Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 9/24/12

Battle Royale

Released in Japan in 2000, and unable to get distribution in North America for years due to it's intense, graphic, violent content, Battle Royale is the story of a class of 15-year old school kids who are forced on to an island where they must battle each other to the death until there is only one person left. This is done by the government, in an effort to curb youth crime in their country. An over correction, perhaps? This is a fantastically made movie, and it's more than just a violent spectacle, as it actually has something to say and does so simply and splendidly. Of course this movie was finally made readily available here in North America 12 years after it's release, thanks to the huge popularity of The Hunger Games, which itself bares more than one similarity to the plot of this most excellent and very popular Japanese film.

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 9/17/12

The Panic in Needle Park

From my original write up on Examiner.com:

"Obviously this was a big role for Pacino, and an important one, as it led directly to him getting the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather, so for that reason alone The Panic in Needle Park is a classic film worth watching, but it is also a very well made movie. The whole documentary-style approach to telling a fictional narrative has become much more popular in our current culture than it was in 1971, so this movie actually holds up very well and fits right in with the style of today, which is fascinating. And the movie has a dark yet hopeful ending, one that suggests that perhaps all is not lost between these two lovers, though it’s going to be a tough row to hoe, that’s for sure."

 Young Al Pacino in a super gritty and realistic 70s drama. How can you go wrong?

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 9/10/12

Days of Heaven

From 1978, Days of Heaven is Terrence Malick's second film, and what a film it is. This is the type of movie that didn't get much love when it first came out, but over the years it has become known as a classic and is one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. Featuring lush cinematography (much of it thanks to Malick's insistence of shooting during the "magic hour"), great acting and Malick's now signature lyrical approach to storytelling, many other directors would have made a pretty rote and basic movie with this same plot, but in Malick's hands, this becomes a memorable, thoughtful and very well made movie. And of course, since this is from the 1970's, it has to have a dour ending for it's antihero, but aside from that trope, there is nothing cliche or unoriginal about this movie.

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Netflix Watch Instantly Pick of the Week - 9/4/12

 Bellflower

From my original review published last year on Examiner.com:

Bellflower is one of those super intense and very personal indie films that seems to actually be a living, breathing thing, a thorough representation of a particular person’s mindset and vision, starting with a personal pain that is common and universal and pushing it into another world in the way only cinema can. The story is fairly simple in that it revolves around the lives of a group of adrift and confused twenty-somethings, and specifically one relationship that starts beautifully and of course goes completely tragic.

And now it's on the Netflix Instant, ready to show you what's up, and how a filmmaker can do so much with so little.

You can read the rest of my original review here.

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