Boosting my DVD collection

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

My DVD collection is tiny. I have about 15 films, but would really like some more. Can you recommend me some based on these pointers and a list of films I have?:

- I don't like sci-fi
- I don't like cheap horror movies
- I like movies based on books or plays (especially plays)
- I like romantic films, but not really 'chick-flicks'
- I don't like 'epics'
- I don't like cheap comedies

Okay, long list there. My films are:
Another Country
Educating Rita
Sweet Bird of Youth
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
A Streetcar Named Desire
Night of the Iguana
Vanity Fair
Blair Witch Project
Simpsons Movie
Ghostbusters
Gremlins
Muppets Christmas Carol
Orphee
Brighton Rock

And:
The Great Gatsby
Pride and Prejudice (Tv)
Brideshead Revisited (Tv)

[Holden Pike]

Since your profile doesn't mention it I'm going to assume you are somewhere in the United States and seeking suggestions for R1 DVDs, yeah? If not we may have to adjust some of these depending on availability.

Actually, check that. I see you have the excellent Brighton Rock on your list, which must mean you're a R2er because I know it isn't yet released in Region 1 (I own it as part of the R2 Graham Greene boxed set). OK, so, let's see...

I like movies based on books or plays (especially plays)

Educating Rita, Sweet Bird of Youth, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, Night of the Iguana, Vanity Fair, Brighton Rock

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/259253.1010.A.jpg http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/MG/207691.JPG

Alrighty. Given that I'll start with plays and I'd steer you toward Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966 - Mike Nichols), Amadeus (1984 - Milos Forman), A Soldier's Story (1984 - Norman Jewison), Death of a Salesman (1985 - Volker Schlöndorff), Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962 - Sidney Lumet), A Man for All Seasons (1966 - Fred Zinnemann), The Lion in Winter (1968 - Anthony Harvey), Miss Julie (1951 & 1999), The Browning Version (1951 & 1994), The Winslow Boy (1948 & 1999), Inherit the Wind (1960 - Stanley Kramer), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992 - James Foley), The Iceman Cometh (1973 - John Frankenheimer), Butley (1974 - Harold Pinter), The Philadelphia Story (1940 - George Cukor) and Harvey (1950 - Henry Koster).

And that's without getting into Shakespeare, Neil Simon or Musicals, just trying to give you some greats adapted from 20th Century drama (mostly).

http://www.programul-tv.ro/images/garderobierul.jpg http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/030117/173633__allabout_l.jpg

And since you enjoy adaptations of the theatre, also check out some of the stories set in the behind-the-scenes world of hot lights and greasepaint such as The Dresser (1983 - Peter Yates), All About Eve (1950 - Joseph L. Mankiewicz), The Producers (1968 & 2005), To Be or Not to Be (1942 - Ernst Lubitsch), The Entertainer (1960 - Tony Richardson), Waiting for Guffman (1996 - Christopher Guest), Bullets Over Broadway (1994 - Woody Allen), Noises Off... (1992 - Peter Bogdanovich), The Tall Guy (1989 - Mel Smith), The Sunshine Boys (1975 - Herbert Ross), The Country Girl (1954 - George Seaton), Being Julia (2004 - István Szabó), Vanya on 42nd Street (1994 - Louis Malle) and the documentaries This So-Called Disaster (2003 - Michael Almereyda) and Life After Tomorrow (2006). Also a must-see Canadian television series from this new century is "Slings & Arrows" (three seasons, 2003-2006).



- I like romantic films, but not really 'chick-flicks'

Looks like you don't own any for examples, but a few I'd recommend off the bat are Truly Madly Deeply (1991 - Anthony Minghella), Casablanca (1942 - Michael Curtiz), Notorious (1946 - Alfred Hitchcock), Amélie (2001 - Jean-Pierre Jeunet), The Bridges of Madison County (1995 - Clint Eastwood) and Two for the Road (1966 – Stanley Donan). Also check out THIS THREAD (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=13005) and THIS THREAD (http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=1330) that already exist on the subject of romantic flicks.


That should get you started

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

Thanks! This is really helpful. I've seen the play of Who's Afraid of Virginia woolf and loved it! And I've wanted to try some O'Neill.

[Sedai]

It's a really great film. Give it a shot!

[These Filthy Hands]

You listed a lot of what you don't like, but not a lot of what you do.

Are you against all horror/comedies?
What about action adventure?

