Svetlana and I are pretty obsessed with Netflix. I take the slightly more OCD route though by rating all my movies (between 1 and 5 stars) and rearranging my queue on an hourly basis. I will often berate her for giving odd ratings: “5 stars out of 5 for The Descent? Really?” She doesn’t care. I also send a lot of “notes” to friends, a Netflix feature that allows you to suggest movies to your friends via an up to 200 character mini review. Svetlana wishes I would channel all my Netflix energy into BYT. So at her request every once in a while I’ll post some of my mini-reviews from the past 4+ years, ten or so at a time. Feel free to give me shit like I give her shit:
Marjoe
1972 doc following an evangelist con man. Crowds convulse / speak in tongues followed by shots of him rolling in money. Somewhat poorly crafted but the engaging subject matter makes up for the tedium
4 Stars
The Flaming Lips: The Fearless Freaks
Good times – even if you’re not a huge fan or anything
5 Stars
Lars and the Real Girl
It tries way too hard to be quirky and just ends up being boring. Like a Kevin Smith film.
2 Stars
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
My Star Trek marathon continues. Probably the most accessible film to date. Plot runs at ludicrous speed and there are some seriously hilarious moments and brilliant interactions of the cast.
4 Stars
Bee Movie
While the voice work is impeccable (Patrick Warburton!), it’s been done before (twice) and it’s almost as if Dreamworks’ animation is getting worse as the technology gets better. Non-essential.
3 Stars
This Is England
wonderful
5 Stars
Ghost Town
A tired plot brought to life (pun intended) by the talent of the three leads, especially the inimitable Ricky Gervais. Def not a must see by any means, but watchable and def funny at times.
3 Stars
The Bank Job
Suspenseful, clever, trashy fun. And the fact that it was inspired by a true story makes it all the more interesting.
4 Stars
American Hardcore
An obvious must see for any DC kid. Great old footage, but after a while its a little tedious listening to all these aging punks reminisce about the good ol days which obviously weren’t *that* amazing
3 Stars
The King of Kong
Hilarious and awesome, watch instantly.
5 Stars
Wanna be my Netflix friend? Click here:
http://www.netflix.com/BeMyFriend/PmzrQcDhoaLYHM0oKBu0
Wanna read Part 1? Click here.
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Wanna read my thing on the Roku? Click here:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/movies/netflix-hd/
I loved The Bank Job. One of the more underrated movies to show up last year.
August 20, 2009 at 3:01 pmyou know which movie i think you’d enjoy: CHERISH.
I really need to see “This is England”
The first time I saw The King of Kong I watched it two more times that same day, making people who hadn’t seen it yet come over and watch it with me. Such a great documentary.
August 21, 2009 at 10:54 amIt’s a slow day at work, so here are some of my latest Netflix ratings:
Rio Bravo – Yes, I’m a little late to the party, still a thoroughly entertaining John Wayne western. 5 stars
Clean, Shaven – Hellish, ultra-subjective portrayal of man with schizophrenia. Some scenes of self-mutilation were almost too brutal to watch. 3 stars
The Great Buck Howard – John Malkovich plays over-the-hill mentalist, flips out on idiots. Funny, light comedy. 4 stars
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man – One of the better music documentaries I’ve seen. Director has patience to let audience think about Walker’s music, which is beautiful/bizarre. 4 stars
Black Narcissus – Beautifully shot movie about nuns in India. Crazy, Hitchcockian ending. I was astonished to learn whole thing was filmed on soundstage. 4 stars
The Friends of Eddie Coyle – Robert Mitchum shines in this low-key crime drama. Peter Boyle plays a bastard. 4 stars
Twilight – Gorgeous cinematography, silly romance. Entertaining overall. 3 stars
Towelhead – Morally repugnant, like Todd Solodnz with no empathy. 1 star
Picnic and Hanging Rock – Peter Weir filmed this creepy story about young girls who disappear, offers no explanation whatsoever. Unnerving. 4 stars
August 21, 2009 at 10:56 amCale, you have some movies that need to pop to the top of your queue. Like hella fast:
Oldboy
13 Tzametti
Half Nelson
Dead Alive
All the Real Girls “D.G.G.- the director of Pineapple Express”
Jesus’ Son (if you read the book too, its like 100 pages)
Irreversible (if you want your insides to hurt)
but PLEASE watch “The Fall” first, it’s my favorite movie of all time. Just watch the trailer, and you will know why. People just don’t know about it, but it’s a hidden gem.
August 21, 2009 at 11:10 amwhat silly MFer hasn’t seen Oldboy yet?! One of the best of the decade.
Half Nelson is good. Though I’ve heard detractors, so opinions seem mixed.
August 21, 2009 at 11:22 amWill bump those up.
I own The Fall. I liked it, but not as much as some other people. I think cause it just made me think of Baraka, which is *my* fav movie of all time and thus it couldn’t compare.
August 21, 2009 at 12:04 pmCale I haven’t seen Baraka yet (I don’t think). I’ll check it out.
The Fall had Beethoven’s 7th though, which was pretty perfect for that movie: intense, passionate, overly-dramatic. And now of course I have to watch Immortal Beloved again, which is one of *my* favorite movies of all time.
