Three Movies Ken Levine Owns - Kotaku Comments

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Akin — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:59:50 MDT

I Claudius owns. I watched it back in middle school or something when I was sick for days on end. It really helped pass the time.

Akin

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

stranger — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:25:29 MDT

@futurebiblehero:

He said 3 random DVD's from his collection, everyone is just assuming that means movies.

stranger

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

stranger — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:20:45 MDT

Ken Levine just made my day. Miller's Crossing is hands down the best Cohen Brothers film to date, and one of the best movies ever made, period.

Glad to know that he knows that too.

stranger

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

brodie123 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:53:07 MDT

Luke Wilson's other, other, OTHER brother...

brodie123

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

CaptLtrl — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:30:05 MDT

@mind in rewind:

Penguins ain't natural. They're man-made, like the incredible hulk.

I'm gonna have to start eyeing up an ebay copy then. It sucks, because it sounded like everything was ready to go, and then MTV decided to hold it back. What the hell?

CaptLtrl

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

XbhaskarX — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:22:54 MDT

BioShock had a somewhat decent story for a video game, but it was no Miller's Crossing.

XbhaskarX

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

mind in rewind — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:10:25 MDT

@CaptLtrl: Several years ago, I asked Ken Marino about a state DVD. He said it's not going to happen, and actually suggested I buy one of those eBay copies.

You can download episodes off of iTunes, though.

mind in rewind

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Zeouterlimits — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:03:53 MDT

I've never seen Millers Crossing..
Hmm

Zeouterlimits

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

futurebiblehero — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:38:39 MDT

@CaptLtrl: Good taste (on all three).

You know, I've never been able to watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit without thinking of fridge humping, talking cans of vegetables and jazz hands.

futurebiblehero

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

CaptLtrl — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:34:44 MDT

@mind in rewind:

It really is a shame, because the show would do well over here, mostly due to the Shaun of the dead following. It's a show that I think a lot of people from my generation would connect with, and I don't think the american remake is going to do any justice to the true spirit of the show.

Don't even get me started on The State Dvd. The fact that it's not out yet makes me unmeasurably angry.

CaptLtrl

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

dv8godd — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:26:05 MDT

@mind in rewind: Jeunet is a brilliant director. City of Lost Children and Delicatessen are my favorites, but with the possible exception of Alien Resurrection, his movies are pretty much a guaranteed win.

dv8godd

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

mind in rewind — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:07:57 MDT

@Brian Ashcraft: Shadow of a Doubt and Breathless are my favorite French classics. The City of Lost Children and Delicatessen are amazing modern French films.

mind in rewind

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

mind in rewind — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:55:43 MDT

@Ludwig: He doesn't want to be too obvious about what he's ripping off.
@CaptLtrl: Man, I love Spaced. I don't have a region-free DVD player anymore, which sucks. Spaced just sits there, and I stare at it, wishing I could watch it again. Apparently there's no Region 1 DVD because of music rights, dammit. Kind of like The State.

mind in rewind

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

CaptLtrl — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:48:28 MDT

3 random DVDs I own, which I feel the need to share.

Eraserhead - I love David Lynch, and this is the most WTF movie he's ever made.

Wet Hot American Summer - The cast of "The State" makes this one of my favorite comedies ever. Incredibly absurd and possibly offensive!

Spaced (The complete series) - No gamer/pop culture junkie should be without this DVD set. Unfortunately it's only region 2, because channel 4 hates america.

CaptLtrl

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

dead_red_eyes — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:27:56 MDT

@Witzbold:

Oh man ... Miller's Crossing is one hell film. You're missing out!!!!

dead_red_eyes

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

gstaff — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:22:26 MDT

All you really need is Commando. I guess Ken didn't get the memo.

gstaff

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:18:07 MDT

@Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee: I should note that region-free is the way to go no matter where you are. But for those who only enjoy R1 DVDs, it can be rough going.

I went region-free last year. It's been very nice.

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:16:56 MDT

@osiris83: No problem. If you dig Tarkovsky, it's safe to say that you'll dig Tarr.

