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Movies, DVDs, and Theater
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What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART FIVE - 2012) (ongoing thread)
message 501:
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Werner
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May 26, 2012 12:13PM
Jackie wrote, "Just kidding, all you wonderful and awesome men in this group!". Jackie, you're sweet!
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Jackie wrote [in Message #500]: "Patrick Stewart! Now that's an actor I'll always watch. I've never seen him in a role I didn't like. Gurney Halleck is among my favorite characters in Dune. I would love to see the effects in a ..."Jackie, I haven't yet rec'd a notification about your Message #500. The only reason I saw it was because Werner referred to it in his post #501!
Anyway, yes, the strange names do remind me that I'm not on Earth! LOL Even though they have a purpose, they're annoying! :)
I didn't get the impression that "Inglourious Basterds had any humor in it. It was all high tension to me. I didn't see the beginning. Maybe the beginning was the part that bored you? In any case, it has made an impression on me. It reminded me of how horrible the German occupation of France in WW II must have been.
I must be wrong about the comedy, it was a long time ago when I saw it. All of Anthony's choices blur together, lol
No idea on the names, Jackie. At least nothing other than your guess. Gee, thanks on the male comment. You sound like my wife.
I thought "Inglorious Basterds" was fun. It had some funny spots, but was pretty serious. I agree about Pitt stealing the show.
I can see Joy being confused about who was what in the old, short movie of Dune. Those of us who read the book had a much better idea of the culture & duties of everyone involved. I never thought it lent itself to being a movie. There's too much there that can't be shown in a film without being boring, so they wound up leaving it out or alluding to it quickly.I liked the movie overall. Certainly not a favorite & I thought the Harkonnens were horribly overdone. Giving the Baron the horrible pustules rather than portraying him as the sadistic pedophile that he really was didn't work at all for me. I didn't like the way the shields were portrayed either, but it was probably the best they could come up with at the time.
Some parts were very good. Paul's bedroom scene where he kills the hunter-seeker was well done. I didn't like that his character couldn't age properly, though.
Jim, Do you think if a pay cable channel did Dune it would be good? I liked everything about the book, even the stuff that others might think boring. This is a valid concern regarding a new movie or TV series. I know I would like it, but I'm not sure if others, especially non-readers, would like it.
Didn't HBO do a Dune series? They did Dune through Children of Dune(book 3), I thought. I watched some of it, but never cared much for the series after the first book, so wasn't terribly interested. Dune Messiah (book 2) felt like a rush job after "Dune" & God Emperor of Dune (book 4) was so boring, I could never get into it. 'Children' wasn't terrible, but I didn't particularly care for where & how Herbert was taking the philosophy & story. I've just always preferred it as a stand alone, which it does very well. I know you're a real fan of the whole universe, though. Haven't you read all the books & spin-offs?
I see you liked my pitiful review of Nightseer, so I guess I did read it, but it wasn't very memorable - obviously.;-)
No, that was Syfy who did the remake of Dune and Children of Dune. That's why it sucked.I read every Dune book there is and I'll read every book Dune book that yet to come as long as I'm still breathing.
My first time reading God Emperor was boring and I hated Leto II, it was hard to get past. Re-reading it 20 years later gave me different perspective, I wasn't bored and I understood Leto II much better and no longer hated him. Sometimes books are better on a re-read, sometimes I wonder what I liked the first time around, lol.
I liked Nightseer more than you did, lol
You mean the station that brought us Megashark versus Killer Croc can actually screw up something like Dune? Please! Say it ain't so!!!;-)
LOL, I know. Their original movies are so bad that I don't even bother checking to see what's playing.
Jim wrote: "...I thought "Inglorious Basterds" was fun. It had some funny spots, but was pretty serious. I agree about Pitt stealing the show."Jim, I thought the other fellow, Christoph Waltz (not Pitt) stole the show.
I know what you mean about it being fun... it was fun to see the bad guys get their come-uppance. And Christoph Waltz was delightful in his evilness. But...(view spoiler)
Jim wrote: "I can see Joy being confused about who was what in the old, short movie of Dune. Those of us who read the book had a much better idea of the culture & duties of everyone involved. I never thought..."I didn't think the character of Paul Atreides was well-cast. The actor didn't didn't have enough sympatico or gravitas. They needed someone like a young Charlton Heston.
