two don't exactly hit it off from square one. Eastwood is the big name star in the film but he took a second billing to Kevin Costner who has far more screen time and who the movie focuses far greater on.
It's Costner's best role by miles. His character and Phillip have the common bond in that both of them got shafted when it came to having a decent father. As a result they forge an unorthadox partnership, each one playing father to the other. A Perfect World is emotionally engaging as the audience deeply feels for the man and the boy thoughout their "adventures." One could call it a road movie and in fact it is. The action moves from one place to the next as Costner and Phillip go about doing the best they can to survive, find food, a place to sleep each night, stay one step ahead of the law, and deal with the locals, hillbillys, and rednecks they come across.
Clint Eastwood is good to in an understated performance. It's understated because Eastwood plays his Texas Ranger character with conviction of a man doing the job he's hired to do. He takes no glory or even personal satisfaction with his work except the hope that he might do the right thing. Laura Dern's character misjudges and writes him off as another good ole' boy cop full of bravado, gettin' of on cathing the bad guy and showing off in front of his underlings. Couldn't be more from the truth as she finds out and as the story progresses when we learn both Eastwood's and Costner's characters have crossed paths before.
This movie did have an emotional impact on me and it's tough not to get teary eyed towards the end when everything comes to a standoff and decisions must be made. The movie is biterly ironic in a way. The boy in his Casper costume acting out a Halloween that he was never allowed to enjoy. And the man, a criminal and killer, who has a heart as big as Texas so the saying goes, who only needs to love and be loved in return - which he's never had the opportunity for. I swear if the final moments of the movie don't get to you, you're probably not human.