Films based on Graphic Novels

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Logan wrote: Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Can't believe someone voted for A League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, that movies was a steaming pile.   It's no "The League of Gentlemen" -- available on BritBox for those that have the service https://www.britbox.com/ca/season/The_League_of_Gentlemen_S1_8466 Now that is a fantastic show!

It's one of my favourites. I was so happy to see the the three part special in December of last year. Would have loved to see the stage shows too. The radio show was fun too. For those looking to listen to some comedy, if people here can drag themselves away from listening to albums (I regularly listen to radio comedies on BBC iPlayer, the On the Town with the League of Gentlemen radio series is available at https://archive.org/details/TheLeagueOfGentlemenBBCRadioRip
I don't think that Reece Shearmsith or Steve Pemberton would mind me mentioning that it's been archived, but BBC might. Mea culpa. I listen to more podcasts and radio programs than I do music, which might be considered heretical here by some (maybe I'll tweet Reece, he's surprisingly responsive).

I also love other Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton shows such as Inside No. 9 and Psychoville, and of course Mark Gatiss has had huge success.

Edited by Logan - July 30 2018 at 11:42

the thread about "very little known movies that deserve more interest" interests me much more, but apparently hardly anyone else but Friede and me


Edited by BaldJean - July 30 2018 at 11:53

Edited by BaldJean - July 30 2018 at 12:28

By the way, Jean, I withdraw my recommendation of Blue is the Warmest Colour (which frankly, I didn't like that much). The fact that it's too straight girls pretending to be lesbians and it has the most ridiculous ten minute sex scene, and that the trailer wasn't enough to pique your interest, does not, in my opinion, make it worth recommending. I had hoped that Persepolis might be of some interest (but if not, that's cool). And sorry if I came across like you're not keeping enough of an open mind when it comes to Graphic Novel adaptations (I also think that your topic is more interesting).

From rottentomatoes:

Marjane is precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl who was nine years old during the Islamic Revolution when the fundamentalists first take power--forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. She cleverly outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden, while living with the terror of government persecution and the Iran/Iraq war. Then Marjane's journey moves on to Austria where, as a teenager, her parents send her to school in fear for her safety and, she has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Marjane eventually gains acceptance in Europe, but finds herself alone and horribly homesick, and returns to Iran to be with her family, although it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past.

You mentioned some voluntary work with refugees as I recall, so I thought the subject matter might interest you (I could very well be wrong). It resonates more with me since I have so many Persian friends whose families left because of the Ayatollah Khomeini's rise to power.

Edited by Logan - July 31 2018 at 13:01

Yep, well deserving of a vote. I liked Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence too. Did you see the recent live action one with Scarlett Johansson? I wasn't expecting much from the film, but was still left a little disappointed. For a Scarlett Johansson film, Under the Skin was haunting.

I already voted for Oldboy (more people should see this, but watch the original Korean version and not the US remake), and now I will add a vote for Persepolis. It's a beautiful animated film based on a graphic autobiography, which makes it all the more poignant to me, and the story remains very relevant to our world.

I'll also give a vote to Snowpiercer because maybe no else would. It's one of my favourite modern speculative fiction films (features the venerable John Hurt, Tilda Swinton and Ed Harris amongst others). I think The Host, which has become a cult film, by Bong Joon-ho is my favourite of his.

And because no else would vote for the 20th Century Boys trilogy, I will (the title references the T.Rex song).

Hi,

Is Jack 'King' Kirby the godfather of the graphic novel? For if so the Fourth World series is then perhaps the first comic to be one long serial comic epic story with a following arc. There are plans of making it to tv-series. Im looking forward to that.

moshkito wrote: Hi, I wish I could post and comment on these films and thread. Having switch countries at 9 years old and then again at 15, I missed out a lot of the kid stuff, and of course, in America, I did not know the language which cut out these graphical "jeebees" (as they were called in Brazil), for me, and I never even got a single inch of appreciation for Marvel, or any of those here. I think that I prefer the cartoons that film makers can create out of nothing ... Derek Jarman comes to mind!

