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What else are you watching?
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Jenny (Reading Envy)
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Apr 04, 2021 03:11PM
I'm rewatching Alias again... not really sword or lasers but a lot of conspiracies and ancient prophesies, so kind of!
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I really enjoyed the show as it came out. I kinda wondered if it held up, or ended up cringe worthy in hindsight like so many similar shows from that era do.
I rewatched Being There for the first time since it came out back in 1979. It is every bit as weird and wonderful as I remembered.Peter Sellers plays Chance, a simple-minded gardener who is told he has to leave the mansion he’s lived in since he was a boy after the owner dies. A series of escalating misunderstandings gets him in with a sickly business tycoon which leads to a meeting with the President, who quotes Chance’s simplistic ramblings about gardening in a speech, thus kicking off the rise of, well, to be frank, a good-hearted idiot. It’s the movie Forrest Gump was patterned on, and is a sly commentary on society, entertainment and politics.
It’s also a Fantasy by my reckoning, due solely to the very last shot of the film. (view spoiler)
For some reason — the 70s, I guess — they include bloopers during the credits, which undercuts the whole thing and breaks the spell, so if you watch it, as soon as it fades to lack, shut it off. They aren’t even funny outtakes.
Being There is an amazing film. I once heard it described as a "postgraduate Forrest Gump" which isn't completely wrong but isn't completely right either. One of these days I'm going to read the book which is also supposed to be terrific.
I have fond memories of watching Being There back in high school. I thought it was amazingly clever (and Peter Sellers is a genius).I also watched the full run of Alias as it was originally broadcast (or close enough, there was likely some bit torrenting back in college because I didn't have my own TV). I remember it getting a little draggy in the last season or so, but I wasn't going to bail when I already had the sunk costs of watching ~100 episodes.
I have not gone back and rewatched it since. I recall someone in the 2010s wondering what the show would be like if it was rebooted today. The glib answer was that it would be Covert Affairs, which would not be too far off if you cut out all the ancient alchemy conspiracy stuff from Alias and replaced it with modern geopolitical conspiracy stuff.
Trike wrote: "RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Trike wrote: "Star Wars in the style of Space: 1999.https://youtu.be/PRGf6GEAbVM"
I've always thought the John Williams score was one of the main reasons Star Wars ..."
I have the 7"! It's pretty groovy!
Mod
And *I've* got a big ten inch!....record of a band that plays the blues.
The MCU rewatch continues. Ant Man: Pretty much forgettable action shtick. I remembered the comedy sidekick most of all.
Age of Ultron: Fairly well done take on this storyline. I was peeved at the time that they took away Ultron from Hank Pym and gave most of his characteristics to Tony Stark.
Civil War: Really nicely done. I didn't like this storyline in the comics but stripped down to a twoish hour movie, it works well.
What I'm liking most is the long con for Captain America's relationship with Peggy Carter. Looking at the hints, he's always gone back. Nothing in the "Alzheimers" sequence contradicts it. She says that Howard Hughes oh excuse me I mean Stark introduced her to the man she would marry. No specifics. The mindfuck in Age of Ultron: "The war is over, Steve. We can go home. Imagine it." He does, and he makes it happen. The MCU people were planning things ten years out. Just great storytelling.
John (Taloni) wrote: "What I'm liking most is the long con for Captain America's relationship with Peggy Carter. Looking at the hints, he's always gone back. Nothing in the "Alzheimers" sequence contradicts it. She says that Howard Hughes oh excuse me I mean Stark introduced her to the man she would marry. No specifics."I’ve watched these movies far too many times, but... in Winter Soldier Peggy actually says that Steve saved over a thousand men, including the one who became her husband. “Even after his death he was changing my life.” Then in the hospital she tells him no one can go back, just start over.
It’s juuust ambiguous enough that it can be interpreted either way, but I kinda doubt they planned for them to end up together. The unplanned inclusion of an older man helping carry her coffin in Civil War lends itself to the “planned all along” camp, but like the little kid in Iron Man 2 who was retconned to be Peter Parker, I think this is just a happy accident.
