Off the Road and Out of Bounds

Having installed a Roku gizmo on two of my TV's I have been gorging myself on streaming Netflix movies, when I am not streaming Youtube, VEVO or VIMEO videos !!! (hey it's winter).
Please note that I have seen (and own DVD of) all the usual great movies that we all love. I think we have 400+ DVDs. (I don't plan on commenting on those here.) So I get adventurous picking Roku/Netflix movies that I don't have to pay for.

Also, at my stage in life, I want to see stuff that is new to me, that I haven't seen 1000 times before, and that means that I watch offbeat movies (at least I try to).

Most of my adventurous viewings get turned off after 10 - 15 minutes. Some have not made it past the 4 minute mark!

This is not going to be a comprehensive page of my reviews of all movies - if I happen watch something interesting from this point forward, I will comment on it here.

Here are my comments on movies that I did not turn off. I do not describe movie storylines; these are talked to death on the internet. Actually most of the customer "reviews" on the internet are only painfully detailed walk-throughs of the story (what's the point??). Anyway, I won't recap storylines here.

A lot of these will be foreign-language films - being deaf, and needing to read subtitles even with English language movies, has kind of opened my movie world to ANY spoken language as long as the subtitles are in English !! So .... if you don't like reading subtitles, be sure that you check the spoken language first.

I am listing them here in the order of my latest views first.

---

Nebraska link
Bruce Dern turns in a wonderful piece of acting, and makes this moves very very nice. It's a low-key independent film of personal interactions on a road trip. Nothing exciting, or tragic or threatening. Just a very good movie. In English, black & white, and extremely well directed too !!!

Garibaldi's Lovers link
Really nice movie (in Italian). Nicely acted, very good storyline with a few cool sub-plots. Note that the one sentence plot summary described in the IMDB link is way wrong. This is not a love story. It's a "slice-of-life" film with several, mostly comical storylines and interesting characters.

"The wisest thing one can do today .... is be silent."

An English language version of this would become a very popular TV movie.

My First Mister link
Randall ("R"): I'm forty-nine years old.
Jennifer ("J"): I'm seventeen. Nice to meet you.
Randall ("R"): I'm old, I'm George Burns.
Jennifer ("J"): Who's George Burns?

............................................

Randy Harris, Jr.: Wanna come up for lunch?
Jennifer ("J"): I'll eat but I'm not talking.
Jennifer ("J"): ....... and we didn't "do it", okay! He's just the greatest person I met in my entire life!
Randy Harris, Jr.: Turkey and swiss okay?

............................................

Good movie. In English too !!

Chocolat link
Jees, Dave, another French movie?
Yeh, Netflix keeps throwing foreign movies in my inbox, so here we are.... another French movie.

This is a wonderful little movie, with geat cinematography, good acting, intriguing storyline. AND . . it's actually in English !!!

Vianne Rocher: And these are for your husband. Unrefined cacao nips from Guatemala, to awaken the passions.
Yvette Marceau: Psshh. You've obviously never met my husband.
Vianne Rocher: Well, you've obviously never tried these.

[a week later] . . .

Yvette Marceau: Do you have more of those bean thingies, please?
Vianne Rocher: Oh, sure. Um... How many do you want?
Yvette Marceau: How many have you got?

Le Chef link
If you think that French people are nice (I do), funny (I do), and weird (I really do) and if you like cooking/chef/restaurant stories (I do), this is your movie (it's mine too - really liked it).

The French actor/actress (?) over there on the right is Salome Stevenin, and she has a minor role in this movie, as Jean Reno's daughter. She is ever so pretty and she stole every scene, and that's not easy, because I really enjoy watching Jean Reno act (but he is not anywhere near as cute as Salome, is he?).

Get Low link
Wonderful piece of work in every way. Flawless acting, directing & cinematography. Fascinating (somewhat true) storyline, also.

Samsara (2011) link
A beautiful, fascinating, wonderfully photographed film. No dialog - only background music. Let yourself go .... watch it.