Also, I agree that "horrible pustules" weren't an effective way to portray the character's evilness.
I didn't understand the workings of the devices with strange names. (can't remember the names)
The postules of Harkonnen were in the book, I can't remember which one exactly but a later book, I think. After Lady Jessica finds out he's her father. The Reverend Mother Mohaim gave them to him on purpose; she had to breed with him (as part of the breeding program to eventually breed the Kwisatz Haderach) during which time he abused her terribly. He was beautiful back then, she want wanted him to be as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside. A fitting punishment, I'd say.I didn't mind Kyle MacLachlan as Paul, though I do think the actor should have been younger or at least looked younger. Paul was only 15 when he arrived on Arrakis.
The book has a Glossary for all the terms, about 30 pages or so. It's helpful the first time around. Also, as you read the book the terms are explained.
I can see there's a lot more to the book than to the movie (of course!). Actually, the movie wasn't that great, IMO. But what do I know about sci-fi! :) There were too many slow scenes showing just the desert. Enough already!The Glossary would have been a big help during the movie!
What was behind the fat fellow (with the pustules) floating all the time? How did they explain that?
Yes, he was too fat to carry his own weight. Suspensors were used to carry heavy loads but they became a mainstream item used in such items as chairs, glowglobes, etc. I'm not sure if he was using the harness suspensor as a chair or as a freight sledge to carry the heavy load, lol
I just started watching John Adams, an HBO production starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472027/
This is a User Review: The attention to detail in this mini-series only caps off the brilliant writing and acting, top to bottom. So refreshing to see this attention in simple things like seeing the cannons fire in the distance, THEN hearing the blasts several seconds later, as it is in real life... ditto thunder and lightning... brilliant. Even more importantly, seeing how our founding fathers (and mothers!) laid it all out on the line, risking life and property for ideas and ideals. This series should be mandatory watching in high school history classes from now on. It should also be mandatory viewing for our Congress, if only to remind them of what guts, personal conviction, and personal sacrifice in service to your COUNTRY is. Maybe today's leaders wouldn't be so quick to dismantle the Constitution if they see accurately what our ancestors went through to secure it in the first place.
Powerful. I agree that it should be viewed in school and by all our politicans, not just Congress.
This is such an inspiring time in our Country's history, the Founding Fathers were an outstanding example what service to your country truly means. We are the luckiest people in the world to have had such great thinkers lay the foundation for our country. Long live the US Constitution, their legacy.
Jackie wrote: "Yes, he was too fat to carry his own weight. Suspensors were used to carry heavy loads but they became a mainstream item used in such items as chairs, glowglobes, etc. I'm not sure if he was usin..."I could use a "suspensor" for MYSELF every now and then! LOL
BTW, I bought this "Trolley" bag (with wheels) a while ago. Took it with me on the cruise. Came in very handy. Looks nice too:
http://www.drleonards.com/Apparel/Han...
I noticed it in your pix, I thought it was pretty. I like it's functionality too.
Jackie wrote: "I just started watching John Adams, an HBO production starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472027/
This is a User Review: The attention to detail in this mini-ser..."
I think I watched that via Netflix a while ago. Yes, it's a good film and appropos for Memorial Day Weekend! Here's the Netflix link for all their films about Adams:
http://movies.netflix.com/Search?ac_r...
Looks like there are some good choices.
This one brought me to the sign up page. It's been superb so far. I'm finding it hard to stay away from it and do my chores!
Werner wrote: "Jackie, I agree 100%! (Contrary to what some people think, VHS technology isn't obsolete --as long as some people are still using something, it's not "obsolete.") :-)"Except that you can't buy them anymore, Werner. Except maybe at a garage sale, and they probably won't work. I bought some off the internet but you couldn't program them to record shows.
