What Have You Watched Recently?

[Matt the Bruins]

I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. Glacially paced, highly atmospheric Gothic ghost story.

[mattingly]

4 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

UHF: "Weird" Al's big movie debut, which had the extreme misfortune of being released during the same summer as Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. (Blu-ray)

 

Supplies!

 

[wcw43921]

During "Watchathon Week" on my cable system I binged the Mrs. America mini-series on Hulu.  Really good stuff; it does a good job of illustrating the political divisions back then that we continue to deal with today.  One scene in particular struck me--after an appearance on the Phil Donahue show, Donahue talks with Phyllis Schlafly about her assertions and if she's fact-checked them, and she replies--

 

"Phil, let me ask you this.  When Lenin started the revolution in 1917, do you think he told the people, "Fight with us, and we'll give you food shortages, censorship,
and terror?  Oh, no. He promised them peace, land, and bread.  Now it starts with a simple piece of legislation like the ERA, and then the left feels emboldened to eliminate alimony, child support, and the widow's Social Security, and before you know it, we are living in a feminist totalitarian nightmare.  Thank you for having me
on your show."

 

Schlafly walks away satisfied, and Donahue is left to pick his jaw off the floor.

 

Then there's the live debate with Schlafly and Betty Friedan (excellent performance by Tracey Ullman) who loses her temper and declares, "You are a traitor to your sex!  You're an Aunt Tom!  .  .  .You are a witch!  God, I'd like to burn you at the stake!"

 

People seem to think there was a time when political discourse was all flowers and bonnets.  Really--it wasn't

 

Anyway, a great show.  Watch it, if you haven't already.

[Old Man]

Watched one episode of Jupiter's Legacy on Netflix.  I'm hooked, but it looks like there might be some moral ambiguity coming.  At least they're not doing it with Superman.

[mattingly]

Resident Alien.Finally had a chance to watch all ten episodes. Darned good!

 

 

[Ternaugh]

On 5/9/2021 at 2:03 AM, Old Man said:

Watched one episode of Jupiter's Legacy on Netflix.  I'm hooked, but it looks like there might be some moral ambiguity coming.  At least they're not doing it with Superman.

 

I've finished the 8 available episodes. My only complaint is that it feels padded for time in several places.

 

It's been approved for two more seasons.

[Starlord]

Finished Shadow & Bone on Netflix and Invincible on Amazon Prime.  Both were excellent.

 

On a very sad note, Netflix announced that the upcoming 5th season of The Last Kingdom will be it's final one.  

[Pariah]

"All Good Things...", the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was fun to watch the whole series again, although I was a little miffed at the fact that they used the last few episodes of the final season to make traitors of both Wesley Crusher and Ro Laren. 

[Starlord]

21 minutes ago, Pariah said:

"All Good Things...", the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was fun to watch the whole series again, although I was a little miffed at the fact that they used the last few episodes of the final season to make traitors of both Wesley Crusher and Ro Laren. 

 

I assumed they noticed that grim and edgy was working for DS9 so attempted an experiment that resulted in a poor outcome.

 

It would have been nice to see Ro appear in DS9, particularly with what ultimately happened to the Maquis.

[slikmar]

Finally got around to seeing in theaters this week:

Godzilla vs Kong: enjoyed it a lot. Was disappointed in the Doctor Russell character - the man who originally left Monarch and was a bit paranoid and an expert on Godzilla in the previous movie, but who completely disregarded the logic of "Why is he attacking this one spot, when he hasn't attacked anywhere else" argument. Also, as a low level thing, why wasn't the Kong/Godzilla/Mechagodzilla fight in Tokyo? I am sure there is a reason, but cmon. I also was struck by how well they avoided, in the trailers, any showing of MechaG. I knew ahead of time because I read spoilers, but still, I am impressed. I had no problem with who really was the winner in all of it.

