Watch, Watched, Watching: Looking for the Light

[Cas Stark]

I gave up on The Peripheral at the third episode.  It was no Westworld.  I might go back to it some day, but it was bland and didn't seem much related to Gibson's work/style.

Smile.  Much better than expected, could have done without the 21st century obligatory 

Spoiler

dead pet

The Bye Bye Man.  Lord god in heaven, how did this ever get made and how did Faye fucking Dunaway and Carrie Ann Moss get involved in this POS.  Everything was atrocious.  Oh it also had Cressida Bonas, known primarily as Prince Harry's ex...her US accent was good, her acting not so much.  Effectings, acting, story, atmosphere, terrible even by B movie horror standards.

[Heartofice]

The Peripheral WAS bland, very bland. I wanted to like it but there was no hook to the story at all to keep me going, and I dropped it half way through. 

[Zorral]

"S. S. Rajamouli discusses crossover success, taking inspiration from “Braveheart,” and the critics who say his movie is a Hindu-nationalist fantasy"

Fantasy, which it is, btw, as anyone who watches can tell, even if watcher isn't from India, or perhaps, particularly, if not a Hindu, as well as non-historical, as the Braveheart influence tells. Discloser, I'm one of those watchers, who not only enjoyed RRR's sizzle and pizzaz so much, but also enjoyed enormously previous Rajamouli films such as Baahubali 1 and 2.  Yet, the dangerous nationalist theme, i.e. anti-Muslim, leaped out, could not be ignored even while I watched.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/the-man-behind-indias-controversial-global-blockbuster-rrr-s-s-rajamouli

Quote

 

... For many American viewers, their story will come across as an exuberant anti-colonialist tall tale. But some Indian critics have identified a strain of Hindu nationalism in the film’s mythologized telling of Bheem and Raju’s historic freedom fight. They point to the fact that Raju, who belongs to a privileged caste, is ultimately elevated in the narrative above Bheem, a leader of the Gond tribe, who declares himself a humble student of Raju’s teachings. They point to how this story line replicates hierarchical relationships from the Hindu epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which Rajamouli has cited as sources of inspiration, and especially to the film’s patriotic final number, “Etthara Jenda” (“Raise the Flag”), which celebrates certain historic figures favored by the Hindutva movement while leaving out founding fathers such as Mahatma Gandhi. In Vox, the critic Ritesh Babu called the movie a “casteist Hindu wash of history and the independence struggle.”

There are other reasons to wonder about the movie’s political intentions. Rajamouli’s father, who co-wrote “RRR,” has been at work on a film commissioned by the R.S.S., the Hindu-nationalist extremist group, which he has called a “great organization.” Rajamouli told me that his father’s script is “very emotional and extremely good.” But, during several recent interviews over Zoom, Rajamouli denied that “RRR” had any deliberate ideological implications and was persistently evasive on the subject of the country’s politics and his own. “Entertainment is what I provide,” he said. Rajamouli is forty-nine years old, with a swoop of salt-and-pepper curls and a thick beard in a matching shade. (You can spot him in a cameo during “RRR” ’s patriotic finale.) In our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, he also discussed atheism, what makes a good action sequence, and some of his creative influences, including Mel Gibson and Ayn Rand. ....

 

 

[williamjm]

I watched The Banshees of Inisherin. I thought it did a great job of portraying life on a small island off the coast of Ireland in the 1920s. The acting was very good as well, I think Brendan Gleeson is good in everything and Colin Farrel is much better in this sort of film that in most of the blockbusters he has appeared in, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan also stood out. While it might be more of a tragedy than a comedy it did have some very funny lines, particularly the conversations with the priest.

[DireWolfSpirit]

2 hours ago, williamjm said:

I watched The Banshees of Inisherin. I thought it did a great job of portraying life on a small island off the coast of Ireland in the 1920s. The acting was very good as well, I think Brendan Gleeson is good in everything and Colin Farrel is much better in this sort of film that in most of the blockbusters he has appeared in, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan also stood out. While it might be more of a tragedy than a comedy it did have some very funny lines, particularly the conversations with the priest.

