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Watch, Watched, Watching : Series or Stand Alone? Home or Theater?


Zorral

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11 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

How dare you. It's kumite time!

Let's fight in your imaginationn than you are just like Frank Dux :P

11 hours ago, DMC said:

I'm totally buggin!

I hope the fact that I'm a total Baldwin makes up for my other shortcomings :D

7 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I’ll still watch Clueless any time it comes on tv. Between that movie, and a couple of the Aerosmith videos she was in, Alicia Silverstone was actually my first big celebrity “crush” when I was in my early teens. 

I get that on both fronts. 

3 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Once Upon a Time in America, and Kingdom of Heaven are always the two that come to my mind the most as examples of studios butchering a film’s theatrical release. Both are great if you actually watch them the way the directors intended. 

Never understood the love for KoH's Extended Edition.

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2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Never understood the love for KoH's Extended Edition.

It was significantly better than the theatrical release. The way they edited the TR, it went from scene to scene with no build up or characterization. With the Directors Cut, you actually understood some of the relationships better and therefore the motivations made more sense. Just a better movie. Now, you still might not like KoH but I'm not sure anyone can truly argue the TR was a better cut than the DC.

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I think the extended edition is vastly superior for KoH, but actually it’s because it just fixed at lot of the problems with the theatrical cut. That first maybe hour in the TC is just quickly cut nonsense, it makes little sense and really wrecks most of the characters. It’s only in the DC you can even understand what Blooms character is even doing. 
 

Plus i think it gives a lot more context to the crusade situation that wasn’t there at all in the TC

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6 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

After trailer I feel inclined to watch a new Dexter, problem is I never bothered to watch the last two seasons of the original series. Do I need to get back to them before the new one?

God no. Seasons 1, 2 and 4 are amazing, season 3 is okay and 5 through 8 is an awful drop off. The series finale is considered one of the worst ever. Here's all you need to know:

Spoiler

Deb's dead, Dex's kid is in Buenos Aires and he faked his death. 

 

4 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Let's fight in your imaginationn than you are just like Frank Dux :P

Killing you softly with the splits.

In all seriousness, while not a good movie the technical sense, Bloodsport is one of the better older martial arts films. It's campy, but then again, so is the gold standard, Enter the Dragon.

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13 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I’ll still watch Clueless any time it comes on tv. Between that movie, and a couple of the Aerosmith videos she was in, Alicia Silverstone was actually my first big celebrity “crush” when I was in my early teens. 

Same - although I was only ten when Clueless came out.

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Has anyone checked out the episode of Netflix's Untold: Crime and Penalties? This is one of the weirdest, wildest stories I've ever seen. Long story short is a wealthy mob guy bought his 17 year old son a lower division hockey team and made him president of the team. The kid loves wrestling and wanted to combine the two sports, and boy did he. I don't want to say much more, but if you've got 90 minutes and this peaks your interest, absolutely check it out. 

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Okay, Anne with an E needs to stop. I am nearing the end of season 2 and the creative decisions and modernization is just getting out of hand. They have completely abandoned the main themes of the story, as well as the main character. What you watch no longer makes any sense, entire plotlines, characters and archetypes are turned 180 degree in order to serve whatever the hell netflix decides. The story is completely lost, it’s become the awkward kid standing alone in the corner at the party. It’s there but it’s as good as invisible. What is even happening with this series? 

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23 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Has anyone checked out the episode of Netflix's Untold: Crime and Penalties? This is one of the weirdest, wildest stories I've ever seen. Long story short is a wealthy mob guy bought his 17 year old son a lower division hockey team and made him president of the team. The kid loves wrestling and wanted to combine the two sports, and boy did he. I don't want to say much more, but if you've got 90 minutes and this peaks your interest, absolutely check it out. 

Pretty wild story. Sadly, I trust the son’s instincts and ability to put together a decent team more than a few of my team’s GM’s. 

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1 hour ago, Ramsay B. said:

Pretty wild story. Sadly, I trust the son’s instincts and ability to put together a decent team more than a few of my team’s GM’s. 

Lol, that's sad indeed. Have you checked out any of the other episodes in the series? 

