Watched my lovely new 4K blu-ray of "The Wizard of Oz". I don't think I've seen it in over two decades and I'd forgotten how good it is. Those flying monkeys can do one, though - they're supremely creepy for whatever reason.
@colonelkilgore Watched another fantastic espionage thriller earlier - the German movie "The Lives of Others". It's about a fanatical East German Stasi operative who undergoes a crisis of conscience when he develops feelings for the "undesirables" he's supposed to be spying on. Absolutely brilliant and highly recommended.
@LN78 yeah it’s a phenomenal movie that, watched it back when it released and probably due a rewatch if I’m honest. The only thing I would say is, it’s the kind of movie that you really need to be in a particular mood for… y’know, looking for something deep, real… and really deeply disturbing. Good job that I’m in the mood for that kind of thing on the reg 😉
@colonelkilgore I've got a couple of top notch Coen Brothers flicks to watch next - "The Hudsucker Proxy" and "Miller's Crossing" and then I'm thinking about a "Game of Thrones" rewatch. "House of the Dragon" kind of got me in the mood - it was an unexpectedly great show. That will probably see me over the Winter, thinking about it.
@LN78 ‘dude’, we have such a similar taste in movies! Huge Coen bros fan here, with Miller’s Crossing being second only to The Big Lebowski in my fave Coen bros movies.
… and yep, I was really happy with the House of Dragons first season… I had my doubts after the final couple of Game of Thrones seasons but they pulled it out, for sure.
Back (partially at least) on The Lives of Others. I watched a great little low-fi/sci-fi show called Counterpart a year or so back. In many ways it’s nothing like The Lives of Others… but it kept cropping up in my mind during the two season run. Maybe it was the setting (Germany)… but it feels more than that, so may be worth a look if you haven’t seen it already. The always phenomenal JK Simmons is at the top of his game.
The Coen's had co-writing credit on "Bridge of Spies" - the discussion of which put me in the mood to watch "The Lives of Others"! When is JK Simmons not at the top of his game? I remember first seeing him in "Oz" many years ago - he was bloody terrifying. I've heard good stuff about "Counterpart" but am I wrong in saying that it's one of those shows that got cancelled prematurely and so ends up on an unresolved cliffhanger? Those piss me off no end.
@LN78 from my recollection it was a conclusive finish to the show at the end of season 2. Maybe they were aware that they wouldn’t get another season, so the writers laid all their cards on the table perhaps. Real solid show fair play.
I did try giving Oz a go around 10 years ago, as I love pretty much everything HBO produce… but I think I’d left it too late. As someone new to the show, the age and production was tough to get past. I have a feeling that I would’ve loved it if I had been on board back when it released though. Still, there is a part of me that would like to give it another go sometime.
@colonelkilgore Yeah in many ways "Oz" walked so "The Sopranos" could run. Look out for the DVD boxsets- I see them on sale super cheap in HMV from time to time.
@EaglyTheKawaiiShika I didn't even know this movie existed 'til I read your post, but I just wanted to thank you for sharing such a positive experience, as it was a delight to read such enthusiasm! I'm no Shrekspert (nor am I really an avid follower of the general genre) but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it in future!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@EaglyTheKawaiiShika I don't think Hollywood knows how to market anything nowadays. It's a shame, but hopefully strong word-of-mouth (like your post up there) will help its success in the long run.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Just finished "The Hudsucker Proxy", the Coen Brothers' inspired New Year set 1994 take on the Thirties screwball comedy. Incredible performances from every single cast member (especially Tim Robbins as the unwitting proxy of the title Norville Barnes and Paul Newman as the nefarious Sidney J. Mussberger), the script is full of absolute zingers ("y'know - for kids!"), moments of virtuoso direction (the sequence where the Hula Hoop flops and then becomes a hit springs to mind) and the whole thing looks like a million bucks thanks to some stunning production design and rotoscoped miniature work. It flopped horrendously when it released, grossing less than half of its reported production budget but has latterly come to be considered one of the brothers' most underrated films. I loved it.
After our discussion a while back about Strange World and how we had no idea it actually existed, apparently it’s now the number 1 movie on Disney+. Just goes to show that poor marketing was the reason it bombed in the cinema, and not the quality of the movie.
@colonelkilgore Having just finished the excellent "Miller's Crossing" I read an amazing (possibly apocryphal) anecdote about the Coen Brothers and their creative processes. Evidently during the scriptwriting process for "Miller's Crossing" the brothers were stumped having developed something akin to collective writer's block. Instead of spiralling into the doldrums of inventive despair they wrote another script about a similarly afflicted writer which went on to become their later (similarly wonderful) film "Barton Fink".
@nessisonett I added Strange World to my watchlist when I booted Disney+ back up this morning. Whilst I do think it's true that more and more folks are splitting their annual intake into "cinema-worthy" and "wait for streaming" categories, and something like an animated family adventure might be sacrificed in favour of a film that really shines as a big screen experience, it's undeniable that Disney's marketing department sent Strange World out to die last year. Always a shame to see, but hurrah for its secondary success! I'm actually kinda looking forward to giving it a shot.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Watched Boiling Point on Netflix. Really good film and shot in one continuous sequence.
Very good reflection of working in the hospitality industry as well. Angry chefs, overworked and underpaid kitchen staff (that was me), front of house waiters and waitresses who have a laugh, pocket the tips and the greedy/clueless manager.
I know front of house staff will be enraged at that description but that was my experience 😜
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. – Seneca
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