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AMAZON PRIME

Sept. 2017: Best Movies and TV on Amazon Prime

September 7, 2017 by beststuff No Comments

 

  1. Bio-Dome

Director: Jason Bloom

Screenplay: Kip Koenig, Scott Marcano

Starring: Pauly Shore, Stephen Baldwin

In the Pauly Shore canon, most people are probably quick to name Son-in-Law or Encino Man as the best of the bunch but we’d beg to differ. Bio-Dome marks an important moment in, not just the career of Shore, but environmental cinema at large. Also, it’s a shining moment for co-star Stephen Baldwin.

  1. Boy

Director: Taika Waititi

Screenplay: Taika Waititi

Starring: James Rolleston, Taika Waititi

Boy probably played at your local art house cinema (if you have a local art house cinema) for, like, 6 weeks and your mom probably saw it in that time. It’s about a New Zealand kid who loved Michael Jackson and is seeing his ex-con dad for the first time—lots of emotions.

  1. Breathing

Director: Karl Markovics

Screenplay: Karl Markovics

Starring: Thomas Schubert, Karin Lischka

Through his work at a morgue, an incarcerated young man trying to build a new life starts to come to terms with the crime he committed in this unmistakably German film.

  1. Carrie

Director: Brian De Palma

Screenplay: Lawrence D. Cohen

Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie

One of the original body-horror classics and it’s probably an hour-and-a-half long euphemism for puberty.

  1. Computer Chess

Director: Andrew Bujalski

Screenplay: Andrew Bujalski

Starring: Kriss Schludermann, Wiley Wiggins

It’s the ultimate battle of man vs. machine in this story of—you guessed it—computer chess. Elon Musk recently warned us against the terrors of artificial intelligence and this film traces its beginnings.

  1. Dirty Dancing

Director: Emile Ardolino

Screenplay: Eleanor Bergstein

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Jerry Orbach

How do you call your lover boy? We’re not sure what happened to Jennifer Grey after this film took off but for a brief moment, she shined so bright.

  1. Disturbing Behavior

Director: David Nutter

Screenplay: Scott Rosenberg

Starring: James Marsden, Katie Holmes, Nick Stahl

In the 90s, adults were so afraid of teenagers that this fear spawned a myriad of “terrifying teen” films. Nowadays, most teenagers are so busy trying to buy Supreme gear and curating their SnapChat feeds that adults are more or less just confused by them.

  1. Gogol Bordello: Non-Stop

Director: Margarita Jimeno

Starring: Manu Chao, Eliot Ferguson

You might never have heard of Gogol Bordello but they consider themselves a “gypsy punk” band if that helps at all. This documentary follows their tour and gives fans a peek behind the scene of their “raucous” live shows.

  1. Indecent Proposal

Director: Adrian Lyne

Screenplay: Amy Holden Jones

Starring: Robert Redford, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson

This movie was pretty controversial when it came out but, c’mon, we’d all do it right? In this day and age? In this economy? For a million dollars? You’d do it. You’d totally do it.

  1. Lars and The Real Girl

Director: Craig Gillespie

Screenplay: Nancy Oliver

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider

In the future, we probably won’t even date or marry flesh and blood humans. In fact, we probably won’t be able to tell advanced androids and humans apart. We’ll go back and look at films like this and say, “What was so weird about that?”

  1. River’s Edge

Director: Tim Hunter

Screenplay: Neal Jimenez

Starring: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye

If River’s Edge had never come out, the world may have never been introduced to the genius of Keanu Reeves. In addition, we’re treated to the absolute insanity of Dennis Hopper opposite bonafide Hollywood-madman-in-his-own-right, Crispin Glover. This film is a true classic of wayward teen cinema.

  1. The Cove

Director: Louie Psihoyos

Screenplay: Mark Monroe

Starring: Richard O’Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones

Using hi-tech equipment, a group of activists, led by well-known dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose disgusting amounts of animal abuse and serious threats to human health. Watch it with the kids!

  1. The Golden Child

Director: Michael Ritchie

Screenplay: Dennis Feldman

Starring: Eddie Murphy, J.L. Reate, Charles Dance

While certainly not the best or most well-known of Eddie Murphy’s films, the actor brings plenty of charm to a role in which he makes light of plenty of Buddhist customs. Also, it’s got Tywin Lannister!

  1. Wedding Crashers

Director: David Dobkin

Screenplay: Steve Faber, Bob Fisher

Starring: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams

There was this amazing time in the early-aughts that every comedy movie starred roughly the same five or six guys (known as the “Frat Pack”) and were endlessly quotable. Wedding Crashers features a star-turning role for Brad Cooper and is certainly one of Chris Walken’s finest films.

  1. The Magnificent Seven (2016)

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Screenplay: Nic Pizzolatto

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke

Sort of penned by the guy who wrote the incredible first season of True Detective (as well as its sub-par second season), this remake of a remake of a remake actually isn’t terrible. The ensemble cast has enough charisma to forgive any hiccups in the writing or directing.

  1. One Mississippi: Season 2

Created by: Diablo Cody

Starring: Tig Notaro, Noah Harpster, John Rothman

In this pitch-black comedy, Tig Notaro returns to her hometown after the sudden death of her mother while still battling her own declining health. Needy partners, dysfunctional family issues as well as old friends only complicate matters.

