Great Movies and Series [Not Sci-Fi]

[Ivan Seeking]

No, change it to 39 and go with Jack Benny.

39? That's an old man. I'm 25. You can tell by my incredible good looks and total hard body. I just have to remind the women I date that I am far younger and better looking than I appear.

 

[waternohitter]

This one is good, but caution it is disturbing.

Charlie Chaplin is my favorite movie to watch on this list.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My GF wanted me to watch her favorite romantic movie last night - The Notebook. Apparently it is based on a true story and it is a real tear jerker. Great movie!

 

[Fervent Freyja]

My GF wanted me to watch her favorite romantic movie last night - The Notebook. Apparently it is based on a true story and it is a real tear jerker. Great movie!

I like the Notebook, too, but you should watch Ever After if you haven’t! It’s my favorite movie, period. You can’t go wrong with Drew Barrymore and Leonardo da Vinci! It’s where Cinderella saves herself and still gets the prince. I wish that Auccasin and Nicolette would be made into a more modern movie! I have 1 of 350 first English editions published. I enjoy the prose style. It would be my absolute favorite love story if only she had made some different choices.

-

Marvel’s Jessica Jones is very good. I’ve been binging on it this week. I can relate to her so much. Whether it’s considered Sci-fi is debatable?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I like the Notebook, too, but you should watch Ever After if you haven’t! It’s my favorite movie, period. You can’t go wrong with Drew Barrymore and Leonardo da Vinci! It’s where Cinderella saves herself and still gets the prince.

Cool. I will surprise her with that movie choice. But if it doesn't lead to a great evening I'm blaming you.

 

[Fervent Freyja]

Cool. I will surprise her with that movie choice. But if it doesn't lead to a great evening I'm blaming you.

Good chance that it’ll awaken her dominating, queenly side... That’s all I can say. Gotta keep it PG in here.

 

[Hacker Jack]

Sherlock Holmes movies from 2009 onwards. New one is coming out next year 2021, only movie I'm looking forward to!

 

[BillTre]

I like the Jeremy Bret series. Most true to the books of any series or movies. Also almost did all of the Holmes stories, but Bret died first.

I also like the Benedict Cumberbatch series. I like the way they modernized it.

It and most modern versions lack the appreciation for the mysteries in sometimes rather common appearing several events. There are several Holmes stories that start off as apparently uninteresting events.

The Robert Downey/Jude Law movies are fun.

 

[mcastillo356]

Hi, didn't you enjoy "Young Sherlock Holmes and the Piramyd of Fear" (1985)?

 

[BillTre]

Hi, didn't you enjoy "Young Sherlock Holmes and the Piramyd of Fear" (1985)?

I don't think I ever saw that one.

 

[mcastillo356]

I don't think I ever saw that one.

Well, I had fun, but it is kind of childish

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I didn't see another thread for this sort of thing. I know there are others but didn't spot them. So...

I have become quite a fan of Netflix productions. They have done some great stuff! One of my favorite Netflix originals is Russian Doll

But generally...

One of my absolute favorites has been https://www.netflix.com/title/80113701 - a comedy about what happens after you die. It also provides an overview of classical philosophy and ethics. I love that show and fell madly in love with Kristen Bell LOL! She has a beautiful voice too!
In spite of my mixed loyalties, my girlfriend and I are watching The Good Place together. For me it's the 3rd time.

Pretty harsh at times especially in the opening scene, but very funny, I thought Fleabag was excellent. By the time it was over I was in love with Phoebe Waller-Bridge

A wonderful comedy that hooked me was The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. I immediately fell in love with Rachel Brosnahan

Another highly creative series that delves into the mystical that I enjoyed was The OA. Course I fell in love with Brit Marling... :)

I seem to be noticing a pattern in my viewing preferences...

 

[phinds]

LOVE Mrs. Maisel.

I'm a big fan of ensemble shows. Best ever were The West Wing and Hill Street Blues. These days I watch NCIS and Bones. Blue Bloods is also good, but it's no Hill Street Blues.

 

[Mondayman]

Band of Brothers is a must see. The Pacific was great as well.

Generation War is a WW2 series from the German side that was pretty good. It follows five close friends, two of whom are brothers who serve in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front.

Generation Kill is a series based on a book written by a reporter who was with the Recon Marines who spearheaded the invasion of Iraq. It doesn't glorify or justify, just shows what they did and went through. It's one of the better war movies/series. One of the Marines actually plays himself, Rudy Reyes.

 

[Mondayman]

I'm going to throw out one more. I've studied WW2 my whole life, particularly the Eastern Front, and this movie stuck out.

Come and See is a an 80's film made in the USSR that tells the story of a young boy who joins Belorussian partisans in 1943. It's more of a story of German atrocity in the East than it is about combat. It's quite traumatic and disturbing. It can be rented easily for $5 online with subtitles. Not sure how available it is on DVD or Blu ray.

