Movie & TV Show Recommendations

[The Feline Solution 2]

Drive Angry

I watched that one this year, too and i don't know why i didn't turn it off 10 minutes in. Hands down one of the worst movies i've ever watched and i pretty much did nothing but watch films for the past 30 years. Offensively bad, really. Agree with every movie in the last tier under the "This actually sucks" aspect, Ghostland i did actually turn off a couple of minutes in.

I thought Leaving Las Vegas was too depressing, kind of took me out it.

Understandable. Pretty much my #1 Cage film, especially regarding his acting.

I expected nothing from Mandy, put it on on a whim when i was out of stuff to watch and it blew me away. Just a super wild movie that takes a fairly run-of-the-mill story and makes something very original out of it. Loved the cinematography, the costumes, the violence, the ending, all of it. The scene where he meets the Chemist was my personal highlight. Top-tier casting in this one in general.

Port of Call has the craziest Cage for me and that is why i love it, though Herzog's direction also helps. The scene with the lizard, the "I can still see him dancing" scene, the retirement home scene, just pure craziness and absurdity. On my first rewatch i couldn't even remember what i disliked on my first watch. Extremely entertaining movie.

Edit: I feel D tier for Bangkok Dangerous is too harsh. While the original shits all over it it still had ultra-cool hitman Cage (with a very silly haircut) and some nice action scenes.

 

[Human Waiter]

I feel D tier for Bangkok Dangerous is too harsh. While the original shits all over it it still had ultra-cool hitman Cage (with a very silly haircut) and some nice action scenes.

The one assassination on the river was a good scene, but overall I thought the movie was pretty boring, a cardinal sin for an action movie. I hold the Humanity Bureau as his worst movie, tired plot, bad villain, dumb action scenes, bland performance from Nic. Drive Angry and Ghostland are insane+retarded, they achieve a "so bad it's good" Humanity Bureau is just bad, pure dreck.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

Mandy i watched this year, outstanding movie

Hell yeah. I love Beyond The Black Rainbow and Mandy didn't disappoint. I should rewatch it soon, which is something I rarely do. I can't wait for Nekrokosm. Have you seen Cosmatos' episode of Cabinet of Curiosities?

Port of Call has the craziest Cage for me and that is why i love it, though Herzog's direction also helps. The scene with the lizard, the "I can still see him dancing" scene, the retirement home scene, just pure craziness and absurdity. On my first rewatch i couldn't even remember what i disliked on my first watch. Extremely entertaining movie.

It's 100% because Herzog directed it. His track record is really impressive. Have you seen Incident At Loch Ness? He didn't direct it, but he appears in the movie as a slightly comedic version of himself. It's a surpsisingly funny film about moviemaking. It's all a big goof and you'll have a good time if you know that from the beginning.

 

[AnOminous]

I thought Leaving Las Vegas was too depressing, kind of took me out it.

John O'Brien's sister said that both his novel and the movie romanticized his life and death and the reality was actually much worse.

I'd personally put it in S-tier along with other grim bummer movies like Requiem for a Dream.

Understandable. Pretty much my #1 Cage film, especially regarding his acting.

It says something about Cage's acting range that his best movie is mind-bendingly depressing, and his (imo) second best is Raising Arizona, which is hilarious.

Random meme.

 

[BiggestKai]

Been watching Almost Paradise, a very campy fun police procedural where ex DEA agent retires to the phillipines because of hypertension only to keep getting sucked into police business. It stars Christian Kane more or less playing his Leverage character Elliot(goofy badass ex glowie), a very well endowed phillipino chick, some lanky martial artist who has some pretty cool scenes and some very hammy antagonists that are pure GOOOOOLD to watch.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

Been watching Almost Paradise, a very campy fun police procedural where ex DEA agent retires to the phillipines because of hypertension only to keep getting sucked into police business. It stars Christian Kane more or less playing his Leverage character Elliot(goofy badass ex glowie), a very well endowed phillipino chick, some lanky martial artist who has some pretty cool scenes and some very hammy antagonists that are pure GOOOOOLD to watch.

GOOOLD.webm

Sounds like a lot of 80s/90s DTV movies I've been watching in recent years. I'm so glad I can finally watch all that old schlock I used to see at the VHS rental not too far from my place.

 

[The Feline Solution 2]

Cabinet of Curiosities

That show completely passed me by but i've been meaning to watch it. I actually "met" Del Toro at the Hell Boy premiere at one Fantasy Film Fest (could've been just the european premiere), seemed a nice enough dude between the three words we shared. Also met Pearlman there and got my popcorn bag signed, wish it would've happened after the "HEY LIL' DONNIE!" /tv/ meme was around already I also haven't watched Beyond the Black Rainbow, gets right on my ever-growing "I will watch this one day" list. Which is like three or four lists between what i have saved on my phone and my desktop.

both his novel and the movie romanticized his life and death and the reality was actually much worse.

