Zorral Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Billions (Showtime) remains the best written, most interesting. series on television, at least to my taste and perspective. So very up-to-date too. In the latest episodes they included locations from my neighborhood that just opened this late winter. In hosts' guest room (without wifi) I watched via dvd, Johnny Guitar (1954); Nicholas Ray, in the Scorsese restored classics series, with an intro by Scorsese. Laughed at in the US its time, it became a classic western oddity, featuring Joan Crawford. But, as Scorsese comments, it was seen otherwise in the UK and Europe, and it looks very different to us now. It is as much of current time as it was in the early 50’s, a community determined to build walls by violence to ‘keep us safe from the threats from without that will destroy our way of life.’ Then it was fascists vs.commies, but now it’s fascists against the immigrants -- and women. Within the film this is couched in terms of the big ahead of the curve investor (Crawford) in area in which the railroad is being built -- which will bring in farmers and ruin the principalities of these few, huge cattle ranchers. This enclosed region is a systemic (like the slaveocracy) legal oppression on the behalf of the 1%. So enclosed is it, that blowing up the passes means nobody can now get out. Or in. Strange sex stuff also … best of all the final shoot-out that closes the crazy shooting, burning and hanging down of the ‘good citz’ against the outsiders, is between two women, one the outsider (Joan Crawford) and the other, the insider / obsessed instigator, Mercedes McCambridge. This is a Gothic Western prototype, its gothicness (a word?) complete with secret tunnels and hidden lairs. It felt all the more so, being watched in a location that looked much like that of the film! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 I've been catching up on some HBO shows before dropping them again. Really enjoyed Sharp Objects. The most recent season of Silicon Valley was much better than the previous one was. Struggling with season 2 of Westworld... three episodes in, and not loving it. Still need to get to season 3 of True Detective, and am really looking forward to the Deadwood film on Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 20 hours ago, lady narcissa said: Boy are they ever! Your post made me think of how the other year the Americans used Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and how after that aired I was humming it for the next few days. And now its running through my head again and I'm humming it endlessly all over again... The Americans made such brilliant use of music. There were several times i finished an episode and had to go add a song to my playlist. I’ve downloaded the Rocketman soundtrack. Taron really is a great singer too 19 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said: I've been catching up on some HBO shows before dropping them again. Really enjoyed Sharp Objects. The most recent season of Silicon Valley was much better than the previous one was. Struggling with season 2 of Westworld... three episodes in, and not loving it. Still need to get to season 3 of True Detective, and am really looking forward to the Deadwood film on Friday. I loved Sharp Object, one of my favourite shows last year. I was disappointed it was largely overlooked in the January awards circuit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Watched Brightburn the other day. Not a bad film, obviously a different take on Superman. Some parts weren't well done but all in all I enjoyed the movie. I really like that they didn't hold back on certain things Spoiler It would have been a cop out if he didn't kill his mom and dad and would have ruined the feel of the movie. They also threw in some references to Wonder Woman and Aquaman. I doubt this will be much of a money maker since it was barely advertised. Most people I talked to hadn't even heard of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 On 5/27/2019 at 10:28 PM, williamjm said: Coincidentally, I just watched King of Thieves on Amazon, which is another dramatisation of the Hatton Garden heist. It's not really the most cinematic of heists, although it's fun to watch Michael Caine, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtney, Ray Winstone and Michael Gambon all bickering with each other. Oh, I saw a tiny bit of that while channel surfing a while ago. It looked a bit... cliched. This one (it was ITV not C4. I have since been informed) was quieter and more subtle. I did a rewatch of What We Do in the Shadows yesterday as we wanted to start watching the TV show but only one of us had seen the film. It holds up pretty well. Also watched The Ritual (which has been on and off Netflix/Amazon for a while, now back on Netflix). I expected it to be terrible because the book is too long, too repetitive and too misogynisitic. I think they took the core idea of the book and improved it a lot into an actually ok film. And we finally finished up The First after starting it when it was first on TV (six months ago). Thank goodness it's over - is my overriding thought. It was so slow and torturous! Yes it looked amazing, but while it's ok for a film to be slow and ponderous it works far less well in a 10 hour-long installment TV series. In some ways it reminded me of Interstellar. But, jfc, I hated the daughter so much. And I was so creeped out by the existence of the relationship between Sean Penn's character and Melissa George's character that I had to google the age gap. Turns out he is only 16 years older than her. But my only memory of her is as Angel in Home & Away so I guess that's why she seems so 'young' to me. Anyway, it's worth giving the show a look, it's not terrible, and you may get on better with the pacing than I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 10 hours ago, dbunting said: Watched Brightburn the other day. Not a bad film, obviously a different take on Superman. Some parts weren't