The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi link
Clint Eastwood could take lessons from this guy. He's blind but he can (and does, several times) easily kill 10 armed samurai without breaking a sweat. Fun movie, with a 4-minute dance sequence at the end (!?!) that could be a rock video.

Slow in spots, but fun.

Venus in Fur link
A seriously seriously kinky movie, played out by only two characters, on a dark stage. Fabulous script and acting. Actually incredible how these two switched in and out of their characters. (They each play two roles.)

Be warned .... this is an artistic but provocative (did I already use the word "kinky"?) film.

Fido link
Wild and crazy comedy about zombies as household pets, set in an ever-so-perfect 1950's suburban neighborhood. Wicked funny.

Nosferatu (1922) link
If you're a horror film or art film junkie, you have seen this movie. The new (2002, Italian) restoration is fabulous, and makes this classic worth watching again.

The Crow link
Excellent movie for the halloween season.

Black Sunday link
Definitely a horror cult classic from the 60's. To really appreciate this one, you must allow your mind wander back to the macabre B&W movies of 50 years ago. This is a cut or two above the others.

Seraphine link
Wicked nice movie, despite that it is French (just joking). Yolande Moreau does nice work, and the storyline is fascinating for junior art junkies (like me). I've seen it twice now, and will watch it again. (For reference, also see the good work Yolande did in a supporting role in Amelie.)

Secret link
Good movie that was on my list for about a year before I watched it. It's a mysterious Taiwanese teenage love story, but don't let that scare you off. It's a good movie, and you don't realize how complex it is up to about half way through. I always have trouble with facial expressions, body language, and silent moments in foreign movies (French movies are the worst for this). I get the feeling there's something there that I don't understand, and that happens in this movie too. But I just let that flow by and keep watching. This movie is nicely done.

Don't read reviews that talk about the storyline, because they will give away too much information (spoilers!). Let the movie tell you the story all the way through.

Tortilla Soup link
Can you believe that I watched this one? A very predictable (except for the ending) storyline, and as sweet as a screenplay can be, everyone being ever so pleasant and un-offensive. Hector Elizondo doing his best "nicest older guy on the planet" acting and his three perfect daughters just ever so carefully testing the boundaries of his parenthood. Raquel Welch actually was a wonderful husband-hunting floozy (she did a good job).

Hard to believe, but I liked this movie a lot. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but it was very well-spent time for me.

Spoiler alert: it ends with a surprise.

Reaching for the Moon link
Well, we are back to "offbeat", even "kinky" for the moment. This is a very interesting, but only moderately emotional movie (it's emotional in spots and confusing, to me, in others). The plot jumps now and then, but that's not too too bad. The acting was excellent, and I'm glad I watched it, but skip it and you'll be fine.

Under the Tuscan Sun link
Not exactly an "offbeat" movie . . . actually kind of a chickflick, but I liked it anyway. My favorite stuff were the scenes in Montepulciano - I recognized the very first frame they shot there. And they had a festival scene right in the Piazza Grande where I loved to drink my morning coffee. Diane Lane did well in the main role, but Lindsay Duncan owned the scene whenever they pointed the camera at her !!

Violeta Went to Heaven link
This is a tough, earthy, glamour-free film. No hollywood spin going on here; hard boiled, almost documentary. I watched the whole thing, and was fascinated, but don't think many other people would enjoy it, because it doesn't fit in the "entertaining" category. Sad, tragic ending.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day link
Not exactly one of my "offbeat" movies here. An entertaining comedy with two very good lead actresses. Looks like it was designed for the stage, with only small modifications for the "big screen". Definitely a good movie in this category .... AND .... it's in English !!

Rodan link
Mike gave me a book on the special effects cinemaphotographer, Eiji Tsuburaya. He (Eiji, not Mike) created Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, etc . So I am eager to watch his movies, while I read his bio.

Before I became a movie aficionado, I thought "Rodan sucks" ! But now I know better.

It's a wicked nice piece of 1956 monster making. This was the begining of making small scale sets for men-dressed-in-monster-gear to trek and wreck. Not cheap. Not easy. Also, there are a lot of scenes with painted on glass backgrounds, and some stop motion that you (almost) don't even notice. (I won't mention the plastic model rocket launchers that catch fire after the "rockets" blast off - watch quickly!)

