Jump to content

What Have You Watched Recently?


Susano

Recommended Posts

5 minutes ago, Ternaugh said:

The Expanse, Season 4: It's as close as we'll probably get to Traveller: the Series. Well worth watching. (Amazon Prime)

 

I don't know how I missed it, but I never made that connection.

It is like the old Traveller I remember before the big empire stuff, minus Jump drives that is....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the middle of "Volume" 6 of RWBY. It's still good, but there a few things about the story I'm not sure about:

 

The reveal that Salem is this unkillable immortal lends a shock factor and the assertion that Team RWBY's efforts are going to be futile in the end. How they will resolve this, especially since it seems RT has no intention of ending the series anytime soon, is going to be both interesting and disturbing.



 

I'm actually disappointed that Cinder survived her icy fall at the climax of Volume 5. It was dramatically appropriate as a death scene, and not only does Cinder reviving rob the moment of its meaning, but it gives the indication that the producers are willing to bring back "dead" characters anytime they want. I had the same problem with Professors Port and Oobleck showing up alive and well in Volume 4 -- I had assumed a sacrifical death for them in the previous volume, and it would have been more dramatically appropriate. What does a sacrifice mean if the stakes are lower?

 

I'm going to finish the volume at least, and hope it all comes to something satisfactory before the Volume 7 episodes come out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas: It's essentially a sing-along for me, as I've memorized all of the songs long ago. This version restores the Kermit the Frog segments that were removed a few years ago. (Amazon Prime)

 

Tangled: Fun take on the Rapunzel fairy tale. (Disney+)

 

Miracle on 34th Street: 1947 version with a very young Natalie Wood. One of my favorite holiday movies. (Disney+)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Nolgroth said:

Just binged The Mandalorian on Disney+. Normally I wouldn't have seen it, but my son decided he wanted to get a D+ membership. A decently good set of Star Wars stories following the exploits of the titular Mandalorian bounty hunter.

There are so many potential things you can do in the Star Wars universe (as roleplayers have known for decades). Spaghetti Western/Samurai film is definitely one of them. I'm waiting for the Star Wars version of Agent 007 -- a Rebellion superspy of great daring and perseverance who is just as ruthless as the Imperial officers and crime lords she's trying to take down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found an animated show called Avengers: United They Stand on Disney Plus. I decided to give it a try.

 

There were a lot of problems. First, due to licensing issues, it didn't have Cap, Tony, or Thor. The team consists of Ant-Man (Henry Pym, team leader), the Wasp, Wonder Man, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Tigra, with intimations that Vision would soon join the team as well. Not a bad lineup, considering the big three are missing. So it has potential.

 

But the execution was problematic. The artwork was stereotypical 90s--big hair, over-exaggerated musculature, armor on characters who don't usually wear armor, the whole bit. And the voices? Pretty much all the characters had deep, gravelly voices, even Wasp and Tigra. The animation was fine for the time period, but looks dated now.

 

In short, it was kind of like the 90's animated X-Men series, but much more so.

 

I couldn't finish the first episode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

There are so many potential things you can do in the Star Wars universe (as roleplayers have known for decades). Spaghetti Western/Samurai film is definitely one of them. I'm waiting for the Star Wars version of Agent 007 -- a Rebellion superspy of great daring and perseverance who is just as ruthless as the Imperial officers and crime lords she's trying to take down.

 

Funny you should mention Westerns.  The Mandalorian sort of reminds me of the hardened, reluctant hero, gunslinger from an old western. One who is capable of some pretty ruthless deeds, but retains a seed of decency within them. As for roleplaying, the Mandalorian inspired me to pull down some of my FFG Star Wars material and take a gander at it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Nolgroth said:

 

Funny you should mention Westerns.  The Mandalorian sort of reminds me of the hardened, reluctant hero, gunslinger from an old western. One who is capable of some pretty ruthless deeds, but retains a seed of decency within them. As for roleplaying, the Mandalorian inspired me to pull down some of my FFG Star Wars material and take a gander at it.

 

The early episodes remind me of Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name character from Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy. I guess in this case, it would be the Mandalorian with no name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/26/2019 at 4:45 PM, Ternaugh said:

 

The early episodes remind me of Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name character from Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy. I guess in this case, it would be the Mandalorian with no name.

We never learn the name of Toshiro Mifune's wandering samurai in Yojimbo either. That was one of Leone's direct inspirations for the creation of The Man with No Name. (A Fistful of Dollars is, for most [purposes, a remake of Yojimbo -- which Kurosawa, in turn, borrowed form Dashilell Hammet's Prohibition crime novel Red Harvest.  I wonder where Hammet got the idea...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part of the Mystery and Imagination series from the late 60s early 70s. The Suicide Club which is from a story by Robert Louis Stevenson. A prince and his aide join a club after encountering a stranger who has nothing to live for. The prince and aide are in disguise looking for a thrill. The members of the club draw cards. Whoever draws the Ace of Spades is hunted by the one who draws the Ace of Clubs in order to kill them. The prince decides to put a stop to the club.