Actually not surprised. End-stage alcoholism is some real bad shit and i was impressed by how well Cage conveyed that to the viewer in Leaving Las Vegas.

It's 100% because Herzog directed it. His track record is really impressive. Have you seen Incident At Loch Ness? He didn't direct it, but he appears in the movie as a slightly comedic version of himself. It's a surpsisingly funny film about moviemaking. It's all a big goof and you'll have a good time if you know that from the beginning.

I haven't watched much Herzog beside his must-watch classics (Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre) and one documentary he did about the death penalty in the US which name escapes me right now, was quite good. Again, on the list it goes.

Edit: Herzog always comes over as the slightly comedic version of himself

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

I also haven't watched Beyond the Black Rainbow

I haven't watched much Herzog beside his must-watch classics (Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre) and one documentary he did about the death penalty in the US which name escapes me right now, was quite good.

My Best Fiend is a good "companion piece" for Herzog & Kinsky's movies. Kinsky was probably the most unlikable person in the history of cinema and Herzog must have nerves of steel if he was able to handle him.

 

[The Feline Solution 2]

Ver archivo adjunto 8373221

My Best Fiend is a good "companion piece" for Herzog & Kinsky's movies. Kinsky was probably the most unlikable person in the history of cinema and Herzog must have nerves of steel if he was able to handle him.

I actually did watch that, i think it is up in full on YT still. Kinski was a fucking lunatic, can't put it any other way (he also diddled his own daughter). There are some high-key hilarious moments in My Best Fiend, like when the tribe members asked Herzog in all seriousness if they should just kill Kinski for him or Kinski throwing one of his tantrums and Herzog shutting him up by looking him in the eye and eating a piece of chocolate he had stashed away for a rainy day. I think i watched this one before having watched any other Herzog films and it was very enjoyable.

 

[Nuclear Poisoning]

Port of Call has the craziest Cage for me and that is why i love it, though Herzog's direction also helps. The scene with the lizard, the "I can still see him dancing" scene, the retirement home scene, just pure craziness and absurdity. On my first rewatch i couldn't even remember what i disliked on my first watch. Extremely entertaining movie.

I remember thinking the lizard footage being lame. It felt like Herzog was being a quirky film student who had to at all costs include his pet iguana in the film and wanted to attach some lame deeper symbolism to it that no-one else but the most elitist film critics would understand.

The soul dancing scene though for me is legendary-tier.

"Shoot him again"
"WHAT. FOR."
"His soul is still dancing.... . PPPHHAAAAAAAAHHAAHA"
*Sonny Terry harmonica shredding* ooooh eeeh aaah

 

[The Feline Solution 2]

wanted to attach some lame deeper symbolism to it that no-one else but the most elitist film critics would understand.

I thought that, too, while first watching it, until Cage acknowledged one of the beasts a lá "What the fuck are these things doing here?!" and it just cracked me up big time. If you go by what Herzog says in the clip i posted above, "a chair is a chair" and there's no deeper meaning or symbolism behind the iguanas. Just another absurd and silly scene in a film full of absurdity.

Whole-heartedly agree on the dancing scene. I wanted to look it up again a while ago and couldn't remember which film it was from, ChatGPT was hell bent on telling me it was a scene from "Ghost Dog" for some reason.

 

[Hentai-Semitism]

I remember thinking the lizard footage being lame. It felt like Herzog was being a quirky film student who had to at all costs include his pet iguana in the film and wanted to attach some lame deeper symbolism to it that no-one else but the most elitist film critics would understand.

The soul dancing scene though for me is legendary-tier.

"Shoot him again"
"WHAT. FOR."
"His soul is still dancing.... . PPPHHAAAAAAAAHHAAHA"
*Sonny Terry harmonica shredding* ooooh eeeh aaah

 

[Nick Obre]

Some thoughts about a few things I've seen recently:

Taboo (2017 TV show), starring Tom Hardy, Johnathan Pryce, Oona Chaplin (Charlie's granddaughter!), Stephen Graham (that guy that you've seen everywhere but never remember until you see him again and you go "oh it's that guy"), Tom Hollander (not Spider-Man), and a few others. Decent cast.
It's a clear attempt at recreating the Peaky Blinders formula. Mysterious and stoic main character by well known actor returns to England to everyone's surprise and dismay, upsets the order of things and starts doing morally grey things in a morally greyer setting, is pitted against multiple powerful factions, plays games of power and influence with them as circumstances switch, with some vague mysticism thrown in, weird sexual plotlines added for spice, and decent enough performances.
There's a transvestite character in the "good" team but he gets constantly humiliated for being a whoopsie, so fair enough.
I enjoyed the show, nothing mind blowing but the intrigue was interesting enough to keep me going. It ends in a pretty open way, and season two has been in development limbo ever since. Check it if you like Hardy, other members of the cast, or that kind of story, but believe me it's not worth doing it in a hurry.

