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Thanks a bundle for all your suggestion. Naturally, lots of them I’ve already seen, but of those I hadn’t that were recommended here, Ive watched:-<br>Once Upon A Time In America Enjoyed it. It was v.long though.<br>Saving Private Ryan Really impressed by this. I never saw this at the cinema and was put off by the thought that it was just another Yankee tale of how they won the war and no-one else. But it was above that. Realistic scenes of the D-Day landings. <br>Memento Really enjoyed this too – although can’t say I entirely kept up with the plot.<br>The Wicker Man Yep – cracking film with a nice twist at the end.<br>Thanks folks
Have ordered a few more but have to wait my turn as the rest of my tribe order films too.
For what it’s worth, I’d recommend the following:-<br>The Pianist The (true) tale of a jewish concert pianist and his struggle for survival in the Warsaw ghetto.<br>Saw Cracking "who’s doing it" tale. Not for the squeamish. Has a great twist at the end.<br>Galaxy Quest Sci-fi spoof. Made me chuckle.
Watching the new 40th edition Mary Poppins DVD last night in Italian (as a language lesson!) left me wondering if we appreciate the power  of some of these old childrens classics (which feature racing eg National Velvet or mere sequences eg Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady) in positively predisposing children to the racecourse experience. Is there any evidence that the imagination of today’s children is being captured by the sport in the same way or alternatively by video games etc ?
Just a thought………
I haven’t contributed to this thread yet, but as films definitely aren’t my ‘thang’ I’ve only got a small list of good ones. I tend to either worship a movie or loathe it, so these are the few I adore….
<br>The Full Monty (all time favourite) <br>Some Like it Hot<br>Misery<br>Far From the Madding Crowd<br>Leon
<br>….and my mind’s gone blank. :cool:
<br> :old:
diverting away from celluloid to actors<br>Jimini Cricket was arguably the best<br>and some say the wisest of actors<br>but the worst paid
Just watched Cypher by the same director as Cube. Really enjoyed it. <br>It’s about a high-tech company brainwashing staff to spy for them A bit far-fetched but has a good twist at the end. There’s also a very pretty Japanese (I think) female in it. Sadly, she doesn’t get her kit off, but then it’s not that sort of film.<br>Also been to see:-<br> Severance. A British bloodthirsty black comedy. Not great on subtlety but amusing and shocking. Worth a watch if you’re not squeamish. <br>Harsh Times Overrated crap.<br>Nacho Libre Has its moments but not many of them. Disappointing comedy.<br>Snakes on a Plane (My wife asked me what it was about!). Okay – a good escapist film where what you expect to happen happens. (Has the stereotype passenger list; English pratt, newly married couple, crew member on last trip before retiring, black rapper, annoyingly twee heroic kids etc.)
Reign of Fire is my all time favourite. I like the idea of dragons wiping out the planet; the Americans coming to save it (not) and the skydiving scenes  were incredible.<br>A truly great and underated movie that will gain cult recognition in future.
The Thriteenth warrior. Incredible movie. The Arab horse is wonderful. But the fear of the unknown keeps you glued to your seat. You are drawn in to believe the monster exists. The truth is even more monstrous.
Mildred Pierce. A classic of cinema in terms of style performance and story.Joan Crawford is superb. So many elements of fundamental human concern: loyalty, betrayal, ambition, love, jealousy…it has the lot….thrown in with great fashions, lighting…a forerunner of film noir.
Atarnarjuat the Fast runner. Awesome modern Inuit movie. Leaves you thinking for the rest of your life. Breathtaking.
Champions and Phar Lap were good too.
(Edited by GreenGreenDesert at 12:15 am on Sep. 4, 2006)
Intiguing selections GGD – I haven’t seen any of those but will be checking them out at the earliest opportunity.
