What Have You Watched Recently?

[Tjack]

3 hours ago, Pariah said:

I just finished watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Like WandaVision, I thought it was really well done, although it had a completely different tone. Anthony Mackie had a particularly compelling performance in this last episode, I thought.

       NO SPOILERS
    Me too, I liked the part at the end where things got tied together.  There was a nice balance overall between stuff I expected being a long time fan of the comics and MCU changes that caught me by surprise.
   I highly recommend the series and I’m looking forward to the Loki series coming out in May.

[Bazza]

Actually, June 11. 

[Greywind]

Invincible

[Michael Hopcroft]

I saw part of a brilliant production of Julius Caesar on Youtube, at the tail end of its single-week run. Shakespeare's play about one of the most famous of all political conspiracies in history was re-located to West Africa, with an all-African cast. I really wish I knew who some of these actors are and where I can find more of their work. The setting proves a perfect fit, but then again I would be hard-pressed to find anyplace, from realms of myth and wonder to the far-flung stars, where Julius Caesar wouldn't work if cast and directed well.

 

Now I'm trying to find it again. The rare DVD will only play on PAL sets, and I couldn't tell for sure if it was actually available on Amazon Prime in North America.

[death tribble]

Mumford and Sons Live from South Africa Dust and Thunder

This is coverage of the last night of the South African tour by the band Mumford and Sons. Not bad at all. but I am familiar with the work.

 

First Man

This is a film about Neil Armstrong with Ryan Gosling playing the eponymous astronaut. It was interesting to see the pre-Apollo stuff and also the fact that he was kept in quarantine after returning to Earth. Fascinating but not thrilling.

 

The Man With the Iron Heart

This is another film about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. The first hour looks at the career of Heydrich up to the killing and then we meet the Czechs and Slovaks trained by the Special Operations Executive to kill him. It follows how the assassins plan and then execute the killing despite the fact that it goes on. And then there are the reprisals. In this respect it follows Operation Daybreak which is my favourite of the films on this subject. Second film in a week where Jason Clarke died. (The other was First Man)

 

Heaven Can Wait

A man appears before the Devil following his death to plead his case about being admitted to Hell. He is not asking for his sins to be diminished but instead to be used as evidence that he belongs there. He does so by telling about his effect on women. This is the 1943 version with Don Ameche as Henry Van Cleve. It is not bad and worth it for Ameche alone if you are only aware of Cocoon.

 

New Order at Alexandra Palace

One of my favourite tracks is Blue Monday as it was one of the only things that would get me dancing. So seeing a nearly two hour concert was good. They also did some old Joy Division.

 

Concert for George

This was a concert given to the memory of George Harrison. The first bit is music from India curated by Ravi Shanker and then there are contributions from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Eric Clapton, Jeff Lynne and the two surviving Beatles Ringo Starr and Pail McCartney. A touching tribute.

 

 

[Twilight]

Recently, for a rather loose definition of recently, I've seen The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, the 400 Blows, The Little Girl Who Lived Down The Lane, A Little Romance and The Boy Who Stole The Elephant.

[Ternaugh]

Falcon and the Winter Soldier: I really enjoyed it, and it was nice to see some familiar faces again. (Disney+)

 

The Wiz: Musical adaptation of the L. Frank Baum work. It desperately needed to be edited down from its 2 hour and 15 minute runtime. (Peacock)

 

The Shadow: I have to admit, I like this one more than the critics did. Based upon the original books and radio plays. (Blu-ray)

 

The Expanse (Season 5): What a live-action adaptation of Traveller would feel like. (Amazon Prime)

[Matt the Bruins]

Monday, my first excursion to the cinema since last October. Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough play a couple who meet, have lots and LOTS of sex, and embark on a train wreck of a relationship.

[Starlord]

On 4/24/2021 at 1:32 PM, Greywind said:

Invincible

 

This is excellent so far.  I would say it's the best superhero animated series since Young Justice and the Timm Justice League and JL Unlimited.

[slikmar]

11 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

The Wiz: Musical adaptation of the L. Frank Baum work. It desperately needed to be edited down from its 2 hour and 15 minute runtime. (Peacock)

 

The Shadow: I have to admit, I like this one more than the critics did. Based upon the original books and radio plays. (Blu-ray)

I will stop and watch either of these if not doing something else. I would have liked to see a sequel to The Shadow. Of course, I liked Billy Zanes The Phantom and wish they had done more with that or a series.

[Old Man]

Finished Shadow and Bone on Netflix last night. Great series but it does suffer from book-adaptation-that-seems-fast-forwarded syndrome. The characters are what makes the series. 

[mattingly]

Caught up on two of the new DC Animated films.

 

Justice Society World War II: Modern Flash travels to WWII where he meets Wonder Woman, Hourman, Jay Garrick, Hawkman, and Black Canary.

