Great Movies and Series [Not Sci-Fi]

In summary, I have seen a number of great series about women lately. Some of my favorites include The Queens Gambit, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Orange is the New Black.
  • #36
Ivan Seeking said:
Cool. I will surprise her with that movie choice. But if it doesn't lead to a great evening I'm blaming you. :olduhh:

:oldbiggrin:

Good chance that it’ll awaken her dominating, queenly side... That’s all I can say. Gotta keep it PG in here. 😉
 
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  • #37
Sherlock Holmes movies from 2009 onwards. New one is coming out next year 2021, only movie I'm looking forward to!
 
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  • #38
I like the Jeremy Bret series. Most true to the books of any series or movies. Also almost did all of the Holmes stories, but Bret died first.

I also like the Benedict Cumberbatch series. I like the way they modernized it.

It and most modern versions lack the appreciation for the mysteries in sometimes rather common appearing several events. There are several Holmes stories that start off as apparently uninteresting events.

The Robert Downey/Jude Law movies are fun.
 
  • #39
Hi, didn't you enjoy "Young Sherlock Holmes and the Piramyd of Fear" (1985)?
 
  • #40
mcastillo356 said:
Hi, didn't you enjoy "Young Sherlock Holmes and the Piramyd of Fear" (1985)?
I don't think I ever saw that one.
 
  • #41
BillTre said:
I don't think I ever saw that one.
Well, I had fun, but it is kind of childish
 
  • #42
I didn't see another thread for this sort of thing. I know there are others but didn't spot them. So...

I have become quite a fan of Netflix productions. They have done some great stuff! One of my favorite Netflix originals is Russian Doll

But generally...

One of my absolute favorites has been https://www.netflix.com/title/80113701 - a comedy about what happens after you die. It also provides an overview of classical philosophy and ethics. I love that show and fell madly in love with Kristen Bell LOL! She has a beautiful voice too!
In spite of my mixed loyalties, my girlfriend and I are watching The Good Place together. For me it's the 3rd time.

Pretty harsh at times especially in the opening scene, but very funny, I thought Fleabag was excellent. By the time it was over I was in love with Phoebe Waller-Bridge

A wonderful comedy that hooked me was The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. I immediately fell in love with Rachel Brosnahan

Another highly creative series that delves into the mystical that I enjoyed was The OA. Course I fell in love with Brit Marling... :)

I seem to be noticing a pattern in my viewing preferences... :biggrin:
 
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  • #43
LOVE Mrs. Maisel.

I'm a big fan of ensemble shows. Best ever were The West Wing and Hill Street Blues. These days I watch NCIS and Bones. Blue Bloods is also good, but it's no Hill Street Blues.
 
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  • #44
Band of Brothers is a must see. The Pacific was great as well.

Generation War is a WW2 series from the German side that was pretty good. It follows five close friends, two of whom are brothers who serve in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front.

Generation Kill is a series based on a book written by a reporter who was with the Recon Marines who spearheaded the invasion of Iraq. It doesn't glorify or justify, just shows what they did and went through. It's one of the better war movies/series. One of the Marines actually plays himself, Rudy Reyes.
 
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  • #45
I'm going to throw out one more. I've studied WW2 my whole life, particularly the Eastern Front, and this movie stuck out.

Come and See is a an 80's film made in the USSR that tells the story of a young boy who joins Belorussian partisans in 1943. It's more of a story of German atrocity in the East than it is about combat. It's quite traumatic and disturbing. It can be rented easily for $5 online with subtitles. Not sure how available it is on DVD or Blu ray.
 
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  • #46
Ivan Seeking said:
One of my favorite Netflix originals is Russian Doll
++++++++++1!
 
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  • #48
While I was joking about falling in love with all of these actresses, it is notable that there are so many great series with female leads.

Also, I am far more practical than my jokes suggest. In reality I only fell in love with two of them. And as soon Kristen Bell dumps that loser husband of hers I am sure my phone will be ringing. Check out her video of their trip to Africa.:heart:

 
  • #49
Ivan Seeking said:
Have you watched The OA?
I've never even heard of The OA, but I really liked Stranger Things, and, of course, Black Mirror.
 
  • #50
Buzz Bloom said:
The following are my most favorite non-SF favorites, which I consider to be great.
...
Pretty Woman
God why?

(That post is old, but I think my question is timeless).

My wife and I watched this and spent almost as much time looking at each other and blinking audibly as we did watching this dreck.

Don't get me wrong - we like Roberts* (and Gere) but we just could not choke back the Kool-aid.

(Best I can figure, we did not see Pretty Woman when it first came out - it was a few years later. And I guess sometimes the freshness of certain films fades quickly).**** great in Ocean's Twelve - and I just watched Notting Hill for the fifth time last week.
 
