WWWatching

[Argonath Diver]

Went to a cheap Tuesday showing of Dungeons and Dragons. Quite a fun movie. I have a specific issue, though: The product I watched was blurry, and it seemed to vary from scene to scene. If I were watching it on my projection screen and not a movie theater, I would have assumed it was a 720p file. Many scenes had direct shots of main characters speaking, and their faces were completely out of focus as if I were watching a DVD from the 90s. I honestly would have liked the film a lot better, I think, if it were far more crisp. Some scenes seemed to look fine, though! Very odd. Surely they just have a digital file they're essentially pressing play with, right? And their giant expensive projector should be displaying a high-resolution image, even though it was one of the smaller theaters? I honestly don't know if it was an issue with the theatre or the movie is bafflingly poorly rendered. Since no one else has mentioned it, I assume the former.

My favorite moment was the potato toss, which some guy up front added a perfectly timed "BONK!" to. I missed some clear references to specific DnD lore or creatures, but was at least aware of the major locations mentioned and of course the more general rpg tropes. Very happy to see a movie having fun throughout without descending into rank stupidity.

[WarGalley]

26 minutes ago, Argonath Diver said:

Went to a cheap Tuesday showing of Dungeons and Dragons. Quite a fun movie. I have a specific issue, though: The product I watched was blurry, and it seemed to vary from scene to scene. If I were watching it on my projection screen and not a movie theater, I would have assumed it was a 720p file. Many scenes had direct shots of main characters speaking, and their faces were completely out of focus as if I were watching a DVD from the 90s. I honestly would have liked the film a lot better, I think, if it were far more crisp. Some scenes seemed to look fine, though! Very odd. Surely they just have a digital file they're essentially pressing play with, right? And their giant expensive projector should be displaying a high-resolution image, even though it was one of the smaller theaters? I honestly don't know if it was an issue with the theatre or the movie is bafflingly poorly rendered. Since no one else has mentioned it, I assume the former.

My favorite moment was the potato toss, which some guy up front added a perfectly timed "BONK!" to. I missed some clear references to specific DnD lore or creatures, but was at least aware of the major locations mentioned and of course the more general rpg tropes. Very happy to see a movie having fun throughout without descending into rank stupidity.

I didn’t have that issue. Maybe it was the screen the image was being projected on?

[Kalbear]

Yeah, our viewing was great, no issues. Appreciated that it was well lit, colorful and had a lot of nice long shots of fighting.

The bard illusion killed us.

[Argonath Diver]

Just very strange. I feel like I would have noticed in the (many) trailers before the film. Surely they were just as fuzzy as the film itself. Regardless, I enjoyed it throughout and look forward to seeing it - in oddly a better setting than a movie theater. 

The bard illusion had me hooting as well. The couple next to me were clearly DnD veterans and ooh'ed and aah'ed at several minor bits that surely were existing lore I missed. Their sense of humor was wholly different than mine; I laughed pretty hard several times, never at moments they did, but they found several bits hilarious that I felt missed badly. It was an odd experience and I was a bit embarrassed by the end when I'd find myself snickering. I found the film much, much funnier than expected. Having seen John Wick 4 and Super Mario Brothers recently as well, I find myself going more to the theater this season than any since Covid. Might catch Renfield next Tuesday.

[Teng Ai Hui]

12 hours ago, Heartofice said:

That was my favourite episode. I don't think it jumped the shark at all. That would only be the case if the show had never been a bit absurd and wasn't a dark comedy. Really absurd things happen all the time on the show, that is part of it's charm.

True, that phrase was an over-exaggeration.  I just wanted to use the phrase because it's about Winkler, who is a regular in Barry.

Regardless, that episode is still the reason why I dropped the series.

[Cas Stark]

Scream 6.  What to say.  Pro:  Better than the horrible 4 and less horrible 5. The new 'final girl' to replace Sidney is good. Made okay use of NYC location. Con:  the choice of killer(s) was stupid, making the entire plot stupid, everyone else in the new gang is pretty bad and I was hoping they would get killed, it veered weirdly from 'okay this is almost kinda good' to something that felt like a parody of Scream, Courtney Cox looks bad, yes, I know she admits going too hard on fillers but damage is done apparently, it felt more like a generic slasher than part of the Scream franchise.