Watch Rodan, and appreciate it within the context of when it was made, and it's a neat movie.

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958, Allison Hayes) link
This is a sci-fi cult classic, and you're either in or you're out on this one. I've watched it 10 times in my life - I'm in !

Last Love link
A small and pleasant French slice-of-life light drama. Michael Caine was his usual good self, but the strong character was played by actress Clemence Poesy, who had a tough role to play and did it really well.

We are the Night link
Pretty cool spin on somewhat lesbianic vampire chicks tearing through Berlin night life. Some big holes in the plot, but, sh#t, it's a vampire movie !!

The Time Traveler link
The excellent, fascinating storyline carried this movie. The "acting" relied heavily on the smiles, tears, quirky faces from the very cute girl; the director has no talent whatsoever and should get out of the movie business; and obviously no one edited the film. But, seriously, the storyline was very good - reminiscent of Dr. Who storylines.

The World's Fastest Indian link
This is an enjoyable family / guy movie, and this is the second time that I've watched it. Good "Sunday afternoon" movie with beer and popcorn.

Godzilla (2014) link

Well I saw it today in the theatre. Understanding that I heard very very little of the dialog, I'll say that it was "okay". I give it B- / C+ grade, pending a change after I "read" one with subtitles.

The Good:

Special f/x are outstanding. Really outstanding.

Bryan Cranston has a 15 minute role and he took the movie up to another level. (Then they killed him off.)

I think that I actually saw Bryan Cranston say "Gojira" not "Godzilla" ! ! AT LAST !!!

The scenes with the Navy ships tagging alongside G from Japan to San Fransisco are really really excellent. In fact all the scenes with ships in them were excellent.

There's the great scene (missing from the previous American Godzilla movie) where G's spinal spikes light up and he / she blasts out the famous fiery breath that torches everything in it's path !!! Go G !!

There is the scene where G kills one of the two bad monsters .... very cool technique.

The Bad

Godzilla has a small-ish role here. Maybe 20 minutes out of 120 minutes ! There are two other monsters (that I did not understand who they were) that were in the movie much more than G was.

They need to cut 20 minutes of personal drama scenes out of this movie - save it for the soap operas. Though this has plagued most of the post 2000 G movies (except that Godzilla 2000 had a very cool script for the personal drama storyline).

The lead actor (Aaron-something) is a joke. His skills need about ten years more of acting school. I mean, sh#t buddy, you're an actor - try pretending at least !!

Similar to Ben Afleck's role in the movie Pearl Harbor, our hero is everywhere, gets involved in everything from saving little abandoned boys to disarming nuclear bombs to parachuting / air gliding out of a C5 at night into a burning dowtown filled with skyscrapers in ruins to shooting a 350 monster with a 9mm handgun. WTF???

Some of the scenes are technically absurd. In one, G has destroyed one main cable of the Golden gate bridge and is ripping apart the other cable but the bridge deck and the cars and school buses are not even shaking ??? Really ?

Julliette Binoche is an outstanding actress and they killed her off after she voiced maybe 50 words.

The end. The end of this movie is missing a huge very important scene. How did G go from being dead, buried under ruble to showing him on the TV news being just fine swimming out of San Fransisco harbor ? With the news caption reading "Godzilla saved our city" ? My guess is that Toho,Co. saw the original script with G being dead and said "There is no way that you Yanks are going to kill off G in this movie". So they added a final scene of G swimming off into the sunset.

Possibly my root complaint is that this movie was filmed as a fairly serious drama. In my opinion, when it comes to G movies, drama holds third place, following (1) monster action and (2) tongue-in-cheek humor.

In one sentence ....... This just wasn't Godzilla's movie.

Godzilla (1998) link
Technically this is a pretty advance screening of Godzilla. They threw a bunch of $$$ at it.

So, why is it just "okay" as far as being a Godzilla movie ?

Well, my personal complaints are:

G looks like a big iguana.

