Wa Wa Watching Nothing

[RhaenysBee]

Mostly bad luck with movie choices for the second half of the week. 

The Pale Blue Eye is some sort of… slightly supernatural crime drama that for some reason has to do with Edgar Allen Poe, I have no idea why Poe is in this story, it’s not even based on true events, so why not have a random old Jack protagonist rather than Poe… the supernatural element is a red herring, the crime solving is boring as hell, this movie couldn’t keep my attention for 10 minutes straight. I kept ending up Google searching wall sconces for my hallway. It wasn’t visually interesting, it didn’t have a captivating soundtrack or atmosphere. The one thing it had was very strong acting. 

The Cabinet of Curiosities - it does what a Del Toro series would do I guess, but again and again I am forced to admit that supernatural macabre does nothing for me. I don’t necessarily mind it if the movie or the series has another element that captivates me (band of kids saving the day - stranger things and scooby doo, cool crime fighting - whatever the hell was the name of that show with Dakota Fanning and Daniel Brühl, coming of age - Wednesday, double life and family - Charmed, genius storytelling - Buffy)  I watched the first episode of this, I couldn’t tell you what it was about. There were very pretty antiques and a xenophobic main character who was punished for his xenophobia by being eaten by some tentacle demon. No idea about the other 45 minutes. It was poor even for a background watch. 

Pamela, a Love Story - I did say I would watch this and I watched it, it was the best film of the weekend, so beautiful, so heartwarming, so wholesome and inspiring. I’m so sorry that Pamela Anderson was upset by the Pam and Tommy thing, I can understand and see why, though I still think it didn’t reflect badly on her and didn’t paint Tommy Lee as a one dimensional jerk either. Yes it was distorted and fictionalized, as are all similar works, but the conclusions and the messages weren’t different from Pamela’s own recounting of the story. Still, I do understand her. Anyway, I don’t regret watching (Pam and Tommy, I mean) because ultimately it was the necessary step for me to find myself becoming a Pamela Anderson fan. I’m listening to something now, but my next audible buy will be her autobiography. Pam’s bottom line message in the documentary was that you have to go forward no matter what, don’t think too much and always choose love and kindness. These are all incredibly relevant in my life right now which may be why her life story moved me so much. 

Edited October 22, 2023 by RhaenysBee

[kissdbyfire]

43 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

The Pale Blue Eye is some sort of… slightly supernatural crime drama that for some reason has to do with Edgar Allen Poe, I have no idea why Poe is in this story, it’s not even based on true events, so why not have a random old Jack protagonist rather than Poe… the supernatural element is a red herring, the crime solving is boring as hell, this movie couldn’t keep my attention for 10 minutes straight. I kept ending up Google searching wall sconces for my hallway. It wasn’t visually interesting, it didn’t have a captivating soundtrack or atmosphere. The one thing it had was very strong acting. 

Definitely one of the most boring films I've seen in a long time.

[TheLastWolf]

Is KOTFM an IMAX must? Because the original ratio according to imdb is 1.33 : 1 (some shots)2.39 : 1, I guess, so wouldn't want to pay extra and spoil the experience. 

Edited October 22, 2023 by TheLastWolf

[Luzifer's right hand]

I'm enjoying the new episodes of Fraiser so far. I hope that at least some guests show up though. I have also reached season 7 of Cheers.

The rest of Sabrina the Teenage Witch has dropped on Paramount+ here and I'm enjoying that too. The Salam puppets are very amusing.

[Zorral]

4 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

I have no idea why Poe is in this story, it’s not even based on true events,

Because Poe did attend West Point, though he left before graduation.

Unexpectedly, I did like The Bluest Eye enough to watch it all.  But I love the Hudson River Valley and will watch anything that supposedly is set there.  And read books set there too.

[SpaceChampion]

Decided to watch the whole Mission: Impossible movie series, mainly because I couldn't remember if I had watched anything more than youtube clips of most of them.  Started with 4 and watched in order to 7.  It's a fun series and great action, but now I'm back to the beginning and man that first one hasn't held up so far in the first 30 minutes.  The masks so far are unconvincing and their use of the internet is like whoever wrote it heard a rumour about how computers works rather than having first hand experience.  In 1996 Ethan Hunt is looking for clues on Usenet!  USENET!

