Watch, Watched, Watching: The Prequel

[Nictarion]

Trying to see a couple Denis Villeneuve movies that I haven’t seen yet, so I watched Enemy last night. That is a weird one. One of those movies I needed to read up on after watching. Definitely had a David Lynch what did I just watch feel after the ending. 

[Isis]

Posting from my phone and cannot delete that emoji. Sorry, no exciting news here. 

Blackfish is so depressing. But worth seeing. 

Young Frankenstein is a classic. I must watch it again as an adult. I saw it loads as a child.

Currently watching Borderliner on Netflix. Had it on my list for ages. Really glad I watched it finally. I have one episode left. This does 'bad policing' incredibly well (c.f. The Forest, where someone is shit at their job and nobody even seems to register it). I like the way the introduce little snippets of flashbacks. But the main theme is abuse of power, dishonestly, ethics etc. And it's very well done. 

[HexMachina]

Somehow I have managed to binge my way through to the fifth season of Gilmore Girls already. I have no shame.

Sharp Objects continues to impress, Amy Adams is fantastic. 

Two cinema trips upcoming - Ant Man and the Wasp, and Incredibles 2... I know which of the two I'm more excited for  

[Isis]

15 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Trying to see a couple Denis Villeneuve movies that I haven’t seen yet, so I watched Enemy last night. That is a weird one. One of those movies I needed to read up on after watching. Definitely had a David Lynch what did I just watch feel after the ending. 

Really enjoyed this film and the discussions I had after. There's a cool 'Enemy explained' video on YouTube. I like how there's multiple theories about what happened and what it means. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Shark Week is where it’s at. Also, sharks are actually cowards!

I feel dirty saying this, but Jurassic Fight Club is a blast to watch!

[drawkcabi]

Just started Hulu's Castle Rock.

Interesting start.

Spoiler

 

Love that a big part is set in modern day Shawshank prison, and there's brief references that this is the same Shawshank from the movie Shawshank Redemption.

When the warden kills himself at the beginning and just before the radio is playing the same piece of opera Andy Dufresne played in the movie...

 

nice touch.  

 

I'll keep watching

[williamjm]

I finished watching the second season of Legion. I saw the first season sometimes getting accused of being 'style over substance', which I thought at the time was a bit unfair, but I think I'd probably start to agree a bit more with the second season. The overall plot is weaker than the first season and the pacing meanders too much (especially in the middle of the season), the central idea of exploring whether David is really the hero of the story was good, but got a bit lost at times. That said, I do admire its willingness to be adventurous and weird and try to do something far more ambitious than the other formulaic superhero shows, and idid have some great scenes in it. I also might have been worried in advance than whichever actor played Amahl Farouk would have difficulty living up to how effective the character was in the shadows in the first season, but I thought Navid Negahban did manage to command the screen when he appeared.

[RedEyedGhost]

1 hour ago, drawkcabi said:

Just started Hulu's Castle Rock.

Interesting start.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Love that a big part is set in modern day Shawshank prison, and there's brief references that this is the same Shawshank from the movie Shawshank Redemption.

When the warden kills himself at the beginning and just before the radio is playing the same piece of opera Andy Dufresne played in the movie...

 

nice touch.  

 

I'll keep watching

That's a week to week release right?  I'm very interested in it, but will wait until they're all available. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Triskjavikson said:

I watched Prometheus for the first time today (yes, way late).  Did not love it.  Felt like it flirted with a lot of cool stuff but was too shallow with all of it.  

I think it's problem is it wasn't what people expected or wanted. I personally really like it, but I get why the majority does not. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I watched Desperado last night. The film still holds up. I've always preferred the third film in Rodriguez's Mexico trilogy, but it was still enjoyable. 

[drawkcabi]

2 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

That's a week to week release right?  I'm very interested in it, but will wait until they're all available. 

Yes, though they started by releasing the first 3 episodes but after that it's week to week.

[HexMachina]

1 hour ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

I think it's problem is it wasn't what people expected or wanted. I personally really like it, but I get why the majority does not. 

My issue was the same as Trisk. Some good ideas that ultimately went nowhere. The sequel compounded this issue by deciding to pretty much drop all the interesting ideas of Prometheus and make it a weird flute fingering slasher. Had the potentially be a great movie but just fell flat for me (crushing the fleeing astronauts who can’t run to the side in the process  )

[dbunting]

Cleared some stuff of my dvr list, watched a movie called Snowman? Came out last year about a serial killer, now I remember why I didn't go see it in the theater...not a good movie.

