Watch, Watched, Watching: Three Monkeys Edition

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 minute ago, Heartofice said:

Yeah I think this was my opinion as well. I saw it in theatres and was mostly quite bored throughout. I think maybe it was about the 3rd or 4th rewatch where I really started to appreciate it. Like a lot of Coens brothers movies, the plot isn't what makes it stand out, and can be hard to stay focused on due to its non traditional nature. An extreme example of that is A Serious Man which I absolutely hated walking out, but I kind of get now.

Count me as another who didn't like it the first time I saw it, but I saw it years after it came out when I was in the 8th grade or so. It was boring and I barely laughed. Caught it again in college and loved it. Probably seen it over a dozen times now.

[Isis]

I thought that The Vast of Night was great - a really immersive, absorbing experience.

Watched a couple of episodes of Dark Tourist last night after it popped up in an internet search following an in depth discussion of Jeffrey Dahmer's shrine. The presenter/producer is the person who did Tickle (which I've not seen) but seems like a poor man's Louis Theroux. Only watched the US one (with the Dahmer part) and the Japan one. The latter had some truly uncomfortable viewing related to visiting radioactive areas.

I've also been watching Behind Her Eyes, which has great production values and decent performances. I read the book a few years back so I know what's coming (very interested in seeing how the handle 'it'). Trying to figure out at what point they do the big reveal. I'd probably have finished watching it already (it's only six eps) if it wasn't for my concentration/focus being absolutely ruined at the moment. Anyone else watched it yet?

[Cas Stark]

Tried watching Ready Player One.  I only lasted 15 minutes. 

*I second The Fog, a 'great' B-movie horror film. 

[l2 0 5 5]

24 minutes ago, Isis said:

I've also been watching Behind Her Eyes, which has great production values and decent performances. I read the book a few years back so I know what's coming (very interested in seeing how the handle 'it'). Trying to figure out at what point they do the big reveal. I'd probably have finished watching it already (it's only six eps) if it wasn't for my concentration/focus being absolutely ruined at the moment. Anyone else watched it yet?

Yeah I watched it a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I thought the ending was so good. I found myself thinking about it still a couple days after I finished it. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

50 minutes ago, Isis said:

I thought that The Vast of Night was great - a really immersive, absorbing experience.

Watched a couple of episodes of Dark Tourist last night after it popped up in an internet search following an in depth discussion of Jeffrey Dahmer's shrine. The presenter/producer is the person who did Tickle (which I've not seen) but seems like a poor man's Louis Theroux. Only watched the US one (with the Dahmer part) and the Japan one. The latter had some truly uncomfortable viewing related to visiting radioactive areas.

I've also been watching Behind Her Eyes, which has great production values and decent performances. I read the book a few years back so I know what's coming (very interested in seeing how the handle 'it'). Trying to figure out at what point they do the big reveal. I'd probably have finished watching it already (it's only six eps) if it wasn't for my concentration/focus being absolutely ruined at the moment. Anyone else watched it yet?

My wife and I watched ep1 of Behind Her Eyes. Were unimpressed, I googled what happened, and we decided to give the rest a miss.

[Heartofice]

49 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Tried watching Ready Player One.  I only lasted 15 minutes. 

*I second The Fog, a 'great' B-movie horror film. 

I remember attempting to read the book once and thought it was utterly derivative. Can’t remember much about the author but it was like someones dad who’d never played a game in their lives , decided to write a book about a sci world with games. I thought everything about it was dumb and obvious. I won’t bother watching the movie.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

*I second The Fog, a 'great' B-movie horror film. 

I just finished it and thought it was pretty forgettable. Didn't hate it, but I doubt I'll seek it out again. 

[williamjm]

I watched the BBC's adaptation of China Mieville's The City and the City which I had recorded a few years ago but didn't get round to watching then. I had wondered how they were going to portray the two-cities-in-one-place aspect but I thought their approach of blurring out whichever city the characters were not in was effective. It also helped that the production design for Beszel and Ul Qoma were so different to each other. They seemed to explain it clearly as well, although I wonder how well people who hadn't read the book would understand it. It did a reasonable job of adapting the book's plot, although I'm not sure about giving Borlu a backstory about a missing wife, it might give him a bit more emotional connection to what is going on but it did distract from the main plot and the troubled detective is a bit of a cliche. Overall, I liked it but I did like the book more, perhaps partially because I already know which parts of the plot are red herrings.

[Derfel Cadarn]

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I remember attempting to read the book once and thought it was utterly derivative. Can’t remember much about the author but it was like someones dad who’d never played a game in their lives , decided to write a book about a sci world with games. I thought everything about it was dumb and obvious. I won’t bother watching the movie.

