Recommended Films

**gustavo** · 06/06/2007, 11:48 AM

Films i liked

A Simple Plan : what happens when a group of people find a load of money in the woods , great performance from Billy Bob Thornton
Sling Blade , another great Billy Bob one , he plays a simple man who is released from an institution after murdering his mother as a child.
Barton Fink : another Cohen Bros one featuring a nice turn by John Goodman.
Dumb and Dumber : just love this , cant have all highbrow stuff

**pete** · 06/06/2007, 12:13 PM

Of the ones mentioned above:

City of God.
Internal Affairs.

In recent years best movie i've seen was Downfall

Of current releases i've seen Zodiac which is fairly good if not great.

I think as a set the Coen Brother movies are hard to beat.

**Wolfie** · 06/06/2007, 12:16 PM

I Went Down - Overlooked Irish comedy. Brendan Gleeson is excellent.

The Sure Thing - A young John Cusack stars in this "Road Movie" / comedy. A funny Tim Robbins cameo role in there too.

The Grifter - Another early John Cusack role.

Rounders - Not sure if this is too "Mainstream" - but a good film about Poker players.

**bennocelt** · 06/06/2007, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

Requiem for a Dream - Hopefully everyone has watched this by now
[Casablanca - It's actually ridiculous the amount of people I know who haven't watched this classicJoin the club! Absolutely cracking movie though, hopefully they don't decide to remake it into a live action movie until I've shuffled off this mortal coil

yeah i also havent seen casablanca
talking about Humpry Bogary, def recommend the Treasure of Sierra Madre, great movie , a Hueston special

also...... Requiem for a Dream is brilliant, but very hard to watch, the scene in the end where the one (Connolly) is doing her stuff infront of all the guys is quite disturbing, a better movie about drugs and its effects than trainspotting (which isnt bad either) me thinks

**Neish** · 06/06/2007, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Bluebeard

And for those who liked Powaqqatsi (kudos to Neish!), try the first one of the series Kooyaanisqqatsi - best of the three in my opinion.

Have the box set with Powaqqatsi and Kooyaanisqqatsi prefered Powaqqatsi myself. Have you seen Naqoyqatsi? I guy I know saw it whislst he worked in the U.S. he reckons it the best of the lot.

Have you seen Baraka? If you like Powaqqatsi and Kooyaanisqqatsi it will be right up your alley.

**Bluebeard** · 06/06/2007, 1:13 PM

Originally Posted by Neish

Have the box set with Powaqqatsi and Kooyaanisqqatsi prefered Powaqqatsi myself. Have you seen Naqoyqatsi? I guy I know saw it whislst he worked in the U.S. he reckons it the best of the lot.

Have you seen Baraka? If you like Powaqqatsi and Kooyaanisqqatsi it will be right up your alley.

Powaqqatsi is th biz alright, I am just possibly more of a pessimist than you are

I got hold of Naqoyqatsi too. I didn't enjoy it as much as the other two - it was kind of like Tubular Bells III: This Time It's Ibiza if you catch my drift. I do think it has great merit, I just reckon I'd need to see it on the big screen or be stoned to get the most out of it.

Mad keen to see Baraka - heard great things about that!

**passinginterest** · 06/06/2007, 1:58 PM

Some great selections on here alright.
If you've never seen Donnie Darko (I was one of the few who saw the original release in the IFI) its brilliant.
Also highly recommend V for Vendetta, Little Miss Sunshine, Hard Candy
La Haine and Doctor Stragelove are true greats.
I'm struggling to come up with something original here.
If your into early horror/slasher/rape revenge films (more from a studying than entertainment perspective) see I Spit on Your Grave or The Last House on the Left (early Wes Craven). For a more entertaining Wes Craven see The People Under the Stairs (a personal favourite).
If you haven't seen Hellraiser you should (Clive Barker is a genius, read some of his stuff).

**tetsujin1979** · 06/06/2007, 3:13 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

Join the club! Absolutely cracking movie though, hopefully they don't decide to remake it into a live action movie until I've shuffled off this mortal coil

You and me both, check out the 25th anniversary DVD, a bit odd to watch it without "Leonardo" doing Kaneda's voice.

Hard Candy's been mentioned a few times, check out The Woodsman if you can, possibly the hardest film to watch I've ever sat through. The woman sitting next to me was visibly upset at the end of it.

**Risteard** · 06/06/2007, 3:18 PM

Very good choice 79!
Sympathy for the Woodsman?

**jebus** · 06/06/2007, 3:29 PM

Originally Posted by passinginterest

If you've never seen Donnie Darko (I was one of the few who saw the original release in the IFI) its brilliant.

I saw it in the Kino in Cork when it was given it's limited cinema release, and I have to say I enjoyed it at first, but then I got to thinking.....if the rabbit (can't remember his name) pulled Donnie out of the house, so that he could see life and how the rabbit and his girlfriend die, so that he would realise that he needs to make the sacrifice of finding the worm hole so that he can go back and put himself back in his house on the night the rabbit pulled him out of it to save his life, well.....what's the bloody point? it just doesn't make sense at the end of the day, so I've been turned off the movie since

Oh and I agree 110% with People Under The Stairs, been a favourite of mine for many a year now

**tetsujin1979** · 06/06/2007, 3:42 PM

Originally Posted by Risteard

Very good choice 79!
Sympathy for the Woodsman?

