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[Isis]

18 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

I’m beginning to think that the problem is with me. The Staircase is boring, impossible to follow and blatantly unrealistic. It’s just… bewildering. 

Is this the drama or the documentary? I kept seeing ads on the side of buses last week for the drama, but I only had it confirmed at the weekend that they had made a drama from the doc... We actually really enjoyed the doc, as there were so many WTF moments and times when we had to pause the TV to discuss the ethics of what was happening. I just thought that was really good television.

[RhaenysBee]

39 minutes ago, Isis said:

Is this the drama or the documentary? I kept seeing ads on the side of buses last week for the drama, but I only had it confirmed at the weekend that they had made a drama from the doc... We actually really enjoyed the doc, as there were so many WTF moments and times when we had to pause the TV to discuss the ethics of what was happening. I just thought that was really good television.

It’s the drama, I had no idea it was based on a doc, I’ve never seen that one. The drama is… interesting. Might give up and just watch the doc instead. 

[BigFatCoward]

5 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Not a single BAFTA for It's a Sin?

GTFOH.

Fucking travesty. Best piece of British television in a decade. 

[Zorral]

The 2022 HBO Staircase is a scripted drama, that also even incorporates some of the people who made the 2005 documentary, and even some of their footage, as well as recreated some of the footage in the sets for the drama.  Among other differences between the two, the HBO scripted drama widens the scope to include many more members of the family, with what the rifts that were there but they maybe didn't see or obscured to themselves.  We also 'see' the victim in the round as well.  The difficulties initially are with figuring out who all these people are and their relationships, and how the timeline / chronology moves about.  I never saw the docu, or even heard of the murder -- hey 9/11 going on here! when it happened, and then when the trial took place I was deep in the bowels of archives nearly 24/7.  Also I generally don't pay any attention to such events.

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

Bosch: Legacy (2022) season 1 AP – Freevee – with commercials.

No longer with the LA PD, now a PI, Bosch’s own plot line is classic Raymond Chandler LA Noir.  The other plot lines follow Honey Chandler’s pursuit of the Bad who tried to kill her, did kill someone close to her, and tried to kill Bosch’s daughter, Maddie, while Maddie, now a boot recruit into the LA PD, is trying to make it.  Also his beautiful house in the Hollywood Hills is red tagged by the city, thus a danger to his neighbors, due to structural damage from an earth can’t live there. So they are living in his PI’s office, adding more classic Noir flavor.

Favorite among new characters is young Maurice 'Mo' Bassi, another jazz head like Bosch himself, played by Stephen A. Chang. Favorite interchange so far – 

Bosch: What's that you're listening to?
Mo: Christian Scott.*
Bosch: That's why my head hurts.

They also have an interchange bit about Sonny Rollins in the same episode, who is certainly popular in this household! These are the kind of interchange the characters would have, particularly considering who is music supervisor of the series.

Maddie's developing and rocky relationship with her veteran partner, Reina Vasquez, played by Denise G. Sanchez, is another enjoyable interlocking theme, because Sanchez plays her as tough, cynical -- and experienced -- so very well. Maddie may be an LAPD legacy raw recruit, but she's no more prepared for what Vasquez is showing her than any other boot.

They've got a lot going on in Bosch: Legacy, but we seem to have no problems navigating what happens in each episode.  Tulliver, as always, is such a delight to see doing Harry Bosch.

I hate the freevee bug that stays on screen throughout.  I don’t like the commercial interruptions either.  I wouldn’t be bothering with this except it’s Bosch, and it remains the same as the original AP Bosch, which I really enjoy.

* Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah is the nephew of New Orleans Big Chief, Donald Harrison, who is world class jazz trumpeter, band leader, teacher and social activist.

 

[Isis]

5 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

It’s the drama, I had no idea it was based on a doc, I’ve never seen that one. The drama is… interesting. Might give up and just watch the doc instead. 

Give it a go. It's one of those things where at the end of the first episode you'll either be bored of it or hooked on it. 

