Here it is, time for another Netflix entry! And this blog is dead enough that this is the only thing I post anymore. Ah, well. On to the list of the next 20. Sort of compacted for a reason that will become apparent as it's read through.
Primer (NF)
It's the twisty turny time travel spectacular the likes of which haven't been seen since... um... well, I don't know, really. I remember Jeremy and Braz speaking highly of it, but I can't check back on that very well ever since Netflix removed the ability to see friends reviews of movies. Nine hundred thousand sites are falling over each other trying to add social components to their site, and Netflix is deleting useful social features from their site. Fantastic.
Anyway, yes. A short (77 minutes) movie about someone who discovers time travel. Liz says she has no interest in it, so I'm going to stream this from Netflix and save my actual disc shipments for something like...
The Prisoner (10 discs) (NF)
Yes, that says 10 discs. That's why this entry covering 20 discs has so few posts. It's not even that long a series, each disc has around two ~45 minute episodes on it, so it's about the length of a standard American season. The Prisoner is a British sci-fi series from the 1960s about a secret agent who resigns from the service and is held prisoner in a strange village where everyone is assigned a number in place of their name, and... look, I don't know much else because I've been avoiding reading about it so the damned thing isn't spoiled for me. I know it's a very influential piece of television, and everyone I know whose seen it really liked it. So... 10 discs. Yup.
Sleepless Town (NF)
Yet another movie that makes me wish I could put little notes in Netflix when I add a movie to my queue. It's a Japanese crime movie that I put in my queue because...? No idea. None of the actors ring a bell, the director isn't familiar... hope it's okay!
Sin City (NF)
Put in my queue when it came out in 2005, now near the top of the queue. Ow. And I really want to see this one, too. It looked really, really neat. And, of course, I have all the comics.
Con Air (NF)
An amazing cheesefest I have in my queue in case Liz wants to see it, or in case I decide the featurettes are compelling enough I want to rent it; I've already watched it through Netflix's streaming feature. And, WOW. Cheese. "Put. The bunny. Down."
Oldboy (NF)
The middle movie of director Chan-wook Park's Vengeance trilogy this one is... well, here's the synopsis from Netflix: "With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years -- and no one to hold accountable for his suffering -- a desperate businessman seeks revenge on his captors, relying on assistance from a friendly waitress. Korean director Chan Wook Park -- a former philosophy student and Hitchcock devotee -- uses his influences to create a mesmerizing psychological drama with a resolution that will leave you speechless."
Yes, I'm willing to give it a go.
Holes (NF)
A kids movie recommended to me by, of all people, my Mom. A kid is sent to a juvenile prison of sorts where the warden has all the kids digging holes all over the property. Warden played by Sigourney Weaver.
The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (NF)
I am expecting some low-rent Indiana Jones action here. I hope to not be too disappointed.
Profit: Season 1 (3 discs) (NF)
To quote the write-up again, "This darkly comic and short-lived Fox television series follows the nefarious pursuits of Jim Profit (Adrian Pasdar), an antihero who vows to lie, cheat and steal his way to the top of a multinational corporation. With his good looks and slick talk, Profit's managed to charm nearly everyone, including the company president (Keith Szarabajka). But he can't fool the suspicious security chief (Lisa Zane), who has her eye on his every move."
I'm interested in movies and such where a bad guy is the main character, and this was spoken very, very highly of by... I have no idea anymore. Really, it's amazing I remember to wear pants most days, at this rate.
Anyway, that's the next 20, current stats are 306 discs in the main queue, the last 5 being (loosely defined), Purgatory, Kidulthood, The Terminal, Veronica Mars: Season One, and Smallville, Season Two.
Someday, I may write a non-Netflix blog entry. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that, though.
The 4400: Season 1: Disc 2
Still haven't watched the first disc of this mini-series... not much to say, then.
Dark Days (NF)
Liz has accurately observed in the past I'm drawn to documentaries about people who don't have the easiest of lives. Dark Days is yet another piece of evidence in her favor. It's the story of some homeless in New York City who live in an abandoned railroad tunnel under the city. I'm interested... but as with so many of these, I wish I had been able to leave a note in Netflix when I added it to my queue saying what moved me to do so.