That’s why the Russos and Markus & McFeely differ on whether Old Cap is in a branch timeline or the main one.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Ant Man: Pretty much forgettable action shtick. I remembered the comedy sidekick most of all...."It seems like at least once a week I'm on YouTube watching Luis storytelling.
Trike wrote: "John (Taloni) wrote: "What I'm liking most is the long con for Captain America's relationship with Peggy Carter. Looking at the hints, he's always gone back. Nothing in the "Alzheimers" sequence co..."It sure looked like he didn't time travel or timeline hop to bring Sam the shield at the end of Endgame, so I would say it was the same timeline.
It's all wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff anyway ;-)
Just saw The Nines with Ryan Reynolds on Amazon. It's sort of like a Twilight Zone episode in three parts, where Ryan has to figure out something about where he is, and he plays multiple roles. Melissa McCarthy is in it too. You may have to watch a video explaining the ending like with Bird Box.
Watching Babylon 5 Season Four on DVD from the library.I read the Babylon 5 tie-in novel, The Shadow Within (Book #7) by Jeanne Cavelos. The novel tells the background to three stories. What happened to Anna Sheridan at Z'Ha'dum, what happened when John Sheridan became the captain of the Agamemnon and the events that surround the dedication of Babylon 5. A great novel that brings these stories together.
I also read To Dream in the City of Sorrows (Book #9) by Kathryn M. Drennan. The novel fills in the gaps of what happened to Jeffery Sinclair from the time he is assigned as the ambassador to Minbar to his ultimate fate on the show. The story of Catherine Sakai, Sinclair’s girlfriend, is also explored. Marcus Cole’s backstory and his joining of the Rangers are also covered.
These two novels expand on events from season two.
Planning to watch Babylon 5 Season Five and the Babylon 5 TV movies next.
Then I plan to re-watch/watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Invincible continues to be bloody good. Emphasis on the “bloody”.It’s been so long since I read the comics I only recall the broad strokes, so I’m surprised by some of these twists.
I saw Netflix's new Thunder Force movie with Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. It's a superhero comedy. It's as bad as you think it is, nonsensical, cliched, and unfunny. But there's a nice effect of a bus being thrown. I wish these things had more verisimilitude, as Robert Meyer Burnett would say.
Tamahome wrote: "I saw Netflix's new Thunder Force movie with Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. It's a superhero comedy. It's as bad as you think it is, nonsensical, cliched, and unfunny. But there's a nice eff..."I liked it. It was exactly as dumb as I was expecting. They’re just goofing off, which is fine.
I’m definitely Team Andrew.
I tried watching Rock of Ages last night and I just couldn’t. Wow is that painful.And why is there a baboon?
Aaron wrote: "I have fond memories of watching Being There back in high school. I thought it was amazingly clever (and Peter Sellers is a genius).I also watched the full run of Alias as it was originally broad..."
It's funny because part of what makes Alias work is tech that *could* exist but probably didn't at the time, very Inspector Gadget. But then I think back to how much I loved The Americans, where half the beauty is that they had to do so many things without helpful tech....
Mr. Robot probably did it for the 21st century more than any other show could.
I just rewatched Joe versus the Volcano. I’d forgotten how great it is. Such a magical modern fairytale full of seriousness and silliness.Ful movie on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wIbW9DmdhsM
If you like The House in the Cerulean Sea, you’ll like this. Totally different story, exact same vibe.
Continuing the MCU run. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was silly but fun. I noticed they worked in all the representations of Ego that I'd seen in the comics. Possibly there were others that I missed. I admit that the room got a bit dusty during Yondu's tribute.Next up, Thor Ragnarok. Nice effects, beautiful sets, and a complete betrayal of the comics storylines it's based on. The Executioner is not Not NOT that toady! In the Surtur Saga they *stopped* Surtur! Loki's trickery enabled it even. Good freakin' god. And I wanted to rolf at Hela holding Mjolnir.
As for the Planet Hulk section, I don't dislike it but that really should have been a separate movie.
