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Thread: Good finds on Netflix

  1. #1

    Good finds on Netflix

    Netflix is a lot like diamond mining. You have to sift through tons of worthless dirt to get to the good stuff. Every now and then you can uncover a gem.

    Last night Mrs SDUF discovered "Eight Men Out" the story of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. This is a terrific baseball movie not to be missed, or viewed again if it has been a while. It's a quality effort from 1988 by John Sayles starring John Cusack, John Maloney (the dad in Frasier), David Strathairn (Seward in Lincoln), Christopher Lloyd, and Charlie Sheen.

    If you've never seen the film, give it a look. If nothing else you'll find the real reason the players fell for an attempted fix of the world series.

    The film's Rotten Tomatoes rating is 86% by critics and 76% by users.

    eight-men-out2.jpg
    Desse jeito, não tem jeito.

  2. #2
    I'll have to check that one out.

    I agree about the diamond mining comparison. I finally saw "Mulholland Drive." I've heard about it for years, but never saw it. It's as trippy as I've heard. A movie I think I've liked even more *after* watching it as I did while watching it as I've been able to think it through and read about it a little more.

    I came across one called "The Well Digger's Daughter," a French film with subtitles that was quite good.

    Netflix has also been recommending "Barton Fink" to me for a while, and I finally watched it and liked it. I gave it five stars. Maybe I'd recommend it as a four star to anyone else, but it was kind of in my wheel house, so it got an extra star from me.

  3. #3
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by San Diego Ute Fan View Post
    Netflix is a lot like diamond mining. You have to sift through tons of worthless dirt to get to the good stuff. Every now and then you can uncover a gem.

    Last night Mrs SDUF discovered "Eight Men Out" the story of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. This is a terrific baseball movie not to be missed, or viewed again if it has been a while. It's a quality effort from 1988 by John Sayles starring John Cusack, John Maloney (the dad in Frasier), David Strathairn (Seward in Lincoln), Christopher Lloyd, and Charlie Sheen.

    If you've never seen the film, give it a look. If nothing else you'll find the real reason the players fell for an attempted fix of the world series.

    The film's Rotten Tomatoes rating is 86% by critics and 76% by users.

    eight-men-out2.jpg
    Agreed, great movie. John Sayles at his best, working with a great cast and a great story. Not to be missed!

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by FountainOfUte View Post
    I'll have to check that one out.

    I agree about the diamond mining comparison. I finally saw "Mulholland Drive." I've heard about it for years, but never saw it. It's as trippy as I've heard. A movie I think I've liked even more *after* watching it as I did while watching it as I've been able to think it through and read about it a little more.

    I came across one called "The Well Digger's Daughter," a French film with subtitles that was quite good.

    Netflix has also been recommending "Barton Fink" to me for a while, and I finally watched it and liked it. I gave it five stars. Maybe I'd recommend it as a four star to anyone else, but it was kind of in my wheel house, so it got an extra star from me.
    Thanks FOU, hopefully we can get more recommendations like these.
    Desse jeito, não tem jeito.

  5. #5
    Eight Men Out is great.

    I am in the middle of House of Cards right now. I think it is fantastic. Kevin Spacey is simply brilliant. Great writing, excellent cast. Highly recommended.

    For comedy, check out That Mitchell and Webb Look. In fact there are several BBC comedies that are very funny (The IT Crowd, Coupling).

    FOU, Barton Fink is very enjoyable. The Coen Brothers always manage to squeeze incredible performances out of John Turtorro.
    Last edited by NorthwestUteFan; 04-16-2013 at 01:45 PM.

  6. #6
    If you have not watched the tv show 'Better off Ted' then get watching. It filled a nice void when Arrested Development was cancelled. It was a bit uneven but it was fabulous. How can you not love Portia DeRossi? It would have been nice if it lasted longer than 2 seasons.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by NorthwestUteFan View Post
    Eight Men Out is great.

    I am in the middle of House of Cards right now. I think it is fantastic.
    I keep hearing about "Cards." I think I'll like it, I just need to get it started.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by FountainOfUte View Post
    I keep hearing about "Cards." I think I'll like it, I just need to get it started.
    it has been hard for me to get into. it's good, but there are other shows that i want to watch more. right now i am Foyle's War - excellent detective story set in Britain with WWII as a backdrop. i've also been watching the Ken Burns WWII documentary and recently finished that. Excellent.

    I wish Netflix would add The Wire. I am watching it on HBO Go right now, and it is incredible. Hopefully netflix will pick it up soon because it is literally the best cop drama i have ever watched.

  9. #9
    Five-O Diehard Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OrangeUte View Post
    it has been hard for me to get into. it's good, but there are other shows that i want to watch more. right now i am Foyle's War - excellent detective story set in Britain with WWII as a backdrop. i've also been watching the Ken Burns WWII documentary and recently finished that. Excellent.

