What Have You Watched Recently?

[Tech]

Saw "Big Hero 6" yesterday. Surprisingly, a good movie.

[RDU Neil]

6 hours ago, csyphrett said:

Just watched Along with the Gods. A firefighter has to withstand seven trials for his life so he can be reincarnated. Along the way, his brother is killed and becomes a vengeful spirit. In the end, the guardians have to protect both brothers from the sins of the past.

 

There's a subplot of an old man who sees the guardians working. Midcredits three other guardians come for him in the night. Problem is his house is protected by a household god. The offscene battle might have commenced after an exchanging of words.

CES    

 

Wait... is this a real thing, or are you describing some drag addled fantasies... 'cause this sounds amazing, and I've never heard about it! What is this show?

[csyphrett]

48 minutes ago, RDU Neil said:

 

Wait... is this a real thing, or are you describing some drag addled fantasies... 'cause this sounds amazing, and I've never heard about it! What is this show?

Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds is a live action Korean movie based on a webcomic according to the back of the box. I picked it up at the walmart.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Along-With-the-Gods-Two-Worlds-Blu-ray-DVD/341402248

CES

[death tribble]

From Dominion 2018 Okada vs Omega IV. A two falls out of three with no time limit match. Epic and brilliant. If you like wrestling watch this.

[tkdguy]

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon.

[RDU Neil]

Ok... can't stop laughing at the absurdity of this B action movie starring Jason Momoa... Braven.

 

It looked like a semi-quality action flick... decent actors, good cinematography... cliched story, but that can be overcome with decent dialogue and sharp action scenes. It starts off decently, but when the action starts, it quickly heads into the ludicrous.

 

Fight scene... surprises guy with gun, Momoa beating on him, guy drops gun... then guy gets gun back and shoots at him, misses... then decides not to continue shooting at him, but to start hitting him with it, even though it is fully loaded automatic weapon. Drops gun... Momoa doesn't bother picking it up, but hits him with his bag, then gets into a complex series of... pull the winch line off the ATV, wrap the guy up with it after tackling him, then jump back to the ATV and gun it, dragging the guy, jump off at last second as you head over a cliff, but guy somehow grabs ankle and both go over. 

 

Every set piece fight goes like this... instead of simple logical action with guns (readily available) he has to attack people with axes and hot tongs and the final fight scene is the most stupid set piece ever, featuing a bear trap used in the dumbest way possible.

 

Best part though... at one point, Momoa's wife shows up (as of course, the daughter is caught in this and running for her life). Even though the wife didn't really know what was going on, she shows up pulling a hunting bow out of her truck and running right up into the fight. Just as bad man is about to grab daughter, she shoots a Hawkeye level bow shot through thick trees, to the guys hand... but learning from her husband. Doesn't just shoot the guy ... instead, runs up and starts beating on him with the bow. He take some shots, but overpowers her, knocks her down... after obligatory "run forest run!" to the daughter, the mom proceeds to pull one of these...

 

... and shiv the guy over and over.

 

So while Momoa is scrabbling around using pointless impromptu weapons, the mom shows up outfitted like a FarCry character, without the slightest explanation of what or how.

 

Entertaining for being humorously dumb... but I wouldn't recommend "Braven" at all.

[clnicholsusa]

To think, I wasted my time watching Mushi-Shi when I could have been enjoying the quality of Braven.

[Starlord]

This gives me an idea for a thread.  

[death tribble]

Versailles Season 1 and Season 2

The programme is all about Louis XIV of France moving his court to Versailles and building the palace there in season 1. It also shows Madame de Montespan becoming Louis's mistress. As the nobles are summoned and trying to resist coming to Versailles some of them also conspire against it in order to force Louis to return to Paris. What you also have is a full blown conspiracy to take Louis down organised by several nobles. Louis also has to contend with his younger brother who is openly bisexual but devoted to the Chevalier Lorraine. Louis is also having an affair with his brother's wife who is the sister of Charles II (of England). Louis's queen is also upset with him.

Season 2 sees Montespan try to increase her power but fears her impending childbirth will count against her. Her attempt to bring in a fortune teller backfires while Louis becomes increasingly bad tempered and insomniac. A series of poisonings at the palace create more havoc as the palace is now populated by the nobility. Louis goes off to war and meets with William of Orange which leads to him getting his head together. Back at the palace an evil priest and a sorceress create turmoil as does a spy working for William. Louis's brother has to have another wife as Henriette (Charles II's sister) dies. This creates ructions with Chevalier de Lorraine.

