what to watch..... what to watch..... DVDs?

[fermicat]

Hi Y'all,

With the relatively dismal selection of actual TV shows to watch and the cold winter weather approaching fast, my thoughts have turned to DVDs! I haven't rented any in a good long while, and I am also looking forward to some upcoming releases - Buffy S5, Two Towers extended edition, and always more Farscape!! But I am wondering...... what's new (or not new, but overlooked) in the DVD department?

Recommendations please! Good rentals? What hidden gems are out there? New or old, either way. Actually, pairs of one each are good (so I can get my freebie "blockbuster favorite" old movie with each overpriced new release rental ;) ).

:help: :pop: :tv: :help:

[Roland]

Not new but among the best is: "Event Horizon" starring Sam "Bada-Bam" Neil!

Sci-fi horror at it's best, right along side the first alien movie. ;)

[Mickie]

My TV DVD recommendations are
Alias Season 1
Due South Seasons 1&2 (I think that you have to go through Amazon.ca to get them)
Forever Knight Season 1 comes out next Tuesday.

[Sawyer's Miller]

Here are a few of my favourites, some aren't that recent...

Almost Famous
The Majestic
Road To Perdition
The Virgin Suicides
Dogma
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Donnie Darko (a must see)
Ocean's 11
Blackhawk Down
28 Days Later
Just a few...I've forgotten what I've seen!

What sort of movies do you usually go for?

[fermicat]

I like good, well-made movies in a variety of categories. Action movies are fine as long as they are more than just special fx. Of course Sci Fi, and also I like a good comedy or a riveting drama. Mainly I just like quality or originality (although sometimes I like movies that aren't at all highbrow).

Oh yeah, one more thing. I don't watch movies that star annoying people that are "tabloid trendy" (i.e. Jennifer Lopez or equivalent).

[Selena]

Have thoroughly enjoyed the following recently on DVD ...

Season 1 & 2 of Farscape
Enemy of the State
Hunt for Red October
Matrix
Babylon 5 (Season 1)
Minority Report
Amadeus
The Cutting Edge
Mission to Mars
Top Gun
Season 1, 2 and 3 of Stargate SG-1 :duck:

...... and on VHS

Enemy Mine
Mrs Doubtfire
Mr. Mom
Mr. Holland's Opus
Final season of Earth: Final Conflict (videotaped from TV)

[vhsiv]

There are actually a few really good items on basic cable these days - I started a thread (http://www.watchfarscape.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15750) (that's since become buried) about stuff that I'd dug out of my Tivo schedule.

One thing that I didn't put on that list was a 'new' show being broadcast on BBCAmerica - in the tradition of 'Prime Suspect', 'Cracker' and 'MI-5', it's a policier called 'The Vice (http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/drama_mysteries/the_vice/the_vice.jsp)' (1999). One reviewer suggested that this ITV series was derivative of American shows of the same genre, but I really don't see that, and thankfully, I had already seen the first 6 episodes, having bought the R2 DVDs from Amazon.co.uk. (Yet another reason to have a multi-region player - they're not just for imported Farscape DVDs anymore!)

Anyway, and just as well, there's a 'Nip/Tuck' marathon this week - last night, Wednesday Oct. 15th was the first night, and they reprised the first two episodes. So you're SOL if you missed them, but the event runs until Monday, Oct. 20th, with the Season Finale on Tuesday the 21st.

Otherwise, I've been dabbling in a few other R2 DVDs - importantly the Pang Bros. 'The Eye (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AVHAO/ref=ase_imdb-adbox/102-5316039-8711317?v=glance&s=dvd)', (2002) an Asian 'also ran' that seems in eaqual parts indebted to the original version of 'The Ring (Ringu) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000088NQR/ref=ase_imdb-adbox/102-5316039-8711317?v=glance&s=dvd)' (1998) and 'The Sixth Sense' - I need to check the dates on those films, but it's definitely worth the ticket if the film is still in limited release in your area. The cinematography is tops, even if the story is a bit familiar. Other new rew DVD releases I've noticed - at BestBuy of all places - is an American R1 release of the 'House of Cards (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009MGGI/qid=1066326745/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5316039-8711317?v=glance&s=dvd)' trilogy, starring Ian Richardson. It's a great little political conspiracy, with Richardson doing his bit as a cagey British Tory Whip, ascending to the Prime Minister's office through a series of intrigues that are at turns both Macbeth and Richard III. Most engaging are his little asides, wherein he turns to the camera and shares the inside details of his next 'intrigue' with the audience. *****, all around.

