Watch, Watched, Watching: Hindsight in 2020

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

Troll :p Gladiator > Man on Fire. You must give Ridley something, otherwise he'll always be known as the Top Gun director's brother 

Ridley still has Alien and Blade Runner.

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I feel like you are teasing here. Like how would this review have been different post 9/11? Or how would Gladiator have been different?

O, that would take a lot more typing than I'm up for at the moment, and a re-watch of Gladiator too.  Which I may do, later.  But now it's Bond all the time.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

The one with Melissa Joan Hart? I loved that growing up. I watched season ome of chilling adventures and it was a very different and inferior beast so i dropped it.

I guess it was rather myopic of me to assume it wasn't much of a thing in the UK. And look, I'm not arguing that it's great or anything, but I still enjoy it enough to casually move through the series. 

[Ramsay B.]

I watched White Boy Rick the other day. What a sloppy movie. It felt like the script was the first rough draft and they just decided to roll with it. Meh.

 

I also saw Mother some years back, and remember it dragging some and not really caring for it. I wanna give it a rewatch though as I think I expected something different at the time. 

 

[Astromech]

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I feel like you are teasing here. Like how would this review have been different post 9/11? Or how would Gladiator have been different?

Ah, was that the plan? I thought the Proximo fight came on top of the Tigris fight, which seemed a bit excessive.

And yeah, wish that Hollywood made a Gladiator level film every year. Unfortunately we both know they don't  Although it is a hard formula to crack in their defense. I meanRidley Scott has tried and failed to recapture that magic so many times since then.

Apart from its updated morality and attitude to violence I think Gladiator has far more in common with those films than with its contemporaries really

 

 

Oliver Reed died while filming so they had to alter the film. I'm not sure what changes were made, however. I just prefer the ending we got than the one you mentioned was a possibility.

3 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I watched the first season of Ragnarok the other day and I was pleasantly surprised. Very glad that the Board hivemind convinced me of giving it a shot. Not a masterpiece by any stretch of the word, as it does not do enough to break new ground, but it's far more enjoyable than most big budget films featuring similar superpowered characters.

It adds to the mystery though, the fact that we are excluded by their use of Old Norse. It's one of those little details that make the series far more interesting than it should be based on the premise on paper.

 

Perhaps. I suppose I can always just imagine what Vidar was saying to Magne. Perhaps it isn't meant for our mortal ears.

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Astromech said:

Oliver Reed died while filming so they had to alter the film. I'm not sure what changes were made, however. I just prefer the ending we got than the one you mentioned was a possibility.

Perhaps. I suppose I can always just imagine what Vidar was saying to Magne. Perhaps it isn't meant for our mortal ears.

There are subtitles for those passages.  But sometimes they miss them, it seems.

[Zorral]

BTW -- I just learned the new season of Narcos (Mexico) is up and streaming at Netflix.

[HexMachina]

4 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I guess it was rather myopic of me to assume it wasn't much of a thing in the UK. And look, I'm not arguing that it's great or anything, but I still enjoy it enough to casually move through the series. 

Just anecdotal but i remember that it was really popular with lots of people in my class at Primary school. Was going to say i thought you were a few years older than me so i was surprised you watched it, but i just looked at the original air dates and I must have jumped in around season 3/4 then watched back previous seasons. Huh. I do have a distinct memory of sitting down with my mam to watch the final episode though.

 

Anyway, i am about to rewatch the Americans

[Veltigar]

14 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Well I am for the most part a Tony > Ridley guy so yeah...

I actually put Man on Fire at pretty much equal, ie really good, I just find the contrast in reception between them to be a pretty amusing extreme example of the way certain critical and awards quarters will look down on certain kinds of stories... unless you dress them up in period costume.

De gustibus non est disputandum I guess. I thought Man on Fire was okay, but it misses so much of what makes Gladiator great. Denzel is good, but his character doesn't appear to have as big of an inner life as Maximus has. The film also doesn't have a similarly magnetic villain to oppose Commodus. Nor does it grapple with such complex ideals as Gladiator does amid the spectacle. Gladiator also has better effects, more memorable music and a better supporting cast I would add. 

I therefore think it isn't just the period garnish that explains its more favorable reception by critics.

14 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Hah.

Well, they are both poison-family-drama films where prim visuals contrast with the oozing heart behind the facade, replete with mega-dark humour.

If you put it like that... Who is the plastic bag?  

I do hope we'll look back on Parasite with pride and not have it undergo the same transition as our perception of American Beauty. That's a film whose reception has poorly aged.

14 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Ridley still has Alien and Blade Runner.