Ready Player One (only seen the film) strikes me as a bit of an Otherworld (Tad Williams) rip-off with none of the depth.

[Derfel Cadarn]

39 minutes ago, williamjm said:

I watched the BBC's adaptation of China Mieville's The City and the City which I had recorded a few years ago but didn't get round to watching then. I had wondered how they were going to portray the two-cities-in-one-place aspect but I thought their approach of blurring out whichever city the characters were not in was effective. It also helped that the production design for Beszel and Ul Qoma were so different to each other. They seemed to explain it clearly as well, although I wonder how well people who hadn't read the book would understand it. It did a reasonable job of adapting the book's plot, although I'm not sure about giving Borlu a backstory about a missing wife, it might give him a bit more emotional connection to what is going on but it did distract from the main plot and the troubled detective is a bit of a cliche. Overall, I liked it but I did like the book more, perhaps partially because I already know which parts of the plot are red herrings.

Liked it but preferred the book.

Raging that no one identified themselves as an Avatar of Breach.

[Cas Stark]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

I just finished it and thought it was pretty forgettable. Didn't hate it, but I doubt I'll seek it out again. 

I liked it because for a low budget horror film it had a pretty dense plot.  Also, excellent music. And Jamie LC at her scream queen peak, LOL.   Never watch the remake.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

43 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

I liked it because for a low budget horror film it had a pretty dense plot.  Also, excellent music. And Jamie LC at her scream queen peak, LOL.   Never watch the remake.  

Isn't the a lot of the appeal of JC's films? Low budget, but it doesn't feel cheap, great score and the story has great pace? Not all of his films are good or great, but I don't remember much that he's done that was bad.

And I have no interest in watching the remake, lol.

[williamjm]

19 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Isn't the a lot of the appeal of JC's films? Low budget, but it doesn't feel cheap, great score and the story has great pace? Not all of his films are good or great, but I don't remember much that he's done that was bad.

I take it that you've never seen Escape from LA? If so then it's best to keep it that way.

Other than that (and probably Ghosts of Mars which I've not seen but heard is terrible) I agree Carpenter was very consistent at making those types of film consistently entertaining.

[Ghostlydragon]

Just started X Files Ltd Series aka Season 10. 2 episodes in. The actors voices difference takes a bit of getting used to but I'm enjoying it so far. 6 episodes is never gonna feel like enough though.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

55 minutes ago, williamjm said:

I take it that you've never seen Escape from LA? If so then it's best to keep it that way.

Other than that (and probably Ghosts of Mars which I've not seen but heard is terrible) I agree Carpenter was very consistent at making those types of film consistently entertaining.

No plans on doing so, but I am looking to see another movie I haven't seen before. That said, my next few hours will be dedicated to reading, studying and doing some yoga. 

[Mexal]

4 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

My wife and I watched ep1 of Behind Her Eyes. Were unimpressed, I googled what happened, and we decided to give the rest a miss.

My wife and I watched it as well and thought it was pretty good up until it got stupid which leads into "it" as Isis called it. Definitely not one to appreciate the direction it went.

[polishgenius]

2 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Ready Player One (only seen the film) strikes me as a bit of an Otherworld (Tad Williams) rip-off with none of the depth.

Only read the book but my comparison was a terrible charmless attempt at a Cyberpunk Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

[Spockydog]

9 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I just finished it and thought it was pretty forgettable. Didn't hate it, but I doubt I'll seek it out again. 

Here's a B-movie horror that you'll never forget. The Borderlands (2013). Got a different title stateside (Final Prayer), so I've included the IMDB link.

I love this movie. Such a great, creepy vibe, which is sustained all the way through to one of the most WTF endings I've ever seen.

Highly recommended.

 

[Isis]

16 hours ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

Yeah I watched it a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I thought the ending was so good. I found myself thinking about it still a couple days after I finished it. 

It looks like being one of those adaptations which improves on the book. There was nothing wrong with the book - it's a twisty thriller and I think it does what it sets out to do. It was recommended to me at a time when I was really stressed and struggling to enjoy any reading at all. At those times a page-turning, unchallenging, thriller can be exactly what I need.

The set up in the first couple of episodes was pretty good at ambiguity

- presenting the characters as typical archetypes, i.e. damaged wife, cheating husband, secretary having an affair with her boss

.

I'll come back for comment once I've watched the last three episodes.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

9 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Here's a B-movie horror that you'll never forget. The Borderlands (2013). Got a different title stateside (Final Prayer), so I've included the IMDB link.

I love this movie. Such a great, creepy vibe, which is sustained all the way through to one of the most WTF endings I've ever seen.

Highly recommended.

 

May give it a shot in the future. My goal for the week is to watch the rest of season 1 and all of season 2 of Rome, but I will catch some movies in between.