 

Batman Soul of the Dragon: Batman teams up with Shiva, Not-Shaft, and Not-Bruce-Lee.

 

Both were solid films.

[death tribble]

Bowie, Prince and Music Legends we lost in 2016

This cheated a little by looking at Lemmy who died on 28th December 2015. This was seen as a precurser to the deaths of Bowie and Prince but Keith Emerson, George Martin and Leonard Cohen were also looked at.

 

Foo Fighters: Austin City Limits

Another of the Austin City Limits concerts this time with the Foo Fighters.

 

Brian Johnson meets Dave Grohl

The AC/DC frontman is doing a series of interviews with various music personnel. Here he spoke with Dave Grohl about how Dave started in music and his career. From going around in a van, his first band, joining Nirvana, the Foo Fighters and his leg break. If you like the Foo Fighters, you will like this.

 

The Hot Rock

Paul Newman and George Segal team up to steal a gem and return it to an African state. The attempts keep going wrong. This film from 1972 by Peter Yates is more uplifting as the director felt everyone else was downbeat and he wanted to do something opposite.

 

Pain and Gain

Based on the true story of the murders around the Sun Gym in Miami with Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie and Dwayne Johnson as the bodybuilder criminals. Ed Harris is in a support role. Worth a look

 

Straight Outta Compton

This is the official biography of NWA. Entertaining and it is really scary how much Ice Cube's son looks like his younger self who he portrays here. Repeated viewings are a must.

[pinecone]

The Nevers...not the best, not the worst. Sort of Heroes, but in London, in the Victorian era.

[Matt the Bruins]

Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar from the creators of Bridesmaids. It was absolutely insane, and the most fun I've had watching a movie in ages. Imagine if a chick flick like Beaches were crashed together with an Austin Powers movie and a Bollywood musical.

[archer]

5 hours ago, pinecone said:

The Nevers...not the best, not the worst. Sort of Heroes, but in London, in the Victorian era.

 

I like the main characters. They're not "obvious" so there's layers of motivations and background being revealed each episode. And having ladies as the main characters in an era when ladies didn't have equal rights or substantial freedoms is interesting (particularly because the show isn't being preachy about it not being RIGHT but is just dealing with it as part of the environment).

 

Do you understand the origin story of Ms. True at all? 

 

There's talk about her being "left behind" which seems to be a point of trauma for her. There's talk about her having been in a war (before WWI). We know she tried to drown herself (whether voluntarily or involuntarily). There's also oblique references about her knowing (apparently beyond doubt) that the future will be better but she apparently has no power to foresee the distant future.

 

I thought maybe she was supposed to be on the mysterious skyship when it left. My wife thinks that it's a simple explanation like a loved one went off to war and was killed. And maybe she lived in the war zone. (Boer War? India?)

 

Opinions?

[pinecone]

16 minutes ago, archer said:

 

I like the main characters. They're not "obvious" so there's layers of motivations and background being revealed each episode. And having ladies as the main characters in an era when ladies didn't have equal rights or substantial freedoms is interesting (particularly because the show isn't being preachy about it not being RIGHT but is just dealing with it as part of the environment).

 

Do you understand the origin story of Ms. True at all? 

 

There's talk about her being "left behind" which seems to be a point of trauma for her. There's talk about her having been in a war (before WWI). We know she tried to drown herself (whether voluntarily or involuntarily). There's also oblique references about her knowing (apparently beyond doubt) that the future will be better but she apparently has no power to foresee the distant future.

 

I thought maybe she was supposed to be on the mysterious skyship when it left. My wife thinks that it's a simple explanation like a loved one went off to war and was killed. And maybe she lived in the war zone. (Boer War? India?)

 

Opinions?

No idea, but she seems like a fractured time character. I think she might date back to an earlier visitation, or was flung backwards from the future. She has a strong connection to murder girl, and seems to be the one who had her commited.

[mattingly]

The New Romantics documentary. An interesting look at the beginnings of new wave.

 

 

[Old Man]

Just watched SpaceX launch and (more importantly) successfully land SN15.  I still probably won't make it into space in my lifetime, but my kids might make it in theirs.

[Greywind]

Monster Hunter

[Pariah]

Lady P and I watched the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, but we lost track somewhere in the second season. So I went back and started watching it again from the beginning. It's a little strange watching it now, knowing how some things will turn out. Tahiti, for example.

[Bazza]

Still a magical place. 

[mattingly]

9 hours ago, Greywind said:

Monster Hunter

 

Any good?

 

[Spence]

12 hours ago, Greywind said:

Monster Hunter

I enjoyed it.  A good action flick.

[Ternaugh]

Ghostbusters: This one turns 37 this year. Still an enjoyable watch. (Blu-ray)

 

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope: Brings me back to when I was a kid watching it on the movie screen for the first time. (Blu-ray)

 

UHF: "Weird" Al's big movie debut, which had the extreme misfortune of being released during the same summer as Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (Blu-ray)