Watch, Watched, Watching: Anybody but Superman

[JGP]

4 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Why is old Phoenix paired with young Vanessa Kirby when the reality was the opposite?  What the actual fuck?

I feel this way about Pascal paired with Kirby in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, and I think Pedro is great.

I turned Napoleon off when he started whinging at Jospehine about her affair. Hard to imagine he might've been like that, but maybe he was-- just a walking narcissist wound.  

 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

5 hours ago, JGP said:

I feel this way about Pascal paired with Kirby in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, and I think Pedro is great.

I turned Napoleon off when he started whinging at Jospehine about her affair. Hard to imagine he might've been like that, but maybe he was-- just a walking narcissist wound.  

 

Kirby is no spring chicken tho, she’s about 35. More weird was seeing Zendaya and John David Washington in that romantic drama a few years ago.

[Scott_N]

On 4/3/2024 at 2:05 AM, TheLastWolf said:

Is Fanny and Alexander Director's Cut worth the runtime?

 

Yes. In all sincerity, I can't really think of anything more worthwhile you could watch.

[Zorral]

I have started watching Judge Dee Mystery (2024)on Netflix:

https://www.businesnswire.com/news/home/20240122968688/en/Legendary-Dutch-Diplomats-Novel-Made-Into-TV-Series-by-Chinese-Video-Platform

Anybody else?

[A True Kaniggit]

Was watching Happy Gilmore earlier. 
 

And was then shocked when someone pointed out that Chubbs was Apollo Creed (I would have never connected the two characters on my own).

Then I was saddened when I checked and saw that Carl Weathers died on 01 February 2024.

Edited April 7 by A True Kaniggit

[Ran]

Rewatched The Martian. What a well-made movie. Yeah, it takes some leaps with science, but it's nice to just see something where people are solving problems through intelligence and knowledge rather than punching and shooting. Also, a fine cast, and a great script. I kept remarking to Linda how I liked the humor, and then looked up who adapted it, and no great surprise that it was Drew Goddard. Goddard started his career in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel writers' rooms, and his quippy humor obviously fit into that. (I'm not sure if the Project Elrond thing is from Weir's novel or an additon, but kind of too perfect to have Sean Bean in the room when they're riffing on that.)

Also, skimmed through the 2nd season of South Korean game show, Physical: 100, where 100 athletes (current and former), bodybuilders, fitness models, ex-military or ex-firefighters, etc. compete in various physical challenges. Like I said, I skimmed it - there's a lot of padding -- but I started it as a way to pass the downtime during my trip the other week, and figured I'd wrap it up. If you like seeing extremely fit people performing feats of strength and/or endurance in a competitive environment, it's not a bad show to watch.

Edited April 7 by Ran

[Which Tyler]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

Rewatched The Martian.

Council of Elrond is straight from the book.

Out of interest - what leaps of science? I mean, yeah it's sci-fi, but the science is generally held up as being spot on (if theoretical). From what I recall, most of the stretches are about durability, rather than "wouldn't work in principle".

Edited April 7 by Which Tyler

[Ran]

@Which Tyler

The Martian storm was exaggerated by several orders of magnitude, as Mars's atmosphere is only 1% as dense as ours, so not only do winds top out at ~60 mph, they have about 1% of the force of a similar wind on Earth. Hardly enough to tear away a big antenna and send a man flying, or even to necessitate an emergency evacuation. 

I believe the other big issue is that Martian soil is actually toxic to plants and microorganisms, so you couldn't just fertilize some soil and start growing potatoes. 

For dramatic effect, too, they just have Glover's character be the only person who even starts to think about slingshotting the Hermes back to Mars, when in reality it would have been one of the first things everyone at NASA and the JPL would have considered. They might have rejected it out of hand for the reasons stated in the film, but it didn't need a single eccentric to hit on the idea.

 

Edited April 7 by Ran

[Isis]

Watched the first two episodes of Ripley last night. Nearly every shot looks like a work of art. It's beautiful. The staircases! So many meaningful staircase scenes. But no wonder it has eight episodes - it's really taking its time! The guy playing Dickie is a little bit muted. But then Jude Law really shone in that role in the film, probably not easy to match up to that. I love what Andrew Scott is doing as Tom though. Both Scott and Damon are able to do 'creepy, awkward and sociopathic' so well. (I think both are great in the role btw, just slightly different versions of the same thing) Scott does this weird T-Rex arm thing with his hands when he is sitting down in the villa: I love it. And he is so good at doing that ambivalent borderline expression with this face where you aren't sure if he is happy/excited about something or about to lose his temper and smash the shit out of everything.

 I am looking forward to more unhinged Tom Ripley. But tonight belongs to Monkey Man.

[Which Tyler]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

@Which Tyler

The Martian storm was exaggerated by several orders of magnitude, as Mars's atmosphere is only 1% as dense as ours, so not only do winds top out at ~60 mph, they have about 1% of the force of a similar wind on Earth. Hardly enough to tear away a big antenna and send a man flying, or even to necessitate an emergency evacuation. 

I believe the other big issue is that Martian soil is actually toxic to plants and microorganisms, so you couldn't just fertilize some soil and start growing potatoes. 

For dramatic effect, too, they just have Glover's character be the only person who even starts to think about slingshotting the Hermes back to Mars, when in reality it would have been one of the first things everyone at NASA and the JPL would have considered. They might have rejected it out of hand for the reasons stated in the film, but it didn't need a single eccentric to hit on the idea.

