Books and Movies

Feeling lonely and want to chat? That's your place to go then. Can't be off-topic enough to not be posted here.

Moderator: Wizards

Message
Author
User avatar
Delia
Overlord
Posts: 2782
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:22 am
Location: Finland

Books and Movies

#1 Post by Delia » Tue Aug 02, 2005 7:04 am

What kinds of books people read? What kind of movies you guys watch? I'm always thrilled to my core when I find a new intriguing book or a weird movie, so I thought maybe others are too and decided to share some of my favorites, so people can perhaps someday check them out.
Ok...here it goes.

Alejandro Jodorowski - movies : The Holy Mountain and El Topo, weird, interesting, bit religious and psychedelic movies. Both a must see!

Mika Waltari - books : a finnish author, whose historical works I read during the winter and spring. Very interesting and entertaining reading, not that heavy to read, but really enjoyable for all history buffs out there.Main focus on church history, Romans, Greece and Near-East.

Mikhail Bulgakov - book : Master and Margarita, ( Finnish translation goes, Saatana Saapuu Moskovaan, as in Satan Arrives to Moscow ), as the finnish title goes, Satan arrives to Moscow and interesting things start to happen. A russian masterpiece. Must read.

Well here are some...more later if people show interest in this thread.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

User avatar
Kortha
Master
Posts: 241
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:31 pm
Location: US
Contact:

#2 Post by Kortha » Tue Aug 02, 2005 11:38 am

I'm not really much into movies, especially since the only theater in town closed down due to the owner taking dirty pictures of women in his restroom, heh. We didn't always get very good movies here anyway...they thought the 2nd Star Wars movie was too expensive to show heh. But there's a few honorable mentions.

The Butterfly Effect - currently my favorite movie. One of those ones that when it's over, you have to struggle to get back to reality heh. (I won't give away plot details, but it's really twisty and turny and even though I thought I knew what the end would be, I was wrong.)

the Shrek movies - you gotta love fairy tales on drugs :P

LOTR movies - I can't really decide if I like them or not, mainly because they're different from the books in a lot of aspects. And the elves look damn weird!

As for books, I mostly prefer fantasy, with science fiction a close 2nd. It tends to be hard to find every book in a series around here though, so I've been reading a lot of mysteries and stuff lately.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (don't remember author's name) - I liked the book a lot better than the movie, since in the movie it takes a good while before you stop getting confused about who's who and what's past and present. Not really one that most guys would like, but it struck a chord in me since I'm not too sure I wouldn't go crazy if I had kids either, heh.

the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich - I love this series. It's about a mostly incompetent bounty hunter from Jersey who somehow ends up accidentally catching her man anyway. Along the way you get to meet such memorable characters as the grandmother who carries a gun and burns down funeral homes, the cross-dressing bus driver, and the fat ex-hooker who subdues criminals by sitting on them, while managing not to break a nail. The plots involve hilariously twisted events like zapping a guy in the butt with a stun gun and recieving someone's chopped off privates in the mail. And there's plenty of lusting after guys, too. I highly recommend it if you're as weird as I am. :P

I could go on and on, but this is already turning into a novel. :P
If a squirrel is chasing you, drop your nuts and run.

User avatar
Abharsair
Site Admin
Posts: 901
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:24 am
Location: Regensburg, Germany
Contact:

#3 Post by Abharsair » Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:15 pm

Since I like both to read and watch movies, I decided to enlighten you with the completely useless knowledge of what books and movies I enjoy.

Books:

As far as fantasy goes, the "Song of Ice and Fire" books of George R. R. Martin are my favourite. Believeable character development, and even more important: no sissies. A bit graphic in its display of violence, though, so don't expect fluffiness. In my not so humble opinion, those are the best fantasy books since Lord of the Rings, and I read a lot of them.

Science fiction: well, I don't read it as much, but Larry Niven's books are usually pretty good.

Fiction: Basically all books by James Clavell, be it "Shogun", "Tai-Pan", "Noble House", etc. I was also quite impressed by "All Quiet on the Western Front" from Erich Maria Remarque.

Non-Fiction: Various history magazines (just got a subscription to "Current World Archaeology" as a gift), "Art of War" from Sun Tzu (makes your head ache after a while, though), and several other books covering historical or political events.

Movies:

I love movies (good ones at least), and I'd like to appear intelligent by listing a ton of artsy movies, but unfortunately I despise most of them. Anyway here comes my list of movies I enjoyed (in no particular order):

1) Fight Club
2) Memento
3) Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
4) The Godfather
5) Das Boot
6) Aliens
7) Raiders of the Lost Ark
8) American Beauty
9) Kill Bill: Vol. 1
10) Der Untergang

Well, and a couple more, but those are the ones which come first to my mind.
Last edited by Abharsair on Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
"The beatings will continue until morale improves."

