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

 

[Ralphie_Lu]

I've been recently watching Hitchcock's films again with To Catch a Thief, Rear Window and North By Northwest being is most entertaining and enjoyable films imo.

[Guest_1643]

Hi RL - which of those are the best?
I've only seen Vertigo - I liked it!

Hope you're enjoying good movies over this time!

[shirker]

Welcome Ralphie 🙂 I can definitely relate to working my way through a bunch of a particular director's films - I used to do that a lot when I was younger, although these days I'm more likely to pick a year or a country and work through that.

I might also confess that, despite all the movies I do watch, I've never actually seen anything by Hitchcock.

[Guest_1643]

Hi all,

Not sure if anyone else is in the same boat, but there's something about a light and fluffy movie over this time... few i like:

(all on Netflix)
Bad Teacher

Zombieland

The Wrong Missy

A Simple Favour

Set it Up

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Desperados (currently watching and liking!)

Hope everyone's doing okay and taking care 🙂

[shirker]

Thanks for the list, Sleepy - I agree with your sentiment, sometimes something warm and fuzzy is just what's needed. I recently watched a couple of Tom Hanks' early movies (Big, and Sleepless in Seattle) just for this reason.

I don't have Netflix, but I'm a big fan of SBS On Demand for movies. Here's some recommendations from what they're currently showing, that should fit alongside your suggestions:

The King's Speech

The Lunchbox - Indian film - a friendship grows over letters and lunches

Big Night - two brothers try to bring genuine Italian cooking to 1950's America

Priceless - French romcom with Audrey Tatou, I laughed a lot

Our Little Sister - three Japanese sisters get to know their half sister after their father passes away. I really loved watching this - a friend described it as "a nice film about nice people being nice to each other"

And some classics to watch or rewatch ...

Storm Boy

Bad News Bears

On Golden Pond

Paper Moon

[Guest_1643]

thank you so much for this list, love reading it. Priceless is great - love the reminder as I saw it in the cinema when I was a kid!!!

[shirker]

Wow ... I also saw Priceless in the cinema, when I was kid in my, errm, forties!

[Guest_1643]

i feel like i'm exaggurating and may have been 20... let me check when it came out...

[uncut_gems]

Great list shirker! I agree; SBS is such a great service. I love it. Sleepy, I think I might be due for a rewatch of Zombieland– I remember really liking it, and as you say a lighter movie goes down smooth these days.

Recently I've seen:

The Guest

Halloween (2018)

Sunset Boulevard

Swordfish

The Italian Job (1969)

The Old Guard

Defiance

I would recommend the Italian Job for a lighter pick. Sunset Boulevard was great!

Gems

[shirker]

Thanks Gems! The Italian Job is one of those films that's always been on my radar but I've never watched, though I always had a vague idea it was a gritty crime drama rather than a lighter pick - but I see now it has Benny Hill in it! I think I should bump it up on my to-watch list.

The best of what I've watched over the past couple of weeks:

Witness - after uncovering his fellow cops are corrupt, Harrison Ford hides out in an Amish community ... I think this might have been Aussie director Peter Weir's Hollywood debut

A Cool Fish - mainland Chinese comedy currently streaming on SBS, this might appeal to folk who like the Coens. Two wannabe gangsters force their way into a quadrapelgic's home after a botched robbery, it handles change in tone quite well - I alternated between laughing out loud and bawling emotionally

Lorna - gentle Filipino comedy about loneliness and dating for the over sixties ... it was honest and empowering

When the Tenth Month Comes - B&W Vietnamese film from 1984 about a young widow coming to terms with the death of her husband