Mortal Kombat: Decent take on the games. New character to build on instead of Liu Kang, though he was there also. Enjoyed the fights.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Ultraman Leo...last of the 70's Ultra shows. Fun in all the usual ways, but it came at the end of the superhero boom and it is starting to show.

[Tjack]

On 5/11/2021 at 4:08 PM, Pariah said:

"All Good Things...", the series finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was fun to watch the whole series again, although I was a little miffed at the fact that they used the last few episodes of the final season to make traitors of both Wesley Crusher and Ro Laren. 

    You gotta put some of the blame for that on Michelle Forbes who played Ro.  They were setting up her character to be the second in command in the the new show Deep Space 9.  She decided that she didn’t want to commit to a full time series so the writers scrambled to create the character Major Kira Nerys.

   I did think that what they did with Wesley was a better and more fitting plot thread pay off than him just being another Starfleet officer. 

[Pariah]

Ro Laren in DS9 would have been interesting. I can definitely see the parallels. 

[archer]

21 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Ro Laren in DS9 would have been interesting. I can definitely see the parallels. 

 

In the novels after the TV show, Ro Laren became the new security officer for DS9 to replace Odo.

[Scott Ruggels]

Watching Superman & Lois. It’s the only tolerable CW show since the first season of The Flash. It’s actually good.  Well scripted. Well acted, and very respectful of Superman, and Lois. They come across as a solid couple. Lois beams when Clark gives her a sincere professional compliment. 

[archer]

1 hour ago, Scott Ruggels said:

Watching Superman & Lois. It’s the only tolerable CW show since the first season of The Flash. It’s actually good.  Well scripted. Well acted, and very respectful of Superman, and Lois. They come across as a solid couple. Lois beams when Clark gives her a sincere professional compliment. 

 

I don't agree that it is well-written. Superman seems clueless about what a danger his son is to those around him, despite having grown up Kryptonian in a world made of Kleenex, and keeps wandering off leaving his son unattended in every episode...despite the fact that Clark has no job and isn't Supermaning either on a regular basis.

 

Clark gives lectures to his kid then worries to his wife. Then he goes off and leaves his kid unsupervised and even giving him permission to do dangerous things, despite the kid getting into trouble being unsupervised and doing dangerous things in the previous episode. And the episode before that. And the episode before that. And the episode before that.

 

If he's going to leave his kid to get into mischief in every single episode, the writers should at least use the excuse that he's off being Superman all the time, rather than expressly saying that he's not.

 

I think there's zero chemistry between the Superman actor and the Lois actress. The actress is experienced in the role of wife/girlfriend and it shows. But that's despite their lack of chemistry, in my opinion.

 

Neither of the kids seem to be able to act their way out of a paper bag. Kid actors often mature into their roles and become better so at least it's too early to write them off completely.

 

I like the casting for Lana and Lana's daughter.

 

Lois's dad comes across as a nag rather than a professional soldier but maybe we'll get a chance to see him interacting with his command more than with the Kents.

 

I'm not enamored of the "mystery in the mine" storyline. With both Lois and Clark being investigative reporters and both knowing that Clark is Superman, it's occurred to neither of them for Superman to do a superspeed run-through of the very limited floorspace in the mine to see if anything looks off...even though they both seem to think that re-opening the mine is a clear and present danger to the town.

 

C'mon, at least hide the location of the mystery so that you don't leave the viewers wondering why Superman isn't bothering to look right there.  

 

And everyone knows the high prevalence of mines in the middle of the Kansas prairie so at least a mine in Smallville isn't even slightly out of place....

[Lord Liaden]

2 hours ago, archer said:

 

I don't agree that it is well-written. Superman seems clueless about what a danger his son is to those around him, despite having grown up Kryptonian in a world made of Kleenex, and keeps wandering off leaving his son unattended in every episode...despite the fact that Clark has no job and isn't Supermaning either on a regular basis.