Yeah, the power of the storm is the only one I can think of (beyond durability of future-tech).
I'm pretty sure the Martian winds do get up to the speed suggested, but yeah, with way less density and therefore force applied. I'm not sure I'd call it a leap, so much as a stretch for dramatic (and narrative) purposes.

Pretty sure Martian soil is fine for life. I am sure I remember it being a common criticism that was shot down by people who actually know about this stuff. Well beyond my personal understanding though.

Absolutely agreed on the slingshot manoeuvre though - but that's a holding of the idiot ball rather than bad science.

[Cas Stark]

Killers of the Flower Moon.  Loved it.  I can't understand how Leo wasn't nominated.  I thought it was much,  much better than The Irishman.

Oppenheimer.  It was good, not great.  After finally watching, I'm a little surprised at all the hype, awards and box office.  I'm happy to see an adult, talky movie do well, but I'm not feeling 'masterpiece' really.

[Ran]

34 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

I'm pretty sure the Martian winds do get up to the speed suggested

I'm not sure what speed is given in the book, but it's strong enough in the film to have Watney go flying for a couple dozen yards, at least. Everything I've Googled says that 62 mph is the max anyone estimates for Martian winds.

34 minutes ago, Which Tyler said:

 

Pretty sure Martian soil is fine for life. I am sure I remember it being a common criticism that was shot down by people who actually know about this stuff. Well beyond my personal understanding though.

The toxicity comes from the massive amount of perchlorates in Martian soil. The only place on earth that matches that level of perchlorate in its soil composition is the Atacama desert, one of the least hospitable places on the planet. Besides that, Martian soil is also extremely alkaline.

It's not impossible to fix these things. Given time and effort you could treat Martian soil to breakdown the perchlorates into chloride and also its very alkaline nature, probably by combining the soil with large amounts of water and adding some organic matter... but I'm not sure how they'd have made that work under the conditions Watney was under. But they don't even address it, and just treat the soil as needing water and some fertilizer.

 

[Corvinus85]

3 hours ago, Ran said:

The Martian storm was exaggerated by several orders of magnitude, as Mars's atmosphere is only 1% as dense as ours, so not only do winds top out at ~60 mph, they have about 1% of the force of a similar wind on Earth. Hardly enough to tear away a big antenna and send a man flying, or even to necessitate an emergency evacuation. 

I don't remember if there was an editorial note in the book or just an interview, but Andy Weir acknowledged the winds part, that he exaggerated their power. But that's the only way he came up with to establish the premise and kickstart the story.

3 hours ago, Ran said:

For dramatic effect, too, they just have Glover's character be the only person who even starts to think about slingshotting the Hermes back to Mars, when in reality it would have been one of the first things everyone at NASA and the JPL would have considered. They might have rejected it out of hand for the reasons stated in the film, but it didn't need a single eccentric to hit on the idea.

This is my least favorite part in the movie and definitely not like in the book. I understand that the scene where Glover explains his idea to the managers of NASA with staplers and pens is for the benefit of a general audience, but I found it extremely cringe.

[Ran]

3 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

But that's the only way he came up with to establish the premise and kickstart the story.

Having watched For All Mankind, I'd have gone for a marsquake causing a landslide that'll envelop the lander. Watney gets knocked out by a tumbling rock, biomonitor destroyed, and the crew needs to take off without being able to search for him..

But even there they'd have to both have NASA be stupid (placing the landing spot anywhere liable  to be subject to landslides) and probably also exaggerate the power of marsquakes (think the strongest that has been recorded was like a 4.2 on the Richter scale, so it'd be a weird situation to cause a significant landslide). 

[Corvinus85]

4 minutes ago, Ran said:

Having watched For All Mankind, I'd have gone for a marsquake causing a landslide that'll envelop the lander. Watney gets knocked out by a tumbling rock, biomonitor destroyed, and the crew needs to take off without being able to search for him..

But even there they'd have to both have NASA be stupid (placing the landing spot anywhere liable  to be subject to landslides) and probably also exaggerate the power of marsquakes (think the strongest that has been recorded was like a 4.2 on the Richter scale, so it'd be a weird situation to cause a significant landslide). 

And have a reason for the mission abort for the rest of the crew but which then leaves Watney still capable of managing the base by himself.

[Derfel Cadarn]

The Martian is one of my favourite films. 

[Ran]

53 minutes ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

The Martian is one of my favourite films. 

It's really charmingly well-done, I have to say. Damon's charismatic, the casting is spot on for everyone, great humor, great pacing. Honestly, it's one of Scott's best films.

[Darryk]

I forgot that was Ridley Scott. Definitely one of his better ones.

Feels like he makes 12 films a decade and most of them are meh.

 

[DMC]

I really liked Martian too, but I’d hesitate to say it’s one of Scott’s best.  Similar feelings on Talented Mr. Ripley which was discussed earlier.  I think it’s good, and was particularly interesting when I first watched it as a..I think fourteen year old.  But it’s not that great.

Anyway is this like Matt Damon week and I missed it?

[TheLastWolf]

Jeanne Dielman

Great composition, framing, meticulous production, slice of life non acting.

But voted greatest of all time? The feeling of impending doom bought on by the unraveling of her routine was brilliant, but to what purpose exactly. I mean if it's the emancipation of the housewife then there are a lot of issues.

But the film really is great.