Last Samurai Standing (2025 TV show), starring A BUNCH OF NIPS the fuck am I gonna list them.
Have you seen Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X? The old anime, the new anime, or the live action movies?
It's that, in Battle Royale form. It really rips entire characters off of it and puts them in this Hunger Games setting. The main character is just Kenshin, but instead of a hard no-kill rule and a reverse-edge sword, he's got PTSD and doesn't want to unsheathe his katana (until he does). There's a guy who literally does one of the most iconic attacks from that anime in the first episode, and looks almost identical to the owner of said attack. But, you know, as a big fan of that anime/manga/etc, the blatant rippoff actually enhanced things for me a bit. Had a lot of DiCrappio whistle and point moments.
So I enjoyed it a lot, it has good samurai action, because you can trust the nips to get that right; pretty shit drama, because nips can't act, but who cares in a show like this?
OF COURSE, the season ends in the very middle of the story, and it'll be years until the next season. I hate this fucking way of doing things.

Pluribus (2025 tv show), no need to talk much about this, everyone knows about it, at least passingly. It's good, but slow. Sometimes it's deliberately slow for tension and/or character development, sometimes it's slow because they're padding for runtime.
A lot of dyke drama. On the other hand, every autonomous character other than White woman and the Spic man is a retard or a degenerate.
I liked it. But don't watch it now. Wait until season 2 comes out. If you hear it ends in another cliffhanger or pseudocliffhanger, wait until season 3 comes out. And so on.

The Pope's Exorcist (2023 movie), starring Fat Russel Crowe and WHO THE FUCK CARES. Tripe. Slop. Shit.
I love Fat Crowe, he's the only reason I watched this. And he's good in it, because he's Fat Crowe. You put Fat Crowe in something, you may not always get gold, but at least you get some copper.
Don't watch it though. It's bad.

Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992 movie), this one may need no introduction, or it may need all the introduction, if you's a zoomer who doesn't conceive of movies before CGI.
INCREDIBLE cast. Kevin Spacey (pre-pedorape), Alec Baldwin (pre-TDS, and uh, the murder), Ed Harris (pre-bald), Al Pacino (pre-Dunkacino), Jack Lemmon (fucking legend), Alan Arkin, and Johnathan Pryce (again!). Really, I can't speak enough about how good the performances are in this movie.
It's based on a play, I believe, so it stands to reason it's entirely character and dialogue-driven.
It's about a bunch of real estate salesmen (borderline scammers, really) in dire straits, desperately trying to close some deals.
No bells and whistles, aside from a couple extras the above is the entire cast. There's like 3 sets, plus a couple scenes in cars or on the street.
The meat of the film is seeing all these excellently written characters change their behavior as their circumstances shift.
Fantastic movie, I wish there were more things like that done today. Just characters revealing themselves through dialogue.

 

[AnOminous]

It's based on a play, I believe, so it stands to reason it's entirely character and dialogue-driven.

Yes, it was a Pulitzer Prize-winning hit play by David Mamet (who also wrote the script for the movie).

This is one of its iconic scenes, Alec Baldwin being a complete asshole.

 

[Mussolini’s Merkin]

Finished watching every Nic Cage movie. Ranked them on how good of a movie I thought it was.
Ver archivo adjunto 8367610

That was my option of Grindhouse too.

Putting Color Out Of Space as S tier won me over. I know that some people will say that putting a negro in a lead role in that movie is a mistake, but I think he did a great job. It's honestly one of the best Lovecraft adaptations there is. The last 15 minutes of that movie is some of the best cinema I have ever seen, I think it perfectly encapsulates what H.P.L. was going for in his story.

I would say that Bringing Out The Dead deserves to be a little higher, if only because I have heard from EMT drivers that its one of the more accurate depictions of the job they have seen.

Nic Cage is a great actor when he tries, maybe one of the best, I have to respect someone that will take on any role (even if that is driven by the IRS) and attempt to give it his all.

I actually did watch that, i think it is up in full on YT still. Kinski was a fucking lunatic, can't put it any other way (he also diddled his own daughter). There are some high-key hilarious moments in My Best Fiend, like when the tribe members asked Herzog in all seriousness if they should just kill Kinski for him or Kinski throwing one of his tantrums and Herzog shutting him up by looking him in the eye and eating a piece of chocolate he had stashed away for a rainy day. I think i watched this one before having watched any other Herzog films and it was very enjoyable.

