What movies made in the last five years are worth watching?

Book of Eli I enjoyed, but its one of those movies you realy have to think on a bit to see the depths of it (it does have a religious overtones as well, which may kill it for some).

Scott Pilgrim is a fun movie, but like some movies I think you realy need to be part of the video game culture to realy get the most out of it, and be able to disjoint your sence of any possible reality from it.

Both of these I tend to think will work for you if you have the background/interest or similar to get out of them what is there but if you dont they will likely leave you a bit WTH?

 

I liked Book of Eli, but hated the religious junk. Yet as you said, it takes some thought to see why that was required. If it had been volume "M" of the encyclopedia, there would not have been nearly as much need for it in the post apocalyptic world. So in hindsight, I suggest that movie for everyone, including those who hate religion. You will initially hate the movie, but after watching it fully you will appreciate the subtleties. And there are several things very interesting about it.

I really was fooled until half way through the movie where something is more clearly revealed. Perhaps my distaste for certain aspects blinded me to one important detail about it.

 

I just watched "District 9" and loved it for the most part. It was not really what I expected.

It does pretty accurately depict racism and common greed. I wonder if there will be a sequel?

 

I just watched "Inglorious Bastards".

It was easily the best nazi movie I ever watched. But I fail to understand how an injustice committed against one ethnicity is acceptable against another just because some few committed atrocities.

An atrocity against any ethnicity is equal in my eyes. It is what it is. No good can come from deciding that an entire ethnicity is not worthy of protection from atrocity. Period.

 

Yes an no. This is going to be a little bit of a history lesson.

I think you need to put this into historical perspective. The Nazis systematically were rounding up Jews in Germany and all occupied countries. This was not the first genocide of its kind, but it was the first one to get worldwide notice (most Americans ignored it, but there were stories in the New York Times about the institutionalized persecution of Jews before the war). Furthermore, Germany was especially effective in their genocide because of the aid of IBM. This is well-documented. What happened was back in 1933, IBM helped Germany with their census, and in 1939, helped Germany perform a census in Poland. One of the major goals of this census was to track ethnicities and relations (to see who had Jewish blood). Thus when Germany mounted their final solution, it wasn't the first genocide in history, but it was the most efficient one to date (Jews living in countries other than Germany and Poland found it easier to hide their background because Germany didn't have complete census data). Jews were treated like cattle or slaves. In fact, in some camps they were used as experimental test subjects, tortured, etc. Here's some information about this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

And these were civilians, not soldiers (although in some cases, the Jews rounded up had actually fought for Germany during the first world war.

So no, I can't equate what the basterds did to what the Nazis did.

 

There goes the thread...

Mention you dislike seeing nazis atrocities every day of your life and people line up to persecute you for not being anti-nazi enough.

Show me where I said they deserved mercy or anything like that?

Since I presume you cannot, the argument is pointless.

IBM did very much evil in it's time. So you being a consumer can choose not to buy their products and services.

I do not watch zombie movies because I hate seeing people in pain. That is the same reason I dislike historical or not nazi crap.

I do not want to see it. Am I a nazi supporter for this? Should I wear a Jewish star and pledge my undying love to everyone who is born to a Jewish woman? I refuse. I do not support either extreme. None of that awful stuff happened in my lifetime, and frankly there is maybe a handful of people that are still alive that can say they were victimized by either side.

Shall we recount the horrors of all history or risk being labeled unsympathetic? I *AM* unsympathetic. Leave the horrors of the past right there. Nothing we do will ever change the past. We should let the enemies of generations past become neutral, or we risk inviting further conflict.

Notice that I do not capitalize the word nazi. I do however capitalize the word Jew. The reason is that if I neglect to capitalize Jew I will be labeled as an antisemite. This was something the ignorance of a few taught me. No-one of this century cares that I show no respect for the "nazi" political party. In a few hundred years this same exact thing may be regarded differently.

I welcome the future so long as it does not continue the same ignorance and hatred of the past and even the present.

 

I just watched Moon.

Nice sci-fi movie that is believable. That makes it a rarity.

 

http://www.poetryofresilience.com/ - a documentary about poets who have survived things-- genocide, Hiroshima, the Holocaust, the Cultural Revolution in China, etc. Worth a watch if it ever gets larger distribution. I had the privilege of seeing an early cut of it last year.