  1. The Ray Bradbury Theater: Season 6

Created by: Mark Massari

Starring: Ray Bradbury, Frank Whitten, Desmond Kelly

The Ray Bradbury Theater flew under the radar for those of us in the states, as it was a Canadian-produced show. As you might imagine, the programming is sort of like The Outer Limits but better because Bradbury actually wrote much of the seasons.

  1. Unsolved Mysteries: Original Robert Stack Episodes: Season 9

Starring: Robert Stack

Hell yeah, bring on the Robert Stack! We can’t get enough of that voice, that trench coat and these incredible unsolved mysteries! Apparently, more than half of these 1000 cases have been solved. Not so unsolved anymore are they?

  1. Transparent: Season 4

Created by: Jill Soloway

Starring: Jeffrey Tambor, Amy Landecker, Gaby Hoffmann

The Emmy-award winning dramedy returns for its fourth season.

  1. Thursday Night Football

Are you ready for some (exhausted players just going through the motions because they’re usually on a short week and just waiting for the game to be over, man) football? That’s right, Jeff Bezos managed to wrench TNF from… Twitter? And will now be streaming it exclusively for Prime members!

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AMAZON PRIME

Best Movies and TV on Amazon Prime Video – August 2017

August 14, 2017 by beststuff No Comments
  1. Comrade Detective (Amazon Original) Season 1

Comrade Detective Season 1

Creators: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka

Starring: Diana Vladu, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

A bonkers and blood-soaked cop show set in 1980’s communist Romania. The kicker here is it’s been overdubbed with a star-studded cast most notably Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mahershala Ali.

  1. Lost in Oz (Amazon Original) Season 1

Lost in Oz

Starring: Ashley Boettcher, Nika Futterman

This is a children’s program but I’m pretty sure we can all collectively agree that getting “lost in Oz” would be terrifying. It’s a maximum-security prison filled with murderers, rapists and white supremacists.

Oh, wait, this isn’t a reboot of the HBO drama Oz? Got it. Carry on, then.

  1. Bad Company

Bad Company

Director: Robert Benton

Screenplay: David Newman, Robert Benton

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Barry Brown

One of those Old West myth-buster dramas starring a peach-fuzzed Jeff Bridges playing an Ohio boy who dodges the Civil War and gets caught up with a group of young outlaws.

  1. The Tick (Amazon Original) Season 1

The Tick 1

Creators: Ben Edlund

Starring: Peter Serafinowicz, Griffin Newman

After getting the go-ahead from the Amazon Prime viewers, the live-action reboot of the famed blue-suited bloodsucker is getting its first full season. Spoon!

  1. All Dogs Go to Heaven

All Dogs Go to Heaven

Director: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman

Screenplay: David N. Weiss

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise

The sweetest animated feature ever made about dead dogs with gambling problems.

  1. Benny & Joon

Benny and Joon

Director: Jeremiah Chechik

Screenplay: Barry Berman

Starring: Johnny Depp, Mary Stuart Masterson, Aidan Quinn

Benny & Joon is the film that put Johnny Depp on the map as a weirdo leading man. Fun fact: his character is named Sam not Benny.

  1. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey

Bill and Teds Bogus Journey

Director: Peter Hewitt

Screenplay: Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter

While not as lauded as the original, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is sort of a surrealist masterpiece with odes to the films of Ingmar Bergman, among others. Bill and Ted find themselves dead after a villain from the future sends android Bill and Teds back to the past. They have to beat Death to return to life but must go through a truly terrifying depiction of Hell, purgatory and elsewhere. In retrospect, this movie is insane.

  1. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure

Director: Stephen Herek

Screenplay: Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter

The film that started it all. Two slackers travel through time in a phone booth to finish a history project aided by a futuristic George Carlin.

  1. Breakdown

Breakdown

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Screenplay: Jonathan Mostow

Starring: Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan

A man’s wife is kidnapped after their car breaks down (hence the title) in the middle of the New Mexican desert. Now, he’s on a race against time (and his own mind) to find her in this “taut” “surreal” thriller. Also, makes for a cautionary tale explaining why you should never trust banjo-picking desert people.

  1. The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone

Director: David Cronenberg

Screenplay: Jeffrey Boam

Starring: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams

Chris Walken wakes from a five-year coma to find that he now has psychic powers! On the flip side, he realizes that nuclear war is coming so he’s got to kill a guy. Whoopsie!

  1. High Noon

High Noon

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Screenplay: Carl Foreman

Starring: Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly

Just before he hangs his badge up for good, newlywed lawman Will Kane must settle an old score in this classic Western.

  1. The Mod Squad

The Mod Squad

Director: Scott Silver

Screenplay: Stephen Kay, Scott Silver, Kate Lanier

Starring: Claire Danes, Giovanni Ribisi, Omar Epps

If you’re trying to have an I-Love-the-Early-Aughts party, Mod Squad might be one of the best films to put on. It’s like an ironic homage to the turn of the century but, y’know, not actually ironic.

