Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by jamwal » Sun Oct 08, 2017 5:09 pm

I have Netflix, Amazon Prime and a torrent box running almost 24/7. I used DVDS to store videos earlier and HDD now. Streaming services decrease the need for torrentING and storing to a great deal.

So my situation is exact opposite of that of Shiv. So many movies and TV shows watched in last 4-5 years enough for one life.


I like Korean drama, action movies, Japanese horror and anime and occasional good pieces from other places.

Indian movie and TV industry seems laughably stupid and annoying in comparison.

In "popular" culture , people make fun of anime fans. But many of these anime shows have very good story lines and very often hauntingly beautiful music.

Attack On Titan, Ergo Proxy, Ghost in a shell, Mononoke, Mushishi are some all time great shows.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Sun Oct 08, 2017 6:08 pm

Nayak wrote:
Sun Oct 08, 2017 4:10 pm
Pri-mush-ul-uddin some of my favorites are below -

Attack of titan, gave me nightmares after binge watching.
Full metal alchemist
Ushio and Tora, nice animation
Blue Excorcist
Black butler
Ninja scrolls, I bow down to this masterpiece
DragonBall z
Boku no hero academy


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Nayakuddin Saheb, well done. Some of my favorites in there too.

Full Metal Alchemist
Black Butler
Ninja Scrolls

Haven't seen the others. Will give Titan a go, have heard it's pretty good.

One of my all time favorite shows (also a single movie) was Cowboy Bebop, love the music.
Castlevania (on Netflix now)
Ghost in a Shell
Samurai Champloo
Samurai 7 (space opera based on the iconic Kurasawa epic "The Seven Samurai")
Vampire Hunter D
Blood - The Last Vampire
Heroic Age
There are so many others, list is too long.

I like these because they are a limited series (rather like a long movie) instead of an ongoing show with multiple seasons where it gets boring after a while.

Of course, the short movies by Studio Ghibli are the best overall for anybody new to Anime. I've managed to collect pretty much all of them over the years. One of the really poignant ones is "Grave of The Fireflies", very mature theme for an animated film.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Sun Oct 08, 2017 6:26 pm

jamwal wrote:
Sun Oct 08, 2017 5:09 pm
I have Netflix, Amazon Prime and a torrent box running almost 24/7. I used DVDS to store videos earlier and HDD now. Streaming services decrease the need for torrentING and storing to a great deal.

So my situation is exact opposite of that of Shiv. So many movies and TV shows watched in last 4-5 years enough for one life.


I like Korean drama, action movies, Japanese horror and anime and occasional good pieces from other places.

Indian movie and TV industry seems laughably stupid and annoying in comparison.

In "popular" culture , people make fun of anime fans. But many of these anime shows have very good story lines and very often hauntingly beautiful music.

Attack On Titan, Ergo Proxy, Ghost in a shell, Mononoke, Mushishi are some all time great shows.
Agree, Anime is very underrated.

Japanese movies of the old era are fantastic to watch - especially from directors like Kurosawa. Toshiro Mifune (remember him?) does an amazing job in several B&W Samurai movies. Even though I saw them almost 10 yrs ago, I remember being enthralled by Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress. There is also the 'Blind Samurai' series (different actor and director) which is fun to watch.

Of late, Chinese productions are quite good. Ip Man series is a great one to see.

For one of the most grueling and non-stop police action movie, watch The Raid-Redemption and its sequel - The Raid-2. Both set in and produced by Indonesia.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by jamwal » Sun Oct 08, 2017 6:37 pm

For me, IP man was too much of a over the top cheeni propaganda piecce, even hough i like the main actor.

Raid was very good, 2nd part I don't remember.

Old Japanese black and white movies are amazing, speciallly Kurosawa. There was one Samurai movie I watched recently based on some european play. Story was based on power struggle between brothers after the warlord father retires. Must watch.

I cant rmember any by Toshiro.

A lot of other Japanese movies of this genere feel a bit like american cowboy movies, but in a good way and are much more nuanced and entertaining.

Even the current generation of Japanese filmmakers are not that bad. Their horror movies are stolen by movie makers all over the world. Same with Korean action and thrillers.

Grave of Fireflies is a beautiful onion processing session.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Zynda » Sun Oct 08, 2017 6:43 pm

I think the overall plot of the newer movie Dredd is based on the The Raid i.e. police/law enforcement officials having to work their way up floor by floor in a building to reach the head honcho who is holed up in the top most floor. I have not seen The Raid movies.

One SWAT kinda of cinemas which is awesome are Brazilian Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) and its sequel Elite Squad: The Enemy Within.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Sun Oct 08, 2017 6:57 pm

Jamwal Ji, yes, Ip Man is Chini propaganda to an extent but still fun. I recently watched the old classics 'Enter The Dragon' and "36th Chamber of Shaolin", both seemed so dated and cheap in comparison.

Toshiro Mifune was the lead actor in most of Kurosawa's Samurai epics.

