Watch, Watching, Watch -- Hold 'em, Fold 'em, When to Walk Away

[Heartofice]

Just now, Darryk said:

So am I the only one who thought Nobody with Bob Odenkirk was overrated? My dad was talking about what a great movie it was but it did nothing for me, just a poor man's John Wick.

No I think it was quite a common reaction, well with people I’ve talked to. It really is a poor man’s John Wick I agree. There was some promise there with Odenkirk but it followed the formula beat for beat and had an overblown ending that I couldn’t wait to finish. Pretty disappointing 

[Argonath Diver]

I relatively enjoyed Nobody as a clear derivative of John Wick with more black humor, but the final big action scene fell totally flat to me, as I couldnt tell if it was trying to be funny, silly, or gritty, and thought it failed on all counts. I was rolling my eyes for most of it. I really did enjoy hearing Odenkirk's wild stories about the filming though. He really put in the effort, that's for sure.

[Iskaral Pust]

We watched Red Notice on Netflix, which is a serviceable but very basic heist caper.  Considering the budget required to have The Rock, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds (is that the correct order for the cost of their salaries?), the script was a bad miss.  For me, the highlight was Ryan Reynolds doing his usual Deadpool-ish comedy.  He may be a one-trick pony, but it’s still a funny trick for now.  The Rock is consistent too, bringing the same thing to every. single. movie. — and it’s not enough to elevate a limp plot. But Gal Gadot was bizarrely wasted. Aside from the annoying Deus Ex Machina at each chapter, it was just a very flat role for her.  She’s always cast as a glamazon and/or femme fatale with flat or icy intonation.  But in the couple of “unscripted” interviews I’ve seen by her, she has insane levels of charisma: simultaneously goofy and vivacious.  Why not use that in the damn film?

It’s a watchable diversion for a couple of hours, but instantly forgettable.  Probably most noteworthy as a sign that Netflix is now pursuing bigger budget projects.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I've been avoiding The Rocks movies for a while now. He just seems to gravitate toward scripts with a lot of forced humor, his character range is super limited, it's like he's the same character over and over.

I get he's making his millions with that shtict(sp) but it's become too off putting for me.

He was passable in that HBO series where he played a sports agent, but other than that I'm hard pressed to recall anything he entertained me in, in like forever now.

[polishgenius]

I didn't think Nobody was all that similar to John Wick- people act as if Wick invented 'retired badass drawn back into the game', might as well compare it to R.E.D - but I do agree it was overrated. Fun, but forgettable.

[Darryk]

32 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

I didn't think Nobody was all that similar to John Wick- people act as if Wick invented 'retired badass drawn back into the game', might as well compare it to R.E.D - but I so agree it was overrated. Fun, but forgettable.

True, it's a genre in itself.

The Equalizer came out around the same time as John Wick but didn't become as much of a cultural phenomenon for some reason.

One of the things I didn't like about Nobody is the main character is bored and desperate to get back into the game; the whole point of the genre is the hero is supposed to be drawn back in reluctantly.

[briantw]

8 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I've been avoiding The Rocks movies for a while now. He just seems to gravitate toward scripts with a lot of forced humor, his character range is super limited, it's like he's the same character over and over.

I get he's making his millions with that shtict(sp) but it's become too off putting for me.

He was passable in that HBO series where he played a sports agent, but other than that I'm hard pressed to recall anything he entertained me in, in like forever now.

What’s frustrating is that the Jumanji movies show he is capable of some actual range.  He’s hilarious in those and is playing two very different characters.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Arcane: goddamn masterpiece. 10/10 on every level.

6 hours ago, briantw said:

What’s frustrating is that the Jumanji movies show he is capable of some actual range.  He’s hilarious in those and is playing two very different characters.

Also when he played the evil scientist on SNL. Breathtaking.

"Range" is overrated. 

[Werthead]

Reservation Dogs just finished on Disney+ in the UK and is just superb. Brilliantly written, performed, acted and with an off-kilter, weird atmosphere (not dissimilar to that of its FX neighbour, Atlanta). Outstanding stuff.

