Movie & TV Show Recommendations -

[Null]

This is a thread for everyone to make Movie and TV Show recommendations and/or condemnations.

I have a small but growing movie library and I'm starting to really enjoy movie critic videos. Maybe one day I'll start my own and be as famous and talented as Cole. I'm sure nothing I'll list will be a huge shocker to anyone.

What I've seen and liked

• District 9 - The character development in this is extraordinary. The movie's ability to make you feel for things that are totally bereft of positive attributes is atonishing. Action scenes are great.
• Django Unchained - Literally just finished watching this and it's a really badass movie. It's full of extremes but they're done so well it seems completely plausible as it goes along. Only thing I did not like was the over the top comedy scene with the lynch mob.
• Fight Club - I've watched this movie at least 20 times.
• Forest Gump - Nothing to be said. Classic film.
• Jesus Camp (2006 Documentary) - This documentary isn't anything extraordinarily ground breaking but I definitely found viewing life through the eyes of kids in the midst of a Christian Summer Camp to be enlightening, more so on the parents corrupting their kids than the actual kids.
• Pulp Fiction
• The Boondock Saints - I'm pretty sure this can be counted as a psychological thriller. The intensity and storytelling is just that phenomenal. Everything that happens just keeps you awake, it's an addiction.
• The Dark Knight - My all time favorite movie. I cannot say enough good things about this film. I was never a batman film but holy shit this fucking movie is the god damn best thing ever.
• The Secret World of Arrietty - A friend made me watch it. It's a cute movie, but an anime tear jerker so get ready to cry like a bitch.
• V for Vendetta - Another movie with amazing story telling and character development. Natalie Portman and Stephen Fry are awesome in this.

What I've seen and did not care for

• Inception - I don't get what the big deal is. Watched it on my plane ride to Portland. I get the idea, but it didn't appeal to me. The protagonist was bland, I didn't end up caring for or respecting any of the characters in the plot, I didn't root for the guy to get back with his kids because the depiction of them and his wife were so horrible the entire time. The dream sequences also were incredibly hard to care about. It felt to me like some guy got really into Lucid Dreaming and thought this would be a great idea for a movie so he just made it happen even after it stopped seeming like such a great idea.
• The Boondock Saints 2 - I don't know why I picked up this movie because I heard it wasn't as good as the original, but I had to see it because I loved the Boondock Saints so much. They basically said, "the original was a hit so lets take that and make more of it". There were no real shocking revelations, just the dudes being badasses in different ways. It's enjoyable but not like, "oh dang this is awesome".

 

[Great Unclean Chris]

You may like:

The Great lebowski
80's dune movie
American Psycho
Ricki-oh (some obscure bizarre chinese movie)
John carpenter's The Thing
A Clockwork Orange
nausicaa (the same guy that made Arriety, but its a lot better though i dont really like animu or all his films very much but this one is good)
Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings (thought was better than peter jacksons)
SLC Punk
Big Trouble in Little China
Captain Ron

I cant think of any more crap right now

 

[Saney]

Two words: Firefly. Serenity.

 

[Judge Holden]

Since i be in a zombie mood right now, here are my recommendations for a well rounded zombie education, with the top 5 categories of film.

1) The heart of the genre: The original "Dead" trilogy

Night of the living dead: easily the best "horror" film out of the trilogy and literally created the zombie genre and almost everything connected with the concept, as well as codify the "people under siege by terrifying monsters in a remote location and forced to contend not just with the enemy but each-other to survive" which still reigns strong to this day as one of the most reliable horror set ups. Still holds up well today and demonstrates where a good billion or so cliches and tropes originated

Had a remake by tom savini in 1990 which was... pretty ok and worth watching

and another 2006 which was... an atrocity worse than the rwandan genocide.

Dawn of the Dead: easily the best "Zombie" film out of the trilogy as well as the most epic and splatter filled. The characters are memorable and awesome, the story is well told and intelligent in its simplicity as well as filled with enough dark satire and wit to satisfy any cynic, and even if the makeup on the zombies is somewhat lacking, this movie is probably the best depiction of a zombie apocalypse of all time, and while NOTLD invented the genre, Dawn was the one which popularised and spread it to the four corners of the world

Had a remake by Zack Snyder in 2004 which was.... a brainless piece of shit that did nothing but help popularize the running zombie

Day of the Dead: easily the best "post apocalyptic" film out of the trilogy as well as the darkest which perfectly captures a sense of utter hopelessness and the growing insanity and desperation to just go "fuck it" and run of the characters. Gore effects are still amazing, characters again are awesome and memorable (though somewhat more "larger than life" than in dawn), as well as being the first zombie movie to really delve in to the nature of the zombies and manages to do it better than just about anything that followed it.

