Watch, Watching, Watch -- Keep the change you filthy animal!

[Annara Snow]

Finally finished work yesterday afternoon and it's great to have a free weekend where I can just rest and finally get to watch stuff. 

The Euphoria Jules special (which I had to go and find since HBO, while airing the season 1 marathon and Rue special ahead of the season 2 premiere and then the premiere, apparnently somehow forgot that the Jules special exists) was amazing and beautiful, the best episode of that show IMO, and confirms her as the most interesting character on the show.

Station Eleven finale was also great. I will be rewatching the show and I want to read the book.

The Expanse confirmed what I had believed all along: it does not feel like a series finale, and I don't think this season was ever meant to really be the last season. You can see the difference between showrunners ending a show because they want to, and the showrunners having to end it because the network or streaming service demands it - and in this case, they made what is really a brilliant season finale that leaves the door wide open for a continuation and closes one big storyline only to sets up big storylines in the future.  I expect them to try to get a continuation of the story on some other streaming service or network; and if they fail, at least they've made it clear that there is more story and invited people to read the books.

[Veltigar]

I watched the first episode of the BBC's The Green Planet (2022) today, another great David Attenborough nature documentary. This one is special though, as it gives the limelight to plants for what I believe is the first time.

Apart from the somewhat unfortunate tendency to anthropomorphize, the first episode of this series is a perfect episode of TV. Everything looks beautiful, it's educational and just an absolute delight to watch. What made it extra interesting was that they also focused on the team and the technology that made the series possible and that was also incredible. They use a type of camera that was created by a dude tinkering in his garage on his own for a decade. Absolutely bonkers, but it is great to see this type of innovation at work. I highly recommend this series and I cannot wait for Sunday's episode.

I also watched an interesting Russian film from 1959 called Ballad of a Soldier. I cannot recall how this came to be on my watchlist, but wherever it came from, I am glad I have seen it. It's a very haunting film, telling the story of a Russian soldier on leave from WWII and the people he encounters while trying to get home to his mother. 

The film is possessed of an elegiac beauty, the performances are all lived in and the writing is very crisp. It's one of the greatest war films, even though there is only one short battle scene in it and that at the very beginning to boot. Definitely warmly recommended to anyone interested in experiencing some of the many little human drama's on the Eastern Front.

On 1/14/2022 at 6:53 PM, Derfel Cadarn said:

https://deadline.com/2022/01/fx-greenlights-latest-elmore-leonard-1234912732/
 

Justified coming back!

Color me intrigued! Funny coincidence, but I just rewatched the final conversation between

Spoiler

Raylan and Boyd last week. The writing is so great in it:

Raylan: I thought it was news that should be delivered in person.
Boyd: That the only reason? After all these long years, Raylan Givens, that's the only reason.
Raylan: Well, I suppose if I allow myself to be sentimental, despite all that has occurred, there is one thing that I wander back to.
Boyd: We dug coal together.
Raylan: That’s right.

Still my pick for best ending in TV

 

On 1/14/2022 at 5:17 PM, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

He played Thade's dying father.

I know what it's made of. Nom nom nom nom nom nom...

Man, I completely missed that.

[Zorral]

11 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

While I loved it. Not sure I want it back without the same supporting cast.

Particularly my hands down favorite, Chief Deputy, Art Mullen, played by Nick Searcy.  I will miss Kentucky too.

[DMC]

In terms of returning characters - trying not to bias who I want to return - Boyd, Ava, and Art all have pretty well completed arcs, can't see much reason to bring them back other than fan service.  Tim and Rachel though, they could do more with I think.  Doesn't sound like that's what the show is going for though.

[RumHam]

I don't expect anyone else to return except maybe Wynonna. They could bring back Karen Sisco/Goodall if they wanted. Also Rylan's florida partner played by Todd Packer from The Office.  I'm not sure bringing back the Kentucky people makes sense, unless for a phone call cameo.

My one wish: find a role for Ian McShane.

[DMC]

25 minutes ago, RumHam said:

I don't expect anyone else to return except maybe Wynonna. They could bring back Karen Sisco/Goodall if they wanted. Also Rylan's florida partner played by Todd Packer from The Office.

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if Winona shows up for a scene or two.  That's basically all she did in the last few seasons anyway.  Bringing back Carla Gugino is a cool idea.  And Raylan's Miami partner is played by Champ Kind.  Get it right!

ETA:  Oh, one character that would make sense to bring back is the Detroit Chief Deputy that briefly replaced Art when he got shot (shortly after helping Art investigate Raylan/Nicky Augustine's death).  I don't want him to return though.  Got nothing against the actor, but the character had the temerity to not let Raylan do whatever the fuck he wants.

