Netflix: instaView rec's

[MontuckyFried]

FINALLY got around to watching Lucy from 2014. I remember it getting panned pretty hard when it came out, and while many of criticisms were absolutely justified, I still enjoyed it nevertheless. It definitely goes off the rails in the 3rd act. Perhaps inspired by Neo in the Matrix, but more silly. Even with all of its shortcomings, the movie is undeniably visually stunning. The effects are great and much of the cinematography is gorgeous. Of course when the credits rolled and it said it was directed by Luc Besson, the entire film's style (and even plot) made sssoooooooo much more sense. Haha. Watch it through the lens of Besson films (think Nikita, Leon: The Professional, the Fifth Element, etc) and you might actually have a great time with it. Catch it before it leaves Netflix at the end of the month if you've never seen it before.

[dookeyXXX]

FINALLY got around to watching Lucy from 2014. I remember it getting panned pretty hard when it came out, and while many of criticisms were absolutely justified, I still enjoyed it nevertheless. It definitely goes off the rails in the 3rd act. Perhaps inspired by Neo in the Matrix, but more silly. Even with all of its shortcomings, the movie is undeniably visually stunning. The effects are great and much of the cinematography is gorgeous. Of course when the credits rolled and it said it was directed by Luc Besson, the entire film's style (and even plot) made sssoooooooo much more sense. Haha. Watch it through the lens of Besson films (think Nikita, Leon: The Professional, the Fifth Element, etc) and you might actually have a great time with it. Catch it before it leaves Netflix at the end of the month if you've never seen it before.

Thinking you might dig ANNA, Besson’s 2019 flick (on Prime, though).

Also, if you have never seen it, SUBWAY is worth a viewing (on Tubi).

[MontuckyFried]

Thinking you might dig ANNA, Besson’s 2019 flick (on Prime, though).

Also, if you have never seen it, SUBWAY is worth a viewing (on Tubi).

Ooh! Somehow I missed both of those! Will add them to my required viewing. Speaking of Besson films, do you remember "The Big Blue" (Le grand bleu) from 1988? I remember really liking that one, but it's been about 2.5 decades since I've seen it. On Kanopy so will revisit that one too.

[mcski]

Subway was phenomenal. Never see it get mentioned but it got huge word of mouth when it came out and is well worth a watch.

Diva was another great 80s French flic crimínale that has seemingly fallen off the radar

[pfluffenmeister]

Thinking you might dig ANNA, Besson’s 2019 flick (on Prime, though).

Also, if you have never seen it, SUBWAY is worth a viewing (on Tubi).

I thought the series (ANNA) was much more compelling than the movie.

[dookeyXXX]

Speaking of Besson films, do you remember "The Big Blue" (Le grand bleu) from 1988? I remember really liking that one, but it's been about 2.5 decades since I've seen it. On Kanopy so will revisit that one too.

Same here. Saw The Big Blue in the local arthouse cinema in college when it was first released. Loved it (I was a Luc Besson fanboy at the time). I have not seen it since.
I have no idea which version I saw either as it was tweaked for the States.

Read the Wiki section about the production as it talks about the different versions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Blue

If you dig early Besson, also check out the works of Leos Carax and Jean Jacques Benoit.
This trio is often referred to as progenitors of the “Cinema du look,” which I like to call “the post New Wave New Wave” or “postmodern New Wave” of French cinema.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cin%C3%A9ma_du_look

[dookeyXXX]

Diva was another great 80s French flic crimínale that has seemingly fallen off the radar

Rewatched Diva over the summer and it still holds up.
I highly recommend the director’s other films, especially Roselyne et les lions and Betty Blue.

[dookeyXXX]

HOUSE OF NINJAS
Ninjas—my bad, shinobi—are f$&kin’ cool.
‘Nuff said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaDl_i80PYU

[toast2266]

Next watch “Pearl”. The prequel to “X”

It’s very good.

https://youtu.be/L5PW5r3pEOg?si=TxaOrkzZIM0ruTri

Got around to watching Pearl last night (on paramount - I got duped into paying for that for the superbowl). Liked X a bit better, but Pearl was still great. Looking forward to seeing the 3rd one whenever it comes out.

[dookeyXXX]

THE END OF THE F***ING WORLD - Season 1

Did a search and nothing turned up in regards to this 2019 2-season series based on Charles Forsman’s comic strip-turned-graphic novel.

I only watched the first season as its storyline is based on the source material and the ending was great with absolutely no need to “continue” the story for a second season imho.

Very obviously influenced by Terrence Malick’s 1973 classic Badlands, but instilled with a lot of wicked snarky British humor.

Definitely gonna get my hands on the comic…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mhWzjgbLO0

[mcski]

Had no idea they even did a second season. Why? The 1st season was perfect and closed out the story imo

[dookeyXXX]

Had no idea they even did a second season. Why? The 1st season was perfect and closed out the story imo

:

Yeah, from what I was able to gather, S2 doesn’t really have much to do with the source material and seems like it was more the showrumners wanting to put their own spin on the story.

I loved the ending of S1, just that great, timeless fade-to-black and leaving any interpretation up to the viewer.
Sadly, knowing there was a S2 kinda ruined that for me.

