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So I've got the place to myself for a week. Since there's nothing of interest on TV (for the most part) I have a lot of time to kill. I thought I would take this time to catch up on movies since I haven't really seen much recently.

What should I be watching?

Name a few movies that have come out within the last 5 years or so. Stuff that you think everyone should watch. Bonus points for an explanation as to why your movie(s) should be watched. I'm down for anything that isn't crap.

1. Go to netflix
2. Subscribe to the online only service
3. Enter your ratings for your top 10 movies
4. Watch all the instant play movies it suggests you might like, and rate them as you do

stienman said:

1. Go to netflix
2. Subscribe to the online only service
3. Enter your ratings for your top 10 movies
4. Watch all the instant play movies it suggests you might like, and rate them as you do

Click to expand...

Nope. I wanted to watch things outside of my usual pattern. I thought it would be interesting to see what other people would recommend.

In the Loop - British-made spinoff movie from the series The Thick of It (if you haven't seen the series, it's not necessary, they exist in separate 'canons' but some characters overlap). If you enjoy, track down the series, which is even funnier and more cynical. Follows politicians in Britain and the US pondering the strategy for starting a war 'somewhere' in the middle east. It's pretty cynical, so a message seems lacking if you're worried about over-preachiness, although it does seem to come down on the anti-war side.
Clue - Ridiculous offbeat humour, it's a comedy based on the board game. It is... hysterical, but that could just be my warped sense of humour. Not from the last 5 years, but meh. I try to make everyone I know watch it.
Moon - a strange, excellent sci-fi film with Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey. It's 'true' sci-fi a la 2001 rather than actiony sci-fi a la Star Wars. Not nearly as ambiguous as 2001 though.
Primer - independently made on a low budget, a relatively short movie (~1 hr) about some guys who accidentally invent what could be called a 'time machine', although it doesn't quite work the way one expects. Heady and worth watching twice. Often makes it on to my top ten lists, but those things are in flux for me.

Aaaand a couple classics I've rewatched recently, for good measure:
High Noon
White Heat
Sunset Blvd.

Observe & Report: Taxi Driver meets Paul Blart Mall Cop.

Every Coen Brothers movie

Che
Carlos
Two fascinating, yet very different profiles of Latin American Revolutionaries by two master filmmakers. Both have scintillating lead performances as the title characters.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans- Werner Herzog presents two hours of crazy Nick Cage. In a very good way.

Speed Racer - a great manic live action cartoon turned up to 11.

Shaun of the Dead
Hot Fuzz
District 9
Mean Girls
WALL-E
Inglorious Basterds
Kung Fu Panda
The Pianist
Amélie
Zombieland
Sweeney Todd
Moulin Rouge!

And something a little less-known - Train de vie, or Train of Life (1998), a bittersweet tragicomedy of a shtetl, a Central European Jewish town, that decides to hoodwink the Nazis during the WWII by pretending to be a prisoner train, while in reality they are trying to get past the border to the Soviet Union, and from there to Israel. It's one of those few films that make me both laugh and cry, while also offering insightful ideas about identity, power and mankind's inexhorable will to live.

Stardust
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Last Samurai
Cinderella Man
Kingdom of Heaven (!)

Trying to limit myself to only movies which have come out in the last 5 years that I've either seen or heard a lot about.
Pulled the suggestions directly from the iMDB's "top-rated movies released in ___" list.

V for Vendetta - Action/thriller which succeeds in spite of taking a few liberties with the original graphic novel.
Juno - Amusing yet thinky story about an independent girl determined to make the best of her situation.
Ip Man - Semi-biographical Action/Drama telling the story of the man who would later teach Bruce Lee.
Kung Fu Panda - Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman team up with Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, and That Guy From Arrested Development to defeat Ian McShane.
Zombieland - Woody Harrelson and a guy who really wants to be Micheal Cera join forces with two sisters for a road trip through the Zombie Apocalypse. Hilarity ensues.
Up - Pixar does it again.

--Patrick

Justice League: The New Frontier
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Paper Clips
The Blind Side

I'll second "Up" as well.

An update:

Thanks for all the suggestions! I was limited to things I could watch on TV via the OnDemand service, and/or things available for streaming on Netflix. I watched 3 so far:

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans: I hadn't even heard of this movie before it was mentioned here. When you said "crazy Nic Cage" I still wasn't expecting *that* much craziness. Is it just me, or is Cage only happy when he's playing someone psychotic? All in all I thought it was okay. Nothing spectacular.