 

Clark gives lectures to his kid then worries to his wife. Then he goes off and leaves his kid unsupervised and even giving him permission to do dangerous things, despite the kid getting into trouble being unsupervised and doing dangerous things in the previous episode. And the episode before that. And the episode before that. And the episode before that.

 

If he's going to leave his kid to get into mischief in every single episode, the writers should at least use the excuse that he's off being Superman all the time, rather than expressly saying that he's not.

 

 

 

I get where you're coming from, but Clark isn't Jordan's warden, he's his father. Trying to combine those roles never ends well. The kid becomes resentful and rejects his parents' guidance, and never really learns responsibility. And learning responsibility is an even bigger priority for a kid with powers. Push him down the wrong path, you wind up with a supervillain.

 

Clark had to go through this learning process himself. His parents had to trust him with his independence, and Clark has to show his son that he trusts him. It's hard, and it's risky, but that's true raising any child.

[Scott Ruggels]

5 hours ago, archer said:

 

I don't agree that it is well-written. Superman seems clueless about what a danger his son is to those around him, despite having grown up Kryptonian in a world made of Kleenex, and keeps wandering off leaving his son unattended in every episode...despite the fact that Clark has no job and isn't Supermaning either on a regular basis.

 

Clark gives lectures to his kid then worries to his wife. Then he goes off and leaves his kid unsupervised and even giving him permission to do dangerous things, despite the kid getting into trouble being unsupervised and doing dangerous things in the previous episode. And the episode before that. And the episode before that. And the episode before that.

 

judging by the time compression, which doesn’t seem to be a lot,  I am of the opinion that Clark and Lois are a bit blindsided by the move and the change in lifestyle. Maybe the show is not plotted well, but the dialogue between Clark and Lois I think is pretty good. The actor playing Clark is admittedly a bit stiff, but I like the kids. 
 

At least it doesn’t feel odd and imbalanced like the modern day scenes in Jupiter’s Legacy. 

 

Quote

 

And everyone knows the high prevalence of mines in the middle of the Kansas prairie so at least a mine in Smallville isn't even slightly out of place....

I know the county where Smallville is supposed to be, (South & West of McPherson, and just south of the Kanopolis Resevoir. In real life there are hills in the area, not tall but there so there could be mines, However I think they are using Alberta for Kansas which is flatter. There are salt mines in that area of Kansas. But generally lots of farms, and a few light industries.  Man, I miss Kansas 

[Tjack]

        NO SPOILERS****NO SPOILERS*****NO SPOILERS
 

  I just got done watching the first two episodes of the new batch of Lucifer on Netflicks.   The first one after you know who shows up and the musical episode.  Without saying anything about the story or what songs were used... D.B. Woodside may have missed out on the Buffy musical episode but he gets a song here and my favorite song goes to Trixie.

    Does anybody want to do a discussion thread about the new episodes either with or without spoilers?  When I first got into the show I couldn’t find a board I liked discussing the show and I don’t know anyone in the real world who watches it. 

[mattingly]

Sneakers (1992). It's been a few years since the last time I'd seen it. Still quite good. I know a lot of people who do that for a living.

 

The Drano/balloon scene is still my favorite screen example of social engineering.

 

[archer]

13 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

 

I know the county where Smallville is supposed to be, (South & West of McPherson, and just south of the Kanopolis Resevoir. In real life there are hills in the area, not tall but there so there could be mines, However I think they are using Alberta for Kansas which is flatter. There are salt mines in that area of Kansas. But generally lots of farms, and a few light industries.  Man, I miss Kansas 

 

My wife is from Ulysses which is in the southwest corner of the state.

 

I grew up 15 miles outside of a small town in another state but was still shocked at how little there was in Ulysses (stores, gas stations, etc.)...and my wife assured me that there was a lot more in the town when we visited than there was when she was growing up.

 

I'm firmly convinced that people came up with the idea of pancakes by visiting Ulysses, Kansas then looking around. And that the locals erected a barbed wire fence in order to have something, anything to block the wind.

