What Have You Watched Recently?

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 1/13/2021 at 4:48 PM, death tribble said:

Midway

Arguably the most important American naval victory of WW2. After the US codebreakers get a hint that the Japanese are going to attack somewhere in the Pacific they bait the Japs with false information that reveals the target. The film could lose the romance subplot and have the Japanese speak Japanese as they did in Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! The film has a recognisable cast with major film actors like Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum and Charlton Heston alongside the likes of Kevin Dobson (of Kojak fame) and Erik Estrada (Chips). You could claim the Japanese suffered analysis paralysis and this helped lead to the US victory. I can watch the film quite happily if I skip over the omance angle which basically gets rid of Heston's character.

This is the 1976 film.

 

Midway is a strange film. Some of the decisions the producer made were mind-boggling. Like hiring Toshiro Mifune to play Yamamoto and then having Paul Frees overdub his voice (like all of the Japanese characters) into English. The n the combination of new and wartime film was sometimes hard to fathom. They must have put a lot of money into sound effects and mixing to take advantage of the Surround Sound fad. John Dykstra could have worked wonders for this film were he available. It also had the misfortune of being released a year after Saigon fell and the American claim of invincibility was shattered.

 

I much prefer Tora! Tora! Tora!. a nuanced tale of the tragedy of Pearl Harbor (Where Japan's victory m the raid was the direct causa of the catastrophe of their bitter defeat)..

[tkdguy]

Watching the Prada Cup, which will lead to the winner competing in the America's Cup in March. Dramatic day today. The US team was on the verge of winning the race when the boat capsized. Fortunately, no one got hurt.

[Pariah]

I'm about a quarter of the way through the third and final season of the Disney Channel animated series Elena of Avelor. The Big Bad from seasons 1 & 2 has been defeated once and for all, only to be replaced by someone arguably even worse. The smug, irritating Royal Chancellor has been outed as an actual traitor and has begun running with the aforementioned replacement Big Bad out of necessity. Elena, the Crown Princess and heroine, has had a radiation accident and found her magical powers (and weapon) enhanced to an exceptional degree. With fewer than 20 episodes remaining, it will be interesting to see how they wrap everything up.

[Greywind]

Charlie Chan in Paris

Charlie Chan in Egypt

Charlie Chan in Shanghai

[Old Man]

Finally finished Into the Badlands, the best postapocalyptic wuxia intrigue series ever made.  If you like wire-fu, swordplay, excessive gore, and shifting loyalties, this is the series for you.  It has its flaws--in particular it felt very rushed toward the end, and the primary macguffin is never adequately explained--but this was a high budget production and it showed in the costumes, sets, and fight scenes that never got old.  In fact this series literally had two production units operating in parallel, one for drama and one for action.  Warning: Season 3 is as long as seasons 1 and 2 put together.  Netflix.

[death tribble]

Oh no ! He's back !

 

Went the Day Well ?

This is a propaganda piece about an attempted German invasion made during WW2. German troops disguised as British Royal Engineers arrive at a small village. They are doing a small exercise and need to be billeted but they are to aid an invasion in several days time. The Germans make mistakes which lead to their unmasking but several attempts to warn outsiders fail. And there is a traitor in the village. If you have not seen it, do so as it is a marvellous little piece.

 

Another Man's Poison

Bette Davis made a few films in Britain and this is one of them. She plays an author who suddenly finds an escaped outlaw in her house just after murdering her husband. The escapee agrees to help her if she hides him and he will pose as her husband. And then they start to work against each other with other people also ratcheting up the tension. You'll either like or loathe this.

 

The Captive City

Made before John Forsythe ran a detective agency and married Joan Collins, here he plays a journalist who finds out just how corrupt his town is after illegal gambling is uncovered. Told in flashback as he and his wife have fled for Senate Hearings, the lengths that people will go to to protect the town's image and to protect their business is pronounced. Of its time but useful for Champions, Dark Champions and Pulp GMs.

 

The Hasty Heart

Ronald Reagan in good film shock ! He plays one of a small number of hospital inmates who are asked to look after a truculent Scot who does not know he will die in about two weeks. The nurse and the other patients try to be nice to the Scot who is not pleasant at all to them. But they know he is not long for this world and he does not. It is very good and affecting. Worth repeated viewings.

 

Berlin Express

Robert Ryan is a journalist travelling from Paris to Berlin by way of Frankfurt just after the Second World War. On board is a man trying to put together a plan to reunite Germany. Bear in mind the film was made and released in 1948, this is somewhat ambitious. It shows a Germany devastated by war as filming was done in the two named cities.

The diplomat is targeted by assassination and kidnap plots. This is an odd period piece that does not outstay its welcome.

 

King of the Underworld 

Tod Slaughter is the main reason to watch this and unusually it is not a potboiler but a modern film (1950s) He is a blackmailer obsessed with gems. The film is stitched together from several episodes of a 50s TV drama. Not good but not bad either.