Casino (NF)
Martin Scorcese does a gangster movie with Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci? I'm in.
Hoop Dreams (NF)
A documentary about kids looking to get out of the ghetto via basketball... And, from Ebert, "Today, fifteen years after I first saw it, I believe 'Hoop Dreams' is the great American documentary. No other documentary has ever touched me more deeply. It was relevant then, and today, as inner city neighborhoods sink deeper into the despair of children murdering children, it is more relevant."
Smallville: Season 1 (6 discs) (NF)
I'm a big Superman fan, so I want to give this a chance. But it sort of looks like it's targeted at teenage girls, so I'm... dubious. Also, it's still on the air, in Season 9 or something. By now, shouldn't the series title be changed? Just a bit? I'm just saying...
Frailty (NF)
I remember there being some buzz about this movie when it came out. It was the first movie Bill Paxton directed, and I think it was a lot better than people initially expected. It's a thriller/suspense movie with Paxton and Matthew McConaughey (yes, I copy & pasted that) and Powers Boothe, who I really liked in Deadwood. And Tombstone. Hope he does well in a non-Western movie!
The Sea Hawk (NF)
Errol Flynn does swashbucklery. The novel, by Rafael Sabatini, is some fine stuff, too.
F for Fake (NF)
Orson Welles's "documentary?" on art and deception. Can't wait.
Babylon 5: The River of Souls (NF)
Babylon 5 I haven't seen yet! With Garibaldi! Hopefully it doesn't suck!
Battle Royale (NF)
A touching coming-of-age drama where... hang on... updated copy follows: "When even schoolchildren begin to abuse a system on the verge of social collapse, the Japanese government introduces a strict new punishment whereby randomly chosen students are taken to a deserted island and forced to fight each other to the death. Renowned Japanese auteur and actor Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano stars in this explosive, violent drama from director Kinji Fukasaku, based on Koushun Takami's novel."
The Sandbaggers: Collection 2 (3 discs) (NF)
A BBC espionage series from 1980I got hooked on several years ago. Just ruthless with characters, bearing no resemblance to Bond whatsoever. The show creator was a former intelligence agent with MI6 who disappeared while flying a small plane in Northern Canada, which effectively canceled the show.
Million Dollar Baby (NF)
No, I haven't seen it yet. Yes, I've been avoiding reading about it ever since it came out. No, it hasn't been completely successful. Still... looking forward to this story about I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT'S ABOUT BECAUSE I'VE BEEN TRYING TO AVOID READING ABOUT IT! Yeesh. I know it's been out years at this point, and all reasonable people have seen it, but what about us unreasonable people?
Alphaville (NF)
Full title: Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution. Oh, yes. I heard this described as "Godard's movie about Tarzan vs. IBM." étrange indeed.
287 discs in the main queue, 15 in the Saved queue, last 5 titles in the queue are Milk, 25th Hour, Charley Varrick, Deadwood, Season 2, and When the Levees Broke.
Seems like I just did one of these, eh? Quitting WoW, it sure has done quite a bit for giving me buckets of free time back. Free time I'm spending watching movies, apparently.
Lately, I've also started using Netflix's Watch Now to while away random evenings if I don't want to watch what I have on-hand. The selection by no means can be dubbed 'good', or 'current', but there is a reasonable range of titles, and I'm usually able to find something I'd like to see. This is especially handy if there's a movie in my queue available through Watch Now that Liz doesn't want to see. I can drop it from the queue, watch it on the 'puter, and hopefully get a disc we're both interested in. Which may well apply here, because looking through the list, the number of discs I'm guessing she'll want to see can be counted on one hand. I'd be happy to be proved wrong, of course.
Anyway, the picture quality, it must be said, is pretty variable. Sometimes it looks like washed-out VHS tapes, and at best it approaches, "all right." Still, for something that I'm getting at no extra charge for my standard subscription fee, I'm pretty impressed with it. Gift horse, mouth, etc.