To continue with this Anglophile thread, both Helen Mirren's 'Prime Suspect (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index%3Ddvd%26field-keywords%3DPrime%20Suspect%26store-name%3Ddvd/102-5316039-8711317)' and Robbie Coltrane's 'Cracker (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AYJVA/qid=1066327177/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5316039-8711317?v=glance&s=dvd)' have both, recently been released on DVD - the links I've provided are for the limited R1 disk sets, but again, if you have a multi-region player, complete box-sets are available from the UK.

Likewise, if you are a sci-fi freak like myself, both seasons of Gerry Anderson's 'UFO (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AZKJ8/qid=1066327463/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-5316039-8711317?v=glance&s=dvd)' (1970) are due to be released in a Region 1 megaset at the end of this month, but you can probably just save yourself a little dosh and storage space if you order the two sets from DeepDiscountDVD.com (http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/search.cfm?searchstart=11&searchby=Title&keywords=UFO&ordering=title&price=0&searchdecade=0&searchrating=0&genre=0)
you'll save $30 if you order them individually, you'll pay half price if you can wait until the megaset comes out on October 28th.

And while we're over at DeepDiscountDVD, I might add that Joe Ahearne's 'Ultraviolet (http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=RYK003034)' (1998) - the high-tech Vampire Hunter miniseries is available here for the low, lowavailable here for the low, low price of $21 - that's six hours worth of entertainment for less than the cost of the 'Pearl Harbor' Special Edition DVD.

Since it's impolite to spend other people's money, I'll just leave it at that for the moment, though there are a few other things I could recommend...

[Jul]

My personal TV Show DVD recommendations are

BBC's Coupling
Alias Season I
La Femme Nikita Season I

[grapeshot]

If you're in a scifi mood, why not try these little-noticed gems:

Alien Nation (the movie, not the television shows). Written by Rockne O'Bannon, and starring James Caan and Mandy Patinkin.
Dark Star
Red Dwarf (BBC series, with the usual cheesy effects, but a real hoot to watch.)
Buckaroo Banzai
Outland (starring The Sean Connery)
the original Rollerball (a surprisingly elegant film, and vastly superior to the remake from a couple of years ago.)
Dark City
Frequency
Westworld (quite popular in its day, but rather forgotten now)
Andromeda Strain
(These last two were written by Michael Crichton, of Jurassic Park fame, and are some of his earliest works.)
Wizards (An interesting cartoon scifi/fantasy from the seventies, made by Ralph Bakshi -- before he mad his uninspired Lord Of The Rings movie.)
Farenheit 451 (See the first movie version, before the remake comes out.)

[the_cadpig]

Let's see...

Not a lot of good Science Fiction new releases right now except Dreamcatcher, which totally blew, and Matrix Reloaded which is I thought was very cool. I also loved Equillibrium.

In other categories...

Bringing Down The House was pretty funny IMO. And I highly recommend Bend It Like Beckham to anyone. That was such a good movie.

Wrong Turn is also out now. It was better than I expected for a horror film. Gave me some genuine creeps. And Tues. the 21st you have 28 Days Later which was pretty good.

If you like documentaries, may I suggest Lost In LaMancha. Very interesting look at the movie making process (or in this case, the movie UNmaking process). And of course Johnny Depp is in it which it always a plus :)

~cp

[Sawyer's Miller]

BTW did anyone see "28 Days Later" on the big screen?

Did you feel nauseous - for no reason?

I did - I later found out why. The movie wasn't shot on film (24 frame per second) but on videotape (it was on a budget!), at 50 Hz interlaced (PAL TV format).

That was then re-sampled to the usual 24 fps 35 mm film.