  1. Once Bitten

Once Bitten

Director: Howard Storm

Screenplay: Dimitri Villard

Starring: Lauren Hutton, Jim Carrey

Once Bitten was Jim Carrey’s first starring role and kind of set the tone for the rest of his career playing either a normal guy who has weird things happen to him or a weird guy who has to do normal things (seriously, consider any of Jim Carrey’s roles and nine times out of ten they fit into either category). In case you’ve never seen this gem of a film, he gets bitten by a sexy vampire and begins to turn into a vampire himself. But can true love save him?

  1. Saw

Saw

Director: James Wan

Screenplay: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Cary Elwes, Danny Glover

Despite the ensuing cavalcade of subpar sequels (and one prequel), Saw remains a modern day horror classic. Amazon will be releasing all seven (seven!) of the films in the Saw franchise perhaps in anticipation of the upcoming Jigsaw, which will see an October release.

  1. Teen Wolf

Teen Wolf

Director: Rod Daniel

Screenplay: Jeph Loeb

Starring: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton

Before it became a sexy teen drama, it was a campy 80s movie starring Michael J. Fox. Why did becoming a werewolf make him a better basketball player? Also, the final basketball game in the film is literally fifteen minutes long. It makes zero sense.

  1. Wayne’s World 2

Waynes World 2

Director: Stephen Surjik

Screenplay: Mike Meyers, Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner

Starring: Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey

Sure, it wasn’t the revolutionary cinematic masterpiece that the original was, but Wayne’s World 2 certainly had its moments. The Sports Illustrated football phone, the naked Indian, Christopher Walken and Charleton Heston just to name a few.

  1. Nick Offerman & Megan Mullally: Summer of 69: No Apostrophe

Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally Summer of 69

Director: Jay Karas

Screenplay: Jeff Drake, Joe Mande, et al.

Starring: Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally might be the First Couple of Comedy and in their new special together, they sing and crack jokes about their life and love.

  1. My Bloody Valentine 3D

My Bloody Valentine 3D

Director: Patrick Lussier

Screenplay: Todd Farmer, Zane Smith

Starring: Jensen Ackles, Jaime King

A pretty boilerplate slasher flick that is single-handedly responsible for why you have to wear those stupid glasses every time you want to see some Hollywood blockbuster. If it weren’t for My Bloody Valentine you wouldn’t have to pay six dollars more to see Spiderman: Homecoming in 3D.

  1. Hannie Caulder

Hannie Caulder

Director: Burt Kennedy

Screenplay: Burt Kenned, David Haft

Starring: Raquel Welch, Robert Culp

A frontierswoman is raped and her husband is murdered. She hires a bounty hunter to help her learn the way of the gun so she can exact her revenge on the men responsible in this proto-feminist Western made in the spirit of I Spit on Your Grave.

  1. Superbad (Unrated)

SUperbad

Director: Greg Mottola

Screenplay: Seth Rogan, Evan Goldberg

Starring: Michael Cera, Jonah Hill

Superbad is still as hilarious today as it was ten years ago but, man oh man, it would never get made today. It’s incredible to think how much has changed in ten years but this film drops more f-bombs (not that f-bomb, but the other, way worse f-bomb) and casual jokes about sexual assault than probably necessary. But the world needed Jonah Hill. And this was the only way he was going to get born.

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AMAZON PRIME

July 2017: Best Stuff Streaming on Amazon Prime

June 28, 2017 by beststuff No Comments
Amazon Prime - Killing Zoe
  1. 48 Hrs.

48 Hrs

Director: Walter Hill

Screenplay: Walter Hill, Roger Spottiswoode

Starring: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy

There are few “ebony and ivory” teams better than Murphy/Nolte. We’re talking Wilder/Pryor and McCarthy/Jackson but, other than those two, Nolte/Murphy has the trope on lock.

  1. 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag

8 Heads in a Duffle Bag

Director: Tom Schulman

Screenplay: Tom Schulman

Starring: Joe Pesci, Andy Comeau

This was one of Joe Pesci’s last films before he retired from acting and, yeah, he’s typecast as your typical Italian mobster. Despite how inherently terrible the film is, Pesci manages to still do his wise-guy best with what he’s given.

  1. Another 48 Hrs.

Another 48 Hrs

Director: Walter Hill

Screenplay: Walter Hill, Roger Spottiswoode

Starring: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy

Ex-Con Murphy and no nonsense cop Nolte are hot in the trail of another hitman in this sequel to the original 48 Hrs.

  1. Bandits

Bandits

Director: Barry Levinson

Screenplay: Harley Peyton

Starring: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Cate Blanchett

Perhaps there’s no more a bizarre love triangle than the three stars of Bandits. The film is but fun romp through America with some damn fine company.

  1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Director: Blake Edwards

Screenplay: George Axelrod

Starring: Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard

The novel was originally penned by literary heavyweight Truman Capote and the film turned Audrey Hepburn into a cinema icon. People are still looking for the restaurant inside of Tiffany’s to this day and, unfortunately, the movie did spawn one terrible mid-nineties pop song.

  1. Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain

Director: Anthony Minghella

Screenplay: Anthony Minghella

Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger

Good luck making a film centered on a Confederate soldier in this day and age, we don’t care how much you try to humanize him. The movie is good, though, and the music produced by T Bone Burnett is incredible.