On to the DVDs.
In the Mouth of Madness (NF)
Until recently, this was the only decent movie I know of that was based on H.P. Lovecraft's writings. Also, I like John Carpenter (the director, did The Thing remake and Escape from New York among others), and Sam Neill. I think I stuck it in the queue on reading an article on the web about underappreciated/lesser-known horror movies. Probably sometime in 2004 or 2005.
City on Fire (NF)
Yeah, it sounds like Tarantino was "inspired" for the plot for Reservoir Dogs from this movie. A lot of inspired. Cop goes undercover with a band of jewel thieves, gets shot up during the heist, and suspicions arise type of inspired. Still. Chow Yun Fat. Should be fun.
For Love of the Game (NF)
Kevin Costner's made two fantastic baseball movies (Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, for those suffering momentary memory lapses), here's hoping this is a third.
The Rookie (NF)
One of two rated G movies I have in my queue (the other one is Cars). The based-on-a-true-story story about guy in his late 30s who against a whole bunch of odds ends up a rookie, pitching for a major league team. I'm sure it'll be very feel-goody and possibly treacley. I'm still gonna watch it.
Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse (NF)
I watched the movie this is a sequel to (The Crimson Rivers - NF, IMDB) years ago, and thought it was fantastic. And then I found out there was a sequel, so here I am, another subtitled French action movie in my queue. Starring Jean Reno (Leon: The Professional) and Vincent Cassel (one-armed guy in Brotherhood of the Wolf). Hope it works out.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (NF)
Loved the manga, hoping the movie doesn't suck. That about sums it up.
Deadwood: Season 1 (6 discs) (NF)
I looked forever to find a commercial or something for Deadwood, and the best I've found is this. As Liz is not a huge Western fan... this and the following set of DVDs might make for a loooooong string of me watching movies by myself. :-/
Have Gun Will Travel: Season 1 (6 discs) (NF)
Yyyyyyyup. Then again, if either of these turns out to not be my taste, I'll purge whatever hasn't gotten to me yet from my queue and move on. I did that last go-round with The Young Ones. It was funny enough... just not 8 hours worth of funny.
The 4400: Season 1 (NF)
No idea why this is in the queue, but various people I know have spoken highly of it, so... I'll give it a whirl.
Dead Ringers (NF)
The second time this movie's climbed up my queue. The first time it got a couple spots from the top, and then fell out of Netflix's inventory, and into the Saved queue. Now it's back again, and... well, we'll see how far it makes it this time around. Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists, David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch, Eastern Promises) directs.
Sharpe's Regiment (NF)
Sharpe's Siege (NF)
Sharpe's Mission (NF)
Sharpe's Revenge (NF)
Sharpe's Justice (NF)
Sharpe's Waterloo (NF)
Sharpe's Challenge (NF)
So.... much like last time, there's a whole block of Sharpe movies in the queue, and there's no way in hell I'm writing about each individual one. The continuing adventures of Richard Sharpe (currently Major Richard Sharpe) in the war against Napoleon, the movies are a little bit like a period James Bond, what with adventures and derring do and the somewhat ridiculous romances the manly man has, with an additional dash of buddy movie thrown in, as Sharpe and his company (the Chosen Men) troop about killing the French. I still miss Brian Cox as the "engineer" (spy), but, ah, well. I think there have been three intelligence chiefs so far, with a fourth coming up in Regiment. They're like drummers in Spinal Tap, just can't manage to stick around...
Gremlins (NF)
Nope, never seen Gremlins. Ever. I'm aware for some people this is possible evidence I'm an alien impostor.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (NF)
The original Lion King 1½. ;-) Telling the story of probably the two most minor characters in Hamlet, the mere idea of this has fascinated me since I heard of it. And now, finally, I get to see it.
Get Shorty (NF)
John Travolta and Elmore Leonard make fun of Hollywood. I understand various characters are essentially based on real people (the one I think I remember is Danny DeVito is 'playing' Dustin Hoffman). It's supposed to be funny and witty and is recommended to me because I liked Bull Durham and Pulp Fiction, which is a heck of an interesting pairing, to say the least.
