The Cauldron

Since we did one about books, and I bought a whole load of new novels because of it, I thought why not start one about movies.  Especially because I've been on a DVD binge and found some really GREAT stuff!

So here is my list of some of my netflixed or otherwise rented movies that I enjoyed in 2006, again in no particular order.

Lady Vengeance (aka Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) - this is one of the best foreign films I've seen this year, trailer is at movies.com. 

Deadwood - season 1-2

Howl's Moving Castle- everyone knows what this is.

Samurai X, Trust and Betrayal- about a 15 yr old political assassin- really good!!

Parineeta - I fell in love with Indian movies after seeing this- I also liked Fanaa, Umrao Jaan, Dil Chahta Hai, and some other ones I can't remember the names of.

Saint Ives- about a French Prisoner in a Scottish Prison

Strictly Ballroom - Australian film about dancing.  I saw it again a couple of months ago

Persuasion - this one stars Ciaran Hinds- don't watch unless you love Jane Austen!

Firefly- I heard so much about this series- It was really the best sci-fi show I have ever seen.

the Jewel in the Crown- old British series about the British and Indians.  I cried so much in this!

Zelary- I think this was a Polish movie- it was about a city girl hiding from the Gestapo in a remote Mountain village- superfun!

The Duchess of Duke Street- another old British series set in Edwardian England. 

I have tons more, but I'd love to hear some of your recommendations!

 

---

Always remember that you are unique, just like everyone else.

In life, we are not made happy by what we acquire, but by what we appreciate.

National Treasure (American flick...but you learn a LOT about American history...both real stuff and myths)

The Horse Whisperer (Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Scarlett Johanssen)  If you like horses, be prepared for a HORRIBLE, scaring, traumatizing scene about 20 minutes into it.  It was the first movie that I ever cried SO hard, I couldn't breathe (and it was that type of deep sobbing that sounds like you're laughing, so other people think it's funny then feel guilty about laughing at you when you're miserable and sobbing).  I've seen it about five times, and I still begin that deep, deep sobbing at the opening credits, all the way up to the bad part half an hour later.  It's EXHAUSTING to cry for that long!  (also beware...it's 3 hours long)

I also love Reese Witherspoon, so I can also recommend:
Legally Blonde (the 2nd one isn't worth seeing)
Sweet Home Alabama
Just Like Heaven

Without a Trace-Seasons 1 to 4 on DVD  (Enrique Murciano and Eric Close are SO HOTT!)

It's always a bad idea to get me started on dvd recommendations.

I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan, and I'm delighted you found and enjoyed Firefly, which is, in my opinion, the best tv show ever created.

If you liked Howl's Moving Castle, you might try some other Miyazaki films. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Spirited Away are my personal favorites, besides Howl's. Princess Mononoke is also quite good.

The Ciaran Hinds version of Persuasion is excellent. A lovely adaptation of my favorite Austen novel.

Dogma is a classic, everyone with a sense of humor should see it.

Kingdom of Heaven is brilliant, and I hear the Director's Cut is better even than the theatrical.

If you'd like to see some true classics (in the sense of being old films) on dvd, I'd recommend To Have and Have Not (Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall) and Roman Holiday (Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn). Truly, if you've never seen either of those films, go immediately to a Blockbuster or another movie rental store and get them. Right now.

I could go all day, but I'll leave it at that.

---

avatar by Eaving, used with permission

Fantasy/Other:

1. Sleepy Hollow (For you Horror/Fantasy fans out there)
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. The Hobbit/The Return of the King animated movies.
   
4. Brothers Grimm
5. Braveheart
6. Phantom of the Opera
7. Gladiator

Horse DVDs:

1. Seabiscuit
   
2. Hidolgo
   
3. Dreamer
   
4. Horse Whisper'er
5. Phar-Lap (Any Seabiscuit fans? I loved this movie even more then the American Legend. A tale about the death of a the great Australian race horse).
6. 
   

That's all I can think of at the moment.

---

The instructor put's out a single chair in the middle of an empty room, and he says; "Explain to me how this chair is not here."
One student says: "Chair, what chair? I don't see a chair."

