What Have You Watched Recently?

[Pariah]

The City On the Egde of Forever. Arguably the best episode of the original series, and certainly one of the most powerful. I suppose that every sci-fi series eventually addresses the issue of "one (or few) must die if many are to live", but few do it in as heart-wrenching a fashion as this episode did.

[Ternaugh]

Ladyhawke: A terrible curse by an evil bishop separates two lovers as day is separated from night. A thief becomes an unlikely bridge between the two in their quest to be reunited. (DVD)

[Pariah]

7 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

Ladyhawke: A terrible curse by an evil bishop separates two lovers as day is separated from night. A thief becomes an unlikely bridge between the two in their quest to be reunited. (DVD)

 

With the news of Rutger Hauer's death, I've been thinking I need to watch this again.

[Spence]

On 7/26/2019 at 8:42 AM, Pariah said:

The City On the Egde of Forever. Arguably the best episode of the original series, and certainly one of the most powerful. I suppose that every sci-fi series eventually addresses the issue of "one (or few) must die if many are to live", but few do it in as heart-wrenching a fashion as this episode did.

 

One of the best.  My favorite is Balance of Terror.  I won't go as far as saying it is the best of TOS, but it is still my favorite. 

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 7/26/2019 at 8:42 AM, Pariah said:

The City On the Egde of Forever. Arguably the best episode of the original series, and certainly one of the most powerful. I suppose that every sci-fi series eventually addresses the issue of "one (or few) must die if many are to live", but few do it in as heart-wrenching a fashion as this episode did.

 

2 hours ago, Spence said:

 

One of the best.  My favorite is Balance of Terror.  I won't go as far as saying it is the best of TOS, but it is still my favorite. 

The contrast between those episodes is striking. Edge of Forever is an intensely personal story of one man's unbearable moral dilemma. Balance of Terror is a duel, reminiscent of films about submarine warfare, between two antagonists who in another situation might have been friends. It is also an episode about racism (the officer who turns against Spock when he sees what Romulans look like) and the price of irrational hatred. I have a special fondness for The Corbomite Maneuver, another of the duel episodes that displays Kirk ingenuity at its finest.

[Michael Hopcroft]

One other note: City on the Edge of Forever won the Hugo award for Best Dramatic Presentation at the 1968 Worldcon. It would be 23 years before another TV episode was honored in this way, and it was another Star Trek episode (TNG's The Inner Light). Later the award would be split into two categories, Long Form (theatrical films) and Short Form (TV episodes).

 

The 2018 winners were Wonder Woman (LF) and The Trolley Problem, an episode of the comedy The Good Place. Wonder Woman won in a crowded field against movies like Get Out and The Shape of Water (the best Picture winner that year at the Academy Awards).

[Pariah]

Babylon 5 won back-to-back Hugo Awards in 1996 ("The Coming of Shadows") and 1997 ("Severed Dreams"). These wins were before the aforementioned split into long and short form categories and came against the likes of Apollo 13, DS9: The Visitor, and Independence Day.

[death tribble]

Death Drums Along the River This is a colour remake of Sanders of the River set in the 1960s as the colonial powers were leaving Africa. After a police officer is killed following a suspect from the docks the police look at a smuggling ring upriver as well as local crime figures. A new doctor turns out to be a woman. This was serviceable.

 

Sword of Monte Christo The Chief Minister of Napoleon III is up to no good and it is the task of the niece of the Count of Monte Christo and a captain of the Dragoon Guards to thwart him. William Conrad who is best remembered as Frank Cannon is the villain’s stooge but does not say much

 

Sewers of Gold This TV movie is about the notorious bank robbery in Nice France where the crooks broke into the vault from the sewers. I had not seen this in years and it stars Ian McShane as the brain behind it. It is well worth watching.

 

Lost Girl Season 5 The Succubus goes into the afterlife to try and get Kensi back. We also find out finally who Bo’s father is, Hades. And they bring in Eric Roberts to play him. And he is actually a threat although to begin with it is his fellow Pantheon mates who are the bad guys. Dyson finds out he has a son and the cast is thinned out up to the last episode. The Succubus has to go head to head with her father at the end despite the fact he has a backup plan, a second child via the Valkyrie Tasmin.

Having now seen all the episodes would I recommend the series ? The answer is no. The writing lets it down. The Dark Fae are insipid and not much of a threat. Grimm is better. But having seen the likes of NCIS, CSI, Babylon 5 and the X-Files I expect better put together stories.

