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[RumHam]

@TheLastWolf meant to ask if you'd seen the Breaking Bad "Minisodes." That was breifly a thing back then. I remember The Office and Walking Dead did them too.

 

[TheLastWolf]

2 hours ago, RumHam said:

@TheLastWolf meant to ask if you'd seen the Breaking Bad "Minisodes." That was breifly a thing back then. I remember The Office and Walking Dead did them too.

 

Oh no! Thanks for making me aware of their existence 

[RhaenysBee]

I’m watching Last Kingdom season 5 - yes I’m very late to the game. But I need to finish the series before I watch the film, right? 

wheeeeeeeeeeellllllll

Spoiler

Why won’t people age? Aelswith has to be nearing if not over 60 even by the most generous estimation. Eliza Butterworth who is phenomenal in this role needs a damn full grey wig and some serious prosthetic wrinkles. Aethelflaed also needs more grey hair but she sort of passes for her age. Uthred seriously needs aging. Vikings did an atrocious job with aging characters too but they had the grace to age Ragnar and Rollo at least. Grey the damn actor’s hair and slap some latex under his eyes for crying out loud. The King was aged very decently. The queen looks the same she did when they wanted to pass her as a 15 year old. Oh tv… 

Also, Aethelflaed has breast cancer? Really? That one? Right now? Did you have to? Okay I know the show has been out for years so it’s hardy right now. It also helps that 900s are a very safe distance in time from 2023 in terms of medical advancement. And I didn’t wait around for a year to show mine to someone either, right?

Also also, is there any particular reason that Stiorra and Sigtrygrr(?) don’t have a child or the show forgot that time passed in York as well? 

Choreography overall looks faker than anything I have seen on this show or in the genre. 

Brida as the main antagonist is lackluster and tired and clearly the actress thinks so. 

 

[Padraig]

I'm still watching old movies.  Billy Wilder dominated the early 1950s with Sunset Boulevard (which is actually lighter than Double Indemnity) and then Stalag-17 (where a German POW movie is his idea of a comedy).  On that path you could see how he would end up making Some Like it Hot.  To be honest, I did prefer the more dramatic second half of Stalag-17 than the more comedic first half.  Still, he got away with showing men dancing with each other in the mid 1950s, so well done Wilder.  Probably underappreciated nowadays, William Holden would star in both.  Similar roles but the second is weirdly the darker role in a lighter movie.

It is also strange how quickly nostalgia set in across Hollywood.  I suppose the move from silent to talking movies left a lot of wounds.  Sunset Boulevard's background is all about that shift, while Singin in the Rain is equally caught up in that era.  I know it was a bit of a risk to watch a musical but I thought I should watch at least one  And over the first 20/25 minutes, the music was quite integrated into the film.  But after that, it was one big showpiece after the next.  That's a lot of music.  Very well staged but it isn't something I am going to love.  Certainly the least favourite of these movies.

The Browning Version was something very different.  I was only vaguely aware of this movie because of the 1990s remake but this is really good.  You could say it is in the same genre as Brief Encounter.  Buttoned up emotions causing a lot of trouble but its actually very affecting, and it isn't the story you expect (i.e., Dead Poets Society).

And Rear Window.  I have to watch some more Hitchcock.  A very imaginative but simple idea, which can be easily pitched on an elevator  I watched this when I was a kid and thought it was boring but you can now appreciate how skillfully done it handles having your main star stuck in a wheelchair for most of the movie.  The tension is expertly raised at the end.  And you can see how Grace Kelly could end up a Princess in a few years.

[DMC]

49 minutes ago, Padraig said:

which is actually lighter than Double Indemnity

You ever seen the alternate ending to Double Indemnity?  Can't believe I can't find it online -- maybe it's still that controversial -- but look it up!

[Cas Stark]

Up to Ep. 5 on Beef.  It is the first netflix series in a long time that I expect to finish.  I like it, it's good, not great, not an all time anything but well done and diverting.

[Corvinus85]

Finished season 2 of For All Mankind. Overall, I liked it less than season 1 because of a few annoying side plots. But it still had a lot of good going for it. Another strong, yet bittersweet finale.

