Films you should watch, books you should read

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Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by zoom »

Maybe you can recommend movies or books, too?...
ok, here we go:
films:

A chinese ghost story
(You should really watch it, if not already done so.
martial arts film with magic; funny!)

THe last Unicorn
(animation, all right it´s been a while since I saw it, so
maybe you are already too old for it.)


A manga with someone called "Kato" inside
(don´t know the title, but was cool!If I find out, I will edit that post here..)
big trouble in little china
(because of the ghost-lich.. also old but maybe you haven´t seen it yet. good for evening tv..)

books:
the hobbit (in parts "better" than lotr),
neuromancer(haven´t read it, but I believe it is good science fiction)
the running man /menschenjagd by steven king (dunno, liked that one)
dune(a book loved by a friend of mine)
the moral animal, or why we are the way we are
by robert wright(family,love,humans,sex,theories,darwin, evolutionary psychology and stuff.. quite interesting)
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Post by PaulH »

Army of Darkness
(hilarious)
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Suule
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Post by Suule »

My recommendations:

MOVIES

Gods and Monsters
A movie about "Frankenstein" (the movie) creator and director... and more. Very deep.

Titus Androlicus
Bizzare and surrealistic adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Very bloody (bloodier than Makbet) but very intresting to watch.

Blade Runner
Classic. Ridley Scott used Philip K. Dick's world to ask more questions about time, feelings and life.

Apocalypse Now!
Deeper into the jungle - deeper into the insanity

The Wall
A tragic story with a happy end. Again - dark and surreal

Tank Girl
Okay... this shouldn't be here but... random violence is fun... right? RIGHT?!!

BOOKS

George Orwell - 1984, Animal Farm
A warning ignored by many generations to come.

Philip K. Dick - Blade Runner - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Classic.

Albert Camus - The Plague
Another intresting book about how strange the fate might be

Edgar Allan Poe - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
What I like in Allan Poe's writings is his fascination with dark aspects of human psyche.

Bible
You might find it funny that I've put it here, but there are really good lessons that can be learn from the bible... of course if you approach it as a poetic text, not as a history book
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Post by Trantor »

Agreed Paul. ;) I could recommend dozens... I'll try to restrain myself to my absolute favourites:

Movies:

-The Matrix (too bad the sequels were crap)
-Leon - The Professional
-Any anime by Hayao Miyazaki, especially Princess Mononoke
-Alien + Aliens
-Terminator 1+2
-Jaws
-Once upon a time in the West
-The good, the bad and the ugly
-My Name is Nobody
-Life of Brian
-The naked Gun
-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
-The Bride of Frankenstein (I love Boris Karloff and those horror movies from the 30s, and this one is the best)
-2001 - A Space Odyssey
-Conan the Barbarian
-Dead Poets Society (the only movie that ever made me cry)
-Das Boot (best WW2 movie ever)

Books:

-J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings (obviously)
-Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (obviously²)
-Joanne K. Rowling - Harry Potter series (yes, hate me for it!)
-Dan Brown - Angels & Demons + The Da Vinci Code (maybe a bit overhyped, but still very good)
-Lothar Günther Buchheim - Das Boot
-James Clavell - Shogun (I love feudal Japan)
-Terry Pratchett - Discworld series

I bet I could think of several more, but I'll end here - for now. ;)
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Post by Adamo »

my favourite film: "Roma-citta aperta" - you can get it by e-mule: 800 Mb (dont worry, it has english subtitels build up on the bottom of the screen).


*** oh, and "The Bottom" serie with Rick Mayall and Ed Edmondson, of course!***
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Post by Mindstone »

China Meiville's "Perdido Street Station" is a brilliant read, and is a great fantasy. Yes, a fantasy without a single Orc, Elf or Dwarf that has a scottish accent! A must read.
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Post by Gambit37 »

I'll think about a more comprehensive list another time, but just had to agree with you DMDM about Perdido Street Station: easily the most inventive, evocative and cleverly written fantasy I have read for years. A great collision of post-modern medieval nefariousness coupled with superb characterisations, fantastic beasts and a simply brilliant story- I couldn't put it down and am looking forward to reading more of his work.

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Post by Des »

The last movie I watched was "Sin City" - a comic book style film noir done in black and white with splashes of colour. The visuals are stunning and the 50s detective style commentaries are fun, but, and this is a big but, the villains *and* the heroes are all psychopathic killers and there are some extremely unpleasant violent scenes. Definitely not for kids...

