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Watch, Watched, Watching: November Rain


Ramsay B.

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I'm up to episode 6 of that there Wednesday show on Netflix. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting. It's more Nancy Drew than I thought it would be. I'm clearly not in the target demographic but I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

There's something clearly sinister about that coffee shop kid. He is literally driving the only first generation Dodge Neon in the world.The rest of them have been recycled into washing machines but somehow he keeps this one running? I can't remember the last time I even saw one. 'Commands the forces of darkness, he does. 

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Still enjoying Andor but even though it's very good it got bumped so that I could watch the lastest episode of The Traitors. It is compulsive viewing. Reality TV hasn't been this good since the very first season of Big Brother all those years ago. I don't think I've seen so many people cry in such a short space of time. Who knew that people would get so angry and emotional about being called a liar?  

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I went to see Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish today. No idea why it took so long for them to release a sequel (11 years), but between this and Top Gun 2 it has been a year in which the delayed sequel has definitely shown that it can deliver in spades. I thought the film was excellent. Exactly the type of movie you can go and see with your children without having to fear for their cognitive development.

The animation was great, definitely some Into the Spiderverse influences to be seen, because it was very dynamic and colourful. The wolf in particular was a highlight. Very different from the original film, but I am glad that they went this way. The voice work was excellent. Banderas is someone I miss seeing in films. He's a class act and is supported in the film by a great cast of known and unknown voice actors.

I also thought the story flowed superbly, with a heart-warming message delivered at the right moments. You see where it is going to go, but the fact is that as an audience you want to land there as well, so when they deliver the appropriate story beats it is very satisfying.

Finally, I greatly enjoyed the humour. There were some good call backs to the first instalment, as well as the Shrek franchise, but the pop culture humour wasn't as overbearing as in some of the Shrek films I remember (I wonder how they hold up after all these years?). 

Anyways, I wouldn't mind returning to this universe if they can deliver this quality. Warm recommendation for the holidays.

 

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35 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I went to see Puss in Boots 2: The Last Wish today. No idea why it took so long for them to release a sequel (11 years), but between this and Top Gun 2 it has been a year in which the delayed sequel has definitely shown that it can deliver in spades. I thought the film was excellent. Exactly the type of movie you can go and see with your children without having to fear for their cognitive development.

:huh:

Mentioned in the same breath as Top Gun 2, eh? You know, this movie wasn't on my radar at all but now I'm intrigued. 

And Avatar 2 is about to drop! Maybe 2022 will be remembered as, "the year the dormant franchise struck back".

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6 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

???  Which character are you mistaking for Nana Visitor?

Yeah, I was wrong. Nevrmind, lol.

"I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation." I like Wenesday!

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Watched Abbott Elementary the past couple days.  Reminds me a lot of Parks and Rec, in a good way.  It's not funny out loud for me but I totally get why it won all the Emmys.  Very endearing.  The principal is a great side character, as is the janitor.  I read it was supposed to be centered around Barbara, and you can still kinda see that.  The will they/won't they part isn't too annoying.

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5 hours ago, DMC said:

Watched Abbott Elementary the past couple days.  Reminds me a lot of Parks and Rec, in a good way.  It's not funny out loud for me but I totally get why it won all the Emmys.  Very endearing.  The principal is a great side character, as is the janitor.  I read it was supposed to be centered around Barbara, and you can still kinda see that.  The will they/won't they part isn't too annoying.

We’ve been watching as well. Quite enjoy it except for the principal. 

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Watched All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) last night.  Enjoyed it for the most part.  The opening 5-10 minutes was really top notch, the rest wasn't quite as strong, but still good.  Great makeup, the characters were caked in mud and grease like the whole movie and it always looked consistent. 

Making a genuinely anti-war movie is really hard, because war is full of explosions and maximum effort and all that stuff that comes across as exciting on film, but this movie mostly succeeds.  World War I was a bad place to be. 

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Watched Nope. Interesting thriller-horror thing that turns some Spielbergian things on their head, but it felt over-indulgent in its length and could have been trimmed of 10-15 minutes. Keke Palmer as Emerald was fun but ... unexceptional? I don't understand why the New York Film Critics' Circle awarded her Best Supporting Actress based on a charming but otherwise pedestrian performance, and it really feels like 90% of the heavy-lifting of her role was the opening studio scene where she's introduced and goes through the Haywood Hollywood Horses spiel. Daniel Kaluuya impressed me more, playing a taciturn introvert as the lead is not an easy thing.

Re-watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about the 3 star Michelin starred Sukiyabashi Jiro and its owner Jiro Ono as well as his two sons. I don't eat sushi, indeed I generally don't eat fish, but I find the documentary fascinating. The anecdote that Jiro shares about how when his son was very young, he woke up late at night, went out of his room... and then ran to his mother to tell her there was a strange man in the house. Who was that? Jiro, who at that point in his life left to work at 5 AM and didn't return home until 10PM, so essentially his children never saw him. He is dedicated to his craft almost to the point of absurdity, and there's a deal of rumination around the fact that his eldest son Yoshikazu, who works besides him, is living in his father's shadow despite being an exceptional chef as well (in fact, towards the end we learn that on the day the Michelin reviewer came to the restaurant and subsequently awarded them their three stars, it was actually Yoshikazu who was preparing all the sushi that day). Interesting stuff, and no wasted time -- it's pretty short.

