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Watch, Watched, Watching: Those Bloodthirsty Gods!


RedEyedGhost

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I've been slowly making my way through the first season of Ripper Street now that all 5 seasons are available on Netflix. Quite good so far.

Also in the middle of Top of the Lake: China Girl.  I never watched the original so am lacking some of Robin's background, but it's interesting. It's mainly focused on the characters rather than the investigation of a crime, like many "noirs" are. Some despicable characters in it.

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2 hours ago, ljkeane said:

I saw Logan Lucky yesterday which was a good entertaining comedy heist film. It also featured a joke about the delay for Winds of Winter, it's weird how mainstream A Song of Ice and Fire has become.

It really is.  I'm glad you enjoyed the movie, I'm looking forward to seeing it, but it's one I'm happy to wait for it to hit dvd.

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Just about to wrap up the first season of Hannibal. I'm aware of the cancellation, but know nothing otherwise. I am not at all a fan of explicit gore, though I love a good intense psychological mindbinder. So a few times an episode I just have to look away or squint and squirm until the mutilated bodies are off-screen again. It's worth it. Mikkelson is just fantastic, as are most of the rest of the leads. 

I'm aware of the cancellation, but knew nothing other than "It's gory but fantastic."  I hope it doesn't have a brutal cliffhanger (don't tell me anything!).  I just have to budget an extra half hour before bedtime to watch like South Park or the Daily Show, something to get my mind off all the creepy shit that goes on. 

Caught Baby Driver last night. Very fun although not quite the instant classic I thought I might consider it upon release. Sometimes the clash between light-hearted crime musical, then dispassionate, violent heist flick got to me a bit.

I also stubbornly finished that Guy Ritchie King Arthur movie, which I'd stopped watching maybe twenty minutes in my first attempt. It continued to be dreadfully, miserably terrible . This time I wisely had a book to read, and internet to surf, and hardly paid attention through the mishmash of Ritchie-speak and Medieval schlock. I put it on par with that Uwe Boll In the Name of the King as one of the very worst genre movies I've ever seen (at least for a movie attempting to be a 'hit').

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I got a chance to binge all the available episodes of the adaptation of the Cormoran Strike novels. I really like them I have to say. They are not as despressing as the usual murder mystery is nowadays and they have some great actors in them :) 

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Baahubali, Part I (The Beginning) and part II (Conclusion) of that truly epic Indian film of heroes, the most expensive film -- and most popular -- ever made in India. The special effects are spectacular, constant, and expansive. There are some lovely lush scenes too, that show parts of India that are spectacularly beautiful. This thing is massive staging, massive action, that then switches to singing and dancing, though this isn't Bollywood, but from the film industry in the south of India. 

It reminds me a lot of films such as The Ten Commandments, Cleopatra, and even that silly Gods of Egypt, with a lot of reference to the gods' wars of the Mahabharata, though these are heroes, not gods.  There does seem to be magic, which could equally be visual metaphor.  I'm not that familiar with the vastness of the history, geography and cultures of India.

Indians film and television people are brilliant with CGI. Unless they don't want it to, one has to look very hard to see that it's not live action (except for what the action actually is, of course!), not CGI. The animals in particularly, the pre-feature advisories make sure to inform us, the animals, whatever they are, are not real. But do they ever LOOK real. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Bahubali-a-copy-of-Hollywood-films/articleshow/47808709.cms

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/04/entertainment/india-movies-baahubali-bollywood/index.html

Quite entertaining for the eyeballs if also often rather too silly for the brain. 

Both parts stream on netflix.  For people who like this sort of thing, highly recommended.

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I just finished John Wick 2. Not that impressed with it to be honest, I expected it to be better based on the reviews I read when it came out. I'm actually glad that I missed the theatrical run of this one. The film lacked a soul in my opinion, there really wasn't anything to bind it together and it suffered from that typical 'bigger = better' disease sequels often suffer from.

I was also not very impressed with the worldbuilding, the world as represented by John Wick 2 is just not a very plausible one. In fact I can't really see how it makes any sense at all (like is anyone not an assassin in this movieverse?). Not to mention that some of it felt gratuitious, like they were just throwing in worldbuilding in there to justify an ever expanding network of sequels and spin-offs.

The action was also, I don't know, a bit slow at times. In the first one everything felt brutal and exciting, like John Wick was this unbelievably efficient killing machine, but now it felt a little overchoreographed. Like John Wick seemed more preoccupied with the aesthetics of his killings than actually getting closer to his endgoal. 

I don't think I'll ever rewatch this. Although I also don't want to be overly harsh on it. It's a 7/10 film I'd say. Common was very intense and I really liked Ruby Rose's character Ares. I can't really recall seeing her in other things, but she does a good job playing the tough chick. I could see her helming a franchise of her own. Keanu was good as always. 