36 minutes ago, Zorral said:

The 2022 HBO Staircase is a scripted drama, that also even incorporates some of the people who made the 2005 documentary, and even some of their footage, as well as recreated some of the footage in the sets for the drama.  Among other differences between the two, the HBO scripted drama widens the scope to include many more members of the family, with what the rifts that were there but they maybe didn't see or obscured to themselves.  We also 'see' the victim in the round as well.  The difficulties initially are with figuring out who all these people are and their relationships, and how the timeline / chronology moves about.  I never saw the docu, or even heard of the murder -- hey 9/11 going on here! when it happened, and then when the trial took place I was deep in the bowels of archives nearly 24/7.  Also I generally don't pay any attention to such events.

 

Thanks for this info. The only reason I watched the doc is that it was always on the front page of Netflix when I opened the app, like for months. So I just caved! I do not recall ever seeing or hearing anything about the actual events prior to watching it. 

[Zorral]

30 minutes ago, Isis said:

I do not recall ever seeing or hearing anything about the actual events prior to watching it. 

Neither did I until this HBO limited series.  My eyes seem to be very good at not seeing things offered on Neflix, because I don't recall seeing the docu offered there, but it surely was -- they've really bigged it up again now.  But then, I can't see well in the best of circumstances.  With the HBO series I'm kind of interested in seeing how Colin Firth handles this role.

One thing that seems right, which is how very incestuous and vile Durham can be, in that so North Carolina manner.  OTOH, I'm judging from limited time stays, not living there.  But almost all our friends there have left because it's become just too xtian authoritarian fash for them to continue -- lucky them, they have the sorts of successful careers that allowed them to move.

 

[aceluby]

Finished Ozark S4 this weekend and the ending was completely unsatisfactory.  Hot garbage might be a bit harsh, but they made some terrible decisions.

Spoiler

Marty in charge of the cartel was so fucking stupid.  That entire episode was so incredibly dumb.  And the torture scene and "info" they got was so obviously tainted by, you know... torture.  But Marty missed that?  So dumb.

The sister running as a shadow leader was also really, really stupid.  It's just not how that would work at all.  There would be a huge power grab and she'd be first on the list if she got into that role.  Hinting that Marty could do that long term and the FBI kept suggesting it?  Holy shit.  I guess everybody are just morans (sic) now.

Ruth's death had absolutely zero impact.  Just kill her off in the last 5 minutes after 50ish hours of character development?  Who thought that was going to be a good idea?  No breathing room, just dead.  BUT SLOW MO!!! 

Oh, and now their kid is just a fucking murderer.  See... he's just a Marty Jr, except he's a psycho now.  Oh and his sister?  Also a psycho who has no problem threatening to kill an entire family.

Lastly, Wendy for at least the entirety of S4 and most of S3 was intolerable.  Just the worst.  I kept hoping someone would kill her off.  She thinks she's so good, but is terrible at everything she does and if there is a bad decision to be made, she makes it and then follows it up with something even worse.

This whole season (both halves) were absolutely flat.  GoT S8 except instead of a bad ending you get no ending. 

 

[Veltigar]

I rewatched two old favorites of mine today. First there was John Woo's Windtalkers, the Nicholas Cage film I wanted to rewatch the most after seeing him in The Massive Weight of Unbearable Talent.

After that I decided to indulge in another piece of nostalgia with The Last Castle, the prison film starring Robert Redford and James Gandolfini as antagonists. I had that on my rewatch list for a while, but I couldn't hunt down a copy of it. 

All in all, it was quite a mixed evening. You always have a risk with these movies that you haven't seen for years. Often it pays off, but Windtalkers fell in a different category unfortunately. It just isn't very good all things considered. Everything is painted with such broad strokes that the film sort of lacks an identity of its own. At times it is even kind of boring, which is not something you can often say of a Woo film. I guess some of the action is good and Woo is not shy about killing of recognizable actors but it's a middling effort at best.

