Watched, Watch, Watching: Pink Bombs

[Spockydog]

Took my eight-year-old niece to see Across the Spider Verse on Saturday. 

Wasn't sure if she was going to like it or not, but OMG, she did, and afterwards she insisted on staying over so she could watch Into the Spider Verse on bluray. Took her to Forbidden Planet on Sunday, and we got a bunch of Miles Morales comics. 

I. Am. Uncle. 

[Corvinus85]

15 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Took my eight-year-old niece to see Across the Spider Verse on Saturday. 

Wasn't sure if she was going to like it or not, but OMG, she did, and afterwards she insisted on staying over so she could watch Into the Spider Verse on bluray. Took her to Forbidden Planet on Sunday, and we got a bunch of Miles Morales comics. 

I. Am. Uncle. 

This you?

 

[Veltigar]

Watched Prisoners (2013) by Dennis VIlleneuve for the first time. I have been meaning to get back to explore some of his older work for quite some time, after I saw three of his recent films in relatively short succession (Bladerunner 2049, Arrival and Dune part 1) and was suitably impressed. I had put off watching most of his work due to my intense dislike for Sicario, the rare dud in the man's work. 

Since his recent efforts have all been spectacular, I was curious to see how his other films stacked up and whether it's the sci-fi genre that sort of lured the talent out of VIlleneuve or whether he always had it and just missed with Sicario. Finally had the time to see Prisoners and I really liked it.

It's not as good as his sci-fi efforts, but despite a sometimes shoddy script, it manages to have quite an impact. The performances are good; there are flashes of brilliance in the directing and cinematography and it all gets to a satisfying conclusion. To compare it with Nolan's output (and by this point, I think Villeneuve is the only current director working who shares the Nolan niche of critically successful crowd-pleasers) , I would say that this is a bit like Villeneuve's Insomnia.

What knocks it down a peg or two is that most of the film is quite predictable, with the exception of one twist which for me relies a bit too much on cheating

Spoiler

I called that the children were hidden under the car as soon as Jake Gyllenhaal's character approached it. Also immediately called that the victim of the Priest was the father of "Alex" and that he was the original murdered (and that was before the Priest shared that the corpse was a child killer).

The only twist I didn't really see coming is the old lady being actively implicated. I called it in the beginning, since it's her house and husband, but I then moved away from the hypothesis because of two things. First, Paul Dano's inexplicably villainous whispering of "they only cried when I left" to Hugh Jackman and his dog torturing afterwards (I feel like to then reveal that he was really an imbecile was a bit too much of a "having your cake and eating it" for Villeneuve) and second, the whole character of Taylor. He muddies the water to an inappropriate degree, especially since he's intimately connected with the Jones clan (as he was apparently their second victim but got out somehow and then proceeded to be damaged in just the right way not to be too helpful for the police). I kind of lost some respect for the film for including that character. 

The one thing I do wonder about and which the internet doesn't give me a clear answer about is the following:

Spoiler

At some point, Gyllenhaal's characters finds out that the father of Jackman's character has committed suicide. It zooms in on the obituary and says that he died without leaving a suicide note. Were they implying that Keller might have killed him?

In that whole protect the family thing? I don't know why it was there otherwise, since Gyllenhaal already knew about the place at that time.

 

On 8/12/2023 at 8:25 AM, Argonath Diver said:

Anyways last night I finally put on Spider-Man Across the Multiverse up on my big home screen. I consider the first film the best comic book ever - apologies to the Nolan fans, love those too but Into The Spider-Verse made me feel like a kid reading my old comics under a flashlight in the 80s.

I had completely forgotten hearing about the, um, structure of the film. As in, it's an unannounced Part 1 that ends with a shameless "See you next year!". Left me with a sore taste in my mouth. But if I'd known it was simply half a film, I would say it was absolutely spectacular, and would think any pre-teen would love it the way I loved Star Wars and Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones. Far more fun than any of the Phase Whatever of the MCU.

It's amazing to me how incompetent they were for doing that. It soured my enjoyment of the film and I felt a bit cheated. If they had announced it upfront, I wouldn't have bat an eyelid. It's just baffling they did it this way, especially since the film has not clear conclusion. It really is a big film chopped in two, which makes it worse. If there was some form of resolution I think it might have gone down better but this was just cheap.

