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

[Cas Stark]

I thought the original Knives Out was much, much better than Glass Onion.  It was over praised and no work of genius but as a lite, fairly well put together film with a great cast, it was fine and well done.

 

[williamjm]

4 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

Angel certainly picked up. I’m not saying it’s steadily as ingenious as Buffy has been at its peak. But it’s solid and strong and they finally managed to open Angel up to be on the way to become a character rather than a trope. Certainly he’s only on the way, but it’s a start. Humor is certainly helping, as well as weird quirks which still feel a bit like feeling around in the dark, but they are certainly trying. The turning point was certainly

  Reveal hidden contents

When he fought Buffy over Faith. That was character. Overall for me it was Faith who brought that soul to the surface Angel is supposed to have. 

Same for Wesley. I enjoy Cordelia and her character development, but she was certainly the easiest because she already had a character for Buffy to work with in Angel. The other aspect of improvement is that some proper antagonists finally entered the ring, which did a huge favor to the story. 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

the Kate Lockely thread feels like a dead end to me, but the Gunn storyline is very much working out and bringing some much needed spice to the crew. Same with the Wolfram and Hart storyline. I do 100% love that they tie the story to Buffy as much as possible (calling Giles for intel or having a 3 hour call with Willow to hack into a file) so it doesn’t feel like there are obviously plot holes at the intersections of the two stories. Also the spin-off doesn’t have that weird resentment for its big sister that lot of spin-offs do. This is professional and results in a much better story for Angel. Yes I did read the “controversy” about the “toxic environment” during the Buffy and Angel productions, but I will still say this: Joss Whedon is a bloody brilliant and ingenious writer and exceptional at what he does. 

 

One of the things Angel consistently did well was to add more character development to the characters who crossed over from Buffy for more than a cameo appearance. I think Wesley is probably the best example of this.

[Derfel Cadarn]

11 minutes ago, williamjm said:

One of the things Angel consistently did well was to add more character development to the characters who crossed over from Buffy for more than a cameo appearance. I think Wesley is probably the best example of this.

Would have been interesting to have season a Buffy season 3 with Wesley from Angel’s latter seasons. He’d have rocked up hqving already dealt with the mayor and most of the other threats. Giles would have been left sulking on the library while Wesley won everyone over.

Spoiler

I liked seeing Wesley working with Faith in season 4 Angel to capture Angelus; it felt like they were finally ready to be slayer/watcher, even if using unorthodox tactics.

 

[Cas Stark]

I always wished Eliza Dushku would have had a better career.

[Derfel Cadarn]

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

I always wished Eliza Dushku would have had a better career.

She was in Bull, broefly, but sued the producers because Michael Weatherly sexually harassed her, and won the equivelent damages of four seasons worth of work.

Edited January 15 by Derfel Cadarn

[briantw]

Regarding Glass Onion and Knives Out, I think that if you're trying to make serious films, you don't let Daniel Craig do that accent.  They're meant to be ridiculous, which is why all the actors are out there hamming it up.  That's probably why they took the roles in the first place.  They get to have fun and act like moronic lunatics.

[Veltigar]

I watched Autumn de Wilde's Emma starring Ana Taylor Joy and Bill Nighy amongst others. I really liked it. Not so good as Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, but definitely in the league with something like Love & Friendship from a few years back. I don't know what it is about Jane Austen's stories, but they make for thoroughly engaging films in my opinion. Just the thing to see on a dreary Sunday.

[Heartofice]

12 minutes ago, briantw said:

Regarding Glass Onion and Knives Out, I think that if you're trying to make serious films, you don't let Daniel Craig do that accent.  They're meant to be ridiculous, which is why all the actors are out there hamming it up.  That's probably why they took the roles in the first place.  They get to have fun and act like moronic lunatics.

