Netflix watch instantly on 360 recommendations

hepcat · 2014-11-10T10:13:38.000Z

Pogue Mahone:

Except for the whole alien life form living under the ice of Europa, you mean.

Nope, alien life has been a part of good science fiction for ages.

edit: whoops, forgeforsaken already answered.

malkav11 · 2014-11-10T11:14:22.000Z

I think they may have come up already, but two standouts that I have watched recently:

The Act of Killing, an astonishing documentary where the filmmaker gets together with two of the key men who carried out the “Communist” purges in Indonesia, killing many thousands of people, and who are still free men today, even celebrated for their role in this. (There’s a segment where they appear on what appears to be the Indonesian equivalent of a morning show and the host practically fawns over them.) The idea is that they make their own film telling the story of their actions including reenactments (and, bizarrely, musical numbers) and the documentary maker simply follows them through the process. He very occasionally converses with these men and their associates, but mostly it’s unprompted discourses and conversation among one another. And it’s astonishing how blase they are about recounting murder, torture, etc. There’s no sense that most of them have any real regret, but they openly admit to the things they did having been wrong and at no point suggest that they were true believers in the cause they were supposedly forwarding. Heck, they also come right out and say they lied about the things these people had done, falsified confessions, etc. It’s just…mindboggling.

Also, A Hijacking, which, like Captain Phillips, deals with Somali pirates hijacking a ship. But the feel is very different and this one feels much more authentic and interesting. There’s no real action - we don’t see the hijacking take place and there are no attempts to escape or fight off the pirates - but it’s fascinating in a different way as we see the crew cope with this perilous situation for over 4 months as well as their employers negotiating with the pirates. Both ends are surprisingly fraught and human. Loved it.

divedivedive · 2014-11-10T11:19:39.000Z

hepcat:

Nope, alien life has been a part of good science fiction for ages.

edit: whoops, forgeforsaken already answered.

I think a giant space octopus living on a moon of Jupiter is slightly fantastical.

ChristienMurawski · 2014-11-10T11:22:58.000Z

malkav11:

Also, A Hijacking, which, like Captain Phillips, deals with Somali pirates hijacking a ship. But the feel is very different and this one feels much more authentic and interesting. There’s no real action - we don’t see the hijacking take place and there are no attempts to escape or fight off the pirates - but it’s fascinating in a different way as we see the crew cope with this perilous situation for over 4 months as well as their employers negotiating with the pirates. Both ends are surprisingly fraught and human. Loved it.

I second this recommendation. Tom recommended we watch this for the Captain Phillips podcast and I was so happy he did.

-xtien

WhollySchmidt · 2014-11-10T11:30:09.000Z

Christien Murawski:

Just a reminder that Europa Report is on Netflix Instant. I’m watching it again tonight, and if you haven’t seen it, give it a shot.

-xtien

“No one at home knows we’re alive.”

Haven’t listened to the podcast yet, but I’m guessing you fled back to Europa Report to clean off the stink of Interstellar? Because that’s what I wanted to do.

hepcat · 2014-11-10T12:55:26.000Z

Pogue Mahone:

I think a giant space octopus living on a moon of Jupiter is slightly fantastical.

You should probably read this.

Fantastical would’ve been the reveal that it was filled with mitochondria which then allowed it to levitate the ship. The existence of a simple life form on a planet that scientists believe is one of the better bets for supporting life in our solar system is hardly the same.

Does that mean it exists? Hell no. That’s why it’s called science fiction. But it’s not fantastical in the way so many films calling themselves science fiction are these days.

divedivedive · 2014-11-10T15:40:54.000Z

I’ve read a ton of articles about Europa, I find them really interesting and they’re mainly why I watched the movie. You’ll note that most information about Europa and other possible hot spots in the solar system, including the one you linked, talks about bacterial life. Nothing so complex as a potentially intelligent octopus. That would be a stretch. My point’s not that there isn’t much more crazy science fiction out there, it’s that this movie took an interesting idea and extrapolated it way out past the point where there would be any scientific basis to support it.

hepcat · 2014-11-10T18:34:21.000Z

I repeat, it’s not fantastical in the way so many films calling themselves science fiction are these days.

divedivedive · 2014-11-10T18:39:41.000Z

Ok, you win, I’m bored.

hepcat · 2014-11-10T19:27:58.000Z

Intelligent space octopus thanks you for playing.

belouski · 2014-11-10T20:15:19.000Z

carltonbauheimer:

Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas is an unfortunately titled movie that turns out to be pretty good. I first watched it a couple months ago. It is about a horse merchant in… some part of medieval Europe who gets robbed by a local lord. Some stuff happens and BAM! You’ve got your uprising led by none other than Mads Mikkelsen. He is honestly the biggest draw of the movie (if you like him as an actor you’ll probably enjoy the movie). You’ll have to read subtitles, and even then the dialogue comes off as a little stilted. The pacing and style of action reminds me of something you’d see in No Country For Old Men.

I second Age of Uprising. It had flavors of Refn, but with a linear narrative. Good stuff. I also really liked the relationship between father and child.

TimElhajj · 2014-11-10T20:23:59.000Z

hepcat:

I repeat, it’s not fantastical in the way so many films calling themselves science fiction are these days.

Pogue Mahone:

Ok, you win, I’m bored.

This reminds me of every argument I’ve ever had with my mom. Thanks guys. I’m going to go sit on the toilet for a little while now.

hepcat · 2014-11-11T04:24:18.000Z

You would argue with your mom while on the toilet? That’s…awkward.

TimElhajj · 2014-11-11T14:33:48.000Z

Yep, agreed. Especially if she ran off with the paper.

carltonbauheimer · 2014-11-14T20:59:47.000Z

The second season of Peaky Blinders is on Netflix now.

charmtrap · 2014-11-16T19:11:42.000Z

We Are The Best! is freaking awesome. It’s about a trio of 13-year-old girls in Sweden in 1982 who decide to form a punk rock band. Not dreary or disaffected or abused at all…no drugs, no weirdo sex. I found it utterly charming.

CLWheeljack · 2014-11-17T07:06:02.000Z

Has The Rocketeer been on Netflix for a while, or was it just added?

Anyways, it’s still pretty good. It’s way more Disney than I remember (it sure loves a pratfall), but it’s still aw-shucks charming. And it’s got a ton of character actors.

BrianRubin · 2014-11-17T07:48:29.000Z

I think it was added within the last month or two, and yeah, it totally holds up because it has that almost fairy-tale-40s quality to it.

Rock8man · 2014-11-19T18:54:22.000Z

I just saw Catching Fire (sequel to Hunger Games). I was very pleasantly surprised. The first movie was so boring to me. It was all about the rules, the universe, the process of the games, etc. It was bizarre that way. Instead of making you care about the characters and what happened to them, the movie concentrated purely on the world-building.

But the sequel was quite different. This time they had several key scenes right in the beginning that setup the stakes beautifully, and made me care about what happened next. A remarkable turnaround. Recommended.

ChristienMurawski · 2014-11-19T19:28:10.000Z

Rock8man:

I just saw Catching Fire (sequel to Hunger Games)…Recommended.

Whoa. What!

Okay, Rock8man. I’ll give it a try.

-xtien