The Movies

[Alex Ptacek]

Knives Out is also free on Amazon. Excellent cast. Even better script.

[Robin UK]

Rip, do you agree that Django Unchained housed Samuel L. Jackson’s and Di Caprio’s career best performances? The scene where Calvin sells Broomhilda = Di Caprio at his best.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I'd have to watch it again. I wasn't that impressed with the movie.

[Robin UK]

Yes it’s a very strange movie - I think its best bits out weigh it’s not so good bits just by the sheer power of some of the individual scenes of acting by DiCaprio and Jackson. Worth a re-watch.

[Kevin_Slidell]

They Live is still relevant today, just replace the watches with cell phones.

[Jake Norman]

First time read through and post in this thread, picked up a lot of additions for my 'to watch' list, especially as the Western is a genre I'm unfamiliar with but wanting to watch more of, so thank you for that.

Tarantino was a genius, now a hack, Kill Bill was the turning point where he lost the ability to marry his style to substance.

I saw A History of Violence mentioned in terms of Mortensen's performance (which was excellent) but for me it stood out as a total departure for my favourite director. Shivers, Videodrome, Scanners, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, The Brood, Existenz; all must-watch movies.

The best version of Bladerunner is the one that doesn't exist, which is the Director's Cut, plus all the narration, minus the final 'happy ending' narration. I'm well aware that the narration was added because American test audiences were too thick to follow the movie, and that Ford didn't like it, and that it was jammed in by the money men. I don't care, it adds to the film noir feel of the movie, even down to how it's overwritten and hokey. Absolutely no need for Final Cut, Director's Cut was perfect in terms of scenes. Doesn't matter if Deckard was a replicant, just like it doesn't matter that Rachel is a replicant. It's what someone does for you that matters, not what they are on the inside. That's the point.

Anyone else anticipating but dreading Villeneuve's Dune?

Children of Men doesn't seem to have popped up, and I think y'all would like it if you haven't seen it. And you get to hear 'Blaydon Races' being sung by a real Geordie.

Sorry if it's come up and I missed it but the Chris Hemsworth Netflix movie Extraction is great if you dislike fast cut action. The story and performances are adequate at best, but the action feels in 2020 the way The Bourne Identity felt in 2002.

The Way of the Gun is personal gem, I always recommend it.

Love The Duellist, that and Highlander are what got me looking for and eventually finding HEMA. Watch Highlander, greatest movie villain of all time, The Kurgan played by Clancy Brown. Never was there or will there be a better bad guy, and Sean Connery playing a Spanish/Egyptian lord while the Frenchman Christopher Lambert plays a Scotsman and the American Clancy Brown turns in his career performance as a savage from the steppes of Russia are worth the price of entry alone.

[MatthewG]

Another movie I think is appropriate for 2020 is the remake of "It".
The message of this 2017 film resonates to me now more than ever; overcoming fear.

[Gerald Boggs]

While not a movie, the documentary “Happy People” is an excellent watch. It's about a remote Russian village with the lives of the trappers being the focus. Broken down into the four seasons, on YouTube you can watch it in Russian with English subtitles or a condensed English version by Werner Herzog “Happy People: A Year in the Taiga“ is available on DVD
YouTube

[Ayrsson]

Appaloosa and 3:10 To Yuma are tow of my favourite movies. Both Mortensen and Ed Harris were brilliant in what was a very believable movie. I love John Wayne, but the realism was lacking in most of his Westerns.

And in 3:10 To Yuma I loved the angle of a father trying to reclaim some sense of honour after the realisation that his son no longer respects him. And Crowe's character recognising towards the end of the movie that that was what was driving both father and son the entire time.

Those were probably the two best modern US movies i've seen in a modern era that's typified by irrelevant commercial rehashes and Soviet-esque 'woke' productions.

[Mark E. Hurling]

Appaloosa and 3:10 To Yuma are tow of my favourite movies. Both Mortensen and Ed Harris were brilliant in what was a very believable movie. I love John Wayne, but the realism was lacking in most of his Westerns.

Two of my favorite actors. The books are also excellent in the spare way Parker wrote them.

Mortensen was also beyond good in Hidalgo.