What Are You Watching? New Season!

Topic

Time for a new ‘watching’ thread!

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Prometheus would have been better if just it took place in the Alien universe, but didn’t feature the Aliens or Space Jockeys.

The Space Jockey in Alien was much more captivating when we didn’t know what the hell it was.

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Rocket, garjones

Jason wrote:

The Space Jockey in Alien was much more captivating when we didn’t know what the hell it was.

I mean, it might have been interesting if they’d made it interesting. But “it’s just dudes” isn’t what we were hoping for. In fact the whole “humans were put here by aliens” thing isn’t solving the mystery of humanity at all, because then you’re just left with the question “yeah but where did THOSE guys come from?” It just shifts the question, it doesn’t answer it.

Watched the finale of Season 4 of FARGO last night. I need to rewatch the previous seasons to be sure, but I think this one might be the best season of the four — a combination of great cast, great characters, great writing, and enough odd moments to satisfy any Coen Brothers fan. And that mid-credits scene — sooooo satisfying.

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Ben, Todd

Watched the first ep of Motherland: Fort Salem, a show that just popped up on amazon here. It’s kind of Harry Potter if Hogwarts was instead a military fascist institution. Alt reality in which witches are real and in the Salem trials made a deal with the government that allowed them to live if they fought America’s wars, and now they’re kind of a military nobility class.

It’s a cool premise and the show has some nice visual touches. And there are some nice ideas in how the magic works. But there’s also a lot of (way, way) sub-Buffy teenage drama. I may watch a few more eps, see how it goes.

njerry wrote:

Watched the finale of Season 4 of FARGO last night. I need to rewatch the previous seasons to be sure, but I think this one might be the best season of the four — a combination of great cast, great characters, great writing, and enough odd moments to satisfy any Coen Brothers fan. And that mid-credits scene — sooooo satisfying.

I didn’t like the finale so much, but the overall season was good, yeah.

njerry wrote:

Watched the finale of Season 4 of FARGO last night. I need to rewatch the previous seasons to be sure, but I think this one might be the best season of the four — a combination of great cast, great characters, great writing, and enough odd moments to satisfy any Coen Brothers fan. And that mid-credits scene — sooooo satisfying.

I think Season 1 is my favorite but S4 was also very good. I have been very impressed with Chris Rock’s performance. A fantastic dramatic turn and the scene at the end with the head of the Italian group was sublime.

Great season!

I’m watching Last Action Hero. It’s very long! It feels like I’m close to the end, but somehow there’s another 50 minutes left.

EDIT: Finished. That was a lot of movie. Some of it was good, but not enough.

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DavidM, Uncle Retrospective, Todd, Martin Smith

paul f wrote:

EDIT: Finished. That was a lot of movie. Some of it was good, but not enough.

YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!!!

I remember The Last Action Hero as having a great concept but not necessarily being a good movie. But it’s a long time since I’ve seen it.

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Uncle Retrospective

Yeah, I loved it as a kid, but I have no idea how well it holds up. Well, except for two things:
1. I am completely sure that Charles Dance is as awesome as ever. The idea of the villain figuring out that in the real world, he can finally win, was great.
2. Having a slasher killer character as a secondary villain was also great.

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Todd

Just watched a Storyville documentary, The Hijacker Who Vanished: The Mystery of D.B. Cooper. It was very good although it didn’t offer anything close to a solution to the mystery, despite interviews with the pilots of the plane that Cooper parachuted out of, and even the stewardess he held hostage.

It focusses on three main suspects, provides credible evidence for each of them, and then does something interesting which I won’t spoil for those who might want to watch it. Ultimately it speaks to something larger than just an unsolved mystery. It’s on iPlayer and is well worth a look.

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Todd

MANK on Netflix is okay but it is no CITIZEN KANE.

It’s no BARTON FINK which I’d recommend before MANK.

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Todd

Anonymous wrote:

MANK on Netflix is okay but it is no CITIZEN KANE.

It’s no BARTON FINK which I’d recommend before MANK.

I need to watch Barton Fink again. I enjoyed it but haven’t seen it in decades.

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Christmas Chronicles 2 on Netflix is another fun, silly kids Christmas romp. Kurt Russell has still got it.