User avatar
stilgar
Champion
Posts: 503
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 7:01 am
Location: Pecs, Hungary

#4 Post by stilgar » Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:37 am

Books.. mostly I read documentations, books with historical topics, diaries..

Favourites:

books about Henry Kissinger (who is the most successful man in my opinion in comitting and escaping crimes), almost everything from Isaac Asimov, Cyberpunk literature (mostly Wiliam Gibson) and many many more

in between Godfather (both the book and the movie)

Movies:

apart from anime (Ninja Scroll forever!)

Emir Kusturica Black Cat White Cat, Vim Venders movies, The Pillow Book, Trainspotting, The Basketball Diaries, Keoma and many many more :wink:

mostly like movies and books about people dancing at the edge of sanity/existence..

tell me why :twisted:
Future is NOT what it used to be

Pecs, European Capital of Culture 2010

User avatar
Delia
Overlord
Posts: 2782
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:22 am
Location: Finland

#5 Post by Delia » Fri May 26, 2006 4:03 am

I just need to say that I started reading the "Song of Ice and Fire" out of curiosity sometime ago and it is actually quite good! Can't wait for the fifth book ( yep, TONS of reading ).
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

vurdijak
Hero
Posts: 357
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 5:28 pm

books

#6 Post by vurdijak » Fri May 26, 2006 8:22 am

I am in the middle of a move right now so I am sorting through the books
and keeping the ones I like the most.

Some of those are: Foundation Trilogy (I think someone already mentioned
Isaac Asimov, good taste!), The Stand, Gods and Generals, Clockwork Orange

Movies...Clockwork Orange :), American Beauty, and Herbie Goes Bananas (just kidding about that one....Ocho!)

Vurdijak po Kevin

User avatar
Devi
Hero
Posts: 332
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:58 am

#7 Post by Devi » Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:09 am

All of you dms and oldschool dungeon crawlers, I suggest you read Order of the Stick, a hilarious comic celebrating D&D spot check rolls and the power of d12, which I discovered hiding in the pages of Dragon magazine.

http://www.giantitp.com/

Here are some of my favourites:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0125.html
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0143.html
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0029.html

Why yes, I am a geek.

adanath
Champion
Posts: 505
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:36 am
Location: Lynchburg, VA

Latest Book

#8 Post by adanath » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:06 pm

The Latest book that I read that I would reccomend highly is, The Egoist by George Meredith. Excellent book. Deep, profound and intrinsically introspective.

I have also been reading and re-reading a decent bit of C.S. Lewis lately and he is nothing short of a genius in literature as well as literary criticism.

User avatar
Staltos
Professional
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:14 pm
Location: The Desert

#9 Post by Staltos » Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:01 am

Dang....lost all my books in a house flood a couple years ago...now I wanna read some C.S. Lewis, we had a ton of books by him and about him.

I think the last bit of fiction I read was called the Black Company I believe...about a year ago. Basically a war between good and evil from the mercenaries' percpective....not the best book out there, but it was pretty short. And I think before that I read Thomas Covenant....those books are a weird read.

Recently however, I've barely had any time to take my eyes off of a text book, let alone put them onto something enjoyable...but when I do get the time. I'm usually reading lots of Air Force literature, which can be quite interesting in itself.
"I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers."

-The Hospitaller, Kingdom of Heaven

User avatar
Abharsair
Site Admin
Posts: 901
Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:24 am
Location: Regensburg, Germany
Contact:

#10 Post by Abharsair » Fri Jan 19, 2007 3:07 pm

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across a trailer for a movie which is based on a comic by Frank Miller (Sin City). Now I know that trailers can be deceptive, but it's one of the most stylish and visually stunning ones yet, and therefore worth watching. You can either watch it directly on the movie's official website http://300themovie.warnerbros.com/ or you can download a much larger (but also a much better resolution) file from FilePlanet.

User avatar
Delia
Overlord
Posts: 2782
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:22 am
Location: Finland

#11 Post by Delia » Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:09 pm

Sin City comic books are a must read, way better than the movie. Gotta admit the movie does a decent job though. Check both out :)

On a side note I can heartily recommend "Narcissos and Goldmund" by Herman Hesse, going to start reading "The Glass Bead Game" by the same author someday soon.

Currently reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

User avatar
genesis
Wizard
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:48 am
Location: Finland, Helsinki
Contact:

#12 Post by genesis » Sun Jan 21, 2007 4:35 pm

I really recommend Mika Waltari's books. They're awwsome.