well done but all in all I enjoyed the movie. I really like that they didn't hold back on certain things Reveal hidden contents It would have been a cop out if he didn't kill his mom and dad and would have ruined the feel of the movie. They also threw in some references to Wonder Woman and Aquaman. I doubt this will be much of a money maker since it was barely advertised. Most people I talked to hadn't even heard of it. The trailers showed the entire movie. Literally every important scene. The person I saw it with hadn’t seen them and definitely enjoyed it more than I did because of that. Fucking trailers these days. I try to avoid a lot of them now but at the theatres they’re obviously unavoidable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 16 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: The Americans made such brilliant use of music. Billions is currently the show placing music brilliantly as scenic commentary. But it employs pop culture references by the characters constantly as well, indicating various qualities of them and their interactions too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 16 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: The Americans made such brilliant use of music. There were several times i finished an episode and had to go add a song to my playlist. Probably the best I’ve seen since The Sopranos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 19 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said: I've been catching up on some HBO shows before dropping them again. Really enjoyed Sharp Objects. The most recent season of Silicon Valley was much better than the previous one was. Struggling with season 2 of Westworld... three episodes in, and not loving it. Still need to get to season 3 of True Detective, and am really looking forward to the Deadwood film on Friday. Not much need to rush with true detective. It's fine but doesn't anount to much. Some great performances by the two leads though. I feel you with Westworld and it doesn't really improve besides two episodes that focus largely on a single character and story that are worthwhile. I'm glad season 3 looks like a bit of a reset. I've just started my deadwood rewatch as i realised I've forgotten a surprising amount and feel the film may not work as well without a refresher. I'd forgotten how amazing the dialogue is - it's almost lyrical in places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Finished Happy season 2. It was a bit disappointing as a season, and the ending wasn't much better, even with Jeff Goldblum coming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Been watching the Sundance Yellowstone. A second season is coming, can you believe it? So far this series seems kind of ... bonkers. Probably not in the good way that The Magicians can often be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Good Omens drops this weekend and its Prime exclusive. I’m annoyed now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 21 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said: Good Omens drops this weekend and its Prime exclusive. I’m annoyed now Can’t you get a free trial? Amazon virtually forced one on me the order day when I was ordering something (accidentally clicked the large “continue” button instead of the much smaller “no, continue without trial” button). We already have Prime Video (the non uk video only service) so it makes no difference to me, but seems pretty easy to sign up and cancel anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 4 minutes ago, john said: Can’t you get a free trial? Amazon virtually forced one on me the order day when I was ordering something (accidentally clicked the large “continue” button instead of the much smaller “no, continue without trial” button). We already have Prime Video (the non uk video only service) so it makes no difference to me, but seems pretty easy to sign up and cancel anyway. I’ve used this strategy for a previous show or three. I guess i could set up a new email... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 yeah, or a family members account or something. Ways and means ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 I watched the first two episodes of the new The Name of the Rose series. I definitely prefer Sean Connery's William of Baskerville to John Turturro's. Turturro's portrayal is too cold, not affable enough. I'm also not sure if the various character flashbacks are really adding much to the series yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 5 hours ago, Zorral said: Been watching the Sundance Yellowstone. A second season is coming, can you believe it? So far this series seems kind of ... bonkers. Probably not in the good way that The Magicians can often be. Sundance? Are you talking about the Taylor Sheridan series with Kevin Costner on Paramount Network? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 7 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: Good Omens drops this weekend and its Prime exclusive. I’m annoyed now It could be worse it could be on one of their other channels like starz or funimation requiring an additional subscription. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 6 hours ago, red snow said: It could be worse it could be on one of their other channels like starz or funimation requiring an additional subscription. I started watching Good Omens this morning, and so far I'm really liking it. It seems to have gotten pretty mediocre reviews, but I'm happy to just enjoy the performances of the leads and the general style of the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 12 hours ago, Nictarion said: Sundance? Are you talking about the Taylor Sheridan series with Kevin Costner on Paramount Network? Ay-up, that's the one -- and now I learn I'm mistaken. Why was I thinking this was a Sundance production? Did it show at the festival or something? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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