[Spence]

On 1/17/2021 at 11:16 PM, Old Man said:

Finally finished Into the Badlands, the best postapocalyptic wuxia intrigue series ever made.

 

And that is understating it.  I don't consider it part of scifi or fantasy because it is a category all on its own. 

Totally bad ass and I am very very very disappointed that there wasn't a 4th season. 

[Greywind]

Charlie Chan at the Circus
Charlie Chan at the Race Track

Charlie Chan at the Opera

Charlie Chan at the Olympics

[Pariah]

I have now watched the first two episodes of WandaVision back-to-back.

 

I seriously have no idea what the Hell is going on.

[Bazza]

Watch the third one as well. And welcome to “no clues-ville”. 

[Starlord]

The build-up is way too slow.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

9 hours ago, Starlord said:

The build-up is way too slow.

 

It's a mini series. Blowing everything in episode one is not only silly in that context...it's obviously not good for a mystery.  I think we'll get some exposition in episode 4, but they've already said most of the big reveals come in episodes 7-9.

[Pattern Ghost]

There's only been one and a half hours of screen time. Some folks are impatient. The end of Episode 3 had a significant reveal.

[archer]

On 1/19/2021 at 8:11 PM, Spence said:

 

And that is understating it.  I don't consider it part of scifi or fantasy because it is a category all on its own. 

Totally bad ass and I am very very very disappointed that there wasn't a 4th season. 

 

The storyline wandered all over the place to the point that I wasn't completely sure if there actually was a storyline or not.

 

 

One other thing that really bothered me about the show: it was obviously set hundreds of years in the future. Almost no one alive had any idea what the world used to be like and there apparently weren't surviving written records and very few surviving buildings.

 

But there were a scattering of modern cars which looked like they were less than 20 years old. Original body, original matched tires.

 

Make up your mind: is it set 20 years in the future or hundreds of years in the future?

[Starlord]

Wandavision has had over 90 minutes of screen time.  So far there are very vague inklings that something is not right which I already know because Wanda and Vision are in 50s - 70s sitcoms and Vision is, y'know, alive.  I watch mini-series all the time...the build-up is incredibly slow.  If you weren't already fans of the MCU and these characters you would probably give up on this show halfway through Ep 2.  I already stated that I'm glad Marvel is trying something completely different and wacky, but something stronger needs to grab a casual viewer of an average show before the 90+ minute mark.

[Bazza]

To me, each episode is just over 20 mins, which makes it an hour, not 90 mins.

 

news/promotion is that Episode 4 picks things up after the slow start. 

[Pattern Ghost]

I think after the ending of 3, that 4 almost certainly has to pick up the pace.

[Starlord]

7 hours ago, Bazza said:

To me, each episode is just over 20 mins, which makes it an hour, not 90 mins.

 

news/promotion is that Episode 4 picks things up after the slow start. 

 

Ep1 is 30, Ep 2 is 37 and Ep 3 is 33.  Take out about 3 mins each for 'actual' credits and you get about 91 minutes by my count.  I will agree that things 'should' definitely switch into high gear after the big reveal at the end of Ep 3.

[death tribble]

Paris

This is a three part documentary series about the French capital in which art historian Sandrine Voillet talks about the history and development of the city. It shows the usual things like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre but also parts of the city that I did not know about. It was wonderful and her accent is delightful. If you can find it, watch it.

 

Breakthrough

Richard Burton stars in an unofficial sequel to Peckinpah's Cross of Iron. Only one actor who was in the latter is in the former. Burton replaced James Coburn. After the majority of his section are killed on the Eastern Front, Sgt Steiner is sent on leave by his commanding general to thwart a court martial. He is in Paris when the D-Day invasion occurs and is sent West to join his unit. The general wants to negotiate an armistice as he is on the plot to kill Hitler and sends Steiner to talk to the Yanks. The Americans are sceptical but pass the info upwards. The general is forced to commit suicide in the aftermath of the plot's failure as the Gestapo gibe him that option rather than a trial. One of Steiner's superiors tries to set up a trap in the village the unit are protecting so that a large number of tanks are destroyed when the Americans attack. He even puts the inhabitants out in the open to lull the enemy in. This is thwarted by Steiner who gets the civilians into cover. He had just previous to this been shot by the officer. Steiner also disconnects the wires to the explosives. Steiner kills the officer when he tries to kill an American colonel. Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger play the American officers and are criminally underused. Best avoided which is why I have given away most of the plot.

 

The Last Escape

This Second World War film concerns an attempt by British and American Intelligence operatives to get their hands on German rocket scientists. All but one of the American side are wiped out at the start of the film as the Germans work out there is something up with them. The Russians are also looking for the scientists with an advance unit of tanks. The majority of the film has the British and Germans pursuing each other but they are all wearing German uniform. Stuart Whitman is the sole American survivor. Added complications are that the scientists are bringing their families  and that one of the scientists is transmitting to the Russians. It is not that good to be honest.