It's not easy getting Charbol in the U.S. either. Too many great directors are underepresented here in the states. Very little Ray (Satyajit, not Nicholas), Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Resnais... Thankfully, Criterion is getting around to pumping more Ozu and Naruse out - Each have Eclipse sets dedicated to their films coming out in the near future...

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

jcsunshine — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:06:50 MDT

@adaorardor: The answer is Shadow Of A Doubt, hands down. Rififi's quite good but Shadow displayed exquisite mastery of craft. I remember opening up my Film 100 textbook last year, seeing a still from it and damn near giggling with delight. Such a good movie.

jcsunshine

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

osiris83 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:47:24 MDT

@Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee: Yeah, Criterion is one of the places I get the stuff from.

I have heard about Bela Tarr, havn't watched any of his movies...will try to get my hands on "Werckmeister Harmonies". Im a weak cinephile, been exposed to world cinema just a couple of years back. Thanks for the recommendation.

osiris83

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

geekgrrl — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:46:07 MDT

nice chicago pic!

geekgrrl

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

adaorardor — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:43:45 MDT

@osiris83:
i just saw "the seventh seal" recently, i enjoyed it. my favorite bergman films are "scenes from a marriage" and "saraband".

@DJ-KINETIC:
"barton fink" is definitely one of my favorites,though i've only ever seen bits and pieces of "miller's crossing" on tv. time to juggle my netflix list...

as for my little list:
tarkovsky's "solaris"
"blue velvet"
the third is a toss-up between "rififi" and hitchcocks "shadow of a doubt"

adaorardor

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

osiris83 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:40:02 MDT

@Brian Ashcraft:
I love Claude Chabrol although I have not watched much of his stuff, its not easy getting hands on these masterpieces here (in India). I love The Butcher :) .

The tracking shot in Week-end is simply amazing. You should probably check out 'Timecode' by Mike Figgis in case you are a fan of extended takes.

And yeah, Truffaut. One of the masters of the French-new wave. *bows down*

By any chance have you watched 'Last Year at Marienbad'?

Also, Im sure you'll be a fan of 'Yasujiro Ozu' (Tokyo Story), Kaige (Farewell My Concubine), Kurosawa and a lot of others.
Gods, really.

osiris83

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Tei — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:33:08 MDT

Curse you, Levine!.

No I have to watch that "Miller's Crossing" movie :(

Tei

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:26:17 MDT

@osiris83: Criterion fan, eh? Five of your nine have been released by them...

"The 400 Blows" is my favorite film of all time. Truffaut > Godard.

Bela Tarr is my favorite current filmmaker. Do yourself a favor and pick up "Werckmeister Harmonies."

Charlie Kerfelds Jetsons Tee

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

dv8godd — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:12:23 MDT

Miller's Crossing... nice! I'd like to suggest he buy more Coen brothers movies as well, but yeah... that's probably my favorite.

dv8godd

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Woodwater — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:42:44 MDT

@Pombar: HAHAHAHAHA :P

Woodwater

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

PGGB — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:28:11 MDT

@Balius: yeah, it was more of a tv show than a film. though if you have the opportunity and can rent it (as it's something like $200 to buy) and have even a passing interest in Rome, holy crap is it good.

got into that during high school, but never finished it. i should really go see if rogers video has it...

PGGB

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

ManekiNeko — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:23:24 MDT

@Heartwork: I was thinking Matt Lauer with hair, myself.

As for BioShock influences, none are more evident than the Batman episode Deep Freeze:

[dcanimated.wikia.com]

A rich genius disillusioned with society creates an underwater city. Oceania creator Grant Walker even looks like Andrew Ryan!

ManekiNeko

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

futurebiblehero — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:16:07 MDT

While I, Claudius most definitely isn't a movie, I'm very impressed he listed it. Didn't expect that at all.

futurebiblehero

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:57:42 MDT

@osiris83:
Holy shit, French films-wise, I love Le Samourai. Ditto for Week-end (that tracking shot is insane). Likewise, adore "The 400 Blows." Really, really love "The Soft Skin." Also, *heart* Chabrol.

