What DVD have you just watched?

"Spotlight" (2015) seemingly odd "coincidence" that John Slattery's character is the son of Tom Hank's character in The Post ie: Ben Bradlee Jr in "Spotlight" < Ben Bradlee in The Post.  A powerful movie.

A top Israeli agent comes out of retirement to hunt for a Palestinian fighter he thought he'd killed, setting a chaotic chain of events into motion.

Not on DVD but on Netflix. Discovered this series today and started watching. It's like Homeland on steroids, very good. 2 seasons out and both of them available on Netflix.

Drikus posted:

A top Israeli agent comes out of retirement to hunt for a Palestinian fighter he thought he'd killed, setting a chaotic chain of events into motion.

Not on DVD but on Netflix. Discovered this series today and started watching. It's like Homeland on steroids, very good. 2 seasons out and both of them available on Netflix.

I watched the first two episodes with some Israeli friends and ruined it for them by pointing out some unlikely situations that wouldn't happen in real life.

Courtesy of Cinema Paradiso, last night we watched All The Money In The World;

With all the backstory of Kevin Spacey's replacement by Christopher Plummer now somewhat dissipated, who would have bet on Plummer pulling off the part as well as he did? In the end he is  completely convincing as a miserly, embittered and resentful man utterly consumed by the wealth he has accrued.

There's a nice little parallel between Getty senior, his son and his grandson.  We initially see them all as poles apart in character, but later we realise they are actually more alike than we at first thought  - they are all three lost, the grandson is lost to the kidnappers, the son is lost to drugs, and Getty senior is completely lost to money. 

A good film. Watch it.  Recommended.

Oooo, if we are including series then:

This is some of the best Science Fiction I have ever watched. Season 1 encouraged me to buy all the books, and the adaptations they are doing are first rate.

In fact the series was just cancelled .....but then picked up by Amazon.

Excellent stuff.

M

Thoroughly enjoyed this one! Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane are on top of their game here.

Now I've finally sorted out my cinema set up connection problem, I'm really looking forward to watching this at the weekend - in glorious surround sound!  

(but not in 3D) 

Drikus posted:

Thoroughly enjoyed this one! Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane are on top of their game here.

Yes, Kingsley makes his character convincingly menacing in that movie. He's a gifted and versatile actor. 

MDS posted:

Drikus posted:

Thoroughly enjoyed this one! Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane are on top of their game here.

Yes, Kingsley makes his character convincingly menacing in that movie. He's a gifted and versatile actor. 

One of my favourite films. A love story that asks how far would you go to keep the one you love, the score is great too , especially the big band sound of Henry Mancini.

Nathan Barley.   2005

Series 1. and only one from the creators Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker. Telling the tale of web master Barley before all the current hipsters moved in on it all.     Essential.

Classic movie. Great story, setting and cinematography!

Drikus posted:

Classic movie. Great story, setting and cinematography!

It is, indeed. I never get bored of watching that movie.  

ZULU was the second film I saw at the cinema (the first was Paint Your Wagon) aged about 6 or 7 I guess and loved the battle sequences.

I then watched it around xmas time about 10 years later and enjoyed the film again.

I most recently caught it again around my 50th birthday and I now have a much better appreciation of some of the tensions being played out between the ranks and some of the officers.

Terrifically acted and directed by Stanley Baker.

If you ever get the chance to visit the site of the defence of Rorke's Drift,  it brings the real story of the excellent film into context.  It was in reality a small skirmish of the much bigger battle of Isandlwana although I am not in anyway downplaying the bravery against overwhelming odds,  although maybe a few too many VC's did get handed out.   The main battle site at Isandlwana is a real sobering experience,  from a force of 1,700-plus of British & African troops, about 1,300 were killed.  The mass/multi burials, buried where they fell, seen scattered all over the hill & surrounding land are marked with white painted stone cairn's & other more formal grave markers & are beautifully maintained by Commonwealth War Graves Commision - see pic.   I've been to both locations five times,  its something I have to do whenever I'm passing enroute to somewhere else.    And BTW,  the magnificent scenery in the 'Zulu' film is not Rorke's Drift,  the film backdrop is the spectacular 'Amphitheatre', part of the Drakensberg range that marks the Lesotho boarder & is aprx 200km away.

