Watch, Watched, Watching: Three Monkeys Edition

[Ghostlydragon]

4 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Oh she was so horrible.  

She was. And how she kept surviving and taking power was so ridiculous, and Gotham does all sorts of ridiculous things. This was at another level though.

[Ran]

Watched The Vast of Night, an indie SF film set in a small town out in New Mexico during the 1950s. Been out a couple of years, but only got around to watching it now. A nice, slow burn of a film, an adroit use of period detail and authenticity (lots of Southern accents with that particular twang of the Southwest, a working switchboard in pristine condition is featured in a number of scenes, lots of period cars, even the high school's basketball court was refinished to remove the three-point lines and give it the much narrower key that existed, a framing device occasionally presenting the film as being a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits-esque program) to then lead you into the strangeness of weird noises over a radio and lights in the sky. First half is, IMO, stronger than the second half, in part because the most ambitious direction and cinematography takes place, particularly an impressive 4 minute long tracking shot moving through the town, into the midst of a basketball game, and out again to the radio station (no spoilers):

It's not perfect, getting a little exposition heavy in the second half, but given the tiny budget ($700,000, Google tells me) it's pretty impressive. The two young actors in the lead were quite appealing, and the director is promising (though he seems to not have done anything since, which is surprising). Also, great sound mixing, gives it a properly eerie feeling on occasion, and makes the town feel alive.

It's a talky film, not a thriller, but a good one.

[Nictarion]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

Watched The Vast of Night, an indie SF film set in a small town out in New Mexico during the 1950s. Been out a couple of years, but only got around to watching it now. A nice, slow burn of a film, an adroit use of period detail and authenticity (lots of Southern accents with that particular twang of the Southwest, a working switchboard in pristine condition is featured in a number of scenes, lots of period cards, even the high school's basketball court was refinished to remove the three-point lines and give it the much narrower key that existed, a framing device occasionally presenting the film as being a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits-esque program) to then lead you into the strangeness of weird noises over a radio and lights in the sky. First half is, IMO, stronger than the second half, in part because the most ambitious direction and cinematography takes place, particularly an impressive 4 minute long tracking shot moving through the town, into the midst of a basketball game, and out again to the radio station (no spoilers):

It's not perfect, getting a little exposition heavy in the second half, but given the tiny budget ($700,000, Google tells me) it's pretty impressive. The two young actors in the lead were quite appealing, and the director is promising (though he seems to not have done anything since, which is surprising). Also, great sound mixing, gives it a properly eerie feeling on occasion, and makes the town feel alive.

It's a talky film, not a thriller, but a good one.

I liked this a lot. My only complaint was I could barely understand the dialogue in a couple of the scenes at the beginning. The parts in the gym and parking lot, iirc. 

[Spockydog]

2 hours ago, Ran said:

Watched The Vast of Night, an indie SF film set in a small town out in New Mexico during the 1950s. Been out a couple of years, but only got around to watching it now. A nice, slow burn of a film, an adroit use of period detail and authenticity (lots of Southern accents with that particular twang of the Southwest, a working switchboard in pristine condition is featured in a number of scenes, lots of period cars, even the high school's basketball court was refinished to remove the three-point lines and give it the much narrower key that existed, a framing device occasionally presenting the film as being a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits-esque program) to then lead you into the strangeness of weird noises over a radio and lights in the sky. First half is, IMO, stronger than the second half, in part because the most ambitious direction and cinematography takes place, particularly an impressive 4 minute long tracking shot moving through the town, into the midst of a basketball game, and out again to the radio station (no spoilers):

It's not perfect, getting a little exposition heavy in the second half, but given the tiny budget ($700,000, Google tells me) it's pretty impressive. The two young actors in the lead were quite appealing, and the director is promising (though he seems to not have done anything since, which is surprising). Also, great sound mixing, gives it a properly eerie feeling on occasion, and makes the town feel alive.

It's a talky film, not a thriller, but a good one.

Really wanted to like this, but couldn't understand a word anyone was saying. Got about twenty minutes in before abandoning.

ETA: I see Nicatrion ninja'd me with the dialogue complaint.

Will definitely give it another go when I can watch with subbies.

 

 

[Ran]

I admit, I had the same issue to begin with, but it just took getting used to the accent. I guess the first minutes also have some surrounding chatter which maybe obscures what people are saying overmuch. And certainly. having Everett also have a cigarette dangling from his mouth half the time wasn't the wisest choice in this regard, but... verisimilitude, I guess? Heh. 

[Heartofice]

Yep also really wanted to like this as it looks gorgeous but it is deathly slow at the start and the dialogue issues were the same for me.

On the other hand I finished Kingdom finally , the Korean one. Is it a great show? I don’t know to be honest, again it comes down to am I rating it highly because the idea of a historic Korean zombie show is awesome? There is a lot to like in it, but it is also pretty pantomime and silly when it comes to its characters. The sub plot with the queen felt like it wanted to channel GoT but it wasn’t that engaging because the Queen herself was barely fleshed out.

Its a show that had some very high highs where I was absolutely loving it, probably much more in the first season, but then some sluggish parts that lost me. 
 

Still the tease for next season maybe had me more excited than I was for the entire second season so I’ll definitely keep watching.

In the meantime I’m watching Alice in Borderland. The first 2 episodes brought me immense joy, awesome production values and a Battle Royale plot always works for me. 3rd episode however reminded me why I struggle with Anime ( this is based on a manga I think?), it’s the moment of voiceover contemplation, emotional wailing and overlong scenes of self reflection that I have to tune out of. There was quite a lot of that in episode 3. Hoping the pace ramps up again afterwards

[john]

3 hours ago, Heartofice said:

In the meantime I’m watching Alice in Borderland. The first 2 episodes brought me immense joy, awesome production values and a Battle Royale plot always works for me. 3rd episode however reminded me why I struggle with Anime ( this is based on a manga I think?), it’s the moment of voiceover contemplation, emotional wailing and overlong scenes of self reflection that I have to tune out of. There was quite a lot of that in episode 3. Hoping the pace ramps up again afterwards

I really enjoyed it, but it does get increasingly wacky in a manga/anime style as it goes on.