Up: I had been avoiding animated films over the last few years. I got tired of seeing them come out in theaters every month, seemingly cookie-cutter products. And after watching many when my niece was little I felt like I'd had my fill. I was ignoring Up for much the same reasons, but after so many times I've heard people talk about it I couldn't ignore it any longer. I'm really glad I watched. I don't think I've seen a "kid's film" capture so much emotion. It brings you up, it knocks you down, etc. It really makes me think that I've underestimated the genre as a whole.

Sweeney Todd: Eh. Really, really did not like this. However, I don't see it as the quality of the film so much as something I was never going to be interested in. I couldn't even finish it. It's different and creative as hell, but something about "dark+musical" doesn't work for me. I'm good with either, but together it just wasn't doing it for me.

I'll continue on with the list. Thanks again! And I'm always up for more ideas!

Hachi: A dog's tale - Slowish tear jerker, true story about a man and his dog. And their train station. Choo choo!

Superman: Netflix has the first and second ones on instant right now. I was surprised at how little I remembered from it when I saw it as a kid. I watched it with my kids this week - fun times were had by all! (rage superman, RAGE!)

Seven Pounds - Will Smith tearjerker - Guy feels guilty, tries to atone.

Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037 - If you're into seeing how things are made, this interesting documentary about how Steinway still makes their pianos by hand is quite entertaining. Also helps if you like classical piano music.

Crazy on the Outside - Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, it's not a good movie by any measure, but the relationship of this guy and his sister is hilarious, and it has its moments. But then I'm a big fan of sarcastic Sigourney.

Red - Bruce Willis - Fun action flick (2010)

Knight and Day - Cruise, Diaz - Fun action flick with a heaping dose of humor.

Doctor Who - Most of the new series is available on netflix instant watch. I was surprised that the first few didn't particularly appeal to me, and I'm usually a fan of cheesy scifi. I might skip around a bit and see if the later seasons or different doctors make a difference for me. But it's there if you ever wanted to see what the hullaballoo was about.

Salt: Fun action flick. Take one part Tomb Raider, one part Bourne Identity, and mix thoroughly. Bake at 375 for 90 minutes.

Bicentennial Man: Older Robin Williams sci-fi effort. Don't expect a Robin Williams comedy - expect a hard sci-fi story about what life and humanity is, and one robot's search for self. Was on instant play netflix recently.

Mythbusters - available via netflix instant to fill in the time when things aren't blowing up enough for you.

Various anime - Netflix has a lot of anime for instant watch, such as Ghost in the Shell, Avatar: the Last Airbender, etc. Most of these are definitively written for children and youth, so don't expect high class stories, but they can be enjoyable.

Man, I recommend 3:10 to Yuma. It is, in my opinion, a very solid attempt to revamp the Western genre using more modern day story telling while still recognizing, utilizing, and paying homage to what worked in the old westerns. And Russel Crowe and Christian Bale both deliver great performances (Especially Crowe). Actually, I should mention Ben Foster too. Everything advertising the movie mentions Crowe and Bale 'cause they're the leads and the biggest names attached, but Ben Foster is one bad ass gunslinger too.

Incidentally, if you haven't watched the animated films that have been coming out in the past 5 years, you have some catching up to do. There have been some truly great animated films the past 5 years, and I would go so far as to say that Toy Story 3 was the single best film I saw in 2010, by a pretty hefty margin.

3:10 to Yuma was indeed solid.

Yes, Pixar has quite the gift with animation. They really know how to use the CGI medium as something other than a 3-D cartoon. I seriously did not go into Ratatouille expecting a movie about a rat who cooks to have that much depth, but it did. I thought Incredibles was going to be a superhero pic. It's not. It's actually about a family...who just happens to have superpowers. There's still quite a few Pixar movies I haven't seen yet, but I hope to completely rectify that soon.

In the meanwhile, let me toss Coraline on the list. It has that Nightmare Before Christmas/Roald Dahl/Beetlejuice feel but without Tim Burton (so no Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter combo). It's exactly the sort of movie you might watch as a child and think of as pretty cool, but then watch again a decade later and realize you had no idea how creepy it really was.

--Patrick