[Heartofice]

8 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

Watched Prisoners (2013) by Dennis VIlleneuve for the first time. I have been meaning to get back to explore some of his older work for quite some time, after I saw three of his recent films in relatively short succession (Bladerunner 2049, Arrival and Dune part 1) and was suitably impressed. I had put off watching most of his work due to my intense dislike for Sicario, the rare dud in the man's work. 

Since his recent efforts have all been spectacular, I was curious to see how his other films stacked up and whether it's the sci-fi genre that sort of lured the talent out of VIlleneuve or whether he always had it and just missed with Sicario. Finally had the time to see Prisoners and I really liked it.

It's not as good as his sci-fi efforts, but despite a sometimes shoddy script, it manages to have quite an impact. The performances are good; there are flashes of brilliance in the directing and cinematography and it all gets to a satisfying conclusion. To compare it with Nolan's output (and by this point, I think Villeneuve is the only current director working who shares the Nolan niche of critically successful crowd-pleasers) , I would say that this is a bit like Villeneuve's Insomnia.

What knocks it down a peg or two is that most of the film is quite predictable, with the exception of one twist which for me relies a bit too much on cheating

I remember watching the first hour or so of Prisoners and thinking it was incredible, so powerful I had to stop and walk around. Thought it was going to be one of the best movies I've ever seen. Then I settled down into the last hour and felt pretty deflated, it all seemed a bit silly and undeserved. Still, really highlighted how good Villeneuve is.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Halfway through Twisted Metal. It's dumb, but a lot of fun. They're blending new characters with ones from the game pretty well. Still no Mr. Grimm though which is bummer. 

[TheLastWolf]

Prisoners is great

[Werthead]

Finished the first season of From.

It has an intriguing premise - a town trapped in some kind of inescapable bubble universe, where strange, human-looking creatures appear at night and besiege the town but can be held off by weird talismans some guy found in a cave - and the show builds up an excellent sense of mystery and mythology. Harold Perrineau is outstanding in the lead role, proving again how he was underused on Lost and some other projects.

The show takes a while to kick off though. There's a lot of so-so actors and a couple who are quite weak, but good writing could overcome that. The writing is a bit too variable in the early going to save them, and the show does have a tendency to indulge in cliches (the newly-arrived kid having Strange Visions will make you audibly groan and you half expect Perrineau to scream "WAAALT!" at him). Some of the characters are well-played and interesting:

Spoiler

Victor, the Creepy Old Guy who is actually okay but massively traumatised after almost 50 years stuck in the town, is the most intriguing, and develops quite well.

Some are not. Jim, the patriarch of the newly-arrived family who are our POV characters at the start, is incredibly dull, and I can't tell if that's on purpose or not. His wife Tabitha (played by Oscar nominee Catalina Moreno) is far better-played and more interesting, which the show thankfully realises after a few episodes and quickly promotes her in importance. There's also a Wish version of Baltar from Battlestar Galactica who goes from well-played to incredibly annoying and back again, sometimes in the same scene (and you realise how incredibly hard it was for Callis to play that kind of role).

The vibe, which mixes a worryingly Abrams-esque mystery box tone with outright pure horror, is pretty good though, and there are a steady stream of mysteries being raised and also answered in reasonably good order rather than just left flapping in the wind. Season 1 improves quite a lot over its run and the finale is very good.

Spoiler

There's even a Red Wedding-level shock twist in the penultimate episode of Season 1 that is both surprisingly effective and also takes a chainsaw to a few of the more annoying B and C-tier characters.

Three episodes into Season 2 and it definitely levels up a lot. 

Spoiler

A whole busload of new arrivals causes pure chaos since they think the townspeople are out of their minds, leading to total carnage when night falls and a very well-played siege of the town's diner by the creatures. We also find out where the creatures live and some additional information on where they may have come from, including the addition of new strange creatures in the forest.

Overall, I wouldn't rush to watch it, but if you want an effective horror show with some good worldbuilding, it's fine, once it gets going.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Season 2 of From sucks though so I stopped after episode 5 of it. 

[Spockydog]

10 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

This you?

 

As in, has my sister given up trying to get me to stop swearing around the wee lassie? Aye.

Also, on the tube on the way home, I may have convinced my niece that ducks and geese are actually water chickens and giant water chickens respectively, and that her parents are lying to her because there's no such thing as ducks or geese.