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Chris-S, Ben

Anonymous wrote:

MANK on Netflix is okay but it is no CITIZEN KANE.

It’s no BARTON FINK which I’d recommend before MANK.

I enjoyed Mank a lot, especially the flashback parts. The supporting cast are all fantastic. Not sure how it stacks up to the rest of Fincher’s work, but I liked it.

One moment that took me aback was near the end, when Mank mentions that he’s 44 years old, despite being played by 62-year-old Gary Oldman. I guess part of is that Mank was an alcoholic who aged prematurely and died at 55, but it’s still odd, especially when you realise that 35-year-old Amanda Seyfried’s Marion Davies is the same age as him.

Todd wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

MANK on Netflix is okay but it is no CITIZEN KANE.

It’s no BARTON FINK which I’d recommend before MANK.

I need to watch Barton Fink again. I enjoyed it but haven’t seen it in decades.

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Will_C, Todd

Getting one of our Christmas traditions in a little early this year.

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Todd

My favorite Christmas movie is Gremlins.

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Uncle Retrospective

Warrior season 2 is unfortunately over, which is a gigantic bummer considering it was the only good show right now, but it’s even worse because fuckin’ Cinemax decided to cancel it, and all of their original programing while they were at it… god, I hope someone rescues that show… That show needs a bigger audience too, so if Amazon or Netflix scooped it up, it would be great for everyone.

Anyways, it was another great season of kung-fu spaghetti western madness, amazing acting, amazing action, and incredible fight scenes. Why is it not more popular?? Who the fuck knows… it’s got all of the ingredients to be one of those buzz-worthy shows…

I don’t think Cinemax has the reach. It barely worked for Banshee; my guess would be that Warrior just didn’t get out to enough people and that if it’d been on Netflix or HBO, it’d have been more popular.

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Todd

Started watching Mortal Engines on Netflix.

The opening is a Brexiteer dream – a mobile London ravaging and consuming European cities at will.

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Andrew, Todd, Christian, Dave

Decided to bite the bullet and watch one of my least favorite episodes of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: “Arise, Serpentor, Arise”.

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Todd

JRCarter wrote:

Decided to bite the bullet and watch one of my least favorite episodes of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: “Arise, Serpentor, Arise”.

I haven’t seen that since the 1980s.

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JRCarter

That’s probably my favourite! Taught me what DNA was.

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Todd

Yeah, and it taught about a lot of historical figures, but the show’s version of Serpentor, I don’t care too much for.

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Todd

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

I didn’t expect anything from this, especially as the first movie is so awful, as are most of the other TMNT movies. It’s a lot of fun though. The turtles designs are still ugly as hell, but they improved Splinter a lot (it would be hard to make it worse).

The jokes work more than they should, the cast is surprisingly stacked (Laura Linney and Tyler Perry both have large supporting roles), and you can tell what’s happening in the action scenes more than in any other Bay-associated movie. Stephen Amell is okay as Casey Jones, though it’s not surprising he hasn’t had any other film roles since. The plot is just standard “collect macguffins, open a portal” stuff, which is fine.

Not a great movie, but better than it needed to be.

Watched “Alice in Borderland”, a Japanese show (live action, based on a manga) that Netflix has been giving a big push here. It was a lot of fun. Story is kind of a mixture of Gantz, Cube and post-apocalypse. Really well done show, with lots of fun characters (many of which are kind of typical stock for manga, but they work well). And cinematically, you can still see the comic behind the shots, so to speak, in many cases. Very solid show.

I watched an old Law & Order yesterday, from about 94/95, in which a rich businessman arranged to have his daughter’s horse killed. The character was named Richard Branson. Pretty bizarre that that got through the show’s legal department. Branson surely wasn’t unknown in the US in the mid-90s? Still, it means you get lines like “Richard Branson paid to have his daughter’s horse killed”, so we shouldn’t look a gift-horse in the mouth.

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Todd, DavidM

I was looking for a show to watch on Amazon Prime and one of the suggestions was Almost Human. It is in on IMDBtv with ads. fortunately not as bad as network ads. approx 1 min or so per break. I loved that show back in the day. The Pilot was just so good. it introduced everything smoothly and Urban and Ealy work so well together. I have forgotten a lot about it so i think i will put it in rotation of shows I watch.