 

Gotham Season 5 One of several mistakes that is made this season is using No Man’s Land for the story arc. Another is bringing Bane in before Batman even makes his first appearance. The wholesale slaughter of people in the Haven and then the bombing by the army are others. There is dark but this is ridiculous.

The whole purpose of Gotham was about the origins of the Batman so in the end and was it worth it ? No is my opinion. It did a good job on establishing the Penguin and the early life of Catwoman. But both versions of the Joker were too extreme.

There was too much death across all five seasons.

A full power Scarecrow before Batman's first appearance was a mistake.

As was Professor Pyg and the Galavans

And killing Solomon Grundy

 

Tour de France The latest edition of the race was the best I have witnessed on TV. Chris Froome was absent through injury and several other racers were not present due to illness or non selection. Mark Cavendish was a victim of the latter. The absences opened up the sprinters field in particular.

It was also the 100^th anniversary of the yellow jersey’s introduction and 50^th anniversary of Eddy Merckx’s first win. The event started in Belgium and spent two full days there before heading into France. I got to see the Atomium in Brussels as the team time trial ended there.

Stage 3 ended in Champagne and France saw its first holder of the yellow jersey in 5 years as their press pointed out. This was Julian Alaphilippe who held the yellow jersey for 14 days and it established him beyond doubt. He won 2 stages one of which the Time Trial he was expected to lose. He also was cheeky to President Macron when the latter visited the race.

Thibault Pinot another French racer was seen as the successor should Alaphilippe fail. The former won a stage in the Pyrenees (much to the delight of his Directeur-Sportif) after losing time almost disasterously on stage 10 as a break formed in the peloton.

Sadly stage 19 in the Alps did for French hopes. Pinot had to retire through injury and Alaphilippe was outdistanced by Team Ineos who had been quiet although ever present. The team in Froome’s absence was co-captained by Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal. The latter took over the yellow jersey on stage 19 after launching an attack while the rest of the field pegged Thomas. He rode it into Paris. Stage 19 did not have a winner as the race was stopped by the damage a snowstorm did close to the end of the race which also caused a landslide making the course dangerous to riders.

Stage 20 was affected in a similar way as the weather destroyed part of the route so it was truncated.

Several riders had to quit because of crashes and resulting injury and two were thrown out by commissioners after an on-road altercation.

I have never known a Tour with so many different stage winners (15 in all).

Peter Sagan was overshadowed by other sprinters winning stages although he won the sprint classification for the 7^th time (a record) and did get one stage.

Romain Bardet who was thought of as the next big thing in French cycling for some years was eclipsed by Pinault and Alaphilippe but managed to end up as the winner of the Mountains Classification after performances in the Alps.

Bernal won the race outright and is also the winner of the best young rider. He is only 22 years old. And hails from Colombia. He races for Team Ineos so next year they could have 3 Tour de France winners in the same team. In the last 8 years Team Ineos (aka Team Sky) have had seven tour wins.

Chateau watch was a treat as was the fact the race went to Pont du Gard which is on my bucket list.

The summary programme also had interviews with people who wore the yellow jersey notably Merckx, Hinault and Indurain who all won it five times each. The British wearers also spoke about it with the notable exception of Sir Bradley Wiggins.

And the Red Devil was there, turning up on two stages.

This was a glorious and wonderful three weeks.

[Pariah]

Flushed Away. What a remarkable cast. Hugh Jackman. Kate Winslet. Sir Ian McKellan. Andy Serkis. Bill Nighy. Just remarkable.

[Ternaugh]

Psycho II: Universal's 1983 attempt at launching a horror/suspense franchise. Not too bad if you treat it as a dark comedy. Not too good if you wanted something like the original Hitchcock film. (DVD)

 

Night Moves: Gene Hackman plays a detective looking for the missing daughter of a former actress. A brooding, dark thriller. (DVD)

[Iuz the Evil]

The Boys extremely violent, deviated a bit from the source material but I considered it an improvement. The core themes are very much present. Karl Urban makes a fantastic Billy Butcher, but the Homelander steals the show from my perspective. Super scary. 

[Scott Ruggels]

On 7/26/2019 at 7:47 AM, Armory said:

I've watched two episodes of The Boys on Amazon.  Holy...  I've never read the comic, had no idea what this was about.  It's an ever darker deconstruction than Watchmen and, so far at least, very well done.