 

[IlyaP]

9 hours ago, Werthead said:

It has an intriguing premise - a town trapped in some kind of inescapable bubble universe, where strange, human-looking creatures appear at night and besiege the town but can be held off by weird talismans some guy found in a cave - and the show builds up an excellent sense of mystery and mythology. Harold Perrineau is outstanding in the lead role, proving again how he was underused on Lost and some other projects.

Unlike lost, apparently the showrunners go have a rough blueprint and map for the show, per this interview, as well as this one.

So that's at least, y'know, something.

[dbunting]

10 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Also, on the tube on the way home, I may have convinced my niece that ducks and geese are actually water chickens and giant water chickens respectively, and that her parents are lying to her because there's no such thing as ducks or geese.

 

The fun of being an Uncle!  My friends daughter, about 6 yrs old at the time, asked me my first name and I told her Sir.  She called me Sir for years before realizing, or being told that wasn't my name. Sir, can you hand me that, Sir did you throw that...   My daughters friend thought it was hilarious and has called me Sir Bunting every since, she is married and a teacher and still calls me Sir Bunting.  Now I have a grandson, 1 yr old, and I have to decide how to mess him up!

[Spockydog]

14 hours ago, Werthead said:

Finished the first season of From.

It has an intriguing premise - a town trapped in some kind of inescapable bubble universe, where strange, human-looking creatures appear at night and besiege the town but can be held off by weird talismans some guy found in a cave - and the show builds up an excellent sense of mystery and mythology. Harold Perrineau is outstanding in the lead role, proving again how he was underused on Lost and some other projects.

Yes, this is really, really good. 

Just finished season two. All I'm gonna say is every single theory I had about what was going on in this show was destroyed in the final episode.

So glad it's been renewed.

p.s. Terrible title for a TV show.

 

[Veltigar]

I hate to agree with everyone on the Justified: City Primeval spin-off, but I just watched the fifth episode and have to concur. It's like old Justified, but without any of the charm that had. I hope it still picks up, but like @Nictarion up thread, I don't feel any rush to watch a new episode. If this wasn't slow season for TV, I probably also would not continue.

21 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I remember watching the first hour or so of Prisoners and thinking it was incredible, so powerful I had to stop and walk around. Thought it was going to be one of the best movies I've ever seen. Then I settled down into the last hour and felt pretty deflated, it all seemed a bit silly and undeserved. Still, really highlighted how good Villeneuve is.

Glad that I'm not the only one who found it somewhat undercooked. Still, a pretty good time altogether, but it could have been better.

[Werthead]

11 hours ago, IlyaP said:

Unlike lost, apparently the showrunners go have a rough blueprint and map for the show, per this interview, as well as this one.

So that's at least, y'know, something.

Lost had a plan as well, which they bizarrely stuck strangely close to for most of the series. They only stiffed it a little in the last couple of episodes (they had a theory for what the Island was, but wimped out of following through on it) but the show ended where Lindelof had planned when they were writing the pilot.

A metric ton of the B-plots that cropped up along the way they did wing it on, though.

5 hours ago, Spockydog said:

Yes, this is really, really good. 

Just finished season two. All I'm gonna say is every single theory I had about what was going on in this show was destroyed in the final episode.

So glad it's been renewed.

p.s. Terrible title for a TV show.

Yeah, shows need more easily Googable and trendable titles. From is rubbish from that point of view and so is Corporate, a tremendous comedy show with a legendary performance from Lance Reddick (RIP) as a monstrous corporate boss. But the title is so generic that it's hard to find.

Mind you, so was Lost but that show made up for it by being the biggest show on TV at the time. Most shows can't count on that.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Expanse s4 e2

Did Bobby just quote Phil Leotardo?

[SpaceChampion]

11 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Expanse s4 e2

Did Bobby just quote Phil Leotardo?

No, Phil Leotardo quoted Bobby.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

No, Phil Leotardo quoted Bobby.

How? She’s from the future. 

Yes, they watch Sopranos reruns on Mars in The Expanse. The gabagool. Could you imagine?

[TheLastWolf]

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Sopranos

Final season finally, 5 was the weakest imho

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

3 hours ago, TheLastWolf said:

Final season finally, 5 was the weakest imho

Which one is that? It’s been a while.

[Nictarion]

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Which one is that? It’s been a while.

All the ex-cons get out of prison (Tony B, Phil Leotardo, Feech, etc). Personally I think season 6 part 1 is the “weakest.”