Amazon Prime Instant Video Rec

[BC.]

Finishing up Season 1 right now. Agree. Like it so far.

[iggyskier]

Oh yeah, it has a crazy-ass skiing sequence that was performed by Cody Townsend, LJ Strenio, Sandy Boville, Karl Fostvedt, and Thayne Rich.

And some really, really, really...special...custom topsheet ON3Ps.

f@#king ridiculous, but in a great way,

Also this.

[Game Over]

^ hell yea!

[dookeyXXX]

DJANGO



The original, starring Franco Nero, is one of the seminal post-Dollars Trilogy spaghetti westerns.
The film was so popular that in its wake producers and studios began putting "Django" in the titles of their films to trick moviegoers and boost ticket sales of quickie, unrelated films.. To date the film has had only 1 official sequel!
This is one of the key films that inspired Tarantino's Django Unchained (QT even had Franco Nero make a cameo in his film).
Hyper-violent and containing some great imagery and creative flourishes.

[Game Over]

^good shit!

[dookeyXXX]

SHAW BROTHERS CLASSICS
Prime is loaded with Kung fu films, particularly those from the Golden Age.

Here are 3 must-sees:

THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN
This film was a huge influence on The Wu-Tang Clan and their music. Features the legendary Gordon Liu, who was further paid homage to by Tarantino in Kill Bill 1 and 2.





FIVE VENOMS
What really needs to be said about this joint? Five deadly styles coming together to kick ass. Boo. Yaa.





FIVE ELEMENTS NINJAS
Probably a little lesser known, but no less seminal. The sets are surreal in that they are fully staged and look fake, but that is part of the charm. The colors and costumes are insane. And, NINJAS!!!!

[Game Over]

Thanks Dookey. I’ve been impatiently waiting for a update!

[mcski]

Good stuff. Reminds me of Saturday afternoons watching the Shaolin King Fu Mystagogue

[dookeyXXX]

Keeping up with the kung-fu cinematic recommendations, here's something amazing from the New New School...


TAI CHI ZERO
This joyously over-the-top film is teeming with kung fu mayhem that owes a small visual debt to the likes of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the classic '90s fare of Tsui Hark and Jet Li (the Once Upon A Time In China series, for example), and steam punk aesthetics. It is also somewhat in the vein of Kung Fu Hustle and The Good, The Bad, and The Weird (amongst others) in regards to its off-kilter vibe and nerd humor slant.
This is one of the funnest and most creative kung fu films in years, imho.
If you dig your martial arts films to be filled with well-choreographed fight sequences, goofy humor, and whiplash fast pacing, then this one is gonna be right up your proverbial alley.

FWIW:
This film is directed by Stephen Fung, who is one of the directors/producters/action directors on Into The Badlands...

[billyk]

The new Jack Ryan series was pretty good.

[PNWbrit]

The new Jack Ryan series was pretty good.

Yep. Not too bad.

Apart from casting Jim Halpert.

[billyk]

Yep. Not too bad.

Apart from casting Jim Halpert.

Oh, that’s where I saw him before. I don’t watch The Office much.

[PNWbrit]

Oh, that’s where I saw him before. I don’t watch The Office much.

Gave me the feeling they wheeled him in when they could no longer give role to the #himtoo Affleck brother.

[SKIP IN7RO]

Here's a summary of both in 2 minutes.

[PNWbrit]

^ awesome.

[dookeyXXX]

If the thought of Jim from the Office as action hero leaves you cold, may I humbly suggest:

THE MECHANIC
Vintage badass Charles Bronson.
Now streaming.

[capulin overdrive]

Here's a summary of both in 2 minutes.

That looks better than series!


Tried, but just couldn't get into the series. Partly just flat out sick of the whole middle east terrorist shtick.

[Mike Pow]

Just finished it.

Enjoyed it.

[smartyiak]

And some really, really, really...special...custom topsheet ON3Ps.

To celebrate the return of Big Trouble in Little China???

http://collider.com/dwayne-johnson-b...sequel/#images

PS: That's a sweet topsheet!

[Supermoon]

Here's a summary of both in 2 minutes.

Any spoilers in this? I watched the first six episodes so far.

I think it’s ok. Entertaining as long as I don’t think too hard about the casual racism or torture they are encouraging.

[dookeyXXX]

RYHMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS
4/5

I stumbled upon this film back in December of 2014 when it popped up on NF. I was intrigued not only by the title, but the ghostly movie poster.
I was not disappointed.

It is a very powerful and violent and very twisted coming of age drama that takes place on a Canadian Indian reservation in the early '70s.
Visually arresting, well acted, and intense as all get-out.

It comes out of the gate with a serious WTF sense of resolve (and good old ultra-violence) and never lets up after the opening scenes.

This is a starkly inventive and scathing film draped in a warped fairy tale ambiance that unleashes serious criticism of the Canadian government's treatment of indigenous peoples.

Highly recommended.

[dookeyXXX]

2 TO CELEBRATE BURT REYNOLDS

[SKIP IN7RO]

This was recently added. BUT IT HAS BEEN FUCKING CENSORED!!!!