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Christian, Todd

I’d never heard of Almost Human, so I Googled it. The synopsis says, “After recovering from a 17-month comma, a policeman returns to join forces with robots to serve and protect.” A 17-month comma? Good job it wasn’t a semi-colon!

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DavidM, Christian, Todd

Oh man I remember being so bummed when they cancelled Almost Human… it was one of those VERY well produced shows that could’ve gotten big if they’d only allowed it to.

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Todd

Yeah, I loved that one, too. Its cancellation was a huge shame, it really had potential. Also, Karl Urban worked really hard to finally get a series/franchise that stuck, with “The Boys”, didn’t he? Well deserved.

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Rocket

[Rocket]

After seeing The Boys Kennex, Urban’s character in Almost Human, is like a proto Butcher only he hates Robots instead of Supes.

 

 

edit: Michael Ealy should get a guest starring role on the Boys

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Rocket.

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Christian, Todd

Christel and I watched Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

A fantastic and brisk movie that clocks in at 94 minutes. Absolutely no fat in it. Viola Davis was great but Chadwick Boseman stole that movie. He held nothing back and left everything on the screen. I can see him being nominated (and winning) an Oscar for his performance. Davis, too.

Definitely worth watching.

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Will_C

Rocket wrote:

After seeing The Boys Kennex, Urban’s character in Almost Human, is like a proto Butcher only he hates Robots instead of Supes.

Yeah, the roughness and old-fashionedness are both the same.

edit: Michael Ealy should get a guest starring role on the Boys

Ealy was outstanding in Almost Human. And yeah he should!

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Rocket, Todd

Tim Dillon’s latest podcast on youtube was stellar. Called “the pit” after the hospital in El Paso where corona patients were left to die.

 

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Todd

[Steve Sensible]

I watched Hell or High Water again last night, one of my favourite movies from the last few years. Chris Pine and Ben Foster are great, with the latter in particular doing another chameleon-like performance. And Jeff Bridges reaches peak grizzled-old-sunnavabitch. It also has a magnificently moody score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (not that one) and the cinematography is stunning!

 

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Steve Sensible.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Steve Sensible.

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Sean Robinson, Andrew, Todd, Will_C, Uncle Retrospective, njerry

Chris Pine obviously has had a couple of high-profile roles (Star Trek, WW), but Ben Foster is one of those great actors who nobody knows about. Or don’t know they know about. His key performance as Russell Crowe’s right-hand man in 3:10 To Yuma put him on my radar, and I always look forward to his performance whenever I see his name in film credits.

Ben Foster puts in an amazing performance in Alpha Dog, a seriously underrated movie with good performances all around. Even Justin Timberlake does a really good job. Recommend that movie.

On the other hand, Ben Foster played Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand, and while he wasn’t bad per se, the movie is so bad it overshadows whatever performances were in it.

njerry wrote:

Chris Pine obviously has had a couple of high-profile roles (Star Trek, WW), but Ben Foster is one of those great actors who nobody knows about

He really is. He’s very distinctive-looking and yet he always seems completely different in every role, which is why I called him chameleon-like. My girlfriend was shocked that it was the same guy who played Claire’s boyfriend in Six Feet Under, which we binge-watched recently. He’s somebody who just seems to immerse himself in the role, but it’s never showy, like Sean Penn for instance – he just becomes that character.

Chris Pine holds his own though – they’re completely believable as brothers, despite looking nothing alike.

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njerry, Will_C

I rather enjoyed the new Goes Wrong Show Christmas special (a nativity, this year). Maybe not as strong as last year’s and I thought the audience laughter was a bit too loud in the sound mix at times, but it was solidly funny. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the new season (which I presume starts sometime in January).

Mischief, the theatre troupe behind the show, is livestreaming its improv show, Mischief Movie Night, across six shows next week. It’s got the original cast (ie the ones of the TV) and is a tenner a ticket, which is pretty good. I saw the show a year or two (or three? I’ve genuinely lost track) back, with the same cast, and it was hilarious. You can get tickets here.

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DavidM

I watched a couple of Christmas movies today, of rather different styles but each of which I had fairly low expectations for.