... unlike the book I've just started reading - "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini. A "boy meets dragon" fantasy by a teenage author. It's had very mixed reviews.
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Post by PaulH »

Seems that we all have a slant towards fantasy and horror. I am a fan of gangster movies too, such as Lock Stock and Goodfellas. My favourite book is still the Hobbit - Zoooom makes a great point above.

Nefariousness?!!!
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Post by linflas »

here we go..
- some movies : Memento, Butterfly Effect, The Ring (original version), Battle Royale, Starship Troopers, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk till Dawn, ... and for recent stuff, Collision Crash.
- animations : all Ghibli productions, especially My Neighbors the Yamadas and i recommend one Disney : The Emperor's New Groove ;)
- authors : Isaac Asimov (especially Foundation 1 to 3), Jules Verne, Edogawa Rampo and for "very easy reading" on the beach : Bernard Werber (dunno if there's an english version of "Le père de nos pères").
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Post by beowuuf »

Books (yeah, ok, can't think of non-fantasy/sci-fi just now):

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (then the sequel Speaker For the Dead)
Stormbringer - Michael Moorcock (plus the earlier Elric novels and heck most of the Eternal Champion ones)


Films:
Shaun of the Dead
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
Garden State
Airplane!
Serenity

I'm sure there are many others, but my mind has gone blank as I rush around!

TV shows:
Spaced
Miracles
Firefly
Wonderfalls
Battlestar Galactica (new series)

I already go Duh, cause Memento should have been on the film list, ...I have no memory of truely good stuff when pressed!
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Sigi »

zoooom wrote:A chinese ghost story
Yeah, that one was really good.

Also recommended if you're into Asian stuff or generally wapanese:

Ghost in the Shell (confusing on first watch but great action and athmosphere esp. for Cyberpunk lovers)

Ghost Dog (by Jim Jarmusch) -- probably the best Samurai movie ever made ;-).

Takeshi Kitano's movies.

Actually my favourite movie (at least comedy) of all time is The Big Lebowsky by the Coen brothers -- a must see.

TV wise I really recommend The Office. UK folks will know this, but outside UK it's quite unknown and the various remakes don't compare. A true gem.
books:
neuromancer(haven´t read it, but I believe it is good science fiction)
LOL, you haven't read it but you still recommend it. Now I like that :-). It's a great book and very remarkable about it is that its author didn't have a clue about computing when he wrote it. In fact, his writing grew worse and worse when he started to learn about computer technology. Back then he interviewed hackers to get a feel about their way of thinking and then wrote that book -- I've read that in an interview with him.

But -- seriously -- two of the best SciFi novels I've ever read are

Schismatrix by Bruce Sterling and
Eclipse (a trilogy) by John Shirley.

Both are cyberpunk novels as well and I guarantee that they will knock you out of your socks. Neuromancer doesn't even compare to these...
the running man /menschenjagd by steven king (dunno, liked that one)
Come on, that's crap.
dune(a book loved by a friend of mine)
I like that when I first read it. Recently I gave it a second go but was really disappointed -- gave up after a few pages.

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Post by Adamo »

yeah, Dune was great (book, not film!)
though I dont like fantasy/sf (prefer so-called "fact literature"), I think it was brilliant.
Films: I just love films of Ken Loach - you won`t be disapointed watching them!
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by zoom »

Sigi wrote:[Running man]
Come on, that's crap.
dunno, liked that one

the first book i read! World is dark but well made..

well, I was younger back then.I don´t want to defend the book, but the corressponding film is definitely crappier!
---------------------------------------------------------
I think the far above mentioned Manga movie was titled
Fist of the NOrthstar..

So far very nice lists! :P have to check some of that out!!
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Re: Films you should watch, books you should read

Post by Sigi »

I admit that back then I was also partly fascinated by the book, but as you grow older you quickly realize that it's all basically gratuitous. Which applies to most books by Stephen King in my opinion...

The movie is definitely unbareably cheesy :).

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Post by Trantor »

I like the movie. It is cheesy in parts, very 80's-style and definitely could have used a higher budget. But it really isn't that bad.

