Watch, Watched, Watching: I missed the last thread?

[Leofric]

Finally got a round to watching Kingdom on Netflix, a Korean zombie period piece. Have only watched the first three episodes so far, but liking it a lot.  Very well done, liked them showing the aftermath first and then jumping back to show what actually happened and liked their version of zombie/vampire mythology.  Still trying to get their names straight, going more by their titles and ranks.  There is the Crown Prince starting to show his mettle, his bodyguard is great, the doctor and the criminal keep trying to save people, but they are being ignored or arrested.  The Minister, who is making puppy eyes at the doctor, his clerk, and the rest of nobles who are clueless.  And the Queen, her father, and Clan whose attempts to hold onto power had set everything in motion.

Hopefully will have time to finish Season 1 this weekend and dive right into Season 2.  

[Werthead]

9 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Finally watching the thick of it. Enjoyable, but I'm really disappointed in Malcolm Tucker. Not that he's bad, just that he is nowhere near as good as I was led to beleive. 

I find The Thick of It and its American-set spiritual successor Veep (and the movie which kind of links them together, In the Loop) to be both a bit redundant these days. The situations they set up and describe in the shows are funny, but more insanely outrageous you-can't-make-it-up stuff is happening daily in both London and DC at present.

Quote

As much as Nolan’s films should be seen on the big screen I’ll probably wait on this one. Sounds like a lot of his usual issues are present.

I find Nolan to be a great film-maker but a mediocre story-teller, and who is nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is. When he's recreating real events (Dunkirk) or filming someone else's story (The Prestige) he does a lot better than when he's fully left unrestrained at his own devices, when he tends to self-indulgence. Tenet sounds like a film I'm quite happy to leave to watch at home, like Interstellar and Inception.

The most exciting thing about Tenet is the Dune trailer that's rolling out with it, which we should see online fairly imminently.

[john]

I love Lost in Translation. It’s a film, it tells the story through the pretty pictures.

Similarly, I’d rather see a Nolan film in the cinema, COVID aside, since the things he does best are the things that look good on a big screen accompanied by a powerful sound system.

[dbunting]

I prefer seeing all films on the big screen. There is something immersive about the experience. When you have to turn your head to see from one edge to the other and the sound is perfectly surrounding you...  I have an 80" in my man cave and it's nice but it can't compete with the theater experience, IMO. 

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, Werthead said:

The situations they set up and describe in the shows are funny, but more insanely outrageous you-can't-make-it-up stuff is happening daily in both London and DC at present.

I believe this was exactly the reason Iannucci stopped making The Thick of It - he kept writing situations that were supposed to be beyond ridiculous and then finding real politics would provide a similar or even stupider situation before or just after the show made it to air.

[WarGalley]

I would like to watch Tenet in theaters (if they were open here or opening sometime soon) but it sounds (no pun) like there are issues with the audio and hearing the dialogue and that subtitles might improve the movie. I've found this to be a frustrating problem before with Nolan movies so may just bide my time until it streams.

[Werthead]

2 hours ago, john said:

I love Lost in Translation. It’s a film, it tells the story through the pretty pictures.

Similarly, I’d rather see a Nolan film in the cinema, COVID aside, since the things he does best are the things that look good on a big screen accompanied by a powerful sound system.

I regret not seeing Dunkirk on the big screen. That was extremely impressive and it might be my favourite of his films (it and The Prestige are the only two so far which don't fulfil my "all Chris Nolan films would be better with half an hour shaved off the running time" maxim), although I still haven't gotten around to Memento.

[Nictarion]

Dunkirk is definitely my favorite of Nolan’s films. And yes, it was quite an experience on the big screen. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Clearly I need to rewatch Dunkirk then given all the praise. I was really tired when I saw it so maybe that's why I thought it was just okay.

[ithanos]

You don't realise how involved the use of sound is in a Nolan film unit its not there, cue Dunkirk;

Spoiler

the Spitfire running out of fuel and the silence of gliding.

I might watch Tenet again this weekend. After months of communicating with people through masks my hearing is more attuned to filtered speech but there are a couple scenes channeling Banespeak which would benefit from subtitles.

 

[dbunting]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Clearly I need to rewatch Dunkirk then given all the praise. I was really tired when I saw it so maybe that's why I thought it was just okay.

I wasn't tired but had the same opinion, just ok.

[RumHam]

Saw Hulu had Incident at Loch Ness and had to re-watch it. Great movie. 

[BigFatCoward]

Jesus christ, venom is absolute dogshit. 

[Heartofice]

7 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Jesus christ, venom is absolute dogshit. 

I’m with you on that. It was tonally all over the place, and I think I’m done with Tom Hardy, he seems to have replaced acting  with some broad funny voices... a bit like late Depp.

I prefer Upgrade featuring a Tom Hardy clone and a pretty similar story.

[Mexal]

Anyone seen Undercover on Netflix? It's a Flemish show about undercover agents infiltrating a big ecstasy dealer. Really really good in the first 4 episodes we've seen.

[maarsen]

2 hours ago, Mexal said:

Anyone seen Undercover on Netflix? It's a Flemish show about undercover agents infiltrating a big ecstasy dealer. Really really good in the first 4 episodes we've seen.

Yeah I watched it. I enjoyed it all.

[Heartofice]

Was nice to be able to watch something in a cinema after all this time but Tenet was a real disappointment. Easily Nolan’s worst. 
 

Id put spoiler tags but I can’t because I came away with almost no understanding of what happened. So nothing to spoil.

Essentially the movie is a series of those cool set pieces Nolan does so well, you know, those heists from Batman and Inception. Imagine those scenes but then imagine having no comprehension of who characters are, what characters want to achieve, how they are doing it and what is happening... at all! It really is just like watching some pretty action sequences without context for most of the movie.

I mean Nolan attempts to explain what is happening, but he is firmly in the TELL not SHOW camp when it comes to storytelling. Instead we get overly dry exposition scenes trying to blandly let us know what the hell is going on. Unfortunately these mostly fail due to everything being said so fast and without emphasis, with terms and names thrown around like confetti without anything to connect them visually. 
 

Plus I dunno if this is a feature of Nolan movies but most of the dialogue was muffled and covered with roaring background noise. Like that Bane scene in Batman where they had to redub it because he was incomprehensible... well Nolan got his way this time, everyone is Bane in this movie. Literally important dialogue is performed wearing gas masks while things are grinding and exploding around them. No idea what is being said.

Its also kinda ugly looking for a Nolan movie. 
 

On the plus side Kenneth Branaugh chewed the scenery and was great.

Now I need to go read some articles to understand what I just watched.

[Ser Drewy]

I watched The Big Combo. In many ways, it's pretty much your standard Noir, but I felt it was okay for the most part. Lovely lighting and use of shadows.  I also watched Cries & Whispers for the first time in years. It's still a powerfully discomfiting film with marvellous performances. I really like the quietness of the picture and its opening montage, and the red/white production design choices Bergman went with. Lots to mull over. 

[Nictarion]

Watching Captain Marvel for the first time and I love that Stan Lee was reading the script for Mallrats in his cameo. 

[Nictarion]

3 minutes ago, Triskele said:

I had never seen Match Point and really liked it.  Interesting that the internet claims American critics liked it more than British did generally.

My favorite Woody Allen movie (and his too).