If the 2d Movement of the 7th doesn’t drop your heart into your stomach where it’s consumed and you feel every second of its consumption while you shiver with goose bumps and last scene of Se7en where Pitt opens the box and Stella! and losing all logic and reason and just reacting whether it’s right or not then you have no soul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdfNTO_o-3k
August 21, 2009 at 12:15 pmI recommend watching Baraka on Blu-Ray, it’s the highest definition film ever released.
The Fall paid homage to a bunch of scenes from it, you’ll dig it.
When are you going to start writing the Hipster’s Guide to Classical Music?
August 21, 2009 at 12:19 pmThere is a film about Scott Walker? How on earth did this slip my attention! Thanks for pointing this out, Alan. The others on your list sound also very interesting (except for twilight).
August 21, 2009 at 12:20 pmits really good too.
its also one of the movie available on Instant Play on Netflix so you can WATCH IT NOW!
for avid oldboy (and korean-vampire-priest) fans, check out this gem of a movie. just caught it last night at e st:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG4AV6kLrKY
chan-wook = amaaaazing director.
this doesn’t disappoint.
Lisa – cool! we gave out free tix to that at Summer Camp a couple weeks ago
surprised nobody is freaking on my American Hardcore rating…
August 21, 2009 at 12:29 pmCale – that’s a good idea.
August 21, 2009 at 12:37 pmDid you go see thirst at E-street, cuz I am contemplating going tomorrow sometime. And Michael is it A major or minor in The Fall. Been awhile since my music theory class, and I forget which one is slower. Who saw Moon?
August 21, 2009 at 12:39 pmI normally disagree with these ratings but now that you mention King Kong, I quite agree. Timeless classic.
August 21, 2009 at 12:42 pmno, its King of Kong…Just a little bit different….just a little.
August 21, 2009 at 12:50 pmMoon: one of the best films I saw this year so far. It’s one of those films that echoe in you for a while. It delivers everything that a sci-fi should. I was surprised how little media attention it got.
Thirst: eh, I was somewhat disappointed. Great images and funny, grotesque scenes but the story is nowhere as interesting as old boy.
August 21, 2009 at 12:54 pmeh, Moon was ok. I saw it with my friend Mike and he abhored it. I think it’s an ok inside the house on a rainy day movie, but not worth the $20 bucks (ticket and popmaize and coke) to see it in the theater.
August 21, 2009 at 1:00 pmKing Kong was discussed in Part 2:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/movies/1-second-movie-reviews-part-2/
August 21, 2009 at 1:01 pm‘This is England’ is def good. They wear leggings there a lot.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/3795673461_527e4b5012_b.jpg
August 21, 2009 at 1:05 pmWord my B, but I loved moon. Not many people can pull off practically a 90 minute monologue.
August 21, 2009 at 1:05 pmI liked “This is England” but I watched it with some of my skinhead friends and they thought it sucked.
Now people talk about how they knew I was a “racist” because I have skinhead friends, and then I’ll introduce you to them and you’ll see they’re black.
August 21, 2009 at 1:10 pmMichael: this depends on what you expect. It’s def not a popcorn and soda movie. I saw it twice and it hit me both times – each time at different levels. It stirred long conversations among my friends. If a movie can achieve this, it’s a very good one in my book.
But there is no arguing about film taste. I, for instance, didn’t enjoy the Fall.
August 21, 2009 at 1:11 pmI mean, in England, in general.
August 21, 2009 at 1:14 pmBoots n’ braces don’t make racists
August 21, 2009 at 1:15 pmI liked it, I just didn’t LOVE it. Mike McC wanted to walk out halfway through it.
I don’t see what kind of conversations it would spur though, I mean the twist was a bit unexpected but it certainly is one hell of a practical solution for what they were trying to achieve.
August 21, 2009 at 1:16 pmLogan – quite true, but you’d be amazed the reactions (or maybe not) when people hear someone is a “skinhead” but they’ve mostly got their information from sensationalist news.
There are quite a few black skins in DC.
August 21, 2009 at 1:17 pmseanLILSPOONmeyer,
I saw Moon and really enjoyed it. You can check out my review here:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/movies/another-movie-guy-moon-the-hurt-locker-bruno-misc/
Also, The Fall kicks ass.
August 21, 2009 at 1:24 pmcale, i want you to know that i especially appreciated the movie note about Die Hard.
Die Hard is generally regarded as my favorite movie. I own multiple DVD copies of it. i also have it on VHS as well as a copy on both of my computers, both of my ipods and it is permanently in my instant queue. i watch it often.
i was glad to see that you felt that it held up well after 20 yrs.
August 21, 2009 at 1:25 pmtotally – they’re all out on blu-ray now too, I’m doing a marathon.
Part IV discussed here as well:
http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/movies/1-second-movie-reviews-part-2/
I agree with NP: if a flick is good on many levels, it’s def a good one altogether. A good flick is the one you play again and again over a time. It has to be good on a multitude of levels to be as good as this, it simply has to. It’s just the same with music. It has to be multi-dimensional to appeal repeatedly, not too immediate, you know.
August 21, 2009 at 1:30 pmI dig Die Hard particularly hard. It’s timeless as well.
August 21, 2009 at 1:35 pm
aaahhh, yes! The King of Kong is an amazing doc. Never thought I’d get so passionately interested in a story about video game high scores.
August 20, 2009 at 2:57 pm