Started watching Get Back. Not a massive Beatles fan but I have a lot of respect for them, and the documentary is really eye-opening at how it shows the guys just sitting down and writing a recognisably brilliant song in short order. Also startling to see a very early version of "Jealous Guy" which Lennon doesn't have the right words for yet, or Paul clearly not being keen on "All Things Must Pass," to George's clear irritation. Still, the focus is more on the positives and camaraderie between the band mates rather than the drama. And nobody gives a shit that Yoko's there (Paul even jokes prophetically about how in 50 years time Yoko will get the blame for the band splitting up, but he doesn't care); they're a bit more puzzled at the Hare Krishna guy just vibing in the corner inexplicably.

Was feeling as sick as a dog so powered through Better Call Saul Season 2 in a whole day. Slow start but then it kicked into life and did not slow down for a second. The confrontation between Jonathan Banks and Michael Mando's characters where Mike makes Nacho back down through force of personality and making him realise what he's dealing with is one of the best-acted, tensest scenes I've seen in a TV show.

[Ran]

Watched Sound of Metal, starring Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke, a well-directed and written story of a heavy metal drummer whose wearing suddenly deteriorates and he has to learn how to cope with being deaf (or not). Solid film, and Ahmed's performance was noteworthy. Amazing sound, too, capturing his deafness in a unique and interesting way. Won this year's Academy Award both for the sound as well as editing.

I do have a gripe, though:

Spoiler

Namely, the cochlear implants are treated -- per some Googling of discussions among the deaf and hard of hearing, and those who have implants -- somewhat unrealistically and, indeed, unfairly; they are, apparently, a lot better for most than the film gives credit for. But even if not everyone has such a great experience with them, the other thing is that the film made it seem like the doctors just went into the surgery without extensive examination of what he expected to get out of them [resume his musical career] versus what the show posits the actual result could be. Realistically, I suppose one can say this all happened and he just kept insisting, but it feels like we should have seen more of that.

 

Watched the 2nd season of The Boys, very belatedly. Enjoyed revisiting the old thread and reading contemporary reactions and theories.  My only issue with the season is that the episodes sometimes felt a little over-long, and there were a couple of spots where there seemed to be some rather convenient things going on (like teleporting Queen Maeve). Also

Spoiler

Had to kick myself over Victoria Neumann and not realizing she was the one popping heads. I completely forgot about Vic the Veep from the comic, or rather his last name, and in any case he was a very different character.

Also, Goran Višnjić has aged very well. And Antony Starr is rightly named -- tremendous performance as Homelander, again.

[JGP]

Over the last few days I crunched AMC's Kin, an Irish crime-family drama. Nothing especially ground breaking but I really dug navigating the family aspect of it. There's some talent in the cast, Charlie Cox does a good turn as a sickly, former enforcer hypocritically flip flopping; Aiden Gillen as the patriarch with a ridiculous fuckup of a son; Ciaran Hinds as the local kingpin, Maria Kennedy as the old school upholder of the patriarchy; stand outs however were Emmet Scanlan as Charlie's brother, and Clare Dunne who I'd never seen before but floored me on more than a few occasions with her performance. No Peaky Blinders, mind [not a period piece, no music vid stylings] but definitely give it a watch if you're into this kind of thing.

[JGP]

*grrr*

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Regarding Arcane:

I'm not a gamer and had no awareness of this world before seeing the first trailer. Aside from some impressive visuals it seemed a bit derivative and left me a bit "meh". I'm glad I gave it a chance because it's easily the best animated series I've ever seen. At least, I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that impressed me as much as this. Not just the animation but the voice acting and the storytelling. It also strikes a good balance between world building and character focus. And holy crap talk about emotional.

I've been watching some of the video game cinematics and other material on youtube and the tone of the series seems much less jokey and much more mature than the game.  Jinx especially seems like a much darker character in the series. How have fans of the game reacted to this show?

[JGP]

9 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

How have fans of the game reacted to this show?

I only ever played the game a few times, but love for the series by the game fans seems so close to complete one could almost call it universal.

re: the animation, have you not seen Into the Spiderverse?  

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 minutes ago, JEORDHl said:

re: the animation, have you not seen Into the Spiderverse?  

Best Spider-Man movie ever made and high on my list of best superhero films ever made. Love it. A visually interesting film with a lot of heart. If you didn't feel a tiny punch in your gut when Miles' uncle said, "You're on your way", you're a droid or some species of Koala. 

My only criticism is that much of it seemed to be animated with a low frame rate, giving it an almost stop-motion quality. I don't know if this was a stylistic choice or a cost saving measure. Was that the right choice? Dunno.

