Watch, Watched, Watching: The Good, Bad and Ugly

[drawkcabi]

Well, I did it. I went ahead and watched new Roseanne.

and...they totally freaking pulled it off!

It was never one of my favorite shows even when it was in its prime, it was just something to watch that was ok.

and that's exactly what it was tonight, but because of its style, they way it got right back into things left off from two decades ago added some extra attraction to it. There were moments where I briefly felt it was a Tuesday night in the late 80's or early 90's and I had to go to middle school tomorrow.

So nostalgia played a factor and I definitely started getting the feels here and there because of just that, but it was more than that, whatever spark the original series had, I felt it was there again. It's a sitcom done in the old style with the same lame kind of jokes, studio audience laughs, all that, but in the midst of that they also made it relevant to today, and it surprisingly worked.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Last night I watched a Netflix original movie called The Babysitter. It’s a dark comedy-horror film and I have to say it was a lot of fun. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a certifiably good movie, but it’s definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan on the genre.

Also, the hell are the Australians putting in their water? I guess it wasn’t enough for them to have the most attractive actor and actress. Now they’re sending us their doppelgangers. They’re like the Russian Olympians of Hollywood.

[RedEyedGhost]

I finished my rewatch of The Expanse.  Can't wait for season 3 to get going (book)

really hoping we get to see Proto-Miller

Nearly finished with Patti Cake$ right now.  Really good acting in this.

15 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Last night I watched a Netflix original movie called The Babysitter. It’s a dark comedy-horror film and I have to say it was a lot of fun. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a certifiably good movie, but it’s definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan on the genre.

Also, the hell are the Australians putting in their water? I guess it wasn’t enough for them to have the most attractive actor and actress. Now they’re sending us their doppelgangers. They’re like the Russian Olympians of Hollywood.

That's probably my favorite Netflix original movie.  And yeah, Samara Weaving is stupid good looking.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

17 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

I finished my rewatch of The Expanse.  Can't wait for season 3 to get going (book)

  Reveal hidden contents

really hoping we get to see Proto-Miller

 

Nearly finished with Patti Cake$ right now.  Really good acting in this.

That's probably my favorite Netflix original movie.  And yeah, Samara Weaving is stupid good looking.

I was shocked to find out she wasn't Margot Robbie's little sister. They look freaking identical. 

[Ramsay B.]

12 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I was shocked to find out she wasn't Margot Robbie's little sister. They look freaking identical. 

It’s crazy! I looked Weaving up after reading this stuff yesterday and was sure they were related somehow. She was also in Three Billboards which I didn’t realize. I gotta check The Babysitter out too. 

[RedEyedGhost]

4 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

It’s crazy! I looked Weaving up after reading this stuff yesterday and was sure they were related somehow. She was also in Three Billboards which I didn’t realize. I gotta check The Babysitter out too. 

Yep,

her being in a relationship with John Hawkes was both disgusting and 

completely implausible.

  The Babysitter isn't the same class of film as Three Billboards, but it is really great for what it is.

 

I'm an hour into the premier of the final season of The Americans, and it's fucking awesome.  Did not expect it to go this way at all.

[Argonath Diver]

Went to Ready Player One tonight. Despite chasms of logical lapses, cardboard leads, and awkward dialogue, the book still entertained me enough for a re-read. 

Can't say I liked it. Most of the book was simply unfilmable, but Speilberg managed to push in plenty of references - though due to licensing or 2018 logic, completely abandoned every reference to DnD or WarGames. I think they nailed the wonder of the Oasis, and that made the visual experience great. I think perhaps the book was written to appeal to 36 year old bachelors (me), but the movie for a younger generation. 

I enjoy Speilberg's rendition of Tin Tin more - the uncanny faces worked better in that. In this, the real-world scenes came off as ridiculous. Then again the book was as well. 

[Cas Stark]

I watched a completely insane TCM movie, The Scarlet Empress, directed by Von Sternberg starring Marlene Dietrich as Catherine the Great.  The sets and art direction were INSANE.  1934, but somehow circumvented the production code to see topless women.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Has anyone checked out the 1927 silent film Metropolis on Netflix? I’m curious if the subtitles are still in German or if they’ve been changed to English, because I’d like to see it, but my German is terrible given that I haven’t spoken it in like eight years.  

[Astromech]

Blade Runner 2049 was visually stunning. Entertaining film but meandered a bit in parts. The story was decent but what may have been intended as twists and surprises weren't.

[Mexal]

On 3/29/2018 at 1:29 AM, RedEyedGhost said:

I finished my rewatch of The Expanse.  Can't wait for season 3 to get going (book)

  Reveal hidden contents

really hoping we get to see Proto-Miller

 

Nearly finished with Patti Cake$ right now.  Really good acting in this.