And also Kingdom of Heaven, Thelma and Louise, American Gangster and A Good Year. All of which share one characteristic... They are not Top Gun

13 hours ago, Zorral said:

O, that would take a lot more typing than I'm up for at the moment, and a re-watch of Gladiator too.  Which I may do, later.  But now it's Bond all the time.  

I'll be expecting your analysis if you do  

12 hours ago, Astromech said:

Oliver Reed died while filming so they had to alter the film. I'm not sure what changes were made, however. I just prefer the ending we got than the one you mentioned was a possibility.

Perhaps. I suppose I can always just imagine what Vidar was saying to Magne. Perhaps it isn't meant for our mortal ears.

Agreed that the ending we got was better.

And what I use in my imagination is Scandinavian stereotypes to fill in Vidar's talks with Magne.

[polishgenius]

4 hours ago, Veltigar said:

The film also doesn't have a similarly magnetic villain to oppose Commodus.

 

This is the only real area where Gladiator is superior, I feel. Well, and the quality of the battles, but that's not an area they're directly comparable.

I almost think the opposite on the supporting cast- Gladiator's had more depth, of course, but I was way more invested in Creasy's relationship with the kid than with anything in Gladiator. Dakota Fanning fucking killed that role.

 

 

4 hours ago, Veltigar said:

That's a film whose reception has poorly aged.

Has it? Apart from having Kevin Spacey in it I haven't seen it much criticised?

In any case Parasite is probably a better film anyway.

[Astromech]

7 hours ago, polishgenius said:

 

This is the only real area where Gladiator is superior, I feel. Well, and the quality of the battles, but that's not an area they're directly comparable.

I almost think the opposite on the supporting cast- Gladiator's had more depth, of course, but I was way more invested in Creasy's relationship with the kid than with anything in Gladiator. Dakota Fanning fucking killed that role.

 

 

Has it? Apart from having Kevin Spacey in it I haven't seen it much criticised?

In any case Parasite is probably a better film anyway.

Is this your article, Polishgenius?   https://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/man-on-fire

[Zorral]

12 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I'll be expecting your analysis if you do  

It could well be on the order of how things Bond changed* with the 2002 Pierce Bosnan Bond, who is no longer the super 007, but subject to dirty hair, unshaven cheeks -- and torture.  When he walked over that bridge from North Korea to South Korea, through the obscuring fog, Bond walked into a world that had changed forever from the post WWII 007 world he'd always known.

Scott may well have made different decisions for Gladiator if he was having a 2002 release, you see what I mean, maybe?

* As much as they tried to bring back the old Bond in Spectre, complete with magic car, magic watch, the ladies who fall for him in o about 5 seconds and have sex, and even a villain from the Connery days -- they couldn't quite get there, and Spectre was the better for that. 

The spectre of universal, global surveillance of every single person on the planet can't be put back in the bottle.

 

 

[polishgenius]

8 hours ago, Astromech said:

Is this your article, Polishgenius?   https://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/man-on-fire

 

No but I fuck wid it.


Also it should be so noted that in terms of references to the unrepentant cheesy joy of Top Gun, we shouldn't forget Unstoppable, which might feature less 80s excess of fashion, music and shirtless volleyball but is just as good a silly film. I am aware that that opinion may be a lot more controversial than my thoughts on Gladiator vs Man on Fire but I love Unstoppable.

[Teng Ai Hui]

Am I the only one who is watching the mindless dreck that is Love Island?

[Heartofice]

43 minutes ago, Teng Ai Hui said:

Am I the only one who is watching the mindless dreck that is Love Island?

Nope, me and the Mrs watch every night. I went from decrying it as the end of civilisation to realising I was heavily invested in the goings on at Casa Amor. I refuse to feel ashamed. 

[Inkdaub]

Parasite - I liked it quite a bit.  I bet this was a fun story to write.  I loved the ending.  Up there with Serious Man as best endings I have seen.

Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood - Liked this one as well.  I like both DiCaprio and Pitt...I am a pretty big Pitt fanboy to be true.  They were both good and I liked their relationship onscreen.  There was something...maybe nostalgic about this movie?  I can't describe it properly but watching it made me feel good despite the dark undertones.  I liked it better than the past few QT movies if only by a bit. 

Hold the Dark - This one was moderately good in ways but ultimately a disappointment.  I chose it because I am a fan of Jeffrey Wright and I also like Riley Keough and I also like outdoorsy cinematography and small-remote-town-is-strange type stories.  All good.  The plot was hard to really grasp...or maybe comprehend the motivations of the characters.  I sortof think I know what they were getting at. 

Spoiler

That the married couple were spiritually more wolf than human...?