Brian Ashcraft

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

lionkitten — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:39:26 MDT

Oooooo...Miller's Crossing is brilliant.

If you haven't seen it, rent it. Awesome.

lionkitten

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

marmidukestank — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:32:11 MDT

My List of Movies That Have Had Zero Influence on Me:

1. The Covenant.

The End.

marmidukestank

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

osiris83 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:31:14 MDT

@DJ-KINETIC: Whoa..an Ingmar Bergman fan.
*respect*

'The Seventh Seal' is my favourite Bergman movie.

Regarding the list...if I had to pick up favourites
'Wild Strawberries'
'El Topo'
'The Piano Teacher'
'The Seventh Seal'
'Week end'
'Le Samourai'
'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'
'Stranger than Paradise'
'The 400 Blows'

gawd...too many to choose from..

osiris83

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Jesse Mrozowski — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:24:37 MDT

Millers Crossing is awesome but I'm not sure I see the influence, aside from the fact that there's revolvers and Thompson sub-machine guns in both.

Jesse Mrozowski

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

ootler — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:06:05 MDT

I like vileda sponges, my dishes are so clean.
Cyclone hoovers are also a boon.

I'm influenced equally by neither of these.

Take me seriously, I've judged some films.

ootler

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

zaky — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:55:11 MDT

City Of Lost Children? Not on the list? I loved BioShock, but talk about some creative appropriation....

zaky

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Witzbold — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:54:18 MDT

@DigiMish: Ive also read the book about the real "Merchant of Death" Viktor Bout.

Interesting how he finally got caught reciently after all these years of him evading almost all types of law enforcement that have been trying to track / arrest him.

Witzbold

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Witzbold — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:52:59 MDT

@kingofallcosmos: I still gotta see that movie. A lot of my friends told me good things about it. Just didnt have the chance to go out and rent it. D:

Witzbold

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Balius — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:33:45 MDT

I, Claudius is like 15 hours worth of miniseries, no?

So with the two Star Wars films, the list is only three movies long.

Balius

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Dirk Dorkelson — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:26:53 MDT

@kingofallcosmos: Natural Born Killers is a poor imitation of Badlands.

I'd never have thought of it off the top of my head, but I can see Miller's Crossing really informing BioShock. Fontaine and his goons would be right at home in that film. Ditto some of the weaponry, as someone else already mentioned. Not to mention all the scenes of firing off automatic weapons while old timey music plays.

Anyhow, if I made a game, the movies that would probably be the biggest influence would be Brazil, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Goonies. But if I just had to pick three films that are basically canon for me, I'd go with Band of Outsiders (aka Bande a Part), Grey Gardens and City of Lost Children.

Dirk Dorkelson

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

ArgentAngel — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:57:25 MDT

I think he looks like Jason Sklar, really.

ArgentAngel

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

DJ-KINETIC — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:54:55 MDT

@kingofallcosmos: That has got to be the most eclectic movie lover's list I've ever seen and my students come up with some pretty wacky top ten lists (I teach at a film school). If you were in my class, I'd either have to give you all A's or the yardstick. The inclusion of "On Deadly Ground" is throwing me for a loop. I even saw that one in the theater. I can't believe Joan Chen was exiled from China for "Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl" but not for co-starring with Seagal in that tragedy. If you had said "Under Siege," that I could at least understand (Andrew Davis's taut direction, Erika Eleniak's juggies, Seagal saying the line, "Get my pies out of the oven!"). But "On Deadly Ground?" I"m kind of speechless.

DJ-KINETIC

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

MattB — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:45:17 MDT

I Claudius? Wow. Respect.

MattB

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

DJ-KINETIC — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:42:33 MDT

I'm not much of a "Miller's Crossing" fan. I consider "Barton Fink" to be their best. I've noticed over the years that Coen Bros. fans seem to be divided into these two camps . . . with everyone coming back to hug over "The Big Lebowski." As long as we're all making lists, my three fav movies are:

"The Conversation" by Francis Ford Coppola

"Cries and Whispers" by Ingmar Bergman"

"Magnolia" by Paul Thomas Anderson

Oh, and I LOVED Bioshock.

