Any Netflix recs? Thinking about Taichi Zero but it looks kind of cheesy.
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by John Cole| 68 Comments
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Any Netflix recs? Thinking about Taichi Zero but it looks kind of cheesy.
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JohnM
All Is Lost starring Robert Redford.
Mike in NC
Not on Netflix but if you like Amy Schumer, “Trainwreck” is a must.
Omnes Omnibus
“The Lives of Others” or “Woman in Gold.”
Porco Rosso
Ever seen Witching and Bitching?
Porco Rosso
Tai Chi Zero is fun, especially in 3d
browser
The Search For General Tso. Documentary about General Tso and his chicken.
El Tiburon
Check out “Honest liar” about The Amazing Randy.” Highly recommend with a surprise, topical surprise ending. Then, if you remain in the magician mood, watch “Deceptive Practice” doc about Ricky Jay. Not as good, but entertaining.
srv
I am so depressed. Did you people know that John Rogers denied the crazification factor?
https://twitter.com/jonrog1/status/390299744561410049
Davebo
@JohnM:
Proving Robert Redford is an idiot an no sane person should get on a boat with him!
All with no dialogue! Sweet!
Davebo
@browser:
Watched that with my Hong Kong born gal and it was not pretty.
redshirt
Ex Machina, if it’s available. Great sci fi flick.
browser
@Davebo:
How so? It’s not the deepest doc, but I’m grateful to finally know where General Tso’s Chicken came from.
mclaren
The Zero Effect (1998) starring Bill Pullman and Ryan O’Neal.
TaMara (BHF)
Not a movie, but I got hooked on the Almighty Johnsons. Campy fun with good looking Australian and Kiwi actors.
Brachiator
Not a Netflix user, so I am going to watch the latest episode of the SF series “Humans” later tonight. Really enjoying this show about robots, and Mr Robot, about humans.
I am intrigued by the movie, 10,000 km, about a couple trying to manage a long distance love affair, Barcelona to Los Angeles. It is playing in some theaters, but also available for rent or purchase at a number of streaming sites.
http://www.10000km-movie.com/eng/
@redshirt
Agree that this was a very interesting film. I really enjoyed Oscar Isaac’s performance as the neo Dr Frankenstein.
Marc
I watched Three Days of the Condor the other night. Good to see the set up in reel one pay off in reel two. Yeah, I’m kinda old, since I’m pretty sure they don’t have reels at modern theaters…
slag
The Last Unicorn is so obviously in your wheelhouse that it’s surprising you would even ask.
Mike in NC
“Humans” is an excellent show, and “Mr Robot” isn’t too bad either.
Capt Seaweed
“The Wrecking Crew”. Great flick. You’ll be surprised.
“Out of the Past”. Robert Mitchum. Your nightly noir. Essential.
Brachiator
OT: Interesting Lifehacker article about easy freezing tomatoes:
http://lifehacker.com/freeze-whole-tomatoes-now-to-preserve-their-flavor-for-1719108862
Hum Dinga
BoJack Horseman!!!!!
WaterGirl
@Brachiator: Liking Humans quite a bit. I really liked the first episode of Mr. Robot. A lot. But I quit at episode 4 because it had gotten too dark for me and it didn’t feel like it was going to be any less dark going forward.
I watched Divergent this weekend. Images from the movie keep popping back into my head, which to me is the sign of a good movie. I can’t wait until the (sort of) sequel is on TV.
Steeplejack
@mclaren:
Excellent low-key comedy.
Slightly appalled that we agree on anything.
thruppence
If you’re leaning martial artswise, Kung Fu Hustle melds Kung Fu movie tropes with Chuck Jones Looney Tunes humor. They’ve also currently got Team America: World Police available if you want to revisit that militaristic puppet show satire overkill…
Jon Favreau’s Chef is also extremely well done.
C Nelson Reilly
@El Tiburon: Second the Amazing Randi recommendation. That guy has the best eyebrows in show business!
impliedobserver
Yes, The Scapegoat. I love Matthew Rhys. Also liked The Homesman.
