Watch, Watched, Watching: Those aren't pillows!

[Cas Stark]

Consistent with my movies have gotten worse in the last 10 years opinion.......  I watched several movies that got good reviews, which I found totally 'meh'.  Arrival. Us. Woman in Gold.  I could not even maintain interest to finish The First Man.  I did enjoy Woman in Black, despite that it was pretty slow, but I am a sucker for an atmospheric period ghost story.

[Heartofice]

2 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Consistent with my movies have gotten worse in the last 10 years opinion.......  I watched several movies that got good reviews, which I found totally 'meh'.  Arrival. Us. Woman in Gold.  I could not even maintain interest to finish The First Man.  I did enjoy Woman in Black, despite that it was pretty slow, but I am a sucker for an atmospheric period ghost story.

I’d on the face of it, agree that the last ten years has seen a dearth of good movies. Having said that I saw Arrival and First man in theatres and that definitely improves the experience. Lots of these movies lose their power when you can sit at home and check your phone 

[Isis]

Watched Dracula on the BBC. It is interesting in that it wasn't what I was expecting it to be like. It's very visceral in some ways. Many representations of Dracula are all about his power to get into people's heads and just make people do stuff in a 'bloodless' fashion. My fears of it being too hammy or played for laughs were not realised. 

I have to say that his fingernails are absolutely repulsive though. I don't like long nails on anybody (least of all myself) but it's more the thickness rather than the length. Spew.  

Anyway, overall I did enjoy it. They did something different with the story. It had moments of genuine humour and quite a few surprising/shocking moments. I haven't read any reviews of it yet but I am aware that people had some strong feelings about it - I'll check that out now.

 

[aceluby]

11 movies in to a complete MCU rewatch (minus Hulk). Starting phase 3 tonight with Civil War.

[Veltigar]

On 1/4/2020 at 3:22 PM, Mark Antony said:

I watched John Wick 3 and loved it. Never had interest to see it cause the 2nd one was just okay for me but idk this one just worked really well. Would definitely watch a fourth 

Totally agreed. I went to see it twice in theatre and the second time around I had just as much fun if not more than most movies I see once

On 1/4/2020 at 3:59 PM, Nictarion said:

I liked the 2nd one, but yeah, 3 is way better. The stunt choreography with Halle Berry’s dogs... 

I preferred the 

Spoiler

use of the horse in the fight against the Italians ever so slightly, but the dogs were rad as well. Shows the quality of the film that it has not one, but two of the all time greatest fight scenes involving animals in it.

 

On 1/4/2020 at 4:13 PM, Mark Antony said:

Yeah 1>3>2 for me. I love the world. 

Agree with that ranking. I'd say that 3 has the best action overall, but that it lags behind 1 just ever so slightly when it comes down to emotional heft. 

Spoiler

Killing that puppy was a hell of a manipulative move, but damn it, John Wick earns that cliche!

 

On 1/4/2020 at 7:31 PM, Annara Snow said:

You must watch the prequel before season 2. It introduces Gannicus, who waa not in season 1, but comes back in season 2 and is one of the main characters in the show. There's a lot of backstory on him and Oenomeus, without which you can't really understand their later interactions and Ganmicus' character development. 

There's also a lot of Crixus in his early gladiator days, something like a villain origin story for Ashur, and a lot of more of John Hannah and Lucy Lawless as earlier and somewhat different versions of their characters, plus some background on their conflict with Solonius. And there are some great characters that are just in the prequel. It's just as good and dark and heartbreaking as season 1.

Sadly, Andy Whitfield died. :'( Liam McIntyre was fine as an the rebel leader Spartacus, but Andy's Spartacus was muxh more emotional and interesting. It was funny though how Spartacus suddenly became so much taller LOL

 

I think the prequel is better than season 1 actually. We always forget it, but the first season of Spartacus has a really rough beginning. I liked it already in the beginning, but it only truly comes alive in the episode where Sparty is

Spoiler

send to the pits. 