 

 

[dbunting]

3 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Decided to watch the whole Mission: Impossible movie series, mainly because I couldn't remember if I had watched anything more than youtube clips of most of them.  Started with 4 and watched in order to 7.  It's a fun series and great action, but now I'm back to the beginning and man that first one hasn't held up so far in the first 30 minutes.  The masks so far are unconvincing and their use of the internet is like whoever wrote it heard a rumour about how computers works rather than having first hand experience.  In 1996 Ethan Hunt is looking for clues on Usenet!  USENET!

 

 

Out of curiosity why start at 4 and not at 1? Seems an odd choice when you planned to watch them all.

[SpaceChampion]

47 minutes ago, dbunting said:

Out of curiosity why start at 4 and not at 1? Seems an odd choice when you planned to watch them all.

Wasn't planning on watching all, but I thought I had seen the first 3 years ago but not sure about the rest.  Then after the 7th I wanted more...  1 was kind of lame though.  2 is better, but something is off about it.  Turns out I had never seen it before though.   Ethan Hunt doesn't feel like quite the same character in these first two as the rest.  There's a tinge of misogyny in them both.  Hopefully the 3rd is better.  Now I'm doubting I saw it before either.

4-7 (and eventually 8) do feel like pretty connected, but fairly unconnected to the first 2.

Edited October 23, 2023 by SpaceChampion

[RhaenysBee]

15 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

Definitely one of the most boring films I've seen in a long time.

 right???

11 hours ago, Zorral said:

Because Poe did attend West Point, though he left before graduation.

Unexpectedly, I did like The Bluest Eye enough to watch it all.  But I love the Hudson River Valley and will watch anything that supposedly is set there.  And read books set there too.

I mean, all right but still feels like an idea what you would call clickbait if it were on social media. I kept expecting some impact on Poe’s life or career (starts writing poems, quits writing poems, meets Annabelle Lee, one of the young women in the film are Annabelle Lee, etc etc) but nothing, it’s just an overdone cameo. And might I say, that may have worked as opposed to Poe’s being the main protagonist. 

Anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed it, each to their own and everything should be enjoyed by some. 

Last night I started watching Blonde, while I waited for my pumpkin pie to cool and did my hair. The runtime should have been warning enough. Anyway, I put the pie in the fridge at 0:40ish, did a face mask and was still barely over halfway through the movie. At this point, 1:05am, I gave up and went to sleep. I will finish it before I pass judgement, but not a fan so far. 

 

[Isis]

Watched The Pale Blue Eye at the weekend and it was fine in a 'historic' murder mystery with a strong cast type of way. Did Christian Bale feel like he was dialling it in a tiny bit? Possibly, yes. It passed a couple of hours and was vaguely spooky.

I wasn't a huge fan of 

Spoiler

rape as a plot device again again again though. V tiresome and unimaginative. Shame because I liked the film well enough up to that point.

 

[TheLastWolf]

Rick and Morty S7E2 dropped. A step down for me, but the post credits managed to salvage the Rick Prime storyline from deviation. Or so I theorize. Enough monster of the week, buddy arcs, I'll get to that in X Files please

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, Isis said:

Watched The Pale Blue Eye at the weekend and it was fine in a 'historic' murder mystery with a strong cast type of way. Did Christian Bale feel like he was dialling it in a tiny bit? Possibly, yes. It passed a couple of hours and was vaguely spooky.

I wasn't a huge fan of 

  Hide contents

rape as a plot device again again again though. V tiresome and unimaginative. Shame because I liked the film well enough up to that point.

 

 

I mean, really, it seems it's taking an awfully long time for these guys to get that, right?   But then, evidently the entertainment biz

Spoiler

is still Harvey Weinstein et al.'s biz.

As far as 

Quote

I kept expecting some impact on Poe’s life or career

it's quite obvious this did impact Poe's career -- including his detective tales, and other material.  So that criticism does rather confuse, you know?

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Zorral

[IFR]

I watched Killers of the Flower Moon, one of the few movies of the year I was looking forward to.

It was pretty entertaining, but way too indulgent. That movie should have been 2.5 hours long.

