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


Zorral

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See - this last episode was eaten and then vomited out by a ridiculous plot device. At this point I have serious doubts if there’s climbing back up from the slope they are on. 

Spoiler

If you want me to not laugh out loud and switch off your show when the weird seer lady identifies a pregnancy literally days after conception (at which point it’s not even a bloody pregnancy, because the fertilized egg is still forming and then it’s still yet to implant in the uterus), you better freaking explain how this woman’s powers work. Because you literally used a non-existent pregnancy as a plot device to save a character.  And revealed it in a way that lacks any ground whatsoever. It’s just disgraceful. Stop it. 

And then, days later when I force myself to return to this train wreck of a plot, because there’s still one storyline and two and half characters I give an ass about, they pull this shit. The lieutenant with vision sees her lover running across the field, so she leaves her general without a word and runs ahead because she thinks he can’t hear her doing so?! Didn’t these people have centuries of adaption to rely on their hearing? Didn’t the plot rely on this specific skill million times to bridge the sight issue? Isn’t Dave Bautista a military general with specific TRAINING to sharpen his senses for THESE specific scenarios? To HEAR people moving around him? Or could he just say, Wren? Hey Wren, you there? My god, and then they FIRE at the field because none of these trained soldiers with a lifetime of experience being blind realize that their lieutenant is out on that field. What the actual fuck.

And then there was an assassination attempt against a woman who the adversary didn’t know to be the new queen. Did the sisters switch rooms? Did the assassins get a tip at the entrance? Or did they just go room by room and kill everybody, because honestly that’s the only course of action that gives any sense to this scene. 

And also, please, please, please, kill off your entirely useless characters instead of the ones that actually have something to offer to the story. 

Truth Be Told - I have completely abandoned this, it’s too boring, I don’t care about anything in this show. 

The Morning Show - Abandoned this too. Maybe one day, but I’m certainly not ready to adapt 2020 for entertainment purposes. 
 

 

I’m really into abandoning shows this autumn. 

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Halfway through Midnight Mass and it’s really finely balanced between dreary, overly long and slow dialogue drama, interesting thoughtful commentary on religion and slightly schlocky horror.

There are definitely elements in there I like 

Quote
Spoiler

The priest being so consumed by religious fervour that he can’t see the difference between a vampire demon and an angel.. in fact that whole element is very fascinating and well done 

But also, it does tend to move at a snails pace and it would take a lot of commitment to get past that first episode if you were looking for some cheap horror thrills 

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On 10/10/2021 at 7:16 PM, Veltigar said:

I also watched the first season of Better Call Saul to kill time. Surprisingly enough, I'm completely hooked. 

Why would it be a surprise? It's a great show, even if mostly slow paced. There ain't many shows I anticipate more eagerly than this.

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I started watching Reservation Dogs on Disney+, though for some reason Disney+ is only releasing the episodes weekly despite the whole series being out in the USA for a month. Outstanding series with some fantastic acting and an off-kilter atmosphere. The Native American spirit guide Bear sees whenever he gets knocked out (which is a lot) is easily the best thing in it, plus the fact that at least once per episode (so far) someone recognises Elora Danan as being named after the baby in Willow and offers some commentary on the fantasy movie genre.

I also just blasted through The Orville (mediocre-to-okay first season, greatly improved second season) and have started Clarkson's Farm. Not the biggest fan of Clarkson, but I'm very impressed how he uses the appeal of "Jeremy screws up running a farm" to put a huge amount of information across on how borderline unsustainable the entire British farming industry is.

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This final season of Lucifer is brilliant in many ways.  It's particularly so in its creativity with writing and staging in the pandemic era, so the fewest possible people have to be together unmasked, while never letting down the action and the story telling.  I keep being more impressed with each episode -- watching this very slowly due to time.  Busy time of year all right!

