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

[Annara Snow]

12 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I watched Skyfall last night, getting ready for the next Bond to be released. Was fairly disappointed the first time I saw it, but that was just because it was overhyped to the nines. Honestly I still think it's just an average Bond film, though it's better than anything Moore did and Brosnan only can claim Goldeneye as a better film. 

I remember having a ton of problems with that movie to the point I wrote a whole rant about it on my Livejournal blog (remember when Livejournal was still a thing?). Mostly it was about the fact that the movie was very confusing and confused in how it was  trying to portray Bond, M and MI6.

There was one scene in Parliament where an MP was telling M: your organization is obsolete and pointless,  you're the ones creating problems, you've created this villain and now you're trying to make us see you as saviors for saving us from the mess you've made? And I was thinking, she's absolutely right! But the movie clearly still wanted to make me side with M and MI6 and see them and Bond as heroes at the end of the day, even though they don't do anything heroic throughout the movie.

Spoiler

Bond doesn't even save that woman, and I don't think he saved anyone else either IIRC?

It felt like the franchise got lost somewhere between "look at us being gritty and dark and acknowledging how morally grey and messed up our protagonists are" and "but we still want you root for them" - and it made me wonder, but why should I?

[RhaenysBee]

See 

Interesting plot lines/characters are deprived of screen time for the truly weird sequences that add nothing to the story. Episode six was shot in complete darkness, we essentially had no idea what happened. I was also very bored, that’s probably why the thoughts below had a chance to invade my little mind. 

Spoiler

Baba Voss’s emotional turmoil about Maghra’s having another husband needs to manifest in something. This could be a heart to heart with another character (like Paris, who badly needs utilization at this point) that deconstructs what we think we know about baba Voss and rebuilds him stronger after a positive decision and addresses the psychology behind the message we know the show wants to convey. It could also escalate into a conflict or confrontation that ruins a high stake plan and drives the plot, that’s a far easier solution. Anything, really. Just do something with Jason Momoa’s grunts. 

Haniwa’s storyline so far has been being abducted to breed sighted children, getting into a romantic relationship with her captor, being rescued by her lover and dad, tagging along to see her mum and then tagging along again for no real reason other than to share scenes with her lover. I’ll stop right here and hope we all understand what I’m getting at. 

Kofun’s story and persona is a strong reminder to us all, that just because you belong to the “superior” faction you can still very well be the dumbest and most useless person in your world. The trouble is, I’m not yet 100% certain the show realizes Kofun is the dumbest and most useless character and made him that way on purpose. I suspect they did, I really do, but I’m just not yet certain. I’d also like to hear the audio commentary (no I wouldn’t, I’ve wasted enough time on this thing just watching the episode) explaining what the creators think we saw in episode 6. Because as a viewer, I would think that I saw a female antagonist abusing their power and manipulating the innocent male to serve their selfish purposes in a manner that’s morally questionable in more than one way. And through a rather cinematographic visual presentation that’s certainly much longer than necessary to convey what’s happening in the scene. just saying. 

And then I haven’t even mentioned the horse ride scene. In which we see above mentioned aggressor and innocent share a visually beautiful and, for all intents and purposes I can tell, exhilarating and liberating experience prior to the controversial occurrence described above. That’s a whole layer I’m shocked to see, though I’m once again not convinced that I’m reading into it or the show really knows what it’s doing, in which case, this was an award worthy scene. 

The Morning Show 

I think I did say I gave it another chance and watched episode two and it was a joke, right? Well, they finally lost me at the very first frame of episode three. 

The Fellowship of the Ring

I watched this with sister last night. Still able to recite what line is next. But wow, it’s been 20 years. The visuals look 20 years old and I struggle with the length so much. Truly this century has turned us into filter potatoes with the attention span of a two year old. I kept looking at the screen and wondering, damn so much color. Because now we have these hue filters on everything to it’s all the same color. It’s… wow. Well, 20 years. And I hope to watch these films for another 40 and from my death bed, because it’s just such joy. 

[Darryk]

Just finished Midnight Mass. Thought it had great atmosphere and performances, and I actually enjoyed the slow build-up. There were some issues near the end that knocked it from an 8 out of 10 down to a 7 out of 10 for me though.

I loved Hill House and Bly Manor (not as good a horror as Hill House but I found the love story quite moving), so that's three in a row from Mike Flanagan now.

[Nictarion]

1 hour ago, Darryk said:

Just finished Midnight Mass. Thought it had great atmosphere and performances, and I actually enjoyed the slow build-up. There were some issues near the end that knocked it from an 8 out of 10 down to a 7 out of 10 for me though.

I loved Hill House and Bly Manor (not as good a horror as Hill House but I found the love story quite moving), so that's three in a row from Mike Flanagan now.

I finished it last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love stuff like that with an isolated setting (whether it be an island, snow, etc). Especially when you add in a cult or religious fanatics. And yeah, between all his different Netflix series, and his movies, Mike Flanagan is definitely one of my favorite horror directors right now. I see his name attached to something I’m watching it. 

