What Have You Watched Recently?

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

music choice chrismas music

[Greywind]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite production of A Christmas Carol on the streaming section of Netflix. It was the sumptuous 1984 film featuring George C. Scott. Scott crafted a Scrooge who was witty, intelligent, and achingly human -- a man as opposed to a caricature. A man who had forged his chain not just from greed and avarice but from bitter loneliness and resentment of the rejections he had suffered in his life. The scene at the end where he shows up at his nephew's house and nobody has any idea what to do is wrenching -- reminiscent of many awkward occasions we have all had in our lives. And Edward Woodward (best known here for The Equalizer) is a wonderful Ghost of Christmas Present who is most effective when he throws Scrooge's own cruel ideas back at him after showing their real-life impact.

 

I will be avoiding the Jim Carrey animated version (now out on DVD) if at all possible. The faker a film of A Christmas Carol looks the farther it strays from the human impact of the Dickens story.

[Greywind]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

I've always preferred the ancient version with Alastair Sim.

[Susano]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

I've not seen the Alastair Sim's version, which my mom adores, but agree with my sister (and Mike) that the George C Scott one is excellent.

[L. Marcus]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

I like the Patrick Stewart version.

[Susano]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

I like the Patrick Stewart version.

 

What? The one where the Ghost of Christmas Future us really Q?

[L. Marcus]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

No, really! It's a bit more true to the source than most other versions I've seen -- and Stewart is very good at grumpy.

[Susano]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

No' date=' really! It's a bit more true to the source than most other versions I've seen -- and Stewart is very good at grumpy.[/quote']

 

I'll have to try and find that one, then.

[L. Marcus]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Make it so!

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

the sorcerors aprientice

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Alice in Wonderland...not bad, but not great either. Basically...a reasonably entertaining yet...forgettable movie.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

I've not seen the Alastair Sim's version' date=' which my mom adores, but agree with my sister (and Mike) that the George C Scott one is excellent.[/quote']

 

When I was growing up, the most frequently watched Christmas Carol in my family was the musical Scrooge, starring Albert Finney. The most memorable thing about it (at least the one I still remember) is the song "Thank You Very Much".

 

Since Dickens didn't specifically specify what Scrooge's profession was other than that it dealt with commerce, different productions have answered that question in different ways. Scott's Scrooge was a wholesaler dealing in wheat and possible other goods. Finney's was a moneylender.

[Escafarc]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

I like the Bill Murray version myself.

[Escafarc]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Watching the Bucs/Falcon game online via a feed from Denmark or one of the Scandinavian countries.

 

 

OK It's a Swedish feed. Channel 10

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

how the grich stole christmas

[Susano]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

The Warrior's Way. An excellent mix of fantasy and myth into one action-packed wuxia-western.

[L. Marcus]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Watching the Bucs/Falcon game online via a feed from Denmark or one of the Scandinavian countries.

 

 

OK It's a Swedish feed. Channel 10

 

Last edited by Escafarc; Dec 5th, '10 at 11:11 PM. Reason: as a bonus I've learned that lördag means Saturday

I've known that for a long time. ^^

[matrix3]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

If you want to watch the old G.I. Joe cartoon, you can get the whole series in a special collector's case for $73 + S&H. Don't know how long that is good for.

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

x-play and aots

[L. Marcus]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Tala! Det är så mörkt was seen at school. A psychological drama about a very troubled neo-Nazi youth and his Jewish physician-turned-therapist. Very, very ... very. Title translates as Speak Up, It's So Dark.

[Nolgroth]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Predators. Some really neat things about it and some really dumb things about it.

 

Really neat things:

 

 

 

• Guns, even handguns, seem to wound the Predators. None of the wounds seemed too grievous, but at least we got to see some chem light blood.
  
• Some tactical thinking by at least one of the main characters. There was some light thought applied by some of the other characters.
  
• The tactical plans tended to work. The "good" guys were just outclassed and outgunned.
  
• The katana versus armblade combat.
  
• The suicide Russian bomber. Sort of tells me that the character considered himself dead already, and that was kind of sad. Still cool that he took one out as he went.
  
• Overall, the plot was well done and the performances were done in good faith.
  

 

 

 

The bad things:

 

 

 

• Did we really need to have a new "super" Predator species? That hunts the regular Predator species? Really? I can see the next AvP movie being titled Aliens vs. Predator vs. Predator (with lotsa human casualties thrown in so we can nominally call it horror).
  
• The scene where the convict gets his spine ripped out. I immediately was pulled out of the "reality" of the movie and thrust into the Aliens versus Predator video game reality. If there would have been like 30 additional seconds showing the Predator running the armblade down both sides of the spine (to sever the rib bones and connective) tissue, it would have made the scene much more horrific and much less comedic.
  