[Zorral]

Things were not good for awhile, though thank goodness today seems to be turning that around, finally!

Depressed as heck, I discovered this fairly innocuous, feel comfortable, cop series, with a sort of ensemble cast of nice characters from New Zealand, Brokenwood Mysteries, which seems kind of like a cross of Midsomer Murders and Death in Paradise.   Here are all the shticks of the quirky detective, the horrible music of obsession (in this case, country music}, the out-of-date car, rumpled mess dad bod with multiple ex-wives, refusal to use contemporary technology.  Just off the top of one’s head, how many variations of these can you come up with as the description in 60 seconds, starting with Rebus and Longmire and Vera Stanhope (though sans the music with Vera)? Even Midsomer Murders’ Barnaby, when it comes to tech, rumpled clothes despite wife's best efforts, and instead of music, he's a cheapskate, making his subordinates buy his lunch, his pints and pay for the tickets.

But I don't care.  It is comfort viewing with several seasons to get through, starting in 2014.  Plus the scenes of New Zealand locations are gorgeous.

[SpaceChampion]

Bit of the Firefly reunion, sort of, on latest episode of Resident Alien. 

Spoiler

Nathan Fillion is the voice of an octopus, because octopi are aliens.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

From @Ran's post in the YouTube thread, I don't know if I've ever watched Big Trouble in Little Chinatown from start to finish. The opening credits aren't even over and I'm dying. Worst sober truck driver ever!

[Veltigar]

Watched Savage Dog (2017 starring Scott Adkins the other day. I really need to watch more of his work, because he truly makes some awesome action films. Savage Dog is definitely nowhere near the amazing work that is Avengement (with which this film shares a director as well), but it is a pretty good action film in its own right.

There is something weird about it though, but somehow it worked. I could even stand the voice-over in this film, which is something I don't think I'm usually able to say about a film. Perhaps it helped that it was Keith David, he has a pretty awesome voice. 

In general it is what you could have expected from a B-movie action flick like this. The fights are wonderfully brutal, the villains are ever so adept at twisting their mustaches and the plot is amazingly schmaltzy. It's formulaic, but it is a formula that definitely works. The only thing I really disliked about the film was the one stereotypical moment were a character puts away his gun to have a fist-fight... It wasn't handled well here at all and it took me out of the movie completely.  

Still, for action movie aficionados it is well worth a watch. I keep scratching my head why Scott Adkins isn't more well-known by the general public. With the exception of Keanu Reeves, I can't think of a single mainstream Hollywood actor who comes even close to his level of action chops (he could battle The Rock and Vin Diesel together without breaking a sweat).

7 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Bit of the Firefly reunion, sort of, on latest episode of Resident Alien. 

  Hide contents

Nathan Fillion is the voice of an octopus, because octopi are aliens.

 

Ah, finally someone else who is also watching this  

The latest episode was pretty good, it keeps on being a very enjoyable series  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Big Trouble in Little Chinatown is excellent for what it is. Highly recommend if you haven't seen it.

I'm debating with myself if I should watch Mars Attacks! or The Man in the Iron Mask today.

[Spockydog]

Not seen it since the Eighties, but I remember Big Trouble in Little China (no idea what Tywin is watching  ) being enormous fun. Peak Kurt Russell.

Although, in terms of the depiction of Chinese folk, it's probably even more racist than The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

 

[Heartofice]

8 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Big Trouble in Little Chinatown 

Sounds like an amazing movie, Jack Nicholson and Kurt Russel team up to fight a centuries old curse to control the water department

[Spockydog]

11 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Sounds like an amazing movie, Jack Nicholson and Kurt Russel team up to fight a centuries old curse to control the water department

I was trying to come up with a Jack Nicholson related joke, but this is excellent. Well done.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

23 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Sounds like an amazing movie, Jack Nicholson and Kurt Russel team up to fight a centuries old curse to control the water department

Lol, I guess I've always thought that was the title. Perhaps I was just on the cutting edge of splicing two songs together.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

28 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Not seen it since the Eighties, but I remember Big Trouble in Little China (no idea what Tywin is watching  ) being enormous fun. Peak Kurt Russell.

I still need to see Escape from New York.

 

[Spockydog]

5 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I still need to see Escape from New York.

 

That's a great fucking movie. I recently got a remastered 4K disc. It looks amazing.

[Ran]

10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

From @Ran's post in the YouTube thread, I don't know if I've ever watched Big Trouble in Little Chinatown from start to finish. The opening credits aren't even over and I'm dying. Worst sober truck driver ever!

It's all in the reflexes.

Man in the Iron Mask has some charm thanks to its stellar cast, and a great score, but it's less than the sum of its parts. I'd probably choose it over Mars Attacks! but I think the latter is more interesting, cinematically-speaking.

[Cas Stark]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

I still need to see Escape from New York.

 

Yeah, after you watch The Sopranos and Breaking Bad.

My recent watches....Mud, hmm, another movie with a super high review rating that is undeserved.  I liked that it had an authentic sense of place/time, it was a nice 'small' movie,  but slow and the characterizations were thin, very thin.  The original Total Recall, which I think has to be one of those bad but somehow good, because on the individual categories of writing, acting, costumes [literally looked like someone sent their assistant to the local mall], effects, it was a range from bad to terrible.