  1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good,the bad,the ugly

Director: Sergio Leone

Screenplay: Sergio Leone

Starring: Clint Eastwood

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly remains the most iconic film in the “Man with No Name” trilogy. You know the drill—bandits, shootouts, dusty locales and Ennio Morricone’s landmark score.

  1. The Hunt For Red October

The Hunt for Red October

Director: John McTiernan

Screenplay: Larry Ferguson, Donald E. Stewart

Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin

Those pesky Russians are at it again, and only CIA agent Jack Ryan can save us all in this thriller, which you can see on repeat every Father’s Day on either TBS, TNT or USA Network.

  1. Jeepers Creepers

Jeepers Creepers

Director: Victor Salva

Screenplay: Victor Salva

Starring: Justin Long, Gina Phillips

We’re in this era of monster movies always being big and brash with Godzilla and King Kong remakes, but sometimes you wish for the days of the more understated monster like Creeper in the Jeepers Creepers franchise. The film is getting a third installment to be released later this year.

  1. Kingpin

Kingpins

Director: The Farrelly Brothers

Screenplay: Barry Fanaro, Mort Nathan

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid

Kingpin predates The Big Lebowski by two years so perhaps the Cohen Brothers borrowed some ideas from the other, less-famous set of director-brothers, The Farrelly Brothers. The Farrellys definitely had a “moment” in the late nineties and early aughts, and this film was one of the highpoints, drawing great performances from Harrelson, Quaid and Bill Murray as a hotshot bowler.

  1. The Midnight Meat Train

The Midnight Meat Train

Director: Ryûhei Kitamura

Screenplay: Jeff Buhler

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones

People either pass this film right over, or stop because they see Brad Cooper, and then eventually pass it over after reading the description. But don’t let the premise, or the grindhouse title deter you, this movie is pure, cinematic gold.

  1. Pootie Tang

Pootie Tang

Director: Louis C.K.

Screenplay: Louis C.K.

Starring: Chris Rock, Lance Crouther

After the breakout success of literally everything Louis C.K. touches, folks were more inclined to take a look at this early comedic gem from the young comedian. Okay, it’s not all great, but there are some serious moments worth watching for.

  1. Rosemary’s Baby

Rosemary's baby

Director: Roman Polanski

Screenplay: Roman Polanski

Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes

Mia Farrow gets “up close and personal” with the prince of darkness himself in this classic from Roman Polanski.

  1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek II

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Screenplay: Jack B. Sowards

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy

Amazon is actually releasing all nine of the original Star Trek films but Wrath of Khan is by far the most iconic and oft quoted for comedic value. Ricardo Montalban will forever be Khan despite Benedict Cumberbatch’s decent and recent performance.

  1. Suicide Kings

Suicide Kings

Director: Peter O’Fallon

Screenplay: Josh Mckinney, Gina Goldman

Starring: Christopher Walken, Denis Leary

For some reason this film is sitting at a 34% on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes no sense because it’s got Chris Walken messing with the minds of a bunch of wannabe tough guys.

  1. Up in the Air

Up in the Air

Director: Jason Reitman

Screenplay: Jason Reitman

Starring: George Clooney, Ana Kendrick

This is a film about a guy who fires people for a living and we’re supposed to feel sorry for him? Oddly enough, by the end we kind of do.

  1. Our Kind of Traitor

Our Kind of Traitor

Director: Susanna White

Screenplay: Hossein Amini

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomie Harris

It’s a spy thriller, okay? There are Russians, Brits and all kinds of intrigue and twists, we’re sure.

  1. Chef

Chef

Director: Jon Favreau

Screenplay: Jon Favreau

Starring: Jon Favreau, Scarlett Johansson

Jon Favreau scores a win here with his by-the-numbers portrayal of a down-on-his-luck chef. While the continued glorification of so-called “celebrity chefs” and the food service industry as a whole (which exists solely to exploit “foodies,” which is okay, but also workers, which is bad) is annoying, this movie is pretty good.

  1. The Last Tycoon: Season 1 (Amazon original)

The Last Tycoon Season 1

Created By: Billy Ray, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Produced: Christopher Keyser

Starring: Matt Bomer, Kelsey Grammer

This show is based on a Fitzgerald book nobody was forced to read in high school about the film industry in 1930s Hollywood. Amazon is doubling down on their Fitzgerald worship as they’re also featuring their original show, Z: The Beginning of Everything about the charmed and strange life of Zelda Fitzgerald starring Christina Ricci.

  1. Killing Zoe

Killing Zoe

Director: Roger Avary

Screenplay: Roger Avary

Starring: Eric Stoltz, Julie Delpy

This movie got panned when it came out all the way back in 1994 but has achieved a cult classic status in the years since. It’s basically a Gen X heist film in the vein of Reservoir Dogs complete with a cool soundtrack, long shots of Paris and Julie Delpy.