[dookeyXXX]

KLEO
I just whizzed through the 8-episode first season of this charmingly intense German series.
Nods to Tarantino and Repo Man, by way of Hitchcock.
Fantastic cast and some solid cinematography, not to mention great costumes and production design. I particularly dug the richly muted, yet saturated color palette. Nice balance of humor, action, and intrigue, too.

RIYL
Repo Man, Atomic Blonde, season 1 of Hunters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd3k7BOlJpE

[mcski]

Tarantino, Repo man, + Hitch sound compelling.

Can’t recall if it’s been mentioned but I saw some talk of a repo man reboot. Not sure how I feel about that. Seems impossible to capture the setting and vibe of the original

[dookeyXXX]

Tarantino, Repo man, + Hitch sound compelling.

Can’t recall if it’s been mentioned but I saw some talk of a repo man reboot. Not sure how I feel about that. Seems impossible to capture the setting and vibe of the original

Yep, there are rumblings of Repo Man 2 (apparently there was a quasi sequel called Repo Girl in 2009 as well as a 2008 graphic novel based on an initial, unfinished script for a proper sequel).

https://ew.com/repo-man-sequel-with-...z-role-8582052

[PB]

KLEO
I just whizzed through the 8-episode first season of this charmingly intense German series.
Nods to Tarantino and Repo Man, by way of Hitchcock.
Fantastic cast and some solid cinematography, not to mention great costumes and production design. I particularly dug the richly muted, yet saturated color palette. Nice balance of humor, action, and intrigue, too.

RIYL
Repo Man, Atomic Blonde, season 1 of Hunters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd3k7BOlJpE

Loved Kleo!!!! Agree with all your observations.

[dookeyXXX]

THE TOURIST
I really dug Season 1 and loved the ambiguous ending as that is the type of thought provoking and discussion evoking conclusion I think is all too often missing from many series and films these days.
I turned off S2 after less than 5 minutes because it just seemed pointless. The ending to S1 was just so fantastic (the callbacks through the first 6 episodes were amazingly well done: BURRITO!!!).
Pity they felt compelled to do a second season, which I have decided not to watch (I had similar reactions to both The End Of The F***ing World and Happy!, two other recent series that had solid first seasons, both with great endings and no real reason to stretch their stories further).

So, yeah, S1 is pretty damn bueno and highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIjbxpFvAzs

[AK47bp]

Spaceman was unique and enjoyable.

Adam Sandler has become a really good actor.

[dookeyXXX]

THE GENTLEMEN
Gotta admit that I’m a bit of a Guy Ritchie fanboy, so I loved this 8-episode series loosely based on his 2019 film of the same name (which I also loved).
The series is teeming with luscious dialogue, a tightly woven plot, and a fantastic cast.
Ritchie is at his best and deep in his element when mining the shady depths of the British underworld, deftly injecting the right amount of snarky humor to counter balance the ultra-violence.
If you dig his other endeavors, specifically his numerous crime films, then this should be right in your wheelhouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnpfKsqeMrM

[Flyoverland Captive]

THE TOURIST
I really dug Season 1 and loved the ambiguous ending as that is the type of thought provoking and discussion evoking conclusion I think is all too often missing from many series and films these days.
I turned off S2 after less than 5 minutes because it just seemed pointless. The ending to S1 was just so fantastic (the callbacks through the first 6 episodes were amazingly well done: BURRITO!!!).
Pity they felt compelled to do a second season, which I have decided not to watch (I had similar reactions to both The End Of The F***ing World and Happy!, two other recent series that had solid first seasons, both with great endings and no real reason to stretch their stories further).

So, yeah, S1 is pretty damn bueno and highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIjbxpFvAzs

S2 is a different beast. Kinda random, at first, but by the end it seems like S1 was setting it up all along.

S1 is excellent on its own. But S2 takes the characters deeper into their (his) past. Kinda back-story-esque, but in the future. Also a bit more campy.

Worth a watch, imo. I should point out that some major plot points are completely abandoned and/or unexplained. But then I like ambiguity.

[PB]

THE GENTLEMEN
Gotta admit that I’m a bit of a Guy Ritchie fanboy, so I loved this 8-episode series loosely based on his 2019 film of the same name (which I also loved).
The series is teeming with luscious dialogue, a tightly woven plot, and a fantastic cast.
Ritchie is at his best and deep in his element when mining the shady depths of the British underworld, deftly injecting the right amount of snarky humor to counter balance the ultra-violence.
If you dig his other endeavors, specifically his numerous crime films, then this should be right in your wheelhouse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnpfKsqeMrM

This is settling in nicely; I'm appreciating Ritchie's entering the expanded series format. It allows him to stretch and explore things that tended to fly by too fast in the movies.

[XXX-er]

This is settling in nicely; I'm appreciating Ritchie's entering the expanded series format. It allows him to stretch and explore things that tended to fly by too fast in the movies.

started a couple of episodes last night and IMO its really good

[Caucasian Asian]

Wife and I finished watching Forst last week.
We watched the whole thing, bu I can't say if we enjoyed it or not. It felt like a little bit Se7en and a little bit Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, but I'm sure something got lost in translation from Polish to English.

[The Reverend Floater]

Thirded on The Gentlemen...and I was skeptical.

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[TurxSki]

...But then I like ambiguity.

Or do you?