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7 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I don't think I'll ever rewatch this. Although I also don't want to be overly harsh on it. It's a 7/10 film I'd say. Common was very intense and I really liked Ruby Rose's character Ares. I can't really recall seeing her in other things, but she does a good job playing the tough chick. I could see her helming a franchise of her own. Keanu was good as always. 

From what I've seen of Ruby Rose elsewhere, what makes her works so well here is that she does not speak.

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I finally got around to finishing off season 5 of The Americans. I think it's still one of the best shows on television and the characters were as compelling as ever. I think maybe the story arc of this season maybe wasn't quite as compelling as in the previous seasons, and there were a couple of subplots that felt like they didn't really go anywhere. Some of it did feel like set up for the final season, I'm still very curious to see how that's going to turn out.

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So I am watching a few shows now and I'm not really in love with any of them. I'm mid-way through both Tick series as well as the latest iteration of Wet Hot American Summer. All three are kindah meh, but I'll finish them eventually.

I also finally got around to trying two dramas that get a lot of love around these parts; I saw the first episodes of both Gomorrah and The Americans. The latter was more engaging and I can see myself watching more episodes even though I'm not super keen on watching 80s era Soviet spies as protagonists. Gomorrah, however, was quite a chore for me to get through. The pacing was glacial and I found the translation to be pretty off putting--basically weak fansubs. I also feel like there's some cultural disconnect there, and maybe I'm not getting some of the nuances. Maybe. Anyway, normally I'd drop this show like a hot potato, but since it get high praise here I'll try to give it a few more episodes before I decide if I'll abandon it.

6 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I just finished John Wick 2. Not that impressed with it to be honest, I expected it to be better based on the reviews I read when it came out. I'm actually glad that I missed the theatrical run of this one. The film lacked a soul in my opinion, there really wasn't anything to bind it together and it suffered from that typical 'bigger = better' disease sequels often suffer from.

I was also not very impressed with the worldbuilding, the world as represented by John Wick 2 is just not a very plausible one...

My thoughts exactly. I dug the first film for what it was, but the Net hype on JW2 was massive and I found it ultimately to be a big let down.

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14 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

So I am watching a few shows now and I'm not really in love with any of them. I'm mid-way through both Tick series as well as the latest iteration of Wet Hot American Summer. All three are kindah meh, but I'll finish them eventually.

I also finally got around to trying two dramas that get a lot of love around these parts; I saw the first episodes of both Gomorrah and The Americans. The latter was more engaging and I can see myself watching more episodes even though I'm not super keen on watching 80s era Soviet spies as protagonists. Gomorrah, however, was quite a chore for me to get through. The pacing was glacial and I found the translation to be pretty off putting--basically weak fansubs. I also feel like there's some cultural disconnect there, and maybe I'm not getting some of the nuances. Maybe. Anyway, normally I'd drop this show like a hot potato, but since it get high praise here I'll try to give it a few more episodes before I decide if I'll abandon it.

My thoughts exactly. I dug the first film for what it was, but the Net hype on JW2 was massive and I found it ultimately to be a big let down.

Keep watching. I assure you pacing is not a problem with this show. :lol:

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Gommorah, glacially paced?  We are watching very different shows here!

It's the only series I've really been compelled by since Justified, other than The Last Kingdom, that just sucks me in immediately from the opening scene until the end.

There's a great deal I like and / or find interesting, but not compelling. (And enormously more that I can't be arsed to bother with for even the first scene, of course.  But ain't that the truth for us all?)

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36 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

Keep watching. I assure you pacing is not a problem with this show. :lol:

There is literally no slow episodes once it truly gets going, but I also didn't think the first few episodes were slow either.

We'll forgive you though, Petyr :P. I remember years ago I watched the first few episodes of The Wire and thought it was just ok so I stopped for a few months. Now it's probably my favorite show ever and I get kind of embarrassed even thinking about that.

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19 hours ago, williamjm said:

I finally got around to finishing off season 5 of The Americans. I think it's still one of the best shows on television and the characters were as compelling as ever. I think maybe the story arc of this season maybe wasn't quite as compelling as in the previous seasons, and there were a couple of subplots that felt like they didn't really go anywhere. Some of it did feel like set up for the final season, I'm still very curious to see how that's going to turn out.

I think the story this season was different, and can understand why some found it less compelling, but this actually ended up being possibly my favourite season of the show. The character moments (especially the stuff between Elizabeth and Paige) were absolutely excellent, and I actually ended up liking Stan this season (and have disliked him since the start). I also though the Tuan story was very interesting. My favourite scene of the season

was after Elizabeth and Phillip have decided they will return home, and Elizabeth is seen look around at everything she will lose when she returns. I think the look on her face as she realised how "American" she had become was deeply moving. Keri Russel Killeen it of course, as she always does

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17 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

Anyway, normally I'd drop this show like a hot potato, but since it get high praise here I'll try to give it a few more episodes before I decide if I'll abandon it.

I think I can see why the first episode might be a little difficult or slow to get into but it definitely picks up after that. I think by episode 4 you'll know whether it's a show for you. 

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