The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) dir. David Fincher
Typically I donגt usually see American remakes if Iגve seen the original foreign language film. I made an exception for this because of David Fincher being attached to it. I thought this was a very good adaption, even though it was almost scene for scene identical to the original, though the ending is different and completely threw me since I wasnגt expecting it.
Product Description: Hoping to distance himself from the fallout of a libel conviction, journalist Mikael Blomkvist retreats to a remote island in Sweden's far north where the unsolved murder of a young girl haunts her industrialist uncle forty years later. Ensconced in a cottage on the island where the killer may still roam, Blomkvist's investigation drawn him into the secrets and lies of the rich and powerful. And throws him together with one unlikely ally - tattooed, punk hacker, Lisbeth Salander.
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) dir. Tomas Alfedson
I saw this in the theater, thought it was great, even though it left me really confused. This is one of those films that would take at least 2 viewings to fully grasp. I look forward to it.
Product Description: Gary Oldman leads a stunning all-star cast in this masterful adaptation of John le Carre's bestselling novel that redefined the spy thriller. At the height of the Cold War, a precarious operation goes deadly wrong, and the head of British Intelligence wonders if a double agent is leaking vital secrets. Brought out of retirement to expose the potential mole, master spy George Smiley (Oldman) is the only one who can be trusted to expose one of their own. Or can he? As the emotional and physical tolls mount on the high-ranking suspects, Smiley will be forced into the ultimate international spy game where everyone's motives are in question. Filled with stunning performances by Academy Award(R) winner Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ciaran Hinds, it's the powerful and deeply resonant spy tale that Ebert Presents at the Movies hails as "hands down the best new thriller this year".
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Carnage (2011) dir. Roman Polanski
Product Description: "Carnage" is a razor sharp, biting comedy centered on parental differences. After two boys duke it out on a playground, the parents of the "victim" invite the parents of the "bully" over to work out their issues. A polite discussion of childrearing soon escalates into verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their true colors. None of them will escape the carnage. Directed by Roman Polanski ("The Pianist"), "Carnage" stars Academy Award(R)-winner Kate Winslet (Best Actress, "The Reader", 2008) and Academy Award(R)-winner Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor, "Inglourious Basterds", 2009) as husband and wife Nancy and Alan Cowan, opposite Academy Award(R)-winner Jodie Foster (Best Actress, "The Silence of the Lambs", 1991; Best Actress, "The Accused", 1988) and Academy Award(R)-nominee John C. Reilly (Best Supporting Actor, "Chicago", 2002) as Penelope and Michael Longstreet.
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The Sitter (2011) dir. David Gordon Green
Product Description: Jonah Hill rides out one outrageously wild night in this hilarious comedy from the director of "Pineapple Express". Suburban slacker Noah (Hill) is watching a neighbor's kids when he gets a booty call from his horny girlfriend in the city. To hook up with her, Noah takes to the streets, but his urban adventure spins out of control as he finds himself on the run from a maniacal druglord. Raunchy laughs and insane action - it's all in a night's work for "The Sitter".
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The Muppets (2011) dir. James Bobin
Product Description: On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary's girldfriend Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and frill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the 10 million dollars needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.
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Hop (2011) dir. Tim Hill
Product Description: From the makers of Despicable Me comes an all-new comedy about candy, chicks and rock n roll! He was destined to be the Easter Bunny, but all he wanted to do was rock! When teenage E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand) leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream to become a rockstar drummer, he meets Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals. Together the two encounter a series of hilarious mishaps and misadventures and in the end help each other recognize the importance of family.
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Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (2000) dir. Kinji Fukasaku
Never saw this, but have always wanted to. A single disc version is also available this week.
Product Description: One Of The Most Controversial Film Series Of All Time.
Now Available For The First Time In America.
In 2000, director Kinji Fukasaku unleashed BATTLE ROYALE, his violently poetic epic about an innocent group of Junior High students forced by the government to hunt and kill their classmates for sport. It was nominated for 10 Japanese Academy Awards, launched a global phenomenon, and banned from screens by frightened civic groups and distributors across America. Three years later, the equally disturbing sequel -- featuring a new class, new rules, and a brutal terrorist plot by the first film's young survivors -- triggered its own tragic firestorm around the world. Now for the first time ever, you can see it all: Experience the entire BATTLE ROYALE saga on 4 discs -- including more than 3 hours of definitive Special Features -- that forever blasts open one of the most potent, shocking and savagely influential sagas in motion picture history.