Sadly in season 2 we lose a woman doctor and Louis's gardener who were both sympathetic characters. 

This is a French production filmed in English

[death tribble]

The Bridge Season 3. A woman is found murdered and posed in an artistic tableau. Saga is paired with a Danish colleague Hanne who does not like her because she turned in Martin. Hanne ends up crippled after being wounded in a booby trap. This was set up by the murdered woman's son a soldier who returned from Afghanistan with post traumatic stress. Said son is killed by a mystery killer. Another officer Henrik is then paired up with Saga. A second murder of a priest who allowed gay marriage in church points to a lawyer's video blog because she attacked said priest and the murdered woman. This turns out to be a copycat crime.

Other murders take place with the victims being set in tableaus which are then revealed to be recreations of artworks held by a chap called Holst. His ex-business partner Claes also comes under suspicion.

Saga is thrown for a loop by the reappearance of her mother who she broke off contact with twenty years earlier. The mother dies in what might be suicide or might be murder with evidence pointing at Saga.

Henrik is also a troubled soul as his wife and daughters disappeared six years previously and he still sees them in his house.

The solution is a surprise and it still throws in a few surprises before the end. 

[Ternaugh]

Paint Your Wagon -- One wonders what was going through the minds of the studio executives at Paramount who approved this. A musical western with three leads who couldn't really sing (though I have a soft spot for Lee Marvin's "I Was Born Under a Wandering Star"). Surprisingly enjoyable. (Amazon Prime)

 

Batman and Harley Quinn -- Batman, Nightwing, and Harley Quinn have to team up to stop Poison Ivy from turning everyone into plant people. For me, it was one of the few missteps by Bruce Timm, and felt a little flat. (Amazon Prime)

[clnicholsusa]

15 minutes ago, Ternaugh said:

Paint Your Wagon -- One wonders what was going through the minds of the studio executives at Paramount who approved this. A musical western with three leads who couldn't really sing (though I have a soft spot for Lee Marvin's "I Was Born Under a Wandering Star"). Surprisingly enjoyable. (Amazon Prime)

In my childhood, my parents drove the family to the drive in when this movie was on. I think they believed something else would be playing. My mother asked the same question ("what were they thinking?") and my father suggested she figure it out if it bothered her so much. It seemed like a challenge, so I gave it a shot.

The original Broadway musical was Lerner and Loewe; Paddy Chayefsky was hired to write it; Joshua Logan was brought on to direct it; Lee Marvin had joined the cast. That's a handful of Tony's and a handful of Oscar's, so Hollywood figured they didn't have to do a good job on this film to make money at it.

What did I watch?

Scared Stiff 

I was in a mood that suggested I avoid thinking too hard.

[csyphrett]

Watched the Incredibles 2. It was a blast. Favorite parts were Jack Jack versus the burglar, and the theft of the incredimoble.

CES

[death tribble]

King Lear This is a BBC and Amazon co-production with Anthony Hopkins as Lear. This is the first time I have seen the play at all.

It is good and worth a look.

 

Also the last episode of Bones as most were on one channel and the last couple of seasons were playing on another. Quite a bit different in characterisation than the books.

 

Also Grimm as the second season progresses. The memory recovery is getting a tad monotonous.. 

 

The BBC also has all the new seasons of Dr Who available on iPlayer for 5 months. Rewatched Dalek and it is as good today as it was then. Updating the Dalek to have a 360 degree firing arc, using the sucker to kill  and levitation was one of the stand out points of the series.

[mattingly]

The Adventures of Brisco County Jr

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 6/24/2018 at 9:02 PM, Ternaugh said:

Paint Your Wagon -- One wonders what was going through the minds of the studio executives at Paramount who approved this. A musical western with three leads who couldn't really sing (though I have a soft spot for Lee Marvin's "I Was Born Under a Wandering Star"). Surprisingly enjoyable. (Amazon Prime)

My college drama teacher was an extra on Paint Your Wagon. The movie actually had Central Oregon filling in for Gold rush-era California, He and his fellow extras had fun freaking out the employees at the local Safeway in costume and unwashed (because there was a lot of mud on the locations).

 

The polyandry plot at the center of the film was a substitute for the original Broadway story, which the producers thought was outdated in 1970. 

