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Watch, Watched Watching : 2023 is going to be unstable!


TheLastWolf

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I've watched three episodes of Kaleidoscope now and it's ok/good rather than amazing so far. The oldest bit of the story (Violet) is the one I most recently watched and I have to say the one I have liked least. The de-ageing make up effect was just really distracting. Why can't they just use younger actors instead, like they used to do in films and series? That would be less distracting. Also, the child and the wife were just so relentlessly bland and two-dimensional that I didn't really care what happened to them and the was the whole point of that episode. :(

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

You know, I'm not a Shrek franchise fan at all. I kind of liked the first film. I think I saw the second and third but I couldn't tell you much about them or when I saw them. I tuned out after that.

But this movie was incredible. Engaging story. Cool characters. Brilliant voice cast. Visually interesting. The villain even looks like Judge Holden with a wig. His name is "Big Jack Horner". I don't think that's a coincidence.

Yeah, definitely: Recommend. 

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I decided to rewatch Dead Poets Society yesterday. It's been a few years since I first saw this film and I remember that I thought it was pretty good at the time. Seeing that film now though, I had to revise my assessment downwards. it has a lot of problems.

Robin Williams is excellent as per the usual, the same goes for Ethan Hawke and the final scene is outstanding. The rest of this film however, has definitely not aged as well. I know it is supposed to be set in the 1950s but some of the behaviour the boys display towards women is quite shocking, they read some racially insensitive poetry and I got to admit that I am not impressed by either the traditional teaching methodologies or Robin Williams' off-the-cuff alternative. 

Maybe I'm getting to woke for this shit, but since I did not feel like this film aspired to realism, I find it harder to forgive some of the attitudes on display. It doesn't help that a large part of the young ensemble is also insufferable, regardless of whether their characters fell on the right or wrong side of history. You might parry by saying that teenage boys are supposed to be this annoying, but the contrast between the shear spinelessness of some and the annoying contrarianism of others was almost whiplash inducing.

To summarize, I believe there aren't many films good enough to deserve Robin Williams as a cast member. This certainly wasn't one of them.

On 1/15/2023 at 9:58 PM, RhaenysBee said:

The best Emma adaptation to this day is Clueless, it is known. And the BBC mini series got the closest to a classic take on Emma. Not to say the 2020 one wasn’t a fun film. Mia Goth was the best Harriet yet and the visual world they created was gorgeous and vibrant. 

Ah yes, I did really like Clueless. I'm just a sucker for costume dramas (and Ana Taylor Joy).

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On 1/16/2023 at 10:09 AM, Isis said:

I've watched three episodes of Kaleidoscope now and it's ok/good rather than amazing so far. The oldest bit of the story (Violet) is the one I most recently watched and I have to say the one I have liked least. The de-ageing make up effect was just really distracting. Why can't they just use younger actors instead, like they used to do in films and series? That would be less distracting. Also, the child and the wife were just so relentlessly bland and two-dimensional that I didn't really care what happened to them and the was the whole point of that episode. :(

I've watched most of it and I think the Violet episode is the weakest so far. What happens to the wife felt very contrived.

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@Veltigar I know, I know. But after seeing snooze fests like Lightyear and Strange World, I have to say, you were right (I remember). This was a revelation. Maybe not at quite the same altitude, but definitely approaching the daynjah zaowen.

I'm a bit fuzzy on my Blood Meridian. Doesn't the book make several references to Holdens satchel? "Opening his satchel", and, "pulling something out of his satchel" and the like?  I'm telling you, some character designer pulled a fast one. 

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1 hour ago, TheLastWolf said:

Alien was absolutely great, hope the rest of the series are as good 

Well, you only have one more movie to watch and it's Aliens, so your hope will be achieved I think!

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1 hour ago, TheLastWolf said:

The rest are as bad as they say heh?

The third movie would have been a satisfying conclusion to the "Passion of Ellen Ripley" trilogy, but it had a troubled production and it definitely shows. 

The 4th movie tries to return to the action-adventure vibe of the 2nd. I don't think it really succeeds. Prometheus and Covenant have their fans, but they don't really measure up.

The less said about the AvP movies, the better. 

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Angel has a new personality after his epiphany. 