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Letter Never Sent (The Criterion Collection) (1959) dir. Mikhail Kalatozov
Product Description: The great Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov ("The Cranes Are Flying"), known for his virtuosic, emotionally gripping films, perhaps never directed one more visually astonishing than "Letter Never Sent". This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns four members of a geological expedition who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. Luxuriating in wide-angle beauty and featuring one daring shot after another (the brilliant cinematography is by Kalatozov's frequent collaborator Sergei Urusevsky), "Letter Never Sent" is a fascinating piece of cinematic history and a universal adventure of the highest order.
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The War Room (The Criterion Collection) (1993) dirs. D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus
Product Description: The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verit
Last edited by Dan on Mon Mar 19, 2012 1:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Watched puppet on a chain a few days ago, it's tons of fun in the post-Bond euro spyaction kind of way, with an ill speedboat race to top it off that wouldn't look out of place in a modern movie. but it is mildly undermined by lack of a strong villain and pedestrian direction (most of it is shot like a 2 camera sitcom). Very worth a rent of dl if you're a fan of old school actioners, but only really worth a purchase if you actively collect these kinds of things
I have the first two here and will watch soon. I saw the Sitter. It's not very good. It's like really dirty for 15 minutes and you think it will be good and then it's like they totally change their minds and make it family friendly. It really didn't know what it should be. It has content that makes it so no kids will ever see it and it has content that no adult would ever want in the movie either.
Pretty mad at myself I didn't jump at the Battle Royale collection pre-order when it was like $18.
Had no idea Roadracers was getting a release.
Pretty excited to check out Letter Never Sent as well.
watched battle royale for the first time last week
pretty big letdown
read the wiki afterwards and i guess most of the dumb basketball shit was added into the version i watched (?). that was probably my biggest beef with the movie, so a version without that could/should be much better
wtf, i just read the wiki, there's no basketball framing in the og version at all. that's retarded, probably done by the people who made the horrid sequel
Well that's gay.
I can't tell if that's the basketball scenes are included in the director's cut from this set or not. It does have a special feature about the filming of those scenes though.
I always forget that Fukusaku was like 80 when he made this and was the same guy who did Shogun's Samurai and Tora Tora Tora.
I cannot possibly recommend the Dragon Lives Again highly enough. Definitely one of the most entertaining 'what the fuck am I seeing/hearing' bad movies I've seen and I've seen hundreds and hundreds
StormShadow wrote:I cannot possibly recommend the Dragon Lives Again highly enough. Definitely one of the most entertaining 'what the fuck am I seeing/hearing' bad movies I've seen and I've seen hundreds and hundreds
I agree 10000% about the movie but not this version unfortunately. I copped it on a prayer 'cause it was cheap as hell, turns out it's maybe the worst and graniest pan and scan cut of the thing yet. pretty sure there's a version on youtube that actually looks better, and if not at least you're not paying for it.
As someone who has never seen Battle Royal, which is the version I should be looking out for?
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it looks as if the dvd dan has listed above contains both versions of the movie. but the single disc version is the 'special edition' which includes ten minutes of basketbol
i've kinda lost track of the permutations of this movie on dvd, i didn't even know there was an expanded one until this thread.
the original 2000 cut is the one everyone rightfully praised, that's the version i'd recommend. not 100% which dvd has the best print of it in terms of pic/sound/oar though
just watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's kind of not the great. Maybe I was expecting to much. The first hour was kind of boring. The second hour is where it's pretty good. The mystery gets going. Then the last half hour is just added on to set up the next movie. The story is pretty generic. The movie is made well and looks nice but it's a bit of a dud.
I will say I've never read the books and didn't know this movie had some of the raw scenes that it did. I didn't know it was that heavy.
I did learn goth looking emo girls get my blood flowing. :)