The Young Ones (NF)
3 discs of a British TV series I put into my queue on a whim because of the recommendation of a former office-mate. The synopsis reads in part "Four mismatched university students share a house in North London: Neil, the hippie; Cool Guy Mike; Rick, a would-be anarchist studying sociology; and Vyvyan, the punk medical student who is prone to extreme violence." That fourth character sounds like it has some promise.
Shine (NF)
The movie where I first heard of Geoffrey Rush, as he won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of a schizophrenic virtuoso pianist. Which, I think, he closely followed up by playing Casanova Frankenstein in Mystery Men. Nicely done, Mr. Rush!
Lone Star (NF)
A modern-day (?) Western, starring Chris Cooper (!), and... Matthew McConaughey. Oy. Still. Really, really looking forward to this one. Possibly irrationally. But, yeah. Looking forward to it. Chris Cooper hasn't disappointed me yet.
Trees Lounge (NF)
Steve Buscemi writes, directs, and stars in a movie about a shiftless barfly. I like Buscemi. Ergo...
Slap Shot (NF)
So, as I sort of like sports movies and funny movies... thought I should take a chance on one of the most well-spoken of funny sports movies ever. Starring Paul Newman, even.
House of Flying Daggers (NF)
Yup, put this in my queue when it came out in theaters, just now finally getting around to actually seeing it. A very colorful, stylized martial arts drama, I'll be watching this by myself, while Liz mutters, "I can see the wires..."
Captain Blood (NF)
It's Errol Flynn as a pirate. Either that means nothing to you or you want to watch it. I'm not sure there's middle ground.
Anyway, that's it for the next 20, for random stats, 278 discs in the main queue, 13 in the 'Saved' section, and the last five are Jersey Girl, Taxi to the Dark Side, The Wild Geese, The Wrestler, and Harlan Ellison: Dreams With Sharp Teeth. See you in 20.
Setting: This morning, in the car. A CD of random iTunes purchases is playing.
Penny: Daddy? Is this song still about Alex?
Me: Well, the last one was sort of a silly joke about Alex. This one is sort of about you.
Penny: Why is this song about me?
Me: Well, because it's about a daddy and how much he loves his daughter.
Penny ::small pause::
Penny: Daddy, when can I get a diamond?
So... I apparently started this Netflix entry back in January, and then promptly forgot about it. I just now went to start a Netflix entry and found this one already half-begun, sitting in the Unpublished pile. So... typity type! Things I are getting from Netflix, and if I can remember, why!
Serpico (NF)
So, the first bunch of these movies, I've already watched, so you sort of get capsule reviews instead of me saying, "Gee, I sure hope this doesn't suck, and I can't remember why I put it in my queue."
Anyway, Serpico is a '70s cop movie starring a young (YOUNG!) Al Pacino, doing a great job as the clean cop on the NYPD, when everyone else is on the take. Based on a true story, I went around for a while afterwards saying, "My job really isn't that bad. Not at all." Hammer of perspective & such.
Lonesome Dove (2 discs) (NF)
Yes, I love Westerns and had never seen Lonesome Dove. It was fantastic, even if fabled nemesis Blue Duck had a bit of a gut.
Quills (NF)
A fairly enjoyable heavily fictionalized story about the Marquis de Sade's time in prison. I have a dilemma about this movie, because while I enjoyed it on initial viewing, I started Wikipediaing the various historical figures involved, and... I don't know. It just bothered me, the gentling and softening of Sade. If that's what the writer and directors felt they had to do to make a movie with the message they wanted, about the urge and need to create.. pick a different subject. Sometimes, villains are villains.
I know, it's a concept I've expressed before.
The Thief of Bagdad (1924) (NF)
A classic fantasy silent movie, starring Douglas Fairbanks as the thief who falls in love with the princess and needs to retrieve some fantastic treasures to win her hand in marriage, it's got a flying horse, and some really neat special effects for its time, and I made Penny watch it and it was so slow, I think it's going to be really tough to get her to watch....