Not defending it, just saying it's an excellent film, but be warned, it is extremely difficult to watch.

**jebus** · 06/06/2007, 3:45 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Not defending it, just saying it's an excellent film, but be warned, it is extremely difficult to watch.

Speaking of extremely difficult to watch has anyone ever seen Irreversible? The French movie starring Monica Belucci? It has a 8 minute rape scene, and another particularly disturbing incident (I won't say cause it might ruin a bit of the film for you). That and the Warzone have to be the most disturbing movies I've ever witnessed (although the surgery scene in Harc Candy would rank up there as well)

**passinginterest** · 06/06/2007, 3:48 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

I saw it in the Kino in Cork when it was given it's limited cinema release, and I have to say I enjoyed it at first, but then I got to thinking.....if the rabbit (can't remember his name) pulled Donnie out of the house, so that he could see life and how the rabbit and his girlfriend die, so that he would realise that he needs to make the sacrifice of finding the worm hole so that he can go back and put himself back in his house on the night the rabbit pulled him out of it to save his life, well.....what's the bloody point? it just doesn't make sense at the end of the day, so I've been turned off the movie since

Oh and I agree 110% with People Under The Stairs, been a favourite of mine for many a year now

It probably raises as many questions as it does answers. Is the sacrifice worth it all? In all likelihood the outcome of his actions is that a paedophile will now be undetected and his family will be devastated. Is the great romantic gesture just a farce, the easy way out? Still a completely great film as far as I'm concerned. I've always avoided watching the directors cut due to a few reports that it alters the film too much and a lot of the magic is lost.

**strangeirish** · 06/06/2007, 3:50 PM

Boondock Saints

Been a while since I saw this, but thought it was pretty good.

**finlma** · 06/06/2007, 3:52 PM

Originally Posted by John83

Anyone seen Old Boy?

I saw Old Boy - brilliant flick. Great revelation at the end.

**John83** · 06/06/2007, 3:53 PM

Originally Posted by SkStu

...Im similarly avoiding 28 Weeks Later.

I've heard nothing but praise for it.

Originally Posted by Dodge

PS agree City of God is the best film of the last decade

Originally Posted by BohsPartisan

Its a good film alright but thats a massive exageration.

Agreed with BP. It's gotten a lot of praise. It's a good film, but it's widely overrated now.

Originally Posted by jebus

...I got to thinking.....if the rabbit (can't remember his name) pulled Donnie out of the house, so that he could see life and how the rabbit and his girlfriend die, so that he would realise that he needs to make the sacrifice of finding the worm hole so that he can go back and put himself back in his house on the night the rabbit pulled him out of it to save his life, well.....what's the bloody point? it just doesn't make sense at the end of the day, so I've been turned off the movie since

It made his death mean something. He chose to die so that several others, including people he loved, wouldn't have to.

**passinginterest** · 06/06/2007, 3:56 PM

Has anyone mentioned Battle Royal? Cracking film. Make sure it's the first one though. Reports on the sequel are not good.

**jebus** · 06/06/2007, 4:00 PM

Originally Posted by John83

It made his death mean something. He chose to die so that several others, including people he loved, wouldn't have to.

But why bring him out of the house in the first place, to show him he has to die? That's a real lazy excuse to be honest, I mean that infers a conscious afterlife where Donnie would be walking around, ****ed off that he died in such a ridiculous manner. Plus all movies with time travel fall into the trap of history repeating itself. I mean since Donnie died in his house that night, that means he doesn't shoot the rabbit, so the rabbit isn't dead and can't come back to him to pull him out of the house in the first place

Originally Posted by passinginterest

Has anyone mentioned Battle Royal? Cracking film. Make sure it's the first one though. Reports on the sequel are not good.

Don't watch the sequel is all I can say. Also I'm gonna steer clear of the American rip off version, The Condemned, starring none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin of WWF fame!

**BohsPartisan** · 06/06/2007, 4:14 PM

Donnie Darko: My theory is that he never leaves the house and the whole film is a hallucination in the moments before his death to allow him to come to terms with his end.

**John83** · 06/06/2007, 4:23 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

But why bring him out of the house in the first place, to show him he has to die? That's a real lazy excuse to be honest, I mean that infers a conscious afterlife where Donnie would be walking around, ****ed off that he died in such a ridiculous manner. Plus all movies with time travel fall into the trap of history repeating itself. I mean since Donnie died in his house that night, that means he doesn't shoot the rabbit, so the rabbit isn't dead and can't come back to him to pull him out of the house in the first place

You can say the same thing about the jet engine - without which, he'll live to meet Gretchen, Frank, et al, and his mother and sister will be on that plane when the storm hits. Or will they? How much did Frank change things by speaking with Donnie?

Chicken and egg plot problems are almost impossible to avoid if you're going to make a complex time travel story. The story isn't clear. That's half the fun.