[Ran]

Watched Judas and the Black Messiah. Daniel Kaluuya makes that film, and LaKeith Stanfield is pretty good as well. Good direction from Shaka King, helped by excellent lensing from Sean Bobbit (who, oddly enough, was the cinematographer on the original pilot of Game of Thrones). Only real quibble I have is the fact that Kaluuya and Stanfield are like a decade older than the characters they play, and I feel like you lose something by not seeing really young men at the heart of this; Fred Hampton was just 21 when he was assassinated by the police.

Jesse Plemons has really carved out an interesting career for himself. I wonder who would have played the Roy Mitchell role from the previous generations of actors? Matt Damon could easily have been slotted in, I suppose, and going further back maybe someone like Dabney Coleman...

 

 

[williamjm]

I watched [i]The Suicide Squad[/i] which was considerably better than the first film. It's a lot of fun, it has some very funny scenes in it and although the plotting is a bit haphazard at times I think it does come together well in the finale and had some interesting twists along the way.

2 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I watched the first episode of the BBC's The Green Planet (2022) today, another great David Attenborough nature documentary. This one is special though, as it gives the limelight to plants for what I believe is the first time.

Apart from the somewhat unfortunate tendency to anthropomorphize, the first episode of this series is a perfect episode of TV. Everything looks beautiful, it's educational and just an absolute delight to watch. What made it extra interesting was that they also focused on the team and the technology that made the series possible and that was also incredible. They use a type of camera that was created by a dude tinkering in his garage on his own for a decade. Absolutely bonkers, but it is great to see this type of innovation at work. I highly recommend this series and I cannot wait for S

I also watched that. How they've done the timelapse camera work is stunning.

The giant fungus sending out an army of ants to fetch it food was probably the most memorable bit of the episode.

[dog-days]

I watched Some Like It Hot for the first time over the holiday. It was of its time, but some of the humour still holds up (I liked the Italian Opera Appreciation Society), and the daringly open ending made me feel much warmer about the whole thing. The pacing was good - many modern movies could learn from it. 

I planned to stream The Eternals last night, but ran the cursor down the bar and saw preview after preview with muted greys an greens. And there was a portentous opening crawl. So I decided not to watch it after all. 

Only real quibble I have is the fact that Kaluuya and Stanfield are like a decade older than the characters they play, and I feel like you lose something by not seeing really young men at the heart of this; Fred Hampton was just 21 when he was assassinated by the police.

Yes, I think this is a very widespread problem in cinema and TV. Producers/directors want familiar names, even if a young unknown might be best suited to the role. I wish they'd take risks a bit more, like Trevor Nunn did when he cast the 23-year-old Ben Whishaw as Hamlet. 

[Spockydog]

Tried Station Eleven. Bailed midway through the second episode. The most polite (and boring) apocalypse I've ever seen. Not for me.

 

[polishgenius]

Watched The Summit of the Gods on Netflix. A French/Japanese animated film about mountaineering and obsession. Really good, visually stunning, though not recommended for anyone with fear of heights (also one scene might be troubling for someone with strobe sensitivity). Super film though.

[Annara Snow]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

Tried Station Eleven. Bailed midway through the second episode. The most polite (and boring) apocalypse I've ever seen. Not for me.

 

Well, viruses tend to be polite like that and don't growl or stink the way zombies do. And  I can see how a post-apocalyptic show in this day and age might seem really weird if it doesn't have at least 10 random groups of people that try to kill and rob you, 2 cannibal cults that try to kill and eat you, 3 torture-loving cults, 5 groupsof crazy gun-loving people, and at least one society of people who decided that wearing a combo or warpaint and dreadlocks and speaking a made-up language while worshipping violence and constantly killing each other was the way to go.

[Zorral]

6 hours ago, DMC said:

Boyd, Ava, and Art all have pretty well completed arcs, can't see much reason to bring them back other than fan service.

Exactly.

A whole new sitch w/the Detroit-Miami connection.

I did love Art though.  But he retired, fer pete's sake!  And Boyd's done and done. So is Dewy. RIP.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Tried Station Eleven. Bailed midway through the second episode. The most polite (and boring) apocalypse I've ever seen. Not for me.

 

It gets a bit darker over the course of the show, but it's not a pure descent into madness like most postapocalyptic stories. The book it's based off sounds a lot more messed up. I just started the last episode and am loving it. 

[Cashless Society]

Watched a few films yesterday. First was 2046 by Wong Kar Wai, a sequel to In The Mood For Love, it's not as spectacular as as it's predecessor, after all it's one of the best films you'll ever see, but it's still great in it's own right. The film just embodies the feeling of being alone despite being surrounded by a bunch of personalities, and it comes across as an extremely lush fever dream. I'm interested in seeing his other films, he's like the Hong-Kong Terrence Malick. 