The prequel is much more consistent quality wise and it actually does some really interesting things by choosing to introduce a previously unseen character as the lead. That was a bold narrative choice and it payed off handsomely, since we got to have our cake (seeing how our old favourites came to be in the place they were at the start of Spartacus) and eat is as well (be surprise by the the main story of Gannicus).

I wonder what their original plans were before Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with his illness because

Spoiler

Gannicus was a real historical character who wasn't part of the gang in the first season. I always wondered how they would have introduced him otherwise

 

22 hours ago, Astromech said:

Thanks. I have a soft spot for period pieces and the trailer piqued my interest. I thought I'd ask one of the boarders who lived in Belgium.

I'm impressed that you remember where I live. Pretty soon you will be able to unlock my secret identity!

18 hours ago, lessthanluke said:

Its a nonsense Documentary which can't back up most of its claims with any decent sources. It's been torn apart by quite a few respected nutritionists and Drs not just random YouTubers.

Documentaries when they are inherently bias are never going r promote actual facts.

If the 21st century has taught us anything that is that every documentary has a bias. Some more than others of course (here is looking at you Triumph des Willens). I thought Game Changers was very absorbing, which makes me want to check out the science behind it.

My first 20 second Google search was all YouTubers and Menshealth trying to debunk it, but I'm not fixed on anything yet. When I have the time to properly check out the science, I'll make up my own mind on it.  

18 hours ago, Triskele said:

I fully concede I have not watched it yet but do plan to do so.  

It's edifying either way, because if it is all bullshit, they do a great job at selling it!

 

[Astromech]

2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I'm impressed that you remember where I live. Pretty soon you will be able to unlock my secret identity!

You're Tintin, aren't you?

There is another boarder from Belgium, I believe, but isn't as active in the entertainment section.

I lived in Brussels for a year and tend to notice boarders from places I've lived or visited.

 

Regarding Spartacus, I wasn't too keen on Gannicus initially, but the character has grown on me. He's much deeper than the gladiatorial rock star we are first shown in the early episodes.

[john]

Saw Knives Out. An excellent movie.  Couldn’t fault any of the absurd logic and all the performances were fantastic. “Donut hole for a donut’s hole” was a great line.

Also saw Manchester by the Sea for the first time (when it dropped on Netflix for some reason.  I have Amazon Prime but can’t get it on there). Obviously it was an extremely good film but I found the score, with lots of very well known pieces of classical music, very distracting, especially during the key revelatory flashback scene, where they use what’s apparently called adagio in g minor, which translates, at least to any British person I would have thought, as extremely stereotypical “sad” music. I was surprised to find out that the score was apparently carefully and considerately selected and well received.

[Ramsay B.]

Rewatching Rome S1. So over-the-top but great nonetheless. 

[Mark Antony]

23 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

Rewatching Rome S1. So over-the-top but great nonetheless. 

Thirteen

[dbunting]

Agree with most here on John Wick movies, 1,3,2. After seeing 2 I wasn't sure I wanted to see 3 but was glad I did.

As to Spartacus, man I do not share the love the board has for it. I could barely get through S1 and stopped in S2. It has things I love, fighting, swords, lots of naked ladies and yet I still can't watch it. It's kind of the same feeling I had with The Witcher, but it got a little better in it's last two episodes.

I watched the first episode of Deputy on Fox this week. Has the same flaw many cop shows have.

Spoiler

They all want the lead to be a super human cop shooting people weekly and getting shot occasionally. Real world is no where near that and you would be off the street for a certain amount of time for any shooting. What makes this worse is he is the Top Cop and yet he is out knocking down doors.

 

[Annara Snow]

18 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Totally agreed. I went to see it twice in theatre and the second time around I had just as much fun if not more than most movies I see once

I preferred the 

  Reveal hidden contents

use of the horse in the fight against the Italians ever so slightly, but the dogs were rad as well. Shows the quality of the film that it has not one, but two of the all time greatest fight scenes involving animals in it.

 

Agree with that ranking. I'd say that 3 has the best action overall, but that it lags behind 1 just ever so slightly when it comes down to emotional heft. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Killing that puppy was a hell of a manipulative move, but damn it, John Wick earns that cliche!

