Films you should watch, books you should read

Discuss anything about your favourite books, TV, films, cinema, theatre, music, etc.
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Des
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Post by Des »

Just watched Beowulf on DVD - cracking movie!

I was particularly impressed with how they got Beowulf to mate with Grendel's mum. You don't see her (apart from a tentacle) until Beowulf confronts her, then you get Angelina Jolie, starkers with liquid gold running all over her body. Make a dragon? Yeah sure anything you want baby :P
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Post by Gambit37 »

I saw it in the cinema in 3D and that was the main reason I went to see it. The 3D was awesome but the film itself definitely isn't. The scene you mention is a highlight though ( :D ) as is the aerial fight at the end, but otherwise I didn't think much of it.
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Post by beowuuf »

Watched it again, I went into it with one expectation, and all the crudeness (being 'adult') and other thigns put me off, but then about half way through the film I started to really enjoy it. Watchign it a second time I liked it - not high art, but I think better than I remmeber it. And sorry, I even found myself grinning when Beowulf is heroic. Then again, Ray Winstone's accent makes it easy for me to imagine he is saying 'beowuuf' :D
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Beautifull `70s...

Post by Adamo »

I must say I just LOVE american films from `70s. I truly love the whole decade! That`s funny, because I was born in 1979, so I couldn`t remember them! But I think they were beautifull overall. Most beautifull from all the decades. Those streets of the city in Kojak.. The cars, the wearings, the fashion, everything! And, of course, the unforgetable movies (The Godfather)... Yup, there were no computers (at least personal) and cellular phones yet. I don`t know if you had the same experiance about that decade.
...
Beautifull, beautifull, beautifull!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why have they gone????
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Post by Roquen »

Books:

The first few in the "Black Company" series - Glen Cook
"The Pillar's of Earth", Ken Follett
"Doomsday Book", Connie Willis
Pretty much anything by "John le Carre" or "Graham Greene"
The "Steven Brust" are fun, and many have a second level of play on the English language.
L. Block's "Matthew Scudder" series

I might get slammed for the, but a lot of the Agatha Christie novels are excellent.

Movies:
American History X
Old Boy
Reservoir Dogs
Nikita
Leon (U.S. Title = The Professional)
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Post by Adamo »

"The Shield" serie- probably the best crime serial of all the time, the story is about the "bad guys" in LAPD, so brutal and corrupted, that you could easily change the script to put the action in Balkans! ;)
It`s really worth to see!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286486/

I also heard a lot good about "The Wire" serie - also about US cops. The action is placed in Baltimore, the most dangerous city in US! This serial is rated 9.7/10 in imdb.com, I guess it`s the record!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306414/

I saw Twin Peaks serie once again, after 17 years. When I was young I watched it in TV, I liked it much, but now I found it just good, but not as awesome as I thought before. The script wasn`t bad, but I don`t like the acting!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098936/
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Post by Adamo »

Enemy at the gates:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215750/
A great movie. Although I don`t like that stupid love story they put inside the movie of the greatest and most violent massacre of WWII.
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Post by Trantor »

Hmm... no mention of The Dark Knight yet? I saw it for the third time last week, and though all the hype isn't quite justified in my eyes, it's still a fantastic movie. I loved Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight is probably even better, though Christian Bale isn't as impressive as in the first film. But since Heath Ledger steals the show in every scene he's in anyway, that doesn't seem that bad. Certainly fantastic, probably the best superhero-movie ever.
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Post by beowuuf »

I think this an iron man were just givens for the summer movies :D

What did people think of the hulk movie?
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Post by Gambit37 »

Dark Knight was simply awesome.

Didn't see Hulk. Thought it looked OK, but then read reviews about the second half and it looked shit. Same problem as Hancock.

Not seen Iron man either.
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Post by Des »

Just watched the new Futurama movie "Bender's Game" which is a Dungeons and Dragons spoof. I thought it was very funny but not everyone agrees, see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054486/
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Post by Broken_Paladin »

Might give it a try, I love Dungeons and Dragons :)
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Post by MasterWuuf »

Just found this thread. I'll add a some books for now that I've read a number of times.

Fred Saberhagen "The Book of Swords" and the following series of "The Lost Swords"
(A few of the stories in the following series are boring, but I liked most of them)

Stephen R. Donaldson " First, Second, and Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
(I've just read the first two volumes of the Last Chronicles. Not as storywise as the others, but I'm hungry for the final two volumes)

Louis La'Moir (sp?) The early Sackett series volumes.
(Starting in England and the early 'mountain men' volumes)

Hmmm. "The Chronicles of Amber" was a good set of books, as well. They had later volumes but the first two chronicles were the best.
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Post by Adamo »

"Cargo 200" (2007):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0847880/

I searched for Cargo200 and there isn`t UK/US release! So here`s what you have to do: download it with english subtitles from the net.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Des »

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910554/

Geektastic!
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Des »

This http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imagin ... _Parnassus looks great - a trip to the flicks is in order :-)
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by money »

Films (not mentioned)
A Clockwork Orange - MY favorite film
Beetlejuice - Could watch time and again
Yellow Submarine - Must have seen it 100 times
Jacobs Ladder - Very deep
Somewhere in time - Slow, but true love story (Christopher Reeves at his best)

Also love (but not in same category as above) The Fifth Element, Blade Runner, FBDO, Event Horizon

Seems odd that there is a Voilent Thriller, comedy, chick flick and cartoon in that list - must say something!