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AMAZON PRIME

June 2017: Best Stuff Streaming on Amazon Prime

June 5, 2017 by beststuff No Comments

 

  1. 2 Days in the Valley (1996)

2 Days in the Valley

Director: John Herzfeld

Screenplay: John Herzfeld

Starring: Danny Aiello, James Spader

Conspiracies abound in this comedic thriller when a hitman scheme goes awry. James Spader is playing his best as the serene weird-guy with Aiello taking hostages and Eric Stoltz’s rookie cop just trying to put all the pieces together.

  1. Bowling for Columbine

Bowling for Columbine

Director: Michael Moore

Screenplay: Michael Moore

Starring: Michael Moore

Liberal everyman and prolific documentary filmmaker Michael Moore takes on the controversial Columbine High School school massacre, American gun culture and the ludicrously high homicide rate in these United States.

  1. I Love Dick (Amazon Original)

I Love Dick

Created by: Sarah Gubbins, Jill Soloway

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Hahn, Griffin Dune

Amazon is certainly trailing Netflix in original programming but their new show from Transparent creator Jill Soloway should get them some good press. The series is based on the famous feminist novel of the same name by Chris Kraus, centering on the writer’s sexual obsession with Dick (played here by Kevin Bacon). Expect smart, funny writing and probably no more than three seasons.

  1. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Apocalypse Now

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, Michael Herr

Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando

The film remains one of the greatest Vietnam War epics ever depicting, at the same time, the horrors of American intervention and the true darkness that lurks in the heart of every man, warrior or not.

  1. Apocalypse Now Redux (2001)

Apocalypse Now Redux

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola, John Milius, Michael Herr

Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando

As if the original Apocalypse Now wasn’t long enough, this version adds an additional forty-nine whole minutes of footage as well as a significant re-edit of the original!

  1. Blue Velvet (1986)

Blue Velvet

Director: David Lynch

Screenplay: David Lynch

Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini

It starts with a severed ear and then continues on one of the strangest journeys ever committed to celluloid. Dennis Hopper is at his absolute best as a drugged-out-pseudo-sex-demon opposite Kyle MacLachlan’s wide-eyed Irish innocence.

  1. Gone Baby Gone (2007)

Gone Baby Gone

Director: Ben Affleck

Screenplay: Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard

Starring: Michelle Monaghan, Casey Affleck

A missing girl is at the center of the Boston-based thriller adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name. Both of the Affleck bros are given time to shine here, Ben in the director’s chair and Casey showing his chops in front of the camera.

  1. The Mechanic (1972)

The Mechanic

Director: Michael Winner

Screenplay: Lewis John Carlino

Starring: Charles Bronson, Jan-Michael Vincent

Charles Bronson is an aging hitman with a terrible secret. Jan-Michael Vincent is the young upstart looking to join the ranks of professional killers. Bronson take the young man under his wing, but will the nature of Vincent’s father’s death tear the two assassins apart? Sources point to “maybe.”

  1. One from the Heart (1982)

One from The Heart

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola, Armyan Bernstein

Starring: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia

It wasn’t always hits for director Francis Ford Coppola. In fact, there were a couple of straight up duds. This film straddles the line between the two—marrying the music of Tom Waits with a Technicolor musical set against the backdrop of the Las Vegas strip. The film was not well regarded in its day but has settled into a kind of cult classic.

  1. Regarding Henry (1991)

Regarding Henry

Director: Mike Nichols

Screenplay: J.J. Abrams

Starring: Harrison Ford, Annette Bening

The guy who eventually created and wrote LOST and directed the last Star Was film wrote this movie. You won’t find any surprising twists or lens flares here, but instead, the tale of a ruthless lawyer who survives a shooting and must relearn how to speak and remember the details of his forgotten life with the help of his loving wife.

  1. Robin Hood of the Pecos (1941)

Robin Hood of the Pacos

Director: Joseph Kane

Screenplay: Olive Cooper

Starring: Roy Rogers

The King of Cowboys plays a newly elected sheriff out to save cattle ranchers from the clutches of a callous land and oil baron. There’ll be songs and shootouts.

  1. Shaolin Drunk Fighter (1983)

Shaolin Drunk FIghter

Director: Tou Win Pao

Screenplay: Jeong-yong Kim

Starring: Hung Yi Liu, Chiu-Sing Hau

The only way to avenge the death of his family is by learning the ancient art of Shaolin Kung Fu, specifically, the way of the “drunken pole.” Samples from this film found their way into a couple of classic Wu-Tang Clan tracks.

  1. The Salesman (Amazon Original) (2016)

The Salesman

Director: Asghar Farhadi

Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi

Starring: Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti

A married couple is performing a production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman when the wife is attacked. In the wake of the violence, the husband desperately tries to find the identity of the attacker while his marriage rebounds from the trauma.

  1. The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

The Thief of Bagdad

Directors: Michael Powell, Alexander Korda, Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies

Screenplay: Miles Malleson, Lajos Bíró

Starring: John Justin, Conrad Veidt

Similar to Arabian Nights, this classic film is told in flashback. After being tricked, trapped and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves. Definitely not at all similar to the classic Disney film Aladdin.

  1. 20th Century Women (2016)

20th Century Women

Director: Mike Mills

Screenplay: Mike Mills

Starring: Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup

Those who say sentimentalism is dead certainly haven’t seen the past two films writer/director Mike Mills has conceived. His 20th Century Women reads like an ode to motherhood and boyhood set against the backdrop of the punk scene in 1970s Los Angeles. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll recommend it to your mother if she doesn’t beat you to it.