WaterGirl
@Brachiator: I freeze my hot peppers but it never occurred to me that I could do that with tomatoes.
I have never actually made spaghetti sauce starting with real tomatoes. Are there simple instructions on how to do that? I have 8 tomato plants this year because I wanted to try a few varieties so I could decide which ones I want to plant in the future, so I will have plenty of tomatoes to experiment on.
Heading for bed but will hope for a link to instructions in the morning!
Brachiator
@Capt Seaweed:
Two great picks.
The current film in theaters, Love and Mercy, about Brian Wilson, is a nice companion to The Wrecking Crew.
Steeplejack
@thruppence:
Kung Fu Hustle is a great comedy, especially if you’ve been overdosing on El Rey kung fu movies. But very good even if you haven’t. Trailer here.
WaterGirl
@impliedobserver: I love him as an actor, but I had no idea what his name was! I had no idea how talented he was until I started watching him in The Americans.
Do I recall correctly that people here were talking about him being in some other movie/show recently? I didn’t pay much attention at the time because I had never associated the name with the actor.
Okay, going to bed now. For real. Goodnight, all.
KG
the Nina Simone documentary was great. (As was the Amy Winehouse one, currently in theaters – somewhat haunting and infuriating at the same time.)
Been watching Witches of East End and Daredevil. Also working my way through Doctor Who and Torchwood again, just because I can. Will also put in another vote for Mr Robot on USA.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
Alton Brown is a pretty good place to start: (1) tomato sauce; (2) meat sauce.
I like Alton Brown because, although he can be a little fussy, his recipes are usually pretty clear and straightforward, and you can always get fancy and branch out from there. And often video is available at the Food Network site.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Amazon firestick
I find myself watching fewer and fewer movies these days, but there are a few out there I want to see. The Amy Schumer one, Ian McKellan Mr Holmes (McKellan is this week’s guest on Marc Maron’s WTF– great episode. )
slag
Wildest Islands, Life of Birds, and Wild China have been unexpectedly compelling. Also, The Story of Film. Plus, Wargames!
mclaren
@Brachiator:
You should really watch the original Swedish sci fi series the crappier British series was ripped off from: Äkta människor (Real Humans, 2012).
Äkta människor is available with English subtitles. I think Netflix has it.
Heywood J.
Saw Wild Tales and Ex Machina over the weekend, would recommend both.
Alex
A decent Battle of Britain BBC documentary from 2010.
And of course Peaky Blinders if you haven’t already.
Brachiator
@mclaren:
Not a Netflix customer, but may try to track it down elsewhere.
mclaren
@<a href="#commen@WaterGirl:
Here’s my best spaghetti sauce recipe:
1 LB link italian sausage (sweet). Cut it up, fry it, render the oil, put aside
1/3 cup olive oil + 1 medium to large red onion, chopped, sauteed in oil in a large saucepan till translucent. Add in the 6 large mushrooms, chopped up, and 6 cloves of crushed garlic — preferably crush fresh cloves of garlic with a garlic press, or (alternatively) use a pair of spoons if you’ve no garlic press. But fresh cloves are a must, as they add significantly to the piquancy of the garlic, which brings out the flavors in the rest of the sauce.
8 whole tomatoes — stew ’em in a slow cooking pot for several hours. Crock pot is best.
bay leaf
marjoram, thyme, crushed fennel seed
6 oz can tomato paste
1 teaspoon honey
1 lb ricotta cheese
Crush the stewed tomatoes with a fork in that large saucepan in which you’ve already sauteed the onions and mushrooms and crushed garlic. Now add the fried link sausage and chop it up with a fork into smaller bits. Add 1/8 teaspoon each of marjoram, thyme, and crushed fennel seed. The ideal way to crush the fennel seed is to use a mortar and pestel, but you can crush ’em with the back of a spoon against a ceramic plate if you’ve no mortar. Add 6 ounces of tomato paste and 1 cup of water plus 1 teaspoon of honey.