This is a good explanation for my impression as well.

Listened to an interview from a critic and they mention it is an allegory to the fractious love/hate story that is playing out with rebellion on the Irish mainland (which the movie shows in the distance as a place where artillery or some occasional explosion can be heard across the waters).

In that context its probably something one could view a few times and catch some wider messages in the work.

I will revisit the movie in the future.

[Iskaral Pust]

On 2/16/2023 at 6:42 PM, Cas Stark said:

I gave up on The Peripheral at the third episode.  It was no Westworld.  I might go back to it some day, but it was bland and didn't seem much related to Gibson's work/style.

Same.  The pilot was very promising.  It fell off a bit in the second episode and by the fourth I gave up.  Far too bland and talky, and the pace was slowing down to deliver more and more talky, portentous exposition on character relationships that I had zero reason to care about.  The dialogue was so dull.  Very poorly structured and written. 

[dbunting]

I started watching Ted Lasso and it's pretty good so far.

[williamjm]

I watched Howl's Moving Castle, which was one of the Studio Ghibli films I hadn't seen. I thought it was very good, the animation is gorgeous and there's lots of imagination in the design. The story was fun, I think the only weak aspect was some parts of the ending felt a bit rushed to have a comprehensively happy ending. I don't know how much is from the original book but the anti-war message felt very typical of Miyazaki's work and the contrast between the fantastical locations and the devastation caused by bombing was effective.

[Zorral]

Watched the first episode of the second/final season of Carnival Row.  First tv/streaming I've done in weeks.  As I quite liked the first season, so this first episode was a satisfying watch for me, particularly as Orlando Bloom has aged so very well out of that iconic Legolas role.  He had to work very hard to escape Legolas, even going so far as cowardly Paris in Troy.  Now, with all that behind him, and hopefully the pandemic crises for film and television behind the industry, he can get some meaty roles.  He would have been quite in place in the Peaky Blinders cast as he is now, one thinks, for instance.

Adding this because I just saw it, and it might be of interest to some of the UK members:

Quote

David Bowie: Love You Till Tuesday
9pm, Sky Arts
This curious 1969 promotional film was created to bring David Bowie – then a mime star under Kenneth Pitt’s management – to a wider audience. (It was never actually shown on a major network; not that this seemed to do any damage to his career.) This version, which airs seven years after his death, includes a previously unreleased original recording of Space Oddity. Hollie Richardson

And one more thing, just learned, o my!  The Woman King is available right now on netflix!

[Jace, Extat]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

... particularly as Orlando Bloom has aged so very well out of that iconic Legolas role.  He had to work very hard to escape Legolas, even going so far as cowardly Paris in Troy.  

 

Alternatively Brave 

[RhaenysBee]

   well Smile Time just had me laugh out loud for the first time in 6 days. The genius of this episode. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Do you like B shark movies as much as I do? If so, Maneater is comedy/horror gold in the most absurd ways possible.

[Kalbear]

1 hour ago, RhaenysBee said:

/cdn-cgi/mirage/da6c879aad2fd1ed6f1c90586f7e3a22bf460bead4d1ae72f385b4ffe9fe3a22/1280/https://asoiaf.westeros.org/uploads/emoticons/default_lmao.gif /cdn-cgi/mirage/da6c879aad2fd1ed6f1c90586f7e3a22bf460bead4d1ae72f385b4ffe9fe3a22/1280/https://asoiaf.westeros.org/uploads/emoticons/default_lmao.gif /cdn-cgi/mirage/da6c879aad2fd1ed6f1c90586f7e3a22bf460bead4d1ae72f385b4ffe9fe3a22/1280/https://asoiaf.westeros.org/uploads/emoticons/default_lmao.gif well Smile Time just had me laugh out loud for the first time in 6 days. The genius of this episode. 