  1. Ocean’s Eleven

Ocean's 11

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Screenplay: Ted Griffin

Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts

The quintessential dapper dude movie that inspired a legion of young men to continue their fetishizing of Las Vegas and well-tailored suits. Oh well, we suppose there are worse things than that. George Clooney as Danny Ocean puts together a crack team of wise cracking safe crackers and other criminal types to rob a casino.

  1. Ocean’s Twelve (2004)

Oceans 12

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Screenplay: George Nolfi

Starring: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts

Same plot as above but this time in Europe.

  1. I Am Not Your Negro (2016)

I am not your negro

Director: Raoul Peck

Screenplay: James Baldwin, Raoul Peck

Starring: James Baldwin

Using a lost letter Baldwin wrote to his literary agent about his next (yet unrealized) project, the film dissects race relations in America beginning with slavery and the Jim Crow era to today. Stay woke, fam.

  1. Art of the Steal (2009)

Art of the Steal

Director: Don Argott

Producer: Sheena M. Joyce

Dr. Albert C. Barnes managed to amass one of the most prized private art collections in history. Somehow, after his death the involvement of self-interested parties led to the scattering of his amazing collection. The documentary explores just how this happened.

  1. Paterson (Amazon Original) (2017)

Paterson

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Screenplay: Jim Jarmusch

Starring: Adam Driver, Golshifteh Farahani

Jim Jarmusch has always been known for his understated and idiosyncratic “talkies” and Paterson is no different. The film is a classic “day in the life” of bus driver Adam Driver as Paterson who lives in Paterson, New Jersey and writes poetry with his insufferable girlfriend.

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AMAZON PRIME

May 2017: Best Stuff Streaming Amazon Prime

April 28, 2017 by beststuff No Comments

For Amazon Prime subscribers, May is sure to be a good month. A couple of buzzed about Oscar winning movies land on the service and a few new Amazon original shows will debut as well. Not to mention a bunch of James Bond movies to sweeten the deal!

25. A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story

Well, there’s nothing like Christmas in May? This is the classic tale of Ralphie and his beloved Red Rider BB Gun.

24. Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever is Eli Roth’s debut feature film and a contemporary horror classic. Before he was making your date squirm with movies like Hostel, he made this understated flesh-eating virus film starring Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World.

23. Cecil B. Demented

Cecil B. Demented

While it’s often lambasted as being a “lesser” John Waters film, it’s still got everything you love from the counterculture icon—deranged and glamorous movie people and jokes that would make your mother blush. Cecil B. Demented is a true love letter to the directors and movies Waters admires (and a “loathe letter” to the MPAA).

22. Chuck & Buck

chuck and buck

A one-time favorite on the late-night-IFC-indie-darling circuit now makes its Prime debut. An unstable young man stalks his boyhood pal, now a slick record executive.

21. Gone with the Wind

Gone with the wind

The antebellum epic traces the rise and fall of the American South during the Civil War.

20. Life is Beautiful

Life is Beautiful

Lauded as one of the great films of the 20th century, Life is Beautiful was written by, directed by and starred the charismatic Robert Benigini. In the film, Benigni plays a Jewish Italian bookstore owner who uses his imagination to guard his son from the horrors of a Nazi internment camp.

19. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Planes, Train, and AUtomobiles

PTA is probably one of the greatest buddy comedies, and ode to holiday travel, of all time. Steve Martin stars as a guy just trying to get home for Christmas. He gets tangled up with John Candy (in one of his best roles) and they set on an Odyssey across America.

18. Repo! The Genetic Opera

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Did critics pan this movie? Did Paris Hilton, in the waning stages of her popularity, make a cameo appearance? Did the film lack a coherent plot? Yes, yes and yes. But, Repo! is going to be one of those films that history will look back fondly on, and if we still have cult classics in the future, it will surely be one of them.

17. Winter’s Bone

Winter's Bone

A “hicks and handguns” movie, which also introduced America to its current sweetheart: Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence plays Ree, as she searches for her father so the cops don’t take the house away from her catatonic mother and two siblings.

16. Manchester by the Sea

Manchester By the Sea

If you’ve got boner for Boston, boy do we have a film for you! Casey Affleck is all red-eyed and sad as he tries to come to grips with a handful of familial deaths in New England.

15. Moonlight

Moonlight

If you say anything remotely funny or parodical about Moonlight, Twitter will put you on its “Definitely Not Woke” list, and a MAGA hat and NRA membership form will appear on your doorstep.

So, suffice it to say, Moonlight is the absolute GOAT.

14. Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown

The oft looked over Tarantino film that stands as probably one of the finest. The ensemble is fantastic, the story is pretty good and Pam Grier is amazing.

13. The Ardennes

The Ardennes

The film is an admirable, Belgian take on the Coen Brothers’ formula. After a brutal home invasion goes wrong, one brother escapes while the other goes to prison. When the brother is released, well, you can imagine that things don’t get better and the reunion isn’t exactly heartwarming.