AVATAR BY ME

I'm not going to get into this hardcore, but Bruce Willis is my favorite actor and I love Billy Bob Thorton so I have to recommend Bandits.  It was a really cool movie.  There's a million othe rmovies I could get into, but then I might not stop.. so I'm restricting myself to one off of the top of my head.. c.c I hope I can keep myself from doing this a few hundred times more...

I like Bruce Willis most of the time, and Billy Bob Thorton sometimes, but the two of them togather in that movie were fantastic!! I really liked Bandits too, R417.

I have to say my top three movies I'd tell anyone about (and have many times) are I Am Sam, with Michelle Phifer(sp?) and Sean Penn; The Green Mile, with Tom Hanks and Micheal Duncan Clarke; and Ocean's Eleven, with Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

Must see's!

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Those were great movies too, Val ^^  You have good taste

And by the way, res or resi might be easier than R417... I've been using the same screen name for about 8 years now, and I'm used to being called res and resi more than anything else ^^() Of course mars and 417 also both work, and this is the first time I've been called R417 *nods*. 

And if anyone can guess what 417 is supposed to mean i'll give them a cookie ^.o  But if they don't stay on subject they lose two cookies.

 

Edit:  I've actually been using the sn for 6 years, but resi as a nickname for 8.  Sorry I got that confused ^.o

The original Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, black-and-white.

---

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

I have to be a geek and say any old 2D Disney movie (Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc)

Classic horse movies: National Velvet and International Velvet (about 3Day Eventing and with Anthony Hopkins as a young man!!!), Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, and Thrills and Spills (which really isn't a movie - more a compilation of awesome and horrifying horseback riding moments throughout history.)

I'm not going to list any of my obvious favorites because they're so...well...obvious! I mean, you can only list LotR and Chronicles of Narnia so many times. Anyway, here are a few that are more obscure but incredibley amazing:

Charlotte Grey - with Cate Blanchett and with such a beautiful picture my dad uses it in his media demos.

Much Ado About Nothing - with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh

Peter Pan - the live action one with Jeremy Sumpter and Jason Isaacs

Green Street Hooligans - independent English football movie with Elijah Wood

Prince of Egypt - beautifully animated and with gorgeous music

Arsenic and Old Lace - with Cary Grant, absolutely hysterical and off-the-wall

And I'll stop there before I get too carried away :)

---

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." ~ C.S. Lewis

*Avatar by me (formerly adain_hwyfar)*

Have you seen Yimou Zhang's movies: Hero, House of Flying Daggers and new one, Curse of the Golden Flower? I haven't seen the Curse yet but it is supposed to be equally as screen-licking delicious as the others.
Also, Miyazaki's Spirited Away is magnificent.

---

Maireann croí éadrom i bhfad - a light heart lives longest

Oh Gosh! I completely forgot about Much Ado About Nothing! Thanks Eaving! That is probably one of my all time favorite movies, and I have never met anyone else who enjoyed it as much as I do (if they enjoyed it all). I second Arsenic and Old Lace, and The Prince of Egypt as well.

Another of my all-time-favorites that is an old one: All About Eve. Bette Davis at her best!

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Oh wow.  I have a whole bunch of DVD movies (over 60 at last count) but the ones I tend to watch the most are (in no specific order):
Krull
Red Sonja
Conan: The Barbarian
Shanghai Noon
Rush Hour 2
Young Frankenstein
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Total Recall
The Princess Bride
Oh yeah and Van Helsing

I've seen Hero, Spirited Away (though I very much dislike the way they always make the children scream and cry; it sounds so fake and annoying), and Princess Mononoke.  All were good. The trailer for the Curse of the Golden Flower looked cool. 2 other classic Japanese films are Ran and The Seven Samurai

---

Yay! WoW Gal is back!! We missed you!

Sorry, back to your regularly scheduled topic!