[Astromech]

19 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Cleared some stuff of my dvr list, watched a movie called Snowman? Came out last year about a serial killer, now I remember why I didn't go see it in the theater...not a good movie.

I was debating watching this last night, but decided to try another episode of Sharp Objects, and failed miserably at staying awake during it. I have yet to view a complete episode straight through. Had to watch the premiere twice. That's not a reflection of the quality of Sharp Objects, however, rather my work schedule kicking me in the ass.

[Argonath Diver]

Saw Mission Impossible: Fallout tonight. It was excellent fun, about the same level of thrills and banter as Ghost Protocol was.  Cruise is bonkers with his stunts, Cavill did a fine if a bit wooden job, and the mild comic relief of Rhames, Baldwin, and Pegg worked well enough.

It's been a bit of a running joke with a friend of mine that after having seen The Greatest Showman a few weeks ago with him, that Rebecca Ferguson's (lip synced) song Never Enough has been in my head non-stop ever since. So every time she was on screen, I was nearly popping with the urge to belt out "NEVER ENOUUGGGH! NEVER! NEVER!", and I had a hard time taking her otherwise badass and lovely character seriously at all. I wonder if the random guy next to me was wondering why I kept forcing back loud snickers every single time she was on screen. 

[Iskaral Pust]

7 hours ago, williamjm said:

I finished watching the second season of Legion. I saw the first season sometimes getting accused of being 'style over substance', which I thought at the time was a bit unfair, but I think I'd probably start to agree a bit more with the second season. The overall plot is weaker than the first season and the pacing meanders too much (especially in the middle of the season), the central idea of exploring whether David is really the hero of the story was good, but got a bit lost at times. 

The second half of Legion S2 is waiting on my DVR but I cannot muster the interest to watch.  I may have to call it quits on this show, even though I loved S1.  

I bailed on my re-watch of Breaking Bad late in S3.  It’s still great TV but without the suspense it’s feels like a joyless grind watching them dig themselves ever deeper. 

So I picked up a re-watch of The Wire instead.  I only watch during flights but I’ve had enough of those this week to get me most of the way through S1 already.  Still amazing and actually even better on rewatch.  I just realized that Judge Phelan is the grandfather in Sneaky Pete. 

[briantw]

Enjoyed the first two episodes of Castle Rock, although I have to say that old man Alan Pangborn is nothing like how I would have pictured him.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

14 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

My issue was the same as Trisk. Some good ideas that ultimately went nowhere. The sequel compounded this issue by deciding to pretty much drop all the interesting ideas of Prometheus and make it a weird flute fingering slasher. Had the potentially be a great movie but just fell flat for me (crushing the fleeing astronauts who can’t run to the side in the process  )

The sequel was awful, but I understand your and Trisk's complaints. I had similar feelings on my first viewing, but after watching this video, I changed my mind a bit and really liked the film the second time I watched it.

[aceluby]

16 hours ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

I think it's problem is it wasn't what people expected or wanted. I personally really like it, but I get why the majority does not. 

I really like the film and have seen it a few times.  Watched all of the Aliens in a row over two days, and the prequels hold their own against the rest IMO.  Aliens always gets a ton of praise, but it just doesn't hold up for me anymore.  Way too much cheese.  Also, Alien 3 is totally underrated.  The last one is a pile of hot garbage though.  Which is why I felt the new ones aren't nearly as bad as some people make them out to be.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

35 minutes ago, aceluby said:

I really like the film and have seen it a few times.  Watched all of the Aliens in a row over two days, and the prequels hold their own against the rest IMO.  Aliens always gets a ton of praise, but it just doesn't hold up for me anymore.  Way too much cheese.  Also, Alien 3 is totally underrated.  The last one is a pile of hot garbage though.  Which is why I felt the new ones aren't nearly as bad as some people make them out to be.

My mom’s favorite character is Ripley, so obviously I was raised on the series. Alien holds up amazingly and still horrifies first time watchers. I watched it with my 10/11 year old god-daughter last year and it terrified her (and her same aged cousin too). Aliens is a bit cheesy, but it’s still one of the better action films of all time. Also, it provided a blueprint for how to make a sequel to a horror film, which Terminator 2 copied. I honestly don’t remember much from Aliens 3, so I should probably watch it again (I think that’s the only one I’ve seen once). The fourth one, whatever it’s called, is awful, but I still like it because it’s so ridiculous. We’ve already discussed Prometheus, and IIRC, we had very different takeaways from the last film. Maybe I’m too harsh on it, but I really don’t understand why it was necessary.