I also think it would have been more interesting if it had been structured as a mystery/thriller from the point of view of the FBI - which, I understand, is how it was originally written. The portion of the movie that involves the FBI is by far the best part.

Still, good movie, though not anywhere near Scorsese's best.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

11 minutes ago, IFR said:

I watched Killers of the Flower Moon, one of the few movies of the year I was looking forward to.

It was pretty entertaining, but way too indulgent. That movie should have been 2.5 hours long.

I also think it would have been more interesting if it had been structured as a mystery/thriller from the point of view of the FBI - which, I understand, is how it was originally written. The portion of the movie that involves the FBI is by far the best part.

Still, good movie, though not anywhere near Scorsese's best.

Is it indulgent in the way wolf of Wall Street was ? Because that movie was 3 hours long and I never felt the length while watching it. 

[RhaenysBee]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

it's quite obvious this did impact Poe's career -- including his detective tales, and other material.  So that criticism does rather confuse, you know?

That didn’t show in the movie, it was a period crime drama with Poe guest starring rather than a Poe biopic. And this didn’t happen in real life so it isn’t a puzzle piece one can directly insert into their knowledge of Poe and his work and its influences. Anyway, I’m not trying to argue with anybody, just because I didn’t like this movie, anyone else is free and welcome to enjoy and appreciate it. 

[Nictarion]

1 hour ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Is it indulgent in the way wolf of Wall Street was ? Because that movie was 3 hours long and I never felt the length while watching it. 

I didn’t think it felt too long at all. Thelma Schoonmaker is a master of her craft.

[Zorral]

37 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

That didn’t show in the movie

It didn't have to.  Most of the audience for this are familiar enough with Poe's work to infer.  And for those who don't know Poe and his work, it doesn't matter in terms of the narrative and plot.

37 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

it was a period crime drama with Poe guest starring rather than a Poe biopic. And this didn’t happen in real life so it isn’t a puzzle piece one can directly insert into their knowledge of Poe and his work and its influences.

In other words you came to this production with certain expectations that it wasn't fulfilling because it wasn't the intent of the creators to do so.  It wasn't made as a Poe biopic; he was intended to be a supporting character.

Thus my confusion as to why you think this is a flaw, and thus scold the film, since it wasn't even intended to be a biopic.    That's all.

Now there are indeed criticisms to make regarding the success the production managed throughout in terms of plotting and narrative.

But for me, again, it was successful in its draws upon the gloomy, darker, forest covered history of the region -- see for instance, even prior to Poe, what Washington Irving made of it. The Hudson River Valley is a legend-soaked piece of earth, filled with both brilliance and horrors, ever since Henry Hudson's Half Moon sailed up those waters, and Dutch colonists arrived, and created slave-worked principalities, and fur trappers and traders swarmed.

Also, take into account, I am All About period stuff! 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Zorral

[IFR]

3 hours ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Is it indulgent in the way wolf of Wall Street was ? Because that movie was 3 hours long and I never felt the length while watching it. 

Scorsese literally has a cameo delivering the final line of the movie. It's pretty indulgent.

For me, the movie felt like it meandered, and the additional time spent didn't really add anything. I can think of entire scenes that could have been removed or shortened without diminishing character development or serving as an obstacle to understanding the story and themes of the movie.

It was still a good movie though, and I appreciate that Scorsese had the opportunity to make it.

It's also a subjective call. To me indulgence was the point in The Wolf of Wall Street and I loved every minute of it. People accuse Silence of also being overly long, and for me that runtime was perfect for that movie.

[Nictarion]

10 minutes ago, IFR said:

Scorsese literally has a cameo delivering the final line of the movie. It's pretty indulgent.

Final line, but not the final scene. What he did use was one of the most powerful closing shots I’ve seen in a film in years. And it was a perfect bookend to the opening scene. 

[IFR]

8 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

Final line, but not the final scene. What he did use was one of the most powerful closing shots I’ve seen in a film in years. And it was a perfect bookend to the opening scene. 

I'm glad it worked for you!

For me it did nothing but ruin the immersion. I think our emotional jouneys in this movie were very different, and so our respective responses to it are very different. I wasn't remotely affected by this movie. I found it well made and entertaining, but it did not evoke any kind of deep emotional reaction.

I plan on reading the book though, and I do expect to be affected by that.