G is played as a pathetic, tragic, terrified, backed-to-the-wall creature. This is probably scientifically correct, it would be so if such a creature appeared nowadays. But that is not the Godzilla we know and love and hate and fear and cheer for. Godzilla kicks ass because Godzilla wants to kick ass, Godzilla feels like kicking ass, Godzilla likes kicking ass .... not because Godzilla's afraid of you or me or those puny guys with silly guns and funny rockets. Godzilla's gonna kick some ass and Godzilla's gonna do that today !

The character of Audrey pisses me off by being stupid, self-centered and manipulative and diverts a big chunk of the movie to "Audrey, you know, what's his name's cutsy girlfriend".

It was incredibly stupid (of the writers) to pretend that a 350' lizard could hide somewhere in Manhattan ! ! ? ? The train system ? The sewers ?? 350' tall ??? PLEASE !!

The scenes of military people shooting shoulder weapons at G is as dumb as all previous versions. WTF? He's 350' tall. Your 9mm weapon is not up to the task, good buddy.

The movie took itself too seriously, on a dramatic level. What is missing is the traditional tongue-in-cheek feeling that the best previous version displayed. (This is a common complaint I have with most recent big movies - take themselves way way too seriously.)

El artista y la modelo (The Artist and The Model) link
Two things about French movies: (1) you can never figure out what those French actors are thinking when the camera moves in for a silent close-up, and (2) someone dies at the end (often by suicide, for reasons you and I will never understand).

This is a classic style French movie (from 2012). The only reason I like stuff like this is because it's interesting film-making and most often it is beautifiy photographed. I can imagine a theater full of people in, say, New Jersey, throwing their popcorn at the screen and leaving.

I would too.

Chuck Jones - A Life in Animation link
Extremely entertaining documentary on the work of animation director Chuck Jones (Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, etc etc). Watch it !

Fin ("The End") link
The only people who are more stupid than the guy who wrote this story are the people who made this movie, and the people who actually watched the whole thing (like me ! ) are the stupidest sad lot of all. It took me to almost the end of the story to realize there was no way that anyone was going to save this movie, and no one did. I am so pissed at me.

Hara-Kiri (2011 version) link
Outstanding plot, excellent production, very good acting. But, pretty tiresome in places. If they cut maybe 15 minutes out of it, this would be a "must watch" Japanese language movie.

Europa Report link
Excellent technical movie, and literate, mature screenplay. The "big moment" at the very end (there is life out there !) is extremely subdued. If we ever find something out there, it might very well happen this way. Note: there is no stunning moment here, in terms of movie making. It's almost a documentary scientific film.

Noah link
More unbelievable bullsh#t than any Godzilla movie I ever watched. Absolute crap.

Conspicuously not shown in the movie trailer are the Giant Rock "Angels" (??), who play a major part in this screenplay - they actually building the Arc and then fight off the large army of bad guys who want to invade the Arc. They are literally large Rock Creatures (like the Ent tree creatures in the Lord of the Rings). Too weird !!

HBO Documentary: The Fence link
Definitely watch this 35m documentary !

The Wall link
This is a slow, beautiful, thoughtful, introspective movie that is 100% narrated by the lady under study, and I recommend that you skip it. There is zero dialogue and she is virtually the only person in the story. She writes & reads her diary to you as the movie's narration.

The beginning will have you thinking that it's a sci-fi / Twighlight Zone kind of movie. It is not. It is a psychological study of this woman who must live out her life in a beautiful, lonely wilderness. The invisible barrier (The "Wall") that holds her prisoner in this beautiful valley becomes really irrelevant; it is never explained, never goes away, no one comes and saves her. This is a study of how she reacts to that situation.

Beasts of the Southern Wild link
Excellent. Offbeat study / documentary (almost) / character story. This will intrique you more than entertain you. The director & cameraman knew exactly how to film the young lead actress. The dynamic between her and her father is really something.

Stay link
Surreal. Incredibly fascinating, exciting, engrossing. Multi-dimensional. This is an experience more than it is a movie. Let yourself go into it and let yourself be baffled and learn to love the untied ends of the overlapping, superimposed scenes.