My other favorite Miyazaki movies (apart from the most well-known ones) are Whisper from The Heart and its sequel - The Cat Returns. Also, Porco Rosso. Quaint love stories and quite refreshing.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Gus » Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:14 am

Primus- watch 'coherence' if you like lo budget scifi with great scripts.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Javee » Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:22 am

Another sci-fi one- recently started watching The Expanse, slow story, decent visualization and good time pass. One of the lead character is a PIO and comes in ornate indic dresses and sarees.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by shiv » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:38 am

Thanks for the suggestions folks. I have no "special interests". I would not mind watching good war movies, westerns. I have thoroughly enjoyed some classic romance stories - Pride and Prejudice (2005), Roman Holiday SciFi, thrillers.

As a general bit of gyan I have picked up over the years - books that I pick up on my own are often left unfinished, unreadable. But recommended books can be great like Primus once recommended one of my best reads, Ishmael. Might as well reveal that Primus and I go back 40 plus years

Applying the same logic to movies. Say what YOU liked and I will likely watch it. Or try.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Mon Oct 09, 2017 11:14 am

^^^
Thanks, will check it out Gus

^^ Yes, Expanse is good. Read the books, even better.

^

Shiv, you let the cat out of the bag! :mrgreen:

if you are looking for 40 yrs of recommendations, hard to know where to begin :-)

War Movies: Not my favorite genre. Can only recommend Platoon and Saving Private Ryan, the first fifteen minutes of the latter are perhaps the most horrific of any war film I've seen. Dunkirk IMHO is over rated though good in patches.

Westerns: They don't make them that good any more. The most memorable ones for me are:

1. Once Upon a Time in The West - languid pace, to be savored slowly with some wine, Sippy copied parts of it scene by scene in Sholay.
2. The Searchers
3.Little Big Man - amazing performance by Dustin Hoffman. I saw this again last year, still very good.
4. Shane
5. True Grit - the recent remake is pretty good, with Jef Bridges doing the John Wayne role.
I know Unforgiven is in the top list, didn't like it that much.

Romance:
As a family our all time favorite is of course The Princess Bride. I think we watch it at least once every couple of years.

A few more you may like are:
1. Love, Actually
2. The English Patient (not a comedy but a beautiful love story)
3. There's Something About Mary (very adult theme, but very funny movie)
4. Amelie
5. Romantics Anonymous - another French Romcom that had me laughing like I haven't in years.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by shiv » Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:12 pm

OK - that's a good list - should keep me going for a few weeks.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by arshyam » Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:18 pm

shiv sir, Das Boot is a great war movie. Gritty and realistic WW2 submarine ops. The audio is in German only, but Netflix I recall has it with subtitles. One of my all time favourites.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:01 pm

While we are on a roll here :)

May I request people come up with a top-ten all time fun, action-packed, adventure style, popcorn-fest, 'paisa vasool' pure entertainment movie list?

Please, no 'thought-provoking', 'harrowing', ' artistic', 'poignant', 'dark' movies. I don't know about the everyone else, but if a movie is nominated or has won an Oscar, I tend to shy away from it (rare exceptions noted).

I am talking about the first 'Back To The Future', the first 'Pirates of the Caribbean', the first 'Mad Max' type of fare. I guess many of the James Bond movies may qualify.

Here's a list of my favorites (any genre) in the past four decades (Shiv's lost years :lol: ).

In no particular order:

1. The Princess Bride - no matter how many times I watch this, it is pure, wholesome fun.
2. Terminator-2 (has anybody seen the television series? - pretty good)
3. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. The Matrix - still the best, so many spin-offs.
5. Mad Max- Fury Road (listen to the audio when the doof warriors play the heavy riffs as the chase is on) - this is pure popcorn stuff, no wonder SHQ did not like it at all :-)
6. The Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl. As with so many the sequels were forgettable, but this was top class.
7. The entire LOTR trilogy - one of the best movie series, IMHO. I've seen them several times, including with just the Director's commentary. If I was to pick just one, it would be the first one, only because it introduces us to this fascinating world.
8. Star Wars - Empire Strikes Back - I believe the best of them all.
9. Any of the James Bond movies with Daniel Craig
10. The Adventures of Tintin - I know, a bit silly perhaps, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, took me back to the old college days for some reason.

There are so many others - but these are my favorites, I can see them again and again - which is what this list is about.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:03 pm

shiv wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:12 pm
OK - that's a good list - should keep me going for a few weeks.
The one I mentioned earlier - The Man From Earth, is a true sleeper, the entire movie is nothing but a long conversation between a group of University Professors, but boy, you need to pay attention, it grabs you and holds you, the ending is truly very interesting. I quite liked it. Hard to find easily though, Netflix had it for a while.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by sbajwa » Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:56 pm

by Shiv
After having missed 99% of good movies for 40 years I am on a movie watching binge now. Please post names of good movies in the last 40 years (I'm serious) so I can choose. I have forgotten their names..
If you have not watched Breaking Bad and/or The Wire you are missing amazing crime/politics/police action. Top 75 shows.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/ ... 7.html?p=3

