Watch, Watched, Watching: What Now?

[Zorral]

Knives Out (amazon prime) was entertaining, while making social comment with a light touch

Not only does it meta reference the formulae of cozy Christie mystery and characters, as well as other famous detectives such as Holmes -- often done clumsy and heavy-handed, demanding we notice --  but I swear its plot is really a remake of Jupiter Ascending 92015), film that bombed at theatrical release box office, but which is very entertaining too -- I've watched it twice.  The house cleaner immigrant family young woman who is really the hidden heiress of the universe, here is a registered nurse who becomes the heiress of the Clue Universe.

But gotta say, Daniel Craig was the weakest bit -- that accent! his oafish non-acting!  he was so bad. But he rescued it nevertheless by so clearly enjoying what he was doing.

Also why a GOT throne of blades? Well, the clumsy and heavy hand wasn't confined to the meta-troping.

Nevertheless it was an entertaining Friday night before bed watch.

 

[dbunting]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Knives Out (amazon prime) was entertaining, while making social comment with a light touch

Not only does it meta reference the formulae of cozy Christie mystery and characters, as well as other famous detectives such as Holmes -- often done clumsy and heavy-handed, demanding we notice --  but I swear its plot is really a remake of Jupiter Ascending 92015), film that bombed at theatrical release box office, but which is very entertaining too -- I've watched it twice.  The house cleaner immigrant family young woman who is really the hidden heiress of the universe, here is a registered nurse who becomes the heiress of the Clue Universe.

But gotta say, Daniel Craig was the weakest bit -- that accent! his oafish non-acting!  he was so bad. But he rescued it nevertheless by so clearly enjoying what he was doing.

Also why a GOT throne of blades? Well, the clumsy and heavy hand wasn't confined to the meta-troping.

Nevertheless it was an entertaining Friday night before bed watch.

 

Agree with most points on this. Daniel Craig was the worst part of the show for me.

[Fez]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

But gotta say, Daniel Craig was the weakest bit -- that accent! his oafish non-acting!  he was so bad. But he rescued it nevertheless by so clearly enjoying what he was doing.

Have you seen Logan Lucky?

It's a fun heist movie from 2017; though not as good as Knives Out. But it's set in Kentucky and Daniel Craig has almost the exact same accent. Clearly this is a thing he wants to do now. And with Knives Out having a sequel getting greenlit, it seems like he'll get to do it again.

[Zorral]

4 minutes ago, Fez said:

Have you seen Logan Lucky?  

It's a fun heist movie from 2017; though not as good as Knives Out. But it's set in Kentucky and Daniel Craig has almost the exact same accent. Clearly this is a thing he wants to do now. And with Knives Out having a sequel getting greenlit, it seems like he'll get to do it again.

Have not seen Logan Lucky.  Just looked it up.  It looks promising for sure!  But not on the services to which I subscribe, it seems.  O wait, it's on amazon prime.  So there I am.

Doing oaf is probably Craig cashing in with paid 'vacation' after dumping Bond --  he gets to eat again, not stay skin and bones, competing with Cillian Murphy for sharpest cheekbones on screen.  

 

[RedEyedGhost]

37 minutes ago, Fez said:

Have you seen Logan Lucky?

But it's set in Kentucky 

North Carolina

[dog-days]

I thought Daniel Craig was being deliberately bad in Knives Out - kind of sending up the Poirot type of eccentric investigator. Well, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, anyway, since I enjoyed the film!

Just finished Da 6 Bloods. Powerful, if uneven. Delroy Lindo gave a barnstorming central performance. The other actors also did great jobs, though their characters were less developed, in particular Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Eddie (Norm Lewis). I enjoyed the conceit of the older actors playing their younger Vietnam-era selves. It worked much better than trying to de-age them would have, and suggested the lingering trauma of their experiences very well. 

Spoiler

I think the ending of the film would have been more interesting with Quân as the leader of the opposition instead of the evil French guy in a James Bond villain suit. 

 

[Mexal]

3 hours ago, Fez said:

Have you seen Logan Lucky?

It's a fun heist movie from 2017; though not as good as Knives Out. But it's set in Kentucky and Daniel Craig has almost the exact same accent. Clearly this is a thing he wants to do now. And with Knives Out having a sequel getting greenlit, it seems like he'll get to do it again.

I really really really enjoyed this movie.

[SpaceChampion]

7 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

North Carolina

West Virginia -- there was a whole song about it and all.

Though the heist itself is in N.C.

[Nictarion]

16 hours ago, dog-days said:

Just finished Da 6 Bloods. Powerful, if uneven. Delroy Lindo gave a barnstorming central performance. The other actors also did great jobs, though their characters were less developed, in particular Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Eddie (Norm Lewis). I enjoyed the conceit of the older actors playing their younger Vietnam-era selves. It worked much better than trying to de-age them would have, and suggested the lingering trauma of their experiences very well. 

  Hide contents

I think the ending of the film would have been more interesting with Quân as the leader of the opposition instead of the evil French guy in a James Bond villain suit. 