Smile time is worth the entire angel series alone. An absolute masterpiece.

[Rippounet]

The second season of Vox machina was, in fact, excellent. They added character development in a way that felt natural and also built an interesting plot. Lots of hilarious moments too.

Dunno if the show feels as good if you've never played DnD though... There are lots of small jokes that I reckon only RPG players would get.

[WarGalley]

51 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

The second season of Vox machina was, in fact, excellent. They added character development in a way that felt natural and also built an interesting plot. Lots of hilarious moments too.

Dunno if the show feels as good if you've never played DnD though... There are lots of small jokes that I reckon only RPG players would get.

I'm enjoying the second season and have never played DnD. I don't even know how to play. I started watching some of the Critical Role game sessions behind Campaign 1 just to learn more but still have no clue.

[Rippounet]

7 minutes ago, WarGalley said:

I'm enjoying the second season and have never played DnD. I don't even know how to play. I started watching some of the Critical Role game sessions behind Campaign 1 just to learn more but still have no clue.

If you've watched the game sessions, you know the basics. You don't have to know what dice roll they need or what their characteristics are ; knowing they roll the dice to determine if they succeed or fail to do something is enough. The mechanisms are recognizable throughout the show, and I find it fun to identify when something happening on screen is clearly supposed to correspond to a skill test by a character. Characters joking about their respective power-ups ("you get wings?") or over the loot ("why would you get the magic key?") even made me chuckle.
Though the show is good precisely because it goes far beyond that, and seems to leave such moments as little jokes.

[WarGalley]

8 minutes ago, Rippounet said:

If you've watched the game sessions, you know the basics. You don't have to know what dice roll they need or what their characteristics are ; knowing they roll the dice to determine if they succeed or fail to do something is enough. The mechanisms are recognizable throughout the show, and I find it fun to identify when something happening on screen is clearly supposed to correspond to a skill test by a character. Characters joking about their respective power-ups ("you get wings?") or over the loot ("why would you get the magic key?") even made me chuckle.
Though the show is good precisely because it goes far beyond that, and seems to leave such moments as little jokes.

Gotcha. Was Scanlan getting a broom one of those times?

[Rippounet]

59 minutes ago, WarGalley said:

Gotcha. Was Scanlan getting a broom one of those times?

Possibly. When searching a room, the quality or usefulness of the object you find can indeed depend on how good your dice roll was. TBH though, it struck me more when he tried to figure out what it does. To me that felt like a moment straight out of one of my own RPG campaigns: you find what could be a magical object but don't know what it does, so you try different skills to see if one of them can reveal how it works. If the DM has a sense of humor, sometimes the object doesn't actually do anything special, or its ability will only be revealed in an extremely specific -and hilarious- set of circumstances.

Spoiler

Edit: also, Grog and his blade was classic RPG. In many RPGs you need a regular willpower check to wield a cursed weapon. And if things go south, you can lose (temporarily or permanently) a skill or points on one of your characteristics (in this case, strength).

 

[DireWolfSpirit]

"Your Honor" with Bryan Cranston is actually quite interesting.

I tried to ignore this series because i didnt think it was going be anything new. But kept finding it on in the background and it drew me in .

The supporting cast is top notch and Cranston has that ability to be so convincing with his dialogue that you feel you are right in the room with him having a conversation. Its impressive as hell.

I rate this series as outstanding imo.

[Ran]

On 2/12/2023 at 12:05 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Interesting The Northman was still your fav of the year. 

I haven't really watched too many of the 2022 releases (in part  because they take so damned long to get out here), so that's a part of it. That said, I've caught my way through most of the Oscar nominees and would put The Northman above any of them... well, until Banshees. But I have strong hopes for Tár (out in March here) and the un-nominated Aftersun (out in theatres this week). Oh, and Women Talking is out this week too, but that one will wait.

Had I my druthers, The Menu would have been nominated too.

On 2/12/2023 at 12:05 AM, Tywin et al. said:

And Tar was kind of a bore for me too, so you'll probably love it. 

