Watch, Watched, Watching: Mr and Mrs Smith and Other Famous Hits

[Heartofice]

12 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I feel like you are being too kind with that description. I guess it's a visual style choice. A bit like stuff like 300 or Spartacus chose to amp up the fakeness to eleven to signal that you are watching something special?

Yeah pretty much this. It just annoys me because if you knew that you couldn't afford to go filming in Egypt then find ways around it to make it look like you were filming on a location outside at the very least. 

It does feel like visual effects have gotten worse, just an over reliance on being able to add scenery in after filming has led to what just looks like laziness. What is happening? Is it inexperienced directors being conned by effects agencies who over promise and under deliver?

Honestly this movie would have looked better if they'd just found an old quarry in southern England and put some matt paintings in the background. They went too flashy and it just looked horrible. 

[Zorral]

19 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

A friend of mine is going to visit it end of this month. Do I need to warn her

You ought to warn her to keep her eyes open and be careful, in the very ways that people on vacation just generally do not. 

The mayor of Miami imposed a curfew on Miami Beach last month due to pedestrians in the densely packed bars-and-restaurant district getting shot randomly by drive-bys.  The first ones who were shot were two young women, just walking.  Also the virulence unleashed everywhere by the overt anti-gay laws and policies by the governor, etc. has made a lot of clubs dangerous.  All around the US, actually, arson and shootings as overt hate crimes committed on venues where gay-trans-etc. people gather are way up.  We having a string of them happening here in NYC, for that matter.

 

[Ran]

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

This does not look great.

Feels like a cutscene from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

It would have been easier and cheaper for them to get a traditional matte painting than that overly-digital nonsense.

[briantw]

15 minutes ago, Ran said:

Feels like a cutscene from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

It would have been easier and cheaper for them to get a traditional matte painting than that overly-digital nonsense.

Game of Thrones made some masterful use of matte paintings to make a lot of scenes look more epic. 

[Zorral]

Good news for those impatient for more Gentleman Jack: season two is on BBC One in the UK; in the US, on HBO from 25 April; and in Australia, on Foxtel from 26 April