It’s very dark, and very sharp. Very obscured version of the Justice league.  Very smartly written. It may probably need it’s own spoiler thread. True fans of the Silver Age should avoid it. I enjoyed it though. 

[Scott Ruggels]

On 7/27/2019 at 6:17 PM, Spence said:

 

One of the best.  My favorite is Balance of Terror.  I won't go as far as saying it is the best of TOS, but it is still my favorite. 

My go to, is The Doomsday Machine. 

 

Donu, Donut, chocolate donut,

[Ternaugh]

On 7/28/2019 at 10:09 PM, Scott Ruggels said:

My go to, is The Doomsday Machine. 

 

Donu, Donut, chocolate donut,

 

Killer cannoli, with the absolute worst music editing. "He's doing his own theme music"

 

 

 

[Ternaugh]

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Find your grail, and kill a few Nazis along the way. (Blu-ray)

[Ternaugh]

John Wick: A recent widower works through his grief. (Netflix Blu-ray)

[Lord Liaden]

And shares it. A lot.

[Bazza]

Sharing is caring. 

[death tribble]

Miss Robin Hood A magazine writer who does a story about a teenage thief is contacted by an old woman who wants him to help her steal a formula from a distiller which she claims belongs to her family.

 

The Flemish Farm A Belgian fighter pilot returns to his old station in occupied Belgium to retrieve the coat of arms of the Belgian airforce. This is a wartime film. (1943)

 

The Way Ahead David Niven stars in a 1944 released film about a fictional regiment restructuring after Dunkirk and follows them through training until first action in North Africa in 1943.

 

Counter-Attack A Hollywood film from 1945 based on the Russian front as two Russians are buried in a cellar with Germans they have captured. It is then the case of who digs them out first and who can worm information out of their opponent. Paul Muni plays one of the Russians.

 

Pygmalion This is based on George Bernard Shaw's play and has Leslie Howard playing Henry Higgins. If you like My Fair Lady then you will probably like this.

 

Odd Man Out James Mason is the local head of an Irish terrorist organisation who leads a robbery to get funding for the organisation. The robbery goes wrong during the escape when Mason and one of the factory employees are both shot in a struggle. Mason is also lost from a moving car and has to hide in a shelter. While his colleagues try to get him out of the city and find him, the police are also trying to locate him. Mason is also suffering from his wound. The film has well known British faces in it such as William Hartnell and Robert Newton. This film is well worth hunting out and viewing. 

[DShomshak]

First two eps of the new CW SF series Pandora. Not impressed, but I'm turning into an old curmudgeon whom very little impresses. Besides, Babylon-5 spoiled me.

 

I wouldn't say anything about Pandora is actively horrible. It's just... very seen-it-all-before, without the sharp writing and acting that could make it archetypal" instead of "formula."

 

Sorry, I know that's not a very informative review.

 

Dean Shomshak

[L. Marcus]

Boo! Hiss! Horrible! *puts Dean on ignore list*

[Ternaugh]

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw: I enjoyed it, but it's pretty much what it says on the tin. (In theaters)

[csyphrett]

Ready Player One. A master mind creates an MMO/VR that is so good that it becomes an economy on itself while the outside world gets worse and worse. With a will being broadcasted on open air by the creator, anyone who can solve the puzzles, and get the prize, can take over the company.

 

Things flew by so it was hard to see all the cameos in the fight scene at the end, but the Spartans were my favorite

CES   

[Bazza]

On 8/2/2019 at 11:16 PM, death tribble said:

Odd Man Out James Mason is the local head of an Irish terrorist organisation who leads a robbery to get funding for the organisation. The robbery goes wrong during the escape when Mason and one of the factory employees are both shot in a struggle. Mason is also lost from a moving car and has to hide in a shelter. While his colleagues try to get him out of the city and find him, the police are also trying to locate him. Mason is also suffering from his wound. The film has well known British faces in it such as William Hartnell and Robert Newton. This film is well worth hunting out and viewing. 

 

Here is a modern review you might like of Odd Man Out. The site has tons of reviews of films of the 40s & 50s. 

 

https://ocdviewer.com/2011/03/16/odd-man-out-jan-30-1947/

[TheNaga]

The A-Team and Stargate: SG-1.