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Watch, Watched, Watching: The Director's Cut


RedEyedGhost

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Another one here who is intending to watch Lucifer and The Magicians (well, try them out at least, see how I feel on them). I'm kind of struggling to really get into anything right now though, I've started watching various things, like Mr. Robot, Into the Badlands, Parks and Rec, and I just can't seem to focus on them. War and Peace for an hour on Sunday is about my limit right now, sucks.

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There is this network over here that seems to have something like an unofficial Travolta Tuesday thing going on. Last Tuesday they showed Broken Arrow and this Tuesday The General's Daughter. I really like Travolta as an actor, so I decided to check it out and I was pleasantly surprised. It was much better than I expected based on its mediocre Metascore rating.

The acting was universally strong. Travolta, James Woods, James Cromwell, Clarence Williams III and Leslie Stefanson in particular I thought were great (and that's pretty much the entire cast).  I also really loved the Southern Gothic atmosphere. It really seaped from every nook and cranny of the screen. Some stuff was also pretty disturbing, which was appropriate given the subject matter.

The film wasn't perfect of course. I feel like Madeleine Stowe's character was a bit of a distraction really. I think she could have been cut completely without much effort, which isn't a very good thing to say about a character. The subplot in the beginning was also perhaps a tad too drawn out. And I also thought that

Spoiler

The eventual resolution of the mystery about the identity of the murdered was a bit underwhelming. That Kent fellow didn't have much presence and he felt like a small fry. His character wasn't set up as well as it could have been. Everything that happened between the general and his daughter though, that was dramatic gold and I really found that intriguing. I'm glad the film spent as much time there as it did. 

 

Still, it was a good film. I might watch it again sometimes. And I hope that the network in question makes Travolta Tuesday a thing, because so far I have really enjoyed the two Travolta films they have shown. 

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6 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Another one here who is intending to watch Lucifer and The Magicians (well, try them out at least, see how I feel on them). I'm kind of struggling to really get into anything right now though, I've started watching various things, like Mr. Robot, Into the Badlands, Parks and Rec, and I just can't seem to focus on them. War and Peace for an hour on Sunday is about my limit right now, sucks.

You don't watch Black Sails?

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On 2016-01-25 at 8:37 PM, WarGalley said:

2. The first 3 episodes of S2 Black Sails. This is off to a much better start than the first season as I recall. The Machiavellian politics are abound. I'll be continuing this one.

I'm also currently watching season 2 of Black Sails, Captain Flint is just a fantastic character.

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I watched Inherent Vice a couple of nights ago. I get why some found it somewhat impenetrable (so much mumbling) but I liked it a lot. Joaquin Phoenix is utterly magnetic at the centre of the hazy storm as Doc, Josh Brolin is devastatingly compelling every time he comes into Doc's orbit and the whole mess is funnier than most (alleged) comedy films.

(For the record I also loved Boogie Nights and enjoyed Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia, but somehow have managed to miss the ubercelebrated There Will Be Blood and The Master.)

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21 hours ago, Veltigar said:

TFA > Warriors. For 2/3 of its runtime warriors was wel underway of earning classic status, but it has one of the worst resolutions of all time. I still can't stand Joel Edgerton after all those years.

What was it about the ending you didn't like? For myself, I'm just glad they gave us an actual resolution. Throughout the movie I was expecting some cop-out like a draw or forfeit or something. I found it pretty refreshing we actually got a result.

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18 minutes ago, Liffguard said:

What was it about the ending you didn't like? For myself, I'm just glad they gave us an actual resolution. Throughout the movie I was expecting some cop-out like a draw or forfeit or something. I found it pretty refreshing we actually got a result.

Oh man. Don't get him started. 

He didn't like Joel Edgerton's character winning the match since he thinks he was irresponsible, selfish and brought all the family problems upon himself by having a house too big and refusing to sell. He ignores the fact that his daughter got ill and had a ridiculous amount of debt due to medical bills because it doesn't fit the narrative of Edgerton being a horrible person. He thinks Tommy should have won, which if we're honest, is what would have happened had this not been a movie. But since the director didn't give a shit about who won at all and it was about these two siblings finding peace with each other and their father, it shouldn't matter but to Veltiger, it does, so much so that he has written multiple essays on it here of how that movie ruined Joel Edgerton for him.