As I said to Jean. there's a huge amount of variety in graphic novels and films inspired by graphic novels. It's not generic and one finds them around the world. I haven't been a comics fan either, but that doesn't mean that I wont enjoy films that are inspired by them.

In this list, we have animated films, live action films, action films, romantic films, political, a coming of age lesbian drama, comedies etc.

Perhaps I should offer a description of all of them (I'll quote from use rotten tomatoes for those not familiar with these:

Oldboy (live action):

"South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directed this violent and offbeat story of punishment and vengeance. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a husband and father whose reputation for womanizing is well known. One day, for reasons he doesn't understand, Oh Dae-su finds himself locked up in a prison cell, with no idea of what his crime was or whom his jailers may be. With a small television as his only link to the outside world and a daily ration of fried dumplings as his only sustenance, Oh Dae-su struggles to keep his mind and body intact, but when he learns through a news report that his wife has been killed, he begins a long and difficult project of digging an escape tunnel with a pair of chopsticks. Before he can finish -- and after 15 years behind bars -- Oh Dae-su is released, with as little explanation as when he was locked up, and he's soon given a wad of money and a cellular phone by a bum on the street. Emotionally stunted but physically strong after 15 years in jail, Oh Dae-su struggles to unravel the secret of who is responsible for locking him up, what happened to his wife and daughter, and how to best get revenge against his captors. Oldeuboi was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won the coveted Grand Prix.
Rating:     R (for strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language)
Genre:     Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:     Chan-wook Park
Written By:     Chan-wook Park, Lim Joon-hyung, Hwang Jo-yun, Lim Jun-hyeong"

Akira (animated):

"One of the best-known examples of contemporary Japanese animation, this cyberpunk adventure takes place in the post-apocalyptic city of Neo-Tokyo. A teen-age boy is exposed to a mysterious energy source and develops telekinetic powers that place him at the center of a conflict that may destroy the world.
Rating:     R (for graphic violence and brief nudity)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Animation, Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Written By:     Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Izo Hashimoto"

Battle Royale (live action):

"A long-unavailable underground hit that anticipated The Hunger Games novels by eight years, veteran director Fukasaku's epically violent, still-controversial and deeply influential genre masterpiece takes place in a dystopian alternate universe. In the near future, the economy has collapsed, unemployment has soared and juvenile crime has exploded. Fearful of its nation's youth, the Japanese government passes The BR Law: Each year, a 9th grade class is sent to a remote island where they will be locked into exploding neck collars, given a random weapon, and forced to hunt and kill each other until there is only one survivor left. Battle Royale follows one such class, with an ice-cold performance from Takeski Kitano as the group's teacher. -- (C) Anchor Bay
Rating:     NR
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:     Kinji Fukasaku
Written By:     Kenta Fukasaku"

A History of Violence (live action):

Tom Stall is living a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana, but one night their idyllic existence is shattered when Tom foils a vicious attempted robbery in his diner. Sensing danger, he takes action and saves his customers and friends in the self-defense killings of two-sought-after criminals. Heralded as a hero, Tom's life is changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which forces him into the spotlight. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to the normalcy of his ordinary life only to be confronted by a mysterious and threatening man who arrives in town believing Tom is the man who's wronged him in the past. As Tom and his family fight back against this case of mistaken identity and struggle to cope with their changed reality, they are forced to confront their relationships and the divisive issues which surface as a result.
Rating:     R (for strong brutal violence, graphic sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:     David Cronenberg
Written By:     Josh Olson

V for Vendetta (live action):

"Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta takes place in an alternate vision of Britain in which a corrupt and abusive totalitarian government has risen to complete power. During a threatening run in with the secret police, an unassuming young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) is rescued by a vigilante named V (Hugo Weaving) -- a caped figure both articulate and skilled in combat. V embodies the principles of rebellion from an authoritarian state, donning a mask of vilified would-be terrorist of British history Guy Fawkes and leading a revolution sparked by assassination and destruction. Evey becomes his unlikely ally, newly aware of the cruelty of her own society and her role in it. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi
Rating:     R (for strong violence and some language)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     James McTeigue
Written By:     Lilly Wachowski, Lana Wachowski"