 

[DaveC426913]

One of my favorite Netflix originals is Russian Doll

++++++++++1!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

++++++++++1!

Have you watched The OA?

Funny, I thought I started a movie thread the last time I visited PF but it didn't come up in a search.
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/great-movies-and-series-not-sci-fi.996688/

One great but short series that I mentioned there was The Queen's Gambit

In the other thread, @Janus mentioned The Kominski Method, which I watched and really enjoyed!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

While I was joking about falling in love with all of these actresses, it is notable that there are so many great series with female leads.

Also, I am far more practical than my jokes suggest. In reality I only fell in love with two of them. And as soon Kristen Bell dumps that loser husband of hers I am sure my phone will be ringing. Check out her video of their trip to Africa.

 

[DaveC426913]

Have you watched The OA?

I've never even heard of The OA, but I really liked Stranger Things, and, of course, Black Mirror.

 

[DaveC426913]

The following are my most favorite non-SF favorites, which I consider to be great.
...
Pretty Woman

God why?

(That post is old, but I think my question is timeless).

My wife and I watched this and spent almost as much time looking at each other and blinking audibly as we did watching this dreck.

Don't get me wrong - we like Roberts* (and Gere) but we just could not choke back the Kool-aid.

(Best I can figure, we did not see Pretty Woman when it first came out - it was a few years later. And I guess sometimes the freshness of certain films fades quickly).**** great in Ocean's Twelve - and I just watched Notting Hill for the fifth time last week.

 

[phinds]

God why?

+1 on that

 

[DaveC426913]

*** I'm noticing an interesting phenom with my (adult) kids. They occasionally watch films we old folks say are classics, but they see nothing redeeming about them at all.

Just yesterday my boy said he tried to watch Airplane! and couldn't sit through it. (Resisted telling him to shut his filthy stinking pie hole).

He said he felt pummeled by hundreds of the lamest, dumbest puns. (Well, duh! Like that's a bad thing!)

I tried to explain to him that the reason it seems so threadbare and lame is because all the cliched jokes he's learned over the last 30 years came from Airplane! That was the seminal film to which all other films since pay homage. Nielson was a damn genius.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

*** I'm noticing an interesting phenom with my (adult) kids. They occasionally watch films we old folks say are classics, but they see nothing redeeming about them at all.

Just yesterday my boy said he tried to watch Airplane! and couldn't sit through it. (Resisted telling him to shut his filthy stinking pie hole).

He said he felt pummeled by hundreds of the lamest, dumbest puns. (Well, duh! Like that's a bad thing!)

I tried to explain to him that the reason it seems so threadbare and lame is because all the cliched jokes he's learned over the last 30 years came from Airplane! That was the seminal film to which all other films since pay homage. Nielson was a damn genius.

And then we move on to more sophisticated humor. For example, take my wife, PLEASE.

I remember a comedian billed as Dean Martin's Uncle. When I was a little kid, my parents and I absolutely lost it when he came on. Now I imagine his jokes would all be groaners. And so sad. His poor wife was so skinny that she had to run back and forth in the shower just to get wet.

 

[Buzz Bloom]

My wife and I watched this and spent almost as much time looking at each other and blinking audibly as we did watching this dreck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustibus_non_est_disputandum

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I'll be glad when the superhero stuff wears out. I've never been a big fan of superhero movies and have no desire to watch it now. And CGI action scenes bore me to death. But I really like the shows Nexflix and Amazon are producing. IMO they are putting out some great series.

I thought I found another great N series drama called Virgin River. It started out with a potentially interesting plot that quickly degenerated into a cheesy romance soap opera. LOL!

 

[rsk]

The great thing about netflix is that it makes available films and series from all over the world and often with a choice of languages.

If you haven't seen it, the Minions of Midas (series) is worth a watch.
Seventeen ( film about a boy and his brother on the road in search of a dog) is one of those for any age, just nice and funny and heartwarming

Last night I watched https://www.netflix.com/search?q=old%20boys&jbv=70295579 - a Danish film about what happens when a seniors football team on tour accidentally leave one of their members at a service station. I laughed and cried and forgot about everything else for a couple of hours.

 

[Bystander]

"Danger: UXB," entertaining and educational.

 

[rsk]

Oh I think I remember that on tv when I was a kid?!

 

[BillTre]

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou

Great music, great movie.
A reinterpretation of the Odyssey.
Sirens and a cyclops.

Whole movie here on YouTube. (May be a limited time anniversary thing?)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

And then we move on to more sophisticated humor. For example, take my wife, PLEASE.

I remember a comedian billed as Dean Martin's Uncle. When I was a little kid, my parents and I absolutely lost it when he came on. Now I imagine his jokes would all be groaners. And so sad. His poor wife was so skinny that she had to run back and forth in the shower just to get wet.

I was curious and looked him up. He really was Dean Martin's uncle. I always thought that was a joke.



Okay, he's still funny.