The Last Castle on the other hand is just as brilliant as I remembered. I feel this is a really underappreciated film. Redford and Gandolfini are just way to good in this. Both actors play each other so well, they elevate the material. Add to that some nice action sequences and a wonderful supporting cast and that gives you a really good time at the movies. It might not make much sense from a rational perspective, but this film knows how to tug at your heart strings so that you do not really care about how improbable the story is.

[HexMachina]

8 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

Fucking travesty. Best piece of British television in a decade. 

Did you watch the show that beat it (Time) for best miniseries? I hadn't heard of it or seen any chatter about it online anywhere so don't want to judge but was very disappointed that it didn't get a single award

[dbunting]

Watched Dr. Strange 2 today. Decent movie, nothing great but used up a couple free hours I hadn't planned on. I was entertained enough and only felt a little bored once.

Spoiler

Obviously a lot of killing and demons, body possession and even a zombie, kinda pushing the edge for a Disney owned movie. Will see how far they are willing to go.  Quite a few cameos in the movie and finally a X-men crossover, even though they killed him! 

Also a bit of cross promotion with Snow White playing on a tv in the back ground at one point!

Spoiler

One other thing I noticed after a while, there was a lot of inclusion in the film. A Hispanic girl hero, who has two moms. Lots of people of color and women heroes. At one point there is the battle and only women are on screen. Nice to see that they are learning that not every character or hero has to be a white guy and not every villain needs to be a foreigner of color.

Eventually I'll stop noticing this as it becomes more normal? Also a bit of a joke as the second post credit scene. Those who remained chuckled a little. Jerks finally figured out how to keep us in the seats to watch the credits.

[dbunting]

5 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I rewatched two old favorites of mine today. First there was John Woo's Windtalkers, the Nicholas Cage film I wanted to rewatch the most after seeing him in The Massive Weight of Unbearable Talent.

After that I decided to indulge in another piece of nostalgia with The Last Castle, the prison film starring Robert Redford and James Gandolfini as antagonists. I had that on my rewatch list for a while, but I couldn't hunt down a copy of it. . 

I watched Windtalkers last year and felt a bit let down by it. I had heard that it was really good but as you said it was just generic.

The Last Castle on the other hand was surprisingly good, my wife and I were both very happy we picked it as a rental years ago.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

To quote Jason Mantzoukas, "GEOSTORM!!!"

God this movie is bad. But fun! 

[dbunting]

Watching The Shield and just saw Coach Jimmy Johnson looking like a bearded drunk, cameo in a cage saying Terry is the one you want, lol.

[RumHam]

34 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

To quote Jason Mantzoukas, "GEOSTORM!!!"

God this movie is bad. But fun! 

Yet you wouldn't finish The Good Place.

https://www.facebook.com/NBCTheGoodPlace/videos/introducing-derek/510661702943758/

Sorry for the facebook link, but the youtube ones had spoilers.

[Veltigar]

4 hours ago, dbunting said:

I watched Windtalkers last year and felt a bit let down by it. I had heard that it was really good but as you said it was just generic.

The Last Castle on the other hand was surprisingly good, my wife and I were both very happy we picked it as a rental years ago.

I think the studio got to Windtalkers. Woo wanted to make a Thin Red Line kind of film, but apparently the studio forced him into emphasizing the action sequences. One good thing about the film however, is that it is the source of one of my favorite pieces of Cage lore. Apparently he learned to be fluent in Navajo for the film, despite the fact that his character doesn't speak a lick of the language. Cage claims that he did so to better understand the screenplay, but Woo maintains that Cage just made an error and thought he was going to play one of the Navajo's 

 

Also, I want to start a The Last Castle appreciation party now  

[Heartofice]

Mike Myers new thing.. The Pentaverate.. it's bad. I got 20 mins into this before I checked out. I had a wry smile once in that time, and nothing else.

Myers has always been pretty lazy when it comes to movies, but maybe he was asleep when he made this? Keegan Michael-Key seemed to be doing his thing, and he's always good, but it was like he was using all his powers to pull something humorous from the script. 