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/10/gentleman-jack-series-two-review-one-of-the-greatest-british-period-dramas-of-our-time

~~~~~~~~~~

Friends of Bridgerton's Lady Portia Featherington --  Interview with Polly Walker, in which she speaks directly to her character's background, foreground, and future.  Her take on her relationship to her daughter Pen is something with which this viewer agrees -- we want to see more of her and Pen together and / or in conflict. Goes along with my sense that Pen, being her mother's daughter, is far more equipped to be a survivor than Louisa will ever be.

Polly Walker Won’t Let Lady Featherington Become Bridgerton’s ‘Old Fool' 

https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/polly-walker-on-bridgerton-season-2-and-lady-featherington.html

One cannot help empathizing with:

Quote

.... She’s playing a few things. She’s desperately trying to survive and protect her daughters. That’s her overriding motive. She has been unloved for so long and so derided. She’s very aware of people’s opinion of her, so she’s not a fool in that regard. She’s very clever, just born in the wrong century. She’s playing at rediscovering her femininity and herself as a woman. She’s consumed by her role as a mother, but we all know women are more than that. She would like love too. It’s tough for her. She doesn’t have any allies. She’s an outlier. Even if she had all the money in the world or was Lady Bridgerton, she would always feel like an outsider. She’s a lone wolf and not a team player. That’s not a negative thing. She’ll just always feel like a misfit. ....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also

Quote

‘The Batman’ Premiere Date Confirmed On HBO Max
The Batman now has a solid premiere date on HBO Max. The Warner Brothers blockbuster will launch on the streaming service on Monday, April 18, and also will air on HBO on Satuday, April 23 at 8 PM ET. It was expected that the Matt Reeves-helmed pic, starring Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante…

https://deadline.com/2022/04/the-batman-premiere-date-hbo-max-1234999900/

[dbunting]

Saw a movie advertised at theater, then saw it is on Prime also, saved myself a little money and watched it at home. All the Old Knives, or The Old Knives, can't remember which. Main reason for watching is Thandie Newton ...Also has Chris Pine and Lawrence Fishburn so I thought it might be good. Well I was wrong. Slow, boring, just kind of meandering if that makes sense. Worst of all Fishburn is only in like two or three scenes and does very little, what a waste.

Watch if you are a Newton fan but otherwise ignore it.

[Zorral]

I wrote about it above -- you forgot the intense sex scene. It was otherwise implausible as hell, but I loved watching the actors.

[Mindwalker]

Watched the first ep of Gentleman Jack, season 2. Suranne Jones is fantastic as aways. Not sure why they made her walk twice as fast, though.

When I recommended Our Flag Means Death after watching 3 or 4 episodes, I had no idea what they's sneak up on us...! Such a quirky, epic, ridiculous, wholesome little gem. I hope they'll get renewed, can't see how they wouldn't.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

18 hours ago, Ran said:

I've been watching. It's fun. I think it's a bit scattershot, visually-speaking, but it's fun, and the casting is pretty near perfect.

This has a chance to be Reilly's best work, and that's saying a lot. He's so perfect in the role. And the two actors they found to play Magic and Kareem...they look just like them. 

9 hours ago, Veltigar said:

A friend of mine is going to visit it end of this month. Do I need to warn her?

Kind of? Just tell her to stay in touristy areas. She wouldn't want to randomly find herself in Liberty City. Can't recommend Little Havana enough though. The food there...

[Veltigar]

Rewatched Creed yesterday. Hands down one of my favorite films ever and one of my go-to comfort films. You really cannot go wrong with it. I know I'm biased as I am a huge Rocky fan, but Creed is something of a miracle. How can the seventh film in a series be so wonderful?

Everything in it is just perfect. The performances are great, the music superb, the fights are awesome and it is just ridiculously full of great moments and lines. Just thinking about the film makes me feel better  

7 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Kind of? Just tell her to stay in touristy areas. She wouldn't want to randomly find herself in Liberty City. Can't recommend Little Havana enough though. The food there...

Luckily she's not really the adventurous type, so I guess that was her plan all along.

17 hours ago, Zorral said:

You ought to warn her to keep her eyes open and be careful, in the very ways that people on vacation just generally do not. 

The mayor of Miami imposed a curfew on Miami Beach last month due to pedestrians in the densely packed bars-and-restaurant district getting shot randomly by drive-bys.  The first ones who were shot were two young women, just walking.  Also the virulence unleashed everywhere by the overt anti-gay laws and policies by the governor, etc. has made a lot of clubs dangerous.  All around the US, actually, arson and shootings as overt hate crimes committed on venues where gay-trans-etc. people gather are way up.  We having a string of them happening here in NYC, for that matter.

 

Damn that's hardcore. Drive-by's on Miami Beach? And I always joke that the scene in Scarface were Pacino blasts a Columbian on the street would never happen today in the age of ubiquitous camera's 