John (Taloni) wrote: "Continuing the MCU run. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was silly but fun. I noticed they worked in all the representations of Ego that I'd seen in the comics. Possibly there were others that I missed. I..."It’s a separate universe, though, so things aren’t going to be the same. The comics are 616 while the MCU is 199999. The movie Logan, for instance, is based on the Wolverine: Old Man Logan series, but each of them are different universes. Laura (aka X-23), Wolverine’s clone, is from yet another universe, originating in one of the several animated TV series universes but later recreated into the 616 one.
Similarly, the MCU pulls from disparate source materials set in different parts of the comics multiverse. The MCU versions of Nick Fury, Hawkeye and Falcon are from the Ultimate Universe (1610), while MCU Cap is a blend of 616 and 1610.
Rocket Raccoon was originally in a totally sequestered universe but he got ported over to the 616. My recollection is that in his universe he read Marvel comics and eventually fell into an issue of The Incredible Hulk. There were a lot of drugs consumed in the 70s. I actually have those comics here somewhere; I should dig them out. Rocket’s whole planet was talking animals, but none of them have made the journey into the 616 as far as I know.
So yeah, just treat the MCU as yet another variation of the Marvel Multiverse, an extended, super-successful installment of the What If? series of comics. (Soon to be a TV series on Disney+.)
John (Taloni) wrote: "...As for the Planet Hulk section, I don't dislike it but that really should have been a separate movie."I think a lot of that has to do with the rights to the Hulk, which Disney doesn't actually own. They can have Hulk in their films as long as he appears as a supporting cast member and not the lead. At least that's my recollection of how it works. Trike probably knows better than I do.
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "John (Taloni) wrote: "...As for the Planet Hulk section, I don't dislike it but that really should have been a separate movie."I think a lot of that has to do with the rights to the Hulk, which D..."
You are mostly correct. As far as I know, Universal still owns the Hulk distribution rights, but not the character itself. That’s why Marvel can use him as a supporting character but not the lead.
There’s conflicting reports about whether Namor is in the same boat (heh), but Marvel has been hinting about him since 2010’s Iron Man 2, so I suspect it’s the same deal. Given the Wakanda-Atlantis war in the comics, there’s been much speculation that’s what Black Panther 2 would focus on.
With Disney having all the money and 2020 breaking the movie business, all bets are off. Maybe they just went ahead and bought Hulk and Namor back from Universal, which is why we’re getting a She-Hulk TV series.
Trike wrote: "...With Disney having all the money and 2020 breaking the movie business, all bets are off. Maybe they just went ahead and bought Hulk and Namor back from Universal, which is why we’re getting a She-Hulk TV series."I guess there's always the possibility that the ownership rights are so vague that Disney is just going to move forward with their plans and let the lawyers fight it out. I dug around for a bit too and no one seems to understand exactly what's up with the rights to Hulk, She-Hulk, and Namor. If Disney did buy them back they've been awfully quiet about it.
Interesting look at a Heinrich Kley sketchbook. I now want to take a class from Marshall because of his enthusiasm about art.The Man Who Inspired Disney - Heinrich Kley ORIGINAL Sketchbook Tour
https://youtu.be/OjlUdU7CsuE
This is incredible. 😮Thanos VS Iron Man - End Game FLIPBOOK - DP ART DRAWING
https://youtu.be/-mM4DJ3JyRY
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Aaron wrote: "I have fond memories of watching Being There back in high school. I thought it was amazingly clever (and Peter Sellers is a genius).I also watched the full run of Alias as it was or..."
Mr. Robot was really damn good!
I saw a kid do a reaction video of watching The Last of the Mohicans last night, which made me want to rewatch the film. Turns out it was recently added to Amazon Prime, so I did. I love that movie. The cinematography, the score, the acting... so perfect. Daniel Day-Lewis’ hair in that film is the 8th wonder of the world, equaled only by Madeleine Stowe’s. Who knew they had such great conditioner in 1757?Daniel Day-Lewis (and his hair) Running - The Last of the Mohicans [1992]
https://youtu.be/omkIwWGYfWQ
Trike wrote: "The cinematography, the score, the acting... so perfect..."Oh man, I remember watching that on VHS with my father back in the '90s. Not only were/are all the things you said about it true, but I was also a huge colonial history nerd, so it was 100% in my wheelhouse (I may have dressed up as a Minuteman for Halloween when I was in elementary school).