Hah.

On 2/12/2023 at 4:49 PM, Veltigar said:

Top Gun: Maverick (),

Thank goodness!

On 2/12/2023 at 4:49 PM, Veltigar said:

but The Banshees of Inisherin would definitely rank high in my 2022 list. I wonder whether it has a chance to prevail against Everything Everywhere All At Once.

  Reveal hidden contents

It's a nicely layered film, although I do think its message is somewhat more obvious than a lot of critics make it out to be. I found the allusions to the Civil War and towards the institutional abuse of children (and really the community as a whole, as the constable wasn't exactly peaceable against other villagers either) easy to spot, but I think the film's main message revolves around the value/virtue of friendliness and nicety. 

Colm looks down on Padraic's reflexive nicety and only really thinks of him as interesting when he provokes conflict. By the end of the movie however, it is clear that Padraic's nicety has been stripped from him and that Colm has traded a silly tune and four fingers for the soul of his friend and a deterioration of the collective existence of everyone on the island.

In other words, art is important. Art is valuable, but the artist should not forget that they also have the responsibility of being a good human being as well.

One of the (perhaps unintentional) funniest moments in the film was the confrontation between Padraix/Siobhan and Colm in the tavern. If I recall correctly, Colm sums up his main argument for rejecting the friendship of Colm by making an incorrect reference to Mozart and claiming that no one has ever been remembered for being nice.

... but this is Ireland in the 1920s and all the houses we see in the film are festooned with images of Jesus and depictions of the cross. He's literally the most famous person ever to these people and we remember Jesus because he was exceedingly nice and caring. So Colm really has some proper reflecting to do on his claim towards intellectualism XD

Spoiler

Absolutely agree with you on all of this., It's a deep work and McDonagh is clearly, and intensely, interested in how people relate to one another. You see it in his plays and in his films.

 

On 2/12/2023 at 5:28 PM, Heartofice said:

I think there is a bit of an issue with Banshees in that there is an element of surreality to elements of the movie, the central premise, cutting off fingers etc.. but I’m not sure the entire movie reinforces that surreal tone. Mostly it feels like a pretty grounded historical drama.

Except for all of those things that are surreal, surely? And the old woman foretelling people's fates?

 

On 2/12/2023 at 5:28 PM, Heartofice said:

That’s why it’s easy to not totally be convinced by the main characters actions. I think it’s a difficult tone to get right and it’s walking a line that I’m not sure works for everyone 

I think it's fair enough that the balance does not work for everyone.

ETA: oooold post that I never got around to making but was still somehow here. Since I wrote it, I have in fact seen Charlotte Wells's Aftersun. I think I saw someone on the forum name it their new favorite film (ever or of the last few years, I can' recall), replacing Céline Sciamma Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I would not go quite that far myself (I really love Portrait), but that said, it's a beautiful film, and can see the point sof comparison because of some of its themes (self-discovery, regret, loss) with a pitch-perfect control of its tone. Paul Mescal's performance definitely merits the awards attention it received, and Frankie Corio was great as the young Sophie.

I have seen some people miss the point of the film, not understanding what was the underlying subtext on what on its surface seems like a slice-of-life account of a vacation to Turkey between a father and daughter, so to be clear (and this is only for others who have seen it! If you haven't, don't read it!)

Spoiler

Mescal's Calum is staring into the abyss of a black, crippling depression while trying to mask it from his daughter... and the scenes of the older Sophie dreaming of her father and looking back on that vacation as she has become a new mother herself is poignant because -- IMO -- it's very clear that when she leaves him, he went and killed himself shortly thereafter. His leaving her at the airport was the last time she ever saw him alive. It's why the clothing she sees him wearing in her dream-visions of him dancing alone franctically in a crowd is the same clothes he wears at the airport.

Once you understand that -- the film never throws it in your face, it's something that dawns on you through the movie -- it gives an immense poignancy to the whole thing. Very powerful film.