Mike-B posted:

If you ever get the chance to visit the site of the defence of Rorke's Drift,  it brings the real story of the excellent film into context.  It was in reality a small skirmish of the much bigger battle of Isandlwana although I am not in anyway downplaying the bravery against overwhelming odds,  although maybe a few too many VC's did get handed out.   The main battle site at Isandlwana is a real sobering experience,  from a force of 1,700-plus of British & African troops, about 1,300 were killed.  The mass/multi burials, buried where they fell, seen scattered all over the hill & surrounding land are marked with white painted stone cairn's & other more formal grave markers & are beautifully maintained by Commonwealth War Graves Commision - see pic.   I've been to both locations five times,  its something I have to do whenever I'm passing enroute to somewhere else.    And BTW,  the magnificent scenery in the 'Zulu' film is not Rorke's Drift,  the film backdrop is the spectacular 'Amphitheatre', part of the Drakensberg range that marks the Lesotho boarder & is aprx 200km away.

 

Thanks, Mike. An interesting additional insight. 

Watching Reality Bites with no sound (Radiohead instead). Just caught the scene where Ethan Hawke says the Winona "looks like a doily". I laughed out loud. The "My Sharona" dance in the gas station is one of my favourite scenes in any movie, especially the wide shot from outside. It's a movie that stands the test of time for me. Directed by a young Ben Stiller.

Mike-B posted:

If you ever get the chance to visit the site of the defence of Rorke's Drift,  it brings the real story of the excellent film into context.  It was in reality a small skirmish of the much bigger battle of Isandlwana although I am not in anyway downplaying the bravery against overwhelming odds,  although maybe a few too many VC's did get handed out.   The main battle site at Isandlwana is a real sobering experience,  from a force of 1,700-plus of British & African troops, about 1,300 were killed.  The mass/multi burials, buried where they fell, seen scattered all over the hill & surrounding land are marked with white painted stone cairn's & other more formal grave markers & are beautifully maintained by Commonwealth War Graves Commision - see pic.   I've been to both locations five times,  its something I have to do whenever I'm passing enroute to somewhere else.    And BTW,  the magnificent scenery in the 'Zulu' film is not Rorke's Drift,  the film backdrop is the spectacular 'Amphitheatre', part of the Drakensberg range that marks the Lesotho boarder & is aprx 200km away.

 

Is the mission station of Rorke's Drift still there?

Drikus posted:

Is the mission station of Rorke's Drift still there?

Hi @Drikus, Yes & No,   the original buildings have gone, they were stone timber mud & straw & they were badly damaged at the time,  after the Zulu war the Swedish Lutheran missionaries re-established themselves rebuilding much of it..   The site as such is still there & is now preserved as an historic battlefield location, as are many locations in that area.

In the years after the Zulu wars then followed the Boer wars & even after that there was little or no tourism as we know it today so there was no incentive to preserve anything,  however since the growth of tourism & the interest in the Zulu & Boer Wars, many battle sites have been preserved & Rorke's Drift is no exception.   

The hospital location is a museum, memorabilia shop & restaurant.   In the museum it includes a reconstruction of how it was inside the hospital building during the action.  The Commissary Store is now a Lutheran church.   The old defence (farm wall) lines & the infamous last stand redoubt are marked out in stone lines across the whole site.

This pic is the church that is on the site of the Commissary Stores,  the cattle krall is over to the left under the tree & the redoubt is in front of the church,  the second pic gives an idea of just how small that redoubt was

Good background information - thanks Mike.

Testing the thin line between art and reality, a famed museum's new creative director mounts an installation -- "The Square" -- intended to foster altruism. But he sets off a hue and cry after enlisting a public relations firm to tout the exhibition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg3URGqP7YA

Watched this last night. Never seen it before but what a great movie, heavily recommended!

Drikus posted:

Watched this last night. Never seen it before but what a great movie, heavily recommended!

I'm a fan of that movie, too. Excellent plot and very good acting, and not just from Burton.   

My first viewing of this movie last night.  My expectations were pretty low, partly because of some of the views of others on this thread and partly because for some time now the Star Wars movies all seem to follow a fairly similar story-line.  So form that low base, I actually found I enjoyed it.  As ever the effects and sets re excellent.  I also liked the attempt to introduce a little humour into the dialogue.  Can't say I'd recommend it - unless you're Star Wars enthusiast - and it won't be a movie that I'll want to watch regularly, but worth watching once.

thebigfredc posted:

ZULU was the second film I saw at the cinema (the first was Paint Your Wagon) aged about 6 or 7 I guess and loved the battle sequences.

I then watched it around xmas time about 10 years later and enjoyed the film again.

I most recently caught it again around my 50th birthday and I now have a much better appreciation of some of the tensions being played out between the ranks and some of the officers.

Terrifically acted and directed by Stanley Baker.

When Zulu first came out I was in the Army Cadets, and the local cinema had the brilliant idea of getting us to dress in our uniforms and stand to attention in the lobby, Lee Enfield 303s and all, for the film's premiere, for which we got to see the film for free. Needless to say, we were subject to a whole heap of ridicule by the local yobs. Enjoyed the film though.