That's probably my favorite Netflix original movie.  And yeah, Samara Weaving is stupid good looking.

I really enjoyed Patti Cake$. Strong acting, good music, solid story.

[dbunting]

Watched The Defenders, it was ok. I liked some of the interaction between the "heroes". Had a hard time buying Sigourney Weaver as a boss but whatever.

 

Despite some warnings on here I went to see Tomb Raider. I actually liked it. They definitely could have cut the stupid bike chase but other than that it was an enjoyable popcorn action movie, which is what i expect it to be.

Spoiler

I also liked what they did with the ending, showing that what they considered to be magic 1000 years ago was really a virus.

Have to say I will go see a sequel for sure. Again, as long as you go into it expecting it to be mostly action then you will enjoy yourself, and i recommend a bathroom break as soon as the "fox chase" is mentioned, you are welcome.

[A True Kaniggit]

On 3/24/2018 at 9:19 PM, Nictarion said:

Do the chickens have large talons?

You know what? I think I'm going to watch this right now.

And yes. I did have tater tots with my dinner tonight. (But no steak or quesadilla)

[Durckad]

On 3/30/2018 at 9:02 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Has anyone checked out the 1927 silent film Metropolis on Netflix? I’m curious if the subtitles are still in German or if they’ve been changed to English, because I’d like to see it, but my German is terrible given that I haven’t spoken it in like eight years.  

The subtitles are all in English, so you're good. That reminds me, I only watched half of Metropolis and need to get back and watch the last half sometime soon.

As for what I've been watching lately:

I'm in the middle of a Babylon 5 rewatch and I just started Season 5 and it's becoming very difficult to drum up any interest in continuing and finishing this off. Even though the first couple episodes of the season were actually better than what I remembered.

I watched Neverwhere, the BBC series that Neil Gaiman's book is based on and it was pretty great actually. The book is better, of course, but the show is really charmingly low budget at times. It really just makes me want to read the book again.

I've started the second season of Into The Badlands, which just popped up on Netflix. I'm about halfway through and it's just as fun and ridiculous as the first season so far. Nick Frost has been a pretty great addition so far.

[Zorral]

Re-watching the HBO Rome, for the third or fourth time.  Each time I watch this series, I get struck all over again at how good it was, so good, on every level, from every angle.  Like the Tudors, it wasn't always factually accurate, but the feel of the time and place, and the characters, does seem as close as it is possible to interpret from this impossible to even imagine distance in time from there and then.

For some reason around Easter I like to re-watch things like the Taylor-Burton Cleopatra, El Cid, now Rome.  I wish there were more to choose from!

 

[Cas Stark]

Finally watched Ghostbusters....can't quite put my finger on what was wrong with it, it had some good bits, Leslie Jones was good, but the two leads seemed really flat to me, especially Wiig, like they didnt' realize they were in a broad slap stick type of comedy. I found it very dull if not exactly 'bad'. 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

On 3/27/2018 at 9:06 PM, drawkcabi said:

Well, I did it. I went ahead and watched new Roseanne.

and...they totally freaking pulled it off!

It was never one of my favorite shows even when it was in its prime, it was just something to watch that was ok.

and that's exactly what it was tonight, but because of its style, they way it got right back into things left off from two decades ago added some extra attraction to it. There were moments where I briefly felt it was a Tuesday night in the late 80's or early 90's and I had to go to middle school tomorrow.

So nostalgia played a factor and I definitely started getting the feels here and there because of just that, but it was more than that, whatever spark the original series had, I felt it was there again. It's a sitcom done in the old style with the same lame kind of jokes, studio audience laughs, all that, but in the midst of that they also made it relevant to today, and it surprisingly worked.

I'm probably not going to watch it, but I liked it when I was a kid. When it left off, it was in a mess of maybe this happened, and maybe that happened. I think Dan was dead, they were millionaires from the lottery, or they weren't, and Roseanne was a writer writing the whole thing? Do they ignore the last season or 2? Do they still have two Beckies? YOU HAVE TO TELL ME! Because...I'm not going to watch. The new X Files has been too hard on me.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

On 3/29/2018 at 4:42 PM, Tywin et al. said:

I was shocked to find out she wasn't Margot Robbie's little sister. They look freaking identical. 

I mentioned upthread I'm watching Ash vs Evil Dead--that's where I met her (Samara Weaving). She was the definition of scene stealer, and I think the showrunners knew it.

[drawkcabi]

1 hour ago, Simon Steele said:

I'm probably not going to watch it, but I liked it when I was a kid. When it left off, it was in a mess of maybe this happened, and maybe that happened. I think Dan was dead, they were millionaires from the lottery, or they weren't, and Roseanne was a writer writing the whole thing? Do they ignore the last season or 2? Do they still have two Beckies? YOU HAVE TO TELL ME! Because...I'm not going to watch. The new X Files has been too hard on me.