The Thief of Bagdad (1940) (NF)
This here fantasy adventure won 3 Oscars, naturally techie ones. Visual Effects, Art Direction Color, and Cinematography Color, the story of the banished blind prince teaming with the thief to win the princess's hand in marriage... it's supposed to be fantastic. I hope I get to watch it soon, I've had it in house since March.
Sharpe 2: Sharpe's Eagle (NF)
Sharpe 3: Sharpe's Company (NF)
Sharpe 4: Sharpe's Enemy (NF)
Sharpe 5: Sharpe's Honour (NF)
Sharpe 6: Sharpe's Gold (NF)
Sharpe 7: Sharpe's Battle (NF)
Sharpe 8: Sharpe's Sword (NF)
If you think I'm going to individually comment on all these you're absolutely mental. The continuing adventures of Richard Sharpe in various British wars, Brian Cox leaves after the first two, and that's a shame because he was just fantastic as the "engineer" (spy) who maneuvers Sharpe around for Wellington's purposes.
The Chronicles of Riddick (NF)
CONAN IN SPACE! IT'S CONAN IN SPACE! Geez, if you didn't find this fun, what the hell do you like?
Second Sight: Series 1 (NF)
I have a fascination with origins. Where something came from, how it got started, what something was like when it started, that sort of thing. For whatever reason, I stuck this in my queue with the idea I could see what else Clive Owen had been up to around the time of Croupier, which I really liked.
The Indian Runner (NF)
No idea where this fascination with movies directed by Sean Penn comes from, but there hasn't been a clunker yet. This movie is more or less a movie version of the Springsteen song Highway Patrolman, which I've liked since first hearing Johnny Cash's cover of it, and then the original.
Really, you don't get pop songs that tell a real story, one beyond, "Gee, that girl sure is purty." That's been one thing that's attracted me to certain country artists lately, that story put in song form.
Infernal Affairs (NF)
Geez, no idea why this specific Taiwanese cop movie is in my queue over any fifty other Taiwanese cop movies. I'm sure I had a reason at some point. Looks like Netflix's recommendation system might just have worn me down, I don't know. Still, Tony Leung is pretty good. I have hopes. Not high ones, but still. Some.
The Wedding Singer (NF)
Adam Sandler, don't let me down here. I keep hearing this is fun movie (word to avoid: good), and the soundtrack is... generally received well by someone of my age bracket.
Yup. Getting old.
Sideways (NF)
Nominated for a bunch of awards, highly acclaimed at the time, blah blah, it's been out so long the backlash has arrived and I know people who generally revile it. I'm hoping for doesn't suck, again. I really like Paul Giamatti, so... there's reason for hope.
The Black Pirate (NF)
Why is this in my queue? Somebody explain this? Did I get on a mini-silent movie kick, with this and Thief of Bagdad? Ah, I see a review from someone so... I'm guessing that was it.
Okay, all done for a while. Back to silent running.
295 in queue, 6 in saved, last 5 are Let the Right One In, Jersey Girl, Taxi to the Dark Side, The Wild Geese, and The Wrestler.
Yes, I am looking forward to Coraline, thanks for asking. :-)
(no, this blog isn't going to suddenly become active again or anything. No worries.)
This is a Netflix entry, that I started at the end of December. Here it is, the beginning of March, and I've only watched one of the twenty discs that make up the next 20 list.
Suffice it to say, if I didn't have time to write this entry, I haven't had time to watch the movies, either. Things have been busy.
MORE...Part of the reason I quit World of Warcraft ... was also that the style of my play had become something I no longer enjoyed. There is a very mechanistic way to go about your business in WoW that is deeply counter to my nature. I like discovering my entertainment via an intuitive process, and it seemed to me that the game was essentially "about" running Molten Core over and over again to get a complete set of of numerically maximal lootz. I could see this point approaching, like the bright eye of an onrushing locomotive, and decided that I would rather slam my dick in a car door.
I'm not quitting... but that "the game begins at level 70" bullshit is just that.