For a long while you won't even realize that you are in an unreal experience.

This is not a figure-it-out movie. Just hang on and take the ride. Obviously I liked it a lot !!

Found Memories link
Weird, fabulous cinematography, excrutiatingly s-l-o-w moving (this will drive most viewers crazy), maybe the "smallest" movie ever, fascinating scenes (if you are a "visual" person or a photographer, you'll watch it all), virtually no dialogue (total word count must be less than 500), total US theater gross in 2 years has been $7,800. )

Get past the fhe first 90 minutes, and you're home. The ending is super ! An hour later you will still be thinking about it, and, like me (you know, "crazy"), you will add it to your "watch again" list.

I convinced myself that the basic storyline evolves from South American village folklore.

Footnote: magical realism is a style of writing where fantasy and reality interlace seemlessly (think "Twighlight Zone" but not with the sci-fi theme). The wonderful (long!) book "100 Years of Solitude" is the classic reference for this style. This movie, "Found Memories" walks along that edge. As you watch it (hmmm??), ask yourself "Who really is Rita?" The answer will kill you.

The Way link
Very nice "small" and personal movie. No big surprises, no explosions, no chase scenes; just walk along with these four interesting people, then put down your old baggage at the trail's end and get on with your new life. Highly recommended by me, when you're in the mood for a personal trek to the mountaintop.

Footnote: it is even better the second time you watch it !!

The Great Gatsby link
Well, I watched it, at last, and it was not so bad, but, considering the book is the finest novel I ever read, "not so bad" is really a long way from the book.

Leonardo is damn handsome in this movie, and the perfect Gatsby. Tobey McGuire is not bad as the storyteller, and whoever played Daisy's husband was pretty good at it. Why they did not cast Mira Sorvino as Daisy is beyond me.

As reported, the over-the-top party scenes are definitely blown up for today's movie goers.

If you have a choice, read the book. If you have 2 hours to kill, watch the movie.

Redemption (a short HBO documentary) link
Covers NYC "canners" - people who collect and redeem bottles and cans out of the garbage, because they need the $$. No preaching, no lectures, no bleeding-heart appeals to you compassion or your wallet. And, as always, no solutions. You should spend the 36 minutes and watch this.

The Agony and The Ecstasy link

Again, this is not an "offbeat" movie - extremely mainstream film making here. It's an interesting, typically hollywood-ized movie. Rex Harrison plays himself (again) and Charlton Heston does similarly, except for a few scenes wherein he produces some believable moments as a driven artist.

I'll call this movie a decent first cut at the story. Hopefully an indy group will take a second shot at it, and highlight more of the points about Pope Julius (that were kind of shuffled between the lines of this version).

It is interesting to recall that Italy, at the time, was not a unified country, but in fact a region of very conflicted domains, constantly at war with each other. This also made it ripe for constant invasions from outside, as it was just a land of fragmented societies, governments and armies. Only given two sentences in this movie (by some third level support character) was that this Pope tried to build a strong enough papal army so the Catholic church (not Italy) could protect itself from being overthrown foreign governments.

The Cider House Rules link
This is not what you could call an "offbeat movie", but I wanted to comment on it anyway.
Good movie. Not as sentimental as I expected ( that's good !). Michael Caine as good as ever. Some incisive viewpoints on abortion, and breaking rules to make the world better. I wish they had slightly de-glamourized Charleze Theron's make-up; her good looks actually distract (not "detract") from her performance. Tobey McGuire ? - I still can't get used to him outside of Spiderman.

Haunter link
Very intriguing idea, some very scary scenes, and I predict a TV series is on the way. But . . .

The details stumble about, sometimes don't make sense. A much better screen writer and a slightly better editor would have made this a really good movie.

I say, start it up and see if it works for you.

Red Dog link
True story. Wonderful movie ! And, really - it's a "guy movie" !

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec link
Enjoyable adventure spoof - Peter Sellers and some of the Monty Python crew would fit right in. Won't keep you riveted to your seat, but very entertaining.