When I Googled, I learned that Sukiyabashi Jiro is no longer starred... but not because of a drop off in quality, but instead because they no longer take reservations or serve the general public. Now they exclusively serve long-time regulars, VIPs, and a few wealthy guests who arrange visits through the luxury hotels they're staying at.

Finally, watched David O. Russell's Amsterdam. Great cast, but it's overstuffed and doesn't really gel. In isolation, there's good bits and gags, and Bale is particularly good, but it's less than the sum of its parts. 

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Finished watching my hoarded final two episodes of The Peripheral.  It was some of the best television seen all year, hands down.  We need another season, as we didn't hit 'conclusion.'  That they hit both slick and 'down-to-earth' so seamlessly may be it's greatest draw for me.  Well, the actors -- they all are worth watching.

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1 hour ago, Maithanet said:

Watched All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) last night.  Enjoyed it for the most part.  The opening 5-10 minutes was really top notch, the rest wasn't quite as strong, but still good.  Great makeup, the characters were caked in mud and grease like the whole movie and it always looked consistent. 

Making a genuinely anti-war movie is really hard, because war is full of explosions and maximum effort and all that stuff that comes across as exciting on film, but this movie mostly succeeds.  World War I was a bad place to be. 

I thought it was about as good emotionally as the version I had to watch in HS. I don't have any problems with it, but it's not an exceptional war film that will have an endearing legacy. I saw Fury recently and would say it's in that stratosphere of war films.

26 minutes ago, Ran said:

Watched Nope. Interesting thriller-horror thing that turns some Spielbergian things on their head, but it felt over-indulgent in its length and could have been trimmed of 10-15 minutes. Keke Palmer as Emerald was fun but ... unexceptional? I don't understand why the New York Film Critics' Circle awarded her Best Supporting Actress based on a charming but otherwise pedestrian performance, and it really feels like 90% of the heavy-lifting of her role was the opening studio scene where she's introduced and goes through the Haywood Hollywood Horses spiel. Daniel Kaluuya impressed me more, playing a taciturn introvert as the lead is not an easy thing.

Nope was a disappoint for me. I loved how they played with numerous concepts and I do think the acting was great, but the film overall is just... boring. It's not scary, it's not even that suspenseful and the story feels very convoluted. Peele's talent as a creator is undeniable, but I think he needs some new people around him to reign some of his ideas in. 

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I tried to rewatch the 2010 remake of The Wolfman earlier today. It failed to maintain my interest. Perhaps if I can see it on a flight, I might watch it in its entirety, but when there is other stuff to do it just isn't interesting enough. I got blocked early on exactly at the scene in which

Spoiler

the main character is given the silver wolf-head cane by a random stranger. It just doesn't make any sense and I remember from the first time I watched this all those years ago that no explanation is given in the film (the real explanation is probably a combination of 'because it was in the original movie' and 'because the script needs this to happen for the plot to start').

I tried to google/Wikipedia to see whether that scene is explained anywhere or whether the old man reappears, but I can't find anything online.

It's this type of frustrating bullshit that made this such a mediocre effort despite the fact that it is filmed quite stylishly and has an amazing cast (Including Crassus from Spartacus and Emily Blunt in what is probably the first mainstream role in which I took notice of her). 

17 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

:huh:

Mentioned in the same breath as Top Gun 2, eh? You know, this movie wasn't on my radar at all but now I'm intrigued. 

And Avatar 2 is about to drop! Maybe 2022 will be remembered as, "the year the dormant franchise struck back".

To clarify, Top Gun 2 is better obviously, but that doesn't take away from the fact that Puss in Boots 2 was an unexpected delight in its own right. Did anyone really expect anything from another film in the Shrek universe? This movie could have coasted on its reputation like so many forgettable animation (and other) franchises do nowadays, but instead it chose to invest in quality. It tried a new animation style, new characters and a new story and in the end that paid off. 

I hope I will be able to say the same (at the very least) about Avatar 2 when it arrives. It will be quite some time before I can see that one due to travel, but if it is as good as Puss in Boots 2 I'd be very happy. 

 

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Finally saw Under the Silver Lake. It’s definitely a movie that it’s hard to have any strong opinion of because it’s actively trying to throw you off.

I don’t know what it’s about or what it is trying to do, and I think that is the whole point.

Its a movie stuffed full of mysteries, mysteries that really mean nothing. If I had to guess I think it’s about how people trying to create meaning from randomness and look for patterns in the mundane as a way of creating meaning in their lives. In that way it’s pretty good and certainly held my attention. 
 

Im going to assume it would frustrate a lot of other people however 

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4 hours ago, Ran said:

Watched Nope. Interesting thriller-horror thing that turns some Spielbergian things on their head, but it felt over-indulgent in its length and could have been trimmed of 10-15 minutes. Keke Palmer as Emerald was fun but ... unexceptional? I don't understand why the New York Film Critics' Circle awarded her Best Supporting Actress based on a charming but otherwise pedestrian performance, and it really feels like 90% of the heavy-lifting of her role was the opening studio scene where she's introduced and goes through the Haywood Hollywood Horses spiel. Daniel Kaluuya impressed me more, playing a taciturn introvert as the lead is not an easy thing.

I really enjoyed the first two thirds of that movie, but the last act fell flat for me.

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I really hate the principal in Abbott Elementary, too.

Btw, it's the principal of Wednesday that I first thought was Nana. In my defense, I was distracted but I should have noticed the voices are very different.

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