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19 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

Okay, Anne with an E needs to stop. I am nearing the end of season 2 and the creative decisions and modernization is just getting out of hand. They have completely abandoned the main themes of the story, as well as the main character. What you watch no longer makes any sense, entire plotlines, characters and archetypes are turned 180 degree in order to serve whatever the hell netflix decides. The story is completely lost, it’s become the awkward kid standing alone in the corner at the party. It’s there but it’s as good as invisible. What is even happening with this series? 

They did stop, after season 3.

I completely agree, after s1 they totally abandoned caracterization and any credible plot in favor of inserting their issues, but being too lazy to do it in a meaningful way fitting the time and place. And the speechifying... the dialogue... the 21st century vocabulary and mindset... Even Marilla, whom I loved, is acting ooc.

The signs were already there in s1, I think (a whole village doesn't know how to deal with a fire, but Anne does, etc), but there was so much good stuff I was willing to overlook them.

Such a wasted opportunity.

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On 9/13/2021 at 10:41 PM, Veltigar said:

I know a lot of you will probably go all " As if" on me, but I had never seen Clueless. Huge oversight obviously, but I saw the error of my ways and watched it this weekend. I fully understand why this film basically started a genre (famous literary classic transposed to an American high school) and am sad that said genre isn't really a thing anymore. Seriously, between this, 10 Things I Hate About You and She's All That, this short-lived trend produced a few gems.     

I watched Clueless last year and it is really an excellent movie. I'm generally a fan of Shakespeare transposed in a modern setting (which is also truer to how Shakespeare's company itself performed their historical plays), but it was surprising to see how well Jane Austen can work transposed to a US high school.

I also think Cruel Intentions was really good.

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I watched Drive To Survive S1-3 on Netflix and really enjoyed it.   Very highly recommended. But I cannot help thinking that Christian Horner is effectively the biggest star of the series — because he gives them the most access to a top team, and the most bombastic talking points about pressure and sink-or-swim — but there’s no critical scrutiny of how badly he managed his second drivers over the three seasons, which has undermined the pursuit of the constructors’ championship.  He alienated Ricciardo, then horribly managed Gasly (and created an ongoing rivalry), and got very little out of Albon.  If a manager or head coach in any other sport had a similar track record in selecting, alienating or demotivating the key talent, they would get bounced from their job.  Red Bull should spend some of their marketing budget on a sports psychologist for the drivers instead.

Netflix naturally recommended Sunderland ‘Til I Die next, which was pretty good too, although it grated to continually hear these fans tell themselves that they are uniquely the best fans in the world and therefore deserving of success (and, yes, I recognize the irony of a Liverpool fan saying that).  The sublimation of community into sports fandom or other tribal outlets amid economic and social hollowing out is a real phenomenon as the developed world middle class (working class in the UK) has suffered from globalization. 

We’ve also binge watched Ted Lasso over the last 2-3 weeks and are now caught up and waiting for new episodes.  It’s an ok/funnyish feel-good comedy, and I think its high ratings come more from the Pollyannish escape from cynicism and darkness rather than laughs, character development, or narrative arc.  Roy Kent is the break-out star here: one of the writers who was assigned an acting part too.  After watching Sunderland ‘Til I Die, the glibness of Ted Lasso feels jarringly condescending, but that’s probably true of any sitcom that mines an unhappy situation for revisionist laughs.

We’ve run out of good detective shows to watch.  BritBox was our best source but we’ve exhausted those now.  Tennison is quite good as a prequel to Prime Suspect, and Unforgotten is ok as a cold case procedural, although it’s very repetitive in how it creates a common pool of suspects each time, all having various guilty flashbacks, and it’s annoyingly self-congratulatory about championing the victims and always promising that justice will be delivered (and then the writers have to deliver a neat evidential ending to make it so).

I’m looking for new recs, especially detective shows we may have overlooked.

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Was feeling bleak and unwell on a Monday afternoon and needed something thematically similar so I watched The Dig and it was a pretty good match for my mood. Some good performances and a suitably depressing story. If you want to feel miserable I would definitely recommend it.