• Stereotypes, namely the Insane Survivor That Turns on the Protagonists and the Obviously A Serial Killer That Turns on the Protagonists. Both were really annoying. I would have much rather seen the serial killer slash the Big Bad with his scalpel, slowing the Big Bad enough that Royce could finish him off.
  
• The throwaway role of the normal predator. Would have been much better to have him escape during the first camp encounter and then fill the role that Lawrence Fishburne's character - sans betrayal - did. Would have been nice to see it kill a "super" predator before it got killed by the Big Bad.
  
• The Big Bad's helmet. Was that supposed to be scary? All I did was groan at the sheer amount of Limburger that stunk up the joint whenever it appeared on screen.
  

 

 

[kahuna's bro]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Season 2 of legend of the dragon

[matrix3]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Predators. Some really neat things about it and some really dumb things about it.

 

Really neat things:

 

 

 

• Guns, even handguns, seem to wound the Predators. None of the wounds seemed too grievous, but at least we got to see some chem light blood.
  
• Some tactical thinking by at least one of the main characters. There was some light thought applied by some of the other characters.
  
• The tactical plans tended to work. The "good" guys were just outclassed and outgunned.
  
• The katana versus armblade combat.
  
• The suicide Russian bomber. Sort of tells me that the character considered himself dead already, and that was kind of sad. Still cool that he took one out as he went.
  
• Overall, the plot was well done and the performances were done in good faith.
  

 

 

 

The bad things:

 

 

 

• Did we really need to have a new "super" Predator species? That hunts the regular Predator species? Really? I can see the next AvP movie being titled Aliens vs. Predator vs. Predator (with lotsa human casualties thrown in so we can nominally call it horror).
  
• The scene where the convict gets his spine ripped out. I immediately was pulled out of the "reality" of the movie and thrust into the Aliens versus Predator video game reality. If there would have been like 30 additional seconds showing the Predator running the armblade down both sides of the spine (to sever the rib bones and connective) tissue, it would have made the scene much more horrific and much less comedic.
  
• Stereotypes, namely the Insane Survivor That Turns on the Protagonists and the Obviously A Serial Killer That Turns on the Protagonists. Both were really annoying. I would have much rather seen the serial killer slash the Big Bad with his scalpel, slowing the Big Bad enough that Royce could finish him off.
  
• The throwaway role of the normal predator. Would have been much better to have him escape during the first camp encounter and then fill the role that Lawrence Fishburne's character - sans betrayal - did. Would have been nice to see it kill a "super" predator before it got killed by the Big Bad.
  
• The Big Bad's helmet. Was that supposed to be scary? All I did was groan at the sheer amount of Limburger that stunk up the joint whenever it appeared on screen.
  

 

 

I liked those same "good things", especially

 

how they handled the katan versus armblade match.

 

 

As to your "bad things",

 

 

 

• The new "super" Predator species: I took this to be a similar species, sort of neanderthal to Human relation. The "little" predator controlled the ship, so I think that these new Predators are not so technologically advanced. I don't know how they are pulling this off, but I suspect it is a parasitic situation, where the bigger guys are used by the smarter guys for some purpose, and are paid in tech or with the stocking of this game preserve or something, and if some of the "little" predators get hunted, then too bad for them, they should have been smart enough to either handle or stay away from their bigger cousins. That said, their introduction now is a little odd, since I don't recall any mention of them in any previous canon.
  
• I agree with the spine ripping scene. I laughed at it.
  
• As to the stereotypes, I didn't mind Fishburne's character, except that he has survived 7-10 "seasons", so he would most definitely have multiple escape routes, and would not have left them so much noisy/hot stuff to use to attract attention. Topher Grace's character was almost pointless. When he was confronted by the Predator while separated, I expected it to cut to the group, there's a scream, then a bit later he shows up and explains away his escape. "Thing surprised me, but I squeezed through a crack and escaped. Good thing those monsters are so big." Then, there'd be a scene later where he pulls a "trophy" out of a pocket. A mandible, maybe, since Predators don't have ears.
  
• I did think the normal predator would have put up a better showing. I like your idea of having it escape and help the humans.
  
• Yeah, the helmet was cheesy. But I can just see the studio's note to the director, "More skulls. Maybe the main Predation thing could have a skull for a helmet. See the Jun Leader from The Beastmaster for references."
  

 

 

[FireTiger]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

 

Doctor Who - 085 - Seeds of Doom (1975) - parts 1-6

 

Season 5 Episode 11 of Dexter

 

Season 6 Episode 07 of American Dad!

 

Season 1 Episode 10 of Outsourced

 

Season 22 Episode 08 of The Simpsons

 

and the film Despicable Me

 

Slow days have both good and bad points.