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Films I enjoyed during my Dharma Break
lobster
Crusty Veteran
I really enjoyed:
Hacksaw Ridge - Pacifism (very violent)
Dr Strange - about a surgeon who becomes a non-scientist
Moana - Disney cartoon about island mentality
Arrival - talking alien
Any favs?
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Comments
Recently I have watched...
The Lego Movie - silly but had its moments
King of Kings - gotta love a bit of Jesus
Ex Machina - interesting story about the genesis of AI
The Hobbit 2 - fun blockbuster mix of action, adventure and storytelling
The Time-Traveller's Wife - enjoyable romance with a big quirk
Dr Strange, Rogue One, Arrival and Fantastic Beasts are still on my to-watch list.
As usual, I am miles behind the au courant curve but have enjoyed, "Leaves of Grass," "Sling Blade," "Unfinished Sky,"... all of them pretty low-key, nervy movies.
I just saw Arrival and thought it was top notch. Saw Rogue One in the theaters and thought it was the best of the newer Star Wars. Am looking forward to seeing Dr. Strange. Oh, can't forget The Martian, loved the book and the movie itself is my favorite for a long while.
My Left Foot
The Rock
The Insider
It Could Happen To You
Hot Fuzz
World's End
Family Man
The Lego Batman movie was fun. It's always interesting the lessons some "kids" movies impart. Inside Out is a favorite, that's a really deep movie considering it's a cartoon aimed at kids. It's all about dealing with emotions and what happens when we don't acknowledge the "negative" ones. Good stuff.
We have a handful of them on our watch list but just haven't watched. Been spending more time outside. The new Pete's Dragon is in there. Can't recall the other few. Cloud Atlas is a favorite. I've had a hankering to watch Karate Kid, but not with this lovely weather we've been having. 30+ degrees above normal means outside in tshirts!
City of Lost Children is the only thing I've watched recently that was worth the time spent viewing it - quite engrossing, charming story, amazing sets/effects and atmosphere, plot verging on the chaotic, yet somehow holding together nicely.
The Accountant. I was pleasantly surprised as I'm not a Ben Affleck fan
@lobster Dharma break? What do you mean? Dharma is everywhere, even on the toilet or tv screen
the Fear of 13 and the lost honour of Christopher Jeffries, two great movies
I enjoyed the numbers too:
The Accountant - autistic specialist accounting (violent)
Hidden Figures - Nasa computing specialists
and some humour ...
Sausage Party - funny cartoon about food (not 4 kids)
Suicide Squad - bad guys win
Deadpool - ditto
Over the holidays, I was at my mom's house and she was looking through the channel guide for movies to record for the kids to watch later and she was going to record Sausage Party for them. I laugh thinking what would have happened if she had turned it on and left them alone to watch it... corrupted, traumatized youth.
I just saw dr strange, I thought it was a bit of a missed opportunity to go deeper into the links of magic and enlightenment... in the east there is a definite thought stream that the two are not separate.
Two films that helped me understand Brexit and Trump:
I, Daniel Blake - have seen and been involved in some of the desperation/exasperation involved. I found this hard going, so 'enjoyed' is not the right word ... Frankly I was ashamed for my country ...
Hell or High Water - the same exploitation/struggle/extreme poverty in USA, did enjoy this as it was a tale rather than a 'documentary' type film
I'm a bit of sci-fi fan and enjoyed this film recently:
I think sci-fi should be taught in history at school. My education thoughts are a little ... unorthodox ...
Gonna watch Oblivion again ... many thanks.
I really enjoyed 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is that super hero or SF? - bit of both. Also funny. SF is my favourite genre, especially if about time travel or increasingly about multple branes (multiverses).
You might like 'Edge of Tomorrow' @SpinyNorman
The nice thing about sci-fi is it challenges our concept of tomorrow... one can get stuck in a rut thinking that all one has to do tomorrow is chop wood and carry water, when we may be flying spaceships past Jupiter.
What I would consider highlights in the sci-fi genre movies:
The Forbidden Planet - still a classic, the lifecycle of civilisations
2001 A Space Odyssey - wonderful visualisation and hard science
Blade Runner - the birth of the 'used future' and all those dystopias
Gattaca - all about what happens when we start classifying people by their genes
Avatar - great storytelling, many themes, how some things from history recur if we don't learn
Interstellar - finding new homes for mankind
There are a lot of great romps in sci-fi, like The Fifth Element and Cowboys and Aliens, and also many high concept films like Moon or Elysium. Even horror in the Alien franchise. But where I think it becomes weak is when they start re-using plot elements, a lot of space opera books for example are just "Hornblower in space". I don't rate a lot of the militaristic sci-fi such as the recent Battlestar Galactica remake.
I'm quite looking forward to the new Ghost in the Shell film with Scarlet Johansson, the trailer looked very nice, let's see how it holds up to the original.
I mean the film takes over my thinking/experience. In that sense it is mindless ...
True. If that is your constant mindfulness then bravo. Otherwise it is a platitude ...