DJ-KINETIC

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

kingofallcosmos — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:41:19 MDT

Here is the basic list of movies that I used to show to people when I found out that they hadn't seen them (different reasons for showing each of them):
Natural Born Killers
Xanadu
Miller's Crossing
Mary Poppins
MST3K: Pod People
The Maxx
Electric Dreams
On Deadly Ground
Primal Instinct (a non-graphic documentary about animals having sex)

After college, I added Moulin Rouge, Dancer in the Dark, and Fritz the Cat. Also, I found out last year that my wife had never seen The Goonies, which I had never expected that I would need to show to someone my age.

I can say that out of the above listed movies, if I had to choose one to share with every person possible, I would choose Miller's Crossing.

kingofallcosmos

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

LX — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:40:18 MDT

@Heartwork: I was thinking more david duchovny with a big jaw

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

JudgeNutmeg — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:24:30 MDT

Ken Levine photo.....

George Segal - "Is he taking a dump?"
Kirstie Alley - "No, he' thinking real hard"
parp
Bruce Willis - "Nng, too much fruit!"

JudgeNutmeg

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

BenignMuffin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:01:45 MDT

Funny I watched Miller's Crossing for the first time last week and for some reason the totting tommy guns reminded me of Bioshock

BenignMuffin

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

kingofallcosmos — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 04:00:47 MDT

@Witzbold:
They are three movies in his collection, not the entire collection, but not bad choices if you could only have three.

Miller's Crossing is such a good choice. It is one of those movies that I used to show to people when I found out that they hadn't seen it. (Oh how I miss college.) I might just watch it this weekend.

kingofallcosmos

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Snappywave — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:58:57 MDT

I could relate with Return of Jedi.

Empire Strikes Back, A New Hope and T2 is my top 3 favorites of all time.

Snappywave

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

MrSoursop — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:57:43 MDT

PS. It's 3 DVDs Ken owns. Not 3 'movies' and obviusly not his 3 favourite 'movies'.

MrSoursop

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Islandkiwi — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:56:50 MDT

Coen Brothers are so good. Raising Arizona/Fargo/O Brother, Where Art Thou...Hell I even like The Hudsucker Proxy. I've not seen the more violent movies (Millers Crossing, No Country) but perhaps it's time to "man up".

Islandkiwi

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

DigiMish — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:56:45 MDT

@Witzbold: Lord of War was amazing, really made you think about things, didn't it?

I would like to hear Levine's answer concerning "new" movies.

DigiMish

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Witzbold — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:36:25 MDT

Lord of War
Blood Diamond
The Kingdom

3 current favs.

I would think a man like Mr. Levine would be watching more movies though?

Witzbold

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Tei — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:36:19 MDT

Oh dawn,... I forget Chobits.
Pantsu, Pantsu, pantsu, pantsu... hahahaha :D

Tei

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

Tei — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:31:16 MDT

Everyone love lists, I will make one.
Unfortunally, I don't remenber the "best", i remenber some, so I remenber these that are "memorable" to me.

Movies:
- The Grapes of Wrath
[www.imdb.com]
- Groundhog Day
[www.imdb.com]
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
[www.imdb.com]

Books:
- "Cien años de soledad"
- "Memorias en una caja a prueba de hormigas"
- "Dune"

Anime:
- Elfen Lied
- Naruto (before fillers killed it)
- Toki wo Kakeru Shojo
[www.imdb.com]

Manga:
- Gunm

Tei

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

MrSoursop — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:19:28 MDT

Been meaning to find I Claudius. Hurt, Blessed.. It can only be awesome

MrSoursop

Three Movies Ken Levine Owns

I am ERROR — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:11:53 MDT

If I ever made a totally awesome game that everyone loved, my "Three Movies abstractBzooty Owns." post would read:

Big Touble in Little China: Because it's the greatest movie ever made.
Clockwork Orange: Because I love music and Stanley Kubrick.
Blue Velvet: Because , uh, I love music and David Lynch.

I am ERROR