Thursday, April 7, 2011

I LOVE NETFLIX

The Best of Netflix Instant Viewing: Part 1

Netflix Instant viewing has come a long way from the 5 pages of worthless B horror movies it used to be. After rating almost 2,000 movies, I now have a little over a page (on the sortable list) of my 5-star picks available instantly, 2.5 pages of my 4-star movies, and with an instant queue of 250 movies, I feel I most certainly get my $15/month worth. I’ve had some friends ask me for some Netflix instant viewing recommendations, because clearly I have more time then them, so here ya go!
(These are some of my 5 star picks, so if I personally know you, I may have made you watch them already)

HORROR
Yes, I don’t know a lot of horror fans. BUT if you are on a date and want an excuse to touch someone, there is no better substitute for a horror movie.

The Shining- CLASSIC! Where to begin… Well it’s directed by Stanley Kubrick, who, to my knowledge, has never made a bad film (hey, I liked Eyes Wide Shut). The cinematography, the sound, the acting… Jack Nicholson won the Oscar for Best Actor for his work in it, and for a horror film, that is especially notable. It was one of the very few times that has happened in movie history. Oh it’s so good. But it is seriously creepy, so be warned.

Session 9- My sister randomly picked this out from a Blockbuster when they still kind of existed, and we were very pleasantly surprised. It combines some of the best horror movie elements: industrial sound effects, very creepy setting, and INSANELY CREEPY VOICE. It’s on the newer side (2001), which is impressive in itself, because they don’t make horror like they used to. Did I mention Horatio/ David Caruso is in it?

The Devil's Backbone- Guillermo del Toro's semi-companion piece to Pan's Labyrinth. Probably more sad than scary, to me anyway. I was going to save it for my foreign section, but what the hey? The good horror section is short. 

DRAMA
Before Sunset- The sequel to Before Sunrise, but it’s an entirely different movie. Where Before Sunrise was a youthful 90’s better-then-average romance, Before Sunset is an adult, cynical, bittersweet drama. The style is very minimalist, very dialogue driven, and yet the performances are so compelling, that is far from boring. The last scene! Sigh. You will see.

Quills- Okay I’m a sucker from awesome acting and crazy sad movies, and Quills totally fits that. Joaquin Phoenix used to be one of my favorites, and his last scene with Kate Winslet is one reason why ( Gladiator is the other). Sad, dirty, somewhat historical, sounds like a good period piece to me.

Fargo- A truly great Coen Brothers movie. I love that it is set in North Dakota, how often does that happen? But there are great characters and a very dark sense of humor, go watch it.

TO BE CONTINUED

2 comments:

  1. did you just add "devil's backbone" to the horror list, or did i miss it the first time? that and "fargo" are the two i haven't seen.

    "session 9": most terrifying movie i have ever watched.

    "the shining": still scared me the third time i watched it.

    but, both are worth watching, even to a scaredy cat like me! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. i think my new approach will be to list movies im pretty sure you haven't seen, rather than just the really important ones haha. there are so many important ones!

    ReplyDelete