Spoiler

It pissed me off that they killed off Gordo and Tracy, especially since Gordo was pretty much the best character of the season with really nice development. But I also applaud the writers for not being afraid of doing so. The show continued to be fairly realistic in terms of all the space stuff, and both Gordo and Tracy surviving that moment would have been a stretch.

Started season 3.

[3CityApache]

9 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Started season 3.

We feel sorry for you. Be brave. 

I started Beef yesterday. Just one ep in and it’s ok, but not great so far. 

Also started The Last Thing He Told Me and it shows some promise. 

[Veltigar]

Watched the latest episode of The Mandalorian. It wasn't great, as per the usual, but I did think it was one of the better episodes of the season. I still don't understand a lot of the writing choices, but at least they had some cool set pieces.

After that I let myself be convinced to watch Leon The Professional. I had never seen it before, knowing of the film's (and Besson's) problematic reputation, but my friend who had never seen it either really wanted to watch it as it is apparently 35 on IMDB's top 250 greatest movies' list. He had no clue about the content of the film however, so at least it was interesting to observe his shocked reactions as the film progressed.

In my opinion, Leon is profoundly troubling and I really hope that a film like that will never be made again. It could have been even worse I suppose, because when you read the IMDB trivia section it turns out that the original screenplay was even more criminally deranged. 

I also hated the camera work, although I cannot really put a finger on what rubbed me the wrong way there. I do have to admit that the performances were top notch. They elevate the film considerably. It still doesn't warrant such a high score on IMDb however. 

 

[Heartofice]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

 

After that I let myself be convinced to watch Leon The Professional. I had never seen it before, knowing of the film's (and Besson's) problematic reputation, but my friend who had never seen it either really wanted to watch it as it is apparently 35 on IMDB's top 250 greatest movies' list. He had no clue about the content of the film however, so at least it was interesting to observe his shocked reactions as the film progressed.

In my opinion, Leon is profoundly troubling and I really hope that a film like that will never be made again. It could have been even worse I suppose, because when you read the IMDB trivia section it turns out that the original screenplay was even more criminally deranged. 

I also hated the camera work, although I cannot really put a finger on what rubbed me the wrong way there. I do have to admit that the performances were top notch. They elevate the film considerably. It still doesn't warrant such a high score on IMDb however. 

 

I've heard about the screenplay, it sound deeply fucked up.

However, I used to love that movie and it was incredibly popular as 'that movie you need to see' when I was at uni. I think the cut of the movie I always watched basically depicts it as a paternal relationship that Leon has with Matilda, even if she gets confused at one point and has a crush on him, he basically does not see her in that way. I remember talking to people extensively about the movie in the noughties and the dodgy aspect almost never came up. I used to watch it with mates and nobody really batted an eyelid at it. I've shown it to numerous girlfriends and none ever even thought about it as problematic. Pretty much everyone loved it.

I'd have to watch it again though I probably watched it about 7 years ago, but I suspect that it really just shows how on edge everyone is about these things and theres just a level of zero tolerance for anything that could even be slightly misconstrued. 

On the camera work, I suspect its probably shot in a quite 90s way which hasn't aged well, but at the time I thought it looked great.

[Veltigar]

10 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I've heard about the screenplay, it sound deeply fucked up.

However, I used to love that movie and it was incredibly popular as 'that movie you need to see' when I was at uni. I think the cut of the movie I always watched basically depicts it as a paternal relationship that Leon has with Matilda, even if she gets confused at one point and has a crush on him, he basically does not see her in that way. I remember talking to people extensively about the movie in the noughties and the dodgy aspect almost never came up. I used to watch it with mates and nobody really batted an eyelid at it. I've shown it to numerous girlfriends and none ever even thought about it as problematic. Pretty much everyone loved it.

I'd have to watch it again though I probably watched it about 7 years ago, but I suspect that it really just shows how on edge everyone is about these things and theres just a level of zero tolerance for anything that could even be slightly misconstrued. 

On the camera work, I suspect its probably shot in a quite 90s way which hasn't aged well, but at the time I thought it looked great.

According to IMDB, for the American release some of the more overtly pedo lines were edited out and these were restored in the later international cut. I hope that you watched the American version back in the day and I watched the international one, because the interaction between the two characters was anything but paternal in my book. 

