Suggestion Box

Although we are stubbornly committed to forcing our choices upon you, it’s not an easy job. Please feel free to make suggestions about movies (and MovieNight, for that matter). Your input may be pooh-poohed straight away, only to find that, a few months later, your suggestion is taken up, and absolutely no credit is given to you!

Seriously, though… it’s good to have feedback and we welcome your suggestions. Please consider the following attributes we look for in a MovieNight pick:

Off the beaten track
We don’t want to show something that everyone has seen, even if it is great (except for films like “Casablanca” and “North by Northwest”, which we could watch over and over). Many times we find foreign films that slip through the major studios’ hands, and are available on import before their theatrical release dates here! Keep your eyes out for those.

Humor
Although comedies are the best, we don’t really like silly and we can’t cope with stupid. Even the most chilling thriller can (and should) have a few well-placed laughs.

MovieNightness
Remember that you’ll be watching a film in the unique atmosphere of MovieNight… it’s not like sitting in a cinema packed with people you don’t know, and having to keep absolutely quiet (although there are rules, as you know…)

Length
About 100 minutes is ideal… of course we make exceptions sometimes when a longer film is just too good to be ignored. Your email invitation to such a film will generally implore you not to be late!

Quality
With the improvements we have been making over recent months (Blu-ray, HD-DVD, up-sampling DVD players, new projector, Dolby 7.1 sound system, new, gray screen), we have been enjoying very-near-cinema quality (although, we still have to close one curtain to shut out that ridiculously bright streetlight in front of Trader Joe’s!). Unless the content is really really really outstanding, we don’t like to screen poor quality work, or crappily mastered DVD’s. “Hands on a Hard Body” is an example of a great one that we deliberated over for a long time before we showed… the quality is terrible but, hey, it was a great MovieNight!

Richard

34 thoughts on “Suggestion Box”

  2. I dont know if you have shown any Amadovar but Talk to Her and Bad Education are my favorite. Speaking of Spain, Sex and Lucia is one of my favorite movies (but its a bit graphic with the sex). Another movie that I recently fell in love with is Taking Pehlam, 123. Its one of the best heist movies I have ever seen!

  3. That’s funny about The Taking of Pelham 123. It’s one of Bob’s favorites (see Successful Suggesters) but I’ve never shown it. They’re in the process of shooting the remake right now! As for the Spanish movies, I like all of those, but I thought Sex and Lucia might make the ladies in the audience a little squeamish (or maybe hot?). Thanks for your input!

  5. Brand Upon The Brain – I haven’t seen it yet, but I remember it looking fantastic. Especially the live setting of a small orchestra, foley artists and narrator. Guy Maddin and a modern 1920s silent film, come on! What more could you ask for?

  7. Pelham 123 was a great movie!! I was so scared for those passengers!

    Keeping with that level of suspense makes sense. Why not something to put us in the mood for election day? Something like a political thriller — the War Room (featuring Hill, Bill, and Gennifer) or All the President’s Men (maybe everybody’s already seen it??)

    Failing those suggestions, I would love to see a movie about a runner.

  8. Have you thought about upgrading the sound system? The Taking of Pelham 123 screening was great, but it was sometimes hard to hear, and I think there were only two speakers? So many quality DVDs these days are coming out with 5 to 7 audio tracks, allowing for the real theater experience…

  9. I would like to suggest a film that flew through theaters a few years ago despite being well reviewed and highly entertaining.
    Kiss Kiss Bang Bang w/Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer.

    Review Consensus from Rotten Tomatoes: Tongue-in-cheek satire blends well with entertaining action and spot-on performances in this dark, eclectic neo-noir homage

  11. Hey Miconian,
    Thanks for your feedback (no pun intended). Yes, the sound was disappointing. However… I believe the sound track on this movie already sucked, and this was a DVD that was mastered before the advent of quality home theater. Although the sound system here isn’t exactly state-of-the-art, it’s pretty good… you just have to listen to the sound track of a DVD with great sound design, and you’ll hear. (Birth, for example, sounded amazing) There are many speakers in the house… the thing I have the biggest problem with, is the dynamic range, and this was particularly annoying in Pelham. The subway scenes were really loud, and the other scenes were too soft. What with making cocktails and popcorn, it’s difficult to have to also modulate the amplitude.

  13. Tory,
    “Don’t Look Now”… good suggestion. Already featured here, but maybe the time is right for another showing. Gotta love Donald and Julie being shoved around by Nick, in Venice, to boot.

  14. The one of many Russkies,
    Will check it out, but Costa Rica (as I like to call him) doesn’t play well here… or at least that’s what I imagine. I got so excited about Black Cat White Cat, as a potential MN, but after 4 tries at watching, I had to abandon. Maybe I just can’t identify with the gold-toothed gypsy? Funny thing… in a few years (God willing), I’ll want to show this, and pretend it was all my idea! I guess that’s a win-win. Keep pushing me, please.

  15. Yo Chris S.
    Thanks for that. I really have to get “Maddined” up. Guy and I both have roots in Winnipeg. I haven’t seen a single Maddin flick. Honestly. Shamefully.

  18. ok-so no Kusturica (‘costa rica’ in ur lingo). although Arizona Dreams is very diff. no good for MN?i dont believe it- just mention Johnny Depp and you got females fighting to get a seat. think about it… (still pushing)
    have you considered “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” – wow i’m speechless…i think it’s incredible and promise to cry if you show. please? пожалуйста?

  19. I’ll give AD a look. Diving Bell? Amazing. Do you think enough people haven’t seen it? I’d LOVE to show that one. It’s funny, because, in spite of a natural (?) predisposition to be skeptical about Julian, I feel he’s made 3 great movies, each one better than the last.

  21. “Idiocracy” by Mike Judge (yes, the “Office” and “Beavis and Butthead’ guy).

    A cult classic, suppressed by the corporate media and bush regime (many of us russkies and lithuanskies and polskies can relate to that..)

  24. Hi Richard,

    I’d like to suggest: “Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains”, Chan-Wook Park’s “Thirst”, and “Paris, Texas”…!! x

  26. Toto is great! Somewhat strangely named “Toto le heros” with an ‘s’. I guess that’s because of the storyline? Anyway, a DVD has been ordered… stay tuned. I’ll revisit Chungking Express. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected when I watched it a few years ago, but that could simply have been about my mood at that moment in time. In general, I love Wong Kar Wai. Thanks for suggesting!

  29. MICMACS! Jean-Pierre Jeunets next best thing. Quirky, funny, a touch of romance and just down right awesome!

  31. Angst Essen Seele auf (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul)- Not sure if you have ever shown this movie in the past but I thought it was so well done. Tackles some issues that still exist today and does it in such a thoughtful entertaining way. Cheers

  34. Have you ever shown The Red Violin? A not-too-watched little Canadian gem (you should be proud!) about a priceless, perfectly handcrafted violin’s fate, with an unexpectedly cast Samuel L. Jackson. Even though I’m not in NYC to enjoy MN anymore, I do live vicariously through every week’s posting.

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