King Kong (1976) link
Skip it. This is the 2nd worst KK movie ever. The very worst one was KK vs G.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow link
Marcello and Sophia are magic in these three (separate) cute & funny stories. The first one (set in Naples) is my favorite - great street scenes that show off the Italian life in Naples (1963). The last story takes place in an apartment above the Piazza Navona, which brings memories of our trips to Rome.

Tupperware link
I turned this on for some retrospective laughs about the 1950's, and I had a few, for sure. But what makes me add this documentary to my "movie" list here is how very unfair women were treated in the upper levels of the business world. Specifically, how terribly Brownie Wise (the woman who "made" Tupperware so great) was treated. It is a real tragedy, and I think you should watch this film.

Another truth that emerges is what a lowlife Earl Tupper was in the end. (SPOILER ALERT !!!) He fired Wise because he couldn't sell the company with a woman running the sales operations (that she created from the ground up !). He then sold Tupperware for $16M renounced his US citizenship so he wouldn't have to pay taxes and lived out his life in Mexico.

On the lighter side, watching the houswife sales brigades at work was funny and enlightening.

Falling Down link
This is a movie you should watch.
Excellent Michael Douglas in kind of a tricky role to act out. Everyone else merely supports his role. The movie is funny, and personal in spots. I empathised with him: he is a displaced middle-aged white engineer who sees himself drowning in the absurdities of modern society.

On the other hand, he is seriously disturbed and violent. So in the end it bothered me that I kind of bonded with this psychopath.

Something struck me after the movie ended. Myself, and most reviewers, bonded with this guy who struck out against the absurdities of the people who surround us in this modern world. What hits you later is that, in doing so, this guy himself becomes one of the "absurdities of modern life" that the rest of us have to deal with. He blows up a construction site crowded with road workers, he coldly shoots an accident-crippled and totally helpless street gang member, he outright kills a Nazi shop owner, his ex-wife is terrified of him and he stalks her and the daughter he hasn't seen for years.

In a way, he is actually the worst person in the movie, simply because he is violent against what he can't personally tolerate (would I be a hero if I killed every person who pissed me off??). In fact, in the closing scene he asks Robert Duvall: "How did I become the bad guy?"

All that aside, you should watch this movie.

Argento's Dracula 3D link
The worst Dracula movie ever? Could very well be this one. Ironically it is very well photographed - exceptional camera work and lighting. But, that's the (only) good news.

Well . . . the other good news is that Asia Argento (the director's daughter, actually) has some extremely nice scenes that don't involve any needless clothing or pretended modesty. (Which possibly explains how I sat through the entire movie.)

Ms Argento's scenes put aside, you can skip this one.

Serenity link
This is a really excellent, enjoyable sci-fi movie. It's a spinoff of the classic TV series Firefly, which was one of the best and most popular "cult" TV series ever. The character development of the crew members is outstanding. Even if you're not into sci-fi, but like "action" movies, this would be a great choice. I also recommend watching the entire Firefly series (13 episodes ?). Great stuff, if you let yourself go.

Bread and Tulips link
This is one of my favorite "small" movies, and I have watched it a few times. Highly recommended by me !

Three Restaurant Drama/Comedies
Here are 3 nice movies (mild drama / comedies) that happen in restaurants. Ramen Girl , Papadopoulos & Sons , Today's Special

They are pleasant and enjoyable with fairly predictable storylines and more or less "happy endings". The cab driver in "Today's Special" and the uncle in "Papadopoulos" are alone worth watching the movies.

Following link
This (like their previous movie, Momento) is brilliantly put together, but that doesn't mean you are going to enjoy it! The scenes jump back and forth in time, and it gets jumbled as to who said what when and to whom. It doesn't all come together until the last 60 seconds. I think that you should start watching it and don't have any guilt feeling when you switch over to Tom and Jerry reruns to give your brain some time off.

Camilla link
The ad said that this is a "heartwarming" movie. I watched the whole thing and, indeed, my heart was warmed. If you are of the nature to let this film (specifically Jessica Tandy's performance) flow over you, your heart will be warmed too, no doubt.