I feel like Herzog and Kinski were just made for each other in a way. No one other than Herzog could have wrangled Kinski to give the performances he did, but I think that Kinski is only good because of Herzog's influence. Without that he is easily dismissible.

For those that haven't watched Herzog's movies, I would heartily recommend any of his documentaries. Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, and Encounters At The End of The World are all fantastic. His entire filmography is a list of hits, you can't go wrong with anything he has made.

He also doesn't take himself seriously at all, so we get some amazing videos of him such as talking about how he wish he had died rather than speak French:

And being the highlight of the otherwise forgettable later seasons of Park and Rec:

 

[The Feline Solution 2]

so we get some amazing videos of him such as talking about how he wish he had died rather than speak French

This is solid gold, haven't seen that clip before.

Just watched 2012's "Sinister" (shit film, don't watch) and found out that James Ransone (Ziggy in The Wire s02, Ray Person in Generation Kill), who played a supporting role in this, has killed himself on Dec 19th of last year. Shame, always liked seeing him in shows and movies, far from the best actor on the planet but he always had this goofy kind of charm and a solid actor's face. Was young, too, only got to 46.

 

[Human Waiter]

Putting Color Out Of Space as S tier won me over. I know that some people will say that putting a negro in a lead role in that movie is a mistake, but I think he did a great job. It's honestly one of the best Lovecraft adaptations there is. The last 15 minutes of that movie is some of the best cinema I have ever seen, I think it perfectly encapsulates what H.P.L. was going for in his story.

Yeah, I agree that Color out of Space is a great adaptation. Racism isn't really a core element of Lovecraft's work, just a result of his paranoia.

Also with Birdy in S-tier, it has my favorite ending to a movie ever, I fucking died.

 

[Goodbye Horses]

Putting Color Out Of Space as S tier won me over. I know that some people will say that putting a negro in a lead role in that movie is a mistake, but I think he did a great job. It's honestly one of the best Lovecraft adaptations there is. The last 15 minutes of that movie is some of the best cinema I have ever seen

It's not normally something I focus on, but the sound design in that last 15 minutes is fantastic. Watching it in a cinema or home setup with proper surround-sound, the way the bass is synced with the bursts of light on screen makes it really immersive in a way I've not experienced with any other film.

 

[The Feline Solution 2]

I would say that Bringing Out The Dead deserves to be a little higher, if only because I have heard from EMT drivers that its one of the more accurate depictions of the job they have seen.

It's definitely more S than A for me, love the scene where Cage falls asleep in front of the aquarium. Tom Sizemore is also great in it. Beautiful ending. Just remembered while writing this that i had the film poster on my wall in my very first apartment.

Stephen Graham (that guy that you've seen everywhere but never remember until you see him again and you go "oh it's that guy")

Harsh One of the best british actors/character actors even if he's a filthy scouser.

Last Samurai Standing (2025 TV show)

Got recommended this by someone but haven't watched it yet. Gonna check it out later today, i think, haven't watched anything japanese in quite a while. Watched the Kenshin live action films about two years ago (also read the manga much longer ago) and loved them. Hands down the absolute best anime/manga live action adaption (Blade of the Immortal comes close but is no real comparison to Kenshin). Spot-on casting, extremely well-made fight choreos.

 

[Nick Obre]

Harsh One of the best british actors/character actors even if he's a filthy scouser.

No, I really like him.

But he is the guy you see in a thing and think "oh it's the guy from that thing" (and it's a lot of things) and then forget about him. I guess he's become a bit more noticeable recently, maybe because of that incel child show (which was actually based in a case of niggering). But, like, for Snatch, everyone remembers Statham, Pitt, even Benicio del Toro, and he was barely in it. But not Graham.

Got recommended this by someone but haven't watched it yet. Gonna check it out later today, i think, haven't watched anything japanese in quite a while. Watched the Kenshin live action films about two years ago (also read the manga much longer ago) and loved them. Hands down the absolute best anime/manga live action adaption (Blade of the Immortal comes close but is no real comparison to Kenshin). Spot-on casting, extremely well-made fight choreos.

If you liked those RK things, you'll like this show. I can't stress enough how much it seems to draw from it. Obviously things won't be 1:1 but you can find very close parallels to Kenshin, Saito, Aoshi, Jin-E, and more. Even a certain historical event is used in almost the exact same way as in RK. Also I could have sworn the actor for Soujiro from the movies was in here too, because there's a character that looks almost identical to him. It wasn't the same actor, but it really goes beyond just "nips look alike", the guy is the spitting image.
But beyond the RK stuff, it's got good fight choreography, the plot is reasonably engaging for something like this, and they do a decent job of making you invested in some of the characters, even if through pretty basic tropes.
Give it a try (and get frustrated by having to wait for the next season).