I have rented a bunch of yawners in the past month or so, and I keep hoping that one of them will be enjoyable enough that I would recommended it to others. None has, except for Crash. I don't care if it's manipulative, funny, sappy, or horrific. I just want to have some kind of strong emotional reaction. Any recommendations?

Oh, I should add a qualifier. I prefer relatively mainstream fare (maybe that's part of the problem), and I'd rather not spend my time reading subtitles, so I guess that leaves out most small art house foreign films. It would be nice if I could find it at the local Blockbuster, also.

Thanks.

Munich was pretty good.



Unfotunatly, lately I find alot of recent movies leaving me with a "Ok, I'm confused" rather than wow.

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_______________________________________________________________
Security is just a word. The act of being secure is entirely different.
"...but I think that to make your dream a reality, having a dream itself is a mandatory prerequisite"
From A Book: Walking Through The Impossible

Just because it has two clutches, shifts faster, uses a torque converter or has near-infinite gear ratios, requires less driver intervention and is more efficient doesn't make it better in my opinion.
Save The Manual Transmission

Old Boy definitely elicited a "wow" from me. It is Korean, but you can set up the DVD to play the English dubbed version if you prefer. It is definitely worth it IMHO.

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This message has been brought to you by the Threadkiller™

I said "wow" while watching Jessica Biel's scene at the waterfall in Stealth, does that count?

Most recent Wow: Grizzly Man

(whoops - it's a documentary)

Biggest Wow lately: Downfall

(whoops - it's in German with Subtitles. Didn't take any longer to watch, though)

Crash also got a Wow

The original Crash got a Whoa!

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[picasaweb.google.com] [www.flickr.com]

Passion of the Christ

Passion of The ButtGirls

Perhaps this is a bit too pedestrian, but we went to see "Glory Road" on MLK Day. It was a good day to see a movie like that. Better because it's a true story. Highlights how far our society has come in 40 years.
g=

Jimmypoo Wrote:
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> Passion of The ButtGirls

With you it's always about the poo. <sigh>



I'd suggest "Secret Window" and "Wicker Park".

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

The Pianist was a wow.

I also thought Chronicles of Narnia was a wow, in a mega hollywood production kind of way.

City of God - biggest wow in YEARS...

easy subtitles (not too much dialogue)

Crash.

Mulletville
[www.imdb.com]

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- Jack D.




New tasteless sig coming soon!

If you're looking to rent something, have you seen Sin City yet?

It's a mainstream comic book movie. Violent and fun. 'Doesn't require a lot of thought, but it has artistry and depth if you want to go there.

I've seen some good movies in the last year, but that was the last one that made me go "Wow."

King Kong.

But you won't be able to rent that for a while.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Funny you should mention Sin City. I watched it the other night, not expecting too much. However, I thought it was really well done and I did enjoy it quite a bit.

By "wow", I'm not necessarily looking to be emotionally drained after watching it. I just don't want to feel like I wasted two hours of my life.

I think you should qualify your tastes a little bit when asking a question like that.

Such as:
Do you prefer mindless escapism entertainment, or do you lean toward shows that stimulate intellectual thought, and make you question the nature of life, humanity, your place in the universe, etc.? Give us some idea of what you are looking for. It makes a lot of difference.

By limiting yourself to mainstream hollywood fare, and ruling out subtitles, you are eliminating about 98% of the possibilites of seeing anything fresh in concept or unusually different and interesting, IMO.

BTW, I found City of God to be a very pleasant surprise, also, going into it not knowing what it was about or having heard about it before watching it.

Take a look at the IMDB.com board, and check out their top 250 films for some ideas, see how many of them you have seen, you might discover an unwatched gem there.

[imdb.com]

There are links there to breakdowns by Box-Ofice, Video, and Top Rated Movies, and by genre, and a link to their Top 250 all time films, among other things, you can get some good ideas there. It is one of my favorite sites.


hwystar



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2006 09:29PM by hwystar.

I watched Crash ast night and really enjoyed it. Upon reflection it was really no more than short commentary, but certainly very well done short commentary. Terrence Howard’s performance was absolutely incredible.

How about Anime?

It's almost never a bad night to rent Akira.

Spirited Away is simply a beautiful movie.

The Animatrix was quite interesting.

hwystar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think you should qualify your tastes a little
> bit when asking a question like that.

Point taken, and I'm quickly realizing that. but then I figured, everyone might benefit from the suggestions, even if I don't.

>
> Such as:
> Do you prefer mindless escapism entertainment, or
> do you lean toward shows that stimulate
> intellectual thought, and make you question the
> nature of life, humanity, your place in the
> universe, etc.? Give us some idea of what you are
> looking for. It makes a lot of difference.

Mindless entertainment probably sums it up. but I'd prefer well done mindless entertainment.

>
> By limiting yourself to mainstream hollywood fare,
> and ruling out subtitles, you are eliminating
> about 98% of the possibilites of seeing anything
> fresh in concept or unusually different and
> interesting, IMO.

I'll grant you that, and I'm willing to accept that about myself.

