Netflix Recommendations?

[bennett616]

Zeitgeist!

Andy B

[Mike Christ]

Zeitgeist!

Andy B

[cbeast]

Just use the Netflix rating system on movies you have seen. It will recommend movies you may like based on algorithms. It works pretty well for me. I've rated over 1500 movies so far.

[Mike Christ]

Just use the Netflix rating system on movies you have seen. It will recommend movies you may like based on algorithms. It works pretty well for me. I've rated over 1500 movies so far.

That's a lot of movies!

[FirstAscent]

@FirstAscent
If you like his other films you are going to love Dreams. It is vaguely autobiographical and based on real dreams he had. Different kinds of dreams are explored as well. From a child's dream to a hypothermia induced hallucination.  

I definitely have Dreams on my list. What other films have you seen by him?

I remember:
Seven Samurai
Rashomon
Ran
and Kagemusha.
I think that is all of his work I have seen. Sometime the sub-titles can be distracting in the work of such a visual director, but i found some of his films do not have a lot of dialog anyway.

Those four films provide two interesting branches to explore. The first two prominently feature Toshiro Mifune. The second two prominently feature Tatsuya Nakadai.

If you liked Toshiro Mifune in the first two, then not only should you explore the other Kurosawa films which star him, but a few other non Kurosawa films. You should absolutely watch The Samurai Trilogy, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, comprised of the following three titles:

Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island

I absolutely loved those three films. In addition to Toshiro Mifune, they also star Mariko Okada (more on her later). Such lush color and epic plotting. You can find their respective links at Criterion's Toshiro Mifune's page: http://www.criterion.com/explore/157-toshiro-mifune

As for Tatsuya Nakadai, he's been in some of my favorite films. Perhaps the most epic is Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition, which is essentially a nine and half hour film split into three films. It's basically one man's tour (an war protestor and humanist) through WWII and Japan's military machine during Japan's occupation of Manchuria. Epic.

He was also in Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another, which is a semi science fiction existentialist film which explores one's identity within society. Fantastic film. Here's a trailer to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa6BitYbhZU

Here's a lovely scene which takes place in a bar from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjb44VhZzx4

He was also in Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs as a supporting actor. It's really Hideko Takamine's star power which makes that film so great.

Criterion also just released an Eclipse set featuring four of Masaki Kobayashi's earlier films. Three of the four star Tatsuya Nakadai. See it here: http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/952-eclipse-series-38-masaki-kobayashi-against-the-system

Find more films starring Tatsuya Nakadai on his Explore page at Criterion: http://www.criterion.com/explore/195-tatsuya-nakadai

[FirstAscent]

I love the long choreographed camera work in Koreyoshi Kurahara's films. Watch the opening scene of The Warped Ones to get an idea (click on the gray 'Preview' button): http://www.hulu.com/watch/243413

And I could look at Ruriko Asaoka's beautiful face all day long in his film Thirst For Love: http://www.hulu.com/watch/265815

[FirstAscent]

I am Cuba is a 1964 film that had some pretty revolutionary cinematography. I haven't seen it yet but it's on my list: http://mubi.com/films/i-am-cuba

A Funeral Parade of Roses is also on my list to watch. It's a very avante-garde film from the sixties. Watch the trailer. It's slow to start with a long shot of a woman's face, but then it really picks up. One might be inclined to say the trailer is NSFW, but lots of Japanese trailers are like that. http://mubi.com/films/funeral-parade-of-roses

I absolutely want to see History of Postwar Japan as told by a Bar Hostess by Shohei Imamura. Imamura is famous for quite a number of films, one mentioned by me in my first post, entitled Pigs and Battleships. Another film he's famous for is Vengeance is Mine. Info on History of Postwar Japan as told by a Bar Hostess: http://mubi.com/films/history-of-postwar-japan-as-told-by-a-bar-hostess

As mentioned in the above paragraph, Shohei Imamura made a film called Vengeance is Mine. It's based on a true story, actually. Roger Ebert called it one of the great films and gave it four out of four stars. See his discussion of it here: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/vengeance-is-mine-2008

The trailer is here and a couple of scenes render it sort of NSFW (but that's Imamura for you): http://www.criterion.com/films/822-vengeance-is-mine

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a sixties film from the Soviet Union. It's on my list of films to watch: http://mubi.com/films/shadows-of-forgotten-ancestors

Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian director, made some legendary films, such as Ivan's Childhood, Stalker, and others. On my list is his film The Mirror. There is some absolutely extraordinary cinematography in his films, and they can be haunting as well. Consider that the barn is burning while he's doing this long single camera take: http://mubi.com/films/the-mirror

[FirstAscent]

This would be where someone else does any of the following:

1. Mentions some movies they like (with a little bit of info about the movie or why they like it).

2. Thanks someone for pointing out some movies they haven't heard of.

3. Engages in general discourse, dialog, disagreement, questioning, or commenting.

[RodeoX]

This would be where someone else does any of the following:

1. Mentions some movies they like (with a little bit of info about the movie or why they like it).

2. Thanks someone for pointing out some movies they haven't heard of.

3. Engages in general discourse, dialog, disagreement, questioning, or commenting.

I'm doing number two! Wait, that didn't sound right.. 

I mean #2 on the list. Thanks FirstAscent. I am looking forward to working through your recommendations.

[FirstAscent]

This would be where someone else does any of the following:

1. Mentions some movies they like (with a little bit of info about the movie or why they like it).

2. Thanks someone for pointing out some movies they haven't heard of.

3. Engages in general discourse, dialog, disagreement, questioning, or commenting.

I'm doing number two! Wait, that didn't sound right.. 

I mean #2 on the list. Thanks FirstAscent. I am looking forward to working through your recommendations.

Thank you. Please share which ones you end up watching, even if you didn't enjoy them. And if you know in advance which ones you you're considering watching, please share. I named a lot of movies. I'd be curious to know which one(s) captured your attention. Even among my favorites, I have my favorites.

[FirstAscent]

So did anybody watch any of the recommendations found herein?

[Stunna]

As far as TV shows go, I've quite enjoyed:

Breaking Bad

White Collar

Always Sunny in Philadelpia

[supercoins]

Neflix should start accepting Bitcoins!

[Stunna]

Neflix should start accepting Bitcoins!

Shouldn't everyone? :-)

[odolvlobo]

Neflix should start accepting Bitcoins!

They won't do it because it is a subscription service and they can't charge you automatically every month like a credit card. Perhaps providing a payment service that handles monthly billing in bitcoins would be a great business idea.

[cygnusxi]

breaking bad - yep

Fringe- watching it now, pretty dang good so far, best on my list except breaking bad.

prison break - long ass series but decent

persons unknown - a rather twisted one season show, good though, very suspensul / creepy

[Jaxkr]

Sherlock and Supernatural are good ones.

[bighecks]

You should watch prison break