 

In fact, there is a sequel planned! I am pleased, but will reserve judgement. So excited to have spread District 9 to another person.

Also - way to bring the thread back on track!

 

I really hoped they would make a sequel. It fits the ending that there must be one. And it was just too good to pass on anyway.

I hope you will beat my door off the hinges when it comes out. (Or post here. That would work.)

 

Battle: Los Angeles (2011) (if you like sci-fi, and war movies)
City of Ember (2008) (an animated childrens movie, but good, also sci-fi)
Gamer (2009) (taking mmos and fps shooters to the extreme in a future where they can control other people remotely)
Outlander (2008) (Sci-fi alien dragon hunting in viking norway)
Real Steel (2011) (Father/son movie with robot boxing)
Source Code (2011) (Limited time travel movie with soldier on mission to find terrorist for an act of terrorism that has already happened)
Limitless (2011) (Guy gets access to drugs that make him super smart)

Limited my selection to sci-fi because you said you liked sci-fi.

 

Thanks again. (I know I am *like* spamming, but I do appreciate the recommendations.)

Remember that this thread is good for everyone. I appreciate you catering to me and my tastes, but others may enjoy other things you may recommend.

At this rate I will have to live at least another decade to find and watch all the good movies in the posts here. I like that.

 

I just finished Push. It was good, but somewhat unbelievable in the Matrix sort of way. The Blond girl looks familiar but I cannot place her. (But then, I suppose every young teenage girl wants to look exactly like she does.)

Ah. No wonder. She has been in 46 movies. No wonder she looks familiar. Oddly though, I recognize zero of the other movies she has been in. Dakota Fanning

*Edit* She is eighteen years old? Wow. I would have sworn she was is a child.

 

It's interesting that I liked Push so much specifically because I found the applications of telekinesis especially believable. The battle between the two telekinetics was totally awesome. I also liked the telekinetic gunplay.

Perhaps you meant the precog element was unbelievable? Or something else?

 

More the way the Matrix was unbelievable in that there is a super powered individual that can wage a war against an endless army without taking a scratch.

Precognition is a subject I hate. It ranks right up there with Fate and Luck and Destiny in my eyes. If Fate exists, then none of us actually have any responsibility for our actions in any situation. Even the most historical of monsters would be blameless if fate existed.

Choice is the opposite of fate. They cannot both exist.

The movie Push spun precognition in a different way. That some could see what was going to happen in the future because of choices made in the present. That I can totally accept.

 

I've seen a similar argument made to disprove God's omnescience and omnipotence. Either God has a plan which explains every event and we have no free will, or we have free will, and thus God does not know what will happen, and the responsibility for our actions falls on us.

 

That is my opinion on the subject.

If an all-powerful and all-knowing being exists, then it has the capacity to negate all pains and make this universe incapable of the harshness of reality. But then I am more agnostic than to believe in something that cannot be proven or demonstrated in any way.

I see equal evidence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster as I do of any other deity. That in no way means that one does not exist just because I may not see it or understand it. Some would say this lack of faith is problematic. But at least I do not believe in Cthulu or some other monster used as an excuse to commit horrors upon other Humans.

 

I just watched Winter's Bone.

That was probably the second most depressing movie I have seen that did not involve torture or zombies. But it is a good film nonetheless.

It sheds an unfriendly light on the sad state of affairs in the "Country" areas of America. I have been to places that this is a sadly accurate depiction of life. Areas where women have no real rights, men are usually drunk or drugged, and the "Law" is equally corrupt as the criminals. The Judicial system punished the victims of crime more than the offenders in most areas I have lived. Take that any way you can. It is accurate that way.

 

Some of the best films are thoroughly unpleasant. Schindler's List, for example. I hope Winter's Bone sticks with you as a positive experience - even if it's a relentless downer.

 

It was.

I sometimes really enjoy the darker side of movies. A personal favorite is Requiem For A Dream.

I still cannot decide who had the worst end in that horrible yet ironically good movie.

I think that either the Woman or the "Negro" as he was called in the end had the worst end in that movie. But I cannot decide which was worse.

If anyone here has not seen it, do so at once!