>
> BTW, I found City of God to be a very pleasant
> surprise, also, going into it not knowing what it
> was about or having heard about it before watching
> it.
>
> Take a look at the IMDB.com board, and check out
> their top 250 films for some ideas, see how many
> of them you have seen, you might discover an
> unwatched gem there.

Good idea, thanks.

>
>
>
> There are links there to breakdowns by Box-Ofice,
> Video, and Top Rated Movies, and by genre, and a
> link to their Top 250 all time films, among other
> things, you can get some good ideas there. It is
> one of my favorite sites.

I'll check it out. Hell, I know there are some real classics from years gone by that I still haven't seen.

>
>
> hwystar
>
>
>
> Edited 1 times. Last edit at 01/22/06 10:29PM by
> hwystar.

Another vote for Crash....

The recent release of King Kong gets a "Hmmmm" for making a almost 3 Hour movie not seem boring. It was a looooooong Movie but actually seemed "normal length" due to the action and story line.

Cinderella Man

Sin City

Batman Begins

Bubble Boy (Not available for about a week)

How about some classics? (Real acting, real scripts, no CG, great drama)

Double Indemnity

Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Classic SciFi (Yes, there was good SciFi before Lucas made it good then drove a spike made of pure greed through its heart)

Forbidden Planet (Lucas, and Star Trek folk ripped off some great scenes, and ideas from this movie)

Silent Running (Huey, Dewey, and Louie, droids playing cards!)

BGnR

Holes.

Born into Brothels

Blow

Taxi Driver

Trainspotting

Sling Blade

Memento

The Weather Underground

Fight Club

Hotel Rwanda

Band of Brothers (HBO series)

21 Grams (for Benicio Del Toro's acting)

Dirty Filthy Love (not a 'wow', but if you have any knowledge of psych it's funny as hell)

Squid and the Whale (a must-see for anybody who is from a divorced family - or one that should be)

kiva





Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2006 11:58PM by Kiva.

I'll second the Old Boy for a Wow. Talk about revenge, I can't imagine anything
worse.

I think he meant 'Wow' as in 'that was good',
not 'Wow, that really sucked'.

RAMd®d Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> King Kong.
>
> But you won't be able to rent that for a while.

It should be mentioned the "Old Boy" is not for the quesy.

Hmmm. I don't suppose "March of the Penguins" or "Winged Migration" would be violent enough for your tastes, but they are both "wow" movies.

The restored version of the silent classic "Metropolis" was pretty "wow" as well.

I thought most of the recent "King Kong" was pretty wow, though the Skull Island sequence did run a bit long (and repetitive) in my view. Some real suspension of disbelief required for that bit, but overall the movie is terrific.

I thought "The Incredibles" was a good "wow" movie as well. FWIW.

If "The Sweatbox" is available on DVD yet, RENT IT. You'll NEVER look at Disney Animation the same way again (until Pixar takes it over, that is).

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chas_m




[crawlingfromtheusa.blogspot.com] <-- Moving to Canada blog

I saw "Fargo" in a theater, and was wowed. It loses a little when viewed on a dinky screen.

RAMd®d Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> King Kong.
>
> But you won't be able to rent that for a while.

I saw it on DVD last Wednesday night. The Peter Jackson version.

What a hoot! (no ape-pun intended)

Every time I thought it had gotten totally over the top, it just went further. At the same time, the storytelling, aided by great editing, was economical. You'd get huge amounts of info in fast bursts. There was no real character development; the characters were stereotypes. But they were such stereotypes that I could sense their connections to things deeper, to large, hard to identify shapes that remained beneath the surface. If you've read Jung, you know what I'm thinking here.

But don't try to look too deep. There are no deep satisfying themes. You already know how the movie ends. What Kong is is a thrill ride from start to finish, with some of the most exciting and far out sequences I've ever seen in a movie.

I'm definitely going to go see it in the theater.

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_____________________________________________
I think….
there….
4a.m.

"Ran" by Kurosawa after the last scene with the blind flute player.

He meant "Wow" as in a movie that elicited a "Wow" mikey.

I liked it a lot. I "Wow"ed as in I really liked it.

If you didn't, that's your problem.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I was actually trying to be funny, but I guess I didn't wow you...

Passion of the Christ.

you already said that...

I just saw "My Architect" last week and I thought that was extremely "Wow".

SteveJobs: is there an echo in here?

kiva

I recommend Wes Craven's "Red Eye". An excellent thriller
with some moments of extremely delcious tension.

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.................................................................................................
*We are just a quarantined people under an evil sun.*
--- Richard S. Shaver

I prefer intellectually stimulating mindless entertainment.


So I'll add "Las Vegas Backdoor Beauties" to that.

okay no echo - but I DID see Red Eye and it was much better than expected.

Just saw flightplan and it's okay. I like the story better than I thought, but did not like the bad person/people, etc.

no echo....then why post the same movie 2x?

Titanic. Nothing else has been that impressive for me since. Have seen many other good movies, but a wow is a big response for me.

no echo the THIRD time is what I meant. Why? Just being different, like I always do. Why care?

LOTR "Return of the King", I still say Wow.

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Grateful11