[Envy]

Try A Clockwork Orange, based on a novel written by Anthony Burgess.
Try Dial M for Murder which was based on Frederick Knott's play in the 20th century. Great low budget mystery film too, one of my favourites. As Holden said, Casablanca is a fantastic romance flick.

I'd recommend just renting the DVD and burning it, since DVD's will eventually be void, one day. I use to prefer having the DVD to own, but then again I usually watch a movie that I find decent once, and a movie I adore 2-3 times maximum.

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

You listed a lot of what you don't like, but not a lot of what you do.

Are you against all horror/comedies?
What about action adventure?

I like watching a horror movie (well,some) but I don't like owning them (I've only watch Blair Witch project once)

I don't really like action adventure.

What I DO like:
Clever films
Ones that fit in with my other films :)
Not against historical films
Films with great characters
Emotional conflict films

I like witty films but I prefer them to have other elements (I like Blithe Spirit, if that helps)

[Holden Pike]

I like Blithe Spirit, if that helps

Then I definitely, DEFINITELY second my own recommendation for Truly, Madly, Deeply.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/TrulyMadlyDeeplyMoviePoster.png/200px-TrulyMadlyDeeplyMoviePoster.png http://www.moviemartyr.com/images/1991trulymadlydeeply01.jpg

[Envy]

Try Sunset Boulevard, (1950) great witty film, great characters, truly a somewhat boggling romantic story.

[Godoggo]

Holden already mentioned Harvey, so I will strongly second that one.

How do you feel about musicals? Cabaret is a great story with great characters and fantastic acting.

[Justin]

What I DO like: Clever films


Huh?

[bigal]

recommend constant gardener or brick and pretty much most recent stuff starring robert downey jnr for good characters like a scanner darkly or kiss kiss bang bang.almost forgot you really must see if not own memento

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

We might have a video of memento somewhere at home
and i've been meaning to watch cabaret

Oh, I like musicals :)

[n3wt]

Have tried any of the discworld novels?

If you have then id recommend The Hogfather.
http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/images/products/5/82615-large.jpg

http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/item/274/844/11/o_1192670386.jpg

In the Discworld (a fantasy universe that bears more than a passing resemblance to our own), the winter holidays are overseen by the Hogfather, a jolly fat man in a red suit who comes down the chimney to leave presents for good little girls and boys. Of course, he’s not exactly like Santa – the Hogfather’s sleigh is driven by a team of boars, and children are encouraged to leave out sherry and turnips instead of cookies and milk – but the idea is the same. Who wouldn’t love the Hogfather?

Well, someone doesn’t. A mysterious group of beings hires the Assassins’ Guild to have the Hogfather whacked, and one of the assassins is actually crazy enough to try.

Trust me you'll enjoy this dvd/book

[n3wt]

Its a adeptation on DVD from the book.

[These Filthy Hands]

Hmm...Clerks is pretty whitty (heh, I made a rhyme :]).

Maybe rent The Shining and see how you feel about that.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is really good.
Requiem for a Dream.
300 has really good characters.

My advice is proally going to be completely useless. You should listen to Holden and n3wt.

[n3wt]

You could also try lovefilm.com my mate gives it two thumbs up.

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

Have tried any of the discworld novels?

If you have then id recommend The Hogfather.
In the Discworld (a fantasy universe that bears more than a passing resemblance to our own), the winter holidays are overseen by the Hogfather, a jolly fat man in a red suit who comes down the chimney to leave presents for good little girls and boys. Of course, he’s not exactly like Santa – the Hogfather’s sleigh is driven by a team of boars, and children are encouraged to leave out sherry and turnips instead of cookies and milk – but the idea is the same. Who wouldn’t love the Hogfather?

Well, someone doesn’t. A mysterious group of beings hires the Assassins’ Guild to have the Hogfather whacked, and one of the assassins is actually crazy enough to try.

Trust me you'll enjoy this dvd/book

Oh, no, I don't like fantasy books.

Oh, I love 'forbidden love' stories. I'm a sucker for those!