Season 9 was all part of a book Roseanne wrote but never got published. The winning the lottery plot, becoming millionaires, Dan dying, the other changes Roseanne made in the finale, all that never really happened in actual series continuity.

Everything up to the end of season 8 did happen.
 

Spoiler

 

Dan's alive and kicking. 

Darlene and David are divorced. Johnny Galecki (David) has not shown up in the show but I hear will make an appearance eventually. Darlene has lost her job and has moved back home with her parents bringing her daughter Harris and son Mark with her. I don't know if you watch Showtime's Shameless series but Harris is being played by the actress who plays Debbie in that. She actually does bear a good resemblance to Sara Gilbert.

Harris and Mark are adjusting to living in their grandparents' house and starting a new school (Darlene's former one). Mark's adjustment being more difficult as he feels most comfortable wearing makeup and more feminine attire including dresses sometimes, and being more feminine in general. When asked, he says he feels like he's a boy, he's just a boy that likes things that are usually more for girls. Dan, originally uncomfortable about this has gained a lot of respect and pride for his grandson after seeing that Mark is well aware that his life would be easier for himself at school and everywhere else if he just conformed to established gender roles and stereotypes but he refuses to give up on being himself.

Harris so far is really playing Darlene 2.0., just being like Darlene was at that age.

Original Becky is playing Becky. She and her husband Mark never had kids but a woman, Becky # 2 (Sarah Chalke) is paying her to be surrogate mother, actual more than that as she needs Becky's eggs too. So both Becky actresses are in it. Becky's husband Mark is supposedly dead, I guess that's why Darlene named her son after him to honor him. I've heard rumors that Mark is actually alive though and faked his death, though none of that has played out yet in just the two episodes I watched. I can see it though with the type of no class character Mark was and how he might feel the only way to truly ever be free of the Connors is for them to think he's dead.

D.J. had joined the military and served in the Syria and has only recently been discharged. His wife is also military and still over seas. They are a mixed race couple and have a daughter. Becky and D.J. (along with his daughter) have separate residences nearby and are often visiting at the Connor's house.

Gerry, the baby Roseanne and Dan had in season 7 or 8 is mentioned but not seen. He has a boat that he and Dan restored together and seems to spend all his time on it.

I haven't heard anything about Andy, Jackie's son. Maybe he'll show up in later episodes.

Jackie and Roseanne are feuding. In the 2016 election Roseanne supported Trump and Jackie Supported Hillary. Roseanne's being overbearing and bullying towards Jackie, as she always was their entire lives, reached a head. During the entire election her constant berating made Jackie unsure of herself and she ended up voting for Jill Stein. After Trump won, she felt incredibly guilty for not voting for Clinton and very, very angry at Roseanne for making her second guess herself. They've not spoken to each other since. Upon coming home Darlene took it upon herself to mend the relationship between her mother and aunt. She's got them talking again and Jackie coming back over to the house again like she used to, making some overtures towards forgiving each other, and I guess the rest of the season will have a theme of them coming to terms with them now holding different political ideologies.
 

 

And that's my gathering of the show so far.

 

 

ETA:

You know despite being disappointed in Roseanne Barr’s recent political opinions I was able to separate that from my judgement of the show. Since the beginning of her show I never really cared for her, thinking she was a pretty irritating person, but also always thought she was behind a show that while not one of my favorites, for the most part was good enough to watch and had some good people behind and in front of it.

I actually thought it was quite clever and possibly useful in the revival’s portrayal of modern America interpreted through the format of an 80’s/90’s style sitcom.

But she’s really making it difficult for me to keep separating art from artist. Roseanne the person has every right to express her own opinions, but they’ve been increasingly disgusting. I also can’t determine if she’s being genuine or not. She’s got talent but she’s also pretty crazy. I always thought half the stuff she did during the original run of the series were attempts at trolling the right, now I’m wondering if she’s decided to troll the left.

Either way, I wish she’d cut it out.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

1 hour ago, drawkcabi said:

Season 9 was all part of a book Roseanne wrote but never got published. The winning the lottery plot, becoming millionaires, Dan dying, the other changes Roseanne made in the finale, all that never really happened in actual series continuity.

Everything up to the end of season 8 did happen.
 

  Hide contents

 

Dan's alive and kicking. 

Darlene and David are divorced. Johnny Galecki (David) has not shown up in the show but I hear will make an appearance eventually. Darlene has lost her job and has moved back home with her parents bringing her daughter Harris and son Mark with her. I don't know if you watch Showtime's Shameless series but Harris is being played by the actress who plays Debbie in that. She actually does bear a good resemblance to Sara Gilbert.