[williamjm]

I watched Free Guy since it showed up for free on Disney+. I enjoyed the film, it did have some very amusing scenes and Ryan Reynolds and Jody Comer were fun in the lead roles. I was less impressed by Taika Waititi's villain, I usually like him but I don't think this was his best work. Weirdly, the parts of the story set in the real world felt sillier than those in the virtual world. The plot did feel reminiscent of The Truman Show but does suffer a bit from that comparison.

I also found that apparently the use of Make Your Own Kind of Music on screen will still make me think of Lost.

[Xray the Enforcer]

5 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I finished it last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love stuff like that with an isolated setting (whether it be an island, snow, etc). Especially when you add in a cult or religious fanatics. And yeah, between all his different Netflix series, and his movies, Mike Flanagan is definitely one of my favorite horror directors right now. I see his name attached to something I’m watching it. 

Yeah I really enjoyed Midnight Mass, especially with the slow build, then the catalyst, and then the mayhem. I'd personally give it an 8, but I can get why others give it a slightly lower score. 

[Spockydog]

Watched No One Gets Out Alive on Netflix last night. Nothing at all like the book. And while it wasn't bad, not exactly good either. Meh.

[Isis]

Ooh, so  Fear the Walking Dead S6 is now free on prime. Ok then, that's my sick bed viewing for today sorted. Morgan was always one of the best characters so I'm happy to watch him. 

[Ran]

Due to being stuck in bed all day yesterday, and a good chunk of the day prior (doing much better now), I managed to watch a lot of stuff. Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans was a bit of comfort-watching, and is as good as I remembered it.

Then Steve McQueen's Widows, a film with a great concept and a top-notch director as well as some fantastic performers... but I felt like it was less than the sum of its parts, a mishmash of bits and pieces from other movies shoved together. Shame. 

Then binged Squid Game, and enjoyed it quite well, though admittedly the Z-grade actors they got for the VIPs towards the end were a little distracting. The premise of some sort of death games is obviously not new and indeed well-trod ground at this point, and ditto the use of genre to examine questions of class and wealth (especially in South Korea of late). But it put all together quite well, and I really enjoyed the performances from the lead cast, especially Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun (Player 456) and O Yeong-su as Player 1. There weren't a huge amount of surprises, per se -- you could guess who would die when, approximately, across the 9 episodes -- but it was still well-done to my eye. And I rather liked the twist with the Front Man and the detective. 

Spoiler

The marbles episode was heart wrenching. Great performances from everyone.

And finally I watched Kate, yet another John Wick-alike from Netflix, this time with the winning Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Woody Harrelson. The violence is quite brutal, particularly a long fight sequence involving lots of sharp objects in a sushi restaurant. The plot is... very basic, highly predictable, but it's fine. It's a popcorn flick, mediocre but inoffensive. I will give bonus points for the use of Japanese pop music and some fun visuals in Tokyo, all of which reminded me of Cyberpunk 2077.

[Darryk]

53 minutes ago, Ran said:

Due to being stuck in bed all day yesterday, and a good chunk of the day prior (doing much better now), I managed to watch a lot of stuff. Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans was a bit of comfort-watching, and is as good as I remembered it.

Then Steve McQueen's Widows, a film with a great concept and a top-notch director as well as some fantastic performers... but I felt like it was less than the sum of its parts, a mishmash of bits and pieces from other movies shoved together. Shame. 

Then binged Squid Game, and enjoyed it quite well, though admittedly the Z-grade actors they got for the VIPs towards the end were a little distracting. The premise of some sort of death games is obviously not new and indeed well-trod ground at this point, and ditto the use of genre to examine questions of class and wealth (especially in South Korea of late). But it put all together quite well, and I really enjoyed the performances from the lead cast, especially Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun (Player 456) and O Yeong-su as Player 1. There weren't a huge amount of surprises, per se -- you could guess who would die when, approximately, across the 9 episodes -- but it was still well-done to my eye. And I rather liked the twist with the Front Man and the detective. 

  Reveal hidden contents

The marbles episode was heart wrenching. Great performances from everyone.

And finally I watched Kate, yet another John Wick-alike from Netflix, this time with the winning Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Woody Harrelson. The violence is quite brutal, particularly a long fight sequence involving lots of sharp objects in a sushi restaurant. The plot is... very basic, highly predictable, but it's fine. It's a popcorn flick, mediocre but inoffensive. I will give bonus points for the use of Japanese pop music and some fun visuals in Tokyo, all of which reminded me of Cyberpunk 2077.

Is it at least better than Gunpowder Milkshake (if you've seen that)? There's a lot of these John Wick clones coming out like Gunpowder Milkshake and Jolt, neither of which I particularly enjoyed even though I have a crush on Karen Gillan.

[Ran]

28 minutes ago, Darryk said:

Is it at least better than Gunpowder Milkshake (if you've seen that)? There's a lot of these John Wick clones coming out like Gunpowder Milkshake and Jolt, neither of which I particularly enjoyed even though I have a crush on Karen Gillan.