Mildred Pierce is indeed excellent and surprisingly dark for it’s time (1945). It’s aired fairly frequently on TCM (Sky 319/320)
Like to replay Scarface now and again<br>Al Pacino at his snarling best…
Two video nasties recently seen not for the squeamish<br>Wolf Creek and Hostel – the really scary thing about both films is the first half is so happy and carefree before the gore begins………<br>
Saw the new version of The Wicker Man a couple of nights ago.  As I’d seen the original I expected to find the new one inferior – and it was. No nudity, less emphasis on the carnal & pagan nature of the community and some extra scenes which seemed totally pointless.  (What the f*** was the point of the first scene where the car gets creamed by the lorry?) <br> I’d be interested though to know what those who had never seen the original thought of this one. It’s a good enough story to survive a yankee rehash job.
(Edited by insomniac at 7:27 pm on Sep. 6, 2006)
Mildred Pierce features among fascist attempts at censorship recently. There is not much of the movie left if you cut out all the smoking and fur; something that the Bogart movie "The Maltese Falcon" is also subject too. Incredible that there are forces at work trying to do just that. Already I was told TCM get regular flak about such movies, and even once had an advert saying that it was a channel where you could see such things still. See these movies while you can in their full form as they will no doubt be banned by the forces of political correctness soon the way things are going:
<br>http://www.celebsmoking.com/PG/Mildred_Pierce/img00000002.html
It is a great movie, as was mentioned by Drone…surprisingly dark for irs time. Brooding sexuality and meancing lighting and powerful performances told in flashback keeps you rooted to your seat all the way through. Real Art.
There are later movies which I love in a similarly dark vein. "Night of The Hunter" and "Cape fear". There are some magically dark Stanwyck movies too. The bridled menace is terrific and no modern movies have it.
Well except maybe the brooding menace in this one which leaves you open mouthed and must rate as the darkest movie Disney were ever involved with. Truly terrifying, and very memorable for the arab horse. Those of you who do not rate Arab horses need to see this movie. An interesting site about "The Eaters of The Deas"or as renamed "The 13th Warrior":
What is good is it shows how much more learned and advanced the Moslem world was at the time, albeit you have to forgive Banderas more err…"Moorish"  interpretation of an Arab. But it is a movie about enlightenment as much as a terrifying historical horror.
But it is Atanarjuat the fast Runner that will blow your mind when you see it. It has every ingredient you could want from a film, and a hugely important cinema landmark. It is an Inuit movie. It offers a glimpse into a society that our modern one would brush aside with its homogenising commercial and moral imperialism. Strike back one. This is a must….possibly the best film ever made in terms of narrative, photography, atmosphere and certainly into a culture that will make you realise what narrow minded people we are in the West, and what lowest common denominator piffle most of our movies/culture are. A real epic of a movie that will make you cry, pump your adrenalin, and spellbound all but the most parochial cynic. But underlying it are real fundamental human truths.  And again it has fair share of brooding terror:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canada-mag … tle-en.asp
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/42/fastrunner.htm
For breathtaking fun and action, and a superb premise<br>that would make it laughable if it were not so brilliantly handled, it has the be "Reign of Fire". Humanity and civilzation wiped out all ober the planet by dragons. But the are not the quaint dragons of previous fantasy movoes. These are really brilliant. They look alive. And again a cultural element with the Britain  v USA cultural difference highlighted amusingly with good banter. Again it is adrenalin packed fun though at the end of the day…especially the angel skydivers in action from the heicopters as bait for the dragons.:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movie/rei … /27_sm.jpg
love that picture; the houses of parliament burnt out by dragons. Well I would being a welshman wouldn’t I?::o biggrin:
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/movie/rei … _photo.htm
<br>Interesting subject you raise here with the Wicker Man. I wasn’t aware there was a new version but the old one was excellent.<br>The number of horror movies resulting from fear of "the woods", and especially people who live in rural wilderness, is astounding.
Texas Chainsaw massacre, Deliverance, Straw Dogs, the Whicker man right through to the Blair Witch Project<br>Dog Soldiers, the Wrong Turn and Wolf Creek.
What is that fear all about? You are far safer in the depths of a forest at 3am than outside our 24 hour spar…where seldom a night passes without violent incident.
Hmmmm…so urban people are that alienated by the countryside that they are frightened of it. Interesting. I feel a wicker man coming on…..