Last Christmas lowered itself to those expectations. Remember when the trailer was released and people facetiously guessed it would have a twisted based on the song’s lyrics? Well, not only were they right, it’s so bleedingly obvious it barely even qualifies as a twist. I kept thinking the film couldn’t be going for it because it’s too obvious, but nope. Even homages Fight Club in the reveal.

It’s not a well written film all round mind and co-writer and supporting cast member Emma Thompson does not come off well from it. Her character is supposed to be a Yugoslavian immigrant, but her accent is cod-Russian and, in the film’s crass Brexity subplot, she keeps talking about the KGB, suggesting her research didn’t extend to, well, anything, really. I mean, the film opens with the caption “Yugoslavia, 1999”, which didn’t exist in 1999 (also it shows a young version of Emilia Clarke’s character singing in a choir. Clarke later says she’s 26 and the film is set in 2017, meaning in the  flashback she’s 8 yet is clearly played by a teenager. I had to pause it and double check the maths because it really sticks out and I wasn’t sure if we were meant to think she was lying).

In all it’s a film that desperately aspires to be a Richard Curtis film (including some recognisable British faces like Sue Perkins and Peter Serafinowicz in cameos, Ingrid Oliver as part of a tiresome police double act) yet can’t even reach those lofty heights. Emila Clarke and Henry Golding deserve better.

On the other hand there’s Noelle, a bit of Christmas fluff on Disney+ which, to be honest, I only watched for Anna Kendrick. But it’s actually really good for what it is – a wholesome, family Christmas comedy. It’s genuinely laugh out loud funny in places, isn’t too saccharine and, while a tad predictable, knows which cliches to avoid.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised by Noelle too.

Steve Sensible wrote:

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (not that one)

So he worked with the comics writer rather than the violinist this time?

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Steve Sensible, Uncle Retrospective, Todd

I just watched the Upstart Crow Christmas special and really enjoyed it.

Somehow it feels like it shouldn’t work – the jokes are all pretty obvious and even at this stage feel a bit tired, like a middling standup doing gags about covid and lockdown – but the performances and the pantomime tone and stagey feel generated a lot of goodwill.

My brother and I have been enjoying Good Omens over the last few days and we only have the last episode to go. This series is way, way beyond my expectations. The jokes are great. The casting and acting is nothing short of stellar. I might even be so bold to say I prefer this series to the book. And yes – even I do, on some level, consider that last statement to be at the very least “Mild Heresy”.

Which, incidentally, could be a way to describe the show. Although I caught a better one on the IMDb reviews page. “Non-offensive biblical anarchy”.

If I had to nitpick, which I don’t but seeing as I love to I might as well, I would go after some of (not all) the special effects. And some of the child acting.

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Ben, Sean Robinson, Christian, garjones, Todd, Dave

Saw “Stag”, a BBC three-parter about in which a couple of incredibly dickish guys out on a stag weekend in which they’re supposed to hunt some game instead get killed off one by one in the woods. It was good fun.

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Will_C

Christian wrote:

a stag weekend in which they’re supposed to hunt some game instead get killed off one by one in the woods

I hate it when that happens.

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Will_C, Todd, Christian

Christian wrote:

Saw “Stag”, a BBC three-parter about in which a couple of incredibly dickish guys out on a stag weekend in which they’re supposed to hunt some game instead get killed off one by one in the woods. It was good fun.

Have you seen The Ritual from a few years back? Similar premise but with a supernatural twist. Pretty damn terrifying and one of the best creature designs I’ve ever seen.

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Christian

Nope, haven’t seen that one yet. Sounds neat, I’ll keep an eye open for it!

Anonymous wrote:

My brother and I have been enjoying Good Omens

Good to hear, but then why have I been avoiding it?
It’s like I read a few negative reviews (can’t remember if here, or where from) and let that dictate it wasn’t worth it.
Unfair, and I hate when I let that happen (especially considering I’m a fan of both Michael Sheen and David Tennant, and it’s from Gaiman source material).
If others don’t like, fine, but I’ll make up my own mind.

Thank you for reminding me about that, Anders. I shall consider this your gift to me.
Cheers.

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Ben

Good Omens is great, smart adaptation with a great cast.

