Friday, April 17, 2015

Netflix This Movie! Vol. 125

You can only analyze every shot of the new trailers for Star Wars and Batman v. Superman so many times, so here are some really good movies to watch when you're finished.
Adam Riske: Another Woman (1988, dir. Woody Allen) I saw this movie a few years ago when I was binge watching Woody Allen dramas and I was really taken aback by how much it moved me. It's a great movie about the consequences of your actions on others and the resolve to be a better person. I can't recommend this one highly enough.
Adam Thas: American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987, dir. Sam Firstenberg) I know it may be controversial in some circles, but I think I enjoyed American Ninja 2 more than the original American Ninja. A few months ago I recommended the first American Ninja and in the comment section Joseph Finn wrote how the poster for the movie epitomized '80s action, a statement I could not agree more with. American Ninja 2 takes all the stereotypes of '80s action movies and turns that shit up to 11! It almost feels like you are watching the best parody ever. The movie opens with Michael Dudikoff and Steve James reprising their roles as Army officers sent to work at a Marine post because of a “mix up.” What follows is a ton of women in bikinis, Technicolor ninjas and genetic engineering. It’s got some great fight scenes, mostly because James and Dudikoff do their own fighting so you can see the action. This is the best 90 minutes you can spend on Netflix this weekend.
Heath Holland: Event Horizon (1997, dir. Paul W. S. Anderson)  The movie that scared the pants off my eternal soul has finally come back to Netflix Streaming. You can watch the film and then listen to the podcast Patrick and I recorded, in which years of irrational, fear-based indoctrination came spilling out of my fractured psyche. Not my finest moment, but you WILL believe a man can cry. Ah, good times.
JB: Three Kings (1999, dir. David O. Russell) I love this movie so much I have only ever watched it once. Three Kings is one of those special films that so weave a magical spell, I cannot bear the thought of the film not holding up after a repeat viewing. I will live with my memories, thank you. Three Kings may not be one of the most realistic films made about the Iraq war, but it has a seriocomic, slightly ironic, and slightly surrealistic tone that matches its subject matter. I love Mark Wahlberg's quandary when he is locked up in the cell with cell phones, I love the exploding cow, and I love that fact that director Russell and star George Clooney allegedly came to blows during filming. Where is our behind-the-scenes featurette about (or YouTube video of) THAT?
Patrick: The Babadook (2014, dir. Jennifer Kent) I was a big fan of this movie when it came out last year, so I'm excited to see it land on Netflix Instant so soon after being released on DVD and Blu-ray as it means more and more people will be discovering it. Not everyone will love it -- especially with sky-high expectations after hearing so many people rave about it (including William Friedkin, who inadvertently damned the movie by calling the scariest one ever made) -- but hopefully even those who aren't wild about it can at least recognize the strength and assuredness of Jennifer Kent's debut feature and the impossibly sad beauty of Essie Davis' performance. This is a really good, really personal horror movie. If you haven't yet seen it, take the time this weekend to turn off all the lights, crank the volume way up and approach it with an open mind. Dook dook dook.

17 comments:

  1. The Babadook bedroom scene genuinely frightened me.

    It's a great movie. My wife was raised in a household with a mother who wasn't too far removed from Essie Davis' character, and she had a hard reaction to the film. It was just too personal for her, which I think says Jennifer Kent really accomplished something remarkable.

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    1. Agreed. The concept and direction was so impressivly executed and interesting. Plus, Essie Davis' performance was the icing on the cake.

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    2. I love talking with parents of smaller children who've seen Babadook and praise Essie Davis for just how damn tired and on the edge she's playing that character (which I honestly thought was probabyl my second favorite performance of last year, behind Johannson in Under The Skin).

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    3. I watched this the other day and I really love it! I think I said on here during the weekend weigh in that I wanted to find a new to me movie to make me crazy about the filmmaking process behind it. Babadook is that movie! It got to me in a personal way too so I can see myself revisiting it quite often.

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  2. Fear not, JB, Three Kings holds up rather well. Don't deny yourself another watch of the movie!

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  3. The Babadook totally lived up to expectations when I saw it in the theater. I watched it again as soon as I saw it was on Netflix, and it was great on a repeat viewing. Essie Davis had one of my favorite female performances of the year in any film.

    I am definitely now excited to check out American Ninja 2. I didn't even know there was a sequel, and the first one was one of those films I saw many, many times as a kid (and then again just a couple months ago...still love it).

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    1. I'm looking forward to seeing this too as it sounds so fun!

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  4. Adam T.: Does American Ninja 2 work as a movie if you haven't seen the first one?

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    1. Yeah, I want to know too. I want to see more Firstenberg flicks, but are his sequels ("American Ninja 2," "Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo") worth seeing without already seeing the prequels? Inquiring minds want to know.

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    2. Oh yeah! You miss a little but if the "buddy building" between the two leads and a little bit on how the blue eyed white kid became a ninja, but they're aware of this and do some "flashbacks" in the movie. It can easily stand by itself.

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  5. Just watched the Irish horror film "From the Dark" that hit VOD this weekend. Although not a great film by any means, it does something against the norm that I absolutely loved. Without spoiling, I recommend checking this out based on that.

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    1. Nice! Thanks. You know I always appreciate your indie horror recommendations.

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    2. Absolutely! I was hoping you didn't mind me posting this off topic to the article.

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  6. I'll check that one too, cheers Chaybee

    And I always like the idea of watching Event horizon again, for some reason it has a hold over me, its got a feel about it I enjoy

    The Event Horizon podcast is epic, Freud has got nothing on Patrick, listen to Heath open himself up on the couch, its kinda amazing

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  7. Got another one for you - just finished "Exile (The Sunderland Experiment)" Whoa! Besides some bad acting I really really dug this truly bizarre, micro budget film. It's horror/sci-fi but with a different kind of feel to it. I honestly can't think of any other film like it. I would bet this will be a cult classic at some point. Go in blind. Highly recommend it.

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  8. I just finished From the Dark


    For what money this was made for it is really great. It kinda reminded me of the style of The Battery, if you haven't got the budget for the effects then find another way to shoot it that works, the DP has a really good way to use light and make a well lit dark film, also it reminded me of Die hard, I love the way the lead girl started in perfect white jeans and top and they ended up totally dirty black, I wont spoil it but when it ended I almost thought it was gonna go one way and that way was making me really angry, this shows how much I cared by the end of the movie

    Cheers Chaybee

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    1. Awesome Dennis! Yeah man, I really dug it. Glad you did too. Cheers buddy.

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