12. A Fistful of Dollars

A Fist full of dollars

Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name begins his journey in the first of the “Dollars Trilogy” and a landmark of spaghetti westerns. The brooding hero enters the small town, proceeds to grit his teeth and kill bad guys in front of the incredible and iconic score by Ennio Morricone.

11. School Ties

School Ties

Anti-Semitism abounds in this New England prep school drama. Nice-guy Matt Damon bullies Brendan Fraser and we’ll all learn something in the end. If you’re wondering whether or not Ben Affleck is also in this movie, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that, yes, he is!

10. No Way Out

No Way Out

A throwback to espionage thrillers of the 40’s and 50’s, No Way Out features Kevin Costner as a Navy Lieutenant who sleeps with the wrong woman. When that woman turns up dead, he begins to suspect it might have something to do with her husband, Gene Hackman, as Defense Secretary David Brice.

9. Paradise Lost 2: Revelations

Paradise Lost 2

Despite the title, no, it’s not a Dan Brown novel adaptation starring Tom Hanks and it’s also not a proselytizing ego piece by Kirk Cameron, but the sequel to one of the finest modern crime documentaries. Paradise Lost 2 continues the search for truth in the case of the West Memphis Three.

8. The Doors

The Doors

Oliver Stone is a weird director. He made a slew of classics in the 70’s and 80’s and then something happened. The Doors is great for any fan of the band and Val Kilmer gives himself totally to the role, but… it’s just not a great movie, y’know?

7. Denial

Denial

The second film Amazon is streaming this month revolving around anti-Semitism. Denial focuses on Holocaust scholar Deborah E. Lipstadt and her stranger-than-fiction legal battle with David Irving, a Holocaust denier. Spoiler Alert: Irving is a racist anti-Semite.

6. The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz

The classic film concerns itself with the travels of a murderous young girl and her brainless, heartless and cowardly accomplices.

5. Pride

Pride

Striking mine workers in Margaret Thatcher’s England gain some unlikely allies. Can these two seemingly strange bedfellows work together for equal rights?

4. The Bad News Bears

Bad News Bears

If the admirable-yet-flawed Billy Bob Thornton remake left a bad taste in your mouth, don’t fear, the original is still awesome. Walter Matthau plays the grumpy kids baseball coach who’s charged with whipping the hardscrabble team of misfits into shape.

3. Fatal Instinct

Fatal Instinct

The film is a sendup of all of those steamy thrillers from the 80’s and 90’s in the vein of Hot Shots or Naked Gun. It wasn’t well received by the critics of yesteryear but you’ll be happy to know it’s aged decently.

2. I Love Dick (Amazon Original)

I Love DIck

Amazon is certainly trailing Netflix in original programming but their new show from Transparent creator Jill Soloway should get them some good press. The series is based on the famous feminist novel of the same name by Chris Kraus, centering on the writer’s sexual obsession with Dick (played here by Kevin Bacon). Expect smart, funny writing and probably no more than three seasons.

1. All of the Weird Fireplaces and Videos for Your Cat

All of the Weird Fireplaces and Videos for Your Cat

Did you know hiding in the depths of Amazon Video, that there are bunches of fireplace, aquarium and thunderstorm videos? Some of them go on for upwards of eight hours! There are even videos that are geared toward entertaining your cat like two puppies playing over a rag and mice running across the screen. It’s really weird and cool.

These videos are also great if you live in Colorado or California (if you catch our drift).

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AMAZON PRIME

April 2017: Best Stuff Streaming on Amazon Prime

April 6, 2017 by beststuff No Comments

25. Almost Famous

Almost Famous

Cameron Crowe’s dramatic retelling of his own life as a teenage wunderkind reporter for Rolling Stone. The best part of this movie isn’t Kate Hudson or Zooey Deschanel; it isn’t even Francis McDormand as the perpetually hyperventilating mother archetype, but Jason Lee’s heart-wrenching performance of the hit song “Fever Dog.”

24. Robocop

Robocop

It’s weird that there are so many movies from the 1980’s that tackle themes that are so prevalent today. The first Robocop expertly examines themes of gentrification, the militarization and privatization of the police force and capitalism run rampant. Also, it’s gory as all hell.

23. Robocop 2

Robocop 2

Robocop 2 wasn’t as smart as it’s predecessor but it did prove to be prophetic as the city of Detroit did eventually go bankrupt. Although, unlike in the film, there wasn’t a greedy corporation hell bent on owning it afterwards.

22. The Running Man

The Running Man

There might be “running” theme with some of Amazon Prime’s movies. “By 2017, the world economy has collapsed” and so begins Stephen King’s The Running Man. Arnold Schwarzenegger is Ben Richards, a man scapegoated for not following orders to slaughter innocent women and children. He’s then sentenced to play the sadistic titular game show and run for his life.

21. The Greasy Strangler

The Greasy Strangler

The Greasy Strangler is a film that could have only come around in a world post-Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! A father and son pine for the same woman while an oily maniac strangles his victims on the street. Must be seen to be believed. RIYL: Graphic male nudity.

20. There Will Be Blood

There will be blood

It was a beautiful moment in time when every other day you could hear someone saying, “I drink your milkshake” in a public space. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll get a popular catchphrase that remains as hopelessly strange when decontextualized. This is the story of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his lifelong pursuit of riches through oil.