Just finishing The Christmas Chronicles.

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Sean Robinson

Sean Robinson wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My brother and I have been enjoying Good Omens

Good to hear, but then why have I been avoiding it?
It’s like I read a few negative reviews (can’t remember if here, or where from) and let that dictate it wasn’t worth it.
Unfair, and I hate when I let that happen (especially considering I’m a fan of both Michael Sheen and David Tennant, and it’s from Gaiman source material).
If others don’t like, fine, but I’ll make up my own mind.

Thank you for reminding me about that, Anders. I shall consider this your gift to me.
Cheers.

Both Sheen and Tennant are absolutely delighting in their respective roles. You won’t be sorry you made the effort.

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Ben, Sean Robinson, Todd

Ben wrote:

Good Omens is great, smart adaptation with a great cast.

Obviously, Michael Sheen and David Tennant are the main attraction but it does stick pretty well to the novel while adding a lot of good ideas to the story. Though it is really not possible to fully translate Pratchett’s literary humor to television or movies.

Sweet Home on Netflix is a fun series. There are some confusing time jumps as it follows several different groups of characters during a strange sort of zombie/monster apocalypse from the point of view of one low-rent apartment complex in the bad part of a South Korean city. It is in the same style as the new crop of South Korean zombie movies and television shows – same themes, character types and plots – and it is based on a Korean webtoon (not exactly the same as manhwa) so that gives it a distinct visual style. Of course, it also has many of the same basic conflicts common in Korean shows focused around the hypocrisies of society and various authorities that come out during a crisis.

My wife really liked the exorcist drama-horror-action-thriller THE GUEST also on Netflix. I generally dislike exorcist-style shows and movies in general, and this one didn’t attract me either.

Caught a couple of interesting but not entirely effective horror movies BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE and ARCHONS by the director Nick Szostakiwskyj. Black Mountain Side is something of a low budget version of THE THING very similar to THE LAST WINTER. Very low budget but well made though it doesn’t entirely come together. ARCHONS is similar though it made less sense in that the characters’ choices are not entirely sensible in the plot and, really, you don’t get to know the characters well enough to understand what is important in their actions. So most of the movie leaves the question not so much about what is happening but what are they doing or trying to do.

 

 

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garjones

Anonymous wrote:

Obviously, Michael Sheen and David Tennant are the main attraction but it does stick pretty well to the novel while adding a lot of good ideas to the story. Though it is really not possible to fully translate Pratchett’s literary humor to television or movies.

Agreed. I liked the Good Omens adaptation rather than loved it but I do think translating that style to screen is very hard because so much of the humour comes from the prose itself rather than the situations/dialogue and large amounts of voiceover/exposition doesn’t work well for film.

Good Omens and the original BBC TV Hitchhikers Guide (as Adams’s work is in the same tradition) probably have done it as well as you can.

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Todd

Some of the prose bits survives through Gods narration though, the show wouldn’t have been half as fun without it.

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Todd

We just watched Soul. It’s a great movie to watch on Christmas day – it’s about finding the joy and love in life and it hit home, especially this year. I found it very moving in places. Very much like Inside Out it deals with some big ideas but with a lightness of touch that means kids can get it.

 

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Chris-S, Todd

Just watched Soul as well. It’s a masterpiece.

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Dave

Steve Sensible wrote:

Just watched Soul as well. It’s a masterpiece.

I saw your tweet on the subject and downloaded it from… ehm… an online retailer. (Why are you looking at me like that?)

Watched one scene, mostly to get a sense of the quality of image and sound and that scene just instantly told me this movie is going to be a home run squared. (It was the scene where they wake up in the hospital)

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Steve Sensible

Currently watching Wonder Woman 84. Had to take a break around the half way point to drink water and moan of woe. I am really, really hung over. And this movie is so far the best thing to come out of the DC Cinematic Universe. By far. It’s silly and fun and the clothes are aaaaamaaaaazing.

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Ben, Todd

Soul is the best Pixar movie ever made, with an obvious exception for Up.

Anonymous wrote:

Some of the prose bits survives through Gods narration though, the show wouldn’t have been half as fun without it.

Agreed but that’s why I think it’s about as good as you can adapt work like that because you can only use voiceover so much before it doesn’t work as TV or film.