 

 

[Cassandra]

Happy Hour (1986)

 

A Scientist invents a food additive that makes beer irresistible.  When half the formula is stolen by a co-working his boss hires Jamie Farr, Tawny Kitaen, and Eddie Deezen to recover it from a rival company.  Meanwhile Rich Little plays a corporate spy trying to steal the real formula.  Made by the people who brought you The Killer Tomato movies.

[death tribble]

The Bridge Season 4. A woman is stoned to death and the police start a new investigation. Saga is in prison suspected of killing her mother while her colleagues try to get her out. One of the other inmates who is sympathetic to her ends up stabbing her as she is leaving.

Henrik is assigned the case and is going to a support group as he is drug dependent. He is seeking help as her wife and daughters disappeared without trace. He bonds with a young adult in a wheelchair.

The case draws in an illegal alien, a taxi driver working for a mobster, the taxi driver's estranged wife and child and two pickpockets as more murders occur the link being methods of execution across the world. The killer aims to make his real targets suffering by killing what they love.

Saga goes to see a psychiatrist after self diagnosing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

All of it comes together with the link being made visible before the last episode but the actual killer being a mystery.

[zslane]

I just finished watching season two of Luke Cage. Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed this season way more than season one. I found the story more interesting and the characters far more compelling.

 

Bushmaster was a terrific villain, because not only was he absolutely riveting every time he was on screen, he actually was someone you could sympathize with in a way, even though his methods and the intensity of his obsession undermine that sympathy. Mariah Stokes was the more complex villain, the one you loved to hate, and I'm completely satisfied with the trajectory of her character arc. I really liked Tilda Johnson, and felt she added a nice wild card element to the drama. And, of course, the real shining stars for me continued to be Misty Knight and Shades.

 

Overall I would give season two a solid B+ grade, whereas season one was a C- for me.

 

However, there were two things that really bugged me throughout the season, and while they did not seriously impact my enjoyment of the season, they nevertheless rubbed me the wrong way. The first one was the incessant use of the phrase "I'm not gonna front." (and its myriad variations). This bit of ghetto slang came across as phony and forced when coming out of the mouths of otherwise intelligent and articulate characters. And it happens so often that what starts out as merely an awkward moment of bad writing quickly grates on the nerves.

 

The second one is more foundational, not just to the character of Luke Cage, but to the genre as a whole, especially as it pertains to the tonal line these shows are trying to walk. And this has to do with Luke's 30-point Code vs. Killing. I feel this puts Luke, as a character, into a morally flawed position given the gritty, violent environment he's forced to operate in (i.e., urban gang warfare).

 

This is sometimes described as the Batman and Joker Problem, and it came into clear focus in season two as Luke repeatedly vacillated between wanting Mariah dead (and for good, justifiable reasons) and yet always saving her from harm. Like Batman, Luke seems to conveniently forget (or disregard) the countless innocent lives that have been, and will be, lost by allowing such a homicidal maniac to always escape the lethal consequences of her own savagery.

 

When you are at war, triage becomes an unfortunate but necessary process of prioritizing, for determining who lives and who dies in order to save as many as can be saved, and in this context triage means putting the concerns of innocent lives, that will be inevitably lost as collateral damage, above abstract platitudes about the Rule of Law. And I'm not even talking about Luke doing the deed himself--I wouldn't want to see Luke cross that line--but rather the extraordinary lengths he goes to prevent even Bushmaster from taking care of the problem (and it is a very serious problem, folks).

 

Marvel puts some of their heroes into morally gray, tonally dark, iron age milieux and then gives them wildly incongruent gold/silver age ethoi. At least with Jessica Jones the showrunners understood that the noir tradition they were drawing upon demanded that their flawed hero be willing to kill the villain in order to protect innocent lives. Hell, even Daredevil, with his Roman Catholic derived Code vs. Killing, killed Nobu. Twice!

 

It's no wonder Luke Cage has a credibility problem with the evil warlords of NYC. When threatening Rosalie Carbone, all Luke could say with any credibility was that he would make her life a living hell by disrupting her illegal operations around town; threatening her life was simply not on the table and she knew it. While this is a common trope in superhero stories, it doesn't really play well when the tone and setting is more like John Wick than the 1960s tv Batman.

[Joe Walsh]

We just finished S1 of Babylon Berlin, a German series set in 1929, during the Weimar Republic.  At its core, it's a detective story, but it's also about Germany during those years, and features a lot of great characters and acting.  Not to mention set design -- the enormous set makes it feel very real, like they really are on the streets of Berlin in 1929. 