But seriously…its irrational and truly bizarre isn’t it? Most horror movies play that up.
Matbe that is why I personally like the George Romero zombie movies best…they play on my fear of urban life; they are a metaphor for urban social decay(as he intends).
Another movie which sent up this genre was "Cabin Fever". The odd thing is urban people think it is a horror movie when really it is a comedy…as was the Evil Dead first two movies which camped up fear of the woods.
Have you seen The Village? Interesting.
One real life example of this was starkly illustrated by an incident where I asked our local Labour MP to meet with people from the three Hunts which surround out town. he agreed no problem (he isn’t a bad MP actually for local things…just a bit tainted by old Labour class dogma, animal rights ect). Anyway, the day before the arranhed meeting he rang up in a panic, and asked if it could be put on in town, instead of the country pub we had arranged. He was very very nervous. Finally after telling him he had nothing to worry about, he came. he arrived two hours early and set up video cameras. I think he was expecting a wicker man scenario. Anyway he was truly nervous, but I think now would be first to admit that hunting people are very decent and I think…though he didn’t budge on his position…he was relieved he didn’t get attacked. I realised then however how distant he was from the land and animals.
The highlight of the night was when he was describing that hunting makes people desensutised to suffering, and we must be educated to reach a more enlightened position above our naturally savage nature. Everyone looked at him gone out. He had to give an example of waht he meant. He said, "well, you know, like when I was a kid I used to nail squirrels to trees and tie fireworks to cats tails becuase I thought it was fun….but I grew out of it once I became aware of it being cruel" . The room went deathly silent. I do not think anybody in the room had ever treated animals with such direspect even when young.
Anyway..I digress. My point is that urban people fear the countryside, and movies play on it.
People of the cities and the newspapaers talk of "beasts" of the moors and the forests. We know them to be black leopard, Lynx and Puma. :o If you ask the locals of Trellech, they deny that the panther were released there in the 70s. They say they have always been there. There may however be a fundamentalist hunting rural group (wicker man stuff) who have reintroduced lynx to the wild….one west country Hunt had one cornered up a tree and had to call off the hiunds because they were getting a mauling.<br>Anyway, those of us who ride regularly in Wentwood, Trellech area, and the forest of Dean see a lot of stuff that isn’t meant to be there including red deer, pine marten, wild goat etc and of course the panther. I do not know anyone who rides there who HASN’T seen them. Yet here is the media reaction:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/si … cats.shtml
When you have seen rotting sheep and dog carcasses up a tree you know there is only one thing that does that.
STAY OUT OF THE WOODS… YOU ARE RIGHT TO BE SCARED:biggrin: :o :o
However if any overnight chepstow visitors woul like a tour of the woods and a possible sighting, I am available as a very expensive tracker and guide:biggrin: <br>
I really like asian people and their culture so for this reason, two of my favorite recent films are —
The Quiet American – set in South Vietnam in the 50’s , it stars Michael Caine as an english journalist reporting on unrest in the country. There is a gorgeous asian actress in it called  Do Thi Hai Yen who is the star of the film for me. M.Caine and an american ( yes, he’s quiet:biggrin: ) contend for her affections among the political background.
Lost in Translation – set in Tokyo and starrs Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. I found it strange, atmospheric but enjoyable.
Animated French hit, Belleville-Rendez-vous, is free with the Times newspaper on Saturday 9th September – 93% fresh on the tomatomer below :cool:
Mildred Pierce is being shown on TCM at 1255 on Tuesday.
Joan Crawford fans can see her again in ‘What Ever happened to Baby Jane’ later on the same day at 2100.
Brrrrhhhhhgkkkkkhhhhhhh!!!!!
Mildred Peierce is a woman at her best. Powerful; strong, honest,true, beautiful, glamorous and self sacrificing an moments of importance.
Whatever happened to…..is what may happen to them ….her and Bette Davis.
Joan played a blinder but Bette …you have to ask if what was on screen was the reversal of what was alleged about their characters in real life.
Both great movies though acknowledged.
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