The Hitchhikers Guide shows used a good balance too of the animated excerpts of the book that fitted into the live action.

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garjones wrote:

The Hitchhikers Guide shows used a good balance too of the animated excerpts of the book that fitted into the live action.

That was some of the best stuff in the series. Hitchhikers was originally a radio show, right? I wonder how that was handled in those scripts.

If Gilliam had made Good Omens back in the day when he was developing a movie version, I could see animated sections being used in the same way as Hitchhiker’s Guide.

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Todd

Anonymous wrote:

I am really, really hung over. And this [WW84] is so far the best thing to come out of the DC Cinematic Universe.

Wow; you must be REALLY hung over.

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Chris-S, Todd

njerry wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am really, really hung over. And this [WW84] is so far the best thing to come out of the DC Cinematic Universe.

Wow; you must be REALLY hung over.

He’s probably still intoxicated.

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Chris-S

Wandering around Netflix I found the pilot of Stargate SG-1. it was as good as remember but when they got to the scene where Daniel’s wife was made a Gou’ld things changed. Netflix must have chosen the Canadian version because I don’t remember full frontal nudity on Scifi back in the day. I always have been frustrated by American versions of Canadian shows because sometimes they are sloppy enough to tell something was there but edited out. Also the seven second edits to remove fuck, shit, etc.. Grr.

The nudity was the choice of Showtime (the original network) but I know the show’s producers weren’t wild about it because they went back and did a re-edit of the pilot years later that took it out (along with other changes). It presumably didn’t help things for its syndication.

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Rocket

Just watched Archenemy… a nice little “superhero” indie flick… really low budget, but I thought it was nice enough. Kinda reminded me of that whole wave of non-CB movies in the mid 2000’s about superpowered people… they were hit or miss, but at least they were more original.

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DavidM

Martin Smith wrote:

The nudity was the choice of Showtime (the original network) but I know the show’s producers weren’t wild about it because they went back and did a re-edit of the pilot years later that took it out (along with other changes). It presumably didn’t help things for its syndication.

The nudity was definitely removed when it aired over here – I was blindsided by it when I did a rewatch of the earlier years of SG-1 a few years ago and the Showtime version of the pilot was included with the perfectly legitimate collection of episodes I acquired

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Rocket, Uncle Retrospective

Saw the Lego Holiday Special. It was… a bit boring. Some of the gags were alright, but quite a lot didn’t land.

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Uncle Retrospective

[Martin Smith]

lorcan_nagle wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

The nudity was the choice of Showtime (the original network) but I know the show’s producers weren’t wild about it because they went back and did a re-edit of the pilot years later that took it out (along with other changes). It presumably didn’t help things for its syndication.

The nudity was definitely removed when it aired over here – I was blindsided by it when I did a rewatch of the earlier years of SG-1 a few years ago and the Showtime version of the pilot was included with the perfectly legitimate collection of episodes I acquired

It’s definitely on the original DVD release because it ended up giving it an incongruous 18 rating (or maybe 15) much higher than the rest of the series. That was when they skimmed over most of s1 to get to (the then-current) s2 though, they may have used an edited version when they went back and did s1 properly.

 

I suspect it got cut out by Channel 4 when they aired the early series on Sunday afternoons.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by Martin Smith.

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lorcan_nagle

Martin Smith wrote:

The nudity was the choice of Showtime (the original network)

I did not know that. Like i said, I thought it was Space channel(in Canada). I tis interesting Netflix picked that version rather than the reedited version they show in syndication.

Christian wrote:

Saw the Lego Holiday Special. It was… a bit boring

So you’re saying it could’ve benefited from some nudity, full frontal to be specific.

Apparently Canadians specialize in that. Perverts they are. The influence of the Quebecois…

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Todd, Rocket, Christian

Saw The Trial of the Chicago 7. Man, it was so good to hear some sharp dialogue again. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching so much shows with bad dialogue lately (yes, I am mainly talking about Discovery here), but this was really such a relief. It’s just such a huge joy to watch a Sorkin-written movie… it was also a great cast, and the story is told in a way that really keeps you involved. And obviously, the story itself is fascinating.