I guarantee that once you start watching Breaking Bad you will not stop till you have finished all 5 seasons with average 10 one hour each episodes. Very well directed and plot! I think both are available on netflix. The wire show is sometimes college course for Law students.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by arshyam » Mon Oct 09, 2017 4:08 pm

Some more mil-oriented films:

- Forces spéciales (French movie called Spl. Forces, abt an op in Afghanistan that goes awry. Good production and realistic. Different from the usual hollywood fare)
- Dr Strangelove (1964) - a black comedy about a cold war exercise gone wrong
- Crimson Tide (a bit too bruckheimerish, but interesting otherwise: what happens in a nuke sub with an attack order, but radio contact broken since?)
- Hunt for Red October (time pass, but interesting for an average movie-goer who does not have the BRF level of knowledge)

Other films, where you turn off your mind and simply relax:
- Predator (thriller, not a mil film per se, but good nevertheless)
- Down Periscope (comedy)
- Battleship (popcorn alien film, but I like it for some good timepass :mrgreen: )
- Under Siege - I like this for the knife fight towards the end
- Black Hawk Down - I actually felt a bit sorry for the pakis for their portrayal, which apparently was the opposite to what really happened.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Zynda » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:31 pm

arshyam wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 4:08 pm
- Black Hawk Down
Happened to see this movie with a few folks. Most of them got fed up half way through...said too much of violence, gun toting. But one of my fav...

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Gus » Tue Oct 10, 2017 1:52 am

310 to Yuma is up there among the best in recent westerns.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by sum » Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:13 am

Zynda wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:31 pm
arshyam wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 4:08 pm
- Black Hawk Down
Happened to see this movie with a few folks. Most of them got fed up half way through...said too much of violence, gun toting. But one of my fav...
I liked the movie but thought it dragged a bit in between.

Very realistic portrayal though and love the swagger of the SFOD folks (Eric bana etc) in it

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Nayak » Tue Oct 10, 2017 4:29 pm

Gus wrote:310 to Yuma is up there among the best in recent westerns.
What no mention of high noon? The tension and the constant clock ticking is gut wrenching.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Primus » Tue Oct 10, 2017 5:45 pm

Nayak wrote:
Tue Oct 10, 2017 4:29 pm
Gus wrote:310 to Yuma is up there among the best in recent westerns.
What no mention of high noon? The tension and the constant clock ticking is gut wrenching.

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Agree with both o'youse. Did I not say Gretchen Mol is something else?

Epic westerns are a different category and this is where movies like The Searchers, Little Big Man, The Magnificent Seven score over the others. I suppose you could put Dances with Wolves in this category, but I found it a bit dull.

For sheer impact, I don't think any movie can surpass Soldier Blue - the massacre of the Indian camp at the end of the movie is truly well filmed but is very brutal too. I saw it over 30 yrs ago, don't think I can see it again today.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Zynda » Sat Oct 14, 2017 12:04 pm

There is a new angreez TV series called Seal Team. The acting ain't very good, doesn't grip you to the edge of your seat but I got hooked to watch the tactics. It is possible that this done with-in Indian SF teams as well but the SEALs in the TV series always take along a bomb sniffing dog even in hostile territory. In the 2nd episode, SEALS have to do a high altitude (supposedly from 10 kms height) jump in to Syrian territory. They do this jump along with the dog. One of the operator physically secures the dog in his front harness and they even got a O2 breathing system for the dog.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by jamwal » Sun Oct 15, 2017 5:05 pm

Javee wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:22 am
Another sci-fi one- recently started watching The Expanse, slow story, decent visualization and good time pass. One of the lead character is a PIO and comes in ornate indic dresses and sarees.
Watched 5 episodes of Expanse. Lots of women on Earth are shown dressed in saarees. That woman speaks with a very annoying accent and fake earnestness peculiar to desi females acting in foreign movies. She is Iranian though.

I noticed the same "fake earnestness" thing with that Indian woman who played queen of Naboo in Attack of the Clones.

Funnily, the biggest city in least powerful settlement is called Medina and is full of terrorists and rioters. :lol:


It seems like creators of this TV show are not that fond of depicting religion of peace just like Star Trek. Enterprise was shown to have a number of different humans from different ethnicities and religion including a few Hindu names. Nothing like that for rop.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Nayak » Mon Oct 16, 2017 3:51 am

Completed Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. 7/10. Short series but the quality of animation is exemplary. The huge armored train engines are a treat to watch.

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Re: Non-Indian Films discussion thread...

Post by Javee » Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:04 am

Primus wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:03 pm
shiv wrote:
Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:12 pm
OK - that's a good list - should keep me going for a few weeks.
The one I mentioned earlier - The Man From Earth, is a true sleeper, the entire movie is nothing but a long conversation between a group of University Professors, but boy, you need to pay attention, it grabs you and holds you, the ending is truly very interesting. I quite liked it. Hard to find easily though, Netflix had it for a while.
I second this, this is a good late evng/night movie.

Shiv, if you have netflix and like violence of all shades, will share my watched list as a screenshot, will get you going for months if not a year easily :lol:

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