In short - I got strobed!

It is a good film though.

[BillFrugge]

This thread has got me to look through my collection, and pull out some discs I'd like to watch again...

DarkStar - If you pay close attention, you'll find that this is an obvious choice for me...
Red Dwarf seasons 1 & 2
Westworld
Andromeda Strain
Ultraviolet - Great series!

And I'd like to add the following:
Kindred: The Embraced - A series before it's time, and cut short.
Kelly's Heroes
Magnificent Seven
Support Your Local Sheriff
Lathe of Heaven - The original PBS film, not that awful A&E remake!
Dr. Strangelove
Monsters, Inc. - I'm not one for cartoons, but I make an exception for Pixar.

[tesseract]

I stumbled across the first two seasons of HBO's series "Oz" in Blockbuster a while ago. I was pretty impressed by it--intense, well-acted drama with some experimental elements in terms of style. Done by one of the producers from "Homicide: Life on the Street," which I thought was one of the smartest TV shows of its time.

[B Sharp]

and if you get tired of the DVDs, you could try Joan of Arcadia tonite....

[Third EYe]

The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded (better than the first by a long shot)
The Godfather Trilogy
Pulp Fiction
Gangs of NY
The Abyss
Blow
The Star Wars Trilogy (yes on DVD)
House of 1,000 corpses
Logan's Run
Momento
X Men
Decalogue
The Kingdom Series (Must see)
Time and Tide
Pi
1984
Brazil
Cat People
Dark City
The Core
Easy Rider
Gen X Cops
Gen Y Cops
Any Kevin Smith Movie (just do it)


TV Series

The Prisoner (Highly recomend, a must see for everyone)
The Avengers
X Files
Farscape (it's ok, it's got like an alien or something)
Stargate SG1 Seasons 1-4
Millenium Season 1 (yes on DVD)
Space 1999
Sanford & Son Seasons 1 and 2
Enterprise (just kidding)

Or choose something from here
My DVD Collection (http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=Third Eye)

[Antrobus]

I'm not watching a lot of DVDs right now because I'm working evenings and I don't watch TV during the day. So, I just try and catch something on the weekends.

Anyway, I just watched "Merlin" yesterday. I had bought the DVD though a DVD club. Anyway, I had forgotten a lot of it from when it was a miniseries on TV.

Although "Merlin" is lacking in many aspects, I'm still blown away by Miranda Richardson's performance as Queen Mab. Also by Martin Short's performance as her right hand man Frick.

The dragon was done by Henson's creature shop and was quite spectacular.

I had forgotten that these miniseries were done by Hallmark and had started off with "Gulliver's Travels" in 1996. Followed by "The Odyssey" in 1997 and then with "Merlin" in 1998. from what I've read the others that followed weren't of the same caliber as these three.

Anyway, there's much to enjoy with "Merlin"

[Scaper_S]

You could always go "action movie mad"
All the Die Hards
Predator 1 & 2
All the Aliens
Terminator 1 & 2 (& 3 if its out soon)
All the Indiana Jones movies - they're on DVD now
Star Wars Trilogy - I dare you to watch it without saying any of the lines! (I never can)

[samati75]

I've been watching Stargage SG-1 box sets, seasons 2, 3 & 4. The S5 comes out Jan 20th, going to get for my sis-in-law (at least pre-order it) for Christmas. Other than that, I don't rent too much, i think the last thing I rented was the Matrix Reloaded. Wasn't worth it, IMO.

[grapeshot]

I had forgotten that these miniseries were done by Hallmark and had started off with "Gulliver's Travels" in 1996. Followed by "The Odyssey" in 1997 and then with "Merlin" in 1998. from what I've read the others that followed weren't of the same caliber as these three.


I thought Arabian Nights was pretty good.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181199/

[fermicat]

The last week or two I've been watching the first season of 24 on rental DVDs. It's been fun. I've got eight more episodes left.

[TechnoBoY]

I dont know if anybody has mentioned this movie. Contact is a really good scifi drama movie. It has Jodie Foster in it and its one of my favorite movies.