Many of us, maybe it is just me, are partly human rather than Sangha, Dharma machines or Buddhas. We need companionship, food, trivia, toilet breaks etc. Need.
Just attachment? Yes indeed ... and now back to the film break ... oh wait ... time to sit like a Buddha in front of the small screen of the mind ...
Sheer luxury!
@lobster its certanly attachments.. Iam also trying to stay away from the entertainment business, and focus on the holesome stuff, like walking in nature and sit quietly and watch my mind. But its diffcult to just "be good", I want to see drama, violence, and explosions. Its like a zero sum game.
I can therfore recomend this movie:
How about a family film. A cartoon. Western style.
Rango - A chameleon crosses to the other side ...
Dr. Strange, what we wish Buddhism was really like.
Dr Strange is fun. Bending time and dimensions is always magick ... until real ...
'Despicable Me 3' is out this year. First two were good family films ... the first was my favourite ...
The Avengers Age of Ultron
Logan
Just so
There is a part of me that thoroughly enjoys fear, mindless mayhem and killing vampires. I feel it is quite primitive, probably related to our lizard brain
Maybe should watch ...
Kung Fu Hustle - comedy Kung Fu
again ...
Logan. The Big Short.
I used to enjoy watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Those clever fiends got a good trashing.
@lobster I love kung fu hustle, a movie based on a true story
I love human fantasy...
Humans love the "I" fantasy...
Am I human?
Am I Love?
Am I Fantasy?
Am I a film?
I always come back to the same question...
"What am I"?
So what am I?
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No answers required... Its pure reflection...
However if you want a video link:
I wanna be a wizard in my next life! :-)
Had a friend recommend Monkey King 2 on Netflix. It's a Chinese folklore kung fu fantasy epic. The visual effects are very good and a Buddhist monk and his quest are central to the story so there it has a Buddhisty message.
I don't know if @Cinorjer comes around anymore but if you do, this is right up your alley.
It looks like there are some full versions of the movie on You Tube.
http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/matrix-about-buddhism/
The Founder.
Saw it with Adjua. It was so interesting discussing ethics of business and capitalism with a 13 yr old! She really had some good points about compassion and the hunger for money. The whole idea of how the hamburger franchise got going from the land $ is a brilliant hustle. ....but still a hustle. At the expense of some other people....anyway...It was a great movie and we had hours of conversation after. And we munched on nachos at the movies!
Cough, sneeze. (Have caught a cold).
I'm looking forward to Gus van Sant's latest Sea of Trees. And may settle down to rewatch a few things from my personal collection like Spirited Away.
A friend sent me this doco Tashi and the Monk ( I'm about to watch it now...)
The Dharma is like "Hotel California" you can check out but you can never leave....
Accidentally started watching 'The Buddha'
http://documentary-movie.com/the-buddha/
Bit too worthy. Gonna have to watch something more entertaining. Lobster = rubbish Buddhist!
I liked "Lion", about a child who gets lost in India, separated from his family, and ends up in an orphanage, where he's adopted by an Australian couple. As a young adult, he becomes driven to find his roots, the village where he's from, and his mother. Great story--true story, too.
Not Buddhist themed but interesting. My cousin made this film and released it on youtube a few days ago. It reminded me a little of watching The Wall movie when i was in college, lol. AI/Science Fiction themed for those who like the topic. Not my favorite topic but I found it interesting
Here are some films I liked, a lot...
whole film in small window:
"Kakushi-toride no san-akunin" ["The Hidden Fortress"] - great film about greed:)
trailer:
or "Yume" ["Dreams"] - a series of loosely connected "dreams" with the first and the last most beautiful and meaningful to me
whole film in bad quality:
(the last dream starts at 1:15:55, although it's effect is stronger after seeing previous ones, I still think it's worth to see it separately)
here's one of his films with English subtitles:
I saw What Dreams May Come for a second time just yesterday, and that's actually a quite buddhistic take on the afterlife although it doesn't follow for example the Tibetan Bardo Thödol.
Makes me feel old, compared to others here, but 2 0f my favorite movies recently were A Man Called Ove and Margin Call.
Im a big Star Wars fan but I was pleasantly surprised at Rogue One. Really enjoyed it.
Looking forward to this in December.....
We enjoyed it too ...
I Am One With the Force and the Force Is With Me
It is so spiritual ... apart from the death and killing. My favourite character was the reprogrammed robot
Are they called 'Journey to the West' and the second one 'Journey to the West, Revenge of the Demons'?
This is the trailer for the second one.
I enjoyed both. Outrageous but fun.
There was at least one TV series too ... It is all about bringing the Buddhist Pali Cannon to China
The reprogrammed robot was awesome. My favourite character too. Chirrut Imwe was pretty awesome too though
Pah! Some people are posting worthy films. OK but sometimes the naughty kids need a chance too ...
"...some day they will blossom."
(thank you @lobster for posting this
, I'm gonna watch it again soon with my family!)