That whole soundtrack is definitely one of my Spotify favorites.
Now I have to figure out what the appropriate age to watch that with my kids might be. I think we have a ways to go still.
Trike wrote: "...the score...."I have spent full days with that fiddle theme playing constantly in my head.
I liked that song at the end by Clannad, I will find you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_6nF...This was directed by Michael Mann (Miami Vice).
I watched two diametrically opposite movies last night.Guns Akimbo, a b@$h!t insane action flick starring Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving about a loser who is forced into fighting for his life using only the guns nailed (!!!) to his hands. If you enjoy movies like Crank and Hardcore then you will love this.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/JggpSpqxS6I
Animal Crackers is based on the cookies, and is a fun little animated film for kids that combines the body-morphing of The Emperor’s New Groove with the tame version of circuses seen in The Greatest Showman. Lots of stars, a couple musical numbers, some fun action scenes... all in all a nice little family flick. It’s actually better than the trailer.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/6yrtrDjmw5c
I watched the first two episodes of The Nevers on HBO. This is the Joss Whedon show about superpowered people in Victorian London. It’s quite good.Basically the X-Men in a different milieu, with a Wild Cards inciting incident. Modern effects allow him to do the giant girl thing he previously used for Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Volume 1 comic.
I know Whedon has been canceled due to being a creep, but the man can tell a story. I think I read that he was kicked off this show due to the accusations against him, but the first ep at least is all him. Despite the allegations, this is a very feminist, pro-worker, pro-other, show, the kind that gets crazy conservatives to tie their knickers into knots.
Oh, I also watched the first 4 eps of Made For Love, which is really good. It’s a half hour comedy about a tech billionaire who put a chip in his wife’s head to monitor everything she does. I’m not saying it’s based on Elon Musk and Steve Jobs, but I’m not saying it isn’t, either.It’s adult humor and I laughed out loud a couple times. Ray Romano is doing his weirdest yet (strangely) most grounded character ever. You’ll have to watch it to see what I mean.
I like it.
Started watching Altered Carbon season 1 on UK Netflix. Seems pretty faithful to the book we read and the world is as unrelentingly dark and punishing as I recall from reading the book.But oh my is it adult only viewing. Sexy sexy time aplenty...
I am watching The Serpent on Netflix. Oh the glorious 70's.
Did I mention I rewatched the 1977 horror movie The Car? It’s so weird, even more so than I remembered. With actual actors like James Brolin and Ronny Cox, plus three of the future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as kids, including Paris Hilton’s mom.
Ashes to Ashes, which is a sort of time travel/parallel universe tale produced by BBC.Dirk Gently, the most recent one... love it.
A number of comedy series, if anyone is interested to hear about them.
Just saw the Mythic Quest Spring 2021 episode.... too fun! and, once again, they had me laughing out loud.
And I finally have started watching the Chronicles of Shannara. So far the story is good, most of the actors are decent. (I like the Druid most). And the scenery/landscape/setting is spectacular! because.... New Zealand... no contest really.
I am also watching Code Black.... because yeah, I used to work in a similar environment.
Saw "Nobody" in the theater and it was pretty good, with the star from Better Call Saul. Kind of like John Wick with a bit more characterization. It's violent in some places. Christopher Loyd is in it too. These villains need to learn to give up. I liked the song Life is a Bitch by Luther Allison.
Tamahome wrote: "Saw "Nobody" in the theater and it was pretty good, with the star from Better Call Saul. Kind of like John Wick with a bit more characterization. It's violent in some places. Christopher Loyd is in..."I definitely want to see that.