Also watched an obscure 'evil twin in the mirror' genre movie with Mira Sorvino.  I enjoyed it.  It went exactly as you would predict if you've seen more tha one of the 'evil twin in the mirror' type movies, but had good production values and something about the winter landscape really lent a nice feeling to it.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Cas Stark

[RumHam]

10 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Scream 6.  What to say.  Pro:  Better than the horrible 4 and less horrible 5. The new 'final girl' to replace Sidney is good. Made okay use of NYC location. Con:  the choice of killer(s) was stupid, making the entire plot stupid, everyone else in the new gang is pretty bad and I was hoping they would get killed, it veered weirdly from 'okay this is almost kinda good' to something that felt like a parody of Scream, Courtney Cox looks bad, yes, I know she admits going too hard on fillers but damage is done apparently, it felt more like a generic slasher than part of the Scream franchise.

I'm not far into it but the opening is strange.

Spoiler

I understand horror characters making bad decisions, but Weaving's character seems to wave and then run into an alley like she suspects it contains some kinda star trek anamoly that would explain why the things the person she's never met is telling her are happening don't line up with what she's seeing. 

 

[Corvinus85]

Watched the first episode of Citadel on Amazon, a SF-ish action spy show produced by the Russos, though they're not the main writers. It was very meh. I didn't care to watch the 2nd episode.

The action was nothing special, full of edits, there's a bunch of forced humor and there was nothing in the episode to hook me.

[Cas Stark]

On 4/26/2023 at 12:47 PM, TheLastWolf said:

Halfway through BCS S3

Fookin great and all but

Where is Lalo already heh

Lalo is so epic.  Not only is he one of the best characters of BB/BCS world, but his intro is one of the best of all time.

[Heartofice]

18 minutes ago, Cas Stark said:

Lalo is so epic.  Not only is he one of the best characters of BB/BCS world, but his intro is one of the best of all time.

He has a real 'How have I never seen this actor before' vibe. 

[Cas Stark]

11 hours ago, RumHam said:

I'm not far into it but the opening is strange.

  Reveal hidden contents

I understand horror characters making bad decisions, but Weaving's character seems to wave and then run into an alley like she suspects it contains some kinda star trek anamoly that would explain why the things the person she's never met is telling her are happening don't line up with what she's seeing. 

 

What did you think?  I'm surprised so many people said they LOVED it and some even put it above 2 or 3.  No.  Just no.  It's like the audience is so starved for good content that everyone tries to believe they love this stuff.  It was okay, not terrible, but not very good either.

Spoiler

I liked that they had Sam as a victim of an internet conspiracy, that was clever and timely, but too bad they didn't do more with that angle or the SM angle overall, it would be more in keeping with Scream's meta commentary on media through the years.  I dislike Sam's little sister and really wanted Chad to get it.  Mindy and her girfriend I liked and would have preferred the gf live and the brother died.

 

[RumHam]

4 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

What did you think?  I'm surprised so many people said they LOVED it and some even put it above 2 or 3.  No.  Just no.  It's like the audience is so starved for good content that everyone tries to believe they love this stuff.  It was okay, not terrible, but not very good either.

  Hide contents

I liked that they had Sam as a victim of an internet conspiracy, that was clever and timely, but too bad they didn't do more with that angle or the SM angle overall, it would be more in keeping with Scream's meta commentary on media through the years.  I dislike Sam's little sister and really wanted Chad to get it.  Mindy and her girfriend I liked and would have preferred the gf live and the brother died.

 

Yeah, I was a victim of the reviews. My expectations were higher than they should have been. Not sure why people loved it either. 

[Scott_N]

13 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Watched the first episode of Citadel on Amazon, a SF-ish action spy show produced by the Russos, though they're not the main writers. It was very meh. I didn't care to watch the 2nd episode.

The action was nothing special, full of edits, there's a bunch of forced humor and there was nothing in the episode to hook me.

A big budget Amazon show. What could possibly go wrong.

Can't remember where I read it by someone said it's basically a business plan in search of show. That seems to distill Amazon's approach to creativity perfectly.