Concerning Dune, I actually think this is one of the rare cases where I like the film (the David Lynch one) better than the book. I didn't dislike the book, but I definitely thought it was overrated. Lynch's movie definitely has its flaws, but I love the visual style and the soundtrack by Toto. For me, it is one of those movies you can watch over and over again, though you know it has flaws and could have been made better.
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Post by zoom »

Here we are : Books and Film are made for "special audiences", which you grow out of or , or..dunno grow in. Really fascinating , if you look at it. They aim at you! Or just write what they like.. or you aim at certain books(fantasy it seems to be here)
***************************************************
everyone that doesn´t care about running man, please skip here!
For the running man movie: Back then, i was a bit disappointed or startled, bcs the book is a totally different thing.
Haven´t seen the movie for ages, and will probably never do again! But I liked the Schwarzenegger movies back then(CONAN etc.)
just wanted to tell you that the book is different;
imo "therefore" better than the movie; you cannot really compare the two.
******************************************
maybe it depends what mood you are in and what you prefer;
a book takes time to get into, whereas a film just starts and runs; a book is more rewarding in a way though, you can sometimes skip the outer world and concentrate on reading.
Something you hardly achieve by watching TV.
I daresay it would not be so bad to read a book that you´re into than watching a film with someone eating nearby . You dont hear, and sound is probably important for a film!!
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Post by beowuuf »

Oh, I forgot to mention the 'little book' for writers ( The Elements of Style by William Strunk & EB White) that Tom Hatfield recommended ages ago is worthwhile getting to tighten up your writing style, grammar and just generally give you something to think about for how you write and use language
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Post by PaulH »

Ferris Buellers Day Off.

What more can I say?!
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Post by Gambit37 »

That's a fantastic film, and easily the best film Matthew broderick has ever starred in. I watch it on a regular basis.
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Post by PaulH »

Sorry to keep singularly posting (blame Beo, he taught me all I know), but I forgot to mention The Hustler, with Paul Newman.

And yes Gambit, Ferris visits my TV very often!
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Post by beowuuf »

That is a fun film, haven't seen it in a while. Bueller....bueller...bueller....

And why is ED-209 away to kill some poor sod in a dungeon? : )
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Post by Gambit37 »

Hmmm, I was just experimenting. It's too big anyway, I'll sort it out tonight.

I forgot how great that robot was in Robocop and a recent game of Captive made me think about it. Shame the rest of the film was utterly unpleasant.
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Post by Relig »

A really good book you ought to buy and read is Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.

Some info here: http://www.secretsofthemillionairemind. ... -full-life. It's an awful ad but gives you an idea of what the book is about.

Some more info here: http://www.peakpotentials.com/new/

The book came with two free tickets to the Millionaire Mind 3 day seminar
and my wife and I went to it last weeked in Vancouver.

The seminar changed the outlook for my life in such a way that I feel empowered
when before I was close to wanting death...

I've been on drugs to make me feel better and gone to doctors to talk to me to make me feel better,
none of them worked. This did.

If you have an open mind, at least read the book and then think about going to the seminar. I'm glad I did!
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Post by PaulH »

I found the book Prozac Nation quite a good read.
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Post by Mindstone »

Plan 9 from Outer space.

Its probably the funniest film ever made, definately funnier than blazing saddles. Ed Wood is a genius!

"For a while we contacted them by radio but no response. Then they attacked a town. A small town I'll admit but a town nonetheless. A town full of people, people who died"

"Inspector Clay's dead. Murdered. And somebodies responsible"

These are but two of many classic lines from this masterpiece. Check it out man!
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Post by Adamo »

Plan 8 from outer space??? My brother got it on the cd! It`s soooo crap movie that becomes good! I have to watch it !

I recommend: "In the name of father". That`s about IRA in early 70`s. One of the best films I`ve seen!
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Post by Mindstone »

Games you should play:

Planescape Torment. Has to be the greatest most involving storyline ever. If you see a copy of this game get it, it's so well made and all the characters are great. What else can I say, a 10/10 game.
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Post by PadTheMad »

My lecturer loves that game to pieces. Not played it myself but keep hearing it's good so I may have to try it. That and System Shock 2. Deus Ex is fantastic too - one of the most engaging storylines ever in a game...
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Post by Des »

My favourite games at the moment are:

Power Grid http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/2651

Caylus http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18602

Warning: You need a table and some humans.
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