    I wish Netflix would add The Wire. I am watching it on HBO Go right now, and it is incredible. Hopefully netflix will pick it up soon because it is literally the best cop drama i have ever watched.
    It's HBO that's keeping their shows off Netflix, not Netflix itself.

  10. #10
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    The movie "Higher Ground" stars and is directed by Vera Farmiga. It's about a woman who joins a faith community when she is young. Over time it just doesn't work for her. The movie does a great job of not taking shots at either believers or non-believers. To me the story is all the more intriguing because Farmiga's parents immigrated from Ukraine before she was born, and she herself was raised in an insular Ukrainian community and in a Pentecostal church. I think she brought a lot of her personal story to the movie.

    She said about the movie:

    It should have been a lot harder. I'd say, "It's about a woman enmeshed in this very particular spiritual community who's trying to conceptualize and define God for herself". And you use the word "God" and people quake with fear. That's when I started to realize what a touchy, bizarre, sensitive, combative subject matter it is.
    NY Times review:

    There is something remarkable — you might even say miraculous — about the way “Higher Ground” makes its gentle, thoughtful way across the burned-over terrain of the American culture wars. The film, directed with disarming grace and sharp intelligence by Vera Farmiga (who also stars in it), is about the conflict between skepticism and religious faith, but it does not treat that battle as an either/or, winner-take-all proposition. Movies about belief and believers frequently succumb to woozy piety or brittle contempt, but “Higher Ground” belongs, along with Robert Duvall’s “Apostle” and Michael Tolkin’s underappreciated “Rapture,” among the elect. Focused with sympathetic intensity on the ordeal of a single soul, it illuminates, as though from within, a complex spiritual struggle.
    Roger Ebert review.

    It's well worth watching. People who have left their faith and those who have stayed will enjoy it. So will people who simply know people of faith, or who think about faith issues.

    It's funny in parts, by the way. Not a heavy movie. Note: I saw the movie on an airplane, so I don't know why it is rated R.
    Last edited by LA Ute; 04-21-2013 at 05:13 PM.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Diehard Ute View Post
    It's HBO that's keeping their shows off Netflix, not Netflix itself.
    This is likely true.

    HBO makes good television. Curb Your Enthusiasm used to be on Netflix. That's another great show.

  12. #12

  13. #13
    I watched "Miller's Crossing" the other week. Since it is a Coen film I am sure that others knew it was out there, but I just ran across it and decided to give it a try. Great movie. Hardly any swearing, the violence was rather mild, no sex scenes, just a great mob movie with good characters. I enjoyed the movie very much.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Sullyute View Post
    I watched "Miller's Crossing" the other week. Since it is a Coen film I am sure that others knew it was out there, but I just ran across it and decided to give it a try. Great movie. Hardly any swearing, the violence was rather mild, no sex scenes, just a great mob movie with good characters. I enjoyed the movie very much.
    I don't understand why that movie doesn't get more respect. Thoroughly enjoyable. Reminds me of another under appreciated Gabriel Byrne project- the HBO series "In Treatment". Not sure if that's on Netflix though.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by San Diego Ute Fan View Post
    Netflix is a lot like diamond mining. You have to sift through tons of worthless dirt to get to the good stuff. Every now and then you can uncover a gem.

    Last night Mrs SDUF discovered "Eight Men Out" the story of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. This is a terrific baseball movie not to be missed, or viewed again if it has been a while. It's a quality effort from 1988 by John Sayles starring John Cusack, John Maloney (the dad in Frasier), David Strathairn (Seward in Lincoln), Christopher Lloyd, and Charlie Sheen.

    If you've never seen the film, give it a look. If nothing else you'll find the real reason the players fell for an attempted fix of the world series.

    The film's Rotten Tomatoes rating is 86% by critics and 76% by users.
    Eight Men Out was released my senior year of high school, and did good box office as it was released during possibly the best era of baseball movies (The Natural, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams). To refer to it as an "uncovered gem" makes me feel oh so old. I'd just as soon expect my kids to tell me about this great new band they found on ITunes called Led Zeppelin. But I'm glad your wife found it. It is a great movie.

  16. #16
    We watched "Safety Not Guaranteed" the other night. Really, really enjoyed it. It's about reporters who answer an ad looking for a time traveling companion to find out if the guy is serious or not.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Utah View Post
    We watched "Safety Not Guaranteed" the other night. Really, really enjoyed it. It's about reporters who answer an ad looking for a time traveling companion to find out if the guy is serious or not.
    I watched it too a couple weeks ago. I didn't like the ending (I thought it was too cliche) but still really enjoyed the movie.

  18. #18
    Not on Netflix, but I have watched two series on Hulu that I thought were very good: The Promise and Prisoners of War. The Promise is a story about a young english girl who travels to Israel with a friend and before doing so finds the journal of her dying grandfather who was in the British military after WWII and stationed in Palestine. Prisoners of War is an Israeli television show about the return of 3 israeli POW's after 17 years in captivity. I have enjoyed both very much.