[dookeyXXX]

Okay, so this one is gonna set you back $1.99
But it's totally worth the price of admission if you're a genre junkie and dig slick and ultra-violent French films (think Haute Tension, Irreversible, Martyrs).

REVENGE
3.5/5

A typically cliched rape-and-revenge film is taken to over-the-top “high brow” heights culminating in what could be the most gonzo artsploitation flick of the year.
Glossy, chromatically-enhanced neon cinematography, religious visual motifs (a rotting apple, burning bushes, and more), and a wickedly subdued sense of humor help elevate this from your typical “I’ve seen this before” fare.
The fact that about 70% of the film is in French (with English subtitles) further lends the affair an “exotic” feel, but the addition of solid acting is what really helps it rise above the standard exploitation parameters.
The pulsing electro score adds immensely in terms of creating tension and, often, an unnerving sense of anticipation; the slick pacing, which often emmulates the kinetic music, doesn’t hurt either.
But ultimately it’s the little things that resonate: there’s a wonderful scene where one of the antagonists is stuffing his mouth with chewy, gooey Euro candy; it’s pure gluttony. There’s a peyote-infused cauterizing beercan segment that culminates with some incredibly wry visual satire. There’s a super-cheesy motorcycle action sequence that brings low-budget to artistic levels. And, finally, there’s the cat & mouse ending that is as brilliant and claustrophobically intense as it is absurd.
So, yeah, if you are a genre junkie or an exploitation voyuer, then you probably have seen the skeletal remains of this story numerous times before in films like I Spit On Your Grave or Last House on the Left (and countless other exploitive nasties), but if you push those remembrances aside and embrace Revenge’s sly humor (I mean, c’mon, the title of the film alone says it all) and mesmerizing visual slickness and, most importantly of all, wink along with writer/director Coralie Fargea as she lovingly blurs the lines between art and exploitation, then this is a wickedly fun romp with resonating philosophical and sociologial undertones.

RIYL
Haute Tension; Upgrade; Martyrs; Neon Demon; Drive; Only God Forgives...)

[dookeyXXX]

THREE THAT WILL TWEAK YOUR MELON...

1. KILLING OF A SACRED DEER
3/5

The first thing that jumped out at me was the stiff delivery of lines by all the actors. I don’t recall this tactic being used in The Lobster (the director's previous film), but then again that film was set in a fictional future and came off like a fantastical fable, whereas this film feels really grounded in modern day Cincinnati. That said, the detached, awkward line readings makes for a strange, severely detached film, that’s for sure.
One positive note is that the film ends up being nothing like the trailers led me to believe. The film itself unveils a nice twist that I didn’t see coming.
In terms of acting, Barry Keoghan is mesmerizing and just plain weird and ultimately menacing beyond compare.
The ending of the film is strange, just leaving you wondering what in the fuck happened.
The tension throughout is palpable, too.
Much like Mother!, there's a lot of what I felt was hidden subtext, but quite a number of folks have posited as being rather blatant (in Mother! it's the Christian elements, here it's Greeky mythology). I must have been too wrapped up in the weirdness of the story to have gotten those allusions, but regardless of that the film is still an intriguing and intensely off-kilter exercise in human relationships.




2. MOTHER!
4.5/5

This movie is disconcerting, disquieting, intense, and teeming with what-the-f^&kery. I think it's a movie about birth/life/death or it may be a movie about ego or it may be a movie about love (giving too much or taking too much and still needing more). It may be a movie about gods and/or demons. It may be a movie about The 7 Deadly Sins (they are all pretty much touched upon in the course of the 2 hours running time). Whatever it is, it ain't boring. Excellent sound design (or lack thereof, since quite a bit of the movie is sans score, relying more on eerie ambient noise than anything else). A challenging and mesmerizing film that would best be enjoyed with your posse of quasi-intellectuals so that y'all can discuss it to no end over apres cocktails.




3. UNSANE
3.5/5

Crazy film, literally. From a technical standpoint, the entire thing was shot on iPhones and it has a distinctly claustrophobic feel throughout the three acts. Yet it doesn’t look like some amatuerish Vine post, but rather a clean, well framed, and often visually arresting professional film (then again it was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who has a nack for crafting visually arresting, professional looking films).
In terms of the story? It is equally crazy, albeit a bit simplistic on the surface. In the basest of terms it’s a glimpse into the mind of a woman who has been sexually harrassed and assaulted...or has she? The film actually poses more questions than it answers and never fails to keep us, the viewers, seriously off-balance. I honestly thought the word “unsane” was made-up, but then Googled it and found this rather dense explaination of it: http://benhauck.com/offthemap/2010/1...-the-concepts/, which actually fits the film perfectly. The aforelinked article defines “unsane” as a less sharper and less profound version of “insane” and if anything this film is definitely fuzzy in regards to what is and isn’t reality. The script, by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer never fails to keep you off-kilter, never knowing what is real and what is purely a figment of the protagonist’s mind (or whether or not her mind is untethered or perfectly fine). There are a few moments that appear to be serious plot holes, but then the ending comes and we’re left scratching our heads wondering if we are sane, unsane, or insane.