Movies and TV Shows That are Great

[Cassandra]

On 11/13/2019 at 10:11 AM, death tribble said:

The Blues Brothers 1980

This is one of any Saturday Night Live related movies and arguably this is the best of them. The film concerns the efforts of two brothers to raise money to cover back taxes for the orphanage where they were raised by reuniting the band that they played with. It ends with a large over the top police chase. The film has cameos from notable music icons such as James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.

The movie had the record for the most cars destroyed in the course of a production at 103 for eighteen years. The car chases are funny rather than serious as in Bullitt or Gone in 60 Seconds. The film has retained a cult following.

 

I remember the first time I saw the trailer.  It was 1980 in the Orange Cinedome waiting for The Empire Strikes Back.  They got me with the line the exchange "Are you the police?"  "No Ma'am, We're Musicians."

[Armory]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:22 PM, death tribble said:

Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines 1965

This is a period comedy wherein a competition is announced to fly from London to Paris in 1910 which attracts a worldwide entry field.

 

This reminded me of:

The Great Race, also 1965

 

A period comedy wherein a competition is announced to race autos from New York to Paris.  Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood (yum), Peter Falk, Ross Martin on loan from The Wild, Wild West, the longest and pie-iest pie fight on film (at the time, anyway), music by Henry Mancini, all directed by Blake Edwards.  One of my favorite movies of all time.

[Twilight]

1 hour ago, Armory said:

 

This reminded me of:

The Great Race, also 1965

 

A period comedy wherein a competition is announced to race autos from New York to Paris.  Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie Wood (yum), Peter Falk, Ross Martin on loan from The Wild, Wild West, the longest and pie-iest pie fight on film (at the time, anyway), music by Henry Mancini, all directed by Blake Edwards.  One of my favorite movies of all time.

I saw this on Turner Classic Movies a little while ago.  Absolutely adored it.

[Cassandra]

Comic Book: The Movie (2004)

 

Mark Hamill wrote (with Futurama's Billy West) and Director this movie where he plays a teacher and comic book fan who's hired by a movie studio to promote a new movie based on a Golden Age Comic Book character at Comic Con.  Trouble begins when he finds a relative of the artist who created the Superhero  (played by Billy West).

[Michael Hopcroft]

The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974)

 

Director Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night) and a fantastic cast bring the Alexandre Dumas adventure masterpiece to vivid, vibrant life. A young country minor noble is sent to Paris to enlist in the King of France's elite Musketeers regiment, meets three widely contrasting fellow soldiers, and becomes involved in a court intrigue with international repercussions. This is perhaps the most-real looking portrayal of 17th-century Paris (and its contrasts between the glitter of the gilded court and the squalor of where most of the city's people live) ever committed to film, and the fight scenes are uniformly excellent. There are many great performances here, but the one that stands out is Charlton Heston as Cardinal Richelieu, one of the prime movers of the plot. His ruthlessness is contrasted with the fact that, as far as France's national interests are concerned, he is absolutely right about the Queen.

 

A note; Lester originally intended to make this as a single, epic film. When studio brass split it into two parts after shooting, the cast rebelled because they had only been paid for one film. In the end, the studio relented and paid them again (they must have been placed under serious pressure from the actor's union in the UK).

[death tribble]

I would add the performances of Oliver Reed, Christopher Lee and Michael York to that list.

I do not understand why some of the films muck about so much with the source material such as having the Musketeers disbanded or making it steam punk.

 

Hard Boiled 1992

Want a gun fight ? This one delivers in spades as John Woo delivers a bullet ballet of extraordinary violence. As one police officer tries to crack the gangs from outside, another is an undercover officer in one of the gangs. The shoot outs in a restaurant, a warehouse/garage and a hospital are something to behold.

[Spence]

26 minutes ago, death tribble said:

I do not understand why some of the films muck about so much with the source material such as having the Musketeers disbanded or making it steam punk.

It is easy today. 

The earlier movies are so "dated" that many people now won't watch them.  Not to mention so few people read that many do have any idea that there is a book. 

[Cassandra]

Gabriel Over The White House (1933)

 

Walter Huston plays Judson Hammond, an irresponsible bachelor President of the United States who is injured in a automobile accident while he was joy riding.  The spirit of the Angel Gabriel takes over his comatose body, and he proceeds to end the Depression, wipes out the gangsters, and disarms the world.

