What Have You Watched Recently?

[Nolgroth]

Final Girl on Netflix. Solidly in the Grade C- category. Poor acting, poor choreography, poor story, well poor everything.

 

Riverdale, also on Netflix. Too much teen drama but somewhere in there is a decent story. I think I actually preferred Scream the TV Series better. Riverdale needs to step up the body count.

[slikmar]

I have been recording and watching the Hong Kong movies on the El Rey network. Its sad, I have enjoyed them a lot, but i am discovering if it isn't dubbed, but is subtitled instead, in english, I am tending to not watch them. There are 2 fold reasons:

1) I tend to like to be doing stuff on my computer while watching almost any tv, even if it is just playing the equivalent of solitaire on my kindle.

2) Bigger reason is if watching a subtitled movie, I tend to find myself watching the words and not the movie, so I might as well go read a script 75% of the time.

Still, is fun to see all these "great" wire fu movies.

Can't decide if I want to watch Luchedore Underground on there. I already watch on AXSTV the New Japan Pro Wrestling every thursday or friday.

[Michael Hopcroft]

I have been recording and watching the Hong Kong movies on the El Rey network. Its sad, I have enjoyed them a lot, but i am discovering if it isn't dubbed, but is subtitled instead, in english, I am tending to not watch them. There are 2 fold reasons:

1) I tend to like to be doing stuff on my computer while watching almost any tv, even if it is just playing the equivalent of solitaire on my kindle.

2) Bigger reason is if watching a subtitled movie, I tend to find myself watching the words and not the movie, so I might as well go read a script 75% of the time.

Still, is fun to see all these "great" wire fu movies.

Can't decide if I want to watch Luchedore Underground on there. I already watch on AXSTV the New Japan Pro Wrestling every thursday or friday.

I'm used to subtitles from decades as an anime fan. I don't find them distracting at all. If you can handle subtitles, I recommend the Hong Kong release of the 1990's wuxia comedy Eagle Shooting Heroes. It's a hilarious movie, and the subtitles are part of the fun (in British Hong Kong, subtitles were commonly used in domestic releases because the authorities preferred to work in English).

[Michael Hopcroft]

I continue to be obsessed with Steven Universe. The most recent episodes were aired on a single night in early June and I got to them on my DVR this week. It's a single event called "Wanted", and concerns the protagonist's unwilling trip to the Gem homeworld to stand trial for the thing his mother did that has defined his life for some time now -- the murder of Pink Diamond, colonial governor of Earth during the Gem War five thousand years ago. In the course of the trial, the situation changes, and Steven (along with a Beach City resident who had also been captured by Homeworld Gems) are forced to escape onto a planet that is literally trying to kill them. They get help from an unexpected source, but in the process put them too in peril.

 

There are several issues the episode tackles, including one that is unexpected -- disability. The show has always been about dealing with being different, and here we have several new characters who literally have to hide away from their world because their differences make them hunted fugitives even though they have committed no crime other than being odd or disabled. That speaks to me.

[Nolgroth]

Riverdale, also on Netflix. Too much teen drama but somewhere in there is a decent story. I think I actually preferred Scream the TV Series better. Riverdale needs to step up the body count.

 

And I finally gave that up. It lasted 8 episodes, but I am clearly not the target audience. At least it lasted three more than my typical 5 episode trial. The teen drama was just too much for me to handle.

[bigdamnhero]

2) Bigger reason is if watching a subtitled movie, I tend to find myself watching the words and not the movie, so I might as well go read a script 75% of the time.

I'm used to subtitles from decades as an anime fan. I don't find them distracting at all.

Yeah, I've watched enough foreign films that I'm not even consciously aware of the subtitles anymore. In fact I used to strongly prefer them because the quality of the dubbed voice acting used to be so poor that I found that really distracting; that seems to have improved in recent years tho.

 

I still remember trying to special order Seven Samurai on VHS from the video store back in the 90s. The look from the clerk was priceless: "So it's 3 hours long, black & white, in Japanese with subtitles - that's the version you want?"

[death tribble]

Bones has been showing on a channel called YourTV 3 episodes a weekday repeated on a weekend. Seen most of seasons 2 through 7. Season 8 is now starting. Emily Deschanel's portrayal of Dr Brennan's lack of social skills is charming as it is not as bad as Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory. The ingenuity of the deaths is good as are the reasons for the murders. Although I find the new uber villain Christopher Pelant to be a bit wearing. The surprise was having a member of ZZ Top turn up as the father of Angela, Brennan's best friend. It can be gruesome but it is entertaining.

[csyphrett]

Watched a box set for the Real Ghostbusters. Brings back the memories. Beaming ghosts across the world, saving a version of the Star Trek crew, saving a guy trapped on his buggy, and the inevitable Christmas Carol.

CES

[Joe Walsh]

Finished up Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on Netflix. It was really good -- quite an enjoyable adventure that was very well done. It's the tale of two unlikely people bringing magic back to England during the Napoleanic Wars. Great stuff!

[death tribble]

I have the Box set of Batman and am going through all the episodes. Finishing season 2 which belongs to Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the same way that season 1 belonging to Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. The quality of the writing was reduced I felt. But there are still gems. Lee Meriweather who played Catwoman in the film turns up as a socialite kidnapped by King Tut. Bruce Lee as Kato.

It is good but series 1 has the edge.