[Ran]

Watched Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It was okay. Some nice action with wuxia stylings and some nods to the creativity and humor of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Script and dialog was very ... uh... simplistic. Tony Leung was good to see, though. 

I've come to realize that superhero films are the musicals of our era. Slight confections to while away a couple of hours and with no great ambition behind them. The handful of musicals we remember today were the diamonds in the rough among literally hundreds of forgotten musicals, and I expect a couple of decades hence there'll be a handful of superhero films people remember among the dross.

[Spockydog]

Watched a pretty shocking documentary about Mother Teresa last night. Turns out she was a bit of an evil, sadistic witch. 

Review here:

Mother Teresa: For the Love of God?

For the Love of God? tries to offer an unimpeachably balanced range of contributors. In the absence of the late Christopher Hitchens, the writer best known for cutting down Teresa, Aroup Chatterjee, whose work inspired Hitchens’ film about her, appears, offset by a couple of friendly biographers and with first-hand witnesses to the work of Missionaries of Charity in the middle. The problem, for Teresa’s defenders, at least, is that as soon as you mount a description of her that goes into more detail than “she spent her life caring for the poor”, the illusion melts.

...

For the Love of God? shows how figures such as Teresa are a key component of unjust societies, dabbing balm on the consciences of those who send “thoughts and prayers” to the vulnerable while ensuring they remain so. It is OK for us to concentrate wealth in fewer and fewer hands at the expense of the masses: someone, somewhere will help them. One thinks of David Cameron tweeting photographs of himself visiting food banks he helped to create, having encouraged the “big society” to care so that he didn’t have to.

But, by happenstance, the programme is more timely than that. Next week, the series delves into the rise of the American religious right in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan, and how Teresa helped it by campaigning against the “pure murder” of abortion. Such hatred is afoot again in the US. Harsh as For the Love of God? may have ended up being on an individual whose flaws were magnified by a fame she couldn’t control, the portrait showing where dogma and hysteria can lead is painfully pertinent.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

6 hours ago, RumHam said:

Yet you wouldn't finish The Good Place.

https://www.facebook.com/NBCTheGoodPlace/videos/introducing-derek/510661702943758/

Sorry for the facebook link, but the youtube ones had spoilers.

I watched the first season. It wasn't bad, it's just not that funny. I found myself smiling a lot, but never busted out laughing. Also, the twist was incredibly predictable. 

[Cas Stark]

I had free HBO for a week, the results:

Gilded Age.  Meh, I found none of the characters very likeable and the plot was easy to predict from the first 30 minutes.  I made it 3 eps.

Death on the Nile.  I really liked it, other than the incredibly stupid, wink, wink, hey look there is Gail Gadot, whose going to play Cleopatra in a new movie, dressing up like Cleopatra in this movie, harde har har, look how meta we are.

Suicide Squad 2.  Hated it, and I am one of the few people who thought the first one was entertaining if stupid.  The giant land shark?  WTF?  Did not finish it.

Many Saints of Newark:  Meh.  More evidence proving that Better Call Saul is an outlier in a prequel that is truly great and can stand on its own.  

The Last Duel.  I tried to like this, I really, really did, but it was not cast very well, Matt Damon I'm looking at you, dull, and fairly pointless.  I also don't like Adam Driver in anything, so I didn't like him in this, but I recognize that is my personal feelingthere.  Jodi Comer was great as always.  But, we already know that life was hard for women in the 14th century, there was nothing much more going on here storywise.  Very disappointing and I can now see why this film did so poorly at the box office, not because no one will go see a good non Marvel 'adult' movie, but because this particular movie was not that good or interesting.

Halloween Kills.  Atrocious.  That is all.

Batman.  Meh.  I didn't hate it, or really like it, meandering, didn't seem to have much of a dramatic arc, and its batman, the villains need to be a little more amped up.  

Nightmare Alley.  Good not great.  The original with Tyrone Power was better I think, for not being quite so grimdark.  I would have liked a more charismatic lead than Bradley Cooper.