VHS looks terrible on my new TV which is HD. It won't even play full screen. I still have a bunch, but consider them obsolete, like 8 tracks, LP's, & cassettes. Actually, DVD's are a pain, too. I only use them once to rip the movie to a file & then store it on a USB drive. I then play it or any of them to the TV via a networked computer. I'd like to do the same to my VHS tapes, but the quality doesn't make it worthwhile.
Even regular TV looks awful on an HDTV, that's why we had to get Eric the box years ago. It was distorted and blurry, far worse than regular TV could ever be. Once he got the box and used the HD stations, it was perfect. HD really does look nice. I tried to make a DVD and couldn't do it. I followed the instructions but what it recorded was a small square in the center of the screen as the movie. I'll make data discs out of movies because I can store a lot on one DVD. It'll play on the computer as a movie but not of the DVD player.
Earl, we buy most of our movies at garage sales or flea markets anyway; so not being able to buy them brand new in stores isn't a big deal. :-) We don't buy blank ones for recording, just ones that already have the content on them. So far, we've been fortunate in that they all work --usually better than the DVDs, in fact, including some of the latter that we've bought in stores! (DVD technology seems to be temperamental.)Jim, we don't have an HD TV, so the visual quality of the VHS tapes on our set isn't a problem. I know the technical quality of DVD movies is regarded, by connoisseurs of that sort of thing, to be better; but neither Barb or I are into it enough to appreciate the difference very profoundly. (Though we DO like the fact that they don't wear out as quickly!)
Earl, check the back of the VHS cassette. There's likely a tab that is missing so they can't be recorded over now. Put a piece of tape over it & they will.Werner, you won't notice the difference in quality on an older CRT TV between tapes & DVD's, at least I never did. I don't think they can support the quality. It's just with these new fangled, digital, HD TV's. The difference is astounding. It reminded me of the difference between soap operas which were video taped & old movies. Suddenly everything was much clearer & the action smoother.
When you have to upgrade, be aware that you'll probably have to get a sound system & a new DVD player, too. Our old VCR/DVD combo player doesn't work properly with it, but we haven't gotten around to buying a Blu-ray player yet. Not a problem for us since ripping the DVD's to file makes them play just fine.
The sound system was the big deal & expense we hadn't counted on. The new TV's don't have room for decent speakers, especially ones that can do low frequencies needed for folks of our age to hear & understand conversations. After a few months of cranking the volume way up & repeating pieces of shows trying to figure out what the actors were saying, we finally bought a $300 sound system. Ugh. It was well worth it, though.
Jim, when you buy a new sound system, does that mean you need to have additional speakers placed around the room? Our room is so crowded now that I don't know where I'd put the speakers!BTW, is it complicated to add a sound system to your TV? More wires, I suppose. Ugh.
I felt the same way about all the wires, Joy. Yes, there are a few more, but not too bad. One cable to the sound bar from the TV. Then there is a big, subwoofer that goes in the back of the room with two small speakers coming off it, another wire each. The subwoofer hooks to the sound bar wirelessly, though. Not having to run wires from the front of the room to the back made a huge difference in ease of installation.The hardest part was figuring out that we had to turn off the sound on the TV. Having it on caused really weird volume issues. Both the TV & the new sound system have a 'midnight mode' which means it brings down the volume on the explosions & turns up the volume on speech, a huge plus for our older ears. It's not perfect, but much better. Commercials are still too loud, though.
Jim, I'll have to run that by our kids and see what they say about the feasibility of a sound system in our set-up. It might be helpful. Ed is usually good with that sort of thing but he's not as familiar with electronics as he used to be. It's gotten so complicated.
Joy, it's crazy complicated. I made the mistake of asking one of our engineers at work, a sound engineer. Woah, total overload of information. He also has a very finely tuned ear whereas I have a tin one. What is acceptable or good to me isn't for him. He was recommending a very complicated system that cost almost as much as the TV while I settled for one that was 1/3 that cost & fine for us.
Jim wrote: "Joy, it's crazy complicated. I made the mistake of asking one of our engineers at work, a sound engineer. Woah, total overload of information. He also has a very finely tuned ear whereas I have ..."That type of thing can get very expensive. Captions (sub-titles) are cheaper. :)
Same thing with bicycles. They can cost thousands of dollars. Incredible.
http://www.bornrich.com/entry/world-s...