Also saw Soul. Not the funniest Pixar movie, but it’s beautiful, and it makes its points well and plays your heartstrings like a jazz piano.

Christel and I watched Soul.

Overall, I thought it was just okay. While I understand the body swap was central to the plot, I found it tedious and hackneyed. I will say that I loved the soundtrack and the designs of the afterlife.

It wasn’t horrible by any means but I doubt I’d ever watch it again.

Just watched Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion.” It’s striking how opposed it was to the reality – the government response is portrayed as efficient and competent, whilst the general public goes to pieces and starts rioting and looting at the drop of a hat.

Also, Jude Law plays an Australian journalist (Australian =  sleazy. Do you see?) who seeks to profit from the pandemic by promoting a miracle drug, whereas in reality that role was played by the GODDAMNED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

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Uncle Retrospective, Christian, DavidM, garjones, lorcan_nagle, Dave, Todd, Rocket

Just watched Death To 2020 and felt like it was quite disappointing. Despite all the big names involved it really missed Brooker’s delivery, and the lack of specificity of the references made it all feel a bit bland and obvious and predictable. It was Wipe with the edges knocked off.

(Clearly it missed the Shitpeas golden touch.)

Watched Soul, it’s OK, but it wasn’t helped by Disney+ crashing twice.  Remains the only streamer service that does that, Netflix, YouTube and Amazon are often fine no matter what is being watched.  But Disney+ …. Hired those Death Star subcontractors.

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Todd

Dave wrote:

Just watched Death To 2020 and felt like it was quite disappointing. Despite all the big names involved it really missed Brooker’s delivery, and the lack of specificity of the references made it all feel a bit bland and obvious and predictable. It was Wipe with the edges knocked off.

(Clearly it missed the Shitpeas golden touch.)

I laughed a lot at it, but it was more the rapid-fire jokes and descriptions than the analysis of events that got me. Samuel L Jackson and Leslie Jones’ barely in-character comments on BLM were on point though.

I revisited Sin City today.

I won’t be doing that again.

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Uncle Retrospective, Todd

Anonymous wrote:

I revisited Sin City today.

I won’t be doing that again.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

The updated A CHRISTMAS CAROL starring Guy Pearce. Caught the first episode on Hulu and it kept me watching.

As far as the story, I always wonder if Scrooge really, in his heart, changed or if he’s just acting in his interest as he’s always done.

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Uncle Retrospective

lorcan_nagle wrote:

I laughed a lot at it, but it was more the rapid-fire jokes and descriptions than the analysis of events that got me.

I think those were still funny and very Brooker, but I kept finding myself imagining him saying them, rather than Fishburne.

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lorcan_nagle

Anonymous wrote:

I revisited Sin City today.

I won’t be doing that again.

Yeah, that’s one where I imagine it hasn’t aged well. Still planning on rewatching at some point though

Some shots are gorgeous.

Watch the theatrical cut. I found the editing of the unrated extended cut weird.

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Christian

The extended cut is really for people who want to watch the graphic novels individually, just as they are in book form. It’s more coherent as a movie in the original cut.

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Visually it’s nice… but oh god it’s so painful to watch. The whole ceasless narration thing gets old very quickly, and also, let’s be honest, in terms of writing Sin City has NOT aged well, wether in movie or CB format. So yeah, it’s one just for the visuals in either format.

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Andrew

Jon wrote:

Visually it’s nice… but oh god it’s so painful to watch. The whole ceasless narration thing gets old very quickly, and also, let’s be honest, in terms of writing Sin City has NOT aged well, wether in movie or CB format. So yeah, it’s one just for the visuals in either format.

That’s a good point – though I think it may be more accurate that it’s stayed the same age but the original fans have aged out of it. Similar with most comic books and movies, a few of them hold up but if you go back and read something like Claremont – Byrne’s X-Men, Wolfman – Perez Teen Titans or even Miller’s original run on Daredevil or his Ronin graphic novel, it’s easy to see that those were written for somebody else. There isn’t really a lot of work that is truly “all ages” and I think Miller certainly shoots for late adolescent and early adult men (or men arrested at that stage) more than a truly broad audience.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of people in that demographic (basically it was the Image Comics audience in the 90’s), so it works for him, but I’m not entirely sure today’s 17-27 year old men have the same approach as they did in 1992 or even when the movie came out in 2005.