Maybe?  It was alright.

 

[Cas Stark]

Watching Parasite this weekend, Snowpiercer didn't hold my interest. 

Knives Out, it was good, not great, I'm surprised it did $300M.

Gladiator is better than Man on Fire, even though MoF is underrated.

Joker was close to spectacular.

On a nostalgic note, watched Jerry Maguire before the superbowl and had forgotten just how incredibly charismatic and likable Peak Tom Cruise was.

[Corvinus85]

22 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Having this Amazon Prime free trial maybe I've not figured it out yet, but I'm surprised at how few relevant movies they seem to have.  

I did watch Lost City of Z which I'd always wanted to see and was pretty solid.  Gave The Boys a shot and see why some like it for its subversion but still probably won't finish it.  So far not likely to keep Prime.  Do need to watch Annihilation while I've got this though.  

Not interested in The Expanse? I mostly watch Prime to watch older stuff, but they do have a few good shows, and are expanding their library.

[RhaenysBee]

I’m watching Vikings again, I stopped after season 5 A and waited for the rest to go on Netflix. Then it finally did but I wasn’t interested and now I think even season 6 is out and they are promoting some final something on Instagram so I’ve decided to take on the ungrateful quest of finishing this... thing. 
So, I’ve started from season 5B and I’m currently 5 episodes in and the torture is real. I’m not sure why I didn’t abandon it for good yet, but god knows I should. Curiously, I’m not at all interested in the story or the fate of the characters, I do not care what’s going to happen and I do not care if the gang lives or dies. Or maybe I do, because I’m just waiting people to start biting the grass. The last time I was so desperate to see something of substance happen was in the last season of Game of Thrones... how I prayed to see characters die, and how they all disappointed me. 
But that’s only the essence of it, the truth is, there isn’t ONE tiny little element about this series at this point that’s right. The plot is so off the rails even stronger actors can’t salvage it. Costume design is a joke, as it has been for several seasons. And the directors seem to think that weird accents make for good acting? It’s hard to say but everybody has an accent. And sometimes Alex Hoegh Andersen speaks Danish to sound... uh... intimidating I suppose? The characters make less sense than ever, nothing they say or do adds up for any consistency, they just do things in random order without antecedent or consequence. When there happens to be a rare link of logic between scenes, it is showed so aggressively into your face that it expects less work from your brain than an episode of Peppa Pig.  The visuals are nice, of course, but it’s rather sad that mainstream entertainment is reduced to aesthetic shot design and photoshop filters.
The things I hated the most in no particular order: 

Spoiler

Lagertha. Her entire existence. But mostly the fact that she ages slower than Gilly’s baby. And the haaaair! My god, in the middle of episode 15, costume design decided to switch her blond wig for a grey wig. (Problems: 1. the change is blatantly obvious. 2. people who are blond to begin with don’t usually turn grey with old age, they turn white. 3. It is the fakest hair color I have ever seen and looks like that ridiculous 2016 trend when people purposely colored their hair grey.) and at the tender of 50, if I’m that generous, she has fewer wrinkles than I do.She should have died seasons ago! 

the plot. Or lack there of. Why doesn’t anything happen? 

Floki. His entire existence and pointless, boring, waste of screen time storyline just to keep Gustav Skarsgard‘s name in the cast list. Floki too, should have died seasons ago. 

I don’t hate Torvi that much because she doesn’t do anything. She never did anything other than change her partner every season. But she is there to do nothing because she is Michael Hirst’s daughter. Still alive in spite of all odds.  

and there’s Judith who is also around 40 with a generous calculation and costume design does not bother to make her look older than 25. Oh well. 

Ivar doing stuff for no reason at all. The whole God thing. Where did that come from? Why did Freydis put this idea in his head? What’s her purpose? Why would Ivar need to worry about his reign in Kattegat? He started worrying about it way BEFORE anybody showed any signs of questioning it. Why would he think a fake lagertha works? Why would he want to fake kill Lagertha? What did he hope to accomplish? Why did he go to the Seer, why did he consider him a threat? If he is so paranoid why does he not have spies on all the people who are actually screwing him over (like harald and freydis and rollo)? And since when is ivar stupid? It was his incredible brain combined with his strong will and blood thirst that brought him all this way, it was what set him apart from the other sons, what made him of all of them the most like Ragnar. So why is he doing this idiotic, strategically bad things?

I’ll shut up, but my god, if you haven’t yet watched Vikings from season 4 on, don’t do it. Just don’t. Stay away. Run and hide. Don’t watch it. 

[Cas Stark]

I never seem to find anything on either Amazon or Apple TV compared to Netflix.  Don't have Hulu.