I feel like people took Knives Out too seriously and thought it was a proper murder mystery. Actually it was incredibly silly, potentially just stupid, but also a lot of fun. Glass Onion dialled it up to 11, and honestly I don’t mind. I hate TLJ, but I’m not going to harbour bad feelings over these movies, I’d prefer he sticks to this stuff 

[briantw]

17 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I feel like people took Knives Out too seriously and thought it was a proper murder mystery. Actually it was incredibly silly, potentially just stupid, but also a lot of fun. Glass Onion dialled it up to 11, and honestly I don’t mind. I hate TLJ, but I’m not going to harbour bad feelings over these movies, I’d prefer he sticks to this stuff 

I enjoyed both of them for what they were.  

I do think that Glass Onion hinges more on whether or not you find Johnson's style of humor funny than Knives Out did.  

[RumHam]

Speaking of Johnson, what is the consensus on Brick? I never hear anyone talk about it when his name comes up. It seems pretty polarizing though. I think if you can accept the ridiculousness of the premise it's a pretty good movie. 

[Mexal]

10 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Speaking of Johnson, what is the consensus on Brick? I never hear anyone talk about it when his name comes up. It seems pretty polarizing though. I think if you can accept the ridiculousness of the premise it's a pretty good movie. 

It's fantastic.

[briantw]

10 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Speaking of Johnson, what is the consensus on Brick? I never hear anyone talk about it when his name comes up. It seems pretty polarizing though. I think if you can accept the ridiculousness of the premise it's a pretty good movie. 

I’m almost positive I’ve seen it but I remember absolutely nothing about it. 

[Cas Stark]

I loved it.

[RhaenysBee]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

I watched Autumn de Wilde's Emma starring Ana Taylor Joy and Bill Nighy amongst others. I really liked it. Not so good as Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, but definitely in the league with something like Love & Friendship from a few years back. I don't know what it is about Jane Austen's stories, but they make for thoroughly engaging films in my opinion. Just the thing to see on a dreary Sunday.

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. 

1 hour ago, briantw said:

I enjoyed both of them for what they were.  

I do think that Glass Onion hinges more on whether or not you find Johnson's style of humor funny than Knives Out did.  

This may be it. I quite enjoyed Knives Out with all of its ridiculousness, that’s why I watched glass onion in the first place. Which was a disappointment probably because it was too much for me. 

Edited January 15 by RhaenysBee

[Cas Stark]

My favorite Emma is probably Goop's from the 90s.   I did like the new one a lot as well.  I'm a sucker for Jane Austin.  The only adaptation I quit on was last year's Netflix Persuasion. 

[Heartofice]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

Speaking of Johnson, what is the consensus on Brick? I never hear anyone talk about it when his name comes up. It seems pretty polarizing though. I think if you can accept the ridiculousness of the premise it's a pretty good movie. 

I think I loved it first couple of times I saw it, but a later rewatch made me consider that it might well be totally up itself and irritating in a ‘student film’ kind of way. So I’m undecided 

[Ran]

I've always thought Brick was excellent. I don't understand people who can't suspend disbelief to accept a cinematic premise like shifting a period film noir to a modern high school setting. 

[Zorral]

5 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Eliza Dushku would have had a better career.

But she's a lousy actor.  Everything I saw her in that wasn't the Buffy 'verse, she acted just the same -- even the non-or only sorta scripted, travel tourism film exploring -- Albania? I don't recall -- she produced, sorta -- and was in every frame talking  -- all that squirmy stuff she always does.  

[Mexal]

16 minutes ago, Zorral said:

But she's a lousy actor.  Everything I saw her in that wasn't the Buffy 'verse, she acted just the same -- even the non-or only sorta scripted, travel tourism film exploring -- Albania? I don't recall -- she produced, sorta -- and was in every frame talking  -- all that squirmy stuff she always does.  

She was excellent in Bring it On and The New Guy. That is all.

Edited January 15 by Mexal

[williamjm]

2 hours ago, RumHam said:

Speaking of Johnson, what is the consensus on Brick? I never hear anyone talk about it when his name comes up. It seems pretty polarizing though. I think if you can accept the ridiculousness of the premise it's a pretty good movie. 

I really liked it.