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I just finished watching Promising Young Woman. Wow. Carey Mulligan’s performance was amazing. I think maybe the “twist” was done entirely for the scene with Joe and Al in the bedroom. To reinforce the disgusting viewpoint of not ruining a young man’s life for victimizing a woman. I don’t know that I’ll be watching this again despite it being a very well done movie with some great performances, but I thought it was very powerful.

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I went to see Ridley Scot's The Last Duel yesterday. Easily the best film Sir Ridley has made in twenty years and a strong contender for best film of the year in my book. The fights and battle scenes in this film are amazing, with the titular duel in particular being incredible exhilarating. Based on my initial reaction, I think this duel belongs in the same league as the final fight in Rob Roy, which is a longwinded way to say that it is one for the ages.

The film's other riches include incredible performances from everyone in the cast. The three leads (in particular Driver and Comer), but also the entire supporting cast are giving some of their career's best performances. The directing is exciting and clear, which of course is what enables us to have these great fights. The film is also relatively historically accurate, which is always surprising in a Ridley Scott film. I can't speak to the specifics of the case, as I have not yet read the non-fiction book which inspired this film, but the way people dressed, behaved and went about their lives felt more accurate than most of the works set in this period. 

Spoiler

I particularly enjoyed minor touches, like the rash charge of Matt Damon's French knights after English provocation. A problem that the French encountered time and time again in that phase of their war. Or the hints of madness in the young Charles VI, the emphasis on the lack of captives and plunder in the Scottish campaign and so on...

One unintentional source of comedy for me personally came from the fact that Matt Damon looked more like Chad Damon, truck driver than a stereotypical knight, while the look of Ben Affleck's character seemed to be inspired by early 2000s Limp Bizkit. I assume that the fault lies with me and the brainwashing I have achieved from previous Hollywood films. Truck driver Chad Damon is probably the closest modern equivalent to a realistic low-level knight like Jean de Carouges in that violent age.

The final thing I really loved about this film is the screenplay. I'm guessing this film will be rather controversial among the usual suspects online as there is a strong message about women's rights in there. Not only do I personally think that what this film has to say is relevant for the modern day, but I also think that the fit between the historical source material and the message is readily apparent. On top of that, I believe this film is incredibly skillful in making that match between the source material and its message.

The film uses a particular framing device to tell its story. We're presented with several POV's throughout the film and while that is nothing new, I think the screenwriting trio has rather expertly used this format to tell a very surprising story. I'll have to continue in spoiler tags, because I feel like diving into specifics for this one.

Spoiler

The film uses three POV characters. All three characters are the ones you would expect for a story like this:

  1. Jean de Carouges (aka Chad Damon)
  2. Jacques Le Gris (aka Rape face Ren)
  3. Lady Marguerite de Thibouville (aka the voice of truth)

When a work of fiction deploys a framework like this, you know you are going to get the same scene from different viewpoints. Normally you then have to puzzle the pieces together to get as close as possible to the real truth.

The first thing I liked about the way this was handled here, was the recognition of Marguerite as the voice of authority. If her factual recollection of events clashed with that of the others, she was right. That position of authority is a great compliment to the message of this film, as Marguerite always had more trouble controlling her destiny throughout the film than the other two, who had far more options available. It's a sort of vindication of the historic Marguerite that she's put on a pedestal here.

The second thing I liked was how the screenwriters played around with the veracity of the accounts of our two male leads. Or rather the feeling of veracity. When Chad Damon's POV start, I was immediately suspicious of him. It is readily apparent that he's presenting himself in the most favorable light possible and even then he isn't able to help come across as petty.

When LeGris POV starts then, you get an entirely different vibe. In the scenes where his recollection clashes with that of Chad Damon and isn't contradicted by Lady Marguerite's POV, I actually believe his account of events to be more truthful. Throughout the entire film you get to see the sharp contrast between LeGris easy-going nature, his intelligence and ambition on the one hand and Chad Damon's boorish behavior. That makes it extra shocking when we get to the moment of the rape from his perspective. He clearly believes he did nothing wrong, but even in his perspective, the most favorable representation of the events for him, it is clearly rape.