 

EDIT: to correct an obvious mistake

[slikmar]

I have the Box set of Batman and am going through all the episodes. Finishing season 2 which belongs to Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the same way that season 1 belonging to Ferank Gorshin as the Joker. The quality of the writing was reduced I felt. But there are still gems. Lee Meriweather who played Catwoman in the film turns up as a socialite kidnapped by King Tut. Bruce Lee as Kato.

It is good but series 1 has the edge.

You either mean Frank Gorshen as the Riddler or Cesar Romero as the Joker.

[death tribble]

Sorry will go back and edit.

[death tribble]

Radiohead headlining Friday night at Glastonbury. Slightly pretentious. But it's a little jarring to realise that the band are either in their 50s or thereabout. Ok Computer is 20 years old.

Kris Kristofferson was also playing his first Glastonbury at the age of 41. Joined on stage by Mr Depp.

[bigdamnhero]

Spectral, from Netflix. A military sci-fi movie about a group of American soldiers in Generic War-Torn East-European Country #7 who encounter some sort of ghost-like beings. I expected a pleasant time-waster, but it turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable.

 

[Spence]

Spectral, from Netflix. A military sci-fi movie about a group of American soldiers in Generic War-Torn East-European Country #7 who encounter some sort of ghost-like beings. I expected a pleasant time-waster, but it turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable.

 

 

It was.  Decent movie.

[death tribble]

Dr Who part 1 of the finale of the season. John Simm returns as the Master. But you also have Michelle Gomez as Missy aka The Master. And a form of Cybermen not seen since 1966. It was good.

[mattingly]

I finished up the latest season of "Fargo" -- great stuff. The antagonist did a much better job here than as the villain in his recent superhero movie.

 

I'm binge re-watching season one of "Preacher" anticipating tomorrow's season two debut.

[death tribble]

The Foo Fighters at Glastonbury. Over two hours. Lot of swearing but a lot of good stuff.

[Nolgroth]

My day off yesterday slip away as I consumed Top 10 lists on YouTube.  I tried to watch the fan film "Born of Hope," which details Aragorn's father, but it was glacially slow and seemed more a princess meets prince that a faithful addition to the Lord of the Rings lore. Stopped about halfway through and I have little interest in returning to it.

[csyphrett]

Watched John Wick 2. 

 

I sat there and thought this guy is dumb burning down John Wick's house.  And then tried to kill him after the job was done when they didn't know what he had in the catacombs. 

 

Even the manager of the hotel is like you're an idiot. You're dead. It doesn't matter if you are sitting on the commission or not. John Wick is going to light you up as soon as he finds you.

 

He's not that good.

 

He just killed 60 of your guys in a straight up confrontation. Think about that. You have no idea what's going to happen.

CES 

[csyphrett]

The boy and I went to see Cars 3. Lightning McQueen has to get back into training. Things don't go as well as they could have.

 

Also Lou in the short teaches a kid about giving things back to where they belong.

CES 

[Joe Walsh]

Saw John Wick 2. It was one of those rare sequels that's as good as the original. Tons of fun! Can't wait for the third one.

[Ternaugh]

Bones has been showing on a channel called YourTV 3 episodes a weekday repeated on a weekend. Seen most of seasons 2 through 7. Season 8 is now starting. Emily Deschanel's portrayal of Dr Brennan's lack of social skills is charming as it is not as bad as Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory. The ingenuity of the deaths is good as are the reasons for the murders. Although I find the new uber villain Christopher Pelant to be a bit wearing. The surprise was having a member of ZZ Top turn up as the father of Angela, Brennan's best friend. It can be gruesome but it is entertaining.

 

I started watching Bones on Netflix several months ago, only to get through about half of the second season when they lost the rights to show the first 4 seasons. I skipped ahead to the fifth season, and a friend gave me a rough capsule review of the stuff I missed. Just finished the last season on Hulu. I definitely enjoyed the show, especially the interactions of the various characters.

[Nolgroth]

Watched all the cutscenes from Injustice 2 (a Mortal Combat-esque video game with DC characters). Somebody is really hating on Superman over in the DC house. I gathered that Superman decided in the original Injustice to conquer the world so that he can protect everybody by being the "benevolent" dictator. In this one, he refuses to budge from that position, ultimately getting is powers stolen by Gold Kryptonite and then being cast into the Phantom Zone. Combine this with the generally unfavorable opinion of the MoS and BvS movies and it almost seems as if there is an institutional hatred of their mascot.

[bigdamnhero]

Watched all the cutscenes from Injustice 2 (a Mortal Combat-esque video game with DC characters). Somebody is really hating on Superman over in the DC house. I gathered that Superman decided in the original Injustice to conquer the world so that he can protect everybody by being the "benevolent" dictator. In this one, he refuses to budge from that position, ultimately getting is powers stolen by Gold Kryptonite and then being cast into the Phantom Zone. Combine this with the generally unfavorable opinion of the MoS and BvS movies and it almost seems as if there is an institutional hatred of their mascot.

This. They seem to regard "traditional" Superman as an embarrassing anachronism they need to distance themselves from.

 

I haven't played the Injustice games, but I read the first couple TPBs of the comic based on it. "What If Superman Decided To Take Over The World" isn't exactly a new idea, tho I thought the comic did a decent-ish job of showing what it might take to push Supes into that corner. My biggest beef with the comic was how easily half of the rest of the superheroes went along with it; in particular their portrayal of Wonder Woman as this Lady MacBeth-esque psychopath had me literally spitting.