  19. #19
    Recently came across "Suits" on Amazon prime. Suits is the story of a kid with a rough history who talks his way into the practice of law at a White Shoe firm in New York. Problem is he doesn't have a Law Degree. I guess season 3 starts in July.

  20. #20
    I just watched a Netflix movie produced and directed by Emelio Estevez called the way. It stars Martin Sheen and is the story of a trek across El Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It was worth watching.

  21. #21
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by UTEopia View Post
    I just watched a Netflix movie produced and directed by Emelio Estevez called the way. It stars Martin Sheen and is the story of a trek across El Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It was worth watching.
    I've seen that and fully agree.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  22. #22
    Senior Member Scorcho's Avatar
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    I'll second the House of Cards original Netflix series. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright play a powerful DC couple with ambitions of title and power, and both are brilliant in their roles.

    This show is unique in that Spacey occasionally stops mid-scene, turns to the camera and gives a short narrative of what he's feeling or additional insight into what's going on at the moment. It's original and I'm sure will be copied by other TV Producers.

    Who would have thought Netflix could have produced such quality. This is a great show. It's got a little nudity, some swearing and sexual situations. I'd probably rate it a hard PG-13 or a soft R.

  23. #23
    Educating Cyrus wuapinmon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scorcho View Post
    I'll second the House of Cards original Netflix series. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright play a powerful DC couple with ambitions of title and power, and both are brilliant in their roles.

    This show is unique in that Spacey occasionally stops mid-scene, turns to the camera and gives a short narrative of what he's feeling or additional insight into what's going on at the moment. It's original and I'm sure will be copied by other TV Producers.

    Who would have thought Netflix could have produced such quality. This is a great show. It's got a little nudity, some swearing and sexual situations. I'd probably rate it a hard PG-13 or a soft R.
    I'd call it a hard R when Spacey goes down on someone with little left to the imagination.
    "This culture doesn't sell modesty. It sells "I am more modest than you" modesty." -- Two Utes

  24. #24
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    I just found the AMC television series "Hell on Wheels" on Netflix.

    Has anyone else here given this show a go?

    I like it! It is about building the Union Pacific Railroad across the West just after the end of the Civil War. Hell on wheels is the encampment that follows the progress of the line as it moves forward. Ambition, Indians, freed slaves, remaining North - South tensions, gunfighters, politics, prostitutes, preachers, blood and whiskey... It's a gritty Western series.

    Oh and soon to be... Mormons.
    Last edited by Devildog; 11-04-2013 at 12:32 PM.

  25. #25
    Just watched the first 2 seasons of "Sherlock." It's a BBC show with 3 90 minute episodes each season. I can't recommend it strongly enough; it's absolutely fantastic TV. Each episode is like its own movie with some over-arching themes.

  26. #26
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Scratch View Post
    Just watched the first 2 seasons of "Sherlock." It's a BBC show with 3 90 minute episodes each season. I can't recommend it strongly enough; it's absolutely fantastic TV. Each episode is like its own movie with some over-arching themes.
    We're hooked on it too.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  27. #27
    Yes, Sherlock is fantastic. Benedict Cumberbatch makes Sherlock an exceptionally interesting character, for a sociopath.

    FYI, the new episodes begin on Jan 19...
    Last edited by NorthwestUteFan; 11-05-2013 at 09:57 AM.

  28. #28
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    We watched the first two seasons. I don't like it as much as others do. Two of the main characters - Sherlock and Moriarty - are hard for me to like. He's no Columbo, that's for sure.
    You're not supposed to like Moriarty!

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  29. #29
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    Well, yeah, he's a bad guy. But you are supposed to appreciate how he's portrayed. You aren't rooting for Hans Gruber, but you love the character. Moriarty is a classic villain, but this whiny, effeminate version makes the show nearly unwatchable. As the opening credits roll, you sit and hope it's not a Moriarty episode.

    And you are supposed to like Holmes. This new twist - to portray him as a friendless jerk - is something of a disservice to the character.

    Still, the little puzzles and clues are always fun to see.
    I think this Moriarty is a chilling, evil, psychopathic personality. I also wish the Sherlock character were less of a freak. He is not easy to like. Fortunately, it's easy to care about the Watson character

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  30. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by sancho View Post
    Well, yeah, he's a bad guy. But you are supposed to appreciate how he's portrayed. You aren't rooting for Hans Gruber, but you love the character. Moriarty is a classic villain, but this whiny, effeminate version makes the show nearly unwatchable. As the opening credits roll, you sit and hope it's not a Moriarty episode.

    And you are supposed to like Holmes. This new twist - to portray him as a friendless jerk - is something of a disservice to the character.

    Still, the little puzzles and clues are always fun to see.
    I love the Moriarty episodes. Maybe I can relate to whiny and effeminate.

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