 

I watched this last night. The plot is kind of a mess, but that’s clearly not really the point. It was weird seeing Lester Freamon and Clay Davis on the same side. 

[Cas Stark]

17 hours ago, dog-days said:

I thought Daniel Craig was being deliberately bad in Knives Out - kind of sending up the Poirot type of eccentric investigator. Well, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, anyway, since I enjoyed the film!

Just finished Da 6 Bloods. Powerful, if uneven. Delroy Lindo gave a barnstorming central performance. The other actors also did great jobs, though their characters were less developed, in particular Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Eddie (Norm Lewis). I enjoyed the conceit of the older actors playing their younger Vietnam-era selves. It worked much better than trying to de-age them would have, and suggested the lingering trauma of their experiences very well. 

  Hide contents

I think the ending of the film would have been more interesting with Quân as the leader of the opposition instead of the evil French guy in a James Bond villain suit. 

 

This was my take as well, OTT eccentric investigator. 

[williamjm]

I watched A Most Wanted Man. It has a good cast, particularly Phillip Seymour Hoffman but I thought it was less memorable than some other Le Carre adaptations. There's nothing particularly wrong with the plot but it all feels a bit predictable most of the time and after the early part of the film there's not much ambiguity about the character motivations.

[Heartofice]

Started watching Upload on Amazon Prime. Ok it’s easy to dismiss it as a show that has cynically stolen all the Black Mirror plot lines and combined them into one show, but actually I think it’s pretty good. The show has a cohesive sense of humour and of what it is, it’s leads are pretty charming and watchable.

There are also some quite nifty ideas in there about capitalism and technology that raises it from the knock off I assumed it was.

Also watched The day shall come, which totally escaped my notice when it was released even though I am a huge Chris Morris fanboy. Having said that, I don’t feel too guilt that I missed it because I get the impression his sense of the absurd and his expert use of language just doesn’t translate that well into American. I could see it was his writing at times but mostly it felt quite broad and mainstream which made it lose some of his usual dark edge.

So instead I rewatched Four Lions and it’s still genius.

[Nictarion]

Just finished The Vast of Night. Loved it. Very impressive for a micro-budget film. 

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

I thought Daniel Craig was being deliberately bad in Knives Out - kind of sending up the Poirot type of eccentric investigator. Well, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, anyway, since I enjoyed the film!

That thought entered my mind too.  Especially sending up the novel Poirot's insufferable satisfaction at being the smartest person ever, at least in his own mind.  Also is insufferable pomposity.  In any case Craig was clearly enjoying himself, which does  save the character and thus, then, the film too.  A whole lot of people were having a great time making this, it feels.

 

[Veltigar]

1 hour ago, Triskele said:

Quite a ways through S1 of Hannibal and definitely enjoying it.  MM has quite the presence throughout. 

Oh you're in for a threat, it only gets better after this. Probably the best tv show of the last couple of years, I still miss it 

[dog-days]

3 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I watched this last night. The plot is kind of a mess, but that’s clearly not really the point. It was weird seeing Lester Freamon and Clay Davis on the same side. 

Thought Melvin looked familiar, but hadn't placed him as Clay Davis. It's been too long since I watched The Wire. (Over ten years, I think. )  Bits of the film worked, and bits didn't work, but overall I'm definitely glad I saw it. There were so many great moments. Veronica Ngo as Hanoi Hannah was mesmerising. 

[Jace, Extat]

1 hour ago, Triskele said:

Quite a ways through S1 of Hannibal and definitely enjoying it.  MM has quite the presence throughout. 

 

You've taken your first step in a larger world.

Prepare yourself. The series will not remain so whimsical and comforting forever.

[Mexal]

2 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Just finished The Vast of Night. Loved it. Very impressive for a micro-budget film. 

Excellent  Glad you enjoyed it. We really did as well.

5 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I watched this last night. The plot is kind of a mess, but that’s clearly not really the point. It was weird seeing Lester Freamon and Clay Davis on the same side. 

We watched it last night as well and really enjoyed it. A bit uneven but really good and never boring for me. I didn't place Clay Davis even though I recognized him.

[RedEyedGhost]

8 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I watched this last night. The plot is kind of a mess, but that’s clearly not really the point. It was weird seeing Lester Freamon and Clay Davis on the same side. 

Sheeeeeit.  Now I know what I'm watching tonight.

[Ramsay B.]

I enjoyed The Vast of Night as well. I watched it after reading Tywin rip it on here, so I was well prepared for the slow burn. The 2 leads were great, loved the atmosphere and I liked how it all ended.

On 6/13/2020 at 10:25 AM, Mark Antony said:

Im about 6 episodes into Ozark and it’s just okay. Feels really derivative a lot of the time. Mainly sticking around for Julia Garners character. She has been the highlight by a mile

I couldn’t get past episode 4 or 5 when I tried a few years back. I didn’t think it was bad, it just didn’t grab me at all. The same with Hannibal, although I should’ve stuck that out as everyone here said the serial killer of the week thing doesn’t last. 

I watched Looper for the first time in a while. Still love that movie, even know it has the normal time traveling plot holes when looking hard enough.