[pinecone]

I just watched Shadow. It is  kind of a chinese version of Kagemusha, but with enough changes to stand alone. 4 out of 5 bumbershoots.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)

 

Cyrano is a poet and soldier with a face he sees as deformed (his attempts to take pride in it are hollow) who loves a woman but is too ashamed to court her -- so he ends up assisting a callow young barracks-mate win the woman. In this version, Gerard Depardieu is in the title role and owns it. The great advantage of this film is that it is in French, where the poetic language of playwright Edmond Rostand really shines.

 

This has one of the great closing lines in a movie you will see in a while.

[Michael Hopcroft]

6 hours ago, Cassandra said:

Gabriel Over The White House (1933)

 

Walter Huston plays Judson Hammond, an irresponsible bachelor President of the United States who is injured in a automobile accident while he was joy riding.  The spirit of the Angel Gabriel takes over his comatose body, and he proceeds to end the Depression, wipes out the gangsters, and disarms the world.

This is probably the most controversial movie on this list, and always will be. The producers were accused of advocating for fascism and dictatorship (which was not odd -- Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had a lot of American admirers in 1932, and fascism was viewed as a perfectly legitimate way to run a country).

[Bazza]

Herein I thought the controversy was an archangel possessing a dead man... 

[Cancer]

On November 13, 2019 at 10:11 AM, death tribble said:

The Blues Brothers 1980

This is one of any Saturday Night Live related movies and arguably this is the best of them. The film concerns the efforts of two brothers to raise money to cover back taxes for the orphanage where they were raised by reuniting the band that they played with. It ends with a large over the top police chase. The film has cameos from notable music icons such as James Brown, John Lee Hooker, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.

The movie had the record for the most cars destroyed in the course of a production at 103 for eighteen years. The car chases are funny rather than serious as in Bullitt or Gone in 60 Seconds. The film has retained a cult following.

 

I enjoyed the bitterly satirical Animal House more, but that's largely because I'm an academic so it is closer to my reality.

[Trencher]

The last kingdom is a great TV series. Much better than game of thrones imo. 

The vikings are portrayed a bit unrealisticly but the story is great.

[Starlord]

1 hour ago, Trencher said:

The last kingdom is a great TV series. Much better than game of thrones imo. 

The vikings are portrayed a bit unrealisticly but the story is great.

 

Yeah, The Last Kingdom is excellent.

[Pariah]

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. Arguably the gold standard for animated superhero adventures (at least in television; in movies, the would be The Incredibles). Simple, powerful visuals, compelling stories, witty writing with plenty of parental bonuses, and stellar voice acting. The first two seasons featuring the core seven, are rife with complex storylines and character development. The final two seasons have Jeffrey Combs as The Question. Enough said.

[Lord Liaden]

No argument, Pariah; but close behind those, I would put Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Sadly only ran for two seasons, to be replaced by the more MCU-inspired but also more simplistic Avengers Assemble.

 

Among its many accomplishments, A:EMH gave us IMHO the best animated rendition of Dr. Doom:

 

 

 

[Pariah]

1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said:

No argument, Pariah; but close behind those, I would put Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Sadly only ran for two seasons, to be replaced by the more MCU-inspired but also more simplistic Avengers Assemble.

 

Among its many accomplishments, A:EMH gave us IMHO the best animated rendition of Dr. Doom:

 

That was going to be my next nomination. Clearly you are a man of exceptional taste.

[Bazza]

An ex-immortal gets involved in solving a planetary environmental crisis by creating an artificial ozone layer. Now an old man, he gets approached by an ex-employee of the company operating the artificial ozone layer suggesting that the ozone layer has  naturally healed itself and thus the artificial one isn’t needed anymore. So a bit like Wall-E. Ex-employee proposes a terrorism to remove it. There is a secondary plot where fellow immortals from another planet arrive on Earth trying to kill the ex-immortal.

 

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

[Pariah]

13 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

Among its many accomplishments, A:EMH gave us IMHO the best animated rendition of Dr. Doom:

 

 

 

 

 

...and the Wasp, as well. I really like how Janet was portrayed in that series.