  • #51
DaveC426913 said:
God why?
+1 on that
 
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  • #52
*** I'm noticing an interesting phenom with my (adult) kids. They occasionally watch films we old folks say are classics, but they see nothing redeeming about them at all.

Just yesterday my boy said he tried to watch Airplane! and couldn't sit through it. (Resisted telling him to shut his filthy stinking pie hole).

He said he felt pummeled by hundreds of the lamest, dumbest puns. (Well, duh! Like that's a bad thing!)

I tried to explain to him that the reason it seems so threadbare and lame is because all the cliched jokes he's learned over the last 30 years came from Airplane! That was the seminal film to which all other films since pay homage. Nielson was a damn genius.
 
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  • #53
DaveC426913 said:
*** I'm noticing an interesting phenom with my (adult) kids. They occasionally watch films we old folks say are classics, but they see nothing redeeming about them at all.

Just yesterday my boy said he tried to watch Airplane! and couldn't sit through it. (Resisted telling him to shut his filthy stinking pie hole).

He said he felt pummeled by hundreds of the lamest, dumbest puns. (Well, duh! Like that's a bad thing!)

I tried to explain to him that the reason it seems so threadbare and lame is because all the cliched jokes he's learned over the last 30 years came from Airplane! That was the seminal film to which all other films since pay homage. Nielson was a damn genius.

And then we move on to more sophisticated humor. For example, take my wife, PLEASE.

I remember a comedian billed as Dean Martin's Uncle. When I was a little kid, my parents and I absolutely lost it when he came on. Now I imagine his jokes would all be groaners. And so sad. His poor wife was so skinny that she had to run back and forth in the shower just to get wet.
 
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  • #55
I'll be glad when the superhero stuff wears out. I've never been a big fan of superhero movies and have no desire to watch it now. And CGI action scenes bore me to death. But I really like the shows Nexflix and Amazon are producing. IMO they are putting out some great series.

I thought I found another great N series drama called Virgin River. It started out with a potentially interesting plot that quickly degenerated into a cheesy romance soap opera. LOL!
 
  • #56
The great thing about netflix is that it makes available films and series from all over the world and often with a choice of languages.

If you haven't seen it, the Minions of Midas (series) is worth a watch.
Seventeen ( film about a boy and his brother on the road in search of a dog) is one of those for any age, just nice and funny and heartwarming

Last night I watched https://www.netflix.com/search?q=old%20boys&jbv=70295579 - a Danish film about what happens when a seniors football team on tour accidentally leave one of their members at a service station. I laughed and cried and forgot about everything else for a couple of hours.
 
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  • #57
"Danger: UXB," entertaining and educational.
 
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  • #58
Oh I think I remember that on tv when I was a kid?!
 
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  • #59
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  • #60
Ivan Seeking said:
And then we move on to more sophisticated humor. For example, take my wife, PLEASE.

I remember a comedian billed as Dean Martin's Uncle. When I was a little kid, my parents and I absolutely lost it when he came on. Now I imagine his jokes would all be groaners. And so sad. His poor wife was so skinny that she had to run back and forth in the shower just to get wet.

I was curious and looked him up. He really was Dean Martin's uncle. I always thought that was a joke.



Okay, he's still funny.
 
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  • #61
I like "World's Fastest Indian." A good movie for gear heads, and it's mostly true (in a composite sort of way). There are actually even more stories about the real guy (Burt Munro) than they put into the movie. Anthony Hopkins does an outstanding job, IMO.
 
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  • #63
Another great film currently on youtube - Ghost World
 
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  • #64
rsk said:
Another great film currently on youtube - Ghost World
We can't watch it on YouTube in the US. :frown:
 
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  • #66
Continuing with the end of the world theme, Last Night was great!
In Toronto, a group of friends and family prepare for the end of the world, expected at midnight as the result of a calamity that is not explained, but which has been expected for several months. [wiki]
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CUQA0SY/?tag=pfamazon01-20
 
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  • #67
Ivan Seeking said:
Another highly creative series that delves into the mystical that I enjoyed was The OA.
Have started binging this.

:))
 
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  • #68
waternohitter said:
Charlie Chaplin is my favorite movie to watch on this list.
Speaking of whom ... I thought that the movie "Chaplin" w/ Robert Downy Jr. and Dan Aykroyd was terrific. I recognize that apparently not all that many people agree w/ me since it only got so-so reviews but I was seriously impressed by Downy's morphing into Chaplin in the early scene where he has to impress Aykroyd, and then later when he takes on the now-famous Chaplin persona of The Little Tramp.
 
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  • #69
DaveC426913 said:
:))
Right??
 
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  • #70
DaveC426913 said:
Have started binging this.

:))
I got to thinking about it and had to start watching it again. It has been awhile and I would have to say it is one of my all-time favorites. It is rare that someone comes up with truly new ideas. And the writing is brilliant.

...and I'm in love with Brit Marling 🥰 BTW, she not only stars in it, she created it!

1626750556264.png
 
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