19. The Love Witch

The Love WItch

The Love Witch came out in 2016 but you’d never know it by looking at it. Shot on 35mm and lit and styled to look like the Technicolor films of the 50s, 60s and 70s, Samantha Robinson plays the modern-day spell-caster who uses her powers to get men to fall in love with her with disastrous results. The film examines gender roles and ideas of contemporary feminism.

18. American Pastoral

American Pastoral

Based on Philip Roth’s magnum opus, American Pastoral sees the directorial debut of Ewan McGregor who also plays the main character Seymour “Swede” Levov. An all-American couple finds their lives slowly crumbling as their daughter joins up with a radical 1960s counter-culture group.

17. American Honey

American Honey

There aren’t many times that you get to be pleasantly surprised by Shia LeBeouf but American Honey is one of them. An adolescent runaway gets mixed up with a gang of crusty travelling sales-teens. They party hard and fall in sticky, alcohol-soaked love.

16. Election

Election

Reese Witherspoon is always at her best when she’s just playing Reese Witherspoon. This adaptation of the Tom Perrotta novel of the same name might have been one of the first movies where she did just that. High school teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) tries to thwart the dreams of Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) becoming class president.

15. Author: The JT LeRoy Story

Author JT Leroy Story

In 1999, the novel Sarah, about a boy and his life with his prostitute mother, became a literary sensation when it came to light that it was a sort-of true story written by sixteen-year-old phenom, JT LeRoy. After many years, publications and public deceptions, it turned out that LeRoy was a persona adopted by author Laura Albert. Author tells the story behind the story of this stranger-than-fiction tale.

14. Eddie Murphy: RAW

Eddie Murphy Raw

Known just as much for it’s controversial material as it is the wardrobe, Raw might have been the apex of Murphy’s career and it’s still the #1 stand-up box office film of all time. Fair warning: not all of Murphy’s jokes have aged well and sometimes they’re downright offensive even by 1980s standards.

13. American Playboy: Season 1

American Playboy

Drawing on more than 17,000 hours of footage and 2,600-and-counting scrapbooks, American Playboy is set to be the defining document on the iconic Playboy Magazine. The 13-episode series marks Amazon’s first foray into original documentaries.

12. Bosch: Season 3

Bosch

Based on the award-winning novels penned by Michael Connelly, Bosch is kind of like the Burn Notice of Amazon—it’s supposed to be pretty good but nobody actually knows anyone who watches it. You-know-you’ve-seen-him-somewhere actor Titus Welliver stars as Bosch, an ex-Special Forces hard-nosed homicide detective solving mysteries on the mean streets of Hollywood.

11. Catastrophe: Season 2

Catastrophe

Apparently, this show is hilarious. Rob Delaney and Sharon Hogan star as a couple of newly minted parents navigating the world in lieu of post-partum depression and unwanted sexual advances. It’s been called “piss-in-your-pants” funny.

10. Animal Kingdom: Season 1

Animal Kingdom

After the death of his mother, seventeen year-old Josh Cody goes to live with his criminal family members who spend their days drinking, drugging and committing violent crimes.

9. The Handmaiden

The Handmaiden

Chan-Wook Park (Stoker, Oldboy) directs this loose adaptation of the Victorian crime novel Fingersmith. In 1930s Japan, a Korean handmaiden and her conman partner seek to defraud a Japanese woman of her rather large inheritance.

8. Captain Fantastic

Captain Fantastic

After the death of the family matriarch, Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) is forced to take his children out of their wilderness seclusion where he’s trained them to be smart, athletic and devoid of reliance on technology. Hilarity ensues for this sheltered unit.

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

The prototype for all American horror films and a true masterwork of cinematography. Like Jaws urged viewers to stay out of the water, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre warned sexy teens away from taking road trips through the American South.

6. Big Fan

Big Fan

Patton Oswalt carries this character study of an obsessed New York Giants fan. The film is equal parts hilarious, cringe-worthy and heartbreaking. Beaten by his favorite player, Paul Aufeiro (Oswalt) gives new meaning to the phrase “never meet your heroes.”

5. Blue Ruin

Blue Ruin

What do you do when the guy who killed your parents gets out of prison? Kill him and burn every branch on his family tree of course.

4. Green Room

Green Room

Set against the backdrop of the white supremacist movement in the Pacific Northwest, Green Room pits a punk rock band against murderous skinheads. Another instant classic by Jeremy Saulnier.

3. Gimme Danger: Story of the Stooges

Gimme Danger

Directed by Jim Jarmusch, Gimme Danger chronicles the rise of the definitive Detroit rockers (fronted by the inimitable Iggy Pop) who helped birth the punk rock and alternative movement as we know it.

2. One More Time with Feeling

One More Time With Feeling

Documenting the recording of the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ sixteenth studio album The Skeleton Tree after the death of Cave’s fifteen year-old son. Cave provides intermittent narration about the creative process and grief throughout.

1. The Witch

The Witch

It’s cold. It’s snowy. It’s isolated. It’s New England in the 1600s. Young Thomasin has been accused of witchcraft as strange happenings begin to plague her family. Is she a witch? Or is this just a metaphor for puberty?

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