Harris and Mark are adjusting to living in their grandparents' house and starting a new school (Darlene's former one). Mark's adjustment being more difficult as he feels most comfortable wearing makeup and more feminine attire including dresses sometimes, and being more feminine in general. When asked, he says he feels like he's a boy, he's just a boy that likes things that are usually more for girls. Dan, originally uncomfortable about this has gained a lot of respect and pride for his grandson after seeing that Mark is well aware that his life would be easier for himself at school and everywhere else if he just conformed to established gender roles and stereotypes but he refuses to give up on being himself.

Harris so far is really playing Darlene 2.0., just being like Darlene was at that age.

Original Becky is playing Becky. She and her husband Mark never had kids but a woman, Becky # 2 (Sarah Chalke) is paying her to be surrogate mother, actual more than that as she needs Becky's eggs too. So both Becky actresses are in it. Becky's husband Mark is supposedly dead, I guess that's why Darlene named her son after him to honor him. I've heard rumors that Mark is actually alive though and faked his death, though none of that has played out yet in just the two episodes I watched. I can see it though with the type of no class character Mark was and how he might feel the only way to truly ever be free of the Connors is for them to think he's dead.

D.J. had joined the military and served in the Syria and has only recently been discharged. His wife is also military and still over seas. They are a mixed race couple and have a daughter. Becky and D.J. (along with his daughter) have separate residences nearby and are often visiting at the Connor's house.

Gerry, the baby Roseanne and Dan had in season 7 or 8 is mentioned but not seen. He has a boat that he and Dan restored together and seems to spend all his time on it.

I haven't heard anything about Andy, Jackie's son. Maybe he'll show up in later episodes.

Jackie and Roseanne are feuding. In the 2016 election Roseanne supported Trump and Jackie Supported Hillary. Roseanne's being overbearing and bullying towards Jackie, as she always was their entire lives, reached a head. During the entire election her constant berating made Jackie unsure of herself and she ended up voting for Jill Stein. After Trump won, she felt incredibly guilty for not voting for Clinton and very, very angry at Roseanne for making her second guess herself. They've not spoken to each other since. Upon coming home Darlene took it upon herself to mend the relationship between her mother and aunt. She's got them talking again and Jackie coming back over to the house again like she used to, making some overtures towards forgiving each other, and I guess the rest of the season will have a theme of them coming to terms with them now holding different political ideologies.
 

 

And that's my gathering of the show so far.

 

 

ETA:

You know despite being disappointed in Roseanne Barr’s recent political opinions I was able to separate that from my judgement of the show. Since the beginning of her show I never really cared for her, thinking she was a pretty irritating person, but also always thought she was behind a show that while not one of my favorites, for the most part was good enough to watch and had some good people behind and in front of it.

I actually thought it was quite clever and possibly useful in the revival’s portrayal of modern America interpreted through the format of an 80’s/90’s style sitcom.

But she’s really making it difficult for me to keep separating art from artist. Roseanne the person has every right to express her own opinions, but they’ve been increasingly disgusting. I also can’t determine if she’s being genuine or not. She’s got talent but she’s also pretty crazy. I always thought half the stuff she did during the original run of the series were attempts at trolling the right, now I’m wondering if she’s decided to troll the left.

Either way, I wish she’d cut it out.

Interesting...

Spoiler

With Mark, the real life actor died. Glenn Quinn, I think his name was. I was a big Angel fan too, and his character was great in that, and I don't remember the order of events, but his real life death happened while Angel was still on the air--though his drug abuse habits may have forced him off the show by then. I think it's actually pretty nice/sweet they gave him a namesake in the show. From what I understand, people who worked with him genuinely liked him and thought he was a wonderful guy who just couldn't get out from beneath heroin. It's really sad.

I was never a big fan of Roseanne as a person. I liked her outspoken, abrasiveness, but it never felt genuine, I guess. Her political opinions don't really matter to me, and supporting her is not supporting Trump as some would argue. I think people worry about this kind of shit too much, and they need to quit worrying about it. Kumail Nanjiani's Twitter responses to Sarah Silverman (who said she enjoyed the new Roseanne) felt really like a ton of bullshit. Trump's presidency feels like life and death to me too--I literally fear for my son's future, but not because people like Roseanne support him. A real cognitive dissonance exists in this kind of argument.

Ultimately, though, Roseanne's show is such an interesting take on working class Republican ideology, you know? Families who slave away, men like Dan who abhor and resent any help from anyone, and if they're Republican they would vote for people who continue to reinforce these beliefs, yet, support ways to dry up any reasonable work that working class people might find in their hometowns. Dan's attempts to open his own business failing is just so real. Of course that's the old Roseanne.