Book...
EON - Greg Bear
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by MasterWuuf »

money wrote:Films (not mentioned)
A Clockwork Orange - MY favorite film
Beetlejuice - Could watch time and again
Yellow Submarine - Must have seen it 100 times
Jacobs Ladder - Very deep
Somewhere in time - Slow, but true love story (Christopher Reeves at his best)

Also love (but not in same category as above) The Fifth Element, Blade Runner, FBDO, Event Horizon

Seems odd that there is a Voilent Thriller, comedy, chick flick and cartoon in that list - must say something!

Book...
EON - Greg Bear
I had the hardest time finding Yellow Submarine. The VHS I finally located has a few mess ups in it, but it suffices.

Fifth Element and Blade Runner? Two I've enjoyed time after time.

The original DUNE, with Sting, has always been one of my favorites.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by oh_brother »

Books not mentioned yet:

Magician by Raymond E. Feist. And actually all the Riftwar saga. Brilliant books. Up there with Dragonlance as the fantasy books I enjoyed most.

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. I am sure most people here have read it, the first few books were classics, unputdownable. But then he kept it going too long, the books covered less and less time. Also I began to forget what had happened in the earlier books, and got very bored. I even have one of the books (number 9 or so) at home that I got as a present but never bothered to read. So a qualified recommendation - superb beginning, but trails off into obscurity towards the end. If it had been a set of 6 books I think it would have been one of the best fantasy series I had ever read.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Gambit37 »

I've still not read the Riftwar books, have been meaning to for years! One day when I get some spare time...
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Trantor »

I once read the first Riftwar book and wasn't too impressed to be honest. It was ok, but I didn't feel like reading the next books. But I also never quite got into Dragonlance either. With Dragonlance, I thought the first two or three books were ok (if terribly cliched), but then they became weaker and weaker. And since I never was too keen on them in the first place, I eventually stopped reading.

Regarding the Wheel of Time, I feel exactly the same as you oh_brother. I absolutely loved the first ones, but they eventually became slow, tedious and boring. I remember reading a new book of the series in 2 or 3 days, and when the next one was finally published, I forgot at least half of the characters and the pointless political moves by the myriads of fractions.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Ameena »

I love DragonLance, although the later books that I've read of it (War of Souls, Dark Disciple trilogy) seem to mess around with timelines a bit - there's a few bits that seem to get retconned and stuff in order to make events of the new book fit in with those of a slightly earlier one.
But apart from that, they're still generally pretty good - and I love kender, they're just brilliant :D.
I've just recently started reading a set of books that a friend of mine lent me. It's called the Well World Saga, by some bloke called Jack L. Chalker, whom I've never heard of but the publication date in the front of the first book says it first came out in 1977 which might explain it ;). I'm about halfway through the first book atm and it's pretty good so far :).
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Duckman »

I say it directly: all books by Arto Paasilinna. Or Ilkka Remes if you want thrillers.

I agree with the starter, the hobbit by J.R.Tolkien is good. And it's worth reading Välskärin kertomuksia by Sakari Topelius and uncle Tom's cabin by Harriet Beecher-stove too.

I do not know about films as I do not have a television.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Des »

... and old radio shows you should listen to?

The Lord of the Rings spoof "Hordes of the Things" from 1980 (which as a spotty young geek I loved almost as much as Hitchhiker's Guide) is at last available on CD.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hordes-Things-B ... 1408426234

It seems the BBC eventually gave in to fans pestering them to release it :-)
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by ian_scho »

I read Bored of the Rings, once.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Gambit37 »

I still have an old copy of Bored of the Rings knocking around somewhere. Found it very funny as a lad, but somehow I don't think it would have the same effect if I read it again now...
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by beowuuf »

On the advice of Des, I have purchased said audiobook and will have it tomorrow. I've also gone and bought the start of a Doctor who audiobook/play series too. I just love listening to shows. Pity I have no good way of turnign the audio casettes, etc I have into mp3s right now.

Blackadder, Bilko, I'm sorry I'll read that again, Goon shows (though I have a few on mp3 too). Actually, I keep forgetting to download the mp3s of the current radio series from radio 2 and radio 4 :(

At least I secured most of yes, (prime) minister in mp3 form. That started me o nthe dark path of listening to long audio stuff while journeying and at work, and I've not looked back since!
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Jan »

beowuuf wrote:At least I secured most of yes, (prime) minister in mp3 form.
Ahhh... lucky you! :)

Talking about Bored of the Rings... my brother and his friends made a Hobbit parody once, an hour long movie, called "Rabit - or somewhere and back again". The trailer is here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX4m1HNtRdc - it's in Czech only and in very poor quality (low-res), I'm afraid. Full version is not available online. :(
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Trantor »

I'm currently reading The Swarm by German author Frank Schätzing. It is a very enjoyable thriller so far, but I have only read 350 of 1000 pages now. The book was a huge success here in Germany when it was released a few years ago. If it keeps up, definitely highly recommended.
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Des »

I did eventually go to see The Imagninarium of Doctor Parnassus at the cinema. The fantasy scenes inside the Imaginarium were superb on the big screen. I thorouhgly enjoyed the movie as did the friend I went with (who nearly talked me into watching "9" instead).

Not everyone in the auditorium liked the movie though - four people walked out. This is consistent with the "marmite" reviews it's been getting. A typical Gilliam film, it has a lot of detail (which rewards extra viewings) but the presentation is a bit rambly which can turn off those used to neatly choreographed drama.

On the casting side, Gilliam dealt with the death of Heath Ledger brilliantly by having him transformed into Johnny Depp / Jude Law / Colin Farrell in the fantasy scenes. Tom Waits is great as The Devil, who has come to claim Parnassus's daughter Valentino on her 16th birthday. The beautiful actress who plays her (Lily Cole) is 21 and doesn't pass for 15, but who cares :-)
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