Now cook up all the above on low to medium heat in a large saucepan for about 20 minutes. You want the ingredients to blend, so it’s not at this point so much about getting the ingredients to cook as it is to get ’em to immisce with one another into a rich mixture.
1/2 hour before serving, add 1 lb ricotta cheese. Simmer at low heat for a while until the ricotta cheese is fully absorbed and integrated into the sauce.
Cook the spaghetti, drain & add some butter or light oil (safflower works well, but you might prefer the nutty flavor of sesame oil), ladle the sauce over the spaghetti and put freshly crushed whole oregano on top + grated parmesan. World’s best spaghetti sauce.
Alex
I second the Out of the Past rec. Classic Noire with Mitchum and Douglas.
Great, great movie. Didn’t realize it was on Nf but will watch again this weekend.
mclaren
@Brachiator:
It is available on the torrents.
Some great recent foreign films:
Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013). South Korean revenge drama about a boy adopted by a gang of thieves who slowly learns the truth about how & why they adopted him.
In Bruges (2011). A couple of assassins botch a killing and head off to Bruges, Belgium, on the orders of their boss to await further instructions. Brendan Gleeson is predictably hilarious and steals ever scene.
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (2011). Character study of a Turkish cop and prosecutor forced to deal with a petty criminal who killed a guy while drunk but now can’t remember where he left the body.
Tell No One (2006). French thriller about a doctor who starts getting internet messages from his wife — except she’s dead.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014). Skateboarding Iranian vampire. Do I need to say more?
Mirrormask (2005). Wonderful Neil Gaiman British fantasy film about a young girl whose parents run a circus — a girl who desperately wants to run away, and ominously gets her wish she drops into an alternate reality. Although made for only 6 million dollars, the digital effects blow away many films with budgets many times larger.
Omnes Omnibus
@mclaren: Go ahead and steal them, Good point.
mclaren
@Alex:
Yes, but avoid the wretched 1984 remake of Out of the Past called Against All Odds, starring Jeff Bridges and Rachel Ward. It’s ghastly.
If you dig the 1947 Out of the Past, be sure to check out Nightfall (1957) by the same director, Jacques Tourneur, with a world-class performance by Rudy Bond as a giggling psychopath and Brian Keith as an ice-cold killer. Aldo Ray has great chemistry with Ava Gardner, and the winter locations are gorgeous.
Warren Terra
I can’t remember finding anything particularly good on Netflix recently, but on Amazon Prime there’s the completely adorable Catastrophe with Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, which is hilarious; and there’s Bill Nighy’s Johnny Warricker trilogy (Page Eight, which got a little play when it came out, and two sequels that I’d never even heard about). The sequels aren’t as great as the first one, but they’re good, and Nighy is great.
ETA one suggestion, that I think is on Netflix: Frank, Jon Ronson’s fictionalization of his time with Frank Sidebottom. Hilarious and touching.
Major Major Major Major
I just got back from seeing the symphony perform the score to the 2009 Star Trek reboot live while projecting the movie (sans score) on a big screen. So if you have a time machine (they’re doing Back to the Future tomorrow, you still have a chance!) I’d recommend that.
Major Major Major Major
@slag: I’ve got that one set for Wednesday.
piratedan
may be getting close to the time to binge view Trigun again…..
Major Major Major Major
@mclaren: Double recommending In Bruges.
Also visiting Bruges, should you have the chance.
Goblue72
Hannibal, the TV series. Mads Mikkelsen will make you completely forget about Anthony Hopkins.
Ninedragonspot
On Netflix: “United Red Army” is slow to start, but has a terrifying second act which will make this past weekend’s Netroots Nation kerfuffle look like child’s play. “Colosio: El asesinato” was a bit hard to follow, but learned something about Mexican politics, like Costa-Bravas’ “Z”, but with none of the uplift. “Two Lives” brings back Liv Ullmann! And the Stasi!