[mallet]

The Sandbaggers (1978-1980) - Follows the understaffed and underfunded Special Operation Section (code named "the sandbaggers") of the British Government who carry out the most covert, dangerous and politically sensitive operations of the cold war. Brutally realistic portrayal of "real" spies. Definitely not James Bond, more like John Le Carre. Most of the people I've got to watch it found it too slow and boring, but those who love it, really love it. Most of the time is spent in meetings and shuffling paperwork, waiting for permission followed by quick, often fatal, attempts at carrying out a mission when half the government is more concerned with covering their own asses and preventing bad press then the lives of the people in the field. The three man field agent team, Sandbagger One, Two and Three are almost always short staffed because of team member deaths and the lack of skilled people able (and willing) to replace them. Their cold hearted boss does the best he can juggling the politics from above and the needs of the team on the ground, while also making decisions he knows will cost men their lives, all "for the greater good", which he is becoming more and more aware is not the country but rather for the politicians and big businesses in power. Also a great look at the personal and emotional cost of being in a job like that. Episode 7 of Season One has one of the most shocking endings I've seen in a tv series. Had me shaking my head in stunned disbelief that they would do that. So gritty, realistic and logical, yet so cold and brutal. 

 

 

[death tribble]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:45 AM, Bazza said:

An ex-immortal gets involved in solving a planetary environmental crisis by creating an artificial ozone layer. Now an old man, he gets approached by an ex-employee of the company operating the artificial ozone layer suggesting that the ozone layer has  naturally healed itself and thus the artificial one isn’t needed anymore. So a bit like Wall-E. Ex-employee proposes a terrorism to remove it. There is a secondary plot where fellow immortals from another planet arrive on Earth trying to kill the ex-immortal.

 

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

Surely some mistake ?

 

There was a film called Highlander with Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert which had music by Queen but there was no sequel. I think that everyone else here would testify that there is no such thing as Highlander 2.

[death tribble]

4 hours ago, mallet said:

The Sandbaggers (1978-1980) - Follows the understaffed and underfunded Special Operation Section (code named "the sandbaggers") of the British Government who carry out the most covert, dangerous and politically sensitive operations of the cold war. Brutally realistic portrayal of "real" spies. Definitely not James Bond, more like John Le Carre. Most of the people I've got to watch it found it too slow and boring, but those who love it, really love it. Most of the time is spent in meetings and shuffling paperwork, waiting for permission followed by quick, often fatal, attempts at carrying out a mission when half the government is more concerned with covering their own asses and preventing bad press then the lives of the people in the field. The three man field agent team, Sandbagger One, Two and Three are almost always short staffed because of team member deaths and the lack of skilled people able (and willing) to replace them. Their cold hearted boss does the best he can juggling the politics from above and the needs of the team on the ground, while also making decisions he knows will cost men their lives, all "for the greater good", which he is becoming more and more aware is not the country but rather for the politicians and big businesses in power. Also a great look at the personal and emotional cost of being in a job like that. Episode 7 of Season One has one of the most shocking endings I've seen in a tv series. Had me shaking my head in stunned disbelief that they would do that. So gritty, realistic and logical, yet so cold and brutal. 

Now there us a surprise. I had not thought of this programme in years. And I can testify that the ending is quite the shock.

[death tribble]

Let's go for something recent 

Avengers Assemble (2012)

A disparate group of heroes are brought together to recover an energy source that was stolen from SHIELD resulting in the deaths of some of their personnel. The theft is a precursor to an alien invasion of New York which the heroes must come together to defeat.

This is a film that is worth repeated viewings. There is a nice comic element to some of the scenes and it allows Black Widow and Hawkeye to strut their stuff. For the long term Marvel fans there is the fan service of Thor fighting the Hulk and the Helicarrier's appearance. You also see the heroes saving people which some other films do not show.

[Starlord]

On 11/19/2019 at 5:45 AM, Bazza said:

An ex-immortal gets involved in solving a planetary environmental crisis by creating an artificial ozone layer. Now an old man, he gets approached by an ex-employee of the company operating the artificial ozone layer suggesting that the ozone layer has  naturally healed itself and thus the artificial one isn’t needed anymore. So a bit like Wall-E. Ex-employee proposes a terrorism to remove it. There is a secondary plot where fellow immortals from another planet arrive on Earth trying to kill the ex-immortal.

 

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

 

Someone needs to report this post as trolling.