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Watch, Watched, Watching: Looking for the Light


Ramsay B.

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Six episodes in, and I'm still not sure what to make of Mayfair Witches. The story is gripping and, at the same time, achingly slow. Maybe the atmosphere (dark and oppressive) is a bit too thick for my liking. I haven't read anything by Anne Rice in ages, but maybe that comes from adapting a prose that's not afraid of getting a bit surreal at times (there are some very weird moments in that show).

It's got a good plot, though Fort Salem and Wednesday toyed with some of the same ideas. Mayfair Witches goes a bit stronger on the aesthetics - incredible lighting on that show. Alexandra Daddario's acting is top notch - in fact, it's probably the best of all three shows. Its huge problem is the slow pace - it feels like the story's barely starting. I know next to nothing about the trilogy of books, but it seems they cut out some darker stuff (incest?), so maybe that's why it feels something is missing.

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2 hours ago, Rippounet said:

Six episodes in, and I'm still not sure what to make of Mayfair Witches. The story is gripping and, at the same time, achingly slow. Maybe the atmosphere (dark and oppressive) is a bit too thick for my liking. I haven't read anything by Anne Rice in ages, but maybe that comes from adapting a prose that's not afraid of getting a bit surreal at times (there are some very weird moments in that show).

It's got a good plot, though Fort Salem and Wednesday toyed with some of the same ideas. Mayfair Witches goes a bit stronger on the aesthetics - incredible lighting on that show. Alexandra Daddario's acting is top notch - in fact, it's probably the best of all three shows. Its huge problem is the slow pace - it feels like the story's barely starting. I know next to nothing about the trilogy of books, but it seems they cut out some darker stuff (incest?), so maybe that's why it feels something is missing.

The biggest miss in all of it is the casting of Jack Huston as Lasher. I admittedly forget a lot of the book, but as I mentioned further upthread, there's nothing about him that explains the character's hold on and seduction of generations of Mayfairs.

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I watched most of Sikinamarink. 

Spoiler

I love horror but ...also kids? I dunno the characters sound too much like my four year old nephew and his younger cousin. 

At the same time I hate to "please think of the children" but fuck, I don't know if I want to finish this movie. 

 

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I went to see Cocaine Bear over the weekend. It was way better than a movie with that title should be (A friend of mine described it as "it's like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter except for the fact that it's also a good movie). It's definitely not a cinematic master piece, but it was a great time at the movies for me. 

The actors are all solid, which is not that surprising when you look at the cast. Keri Russel, Ray Liotta, Kristofer Hivju, Margo Martindale, Matthew Rhys, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and Ice Cube's kid. That's an impressive line up for a film with such a jokey concept. I'm assuming Elizabeth Banks pulled a lot of strings to get this many veteran actors together for this type of a crazy concept film.

The action is pretty good, the bear CGI is well done and aside from the fact that it has some really funny moments, it also has some pretty good dramatic beats (in particular, the cop's storyline was quite touching imo).

So yeah, definitely would recommend seeing it.

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Went to watch a morning session of Cocaine Bear - because why not? But then I saw that Luther:The Fallen Sun was also showing. Really wanted to see John Luther on the big screen so I opted to see that first. If you've been a fan of Idris Elba's Luther character and series, then you won't be disappointed. This movie also works as a standalone for anyone who hasn't see any of the Luther series. Andy Serkis is the antagonist and just eats up his role. It's not perfect, it has a few problems, but I still found it easily digestible. Parts of the final act felt very Bondish, and the last scene hints at what may be in store for DCI J. Luther. In his signature coat with staunch, bowed gait, Luther looks at home on the bigger screen.  


Then I took a break for lunch and returned to watch... Cocaine Bear. Had great reservations and thought I might've just wasted good money on a ticket, but when I saw Elizabeth Banks' name come up as the director I felt a lot better, thinking if Banks has been allowed to put her stamp on this then it should be hilarious --- and it was! What a stupid idea for a movie, but they made it work. The CGI bear puts other recent CGI efforts to shame. Also, if this was Ray Liotta's last film, then I'm happy he went out on a crowd pleaser. Leave your brain at the door, unwind and root for the bear! Recommended.