[honeykid]

Orlando
The Straight Story
Bright Young Things
Breakfast At Tiffany's
Before Sunrise
Fargo
The Big Lebowski
Being John Malkovich
Dangerous Liaisons
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
City Of God
Run Lola Run
Six Degrees Of Seperation
Addictied To Love
Dog Soldiers (more gore than horror, but bloody funny with it)
The Hustler
Girl, Interrupted
Good Night, And Good Luck
Downfall
Ed Wood
Get Carter (1971)
The Long Good Friday
The Hitcher
Sense & Sensibility (1995)

TV
House Of Elliot (1991 BBC)
Bleak House (US title "Masterpiece Theatre: Bleak House" I'm assuming that the Pride & Prejudice you have is the '95 BBC version. If not, then you need to see that.)
Life On Mars (The US version starts in the fall, but my guess is this'll be grittier. Obviously it'll have more of a UK bias though, so you might not get all the references.)


Of everything I've listed here, if you only see one, then make sure it's The Straight Story. To be honest with you, if I meet someone who doesn't like that film, then I don't consider them to be human.

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

What are some of these films about? Yes it's the 95 bbc adaption. and i wanna get ashes to ashes on dvd as i am a total 80's girl

[honeykid]

Although it's not the popular view here, I actually prefered Ashes To Ashes over Life On Mars. I thought that the way that they dealt with the previous series (Life On Mars) worked very well and I liked the fact that they did it through the writing, rather than just falling back on a gimmick or ignoring it all together.

Which films do you want info about?

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

The Straight Story. Bright Young Things is based on Vile Bodies isn't it? Addicted to Love. And 'Before Sunrise'.

:)

[honeykid]

The Straight Story is about an old man who rides his tractor across half of America in order to see his brother, who he's been told is sick. I know boring that sounds, but it's just a simple, sweet, no frills story and it's told the same way. There isn't really any character development and, apart from the old man and his daughter, there aren't really any other characters. The film is all heart. My favourite Lynch film and that's saying something.

Yes, Bright Young Things is based on Vile Bodies. The adaption was written Stephen Fry (who, as you may know, is a huge fan of Waugh's work) and he directs too. I think most criticism of this is down to his handling of the ending. Some of the people I have recommended this to, who I really thought would enjoy it, have come back saying it was little better than "ok", but personally I loved it. I thought that it evoked the 'feel' of the era perfectly (or how I've experienced it through the best tv/film drama anyway) and the performances are good too (with that cast, how could it not?) It's by no means a perfect film, but I think that it ticks enough of the boxes you mentioned.

Addicted To Love is a rom-com that has a little more edge than most. Again, it's not the best film ever made, but it's fun and I enjoyed seeing Meg Ryan playing the rom-com bunny boiler. Two recently dumped people (Ryan and Matthew Broderick) help each other get want they want from their old loves (she wants revenge, he wants her back) It all ends exactly as you think it will, but it's a rom-com, so that's the point. It's 'r' rated if that you decide whether it's a chick-flick or not.

Before Sunrise is possibly the most romantic film I've ever seen. It's incredibly dialogue heavy, but nearly all of it is between the two protagonists (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.) It's smart, witty, dialogue which slowly becomes deeper and more personal. It's a beautiful film and Vienna's a great host for the prospective couple.

[movie_fan87]

I'm from Ireland so im not sure if you can get it in America but if you can try and watch 'V For Vendetta'. Its amazing, great acting, great stroyline and it was a graphic novel.

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

Year's update!

I've watched V for Vendetta and quite liked it, despite not being into superhero type movies.

Watched Get Carter- didn't like it.

Loved Cabaret, and have seen it in theatre too.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was great.

I now own:
Another Country
Educating Rita
Sweet Bird of Youth
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
A Streetcar Named Desire
Night of the Iguana
Vanity Fair
Blair Witch Project
Simpsons Movie
Ghostbusters
Gremlins
Muppets Christmas Carol
Orphee
Brighton Rock
The Great Gatsby
Pride and Prejudice (Tv)
Brideshead Revisited (Tv)

And:
Cleopatra (1963)
Lost In Translation
The English Patient
The Little Mermaid
Nanny McPhee
Clue
Girl with A Pearl Earring
The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone
Brief Encounter
This Property is Condemned

[honeykid]

What didn't you like about Get Carter? I'm guessing it was the Michael Caine version and not the Sly Stallone version.

[TheGirlWhoHadAllTheLuck_]

Michale Caine version.
Um, I guess it wasn't my thing...maybe it's more of a male thing...

[honeykid]

Maybe. Thanks for answering.

[n3wt]

I think you should look through other peoples collections to get some idea's maybe? :)