I’m watching The Big Fat Quiz of 2020 on youtube. Teams: Joe Lycett & Richard Ayoade, James Acaster and Stacey Solomon, David Mitchell  & Maya Jama.

This program is one of my guilty pleasures. Good lineup this year too. I can admit I have literally no idea who the female guests are because I’ve only ever seen them in previous The Big Fat Quiz episodes, but they’re pretty good nonetheless. They’ve had some absolutely terrible guests before, like when Mel B was on or whenever David Walliams pops his face in. None like that this year, thank fuck.

 

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lorcan_nagle

Jimmy Carr’s hair this year was quite something.

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lorcan_nagle

Anonymous wrote:

I’m watching The Big Fat Quiz of 2020 on youtube. Teams: Joe Lycett & Richard Ayoade, James Acaster and Stacey Solomon, David Mitchell  & Maya Jama.

This program is one of my guilty pleasures. Good lineup this year too. I can admit I have literally no idea who the female guests are because I’ve only ever seen them in previous The Big Fat Quiz episodes, but they’re pretty good nonetheless. They’ve had some absolutely terrible guests before, like when Mel B was on or whenever David Walliams pops his face in. None like that this year, thank fuck.

 

Laura and I do the quiz along with the guests every year while I snarl at Jimmy Carr. We were doing really well until the sports and water cooler rounds at which point we fell from 2nd place to dead last.

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Dave wrote:

Jimmy Carr’s hair this year was quite something.

Yeah, it sure wasn’t hair.

Anonymous wrote:

Dave wrote:

Jimmy Carr’s hair this year was quite something.

Yeah, it sure wasn’t hair.

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Todd

Was it a hair transplant? I didn’t think he was going bald. Could he get a laugh transplant?

Steve Sensible wrote:

Could he get a laugh transplant?

His laugh is at least 50% of his appeal, I don’t think he would want to get rid of it.

A bit of rambling…

Trial of the Chicago 7 was good. Thanks guys.

Good Omens was good. Thanks Anders!
Yet I will say that somehow it missed something to make it truly great.
Not a waste of time by any means, and I am only going by feel.
Sheen and Tennant are a pleasure to watch and lead a great cast.

Upgrade (2018) was recommended a while back, and agree.
The movie works with it’s budget.

Logan Marshall-Green was in that, and also The Invitation (2015).
Good cast. I recognize almost everyone.
Going by the friend that gifted it to me, it’s a horror (I figure), but I don’t know anything going in.
The movie does a lot of psychological set-up, and I’m thinking the same way our star is (but if we look in a mirror maybe we’re the ones with problems we haven’t dealt with…).
I’ll be vague and just say I enjoyed it.

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Will_C, Todd

Sean Robinson wrote:

Logan Marshall-Green

Ahh… mr. Tom Hardly… =P

Loved Upgrade though… great movie.

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Todd

Sean Robinson wrote:

Good Omens was good. Thanks Anders!

No sweat, glad to have unwittingly gifted it to you!

Sean Robinson wrote:

Yet I will say that somehow it missed something to make it truly great.

I kind of agree, it’s great in parts but something doesn’t really gel together. Having read the book, I think they share a similar problem at least to me. The ending is a bit weak or, perhaps better described, brief for the amount of buildup it sees.

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Sean Robinson, Todd

Watched “Vice”. A fascinating portrait of a fascinating man, and a terrible period of time.
Sometimes there was a bit much of the Oliver-Stone-isms, but mostly the meta-narrative stuff worked very nicely; I laughed so hard when they ran the end credits in the middle of the movie, when it would have been a happy ending for everybody if Cheney had never gone back into politics. Oh, and when they did the Shakespearean dialogue! That was awesome!
And they managed miraculously to show Cheney as the monster that he is while at the same time making him sympathetic – and in the end, even a little bit tragic – at least when it comes to his family.
The cast is obviously fantastic, and Christian Bale and Sam Rockwell are having the time of their lives as Dick Cheney and GW.

The movie also serves as a great little reminder of just how bad the Cheney/Bush adminstration and the things they did were, for those who have forgotten over Trump.

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garjones