[Nictarion]

Still making my way through my folk horror box set: All The Haunts Be Ours. Tonight I watched A Field In England (2013). Quite a trip. Kind of feels like Robert Eggers might have been somewhat inspired by this when he made The Lighthouse. They have a similar tone anyway. And that was definitely the first film I thought of while watching it. 

[Ramsay B.]

5 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Still making my way through my folk horror box set: All The Haunts Be Ours. Tonight I watched A Field In England (2013). Quite a trip. Kind of feels like Robert Eggers might have been somewhat inspired by this when he made The Lighthouse. They have a similar tone anyway. And that was definitely the first film I thought of while watching it. 

I don’t think I’ve seen it since around the time it came out, but that great tent scene always stuck with me.

I went and saw Evil Dead Rise. It was exactly the bloody madness I thought it would be so I enjoyed it. They actually made the urban setting work. 

[Isis]

5 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Still making my way through my folk horror box set: All The Haunts Be Ours. Tonight I watched A Field In England (2013). Quite a trip. Kind of feels like Robert Eggers might have been somewhat inspired by this when he made The Lighthouse. They have a similar tone anyway. And that was definitely the first film I thought of while watching it. 

I watched this really late at night when I was tired and that made it feel so long that it was almost painful. Probably didn't appreciate it as much as I could have, but equally cannot face watching it again.

This week I went to see Alien and Aliens* at the BFI IMAX. Watching the chest-burster scene on a MASSIVE screen was fantastic. Both films felt far more oppressive on the big screen. 

 

*not the director's cut, which was a relief as I didn't get home until almost 1am with just the theatrical release.

[Cas Stark]

Rewatched Scream, what a difference.  It's hard to remember how really fresh it was when it came out after so many years, imitators and viewings.  It's no wonder it re invigorated the entire slasher genre.  Kind of surprising that none of the cast really broke out to be stars.  Courtney Cox was already 'big' and nobody else had much of a career, compared to say, the other great 90s slasher, I know what you did last summer that had SMG, Ryan Phillipe, and Freddie Prinze.

[Zorral]

14 hours ago, Scott_N said:

A big budget Amazon show. What could possibly go wrong.

Can't remember where I read it by someone said it's basically a business plan in search of show. That seems to distill Amazon's approach to creativity perfectly.

The first two episodes make it highly unlikely I shall return to it.  That crazy time jumping thing that has for reasons unknown to any reasonable person become ubiquitous on tv, the utter preposterousity of all its parts, not to mention the "eight years later" when he's got a kid who is clearly older than 8, not to mention how long it takes from conception to being born, to one of my fave actresses mouthing the greatness of contemporary England as among  the world's greatest powers -- and for GOOD!  -- Holy Cow!

[DMC]

4 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Courtney Cox was already 'big' and nobody else had much of a career, compared to say, the other great 90s slasher, I know what you did last summer that had SMG, Ryan Phillipe, and Freddie Prinze.

I dunno Rose McGowan had Charmed and Grindhouse in the aughts.  Then, ya know, lots of stuff happened.  But at least initially I'd say she was on par with those other three.  Plus, for the non-teeny-bobbers, there's fucking Liev Schreiber!  And I've always liked Neve Campbell more than any of the other young actors in either of those, but, yeah, always wondered why she didn't break out.

Anyway, always really enjoyed the original Scream trilogy.  Even the third one.  Still haven't seen the latest two.

[Cas Stark]

25 minutes ago, DMC said:

I dunno Rose McGowan had Charmed and Grindhouse in the aughts.  Then, ya know, lots of stuff happened.  But at least initially I'd say she was on par with those other three.  Plus, for the non-teeny-bobbers, there's fucking Liev Schreiber!  And I've always liked Neve Campbell more than any of the other young actors in either of those, but, yeah, always wondered why she didn't break out.

Anyway, always really enjoyed the original Scream trilogy.  Even the third one.  Still haven't seen the latest two.

I forgot about Charmed, true. She really did have a lot of screen charisma.  I didn't count Liev because you barely see him in the first one, but he definitely has had a big career.  The original trilogy is great, I'm debating whether to also rewatch 2 and 3 this weekend.  The last two, 5 &  6 are weak for Scream but above average for slashers.

Edited April 29, 2023 by Cas Stark