As for movies, I think Dogma was fun. Also, I loved Stigmata.
Last edited by genesis on Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Genesis the ideaSpawner

User avatar
matusalem
Master
Posts: 203
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:20 am
Location: Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Books and Movies

#13 Post by matusalem » Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:19 am

I really enjoyed movies back when I was in college, but eventually I got distracted from all that with things like rent and adulthood. I've recently started watching a lot of films again. (Other than the typical inane popcorn drivel.) Back then, I loved stuff by Andrei Tarkovsky, Carl Dryer, Andrzej Wajda, and Ingmar Bergman. (I like Bergman's work up until he made "Persona;" after that, he got a little to pretentious for my taste.) May all time favorite to this day would have to be "The Sacrifice" or "Ordet." Here recently, I've really started enjoying Terrence Malick. His flicks are absolutely beautiful, and they remind me very much of Tarkovsky. The last really great pictures I watched were Gaspar Noe's "Irreversible" and Carlos Reygadas' "Battle in Heaven."

As for books, I'm not usually interested in fiction; however, I have always enjoyed Salman Rushdie and Flannery O'Connor. The last book I read was "Culture Warrior" by Bill O'Reilly, and no I'm not ashamed of it at all.

Matusalem's Player

ramandu
Professional
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:26 pm
Location: North Carolina, US

#14 Post by ramandu » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:43 pm

Good Omens by Neil Gaimen and Terry P. -- A humorous look at the end of the world, it takes ~1 day to read and so well worth it.

adanath
Champion
Posts: 505
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:36 am
Location: Lynchburg, VA

#15 Post by adanath » Wed Jan 24, 2007 5:59 pm

Recently I have been reading Terry Pratchett and he suprised me and is quite an entertaining read, though I am generally more partial to classic literature.

Also I was perusing another one of my favourites the other day, well two of them.

Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Divine Comedy (of this I would recommend Inferno the most)

User avatar
Devi
Hero
Posts: 332
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:58 am

#16 Post by Devi » Wed Jan 24, 2007 9:32 pm

Good Omens is genuinely terrific! I bought a new copy just last month, and the fresh forward makes it even more brilliant.

I read Pratchett as a sort of replacement for Adams (who is currently indisposed). I'm sure everyone has read the Hitchhiker's series (the 5-book trilogy), but so many haven't read the Dirk Gently books. Of the two, I prefer the first. Last Chance to See, one of his nonfiction works, is also terrific.

On a less humourous note, I recently read Don DeLillo's White Noise. It's a terrific novel, and apparently it's quite popular. I ran into a quote from it just today in some obscure essay about pragmatics.

I've only read Inferno. Is it best to read them in order?

Olrane
Champion
Posts: 780
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:56 am
Location: Illinois

#17 Post by Olrane » Thu Jan 25, 2007 1:20 am

I see I'm not the only one who enjoyed Good Omens :) Pratchett is alright, I've read a number of Discworld novels as well, but I certainly have my favorites. I think that if authors start cranking out that many books in the same series, they're almost doomed to becoming formulaic and losing their charm.

Anyway, I just started reading "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin as was recommended, and it's fantastic, hard to put down unless I force myself to displace the book (I read the first one in only a weekend, but I needed to work on real life so I took a break). I haven't enjoyed reading this much in a long time. Martin's no-holds-barred attitude keeps the plot very exciting, although it's sometimes depressing to see bad things happen to his "good" characters.

Thanks for the great rec.

poOlrane

User avatar
Delia
Overlord
Posts: 2782
Joined: Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:22 am
Location: Finland

#18 Post by Delia » Thu Aug 23, 2007 11:06 am

Oh, Catherine!!!
Oh, Heathcliff!!!

Uh,oh...Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
I cannot tell how much I have enjoyed reading it.

Heathcliff makes a very compelling villain, almost best I've 'seen' yet.
"To be is to do" - Sokrates
"To do is to be" - Jean-Paul Sartre
"Do be do be do" - Frank Sinatra

User avatar
Andreati
Master
Posts: 242
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 10:17 am

#19 Post by Andreati » Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:39 pm

I really love the Phillip Pullman 'His Dark Materials' books. They're a bit kidsy, but still very good :) Other than that, I really enjoy Terry Pratchett (as I saw mentioned above), Patricia McKillip (old books, very much about fantasy and politics), and the Redwall books (also very kidsy, but who doesn't love sword wielding squirrels?!?).

But that's really just to name a few...

My favorite movies would probably be Casablanca, Indiana Jones I and III, Inside Man, Vertigo, Princess Mononoke and LOTR (of course!).

Delmon
Champion
Posts: 751
Joined: Sat Jun 16, 2007 2:19 pm
Location: USA

#20 Post by Delmon » Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:24 pm

and the Redwall books
I used to love those books... Makes me want to create a rat-faced halfling named Cluny to go around terrorizing people!! :twisted:

Post Reply