Movies You Might Enjoy

As I have said on many occasions, life is too short for bad cinema. 

I have obviously spent an inordinate amount of time recently watching movies on Netflix.

So...in order to save my valuable readers (both of you) time and regrets, I've narrowed it down a little.

The following are a few flicks which stand out in my sick twisted opinion.

I start with the Netflix overview, then I give my thoughts and a clip of the movie.

Enjoy!

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My Way- This fact-based wartime drama follows two young men, one Korean and one Japanese, whose athletic rivalry ends with the start of World War II. Captured by the Soviets, both men escape but are separated, only to meet again in the D-Day invasion.

The Koreans seem to be putting out some cool flicks.  This one rocks!  The combat scenes are epic and brutal, and the realistic special effects are on par with anything Hollywood can dish out.  Subtitles, of course, but the shit these guys go through makes it worth watching.  You'll be satisfyingly exhausted after seeing this movie.

Dead Snow- A group of Norwegian friends get the scariest history lesson of their lives during a weekend getaway to the snowy town of Øksfjord, where the party is interrupted by throngs of Nazi zombies who once occupied the area. Armed with a machine-gun-equipped snowmobile, the gang fights for survival in director Tommy Wirkola's quirky horror, shot on location in the mountains of Norway. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

I don't normally dig zombie movies, but this one was pretty good.  Dark and humorous.  Again, subtitled, but who cares?  You have zombie SS soldiers getting whacked, humans being eviscerated, skulls split open by hand, and brains being eaten. What's not to like?

The Grey- After narrowly surviving a deadly plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness, a band of oil riggers must fend for their lives in the ice and snow. But thanks to wolves that view their presence as a threat, they aren't alone.

This was pretty fucking intense.  I've always enjoyed cold-weather survival stories ever since I read Jack London's "To Build A Fire" way back in junior high school.  You will jump outta your seat and shit yourself during this flick, and this movie will make you want to carry nothing less than a bazooka when on walk-about where wolves might exist.

The Front Line- When a South Korean commander is killed by a friendly bullet during a cease fire, investigator Kang Eun-Pyo's trail leads him to a remote hill region. There, a once-meek 20-year-old and his small company seem to be fighting a different war.

Another great piece of cinema from Korea.  Subtitles, but you will hardly notice.  Fantastic combat scenes with lots of M1 Garands and some Mosin/Nagant sniper stuff.  The futility and stupidity of war personified...

Play Dirty- Tasked with leading a band of dangerous mercenaries into the African desert to destroy German fuel reserves during World War II, inexperienced British army Capt. Douglas (Michael Caine) must contend with a cantankerous veteran colonel (Nigel Green), an argumentative ex-convict (Nigel Davenport) and a traitorous brigadier (Harry Andrews). Directed by André De Toth, this action-packed war drama co-stars Daniel Pilon and Patrick Jordan.

An oldie but a goodie.  Classic British cinema with proper English usage and pronunciation coupled with typical UK cynicism and skullduggery.  A perfect example of why I love the Brits...charming as they slit your throat.  The buggers...

Hell On Wheels- Former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon seeks his wife's killer as post-Civil War America struggles to rebuild its identity. His quest traverses the history of Reconstruction, peopled with railroad bosses, emancipated slaves and immigrants.

A very well-done mini-series.  Lots of violence, revenge, and big-bore black powder mayhem. A few bits of probably unrealistic PCism, but overall not detracting from the totality of the series.  Watch all of the episodes and await patiently for the next season.  Hopefully.

The Devil's Double- Dominic Cooper stars as Uday Hussein -- Saddam Hussein's depraved, decadent elder son -- and as Latif Yahia, the army lieutenant forcibly drafted to be his body double, in this drama based on Yahia's autobiographical novel.

Damn.  Some serious violence here, and not for the squeamish.  Great story.  What a shit-hole Iraq was/is.  Almost makes me think the 2003 invasion was worth it after all.  Almost.  I found myself wanting to see a recreation of the demise of Saddam's sons, but it doesn't happen in this movie.  Watch it anyway.

Dead Man's Shoes- Richard comes home from the army bent on revenge against the local gang of dealers and thugs that brutalized his mentally disabled brother, Anthony. Richard terrorizes the bullies, who begin to turn on one another as he eliminates them one by one.

Holy shit!  A fantastic story of creative revenge, only possible by the sick twisted and evil genius Brits.  That's why I love 'em.  The cunts.

He Was A Quiet Man- Cubicle worker Bob is a resentful outsider who's started carrying a gun in case he gets the courage to use it on some of his co-workers. But when one of those co-workers starts shooting, Bob guns him down and becomes an inadvertent hero.

We've all been there.  Maybe.

To End All Wars- Inspired by real-life events, this drama explores the experiences of Capt. Ernest Gordon and other Japanese prisoners of war enlisted to build the Railroad of Death. As the men struggle to maintain their sanity and will, they begin to drift apart.

A modern "Bridge Over The River Kwai."  Jack Bauer gets the shit beaten out of him numerous times.  This movie will make you wanna nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki all over again, but Japan said they were sorry...and we are all bestest buddies now...so I guess we'll forget all about it.

The Veteran- When he returns home from Afghanistan, troubled vet Robert Miller finds himself embroiled in another war in his violence-ridden housing complex. Soon, he becomes fixated on taking down brutal gangsters who may have ties to a suspected terrorist cell.

Another Brit revenge scenario...kinda like "Death Wish," only more graphic, and Paul Kersey gets "slotted" in this one, but not before he does a one-man frontal assault right straight-the-fuck through a UK ghetto.  Good drills, mate!

White Irish Drinkers- In a blue-collar Irish section of 1970s Brooklyn, brothers Danny (Geoff Wigdor) and Brian Leary (Nick Thurston) come of age in a family dominated by their longshoreman father, Patrick (Stephen Lang), whose hard-drinking leaves them scrambling for a way out. As delinquent Danny and dejected mom Margaret (Karen Allen) take the brunt of Patrick's assaults, aspiring artist Brian hides his dreams. But desperate acts will threaten them all.

I love flicks like this.  Drunk, violent, crazy motherfuckers getting into shit way over their heads.  You will thank the good Lord you are not prickish like some of the characters in this movie. Interesting soundtrack too.

Rise Of The Footsoldier- Football hooligan Carlton Leach's reputation for violence wins him a position as a foot soldier in the feared Inter City Firm gang, where he eventually rises to become one of the most powerful crime lords in England.

Fuck me if I don't love movies depicting the Brits as constant drinking brawling assholes who take no shit and start it at the drop of a hat.  God bless 'em!  Sometimes I think this world could use more of them.  Or not...

Jerry And Tom- Easygoing family man Tom (Joe Mantegna) -- used-car salesman by day, mob enforcer by night -- shows his brash co-worker Jerry (Sam Rockwell) the ropes of contract killing. Soon the young apprentice not only gets the hang of it but begins to enjoy killing strangers for money. For his directorial debut, Saul Rubinek assembled a formidable supporting cast that includes William H. Macy, Ted Danson and Charles Durning.

An oldie, but I had never seen it before.  Great cast.  Dark and funny.  Creative (and non-chalant) methods of clipping a fool are depicted here.  All I could find on YouTubes was a foreign language clip, but here is a link to an English version.