Had a remake by some no name fuckwad in 2008 which was.... there is now way I can express my hatred of the remake without being banned from the site for gross indecency

2) The resurrection of the zombie: 28 days later:

In my opinion the sole serious contender with the Romero trilogy for overall best zombie movie(s) of all time, and it combines the best elements out of all of them together, with the horror of "Night", the epicness and dark social commentary of "Dawn", and the sheer hopelessness and growing insanity of "Day".

The cinematography and the music are all simply stunning,with the "empty London" scenes being some of the finest scenes in horror that have ever been shot and the rest of the film perfectly shot and scored.

The zombies (and yes I know they are still alive) despite being "runners" are utterly fantastic and demonstrate how "runners" should be used (i.e. sparingly and not thrown at the screen every minute).

The story and the characters are great (with a single exception in the annoying kid) as well as believable and very well acted.

Moreover it was crucial in resurrecting the very genre which had been pretty much dead for a decade, and as much contempt that "runners" get, the concept did ensure zombie movies would spread to the public at large in the many 28 days later derivatives, as well as being easily the scariest zombie movie of all time.

Had a sequel in 2007 which was.... meh. A pretty ok horror/zombie movie for the time but had no shit on the first movie.

3) The Zombie Comedies: Shaun of the Dead, Braindead, and Return of the Living Dead)

These are the films that helped spread the popularity of zombie films through more accessible comedies, and are both awesome zombie films and hilarious movies altogether

Shaun of the Dead: A love letter to the zombie genre which manages to combine utter hilarity with a genuinely awesome, well written, well made, and well acted zombie film complete with enough splatter to give tom savani a permanent erection, and along with 28 days later and the Dawn remake was instrumental in bringing back the zombie movie as well as serving as a template for almost all further zombie/horror comedies.

Braindead: Before peter jackson was known for Lord of the Rings, he made a name for himself in new zealand as a master of horror comedy splatter flicks which are all hilarious and awesome to watch today. Braindead however rose far above all the others, and stands as the single goriest movie of all time, and a masterpiece of insane awesome and hilarity which must be seen to be believed. Seriously, there is so much bugfuck insane shit about this film you need to watch it to know what im talking about,

Return of the Living Dead: While more "horror" than "comedy", this movie had a streak of farce a mile wide throughout it's running time. Aside from showing the beginnings of the "running zombie" idea, this movie introduced the stereotype of the zombies saying "Braaaaaains" as well as being one of the first zombie-comedies, all while showing the true horror of the 80s for all history to witness to this day.

4) the Fulci flicks: Zombie Flesh Eaters, The Beyond, and City of the Living Dead

What these films lack in competent dubbing and acting, they more than make up for with sheer beautiful splatter, balls to the wall insanity, and a good helping of genuine creepiness which helps one look past the lackluster dubs. Of special note is Zombie Flesh Eaters which has hands down the best zombie makeup of any zombie film ever, as well as the zombies being the creepiest of any movie, and some of the most infamous gore of all time. Also, Zombie vs Shark. that is all. The other two are awesome as well though, especially the Beyond, but the latter two require an acquired taste in cult movies.

5) the miscellaneous many

Rec: The ONLY shaky cam zombie movie that is awesome. Fuck off "Diary of the dead", die in a fire "the Zombie Diaries", and go to so much hell "quarantine". This is the film to go with, as well as being easily one of the scariest zombie movies.

Evil Dead: Need I say more?

Dead Set: Awesomely dark and grim miniseries that perfectly captures the Romero social commentary from dawn of the dead while being a great zombie series in it's own right and being the sole big brother related series watchable by sane people without risk of brain damage.

Blind Dead: i decided to put this up there because its an interesting example of a pre Dawn of the Dead non-romero zombie movie which. Watch the first two but avoid the last ones like the plague. All in all if you can stomach the tedium till the zombie knights show up you should be alright. Even more of an aquired taste than the fulci flicks.

Reanimator: Adapted from the eponymous lovecraft story, this is a near perfect fusion of horror, gore, dark comedy, and lovecraft even if it is pretty far from the norm with zombie films and the zombie genre.