Ms Tandy is wonderful, and her lines of script are fabulous. The storyline is very good, but sweet and sentimental. There are two minor supporting characters who stole their scenes away from everyone: the local police chief , played by Ranjit Chowdhry (who??) and Graham Greene. It was a major kick to see Greene play his few scenes - way out of character for him.

I have been saying for 25 years that Bridget Fonda needs just a few more acting lessons before her next movie. Although, in all fairness, this movie is 20 years old so maybe she did take the lessons after they finished up this film. This is really Ms Tandy's movie.

The Angel's Share link
I turned this off after 45 minutes, but it was good enough to comment on. I wanted to like this. The storyline is excellent, the acting was pretty good, but the directing and the filming were awful, and the editing (was it edited ??) was almost as bad. I'd like to see someone else make this movie. Same actors, same scenes, same script, but with better directing, much better filming (and sound recording) and some attention to editing.

An Affair of the Heart link
This is not a romantic movie. It's a documentary about Rick Springfield (not Bruce Springsteen !). He was famous back in the 80's and 90's and it turns out that he still has a fierce cult following. I expected to turn this off, but it kept me watching. Not great movie making, but interesting about this guy's almost religious charisma with his fans today.

Ondine link
Good movie (from Ireland). Not a kids movie as you might think from the storyline.
Worth getting into and see if you like it.

Nobody Else But You link
Excellent detective story (in French !); low budget and very low key directing and acting, but excellent. I started to watch it and read some magazines at the same time, but the movie grabbed 100% of my attention.
Watch it !

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster link
This is a classic Godzilla (correctly pronounced "Gojira") movie, staring Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan fighting against Ghidorah, the 3- headed thing from space. The great scene is Godzilla fighting Rodan; tossing rocks back and forth and laughing at each other - really laughing. It is funny. Then Mothra interrupts and pleads with them to save Tokyo (again ? ? ! !) by joining forces and fighting Ghidorah.

How does it end? . . . keep that box of tissues handy.

The History of Future Folk link
Hollywood would ruin this movie. It is a very cute & funny indy - the kind of movie you and your friends would make.
Watch it

Salinger link
Bio of JD Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye
Watch it.
Excellent documentary of a weird, troubled, talented person.

Drew: the Man behind the poster link
Bio of Drew Struzan, the fabulous artist who made all the great movie posters of your lifetime !!
Watch it.

Man of Steel link
This movie comes in 3 Acts: (1) Krypton action scenes ( interesting), (2) Earth drama and character development ( excellent), (3) Final Super Battle Secenes to Save Earth ( eventually too much and tiresome).
Watch it anyway.

Passione link
A recent semi-documentary study of the ethnic (not pop / rock) music of Naples, Italy. Naples today is obviously a tough, earthy city, and much of this music is performed on the streets and nothing is done to glamourize that scenario. No teeny-boppers singin' and dancin' - this is serious stuff going on here - mixtures of jazz, flamenco, blues and some stuff I can't classify. I watched this twice, mostly for the guts and feel of the piece. It remains on my to-watch again list.

Beautiful Darling link
Bio of a transvestite friend of Andy Warhol
Watch it only if you can deal with very offbeat people.
Very good and fascinating view of this different person (died at 29).

Miss Marple Mystery link
This is a neat British TV semi-drama series. Fun to watch the old girl solve the mysteries.
Try this out.

Ms Fisher's Murder Mysteries link
Watch this for the characters and the costumes as well as the who-done-it plots. Ms Fisher is cute, fashionable, liberated, wicked and smart. What's not to love about her?

She Done Him Wrong link
193x Mae West smartass movie. Cute for the first 30 minutes, then tiresome unless you are a devoted fan.

Escape by Night link ??
Italian drama movie of Rome near the end of WW2. Dated style, but interesting if not captivating.

The Trial link
A movie of the classic novel by Kafka. I made it through 18 minutes and the script just aggravated me so I bailed out and watched a few Tom and Jerry cartoons to decompress. However, my college education requires that I recommend that you should check it out ;)))

Saving Private Perez link
This is a sendup of Saving Private Ryan. A strange mix of crazy guy-humor and serious personal drama (in moments). Take it or leave it. I watched it on and off during the day.