20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End (20-seiki shônen: Honkaku kagaku bôken eiga (which has a rotten score with only few reviews despite being box office hit in Japan -- If I didn't mention it already, there's one for Icarium's topic) It's one of those films that I think you have to be familiar with Japanese culture to get:

"A burned-out rocker discovers his doom-struck adolescent fantasies are coming true in this futuristic thriller from Japan. Ever since his career as a musician crashed and burned, Kenji (Toshiaki Karasawa) has been making a living working at a quick-stop store and living with his family. One day, police officers stop by and ask Kenji about a family of regular customers who've gone missing, though Kenji has hardly noticed their absence. When Kenji visits the home of the missing family, he notices a strange piece of graffiti on the wall, and is startled when he remembers it was the symbol of a club of teenage misfits he belonged to years ago. Kenji and his friends in the club created an amateur comic book that imagined an apocalyptic future in which strange illnesses and bands of armed insurgents threatened to destroy the world. As a wave of unexplained murders sweeps through the city, overseas the events of Kenji's old comic are beginning to come true; a fanatical cult known as Friend found the book and under the leadership of Sadakiyo they've made it their business to turn it into a reality, and now Kenji and his old friends have to infiltrate the cult and stop them before it's too late. 20-seiki shonen (aka 20th Century Boys) was adapted from a best selling manga by Naoki Urasawa and became a major box office hit in Japan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Rating:     NR
Genre:     Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Written By:     Naoki Urasawa, Takashi Nagasaki, Yasushi Fukuda, Yusuke Watanabe"

Watchmen:

"300's Zack Snyder brings Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' critically acclaimed comic book Watchmen to the big screen, courtesy of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures. Set in an alternate universe circa 1985, the film's world is a highly unstable one where a nuclear war is imminent between America and Russia. Superheroes have long been made to hang up their tights thanks to the government-sponsored Keene Act, but that all changes with the death of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a robust ex-hero commando whose mysterious free fall out a window perks the interest of one of the country's last remaining vigilantes, Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). His investigation leads him to caution many of his other former costumed colleagues, including Dr. Manhattan, Night Owl (Patrick Wilson), Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino), and her daughter, The Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman). Heralded for bringing the world of superheroes into the literary world, Watchmen gave the super-powered mythos a real-life grounding that had been missing in mainstream comics to that point. The film adaptation had languished in one form of development hell or another for years after the book's release, with various directors on and off the project, including Terry Gilliam, David Hayter, and Darren Aronofsky, as well as Paul Greengrass, whose eventual dismissal stemmed from budget conflicts with the studio. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Rating:     R (for strong graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Zack Snyder
Written By:     Alex Tse, David Hayter"

Ghost World:

"Set during the summer after they graduate from high school, two ultra-hip friends, Enid and Becky fear drifting apart when Enid considers moving across the country to attend college. When Enid develops an attraction to offbeat Seymour and Becky sets her sights on Josh - on whom both girls have a crush - their friendship is forever changed.
Rating:     R (for strong language and some sexual content)
Genre:     Comedy, Drama
Directed By:     Terry Zwigoff
Written By:     Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff"

Snowpiercer:

"In this sci-fi epic from director Bong Joon Ho (The Host, Mother), a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet. The final survivors board the SNOWPIERCER, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine. When cryptic messages incite the passengers to revolt, the train thrusts full-throttle towards disaster. (c) TWC-Radius
Rating:     R (for violence, language and drug content)
Genre:     Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Bong Joon Ho
Written By:     Bong Joon Ho, Kelly Masterson"

Sin City:

"The Eisner Award-winning comic series Sin City comes to life in this live-action feature adaptation from director Robert Rodriguez and creator Frank Miller. Interweaving multiple storylines from the series' history, this violent crime noir paints the picture of the ultimate town without pity through the eyes of its roughest characters. There's the street thug Marv (Mickey Rourke), whose desperate quest to find the killer of a prostitute named Goldie (Jaime King) will lead him to the foulest edges of town. Inhabiting many of those areas is Dwight (Clive Owen), a photographer in league with the sordid ladies of Sin City, headed by Gail (Rosario Dawson), who opens up a mess of trouble after tangling with a corrupt cop by the name of Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro). Finally, there's Hartigan (Bruce Willis), an ex-cop with a heart problem who's hell-bent on protecting a stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba). Featuring a who's who supporting cast that includes Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Devon Aoki, and Nick Stahl, Sin City promises to be one of the most direct translations from page to screen of a comic series, with shots and dialogue adapted straight from the original comic's panels. Rodriguez quit the Director's Guild when they refused to let Frank Miller co-direct the film, a deal hashed out after the two collaborators developed and shot the opening scene utilizing a green-screen process to harness the stark, black-and-white look of the books as a litmus test for the rest of the production. Quentin Tarantino was brought in and reportedly paid one dollar to direct an extended scene between Del Toro and Owen that amounts to one issue of The Big Fat Kill miniseries. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Rating:     R (for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:     Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, Frank Miller (II)
Written By:     Frank Miller (II), Robert Rodriguez"

Persepolis (animated, which which features Catherine Deneuve as a voice actress, won the Cannes Jury Prize and Cesar Award for Best Feature Film and did well in various film festivals):

"Marjane is precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl who was nine years old during the Islamic Revolution when the fundamentalists first take power--forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. She cleverly outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden, while living with the terror of government persecution and the Iran/Iraq war. Then Marjane's journey moves on to Austria where, as a teenager, her parents send her to school in fear for her safety and, she has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Marjane eventually gains acceptance in Europe, but finds herself alone and horribly homesick, and returns to Iran to be with her family, although it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past.
Rating:     PG-13 (for mature thematic material including violent images, sexual references, language and brief drug content)
Genre:     Animation, Drama
Directed By:     Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Written By:     Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi"

Death Note (Desu nôto) -- the 2006/2007 one (Death Note is my favourite anime television series):

"Released into Japanese theaters in 2006, director Shusuke Kaneko's stylish adaptation of the best selling manga quickly trampled The Da Vinci Code on Japanese screens and subsequently and set box office records in Hong Kong and all across Asia. The plot picks up as aimless law student Light Yagami (Tetsuya Fujiwara) discovers a mysterious notebook in the middle of the street. Soon thereafter, Light discovers that if he writes a name in the notebook, that person will instantly die (generally of a heart attack). Of course it doesn't take long for Light to realize the extraordinary power he now holds, and before long he hatches a plan to rid the planet of crime by scribbling the name of notorious criminals in the pages of the powerful notebook and make the world a safer place for decent citizens everywhere. But Light isn't alone in his mission, because his new companion Ryuk - a flying god of death who only Light can see and who also happens to be the true owner of the notebook - is always there to egg him on and get a little laugh from the criminal holocaust. Over the course of the next few weeks, Light does away with millions of nefarious baddies and the global crime rate drops by seventy percent. Still, the police aren't too happy that a regular civilian seems to be taking the law into his own hands. Perhaps the only person capable of discovering Light's true identity is L (Kenichi Matsuyama) - a brilliant teenage detective with a taste for sweets and remarkable deductive reasoning skills. When the police chief (Takeshi Kaga of the hit television series Iron Chef) - who also happens to be Light's father - is assigned the task of unmasking the elusive killer, things really start to get interesting. A fast paced, goth-infused, cat-and-mouse thriller, Death Note was followed at the box office by the equally successful sequel Death Note: The Last Name just a few short months later. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Rating:     NR
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Animation, Anime & Manga, Art House & International, Drama, Mystery & Suspense"

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World:

"Based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's Oni Press comic book of the same name, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World follows the eponymous slacker rocker on his colorful quest to defeat his dream girl's seven evil ex-boyfriends. Twenty-two-year-old Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) may not have a job, but rocking the bass for his band, Sex Bob-omb, is a tough job unto itself. When Scott locks eyes with Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he knows she's the girl he wants to grow old with. But Ramona has some serious baggage; her supercharged exes rue the thought of her being with another man, and they'll crush any guy who gives her a second glance. Now, in order to win Ramona's heart, Scott will do battle with everyone from vegan-powered rock gods to sinister skateboarders, never losing sight of his gorgeous goal as he pummels his way to victory. Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright directs the film from a script he penned with Michael Bacall. Superhero veterans Chris Evans and Brandon Routh co-star in the action comedy as two of the seven ex-boyfriends. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Rating:     PG-13 (for stylized violence, sexual content, language and drug references)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Directed By:     Edgar Wright
Written By:     Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright"

Ghost in the Shell (1995, not the Hollywood one):

"In the year 2029, the world has become interconnected by a vast electronic network that permeates every aspect of life. That same network also becomes a battlefield for Tokyo's Section Nine security force, which has been charged with apprehending the master hacker known only as the Puppet Master. Spearheading the investigation is Major Motoko Kusanagi, who -- like many in her department -- is a cyborg officer, far more powerful than her human appearance would suggest. And yet as the Puppet Master, who is even capable of hacking human minds, leaves a trail of victims robbed of their memories, Kusanagi ponders the very nature of her existence: is she purely an artificial construct, or is there more? What, exactly, is the "ghost" -- her essence -- in her cybernetic "shell"? When Section Six gets involved in the case, she is forced to confront the fact that there is more here than meets the eye, and that the Puppet Master may hold some of the answers she seeks. But little does she know that he has been seeking her as well. ~ Emru Townsend, Rovi
Rating:     R
Genre:     Animation, Anime & Manga, Art House & International, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Mamoru Oshii"

Road to Perdition:

"A hit man for an Irish gang in the Depression-era Midwest, hit man Michael Sullivan is known to friends and enemies alike as the Angel of Death. Uncompromising in his work, Sullivan is just as devoted to his private life as an upstanding husband and father of two young boys. But when those worlds collide, taking the lives of his wife and younger son, Sullivan and his surviving son, Michael Jr. leave their sedate home life behind and embark on a startling journey of revenge and self-discovery.
Rating:     R (for violence and language)
Genre:     Drama
Directed By:     Sam Mendes
Written By:     Max Allan Collins, Richard Piers Rayner, David Self"

Red:

"Frank, Joe, Marvin and Victoria used to be the CIA's top agents, but the secrets they know just made them the Agency's top targets. Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history.
Rating:     PG-13 (for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Comedy, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:     Robert Schwentke
Written By:     Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber"

Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (one of the most mainstream of offerings here):

"The epic action of "Edge of Tomorrow" unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop-forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again...and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.(C) Warner Bros
Rating:     PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material)
Genre:     Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Doug Liman
Written By:     Dante Harper, Joby Harold, Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth"

Hellboy (should be one word):

"Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy's supporting cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, and Brian Steele. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Rating:     PG-13 (for sci-fi action violence and frightening images)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Guillermo del Toro
Written By:     Guillermo del Toro"

American Splendor:

"Harvey Pekar is file clerk at the local VA hospital. His interactions with his co-workers offer some relief from the monotony, and their discussions encompass everything from music to the decline of American culture to new flavors of jellybeans and life itself. At home, Harvey fills his days with reading, writing and listening to jazz. His apartment is filled with thousands of books and LPs, and he regularly scours Cleveland's thrift stores and garage sales for more, savoring the rare joy of a 25-cent find. It is at one of these junk sales that Harvey meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast. When, years later, Crumb finds international success for his underground comics, the idea that comic books can be a valid art form for adults inspires Harvey to write his own brand of comic book. An admirer of naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey makes his "American Splendor" a truthful, unsentimental record of his working-class life, a warts-and-all self portrait. First published in 1976, the comic earns Harvey cult fame throughout the 1980s and eventually leads him to the sardonic Joyce Barber, a partner in a Delaware comic book store who end ups being Harvey's true soul mate as they experience the bizarre byproducts of Harvey's cult celebrity stature.
Rating:     R (for language)
Genre:     Art House & International, Comedy, Drama
Directed By:     Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
Written By:     Harvey Pekar, Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini"