Jim, thanks for that helpful information! Hopefully it'll be awhile before we have to upgrade, but we'll be better informed now about what we can expect when we do.
Werner, you're welcome, but with the way everything is changing, it's best to ask around & find some young techy kid that knows both you & what's available. That's what I did & am happy with what we got. Since we only have the one TV, it's important.One of the big problems is sizing the new one since you'll be going from 4:3 CRT to wide screen (16:9). The measurements for TVs are at a diagonal which is very misleading when you change ratios. Our old TV was a 32" which measured 25" in height, I think. Everyone told me to make sure the new TV was at least a couple of inches taller or else it would look smaller, even though it measured more. We wound up getting a 47" TV, a much larger measurement than I thought we'd need.
I've heard 3D is a rip-off & you want to make sure you buy something that's at least 120hz which is how fast the screen refreshes, if you go to an LCD screen. We got an LED LCD which is brighter & cost a bit more, but seems to be worth it. The big windows in the living room don't cause much reflection as they did with the old CRT. I've heard plasma is going away & it can glare badly since it has glass over the front like a CRT. It also uses a lot more electric.
The LED LCD barely uses any electric compared to the old CRT. I have my TV & all components on a 1500va UPS because we get power flickers fairly often. The old 32" CRT used to use 60% of the UPS capacity & would cause it to flash a surge warning when it first started. The new one only uses about 10% of the UPS capacity & doesn't surge at startup at all.
It's all very complicated & changing rapidly. There are all kinds of cool devices you can hook up to TV's now. Ours has apps on it for surfing the Internet & stuff. I turned off the Internet access though because it would automatically do firmware updates whenever it felt like it. That meant while we were watching it, so for 5 to 10 minutes, it would be unwatchable. Not acceptable. I don't know why it can't update at 3am like the satellite box does. Really dumb on Vizio's part.
Thanks for the advice, Jim. Will do! (We wouldn't appreciate those automatic firmware updates, either! Some product designer wasn't thinking. :-) )
Jim wrote: "Earl, check the back of the VHS cassette. There's likely a tab that is missing so they can't be recorded over now. Put a piece of tape over it & they will.Werner, you won't notice the differenc..."
Jim, I've been using vcrs since the '80s so I'm well aware of the data protection tab. But recent vcrs are DESIGNED not to allow you to program future recordings. It would be interesting to know WHY this occurred, as there are a LOT of people who want them. I suspect the media moguls of conspiring to sabotage people recording and missing the ads. Also, I know that the cable companies set-top boxes make it easier to record future shows via DVR recording, especially on high-number channels, which my vcrs cannot 'see'. (Unfortunately MY new Time Warner cable box seems problematic. It will appear to be recording, but later, when you look for the show it claims it was 'unable to record'. Perhaps the signal is dropping out and it loses its place?)
Earl, OK, wasn't sure if you knew about them or not. That sucks about the VCR's not being programmable any more. It's really weird when they take features out of a device as it ages.If you want to step up into the 21st century, you can get a Windows 7 computer with Media Center on it & a TV video card that will allow you to record shows. I don't do it - I'm still using XP at home & our DVR is fine - but a lot of people tell me it's simple & easy. Hard drives are so big & USB storage is so cheap that it makes sense.
Watched the miniseries "Pillars of the Earth," and can't say I enjoyed it. The only reason we struggled through all the misery and violence was to finally see the end.
I liked it. The final scene was impressive, the completed cathedral and when the camera pulls back it shows the cathedral today with cars going by. That was a nice touch.
I tried reading The Pillars of the Earth but couldn't get into it. Too many characters were introduced at once, if I remember correctly.
Joy H. wrote: "I tried reading The Pillars of the Earth but couldn't get into it. Too many characters were introduced at once, if I remember correctly."PS-I just checked my Netflix records. It says that I watched "Episode 2 on 7/27/10". I gave the movie 4 Netflix stars. I hardly remember a thing about it!