After enjoying the 1974 version so much, I decided to watch the 2017 remake of Murder on the Orient Express. It was quite disappointing, lacking the humor of the original. Like the recent RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies, some effort was put into making Poirot an action hero. Why do the studios assume that audiences will not sit still for a decent drama without some fight scenes and action sequences? So much CGI was used for the train shots that it felt like watching The Polar Express. The cast was deep and talented, like the 1974 version, but Branagh was not a convincing Poirot (although the mustache was on point) with a ridiculous amount of emoting and navel-gazing. The script made some "enhancements" and "improvements" to the story that neither enhanced nor improved it. The sequel - Death on the Nile - will be out early next year, like it or not.
Rewatched Tower Heist tonight. It’s a super fun caper that’s jam packed full of stars. Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Tea Leojnie, Gabby Sidibe, Michael Peña, Matthew Broderick... the list goes on. It’s a modern version of The Hot Rock, that’s goofy and satisfying.Trailer: https://youtu.be/Z4KXF7NWFRE
Watched Save Yourselves! on Hulu. It’s an indie sci-fi flick about a couple who goes to a cabin to unplug for a week. Unfortunately that’s when an alien invasion happens. It’s pretty good overall with a bit of commentary about online addiction and such, with a bit of humor, but it doesn’t have an ending, which is a bit unsatisfactory.
Janet wrote: "Ashes to Ashes, which is a sort of time travel/parallel universe tale produced by BBC.Dirk Gently, the most recent one... love it.
A number of comedy series, if anyone is interested to hear about ..."
Did you watch 'Life on Mars' first? 'Ashes to Ashes' was a sort of sequel with some of the same characters.
I watched Mortal Kombat. I really enjoyed it, the characters had substance and the fighting was excellent. I mean...its Mortal Kombat. I liked the original years ago. Don't judge me. I like Doom to for the record.
I finally saw Tenet 🙃 on HBO, which is 2½ hours. I was with company in the kitchen, and didn't concentrate on it 100%. At least I had the subtitles on. There's something weird with my tv where the dialog volume isn't as loud as the effects. Maybe I'll watch it backwards a second time, to more fully understand it. The action scenes were definitely eye catching. I didn't realize the protagonist's friend was the (view spoiler), according to a youtube video. I would have liked more information about the (view spoiler).
Tamahome wrote: "There's something weird with my tv where the dialog volume isn't as loud as the effects."That’s not your TV, that comes from the sound mixing. It is the preferred choice of most sound editors, but I hate it. It makes a lot of movies unwatchable. I bailed on Judas and the Black Messiah because of this issue.
They don’t seem to understand that people will change the channel or stop watching a film because of bad sound but will continue to watch if there’s a bad picture. As a filmmaker, one can always take a bad visual and make it worse then claim it’s “special effects” or “art” and viewers will be fine with it, but bad sound will drive people away.
Trike wrote: "That’s not your TV, that comes from the sound mixing. It is the preferred choice of most sound editors, but I hate it. It makes a lot of movies unwatchable...."Amen. I have surround sound and have found that I have to turn down the side speakers and subwoofer and turn the center speaker way up for many movie releases (which then messes with the sound balance but at least I can hear what is being said without upsetting the neighbors). I can understand why the mix is done this way for cavernous theaters but I wish they would adjust it for home releases.
Tamahome wrote: "I finally saw Tenet 🙃 on HBO, which is 2½ hours. I was with company in the kitchen, and didn't concentrate on it 100%. At least I had the subtitles on. There's something weird with my tv where the ..."I just finished watching it myself. I liked it. I actually followed it better then some of Nolan's other works. I don't know if the creators intentionally left more bread crumbs, or I've just got used to there story telling style. (view spoiler)
The audio was fine for me, but it might be my setup, I have a pretty decent 5.1 system. So I was getting good separation of most of the vocals through the center, and the effects/ music through the side and surround speakers. And I was watching through the app on an older Apple TV. I could see if you were just using TV speakers, or a soundbar it might not be as clear, and that is not the way it should be.
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Books mentioned in this topic
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (other topics)The Thursday Murder Club (other topics)
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For He Can Creep (other topics)
The Shadow Rising (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
George R.R. Martin (other topics)Robert Jordan (other topics)
George R.R. Martin (other topics)
Robert Jordan (other topics)
George R.R. Martin (other topics)
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