Added: I also liked the Korean gangster flic “New World”.
mtiffany
Favorite go-to cheesefest: Kung Fu Hustle
MaxUtil
“What happened Miss Simone?” – if you like music at all. Heavy and amazing.
jc
“Lonely Are the Brave,” with Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau, screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.
dianne
If you don’t mind committing to a series, try “Bloodline” and “Magic City”. I always recommend “The Killing” to anyone who asks and also for lighter fare, “Lie to Me”. We have binge watched all the good stuff and are now searching out the lesser known shows. “Rectify” on Sundance is good and the first year is on Netflix now.
NotMax
Have mentioned it previously but remain unaware if you’ve ever seen it, Mr. Cole. Off kilter SF thriller you will like.
Dark City
maurinsky
Bojack Horseman is great
All is Lost – thumbs up
In Bruges – outstanding
I watched Tig yesterday afternooon – heartbreaking and hilarious
FlipYrWhig
@browser: @Davebo: Just watched the General Tso doc on Sunday. Enjoyable.
frosty in dallas
@Major Major Major Major:
loved In Bruges
also enjoyed Lilihammer
Keith G
I was just typing Slow West, then I realized I watched it via Amazon Prime. It’s the best American Western made in New Zealand. Yup, it’s a bit uneven, but damn is it fun. Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender star.
I want to give a h/t to Netflix’s collection of a bunch of very watchable, gay story-lined independent (and in most cases foreign) films. A while back, such films would have story lines soaked with all sorts of darkness or dysfunction just because the leads were gay. Now movies are being made with the traditional arc (meet, crush, lose, reunite) where sexuality is one of the complications, but not the tragic limitation.
At present many of these films are coming of age stories as that genre is easier to write and easier for independents film makers to cast and produce. Hopefully, there will be more story lines exploring narratives similar to the Before Sunrise trilogy. And hopefully, competition in this genre will tighten up the writing in these screen plays which at present can be a bit rudimentary.
Some example (on Netflix) worth watching:
The Way He Looks
Boys
North Sea Texas [Set in Belgium!]
For a bit heavier story:
Eastern Boys
Hunter
Midsommer Murders: English murder mysteries, very well done, 15 seasons, about 6-8 episodes each, and each episode runs about an hour and forty minutes, so you can make it your feature movie of the night. Chock full of English eccentrics.
For shorter things, Haven is good until toward the end of the third season — supernatural mystery, lots of eye-candy, and some amazing actors.
maurinsky
Get Low was fairly enjoyable…imperfect, but pretty good, and a fun turn by Bill Murray.
The One I Love was a weird little flick.
May I recommend Better Off Ted? It is so good that I’m mad I didn’t watch it when it was actually on the air.
Also: Trollhunter is surprisingly awesome.
rikyrah
I’ve begun watching Spanish telenovelas with the English subtitles. There are now a number of them available.
mike in dc
Mr. Robot
Tai Chi Zero(and the sequel) are fun to watch
Laura
Super Mensch, the legend of Shep Gordon. A documentary of a guy who knows everybody.
Karen Taylor
Just got hooked on Wallander (Kenneth Branagh). Plan to go to Swedish Wallander with subtitles soon.
LABiker
We watched Nightcrawler the other night. It was good!
tt crews
The Perverts Guide To Ideology (documentary) was a sort of weird take on film and especially the Sound of Music.
Blancanieve, a modern silent Snow White set in the bullfighting culture of Spain, starts out as a children’s film and takes a turn into absurd Twilight Zone territory at the end. Great costumes.
Feathers
Tai Chi Zero – yeah, cheesy but fun. Interesting to see a bit of steampunk added to the mix.
Love in the thread for Kung Fu Hustle, but they just added a bunch of earlier Stephen Chow as well.
Pick of the litter is God of Cookery – an incredibly funny kung fu spoof of Iron Chef and celebrity TV chefs. I actually saw this before ever seeing the real show. Kind of ruined kitchen stadium for me. King of Beggars and King of Comedy are also good, but I don’t remember them as well. I saw these in the theater back when there were Hong Kong movie festivals, before Miramax started buying up all the US rights and never releasing them.