Atomic Blonde:

"A high-stakes, global action-thriller that takes place in the city of Berlin, on the eve of the Wall's collapse and the shifting of superpower alliances. Charlize Theron ("Mad Max: Fury Road") portrays Lorraine Broughton, a top-level spy for MI6, who is dispatched to Berlin to take down a ruthless espionage ring that has just killed an undercover agent for reasons unknown. She is ordered to cooperate with Berlin station chief David Percival (James McAvoy of "X-Men"), and the two form an uneasy alliance, unleashing their full arsenal of skills in pursuing a threat that jeopardizes the West's entire intelligence operation.
Rating:     R (for sequences of strong violence, language throughout, and some sexuality/nudity)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Directed By:     David Leitch
Written By:     Kurt Johnstad"

Wanted:

"esley's (James McAvoy) life is over - his pathetic old one, anyway... Fortunately, it is all because of a girl. Enter sizzling-hot Fox (Angelina Jolie), who crashes into his life and introduces him to the Fraternity, a secret society of assassins, led by the enigmatic Sloan (Morgan Freeman). Seems Wes's long-lost father was killed while working for the Fraternity and Wes has been selected to target the rogue member who murdered him. But before he can complete his assignment, Wes must first uncover the dark secrets behind the Fraternity in order to determine his own destiny. -- (C) Universal
Rating:     R (for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Timur Bekmambetov
Written By:     Mark Millar, J.G. Jones, Chris Morgan, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt"

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (which has a really rotten score, and I ma inclined to agree):

"Based on the comic book miniseries by Alan Moore, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes place in an alternate universe where the characters of several literary classics exist in reality. As if that weren't enough, they've been assembled together in 1900 by Queen Victoria as a team of evil-fighting heroes. Among them are Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines; Mina Harker (Peta Wilson) from Bram Stoker's Dracula; Tom Sawyer (Shane West) from several works by Mark Twain; Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend) from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray; Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah) from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; The Invisible Man (Tony Curran) from H.G. Wells book of the same name; and several others. Working together, the odd assortment of characters must combine their powers to defeat a mysterious villain and save the world from certain destruction. Directed by Stephen Norrington (Blade), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen also stars Jason Flemyng, Tom Goodman-Hill, and David Hemmings.
Rating:     PG-13 (for intense sequences of fantasy violence, language and innuendo)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Stephen Norrington
Written By:     James Dale Robinson"

300 (not a fave of mine, but I thought get some votes):

"Sin City author Frank Miller's sweeping take on the historic Battle of Thermopylae comes to the screen courtesy of Dawn of the Dead director Zack Snyder. Gerard Butler stars as Spartan King Leonidas and Lena Headey plays Queen Gorgo. The massive army of the Persian Empire is sweeping across the globe, crushing every force that dares stand in its path. When a Persian envoy arrives in Sparta offering King Leonidas power over all of Greece if he will only bow to the will of the all powerful Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), the strong-willed leader assembles a small army comprised of his empire's best fighters and marches off to battle. Though they have virtually no hope of defeating Xerxes' intimidating battalion, Leonidas' men soldier on, intent on letting it be known they will bow to no man but their king. Meanwhile, back in Sparta, the loyal Queen Gorgo attempts to convince both the skeptical council and the devious Theron (Dominic West) to send more troops despite the fact that many view Leonidas' unsanctioned war march as a serious transgression. As Xerxes' fearsome "immortals" draw near, a few noble Greeks vow to assist the Spartans on the battlefield. When King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors fell to the overwhelming Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, the fearless actions of the noble fighters inspired all of Greece to stand up against their Persian enemy and wage the battle that would ultimately give birth to the modern concept of democracy. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Rating:     R (for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity)
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Drama
Directed By:     Zack Snyder
Written By:     Michael Gordon, Kurt Johnstad, Zack Snyder, Michael B. Gordon"