NAMES TO AVOID

Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of truly terrible zombie films out there, many of which were churned out by the same idiots. thus here are 4 names to keep note of, and whose movies you must NEVER watch if you value your time and sanity

1) Paul W Anderson: man behind the Resident evil movies, and the lead player in shit zombie films these days. none of the resident evil films have managed to rise above being tedious, banal, and excruciatingly repetetive and derivative snore fests punctuated by appalling cgi and his wife's inability to act in a manner that makes her mary-sue character less annoying or generic.

2) Bruno Mattei: Notorious producer of z class movies and boring exploitation films that serve as nothing but fodder for the cinema snob, his zombie movies (i.e. hell of the living dead and zombie flesh eaters 2 and 3) are even worse, with nothing but shockingly shite attempts to rip off better movies and ideas with some of the worst acting ever captured by camera.

3) Uwe Boll: The arch cunt itself, Boll is a disgustingly talentless fraud whose adaptations of house of the dead and alone in the dark are legend for being some of the worst movies of all time

4) John Russo: The man who helped romero all the way back in the 60s to bring Night of the living dead to the screen has alas been responsible for some of the worst additions to the zombie movie canon. This is most clearly seen in his attempt to create his own "canon" from night of the living dead by releasing a "30th anniversary edition" which did to the film what hitler did to poland, inserting nightmarishly shit "new scenes" to set up his later film "children of the living dead" which is easily as bad as any uwe boll film.

 

[c-no]

I don't watch alot of television shows but I do have one or two that could appeal to those interested in non-fictional shows that deal with murder.
Forensic Files: A show I find rather good, it shows a crime that happened in real-life, shows who the victim was, how they were killed, and who the killer was along with the events after the murder whether it was a court trial or the killer's evasion of law enforcement.
Power, Privelege, & Justice: Similar to the show above except it is hosted by late Dominic Dunn. It focuses on the cases related to the wealthy.

 

[Golly]

I don't watch many television shows myself, so they're a lot easier for me to recommend than movies. So I'll list them!

Shows I follow:
1. Downton Abbey: If you're into period dramas, then this is one long, well done,well budgeted example of one taking place from 1912-1920ish (currently). While a little slow at first in Season One, it's easy to find yourself caring about the varied cast of characters and becoming invested, generally leaving you hooked by the middle season and ready for more. There are some absolutely beautiful and poignant moments as well as some more comedic ones. This is first, and foremost, however, a drama. It's about to go into its 4th season, but at 8-9 40 minute episodes a season (with an hour and a half Christmas special for seasons 2 and 3), it's certainly not the hardest show to catch up on.

2. Sherlock: It's Sherlock. The title character is great! His ideosyncrasies are endearing and entertaining. The friendship with Watson is also well done. It's a pretty effective modern day translation and also pretty easy to catch up on. It's waiting on it's 3rd season, and combined, there are 6 hour and a half episodes to catch up on.

3. Once Upon a Time: A guiltier pleasure because lol fairy tales. I just picked up on it last week. It's great though. The Evil Queen (Snow White's), fed up with everything, banishes everyone to Storybrooke, Maine, taking away their memories and happy endings associated with their past lives. The episodes are usually split up in 2, going between the fairy tale world for character background and the main setting of the plot focus (usually Storybrooke). So, the curse needs to be broken, etc, etc, good vs evil. It's gotten really good though, once you make it past the first 2/3 of the first season (gets a little slow at first) it picks up like crazy (if you like the surreality of fairy tales). The characters are handled really well, and while some stories are altered for the sake of the plot, I think the ends justify the means. Real depth is given to both the Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin. If fairy tales are your ting, its worth the watch, if only just for those two.
Also: as an ABC show, they have the right to use Disney characters, which adds a huge nostalgia factor in the nods that they give.

4. Arrested Development: A show both witty and outrageous. It's currently in (debatable since it materialized in one great dump) its 4th season, having been released to Netflix the other day. I'm just getting started on it myself, but it's looking very promising.

 

[drtoboggan]

Doctor Who. That is all.

 

[CatParty]

newsradio

 

[drtoboggan]

newsradio

Phil Hartman was made for that show, and it had a great cast. Stephen Root as the eccentric Jimmy James, Joe Rogan very early in his career, Andy Dick before he became intolerable, and that one cute redhead. The episode with Adam West was brilliant.

For a few laughs, check out the video of Jon Lovitz beating the living daylights out of Andy Dick at a comedy club. Given what Dick said to Lovitz, he deserved it.

 

[Anon]

Breaking Bad is some of the best television I've seen, so if you have netflix go watch it.

 

[Male]

Walker Texas Ranger is the greatest tv show ever

 

[Surtur]

Ive been rewatching "That 70's Show" on Netflix.