I just watched Shimmer Lake and I do take issue with Netflix's 'mind-bending' descriptor. It's hardly Primer, is it? It was 'okay' but, really...did it actualy think it was a lot funnier and more cleverly plotted than it actually is? Has anyone else seen this? Maybe it's my mood at the moment but I just didn't rate it.

 

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43 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I watched Drive To Survive S1-3 on Netflix and really enjoyed it.   Very highly recommended. But I cannot help thinking that Christian Horner is effectively the biggest star of the series — because he gives them the most access to a top team, and the most bombastic talking points about pressure and sink-or-swim — but there’s no critical scrutiny of how badly he managed his second drivers over the three seasons, which has undermined the pursuit of the constructors’ championship.  He alienated Ricciardo, then horribly managed Gasly (and created an ongoing rivalry), and got very little out of Albon.  If a manager or head coach in any other sport had a similar track record in selecting, alienating or demotivating the key talent, they would get bounced from their job.  Red Bull should spend some of their marketing budget on a sports psychologist for the drivers instead.

Netflix naturally recommended Sunderland ‘Til I Die next, which was pretty good too, although it grated to continually hear these fans tell themselves that they are uniquely the best fans in the world and therefore deserving of success (and, yes, I recognize the irony of a Liverpool fan saying that).  The sublimation of community into sports fandom or other tribal outlets amid economic and social hollowing out is a real phenomenon as the developed world middle class (working class in the UK) has suffered from globalization. 

We’ve also binge watched Ted Lasso over the last 2-3 weeks and are now caught up and waiting for new episodes.  It’s an ok/funnyish feel-good comedy, and I think its high ratings come more from the Pollyannish escape from cynicism and darkness rather than laughs, character development, or narrative arc.  Roy Kent is the break-out star here: one of the writers who was assigned an acting part too.  After watching Sunderland ‘Til I Die, the glibness of Ted Lasso feels jarringly condescending, but that’s probably true of any sitcom that mines an unhappy situation for revisionist laughs.

We’ve run out of good detective shows to watch.  BritBox was our best source but we’ve exhausted those now.  Tennison is quite good as a prequel to Prime Suspect, and Unforgotten is ok as a cold case procedural, although it’s very repetitive in how it creates a common pool of suspects each time, all having various guilty flashbacks, and it’s annoyingly self-congratulatory about championing the victims and always promising that justice will be delivered (and then the writers have to deliver a neat evidential ending to make it so).

I’m looking for new recs, especially detective shows we may have overlooked.

There’s a new one called Vigil, set both in Scotland and also on board a Trident nuclear submarine.

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I watched Miss Sloane on Amazon Prime, which is a film I don't remember hearing about at all when it first released a few years ago. I liked the film, I thought the story was interesting although some of the plot twists were a bit predictable. I think the portrayal of how ruthless the political lobbying world can be may be accurate, although it sadly seems a bit of a fantasy that even the most adept political operative could get the US Senate to pass a gun control bill. The performances were good, particularly Jessica Chastain in the lead role.

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18 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Lol, that's sad indeed. Have you checked out any of the other episodes in the series? 

I have not. Although I might check out the Pacers brawl one. None of the other episodes interest me.

I watched The Big Short the other day. Good watch. It’s about the housing crisis of ‘08. Great cast and they simplify things in an interesting way so everyone can understand the basics of the situation and why it happened.
 

Also kinda scary as inflation rates right now are very similar to the months leading up to that shitshow. Facing absolutely no repercussions for crime somehow doesn’t deter criminals… who would’ve thunk it!?

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Sex Education season 3 drops tomorrow. Pumped for that.

As for Dexter, I watched the trailer and I'm cautiously optimistic. I believe the guy that was involved in the early good seasons of Dexter is involved in this reboot (Scott Reynolds). Agreed on seasons 1, 2, and 4 being amazing. 

I watched Wind River again over the weekend. Can't recommend it enough. It's on Netflix if you haven't seen it before. 

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5 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

I have not. Although I might check out the Pacers brawl one. None of the other episodes interest me.

Check it out. It's really good. I also want to see the one on Fish. Not so sure about the other two, but I've heard the Jenner one is good.

And TBS was a great film.

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