Which Tyler Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 2 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said: Does anyone watch a sporting event solely to see a top-quality athletic performance without caring about the final result? Of course. I'd be far more surprised if anyone never does that. Equally of course, everyone's different, and no-one should feel shamed for wanting what they want from entertainment (whilst bearing in mind that criticism begets criticism) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 The Dark and the Wicked. Possession horror movie from the director of The Strangers (one of my favorites). Definitely recommend this one if you’re into this kind of thing. kissdbyfire and Ramsay B. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Last week we watched Get Out and Barbarian for the first time. The former lived up to expectations and I had somehow managed not to get spoiled about anything in it (which I think was pretty amazing of me actually). Lovely folk horror coding too. Barbarian was interesting (rude of the door to our utility room to start opening on its own directly after we watched this, having never done so before). I enjoyed the cinematography and it's good to see a different approach to horror in terms of storytelling. But that's enough horror films for a little bit. JGP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 (edited) Ended the year with a rewatch of the best Star Wars show, Andor. So good. Also watched the Tom Hanks WWII movie Greyhound on AppleTV. Possibly the shortest war movie I've seen, but that allowed it good pacing. It was better than I expected it to be. Edited January 1 by Corvinus85 DireWolfSpirit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 8 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said: Point taken. I’ll continue enjoying good storytelling and good acting, and continue hoping that the lives of Paige Jennings, Henry Jennings, Sandra Beeman, and Matthew Beeman don’t become overly damaged by this “secret war”. Also, I’m not necessarily looking for a hero/good guy, but I do need at least one main character that’s likeable and/or redeemable. If a show is just horrible people being horrible to each other, then that’s not something I personally want to watch. I don't remember exactly when he first appears so you might not have met him yet, but I think Oleg Burov is the main character who could actually be described as decent and honourable. Teng Ai Hui and kissdbyfire 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 5 minutes ago, williamjm said: I don't remember exactly when he first appears so you might not have met him yet, but I think Oleg Burov is the main character who could actually be described as decent and honourable. Agree. Iirc the character’s first appearance is in season 2? Or 3… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annara Snow Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 4 hours ago, kissdbyfire said: Agree. Iirc the character’s first appearance is in season 2? Or 3… Season 2, but they make it look at first like he may be a jerk you shouldn't trust.... so you kinda spoiled it in a way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annara Snow Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 (edited) 19 hours ago, Teng Ai Hui said: Point taken. I’ll continue enjoying good storytelling and good acting, and continue hoping that the lives of Paige Jennings, Henry Jennings, Sandra Beeman, and Matthew Beeman don’t become overly damaged by this “secret war”. Also, I’m not necessarily looking for a hero/good guy, but I do need at least one main character that’s likeable and/or redeemable. If a show is just horrible people being horrible to each other, then that’s not something I personally want to watch. Does anyone watch a sporting event solely to see a top-quality athletic performance without caring about the final result? In a way, I feel like that’s what I’m being asked to do. I wouldn't describe The Americans as "horrible people being horrible to each other". In fact, one of the show's main strengths is that almost every character is presented as complex and sympathetic and you can see where they're coming from. Even though they're doing so many terrible things, they think they are doing it for the right reasons, because it's their duty for their country/better world etc. and not just for the lols because they're evil. Which is at the core of the whole, being a part of the espionage/counter-espionage world. And you see characters struggle with their conscience and question how far they can go and if it's all worth it. Except for the guy in the pilot, I'm not sure I can think of any straight up evil characters -although there's a character in season 2 who seems to come closest to being a classic villain, but even that turns out to be more complicated. One of the showrunners used to be in CIA until he got disillusioned and left, so I'm sure he was inspired by his experiences of being recruited in a spy organisation and how that can take a toll on your life, your relationships and your conscience. Edited January 2 by Annara Snow Martell Spy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 12 minutes ago, Annara Snow said: Season 2, but they make it look at first like he may be a jerk you shouldn't trust.... so you kinda spoiled it in a way Not me, @williamjm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annara Snow Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 1 hour ago, kissdbyfire said: Not me, @williamjm! It was a plural "you". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 4 hours ago, Annara Snow said: Season 2, but they make it look at first like he may be a jerk you shouldn't trust.... so you kinda spoiled it in a way I did not remember that, it's been a long time since I saw the early seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Speak No Evil. Well that was one of the bleakest endings I’ve ever seen. Right up there with Eden Lake, The Mist, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Yeah, brutal ending. Of course it’s getting a totally unnecessary American remake too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Watching season 4 of the Harley Quinn show. God, it's hilarious. And Talia al Ghul is perrrrrrfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Past Lives: Utterly beautiful movie. Annara Snow and Ran 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 For an evening of unchallenging entertainment we decided to watch The Gentleman, a Guy Ritchie film from 2019. In some ways a positive blast from the past as it takes you back to your rose-tinted youth, in other ways it makes you uncomfortable that he is still using much of the same humour and telling the same jokes from 20-odd years ago. I'm sure they still appeal to the same demographic now that they did then. I don't know why, but I'm disappointed that he hasn't moved on a bit more. I guess you know what to expect. We both clocked the 'Gritchie' pump clip in the first scene. LOL. Never seen a real one in the wild though. Breweries still closing down left, right and centre so if it's still in existence now there's only one reason why. Anyway... it's hard not to love Colin Farrell in these roles, right? Actually I really enjoyed Hugh Grant as well. We were joking about predictable accents before the film but we were both suprised when he opened his mouth and that came out! As I said, much of it was unpleasantly predictable, but there were a few genuine laughs in there too. Watch it if you fancy a Gritchie I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryk Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 14 hours ago, Nictarion said: Speak No Evil. Well that was one of the bleakest endings I’ve ever seen. Right up there with Eden Lake, The Mist, etc. That was one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. I definitely recommend it to fans of thrillers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Leave the World Behind was pretty good. Invest in physical media, people. C’mon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deadlines? What Deadlines? Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 On 1/1/2024 at 7:25 AM, Corvinus85 said: Ended the year with a rewatch of the best Star Wars show, Andor. So good. Also watched the Tom Hanks WWII movie Greyhound on AppleTV. Possibly the shortest war movie I've seen, but that allowed it good pacing. It was better than I expected it to be. It was great. Kind of an attempt to recreate the tension of Dunkirk and mostly succeeds. Fun fact: in a parallel universe where no one ever heard of Covid, WW84 hits screens in June 2020. In the weeks that follow, Soul, Greyhound, and Top Gun: Maverick are released. ‘Interesting to see how that would’ve turned out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbunting Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Watched Beef, didn't know anything about it going in. Pretty good series about some messed up people. I think the last episode tainted it for me, not the actual ending but the rest of it. Spoiler I had a feeling early on that they were going to connect as kindred spirits. Just didn't see the path of destruction that they would leave. Every time I found myself wanting to root for one of them they showed that they only scratched the surface of how despicable they truly were. Once thing I am glad didn't happen, during the fight scene at the house I thought for sure the gun would go off and kill the daughter. I am glad they didn't go that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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