 

The Boston Strangler

This is a film done more as a documentary and uses split screen. It starts with the discovery of one of the bodies and follows the police as they try to investigate. After a detective is selected to head up the Strangler bureau we actually get to see the Strangler and what stops him from claiming one victim and then what leads to his arrest on housebreaking before the police make the connection that he might be the strangler. George Kennedy is the main detective on the case and Murray Hamilton (the mayor in Jaws) is one of his colleagues and is in a synpathetic role. Henry Fonda plays the head of the bureau and Tony Curtis is the Strangler. The film is good but has been criticised as tasteless.

 

Villa Rides

Yul Brynner plays Pancho Villa as he is working for General Huerta played by Herbert Lom. This is before the latter became a dictator and was working for President Madero. Robert Mitchum plays a gun runner caught up in the revolution after supplying guns to the wrong side. He narrowly escapes Charles Bronson playing a Villa lieutenant who shoots a lot of people. I knew nothing of this but it is worth watching for Bronson alone. Jill Ireland (Bronson's wife) foes not appear until the very end in a throwaway part.

 

Evasive Action

Con Air on a train. The film directly references Con Air as the Marshall office must transport inmates by train due to the Vegas incident. The prisoners get loose and battle the guards There is a traitor on the train staff who helps the criminals but things don't go all the prisoners way. As with Con Air, one of the prisoners works against the others. The outside world is alerted and Sheriff Ray Wise joins the chase. Roy Schieder plays the chief prisoner. There are plot holes in the film. The prisoner acting against the others manages to re-join the train even when it is diverted to a different route and what happens to the majority of the passengers when their carriage is disconnected. The looney prisoner is also forgotten at the end but there are a number of nice narrative touches which makes the film watchable.

[Pattern Ghost]

13 hours ago, Starlord said:

I will agree that things 'should' definitely switch into high gear after the big reveal at the end of Ep 3.

 

If we consider it one big story, then the end of Ep. 3 would be the end of the first act under a three act structure, being the first big plot point introduced. I think we're a little shy of having a clear cut inciting incident, but I think the conversations that Wanda and Vision had near the end of the episode should count. Episodes 4 through 8 should give enough room for a meaty second act, with the last two episodes rounding out the third act. So, it works as far as timelines go.

 

I wouldn't have minded if they'd combined episodes 1 and 2 into a more concise episode and gotten to that reveal an episode earlier, b/c I thought those first two dragged on a bit too long, but I think they still have room to pick up the pace and deliver something interesting.

[Matt the Bruins]

Another new adopter of Doom Patrol here. Weirdly I'm enjoying almost all of it except Robotman. Fraser is playing him too close to Homer Simpson-as-superhero for my liking.

 

I also caught up to the current CBS (re)broadcast schedule of Star Trek Discovery and I'm enjoying it much more than expected. The plot developments with Jason Isaacs' and Michelle Yeoh's characters suited me more than well.

[archer]

55 minutes ago, Matt the Bruins said:

Another new adopter of Doom Patrol here. Weirdly I'm enjoying almost all of it except Robotman. Fraser is playing him too close to Homer Simpson-as-superhero for my liking.

 

I also caught up to the current CBS (re)broadcast schedule of Star Trek Discovery and I'm enjoying it much more than expected. The plot developments with Jason Isaacs' and Michelle Yeoh's characters suited me more than well.

 

I just finished up both of those within the last week as well.

 

Robotman, I didn't mind so much. He didn't set out to become a superhero. And the person who selected him obviously didn't choose him for the role due to his superheroic qualities.

 

He's the classic "reluctant hero who is dragged along into trouble because he's loyal to his friends". (The original DC Superhero RPG by Mayflower had a term for that motivation but I forget exactly what it was.)

 

I'm not that fond of his swearing. But I like Robotman's character more than I like the cardboard cut-out that they use for Cyborg. (But in all fairness to that Doom Patrol version of Cyborg, it's leaps and bounds better than the Justice League movie version of him.)

 

As for Star Trek: Discovery...

 

My main problem with the first season is that they discovered that The Force was real: there really is a force created by life which binds the universe together and, without which, life cannot exist. And that someone who is connected to the Force can see the future and exhibit other powers.

 

I find that REALLY irksome.

 

My fondest hope and dream is that the used up all their spores so that their ship can no longer teleport and violate all the rules which they've previously established for their pretend physics.

 

I just feel so much better when a pretend physics is internally consistent. OUC OCD MOUSE

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Ultraman Taro- Probably the weakest of the older Ultra series (though wildly popular in Japan when it released), it is still a fun show full of monsters and other craziness. This is one of the longest of the Ultra series at 53 episodes. It actually plays more like fantasy than sci-fi and is heavily geared to a younger audience. That said...it does offer a fascinating glimpse of Japanese culture and mythology.

 

[Pattern Ghost]

3 hours ago, archer said:

 

I just feel so much better when a pretend physics is internally consistent

 

No such thing in Trek.

[Pariah]

I feel like Star Trek: Discovery is largely an attempt by the franchise to appease the long-neglected Life Science and Sociology majors in the fan base.