Personally, I loved the movie and while I agree Tommy was the infinitely better fighter and should have pummeled him, I didn't care who won at all since the movie wasn't about winners and losers but finding forgiveness among their family.

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On 2016-01-25 at 11:47 AM, Isis said:

I read Cloud Atlas and then watched it the cinema - I don't think that is it - plus that was out year later. I am pretty sure it was a scifi film. I cannot imagine a film of this nature could NOT be a scifi film in the broadest sense of the genre. Or do you mean, is it set in space/feature aliens?

While on the 'mind-bending' film watching spree we saw Moon last night. Quite a clever film but ultimately a bit sad and depressing. I guess once you're off of planet earth people can do whatever they hell they want to you and it's largely out of your hands. *makes note to self to not go into space*

 

Yeah, I was thinking more if it's in the genre of sci-fi or not, since it's easier searching for a movie knowing its genre. But I'm kind of getting the feeling that it was low sci-fi in that case and I don't have any suggestions what movie it could be right now.

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Watched the new Fantastic Four out of morbid curiosity and yeah, it was not a good movie but it really wasn't as terrible as I'd been led to believe. I liked the first half of the movie and yeah, the second half is a aimless, the 'climax' comes out of nowhere, Doom has... like no character motivations whatsoever, and the body horror stuff is not explored at all. Feels more like a missed opportunity than an absolute trainwreck and it certainly does not deserve the 9% it has on Rotten Tomatoes. FFS, Ghost Rider has a 26% (?!) and that movie is certified dogshit. AT least F4 tried to do something different even if it ultimately failed (massively some may say). I can't say the same about Ghost Rider. Or hell, even Green Lantern was worse than this.

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On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 9:47 AM, Isis said:

When I watched it it took me ages to get into it. I was actually advised by people at the time to just stop fiddling about with other stuff at the same time (ie Twitter) and just focus on the film. But by the time I was actually really into it, I wished I'd paid more attention earlier on. It's an intense film which is quite slow. I had another issue with it too - the sound quality was very off putting to me. I looked this up and they did it on purpose. For me, I had to have the volume on my TV at almost 40 (where a normal TV show would be about 20) otherwise the sound dropped in and out so much I felt that I was continually missing things. So I will definitely watch it again and watch it 'properly' next time.

Last night we watched Pi. That was pretty intense. I'm cool with the film being ultimately futile and all but it was a little bit IN YOUR FACE for me. Certainly not a relaxing film to watch. :) But after watching that we got into a general discussion about films which are supposed to be about the nature of reality. We have Tree of Life on our to watch list. But there is a film I have seen which I am blanking on the title of right now. It is similar-ish to The Fountain (which I've seen) and I'd really like for us to sit down one weekend and watch Tree of Life, The Fountain and this other film close together.

So please, you guys, can anyone think of a film which is similar in theme to The Fountain and came out around the same time (within a year or two)?

I have tried googling 'movies like The Fountain' but that didn't get me anywhere. It isn't Primer or Upstream Color.

 

If that's something you're interested in, you should check out The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson.  And I doubt it, but the movie you're looking for isn't What Dreams May Come is it?  It was out a full 8 years before The Fountain which is why I don't think it is what you're looking for, but maybe.

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Finished Gode Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Man oh man, this was a 50-episode rollercoaster ride, and ended brilliantly. Terrific anime that I could talk for hours about.

Up next is Freaks and Geeks, which is very different from what I usually watch but I wanted to try it because it had very good reviews and was on Netflix anyway. Just watched the first 2 episodes and it looks I'm going to love it.

Also rewatching Breaking Bad and Battlestar Galactica. Good times.

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18 minutes ago, Jack Bauer 24 said:

Anyone check out FOX's Lucifer?

I enjoyed it enough to continue watching. I felt the actual crime-solving element was extremely predictable, but Lucifer was entertaining. I enjoyed the dynamic between him and his cop buddy.

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I've been rewatching Sirens on Netflix. This show is as hilarious as it was the first time. I'm really disappointed that it was canceled... maybe if enough people binge it Netflix will pick it up (probably not, but one can dream).

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I watched The Hurt Locker. It was okay. The best part about it was the tension, really well done action scenes that had me at the edge of my seat (though they got a bit repetitive). Definitely thought A Serious Man or Inglorious Basterds were more deserving of the Oscar out of the best picture nominees that year but those are two of my favorite movies to be fair. 

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