 

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Watched a few movies this weekend.  The Imitation Game  very good movie about Turing, his life and breaking the Enigma code during WW2. I had little knowledge about him other than knowing he was a math genius, computer godfather of sorts, so to see what he went through and what he and the team accomplished was pretty cool.

Margin Call  a decent movie with a lot of names in it about a nameless Wall St firm and the crash from housing. It was decent but with all the names in it I guess I expected more, the Big Short IMO was a far superior movie.

Devotion  a based on real life movie about a black fighter pilot from 1950. The story was good but the way it played out seemed so fake, and I know that's not the word I am looking for.  During the movie there are at least five different scenes where it seems like the actor is making a speech to win an oscar. IDK, the movie just felt off to me and I was on my phone quite a bit.

Spoiler

The only part that got my attention was finding out his wife got his letter after his crash and death. That and the conversation between her and the other pilot on the bench.

 

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3 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Margin Call  a decent movie with a lot of names in it about a nameless Wall St firm and the crash from housing. It was decent but with all the names in it I guess I expected more, the Big Short IMO was a far superior movie.

I think I always preferred Margin Call because I think it gave me more insight into how the conversations and dynamics play out in these large finance companies and how events play out in real time. I like Big Short but I guess I read the book already, plus it seems to work as an explainer for anyone who knew nothing about the crash. 

Anyway, as for what I watched:

I got around to watching The Square properly. Last time I think i was interrupted and didn't manage it all or something. Even this time I just had to stop several times as I was feeling tired and it is a movie that seems to take a mental toll on you. The situations are so awkward and cringe inducing that it makes it hard to continue, it's almost painful. In that way it's hard to say if it's an enjoyable watch or not. Certainly Claes Bang is fantastic, and having just watched him in Bad Sisters seems to contribute to your understanding of what a shitty human he is. First watch it took a while to understand that he was a twat, this time it's much clearer from the very start. Someone that good looking you just assume is the hero.

Then have been watching Fleishman is in Trouble. Just a couple of episodes in but its an enjoyable show about being divorced and shitty marriage. Jesse Eisenberg has looked middle aged since birth but now seems too young to be middle aged. So far I feel like there has to be some sort of perspective shift as Claire Danes' wife character is coming across as the worst human on the planet. 
 

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59 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I feel like there has to be some sort of perspective shift as Claire Danes' wife character is coming across as the worst human on the planet. 
 

With the daughter character being a close second.

Also two episodes in and I like it so far, probably in part because I like all three main actors, Lizzy Caplan in particular.

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Watched Knock at the Cabin Last Night.

Ugh. M Night Shyamalan at his absolute worst. 

As for the plot...
 

Spoiler

A random gay family has to be destroyed in order to save the rest of humanity from God's wrath.

What the fuck is this shit?

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Did my Sunday episodes which were all very excellent and seeming to get better and better each week, some of my favorite stuff since the programming lulls we saw during the pandemic peak.

The show episodes were

The (Mayor of Kingston, 1923, and The Last of Us).

All of which I've been catching the new episodes on the wknd, during the week the same for (Your Honor) a fourth excellent show and another sign of rebound from that dreaded pandemic drought where it fealt like nothing great came out for like 18 mos.

Thank goodness weve (audience and the industry) has plowed past those days.

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9 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Watched Knock at the Cabin Last Night.

Ugh. M Night Shyamalan at his absolute worst. 

As for the plot...
 

  Hide contents

A random gay family has to be destroyed in order to save the rest of humanity from God's wrath.

What the fuck is this shit?

It’s based on a book so you can’t completely blame M. Night for this. The plot is loco but I liked it. Bautista was great in it.

I actually prefer the movie over the novel too, which is obviously a rarity.

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On 2/27/2023 at 10:47 AM, ithanos said:

Went to watch a morning session of Cocaine Bear - because why not? But then I saw that Luther:The Fallen Sun was also showing. Really wanted to see John Luther on the big screen so I opted to see that first. If you've been a fan of Idris Elba's Luther character and series, then you won't be disappointed. This movie also works as a standalone for anyone who hasn't see any of the Luther series. Andy Serkis is the antagonist and just eats up his role. It's not perfect, it has a few problems, but I still found it easily digestible. Parts of the final act felt very Bondish, and the last scene hints at what may be in store for DCI J. Luther. In his signature coat with staunch, bowed gait, Luther looks at home on the bigger screen.  