Kon Tiki link
A modern movie about the Thor Heyerdahl raft trip. This is a drama, not a documentary. People consider him a bold adventurer. I think he was stupid, reckless and the beneficiary of a life-saving turn of good luck.
Watch it.

Lost Angels: Skid Row is my Home link
Fascinating documentary of homeless in LA. No actors involved. No moralzing. No solutions.

The Great Doctor link
Enjoyable Sci-Fi series (at least the first few episodes I've seen) from Korea. I will continue watching now and again.

The Polar Express link
Fascinating Christmas animation. The visuals are dark and serious on the eyes; the story is nice - call it a serious Christmas tale . I'll watch it again some day.

Dean Spanley link ??
Weird, intriguing, somewhat mind wapring. Worth watching.

Queen to Play link
Only the French would make this movie. Some of the character behaviour was strange to me - understandable but strange as in "I would not feel like that" - which is why I say that it's a very French movie.

Robot and Frank link
Watch it. Good movie.

Agatha Christie's Poirot link
Once you get to like this guy's personality, these are good to watch.

Baaria link
The story (is there a story ?) jumps all over the place and skips around in time so it was never clear to me if there is a plot going on or not. But that, in the case of this movie, is unimportant (which is a perfectly Sicilian thought) - the great thing here is to watch the people on a scene by scene basis how they react to what life throws at them. Emotional, irrational, chaotic, crazy, loveable. So utterly different from the way I have lived my life. Almost makes me want to move there for a few years and become as loveably crazy as those folks are.

Baby and Me link
The South Korean movie "Baby and Me" would do well on the Hallmark TV channel - it's a really nice, semi-tearful story, every scene of which you can predict, yet you still love to watch it play out. Aside from being very pleasant, it reminds me that people (nice people, anyway) are the same all over the world. No doubt, an American version will be coming soon for DVD/TV.

The Twilight Samurai link
Another movie that strangely showed up in my Netflix queue. I started it, expecting lots of swordplay and flying arms and legs and people magically jumping over buildings, etc etc, but I was wrong. Turns out to be a very personal drama, and very little "swordplay" (in one of the two fights in the movie, he uses a bamboo stick and simply smacks the other guy unconscious).

The acting is excellent. The storyline actually could be easily "Americanized". If you can deal with spoken Japanese & English subtitles (it's all the same to us deaf guys), this is a good movie to watch.

Tent City USA link
Extremely interesting documentary about a community of homeless people on the outskirts of Nashville.
Raises a lot of good questions about who owns this problem. Is kicking these people out of your neighborhood solving any problems or just moving it to someone else's neighborhood? Who should care? Why should you? Is it a solvable problem?
You will not find the answers by watching this movie, but you will probably think about the "homeless problem" differently than you do now.

Killer Girl K link
If you are into young chicks who can kill 16 heavily armed guys (in body armor) using only a broken toothpick, this is your movie (actually 3 episodes).
I watched it twice and still have it stored in my "to-watch" list.

A List of Movies that I have Turned Off

• There's No Business Like Show Business (1954)
• La Petite Lili
• Black Forest
• 2 Days in Paris
• Teenage Zombies
• The Quare Fellow
• Journey to Planet X
• Change of Plans
• Russian Ark
• Attack of the Pod People
• Good Ol' Freda
• Beauty is Embarrassing
• Wuthering Heights (the new for-TV version)
• Pandaemonium
• Tristana
• Red Cliff
• A Werewolf Boy
• I Am
• Tin Man
• Celluloid Bloodbath
• Kingdom of Shadows
• Electra (not bad, but too heavy)
• Caser & Cleopatra
• Adrift in Tokyo
• Brassed Off
• Cirque du Soliel: Worlds Away
• Wild Bill
• Shelter Me
• Quill: the Life of a Guide Dog
• Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
• Into the White
• The Man From Planet X
• The Sicilian Girl
• Our City Dreams
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse
• Safety Not Guranteed
• Blank City