Spoiler

Going dark was very organic and necessary but now he didn’t come back having changed a little, he has an entirely new personality with strong humor and comedic rather than tragic self restraint. The rest of the cast also seems to treat him as though he were the one with the people skills (Wesley asking him to talk to Cordelia and the whatnot). Angel had the people skills of a tea spoon and the humor of a wood plank. He was so awkward it was often painful to watch, and now he is sort of the funny man. I do appreciate that he is coming into a personality but I was sort of hoping this would be a slow(er) burn and brought to the surface by several small events rather than just sleeping with Darla. This behavior is out of character for every Angel persona we have known: Angelus, broody-moody-awkward-and-quiet Angel, Darla-and-lawyer-obesessed-dark Angel. We don’t really have an idea about what the human Angel was like, perhaps he is reaching back to his roots but this requires a bit more setup. I wonder how and what personality they will settle him on. The actor is certainly having more fun with this one, but it’s a really strong and in your face change which needs a bit of toning down. Maybe his positivity and fun bubble will burst with some new trauma or maybe he will realize that the group accepted him and he doesn’t need to push the look I’m so much fun to have around effort that much. 

 

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6 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

@Veltigar I know, I know. But after seeing snooze fests like Lightyear and Strange World, I have to say, you were right (I remember). This was a revelation. Maybe not at quite the same altitude, but definitely approaching the daynjah zaowen.

Is the bolded Na'vi for Top Gun: Maverick? ;)

Glad to hear that you liked Puss in Boots 2. The more I think about it, the more I think 2022 was the golden year of the sequel. Puss in Boots 2, Top Gun 2, Avatar 2 were all films that were better than their predecessors. 

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1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

Is the bolded Na'vi for Top Gun: Maverick? ;)

Glad to hear that you liked Puss in Boots 2. The more I think about it, the more I think 2022 was the golden year of the sequel. Puss in Boots 2, Top Gun 2, Avatar 2 were all films that were better than their predecessors. 

Pretty low bar for all 3 of those sequels to trip over

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13 hours ago, williamjm said:

I've watched most of it and I think the Violet episode is the weakest so far. What happens to the wife felt very contrived.

The headphones!

I've watched some more now and I hope it turns out to have a satisfying conclusion. I will keep watching. But I have another complaint - the way sex is used as a sort of punctuation to scenes and storylines. It's boring - both because it is predictable but also done in an unimaginative way. There are lots of ways to use sex to say something about a character or story and what they've done here is dull.  

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5 hours ago, TheLastWolf said:

That much I've heard lol

Like the crappy Lake Placid vs Anaconda with a dash of Piranhas and Jaws shit

Lake Placid vs Anaconda is a fun bad B film, as is much of the Lake Placid series overall. The AvP films aren't good, but I'd still recommend them, especially if you Like the original Predator (and Prey is awesome). 

Personally I liked Prometheus. It just wasn't what a lot of fans were expecting. 

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Attempted season 2 of Vikings Valhalla, but couldn't be interested to finish watching even the first episode.  I was rather hoping the second season would have some sizzle, now that they had some experience.  But, well, no.  Just ... inert.  Might as well be a chunk of featureless ice stalled in the Greenland Sea.

Attempted Stonehouse, imported here from the UK, a dramatized adaptation from what is a real life scandal of a Brit politician, played by Matthew Macfadyen, who attempts to pretend he's not Tom Wamsgans by attempting to channel Hugh Grant.  It works, I guess, as he's as creepy and stupid a figure as so many Brit politicians are.  I couldn't get through the first episode of this either.

The only things I've liked lately iare the third season of Vienna Blood, currently on PBS Masterpiece on Sundays, and the first two episode of Rogue Heroes, which are available w/o charge on APrime. 

Also liking, because how not? also on PBS, the new season of All Creatures Great and Small.  So glad Tricky attended the wedding. By my count there were at least three doggies attending!

Re-watched the 1962 Lawrence of Arabia, for the first time since knowing anything about the Ottomans, WWI in the Near East, the secret Sykes-Pico 'Treaty' and etc.  I appreciated a great deal more how well the complications of Lawrence's character and personality are portrayed, though O'Toole's clenched teeth, ice blue contacts and barely controlled trembling with desire to make blood grate more than ever.  But even as before, I'm not complaining there is not a single female character in the epic (though I could make a case for Gertrude Bell's inclusion), while as ever, again complaining about the sharif Auda Abu Tayi  played by Anthony Quinn is Anthony Quinn as he's always played whomever, from Atilla to Kublai Khan to Zorba.  As usual love Prince Faisel as played by Alec Guinness.  As usual I lament the dunes, which don't exist in Arabia.

 

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7 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Is the bolded Na'vi for Top Gun: Maverick? ;)

Glad to hear that you liked Puss in Boots 2. The more I think about it, the more I think 2022 was the golden year of the sequel. Puss in Boots 2, Top Gun 2, Avatar 2 were all films that were better than their predecessors. 

Largely dormant franchises at that. Puss in Boots 2 unfortunately got swamped by Avatar at the box office, but it's still doing pretty well all things considered. 2022 was a pretty brutal year for bg screen animation. I read some blurb about every Dreamworks film outgrossing every Disney/Pixar film this year. I don't know. 

And to think Top Gun 2 came that close to going direct to streaming. 

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