 

It's just a fantastic series, and I'm very much looking forward to when S2 makes it to Netflix.

 

[Ternaugh]

The Black Hole (1979) -- Right after Star Wars hit it big, everyone else had to have their space epic. Disney built this with the remnants of the old studio system, which meant lots of matte paintings, and special effects done in-house. Unfortunately, there isn't much to the plot, other than a general 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea/Dante's Inferno vibe (the latter actually being name-checked early on in the movie). (DVD)

 

Runaway (1984) -- Michael Crichton wrote and directed this "near-future" movie about a cop and his partner who chase malfunctioning robots, and discover a plot concerning magical microchips that are somehow weaponized. Tom Selleck stars, but never really rises above the contrivances of the plot. Gene Simmons plays the villain, a genius scientist who is after the templates to make the microchips and is willing to kill just about anyone to get them. Includes some gimmicky shots from the point of view of a "smart bullet" that tracks by heat signature, which feels like a throwback to the writer/director's earlier work on Looker. (DVD)

[RDU Neil]

On ‎7‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 2:09 PM, zslane said:

I just finished watching season two of Luke Cage. Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed this season way more than season one. I found the story more interesting and the characters far more compelling.

 

Bushmaster was a terrific villain, because not only was he absolutely riveting every time he was on screen, he actually was someone you could sympathize with in a way, even though his methods and the intensity of his obsession undermine that sympathy. Mariah Stokes was the more complex villain, the one you loved to hate, and I'm completely satisfied with the trajectory of her character arc. I really liked Tilda Johnson, and felt she added a nice wild card element to the drama. And, of course, the real shining stars for me continued to be Misty Knight and Shades.

 

Overall I would give season two a solid B+ grade, whereas season one was a C- for me.

 

However, there were two things that really bugged me throughout the season, and while they did not seriously impact my enjoyment of the season, they nevertheless rubbed me the wrong way. The first one was the incessant use of the phrase "I'm not gonna front." (and its myriad variations). This bit of ghetto slang came across as phony and forced when coming out of the mouths of otherwise intelligent and articulate characters. And it happens so often that what starts out as merely an awkward moment of bad writing quickly grates on the nerves.

 

The second one is more foundational, not just to the character of Luke Cage, but to the genre as a whole, especially as it pertains to the tonal line these shows are trying to walk. And this has to do with Luke's 30-point Code vs. Killing. I feel this puts Luke, as a character, into a morally flawed position given the gritty, violent environment he's forced to operate in (i.e., urban gang warfare).

 

This is sometimes described as the Batman and Joker Problem, and it came into clear focus in season two as Luke repeatedly vacillated between wanting Mariah dead (and for good, justifiable reasons) and yet always saving her from harm. Like Batman, Luke seems to conveniently forget (or disregard) the countless innocent lives that have been, and will be, lost by allowing such a homicidal maniac to always escape the lethal consequences of her own savagery.

 

When you are at war, triage becomes an unfortunate but necessary process of prioritizing, for determining who lives and who dies in order to save as many as can be saved, and in this context triage means putting the concerns of innocent lives, that will be inevitably lost as collateral damage, above abstract platitudes about the Rule of Law. And I'm not even talking about Luke doing the deed himself--I wouldn't want to see Luke cross that line--but rather the extraordinary lengths he goes to prevent even Bushmaster from taking care of the problem (and it is a very serious problem, folks).

 

Marvel puts some of their heroes into morally gray, tonally dark, iron age milieux and then gives them wildly incongruent gold/silver age ethoi. At least with Jessica Jones the showrunners understood that the noir tradition they were drawing upon demanded that their flawed hero be willing to kill the villain in order to protect innocent lives. Hell, even Daredevil, with his Roman Catholic derived Code vs. Killing, killed Nobu. Twice!

 

It's no wonder Luke Cage has a credibility problem with the evil warlords of NYC. When threatening Rosalie Carbone, all Luke could say with any credibility was that he would make her life a living hell by disrupting her illegal operations around town; threatening her life was simply not on the table and she knew it. While this is a common trope in superhero stories, it doesn't really play well when the tone and setting is more like John Wick than the 1960s tv Batman.

 

Agree on all fronts. As I said in another thread, Misty Knight: Season 1 was awesome! Shades becomes one of the most compelling villains in that you don't want to dislike him. He evokes sympathy, and becomes the reflection of Luke... the bad guy with a code vs. the good guy with a code.