17 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Yeah pretty much this. It just annoys me because if you knew that you couldn't afford to go filming in Egypt then find ways around it to make it look like you were filming on a location outside at the very least. 

It does feel like visual effects have gotten worse, just an over reliance on being able to add scenery in after filming has led to what just looks like laziness. What is happening? Is it inexperienced directors being conned by effects agencies who over promise and under deliver?

Honestly this movie would have looked better if they'd just found an old quarry in southern England and put some matt paintings in the background. They went too flashy and it just looked horrible. 

I mean, Brannagh is hardly inexperienced. Unfortunately, I guess they just like the ease-of -shooting this way and are now trying to sell it as an aesthetic. A bit like how the latest F&F installment was a terrible sequel, but drew attention to that with lazy jokes as a sort of hall pass. 

[Mark Antony]

Been falling asleep to Columbo lately and it’s been a fun watch. 

[Zorral]

14 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Just tell her to stay in touristy areas.

That's where the drive by shootings at randos happen, which caused the mayor to institute a curfew.  Also stickups for money and credit cards.  The thing is a lot of the 'tourists' aren't very nice people themselves ... and all this cray-cray has gone over the top with Trumpistas and pandemic.  Nobody can behave themselves even minimally any longer it often feels.

Very close friends, artists, have lived right there for many years, a 5 minute walk to the water, thus they pass on what's been going on in their neighborhood. 

[RumHam]

Spirit Halloween Store Film in the Works

What the hell? Though I guess there is a lot of potential if this becomes a trend of turning stores into movies.

[Leofric]

19 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Spirit Halloween Store Film in the Works

What the hell? Though I guess there is a lot of potential if this becomes a trend of turning stores into movies.

It not new,  Miracle on 34th Street was all about Macy's hiring a Santa for its Thanksgiving Day Parade who claims to be the real thing.   Career Opportunities with Frank Whaley and Jennifer Connelly takes place almost entirely in a Target store.      Those are just a couple off the top of my head, also there was the broad product placement of Subway Sandwiches in the show Chuck after they were almost cancelled.  

[RumHam]

13 minutes ago, Leofric said:

It not new,  Miracle on 34th Street was all about Macy's hiring a Santa for its Thanksgiving Day Parade who claims to be the real thing.   Career Opportunities with Frank Whaley and Jennifer Connelly takes place almost entirely in a Target store.      Those are just a couple off the top of my head, also there was the broad product placement of Subway Sandwiches in the show Chuck after they were almost cancelled.  

It's funny I was so young when I watched Miracle on 34th Street that I've never thought of it like that. I guess a lot will depend on what they call this. If the name of the store is in the title I think that's a new low. Never heard of Career Opportunities. 

[DMC]

40 minutes ago, Leofric said:

Those are just a couple off the top of my head, also there was the broad product placement of Subway Sandwiches in the show Chuck after they were almost cancelled.

And who can forget Arrested Development and Burger King?  Also, Grandma's Boy and XBox comes to mind.

[Argonath Diver]

Grandma's Boy is near atop of the pile of 2000s Watch a DVD Stoned With Buddies movies. I can mouth along with most of the damn movie. The XBoxes, Pepsi and Mountain Dews were one of the first times I felt a movie jumped the shark with product placement. 

 

[briantw]

35 minutes ago, DMC said:

And who can forget Arrested Development and Burger King? 

“It’s a wonderful restaurant.”

”It sure is!”

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

That's where the drive by shootings at randos happen, which caused the mayor to institute a curfew.  Also stickups for money and credit cards.  The thing is a lot of the 'tourists' aren't very nice people themselves ... and all this cray-cray has gone over the top with Trumpistas and pandemic.  Nobody can behave themselves even minimally any longer it often feels.

Very close friends, artists, have lived right there for many years, a 5 minute walk to the water, thus they pass on what's been going on in their neighborhood. 

Yes, there's violence in the nice parts too, hence the new curfews. My point was there are areas that are a lot worse.

50 minutes ago, Argonath Diver said:

Grandma's Boy is near atop of the pile of 2000s Watch a DVD Stoned With Buddies movies. I can mouth along with most of the damn movie. The XBoxes, Pepsi and Mountain Dews were one of the first times I felt a movie jumped the shark with product placement. 

 

100%. My step-brother rented on a Saturday morning without us knowing much about it. We smoked a joint before watching it and I shit you not we were falling off the couch cause we were laughing so hard. 

[Zorral]

Calling all Derry Girls fans!

An oral history of Derry Girls --

‘Nothing Will Ever Be Like It Again’: The Oral History of ‘Derry Girls’
As the runaway Channel 4 success prepares to wave goodbye with its new series, we talk to all the key players and cast about its legacy

https://www.vice.com/en/article/88g3y5/derry-girls-2022-oral-history