I tried to take me niece to see it in the theater when it came out but she's an idiot so we both lost out. 

What I said about Arcane didn't just refer to the animation, though it is impressive. Definitely influenced by '90's Disney films but with some Nelvana and Don Bluth in the mix as well. At least that's the vibe I got. And who doesn't like a little steampunk and Alphonse Mucha? Droids an Koalas, that's who.

 

[JGP]

13 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Best Spider-Man movie ever made and high on my list of best superhero films ever made. Love it. A visually interesting film with a lot of heart. If you didn't feel a tiny punch in your gut when Miles' uncle said, "You're on your way", you're a droid or some species of Koala. 

My only criticism is that much of it seemed to be animated with a low frame rate, giving it an almost stop-motion quality. I don't know if this was a stylistic choice or a cost saving measure. Was that the right choice? Dunno.

A lot of Miles sequences before he came into his own were on a lower frame rate [12, iirc] while the more experienced Spiders from other universes [Gwen et al] were animated full 24 frames per second. It was a direction choice to illustrate the learning curve of the neophyte. Once he made the suit Miles was also on 24s. This pertains to the character animation only, a lot of the fast pans and fx sequences had lots of stylistic choppiness.

Anyway, blathering. I mistook what you said.

[BigFatCoward]

Watching the outlaws currently. Its good background noise, some interesting new actors I've not seen in stuff before. And Christopher Walken looks like he is having a blast. Also they destroy an original Banksy which is good cos fuck that guy, even if he was in on it. 

[Zorral]

Film crew personnel are in short supply in Middle Europe.

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/lights-camera-anyone-film-studios-cant-get-crew-2021-11-24/

With so much production there, we further west might experience shortages of watching content?

[RumHam]

I don't post in this thread a lot but I watched the 2021 reboot of the Wrong Turn franchise and wow. I mean as shitty horror movies go I rather enjoyed it but the plot of the movie just doesn't make sense. 

Spoiler

So the kids go into the woods, ignore the locals warnings about sticking to the trail and one goes missing. Another is caught in a trap and eventually found being carried by two strange men wearing skulls and furs who don't speak english*. So they kill one of the men and save their friend. 

But then the twist is it was all a misunderstanding! the missing girl was just peeing and the strange backwoods men were just carrying the dude with a bag over his head because he'd been knocked uncurious and they wanted to help him. So the kids are put on trial and for a few minutes the movie really seems to want us to consider that maybe the protagonists are the bad guys.

...But the rest of the movie makes it clear that nobody who wanders off the trail comes back alive. At one point they find a pile of backpacks from all the people they've killed and presumably eaten. It's just super weird that for like a twenty minute stretch in the middle the movie wants you to forget that and think that if these kids had only not jumped to conclusions and killed that one guy, they might have never had a problem. 

I also suspect they reshot the ending and couldn't get Matthew Modine back as he's just...not there for some reason. 

*They only don't speak english  so there can be a misunderstanding. It's revealed that this group left society and isolated themselves in the woods around civil war times. Every other member of the clan seems to speak english fine. 

 

[ithanos]

On 11/26/2021 at 8:44 AM, Werthead said:

Reservation Dogs just finished on Disney+ in the UK and is just superb. Brilliantly written, performed, acted and with an off-kilter, weird atmosphere (not dissimilar to that of its FX neighbour, Atlanta). Outstanding stuff.

RD is great. Nurturing a core cast of indigenous actors and peppering in the right amount of comedic talents (standup comedians who can also act).

 

I binge watched the live action Cowboy Bebop series after sand-boxing my fondness of the anime - so as to approach it with fresh eyes. It was better than I expected. I enjoyed it overall. The three leads were great together, especially when they were around the Bebop. That was the best part of the season for me, the team working Cowboy jobs to get by. Glad they invested in the Bebop set, it was as good as the Firefly one. The syndicate story-line could've been improved by casting a better Spike and Elena, though the latter wasn't that bad by the end. Since they were filming in Auckland they could've checked to see if Marton Csokas, Karl Urban and Antony Starr were available to play Spike.

Next up is Arcane. Watched the opening episode and first impression is that this world feels like an adaptation of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamorra. Of course its not but it gives me the same wonder. And the animation is gorgeous. Will continue.