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

This is a warning to all.  I recently saw Curse of the Golden Flower at Leammle's and it was really really pukerific (the story).  But I did not mind paying the money to go see it because if you love period costume and beautiful sets- this is a must.  It was one of the most visually stunning films I've seen in my life!  The costumes, the people, the sets, were all blindingly gorgeous.  I'm just disappointed that the director actually decided to use the script- he is supposed to be one of the best.  The story was sooo~ cheesy and operatic.  They really should have made this straight into a Phantom of the Opera sort of thing.  I won't say anything else about Phantom lest I offend any Phantom lovers...it's so hard...Wow, I must be maturing.

---

Always remember that you are unique, just like everyone else.

In life, we are not made happy by what we acquire, but by what we appreciate.

Ok first let me apologize to those of you who like the remake but here goes:

Oceans Eleven -  the original with the rat pack.  I don't believe that you can do a remake of a movie and change the ending.  So needless to say I can't stand the new version.

Tammy and the Bachelor - It has that addictive song that is always in my head, "Tammy in Love"

Grease - need I say more

Ben Hur - Back when movies were truly epics.  I swear I saw this movie every Easter.

The Ten Commandments - Same thing as said for Ben Hur.  Another movie I saw every Easter.

But I do enjoy current movies also.  Loved National Treasure.  Enjoyed Hidalgo and Sahara.  Love any and all Disney movies, animated and just plain old corny (i.e. Princess Diaries).  I also enjoy chic flicks.  Oh and how can I forget an awesome movie that spawned a brilliant television show, Stargate.

---

I second Arsenic and the Old Lace as well.
Blade Runner!  The original version, not the director's cut.  When I first saw this movie, I saw the director's cut, and I was so confused about what was going on, because Ridley Scott had cut the narration done by Harrison Ford, and I didn't truly appreciate the movie until I saw the original theatrical version.  Great movie...but weird.

---

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.

Just like to compliment you in your choice of movies - you obviously have great taste!
I just adore Krull, Conan and The Princess Movies!!!

And don't forget about the Clash of the Titans everyone - classic.
Another good Japanese anime is My Neighbour Totoro - it's so cute.

Big fan of Ben Hur also, I love the chariot scene towards the end. One of the extras actually died during the filming of that scene - he got run over by those gorgeous horses

---

Maireann croí éadrom i bhfad - a light heart lives longest

 I recommend Braveheart, Gladiator, Troy, Helen of Troy (USA network mini series), Dune (SciFi network mini series), Legend of Earth Sea (SciFi network mini series), Mists of Avalon (TNT network mini series), Caesar (TNT network mini series), Attila The Hun (USA network mini series),  Legend (yes, I’m talking about that Tom Cruise movie), The Neverending Story (1st one only---I've actually seen all 4) and especially Kingdom of Heaven!!!  I even liked Oliver Stone's Alexander, but I doubt anyone else will.

Oh, and next month a Japanese movie (which is one of my fav movies ever) called Shinobi: Heart Under Blade is getting  it’s American release.  It stars Yukie Nakama & Joe Odagiri (so don't confuse it with a 4 part mini series that you can find at Best Buy right now that is just called Shinobi which is really just horrible).  Anyway, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade is a high-budget, high quality special effects laced epic love story between the leaders of warring ninja clans.

If you want to check out Shinobi: Heart Under Blade then visit the DVD’s official website: http://www.shinobithemovie.com/

Personally, I don't LOVE this movie, but it is a classic.  The Princess Bride.  EH used Wesley's famous line a few times throughout SoA..."As you wish"  I think both Achmed and Ashe have said this to Rhapsody before, which is amusing after you've seen TPB.

(If this movie has already been mentioned, I apologize)

Inconceivable!!  --You keep on using that word.  I don't think it means what you think it means.
--Who are you?   --No one of consequence.  --I must know.  --Get used to disappointment.
--You mean you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword and we'll try to kill each other like civilized people?

Classic.    I digress.

---

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
~Edgar Allan Poe
"Darest thou now O Soul, Walk out with me toward the unknown region, Where neither ground is for feet Nor any path to follow."
~Walt Whitman
~Avatar made by Me, madhatter.