I’m reversing the process this week; instead of recommending something to you, I’m asking for your movie recommendations. Usually I have a list going but I’ve been at home at lot recently so I’ve managed to make my way through everything I wanted to see. So bring it on; tell me about your must see movies, the ones that no viewing life should be without. Alternatively I’m listing some of my favourite genres below in case this sparks any gems in your memory:
Gangster movies: I’ve already seen the obvious ones. Basically the ideal formula contains guns, men kissing other men before shooting them in the head, people being garrotted in their cars by their closest friends, a psychotic Irishman staring down another psychotic Irishman, people doing industrial amounts of drugs before going on violent rampages, hookers, grieving widows, family gatherings replete with stoic mothers, and more guns. See here, here and here for examples.
Disaster movies: Regular readers will know I have a passion for disaster movies. I have mined the genre fairly extensively but if there are any obscure and/or hilariously implausible ones that I have yet to watch, please tell me.
Documentaries: I watch a lot of them. I’m always in the mood to learn.
I humbly await your suggestions in the comments and thank you in advance.
Alex Donald's Multiverse 
Suckerpunch and Labrynth
Ad, let’s make a deal? I’ll watch Suckerpunch the whole way through (readers: I have only so far made it to 30 mins of this movie before dismissing it as a load of sexist rape-fantasy bullshit) if you and I can debate it on the blog next week?
I’ve seen Labyrinth and still remain traumatised by David Bowie’s crotch!
presspauseplay http://www.presspauseplay.com/ and bobby fischer vs the world http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1777551/ are 2 docs i really enjoyed
drive is amazing ,electro soundtrack, car chases and extreme violence
red state was really good, big change in direction for kevin smith
crazy stupid love is the best comedy i’ve seen in a long time , so smart and and ryan gosling is a handsome charming bastard in it
for a gangster movie , how about AN irish american gangster series, i enjoyed the 3 series of brotherhood set in the irish neighbourhoods of Providence
Very interesting! I have just rented Bobby Fischer on iTunes. Really looking forward to it.
Never heard of Brotherhood (is that the name)? Might try and find it online. Cheers!
yeah ‘brotherhood’ is about 5 or 6 years old
Combine the documentary , disaster and gangster themes and spend a weekend watching Spike Lee’s magnificent “When the Levees Broke” with the equally moving “Trouble the Water ” between episodes of Treme and round it off with Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant , reckon that covers the bases.
Thanks Michael! I’m unwilling to watch Bad Lieutenant as I heard it’s so awful compared to the Abel Ferrara version with Harvey Keitel. Have you seen the original? What do you think? Will deffo check out the rest of your recommendations!
I accept it’s not a patch on Ferrara original but it is yet another Nicholas Cage overacting masterclass .I was thinking of suggesting Angel Heart where Alan Parker battles to keep DeNiro and Rourke in check. The Spike Lee doc interspersed with episodes of Treme is the deal .
I’m guessing you’ve seen all the obvious Gangster movies (Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino) but there’s a few off the wall ones I can mention (without necessarily recommending them): The Freshman, starring Matthew Broderick and Marlon Brando, essentially sending up his own performance in the Godfather. Not a great movie but worth seeing Brando “almost” reprising his role. But its kind of terrible.
The Krays – “Spandau Ballet Go Psycho”! 🙂
A Bronx Tale with Robert De Niro is a brilliant film, and for once De Niro isn’t the gangster!
Bugsy Malone – has to be said, raised the bar for gangster movies everywhere! And for little stage-school brats.
I only really watch music documentaries, and I ASSUME you’ve seen the entire Beatles Anthology documentary? Have you also seen “Gimme Some Truth”, the film about the making of Imagine? And the “Wingspan” documentary is good, if only for the early solo-McCartney period (1969 – 1971) and some great footage and photos of Paul with a massive beard. Its actually on YouTube, in reasonably good quality.
Have seen The Krays and A Bronx Tale and Bugsy Malone. Excellent choices Rob. I’ll deffo check out the Freshman. Haven’t seen the Beatles Anthology either so that’s going on the list too!
Kings of pastry. A documentary about pastry chefs competing to win the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France. This is the pastry chef equivalent of a Nobel prize. It might sound weird but it is actually really dramatic. http://kingsofpastry.com/
Bizarre! Definitely checking it out!
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