[Ran]

Léon is very good and stylish and I think Besson's direction works, and the performances absolutely elevate it from something that would be a B-movie. Portman, Reno, and Oldman are all fantastic. It's over-rated om IMDB mostly because IMDB skews towards a male audience that likes action and genre, which are disproportionately represented on the list.

Rewatched The Lion in Winter. Just a ridiculous cast -- Peter O'Toole, Katherine Hepburn, a young Anthony Hopkins, an even younger Timothy Dalton, Nigel Terry years before his turn as Arthur in Excalibur -- and enjoyable through-and-through, with delicious dialog. A very 20th century look at a very dysfunctional 12th century family, but it works beautifully. Endlessly quotable film, too.

 

[Heartofice]

6 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

According to IMDB, for the American release some of the more overtly pedo lines were edited out and these were restored in the later international cut. I hope that you watched the American version back in the day and I watched the international one, because the interaction between the two characters was anything but paternal in my book. 

Yeah I looked it up and I’m certain I was watching the American version, which makes sense. From what I’ve read about the international version it seems it’s more that Leon is having to reject Matilda’s advances rather than explicitly looking at her in anything other than a fatherly way. The infamous scene from the screenplay puts a very different tilt to things however.

[Cas Stark]

I haven't seen The Professional in years, but my recollection is that it was a paternal 'take care of her' vibe that was going on in the film.  I don't know anything about the screenplay though, and I'm certain I watched the US cut of the film.  

[Padraig]

17 hours ago, DMC said:

You ever seen the alternate ending to Double Indemnity?  Can't believe I can't find it online -- maybe it's still that controversial -- but look it up!

Whoa.   I wasn't aware of that.  Very interesting.  Apparently they only found stills from the ending they shot.   A bit silly to hide details about a 80 year old movie...but hey.

Spoiler

The original ending to the Cain novella called for the characters to commit double suicide. Suicide, however, was strictly forbidden at the time by the Production Code as a way to resolve a plot, so Wilder wrote and filmed a different ending in which Neff goes to the gas chamber while Keyes watches.

 

[Ramsay B.]

Just caught the episode of Parks and Rec with the Werner Herzog cameo. It kills me every time. He’s just standing there watching them obnoxiously make-out on the table at the end.

[Werthead]

2 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

Just caught the episode of Parks and Rec with the Werner Herzog cameo. It kills me every time. He’s just standing there watching them obnoxiously make-out on the table at the end.

Werner Herzog randomly showing up in things is a new genre in itself.

I recall he got shot live on camera once during a BBC interview and just shrugged it off, saying "It's not significant." It turned out to be from an air rifle and not an actual gun, so he only got a bad bruising, but still. Fucking lunatic.

[Ran]

24 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Werner Herzog randomly showing up in things is a new genre in itself.

I recall he got shot live on camera once during a BBC interview and just shrugged it off, saying "It's not significant." It turned out to be from an air rifle and not an actual gun, so he only got a bad bruising, but still. Fucking lunatic.

The interviewer was Mark Kermode, no less. Crazy stuff:

 

[WarGalley]

Continuing my fantasy binge, I've been watching Campaign 1 of Critical Role on youtube. I started randomly on episode 49 after watching the series on Amazon Prime, and now I'm on episode 78 approaching their confrontation with Thordak. I cannot believe I am watching other people play a table-top game.. much less one where each episode is ~4 hours and I've now burned through 29 of them. It's strangely addicting and wonderful. Despite being a fantasy fan, I never thought of myself as being into something like this.. I'm not a gamer, don't think I've ever used Twitch and have never played DnD or any tabletop game beyond Magic: The Gathering when I was in junior high school. The Critical Role cast members have great charisma and team chemistry. The humor is genuine and funny and the plot keeps moving in interesting ways and fascinating settings. I want to join them on any given gaming session and I feel like I'd fit right in.  

[SuperHans]

Sat through the entirety of 65 last night.

Somebody punch me. Because, holy moly, what a load of crap. 

The movie certainly isn't helped by the curious plot decision to eschew a handful of crash survivors, gradually getting scoffed by dinosaurs, in favour of a single little girl companion for Dino Ren, who doesn't speak a word of English, meaning there is not one meaningful exchange of dialogue in the entire movie. 

And nobody gets eaten. Boooooo!