Read a worrying review of this (Luther) at the weekend which seemed to be saying that the 'threat' wasn't explicit enough, and that the audience needed it to be more graphic in order to take it seriously. It was not a well-written review overall and this specific point just made it seem really vulture-ish, like give me more torture porn...

Also I watched Everything Everwhere All At Once and I did not enjoy it that much maybe like 7/10. Had I been watching it on my own I might have turned it off after the first ten minutes - that part was busy as fuck and I cannot abide the Church of Busy. It's a 'clever' film I guess, but I just found it a bit needy and so sickly sweet that it made my teeth hurt. I didn't hate it but I definitely did not love it.

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7 hours ago, Isis said:

Read a worrying review of this (Luther) at the weekend which seemed to be saying that the 'threat' wasn't explicit enough, and that the audience needed it to be more graphic in order to take it seriously. It was not a well-written review overall and this specific point just made it seem really vulture-ish, like give me more torture porn...

Also I watched Everything Everwhere All At Once and I did not enjoy it that much maybe like 7/10. Had I been watching it on my own I might have turned it off after the first ten minutes - that part was busy as fuck and I cannot abide the Church of Busy. It's a 'clever' film I guess, but I just found it a bit needy and so sickly sweet that it made my teeth hurt. I didn't hate it but I definitely did not love it.

Ditto, I didnt hate it but it failed to capture my undivided interest.

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19 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Nothing from the MCU, go figure.

Of those I've only seen 2001, 8 1/2, Citizen Kane, Ikiru, The Searchers and Vertigo. I'd never even heard of most of the others. 

I'm suspicious of a list where all the movies were made in a 22 year window. It just seems odd and maybe like he's being nostalgic? It's hard to believe that nothing made after 1968 would crack the top ten. 

 

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1 minute ago, RumHam said:

Nothing from the MCU, go figure.

Of those I've only seen 2001, 8 1/2, Citizen Kane, Ikiru, The Searchers and Vertigo. I'd never even heard of most of the others. 

I'm suspicious of a list where all the movies were made in a 22 year window. It just seems odd and maybe like he's being nostalgic? It's hard to believe that nothing made after 1968 would crack the top ten. 

 

It's a weird and obscure list.  I've seen 2001, 8 1/2, Citizen Kane, The Searchers, Vertigo, Red Shoes & The Leopard.  Also have never heard of a couple of those films.  I was thinking the same thing on the timeframe, maybe those were films he loved in his 'formative' years.

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2 hours ago, RumHam said:

Nothing from the MCU, go figure.

Of those I've only seen 2001, 8 1/2, Citizen Kane, Ikiru, The Searchers and Vertigo. I'd never even heard of most of the others. 

I'm suspicious of a list where all the movies were made in a 22 year window. It just seems odd and maybe like he's being nostalgic? It's hard to believe that nothing made after 1968 would crack the top ten. 

Ding ding ding. The newest movie on the list is from 55 years ago. These are movies that shaped him. I think most people tend to elevate the quality of things that occurred in their formative years. Just use basketball as a comparison. Old heads talk up the players of yesteryear, so many fans who came of age during the late 80's to mid 90's can't fathom how LeBron could be better than Jordan, etc. If you asked to make a list of what I thought were the 10 best movies I've seen, almost all of them would probably be films I saw by the time I was 18 and a majority of them would have come out while I was alive. 

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I was watching the previous seasons of Survivor, and believe me, I know why I love the show. I am on season 10 which is Palau. I want to get through all 43 seasons. To me, this show is one of the most interesting things on planet earth. I also watched through season 2 of Game of Thrones but I did not want to watch it after a while. I guess the gore got to me. I think I want to watch Seal Team 6 on Paramount +. I heard some good things about David Boreanaz. I will watch Rings of Power before the end. Speaking of the Tolkien universe, I watched the Fellowship of the Ring The Extended Edition. And now I can understand why some people list these movies as some of the best movies ever made. I was too young before to understand how incredible they are and how deep and beautiful.

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