Netflix describes the episodes as follows:
===================================================
"The Pillars of the Earth" (2010) TV 3 discs
"Political conflict, grand passions and epic ambition fuel this Golden Globe-nominated miniseries that centers on the struggles of a pious prior and a master builder devoted to the construction of a cathedral in 12th-century England."
Cast: Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell, Sarah Parish, Natalia Wörner, David Oakes, Tony Curran, Sam Claflin, Anatole Taubmann, Liam Garrigan, Gotz Otto, Jody Halse, David Bark-Jones, Rufus Sewell, Alison Pill, Donald Sutherland
This show is: Dark
Disc 1 - This disc includes the following episodes: "Anarchy" and "Master Builder."
Disc 2 - This disc includes the following episodes: "Redemption," "Battlefield" and "Legacy."
Disc 3 - This disc includes the following episodes: "Witchcraft," "New Beginnings" and "The Work of Angels."
FROM: http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/The_P...
===================================================
It's when they killed the little substitue boy that I almost couldn't watch any more...It wasn't important to the plot except showing how evil the bishop was, as if we didn't already know that.
Nina wrote: "It's when they killed the little substitue boy that I almost couldn't watch any more...It wasn't important to the plot except showing how evil the bishop was, as if we didn't already know that."It's hard to watch something like that.
The History Channel is showing a 6 hour mini-series "The Hatfields & McCoys". We watched the first one last night via the DVR. Kevin Costner & Bill Paxton are the stars, Devil Anse Hatfield & Randall McCoy, respectively. Tom Berenger is in a strong supporting role as a troublemaker Jim Vance (Hatfield side). Ronan Vibert, an actor whose name I never knew, but I recognized as a good bad guy, absolutely takes his role as the low-life lawyer relative of the McCoys to a new level. This guy is seriously nasty in a very understated way that just chills the bones.
Powers Boothe does a great job as the Hatfield judge. He reminds me a lot of Gregory Peck in "To Kill A Mockingbird".
Overall, it's been so well done so far that I'm not sure I like it. It's not particularly historically accurate. The show has the two patriarchs being war time buddies, which they weren't, but it does add more to the story. A lot of it is based on actual incidents, but it changes them around & compresses the action a lot more. For instance, the opening shot of the feud took place in 1865 & the pig incident was over a decade later, not just a year or so as shown in the movie. (The feud lasted almost 30 years.) Still, knowing the inevitability of the outright feud, watching it grow out of misunderstandings between two former friends is chilling & sad - too real - whether or not it is accurate.
The History Channel:
http://www.history.com/shows/hatfield...
IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1985443/c...
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatfield...
I watched the first part, Jim. I thought it was good, though I don't know the history. A lot of good actors in it. I can understand why they compress time. I plan on watching the rest by the weekend. I'm also watch the HBO series John Adams and a Doctor Who marathon with a friend.
I visted some friends over the holiday weekend. We watched Captain America, the first Avenger and Green Lantern. Both were enjoyable.
I liked Capt America a lot better than Green Lantern. Both were fun to watch.
Jim wrote: "The History Channel is showing a 6 hour mini-series "The Hatfields & McCoys". We watched the first one last night via the DVR. Kevin Costner & Bill Paxton are the stars, Devil Anse Hatfield & Ran..."Here's the Netflix description:
Hatfields & McCoys 2012
http://movies.netflix.com/movie/Hatfi...
"Close friends Devil Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy return to their neighboring homes after the Civil War -- Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy across the river in Kentucky -- to building tensions and resentments that soon explode into warfare."
Cast: Kevin Costner, Bill Paxton, Tom Berenger, Matt Barr, Powers Boothe
Haven't seen it. It's not yet available at Netflix but it can be put on a "Saved queue" for the future.
Mary JL wrote: "I visted some friends over the holiday weekend. We watched Captain America, the first Avenger and Green Lantern. Both were enjoyable."Haven't seen those. I'm in the midst of watching "True Women" via Netflix.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118499/
"True Women is a sweeping saga of love, war and adventure. Spanning five decades from the Texas Revolution through the Civil War... "
I think Nina recommended it. Brings history to life.
It's on the History Channel, I'm sure they're rerun it this week.
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