Gunpowder Milkshake's trailer was unappealing so I have not seen it. I feel like Kate is more serious (though there is some humor) than what GM's trailer suggested for that film.

ETA: Metacritic puts them one point apart -- 47 for Kate, 46 for GM. OTOH, RT has GM at substantially higher on its good/bad measure, whereas the audience scores on Kate are a litlte more favorable than GMs.

 

 

[Mexal]

37 minutes ago, Darryk said:

Is it at least better than Gunpowder Milkshake (if you've seen that)? There's a lot of these John Wick clones coming out like Gunpowder Milkshake and Jolt, neither of which I particularly enjoyed even though I have a crush on Karen Gillan.

It was for me. Gunpowder Milkshake was very meh. The fight sequences were super slow and it's crazy given Gillan was so good at them in the Jumanji movies. Kate was a much better film for my wife and I. Full disclosure though... we love MEW.

[SpaceChampion]

8 hours ago, Isis said:

Ooh, so  Fear the Walking Dead S6 is now free on prime. Ok then, that's my sick bed viewing for today sorted. Morgan was always one of the best characters so I'm happy to watch him. 

A good season.  But I got to think the 3 shows are each in different realities given how the finale of Fear goes.  World Beyond makes no sense at all.

I hope Hollywood eventually learns that the teenager spinoff of a popular franchise is never a good idea.

[DMC]

So in anticipation of the Sopranos movie I decided to first rewatch the series.  I'm at Season 5's "The Test Dream" - the one where David Chase voices god - and something really bothers me...

Spoiler

Why the fuck does Tony check into the Plaza?  He doesn't learn about Angelo getting hit until he's already there, so there's no reason for him to be worried.  And yet, when he's talking to Tony B right before and the latter is all agitated he also says "I'll see you at the hotel." 

That there's no actual plot-driven reason why is really taking me out of it, and uncharacteristic of the show.  OTOH, it's almost the opposite of the same issue I have with the season 4 finale Whitecaps.  When Carmela kicks Tony out he breaks into/crashes at the beachfront house.  He explains to the lawyer dude he planned on using his boat, but why not just check yourself into a hotel for the night you rich asshole?

 

[Nictarion]

4 minutes ago, DMC said:

So in anticipation of the Sopranos movie I decided to first rewatch the series.  I'm at Season 5's "The Test Dream" - the one where David Chase voices god - and something really bothers me...

  Hide contents

Why the fuck does Tony check into the Plaza?  He doesn't learn about Angelo getting hit until he's already there, so there's no reason for him to be worried.  And yet, when he's talking to Tony B right before and the latter is all agitated he also says "I'll see you at the hotel." 

That there's no actual plot-driven reason why is really taking me out of it, and uncharacteristic of the show.  OTOH, it's almost the opposite of the same issue I have with the season 4 finale Whitecaps.  When Carmela kicks Tony out he breaks into/crashes at the beachfront house.  He explains to the lawyer dude he planned on using his boat, but why not just check yourself into a hotel for the night you rich asshole?

 

Pretty sure he went to the Plaza because he fired his housekeeper, and the place was a wreck. 

[DMC]

10 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

Pretty sure he went to the Plaza because he fired his housekeeper, and the place was a wreck. 

He does whine about the housekeeper and say he "needs a good night's sleep," but the place isn't a wreck - she just threw out the newspaper.

[Nictarion]

43 minutes ago, DMC said:

He does whine about the housekeeper and say he "needs a good night's sleep," but the place isn't a wreck - she just threw out the newspaper.

There’s definitely a scene of the house being a total mess. I think it might have been when Carmela stops over to talk about Hue’s birthday party (which was a couple episodes earlier). He mentions he’s already fired one housekeeper. 

[DMC]

2 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

There’s definitely a scene of the house being a total mess. I think it might have been when Carmela stops over to talk about Hue’s birthday party (which was a couple episodes earlier). He mentions he’s already fired one housekeeper. 

Yeah that's three episodes earlier.  There's a scene at the beginning of Test Dream that shows the (main floor of) the house in perfectly fine condition.  Anyway it's certainly nitpicky but it strikes me as a contrivance for the dream sequence and that bothers me.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I mean, he's got a point:

 

 

[HexMachina]

On 10/3/2021 at 3:34 AM, Tywin et al. said:

I watched Skyfall last night, getting ready for the next Bond to be released. Was fairly disappointed the first time I saw it, but that was just because it was overhyped to the nines. Honestly I still think it's just an average Bond film, though it's better than anything Moore did and Brosnan only can claim Goldeneye as a better film. 

 

On 10/3/2021 at 11:46 AM, Spockydog said:

The plot is absolutely absurd. Dreadful fucking movie.

I like it less every time I see it. Especially the last sequence.  What if Bond did Home Alone?

Not seen the new one yet, I might give it a try for completeness. I don't like dangling threads