 

[Niachu]

I regarded the idea of a tv show about Hannibal Lecter dubiously at first but it's actually really good.

 

[CatParty]

I regarded the idea of a tv show about Hannibal Lecter dubiously at first but it's actually really good.

i have not hidden my love for bryan fuller. his shows are generally amazing

 

[The Hunter]

I regarded the idea of a tv show about Hannibal Lecter dubiously at first but it's actually really good.

I lost interest in that Hannibal Lecter stuff when I stopped being 14, but I haven't seen the new show yet. Not sure if I want to, though. Mostly because I can't find the time to force people out of the living room to watch TV during the middle of the day.

Although it can't be that bad if my Tumblr dash has been plagued with it recently (thanks for that, btw :p ).

 

[Niachu]

if you watched the show you'd get the jokes

 

[darkhorse816]

I'm gonna sound like Cole Smithey for a second, so forgive me, but here are some really good films that are classics, and inspire me, and are fun to watch:

"Breathless" Watch the black and white French version. It's 1960s New Wave French Cinema, by Godard, so it has a lot of smoking, jump cuts, and sex in it. But the jump cuts look great, the music is great. This was when the younger generation started to seep in, in Europe (we didn't get that in the States until the late 60s, and 70s), so we got new ideas on how to film, and how to tell story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathless_(1960_film) I think the things that really enticed was the way Michel, the protagonist, would wipe his lips with his finger every time he finished a cigarette. I know people do it all the time, but the way he did it is so habitual, and in a way, badass. Also, when he steals a car, in the first scene, he finds a gun in the glove compartment while driving and plays with it, and has this cute little monologue, as if he's talking to the audience. The guy's a crook, but he's pretty immature. The narrative is unique, and you may dismiss this for being an "artsy/hipster film" but it looks cool, it is cool, and it's influential. If you want something unique, and something that will leave you breathless, watch this film.

"Easy Rider" This is the quintessential road movie. American New Wave. Peter Fonda looks fucking hot. The music is great, the story is great, you see a young Jack Nicholson in one of his best roles. It's a modern western, and it's also critical of the dwindling counterculture--"we fucking blew it, man." The people they encounter, the drugs they take, and the increasing friction between Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper's characters is stunning. And the sights are breathtaking. As soon as "Born to be Wild" started to play, I got hyped. That's what drives you in with them.

"Network" Sidney Lumet is fucking awesome! It may be from the 70s, but the themes, and even the events are still relevant to today. In fact, the film predicted what was going to happen, eerily enough. It focuses on a news anchor's breakdown, and how those in charge of the network (programming head Faye Dunaway, and Robert Duvall) decide to completely exploit this. And they invent Fox News... kidding, they don't. But what they do to the news is hilarious, but sad. The social message behind the film isn't preachy at all, and is still relevant today. Also, I noticed Faye Dunaway's character talks like people who spend way too much time on TV Tropes. Faye Dunaway is soooo good in this. Then she had to be in Mommie Dearest, and no more career, until the 90s with "Gia". And then it stopped again.

 

[Christ-Chan]

A TV show that was quite controversial in its native England pretty much from start to finish was the Ricky Gervais-helmed show Derek. The controversy mainly from the lead actor, again the brilliant Mr. Gervais, played a character that be mildly described as "different". Just what causes this is never established in the show, although it was speculated once that he suffered from Autism. Some saw this as the show was mainly about "laughing at that wacky retard", for lack of a better word, but if you actually give the show a chance you will find this is as far from the truth as can be.

Derrek, the titular character, works at a retirement homes together with Hanna (the workaholic manager of the home), Duggie (played brilliantly by Karl Pilkington in his forst proper acting role) as well as an alcoholic tramp-like character and a rotating gallery of volunteers or convicts serving their community service. The real draw of the show is how naïve and innocent Derrek is, and because you latch on to him so strongly it makes the always present dramatic moments hit you like a ton of bricks. I cried a [i}lot[/i] as I made my way through the first season, but the, perhaps most, remarkable element of the show is how it will always give you that warm feeling in your stomach after you've watched. It's just an incredibly honest, emotional and powerful show that I'd recommend to just anyone!

 

[qld]

Breaking Bad is some of the best television I've seen, so if you have netflix go watch it.

I say go watch it on Netflix, and buy the seasons not available on Netflix on Amazon. You can't beat it.
Two favorites of mine have to be Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

 

[spaps]

Go watch Pacific Rim. Like, right now.

EDIT: Also, I just finished watching the first three seasons of Archer. It's one of the funniest shows I've ever seen.