 

I think the prequel is better than season 1 actually. We always forget it, but the first season of Spartacus has a really rough beginning. I liked it already in the beginning, but it only truly comes alive in the episode where Sparty is

  Reveal hidden contents

send to the pits. 

The prequel is much more consistent quality wise and it actually does some really interesting things by choosing to introduce a previously unseen character as the lead. That was a bold narrative choice and it payed off handsomely, since we got to have our cake (seeing how our old favourites came to be in the place they were at the start of Spartacus) and eat is as well (be surprise by the the main story of Gannicus).

 

You're right. Season 1 did have a shaky beginning. But the back part of it was so good, and the ending so strong, that I don't care much about it.

But both season 1 and the prequel were great at making me angry at the Romans and root for the slaves when they decide to

Spoiler

KILL THEM ALL

 

[BigFatCoward]

Finally got around to the Irishman. I was prepared for the de aging CGI, I was ready for the 80 year old man carrying out the worst assault ever. I wasn't prepared to be bored shitless. What a steaming pile of dogshit. I gave up just over an hour in, what a waste of that cast. Pesci was good from what I saw though. 

[Cas Stark]

10 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Finally got around to the Irishman. I was prepared for the de aging CGI, I was ready for the 80 year old man carrying out the worst assault ever. I wasn't prepared to be bored shitless. What a steaming pile of dogshit. I gave up just over an hour in, what a waste of that cast. Pesci was good from what I saw though. 

I wouldn't go that far, but it was greatly over praised, and yes, kind of dull, although I'm going to rewatch it sober and see if that improves the languid pacing.  I expected to be thrown by the de aging, but it didn't really bother me at all.

[Heartofice]

33 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Finally got around to the Irishman. I was prepared for the de aging CGI, I was ready for the 80 year old man carrying out the worst assault ever. I wasn't prepared to be bored shitless. What a steaming pile of dogshit. I gave up just over an hour in, what a waste of that cast. Pesci was good from what I saw though. 

This opinion will not go down well because I agree with it

[BigFatCoward]

30 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

This opinion will not go down well because I agree with it

At least you weren't accused of being racist this time, just because you didn't like a film. 

[Ran]

Have caught up on some foreign films after seeing Portrait of a Lady on Fire, first seeing 2018's Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda's affecting film about outcasts in modern Japan and what it means to be a family. Beautiful performances by a number of the performers, especially Sakura Ando and Lily Franky. Ando's performance in the film's last section was heartbreaking.

Then I saw the much-lauded Parasite, Bong Joon-ho's latest film, which shares quite a lot of thematic DNA with the Kore-eda film... but it's both self-consciously much more "high end" and, at the same time, much  less subtle. Performances were fine, though really only Kang-ho Song as the pater familias really stood out, and certainly it's very pretty. It actually also shares a little bit of DNA with Rian Johnson's Knives Out, strangely enough, but that film, too, disappointed me a little bit as being overhyped (it's entertaining, absolutely, but most of the characters are paper-thin caricatures with little in the way of development).

Clever is not a substitute for subtle, IMO, and I think that's why films like Shoplifters or Portrait of a Lady on Fire are more interesting to me.

[Heartofice]

7 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

At least you weren't accused of being racist this time, just because you didn't like a film. 

It’s called the Irishman.. I’m sure someone could find a way.

[Isis]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

Finally got around to the Irishman. I was prepared for the de aging CGI, I was ready for the 80 year old man carrying out the worst assault ever. I wasn't prepared to be bored shitless. What a steaming pile of dogshit. I gave up just over an hour in, what a waste of that cast. Pesci was good from what I saw though. 

A friend said it was just way too long. I guess directors just get more and more self indulgent as they get older.

[Kalbear]

This reminds me that I need to rewatch Arrival. I confess that it might not work as well if you dont have kids, but for me it hit me as hard as any movie I've seen in decades. 

[BigFatCoward]

1 minute ago, Isis said:

A friend said it was just way too long. I guess directors just get more and more self indulgent as they get older.

Even the little bit I saw, I could see there was an interesting story there. But it needed a LOT of editing.