 

Before Winter Comes At the end of the war people are being repatriated from camps in Austria to their home countries. From one clearing camp they go to the American zone or the Russian zone. Topol plays a new arrival who speaks a number of languages and helps the British officers David Niven and John Hurt as they decide who goes where. The Russians are also right next door and they split an inn between both armies. The Russian officer tells Niven that Topol is a Russian deserter and should be sent to them. Topol meanwhile is on the make in the camp including getting a American jeep to the Russians, making illicit alcohol and fixing where people go. Anna Karina who dies recently also stars. Worth one look. It is Topol's film and Niven plays an unsympathetic character.

 

Moana Shown over Christmas this was my first look at the film and it was not half bad.

 

Finding Dory If you liked Finding Nemo you will like this. It does not have the same charm as the film it comes from. Again a first showing over Christmas

 

Martin's Close A ghost story told over the Christmas holiday about a squire on trial for murder where the victim was seen after her death. Supposedly a trial report of a trial presided over by the infamous Judge Jeffries, Peter Capaldi plays the prosecuting counsel. This was a nice half hour programme.

 

Lure of the Wilderness Jeffrey Hunter goes back into the swamp to find his dog following a prior search for two missing trappers. He finds a man who fled the law with his daughter and befriends them. He sells their animals skins in order to raise money for a defence. But the real killers have cause to stop him. Stars Jack Elam as one of the bad guys

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Detective This is basically Father Brown by G K Chesterton with Alec Guinness as Father Brown and Peter Finch as Flambeau. Bernard Lee is a Scotland Yard Detective put on the case to find Finch who steals unique items for himself. Entertaining.

 

Folly to be Wise Alistair Sim is a padre at an army camp who is the new camp entertainments officer. He comes up with the idea of a brains trust where people can ask questions to a panel of experts. To which end he invites a local MP, an artist an his wife plus their friend a professor plus the local Lady of the Manor. Things devolve when the padre's secretary asks the question Is Marriage Worth It ? which cause ructions between the artist, his wife and the professor. Watch if you are a fan of Alistair Sim

 

Mystery and Imagination The first episode of a series from the last set of stories it covered was one I had never even heard of, Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu. I knew the writer because of the Hammer Horror films based on Carmilla. This story is of an heiress sent to live with her uncle following her father's death. Said uncle is under a cloud because of the murder of a moneylender killed in the uncle's house which absolved him of his debts. It was a locked room mystery. The uncle forbids his niece from entering the tower where the murder occurred and also going to the nearby village. Previously the heiress had been alarmed by the behaviour of her French governess (who was dismissed for looking at the father's papers) and by the appearance of a strange young man. The strange young man turns out to be Uncle Silas's son who intends to marry her but she does not want this to happen despite what her uincle wants. These plans are dashed when the boy is revealed to have already married. Silas then employs the same French governess to educate the girl. Silas arranges for his niece to be sent to France to see his own daughter in the company of the governess but this turns out to be a trick as she is drugged and returned to the estate in darkness to be imprisoned in the tower room where the money lender was killed. The heiress sees her cousin digging a grave and guesses his intent. She turns the tables on the governess refusing to drink which the governess does. The heiress then notes her cousin climbing down the tower and hides while he comes in through a gimmicked window. Her cousin attacks the body in the bed to find to his horror that it is the governess and he falls to his death while escaping. The heiress manages to evade her uncle and his gamekeeper and is rescued by her guardian and a friend of her father's. Silas takes an overdose of laudanum rather than face justice.

 

Mystery and Imagination The third story in the series is Dracula starting at the point where Harker is already confined and Dracula is a guest of Dr Seward. Unusually Denholm Elliot plays Dracula while Susan George plays the doomed Lucy. You get one flashback sequence to Jonathan Harker meeting Dracula's brides in a manor but that is it. The stoy contains various people who would be known to a British audience but probably not to an American one. It was quite effective telling although like Uncle Silas filmed in black and white.

 

Valley of Eagles This is a chase movie set in Sweden where a physicists wife and her lover run off with some equipment and formulae heading for the border to be pursued by the husband and the police. The climax is in a village where they hunt with eagles as a gunshot could bring down an avalanche.

 

Treasure of San Theresa An American returns to Germany a decade and a half after the war to recover a parcel given to a convent which contains jewels. However he must get the daughter of the man who gave him the parcel as the convent will only release it to her. And the convent is in Czechoslovakia. Only it isn't a convent now it is a police HQ.... Stars Christopher Lee who appears over half way thorugh. Deinitely worth one look.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rise of Skywalker - A decent end to the Skywalker saga. The movie was better than I'd expected.

 

The End of the Fxxxing World, S2 - We're about half way through season 2, and it continues to be as good as the first season. It's funny and discomforting at the same time.

 

The Aeronauts - Felicity Jones picked another good one, and did a fantastic job once again.  I feared I would be disappointed by this streaming-only movie, but it turned out to be a compelling and enjoyable adventure story that was well done all around. Great stuff!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...