Then I saw Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth, which was almost perfect, and now I'm disappointed in all the big budget upcoming streaming series because none of them are going to be using German Expressionistic Cinema techniques. Why did you make me think this way Coen? It's really well acted, but that goes without saying as the cast is composed of thespians, and I hope Denzel steals the Oscar from Will Smith (can't stand another desperate performance being awarded). The only problem with it was adapting the words to screen, particularly the asides and soliloquy. It just didn't vibe well with the overall pacing and editing of the film. If you aren't intimately familiar with the play, it's very easy to get lost, perhaps if Ethan was involved this issue would've been fixed.

Then I ended off with The Lost Daughter, which was a really engaging story with great performances but lacked the same vigour with regards to it's direction. You could really tell it was directed by an actor with how intimate it was trying to be whilst treating concepts like mis-en-scene as completely useless. Makes me want to rewatch Portrait of A Lady on Fire again, which is exactly what I'm going to do.

With all the praise that's been going around for Station Eleven, I think I'll start watching it this coming week.

12 hours ago, Ran said:

Only real quibble I have is the fact that Kaluuya and Stanfield are like a decade older than the characters they play, and I feel like you lose something by not seeing really young men at the heart of this; Fred Hampton was just 21 when he was assassinated by the police.

Jesse Plemons has really carved out an interesting career for himself. I wonder who would have played the Roy Mitchell role from the previous generations of actors? Matt Damon could easily have been slotted in, I suppose, and going further back maybe someone like Dabney Coleman...

1) Shaka King has actually spoken about this, his point was "How many young black actors is Hollywood trying to push in the same way that they're pushing Timothée Chalamet"? Because that is what was needed to get the film made, even with Stanfield and Kaluuya, film studios were still hesitant on taking on the project because they weren't recognisable enough. 

2) I'm thinking Paul Newman, Willem Dafoe, Tyrone Power, Robert De Niro and maybe even a 90s era Tom Cruise

[Isis]

On 1/12/2022 at 12:30 PM, Teng Ai Hui said:

Currently, I’m 3 episodes into 4400.  I enjoyed the original from the mid-2000s.  After the opening plot points, there’s not a lot of similarities here.  This new series has a lot of socio-political messaging in it; the original was a fairly straightforward action/drama/mystery.  IIRC, in the original, the powers displayed by the returnees seemed to have a connection to their personalities.

 

Is The 4400 a reboot? I stupidity thought it might be a continuation of sorts, of the original. 

[Zorral]

The Last Duel is up on HBO -- just in time for massive winter storm systems rolling across pretty much the whole country.  

[Ran]

7 hours ago, Cashless Society said:

1) Shaka King has actually spoken about this, his point was "How many young black actors is Hollywood trying to push in the same way that they're pushing Timothée Chalamet"? Because that is what was needed to get the film made, even with Stanfield and Kaluuya, film studios were still hesitant on taking on the project because they weren't recognisable enough. 

I figured it was something like that, but still, I have to quibble about it. The fault may be in Hollywood, but end result is that it's there on the screen, and it was a (small) detraction.

Also, finally got around to seeing Burn After Reading, the one film that escaped me from the Coen Brothers oeuvre. I'm not sure why I was never quite motivated to see it, except I recollect being put off by Brad Pitt in the trailers; his character, Chad, is this hyper, dim-witted fitness trainer and it feels just a bit too forced to work for me. It's a farce with a black comedic edge but ... it's not really funny?

I can't say I laughed at anything. It had a good, angry performance by John Malkovich and interesting work by Clooney and Swinton (together again, in much funnier circumstances, after their stellar work in Michael Clayton), and McDormand and Jenkins and even Pitt (after my misgivings) are all perfectly good in it as well. It just falls flat with me to the point where I realized I spent more time wondering if the shots of feet purposefully marching along in the hallways of the CIA were a homage to Dr. Strangelove, or if they were a nod to some other film that I couldn't quite place, moreso than I thought about anything else going on in the film. 

 

 

[Corvinus85]

I'm struggling a bit through Station Eleven.

The first episode was good. The 2nd episode was weird and confused the hell out of me, the 3rd then slowed down the pace going in the past and nearly lost me. The 4th was a strong episode and I got interested again, and now I'm halfway through the 5th and it's another ridiculous slow burn. The common positive of all the episodes is the superb acting. But I'm not that enthused about all the main characters being linked to the actor dude, who I really don't like. I've no idea what this show is trying to be about. Humanity I suppose. It's spending an awful amount of time looking into the past. 

I'll keep powering through.

[DMC]

14 minutes ago, Ran said:

Also, finally got around to seeing Burn After Reading, the one film that escaped me from the Coen Brothers oeuvre. I'm not sure why I was never quite motivated to see it, except I recollect being put off by Brad Pitt in the trailers; his character, Chad, is this hyper, dim-witted fitness trainer and it feels just a bit too forced to work for me. It's a farce with a black comedic edge but ... it's not really funny?

I haven't seen it in years but yeah I remember it as admirably quirky but going a bit too overboard with it.  It's almost like the Coens melded their weirdness with Wes Anderson's weirdness and the result is a bit uncomfortable.