 

Bushmaster/Mustaf Shakir is one of the most magnetic screen personalities I've seen. He was an excellent second chapter villain and had the powerful charisma and intensity of Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth.

 

Other key character work, Reg E. Cathey as Luke's father. Rest In Peace Mr. Cathey, you were a master class actor.

 

The points about Luke going above and beyond to save Mariah is a legitimate beef. It began to feel like the writers couldn't figure out any other way to motivate Luke. The original sense of "two criminal forces warring, Luke caught in between" made the first ten episodes really work, but again, the season ending up dragging on too long, becoming a "gah... Mariah is still causing trouble? ugh..." feeling. IMO, of course.

 

I'm also still disappointed in the action, or lack of action direction and choreography in all but the Daredevil shows. They need to really think through how super strength works... how to make a fight dramatic and not fake looking. Bushmaster hits Cage hard enough to make him bleed, then punches Shades through a wall and only makes him dazed and confused a bit, rather than caving in his chest. That kind of thing bugs the hell out of me. The fact that Luke is always pulling his punches, using light slaps and such should be highlighted by having Bushmaster show what it looks like when a super doesn't hold back. When he was cutting through Mariah's men, limbs should have been severed, heads caved in, etc. They are willing to be brutal in their violence in other ways, but fail to properly imagine what superpowers would really do to a human. Huge missed opportunity.

 

Edit: And when they did show SOME of that... when Luke sort of crossed the line with Corbone's thugs, really breaking bones and such... I always hate that they allow him to get "brutal" with no-name thugs, but not with the one who actually deserves it... that is just bad writing. He permanently cripples several men, but won't even touch Carbone. Why not a flick of his finger and shatter her jaw. He can torture a guy by shattering his hand, finger by finger... but can't hurt a woman? Can't actually harm one of the bad guys who really deserves it?  Just a failure to really think it through as a writer, and fall back on old tropes.

 

[Michael Hopcroft]

Steven Universe recently had a shocking revelation that altered everyone's perspective on past events. The recent "Stevenbomb" event, "Heart of the Crystal Gems", was about the consequences of that revelation. I is also about Garnet and her nature, and how it changed because of these events.

 

Garnet is a living relationship -- the fusion of two other gems, Ruby and Sapphire, and the personification of their love. That love is challenged by the revelation, leading her to "un-fujse" back into her components, who then have an epic argument that ends with Sapphire storming off and a heartbroken Ruby trying to cope. Steven manages to get through to Sapphire that things are not as bad as she feared -- but by that time Ruby had taken off and ran.

 

The resolution of this is something that has never been seen before on Cartoon Network, in an epic episode where a literal arsenal of Chekov's Guns goes off at once. Much of what has gone before comes home to roost.

[Starlord]

3 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

The Black Hole (1979) -- Right after Star Wars hit it big, everyone else had to have their space epic. Disney built this with the remnants of the old studio system, which meant lots of matte paintings, and special effects done in-house. Unfortunately, there isn't much to the plot, other than a general 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea/Dante's Inferno vibe (the latter actually being name-checked early on in the movie). (DVD)

 

Runaway (1984) -- Michael Crichton wrote and directed this "near-future" movie about a cop and his partner who chase malfunctioning robots, and discover a plot concerning magical microchips that are somehow weaponized. Tom Selleck stars, but never really rises above the contrivances of the plot. Gene Simmons plays the villain, a genius scientist who is after the templates to make the microchips and is willing to kill just about anyone to get them. Includes some gimmicky shots from the point of view of a "smart bullet" that tracks by heat signature, which feels like a throwback to the writer/director's earlier work on Looker. (DVD)

 

Runaway is definitely one of those surprisingly good, yet unknown 80s movies.

[zslane]

2 hours ago, RDU Neil said:

He can torture a guy by shattering his hand, finger by finger... but can't hurt a woman?

 

That felt out of character to me (the breaking the fingers bit). That was some hardcore Rorscach sh*t right there, and I had to put on my proverbial writer's hat to figure out why Luke behaved so uncharacteristically. The only thing I could come up with was that the writers must have decided that Luke figured the only way to get through to Italian gangsters like Rosalie was to "speak their language", as it were. I can see the twisted logic in that, but again, that feels more like something John Wick would do, not Luke Cage.