Social Distancing Film Club

[uncut_gems]

Hi All,

I hope everyone is staying safe and well during this hectic time. Since it looks like a fair number of us are due for some extended time inside, I thought I might poke around Netflix and see what was available that I might recommend. I think this would be a great place to talk about films, especially our favorites to watch when home sick or our go-to rewatchables. The ones below are all available on Australian Netflix as of the time of posting. I did my best to avoid anything too heavy/serious/related to sickness!

Action & Adventure:


Princess Mononoke (1997): Gorgeously animated environmentalist fairytale with great English-language voice acting
John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (2019): incredibly stylish, hyper-violent third entry in the hitman series starring Keanu Reeves
The Matrix (1999): mind-bending story about a society run as a computer simulation
Jurassic Park (1993): Feel-good but thrilling classic about a theme park where dinosaurs are brought back to life
Baby Driver (2017): heist movie about a getaway driver with a great soundtrack


Kids & Family


Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade (1989): Excellent adventure about the search for the Holy Grail with Harrison Ford and Sean Connery
The Iron Giant (1999): Touching animated movie about a boy’s relationship with a robot
Shrek/Shrek 2 (2001/2004): Funny animated send-up of fairytales enjoyable for adults as well
Matilda (1996): Danny DeVito’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl story of a precocious girl and the unimpressive adults in her life
Hairspray (2007): campy adaptation of the John Waters original about an aspiring singer in 1960s Baltimore

 

[shirker]

Aww Gems, I'll be sorry to see you go. Have a safe trip!

To answer your question about Mank, I haven't seen it and it really wasn't on my radar. I've never seen Citizen Kane and I don't have any real affinity with that era of cinema - I've seen very little films from before the mid-sixties, and most of what I've watched from that period has been either Japanese or spaghetti westerns. (As a sidenote, anyone who loves spaghetti westerns should hunt down the recent Indonesian film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts).

The film on your latest list that's of most interest to me is The Eagle has Landed. I remember seeing the trailer at the cinema as a kid and it looked soooooo cool, but I've never managed to watch it in the 43 years that followed!

Of the films I've seen over the last few months, the absolute stand-out has been a Taiwanese film A Sun - it should be available through Netflix, and I think it would automatically be in my top-10-of-the-decade list. A word of warning though: describing it as a tearjerker is probably an understatement - it was more like a hardcore sobfest.

Other films I've seen that should be recommended:

Network (1976) - it felt scarily contemporary

Mr Donkey (2016) - a (very) black comedy from mainland China … I think Ren Suxi (who was also in A Cool Fish, which is still showing on SBS OnDemand) is fast becoming my favourite comic actress

My Prince Edward (2019) - a clever and very honest sort-of romantic comedy from Hong Kong. While it follows a very well-worn romcom template, there's a twist … it isn't funny. Or romantic.

I also revisited Storm Boy (1976) for some warm nostalgia … I would have loved to have a pet pelican when I was a kid.

[Weaponsofmassdisstortion]

is no one going to recommend "no country for old men"? like seriously?

@uncut_gems, I really liked "let the right one in" , I saw the American version, which wasn't too bad. Although they could have dyed Chloe Grace Monet's hair another colour. I think it was a bit obvious having a cute little girl with blonde hair play a vampire. I have recently found an archived version of the book (english translation of course) online

Here's some recommendations for tv shows;

Person of interest

Being Human(UK and North American versions are both pretty good)

Cracker with Robbie Coltrane

The black list

Southland

Swamp People

if anyone here is into Asian cinema, I recommend:

Donnie Yen classics:

Ip man series(he fights mike tyson in the third one)

Swordsman

Kung fu jungle

Or if you would rather Tony Leung;

Detective Dee and the mysterious flame

Grand Master (although it does drag a bit)

[shirker]

Hi Weapons

No Country for Old Men is a classic for sure.

I really liked the series Cracker - I think I would have watched them on VHS back in the day!

Donnie Yen is good in everything I see him in. I think my favourite would be Bodyguards and Assassins - a mix of history, politics and action (currently available on SBS On Demand). Dragon / Wu Xia is also very good.

I enjoyed Detective Dee and the Mysterious Flame too - it reminded me of the Saturday movies I would watch on TV as a kid ... things like Jason and the Argonauts or Valley of the Gwangi.

[Weaponsofmassdisstortion]

Bodyguards and Assassins? I was always under the assumption that I had watched everything worth watching with Donnie Yen. I will have to check that one out. I doubt I will be able to watch it on SBS on demand. Uggh, I can never get it to work. If the Donnie Yen movie is the same as the one I am thinking of, it has Donnie Yen open up a paper mill in a small town, under a different name, to get away from his tragic past. I have sometimes seen it called "Swordsman" and sometimes seen it called "Dragon"

[shirker]

Hi Weapons - your description of Swordsman matches with the film I was referring to.

Bodyguards and Assassins might have fallen below your radar because Donnie Yen wasn't the main character - it's very much an ensemble piece, with Tony Leung, Nicholas Tse, Leon Lai and Cung Le all playing major roles, and Fan Bingbing, Simon Yam and Jackie Cheung (among others) all making appearances!

[Weaponsofmassdisstortion]

I am going to post some forgotten gems for everyone; How I live now,

Also, something from Chinese cinema; The Mermaid, quite amusing.

[Guest_4643]

I don't really watch movies or TV, or read. i should do that more.

[Guest_4643]

Hi all.

I don't really read or watch movies or TV, but what are some things people are watching lately, or reading even?