Tank Girl -- not as artistic a film as you might expect with a title like that (won't bother with the Cowboys one though I enjoyed it, but the title is self-explanatory):

"This wild, futuristic action-fantasy is set in the year 2033 where drought and pollution have turned the Earth into a desert wasteland. The planet's water supply is controlled by a despotic company that is opposed by a few courageous rebels who regularly risk their lives to poach the precious fluid.
Rating:     R
Genre:     Action & Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Directed By:     Rachel Talalay
Written By:     Tedi Sarafian"

Blue is the Warmest Colour (don't feel the others in that option need introduction). It won the Palme d'Or, as I mentioned in an earliest post at Cannes, and has won many awards (I don't personally like it terribly much and I expect many would just watch it for the, imo, lame sex scene):

"BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR centers on a 15-year-old girl named Adèle (Exarchopoulos) who is climbing to adulthood and dreams of experiencing her first love. A handsome male classmate falls for her hard, but an unsettling erotic reverie upsets the romance before it begins. Adèle imagines that the mysterious, blue-haired girl she encountered in the street slips into her bed and possesses her with an overwhelming pleasure. That blue-haired girl is a confident older art student named Emma (Seydoux), who will soon enter Adèle's life for real, making way for an intense and complicated love story that spans a decade and is touchingly universal in its depiction. (c) IFC
Rating:     NC17 (for explicit sexual content)
Genre:     Drama
Directed By:     Abdel Kechiche
Written By:     Abdel Kechiche, Ghalya Lacroix, Ghalia Lacroix"

As an animated film (most are live action), I recommend Persepolis. I would have thought you might have seen A History of Violence simply because you're a cinephile and Cronenberg is such a big name. Even if you're not into action, and I'm not particularly, I do think that you might find the Korean Oldboy interesting. And V for Vendetta is worth watching, imo. I love Stehen Rea and Stephen Fry in it, and it features the magnificent and much missed by me (I got to meet him when he was filming in Vancouver) John Hurt. I think it has a silly moment, but I really love this film. I feel that John Hurt was such an inspired casting choice to play the Chancellor, especially as he played Winston Smith in a film version of 1984.

I certainly don't think one needs to enjoy the likes of Marvel comics to enjoy most of these films.

Edited by Logan - August 02 2018 at 07:11

Meltdowner wrote: Logan wrote: Yep, well deserving of a vote. I liked Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence too. Did you see the recent live action one with Scarlett Johansson? I wasn't expecting much from the film, but was still left a little disappointed. For a Scarlett Johansson film, Under the Skin was haunting. I like it too although I found it very slow-paced, especially compared to the first one. I didn't see the new one, nor do I plan too. There are just so many original movies out there I've never seen and I'm not much of a movie person.

I'm a sloth and I like slow-paced (such as Paris, Texas, but that's for another topic). I loved the original and the sequel. Maybe it was a little heavy-handed on ideas, but I'm more idea-driven than action-driven. The live action remake I wouldn't have bothered with except that I subscribe to Netflix (Netflix Canada) and it was on, and we get so little stuff on it that piques my interest. I commonly like films that give me space to think and knowingly admire. I prefer novels in general, since I can more naturally stop reading and think about it rather than films which just seem to take you on a thrill ride.

I thought it was a haunting, poetic, and a very well done existentialist piece, but Under the Skin is slow, so I wouldn't recommend it to most.

"This becomes quite dull, even sleep-inducing, especially considering the movie's overall cast of slow-moving gloom" (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle).

But I babble.

Ghost World and American Splendor for me k