 

The small towns I was used to didn't give the feeling of being desolate because there was always hills or trees to block line of sight, which hides just how little there is.

 

In these days of internet, satellite TV, and Amazon delivery, I guess you could live anywhere and be okay. But I felt sorry for my wife having to grow up in such a place.

 

And I'm saying that as someone who grew up for the first six years of my life in a house without a telephone or indoor plumbing. (My parents installed indoor plumbing after that point and we got a party line telephone when I was in high school).

 

Of course, when my wife got to see the home where I grew up and the immediate surrounding area, she felt the same way I did about Ulysses.  But she was impressed with my small town.

 

edit:

 

In checking Wikipedia about the surrounding communities where I grew up, I just found out my family's rather unique surname has been attached to a road connecting two of those very tiny places.

 

I'm in Wikipedia! Take that all you people in high school who said I'd never amount to anything!

[death tribble]

Memories of Lindsay Anderson Various actors and others who worked with the British director talk about him in this one hour documentary.

 

Chrissie Hynde sings Bob Dylan Tomorrow is a Long Time. The lead singer of The Pretenders did a project in Lockdown. Bob Dylan songs. And not the usual ones. Worth a look.

 

Vendetta For the Saint A feature length edition of the Saint from the 1960s. Roger Moore is compelled to investigate the murder of a British tourist in Naples. The man had identified a fello0w diner as a bank clerk in Palermo just after the war but the other had said he was wrong. Simon Templar finds himself up against the Mafia. I had not seen this before an it was entertaining even if all the roles were British.

 

Blood Relatives This is a Canadian made film of the Ed McBain stories with Donald Sutherland as Carella investigating the murder of a young woman and her cousin being wounded in the same attack. Watch for Sutherland.

 

Widows Season 2 The widows are pursued by dolly's husband who wants the money from the robbery and the other money he had stashed. This results inn the widows returning to Britain and attempting to turn the tables on Harry Rawlins. Watching the first season is a pre-requisite. It is not as good.

 

The Singer Not the Song John Mills plays a priest sent to a Mexican town menaces by a bandit who is against the church. Dirk Bogarde plays the bandit. It has a following due to the campness of Bogarde's role. Worth a look for a post WWII Western feel. 

[tkdguy]

I only recently heard about this Hill Street Blues spin-off:

 

 

[zslane]

I finally made my way through Batman: The Animated Series.

 

Despite the high praise this cartoon routinely receives, it just was not for me. I say that as a middle-aged adult who never watched it during its original run. I was already in my late 20s when it aired and I had no interest in it. So I carry no nostalgic feelings towards it. I can only view it through the lens of an adult who has very high standards for storytelling that no kid's cartoon could possibly meet.

 

But rather than go through the long list of things that drove me nuts about the show, I will just list the things I give it an A+ grade for:

• Stellar voice cast.
• Exceptional music score.
• Excellent character designs.
• Wonderful Retro-Decco aesthetic that reminds us of the time period Batman truly belongs to.
• Batman regarded by the police as an ally (Bullock notwithstanding).

[Tjack]

30 minutes ago, zslane said:

I finally made my way through Batman: The Animated Series.

 

Despite the high praise this cartoon routinely receives, it just was not for me. I say that as a middle-aged adult who never watched it during its original run. I was already in my late 20s when it aired and I had no interest in it. So I carry no nostalgic feelings towards it. I can only view it through the lens of an adult who has very high standards for storytelling that no kid's cartoon could possibly meet.

 

But rather than go through the long list of things that drove me nuts about the show, I will just list the things I give it an A+ grade for:

• Stellar voice cast.
• Exceptional music score.
• Excellent character designs.
• Wonderful Retro-Decco aesthetic that reminds us of the time period Batman truly belongs to.
• Batman regarded by the police as an ally (Bullock notwithstanding).

      You should think about trying Superman: TAS.  The high points are fewer but sometimes it will just shake you down to your socks. Usually when it’s doing stories right from the comics.