This all leads to the final duel, where you are rooting for Chad Damon (who is by far the biggest debby downer in the film) against the pleasant LeGris, because for all his faults Chad Damon at least isn't a rapist. The stakes in the fight are then raised up incredibly high, as you find out that Marguerite's life is on the line, callously put on the line by Chad Damon which makes the whole thing even more morally grey.    

 

 

If all the above doesn't convince you to give the film a try, then I would say you are missing out. Give yourself a treat and go and see this film people!

 

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On 10/11/2021 at 2:31 AM, Rippounet said:

I also found Better Call Saul easier to get into. I think for me it was because most of the characters are likable and relatable, which wasn't the case in Breaking Bad.

Everyone but

Spoiler

Chuck

am I right? Up to season two now and BCS is still great :)

16 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Why would it be a surprise? It's a great show, even if mostly slow paced. There ain't many shows I anticipate more eagerly than this.

Because it took me 3+ seasons to really get into Breaking Bad? Saul is much better from episode 1

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20 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Halfway through Midnight Mass and it’s really finely balanced between dreary, overly long and slow dialogue drama, interesting thoughtful commentary on religion and slightly schlocky horror.

There are definitely elements in there I like 

  Hide contents

The priest being so consumed by religious fervour that he can’t see the difference between a vampire demon and an angel.. in fact that whole element is very fascinating and well done 

But also, it does tend to move at a snails pace and it would take a lot of commitment to get past that first episode if you were looking for some cheap horror thrills 

I kinda liked that about it - that it seemed more like a weird mystery/drama to start with. I think that made it better. But it was v-e-r-y slow to the point of being off-putting.

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5 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Give yourself a treat and go and see this film people!

Could one say this is the antithesis film to The Green Knight from earlier this year?  While reading your review it came to mind that the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a composition from the late 14th century, i.e. from this same period of the 100 Years War.  The Sir Gawain poem reflects the British fantasy-fairy tale games of chivalry so popular at the courts of both Ed I and III, whilst this historical case reflects certain aspects of French life in the same era. Eh, blithering! :dunno:

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53 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Could one say this is the antithesis film to The Green Knight from earlier this year?  While reading your review it came to mind that the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a composition from the late 14th century, i.e. from this same period of the 100 Years War.  The Sir Gawain poem reflects the British fantasy-fairy tale games of chivalry so popular at the courts of both Ed I and III, whilst this historical case reflects certain aspects of French life in the same era. Eh, blithering! :dunno:

I thought The Green Knight was terribly overrated. This looks excellent. 

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Wasn’t sure what to make of the trailers so it’s good to hear Ridley Scott might be back to making good movies. I’m still highly dubious because he’s been god awful for a while now and I’ve been let down by any number of historical movies in the past, especially by him.

Having said that, Green Knight is one rare time I will agree with Zorral and say I absolutely loved it, but I get that it’s not for everyone. Probably goes over a few peoples heads

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4 hours ago, Spockydog said:

I thought The Green Knight was terribly overrated. This looks excellent. 

This may well be true, but the question, "Is this an antithesis to the Green Knight film?" still stands, for someone who has seen them both -- whereas I haven't seen either, though I do plan on watching The Last Duel when the opportunity comes, while still not bothering with the Green Knight film.  Well, I will, if it comes along in such a matter I can take a look at it, w/o any effort on my part, and can skim through if it is as poor an effort as so many say it was -- like on HBO or something.

BTW, a lot of the reviewers here in the US seem to be damning The Last Duel with faint and fainter praise, insisting upon looking at it through the lens of contemporaneity, including their choice of language, which makes me, at least, suspicious of them.  :dunno:

OF course, the film had little or nothing to do with the 14th C poem, They All Say, which is why I'm not that interested in seeing it. :read:

 

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