What Have You Watched Recently?

[slikmar]

2 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

Mission: Impossible 2: Not quite as strong as the first, the John Woo-directed fight sequences feature lots of martial arts, and the plot concerns stopping the release of a supervirus. (Vudu UHD)

 

Mission: Impossible 3: The lens flare and shakycam* are strong with this one directed by J.J. Abrams, which uses the unfortunate format of pulling out an "exciting" scene from later in the movie to start, and then showing us how we got there (in a very predictable way). The plot involves looking for a McGuffin that ultimately means little in this forgettable movie. Skippable. (Vudu UHD)

 

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol: The IMF team must stop a plot to launch a nuclear war after the entire agency is disavowed. Directed by Brad Bird, this one's my favorite so far. (Vudu UHD)

 

 

 

*I suspect that the action sequences were actually shot with Steadicams, and then f****d up in post-production. One particular stretch was so bad, that all I remember seeing was a blurry, bouncing door with some unidentifiable object moving past it, in what looked like three frames before a cut. The overall effect was like trying to watch a movie at 500 yards through a telescope while sitting on an operating paint mixer.

I always felt like Ghost Protocol saved that franchise. It also renewed Cruise's interest, as he was ready to hand it off to Renner before/during the movie. 2 and 3 I just could never get into because I still couldnt get by Mr. Phelps being the villain in movie 1 (especially after hearing Cruise in interviews talking about how much he was a fan of the original series and couldn't wait for people to see it). I actually felt like Rogue Nation (5 in the series) felt the most MI of the movies. 

[Pariah]

My kids and I watched "Kobayashi", the sixth episode of Star Trek: Prodigy, last night. Out would-be young captain discovered the holodeck and decides (against Hologram Janeway's advice to the contrary) to run the Kobayashi Maru program. He was joined in his mission by Dr. Beverly Crusher, Commander Uhura, Constable Odo, Commander Spock, and eventually Captain Montgomery Scott. Gates McFadden recorded new dialogue for the episode; the others were brought to life by using archived recordings from their respective shows and/or movies.

 

Of all of them, I was most moved at hearing René Auberjonois' voice again. 

[Ternaugh]

1 hour ago, mattingly said:

 

This is my favorite one, actually.

 

 

My boss likes it as well, though I think that he places it somewhere below those that follow. I think that the film techniques took me out of the story too much for me to really enjoy it. I'll probably give it a re-watch sometime in the future.

 

 

1 hour ago, slikmar said:

I always felt like Ghost Protocol saved that franchise. It also renewed Cruise's interest, as he was ready to hand it off to Renner before/during the movie. 2 and 3 I just could never get into because I still couldnt get by Mr. Phelps being the villain in movie 1 (especially after hearing Cruise in interviews talking about how much he was a fan of the original series and couldn't wait for people to see it). I actually felt like Rogue Nation (5 in the series) felt the most MI of the movies. 

 

I think that Ghost Protocol is where I originally came into the series, several years back. I'm fairly certain that I had seen the first movie some time afterwards, and so I found it to be a bit of a let-down. The De Palma-styled cinematography is beautiful, though, and I thought that his trademark POV being our view through the recording glasses was brilliant.

[Spence]

On 12/31/2021 at 12:08 PM, Starlord said:

I've heard others make this case before, but I don't see it.  Other than having white hair and the name White Wolf, very little can be said to be directly taken from Elric in my opinion.  Sapkowski stole from Polish history and literature for stories.  There is no Order/Chaos dichotomy (Chaos is more pronounced for TV).  Geralt is a monster hunter, Elric is mainly a mercenary.  Any other character similarities draw from general loner hero adventure tropes.

 

If written well (as with every other media), an Elric series could be successful.  Doom Patrol is filled with characters who are depressing and filled with self-loathing like Elric, and it's doing pretty well.  He's not Thomas Covenant gloomy, but he's close. 

 

Wait, nevermind, nobody's close to Thomas Covenant depressing. 

 

I am another one that has no idea how they are conflating anything Witcher with the Elric novels.  with or without connections to the Eternal Warrior.  I am not as familiar with the Witcher, but from what I've read and seen it is not nearly at the epic power level that Elric operates at.  Especially when he unleashes Stormbringer or casts one of the greater spells/summonings.

 

If itvis based on the term "White Wolf" I have a dozen scifi/fantasy books that have a "White Wolf".

 

I'd love to see an Elric movie or series. 

 

 

 

Just watched Suicide Squad 2.

They should have led with #2.

SS#1 was horrible.

SS#2 was a rollicking action adventure with super-powered people.  They are definitely NOT superHeroes.

 

But the show was fun.

[zslane]

 

 

[Spence]

And?  I can make a case and "prove" you (who I have never met and know nothing about) has committed any number of hideous acts.  As long as I don't bother to look too deep.

 

I have seen dozens of pictures of characters that look like Elric.  They popped up like weeds as soon as the Elric novels became popular and the first covers and art works dropped.

 

The entire season 1 of Elric and what I have watched so far and it has ZERO in common with any of the actual Elric novels.  The plot isn't even similar.  At all.

Where is the Witchers' demonic soul devouring sword?  I have yet to see him cast one spell or summon on otherworldly demonic creature/creatures.  Where is the need to drink sorcererous concoctions just to be able to normally walk?  Where are the Dragons?  Where are the massive and awe inspiring Melnibone Battle Barges?  Where is all the world lore of Elric? 

 

OMG! We must end all Star Wars shows and properties!!!!  The rebellion pilots were wearing costumes similar to that 1950 scifi movie!!!!  Arrrgggghhhhhh plagiarism.   AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

 

Oh.  I know.  Every WW2 movie or show made after the very first one needs to be banned.  How dare they steal WW2!!!  The outrage. 

 

No.....Witcher is a show based on books that were based on a video game that used extremely common imagery.  These videos are made by people that have far too much time to waste.

 

If you actually read Moorcock's books you will find they are not even close to what the Witcher is.

If you have read them and are still reaching......well.  Whatever floats your boat.

[slikmar]

53 minutes ago, Spence said:

No.....Witcher is a show based on books that were based on a video game that used extremely common imagery.  These videos are made by people that have far too much time to waste.

Actually, the books were out long before the video games AND the plots aren't the same. The makers of the games claim they are continuations. the series is actually just based on the books, spurred on, no doubt, by the popularity of the games.

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 12/29/2021 at 10:18 PM, Lord Liaden said:

I agree as to the significance of Forbidden Planet, but IMHO you inflate its precedent setting too much. Several of the films on the list I noted were just as significant. For example, it scarcely gets more cerebral than The Day the Earth Stood Still, and that came out five years before FB.

Point taken. Some of those pioneering films are still great, but have issues. I'm looking at you, When Worlds Collide -- only one group of humans gets the chance to survive the apocalyptic event and they're all white. Even for the early 1950s, that is extremely problematic.

 

My one complaint about the MST3K feature film is that the "cheesy movie" they were there to mock was This Island Earth -- one of the great films of the '50s sci-fi renaissance. Also they spent far too much time needlessly mocking Russell Johnson.

[Spence]

52 minutes ago, slikmar said:

Actually, the books were out long before the video games AND the plots aren't the same. The makers of the games claim they are continuations. the series is actually just based on the books, spurred on, no doubt, by the popularity of the games.

Cool. 

I am not a big follower of the franchise and don't really play video games so most of my knowledge is fifth or sixth hand plus the series. 

Thanks.

 

[slikmar]

I highly recommend the original books. the first and last are a series of short stories, readable at any time and only a wavering timeline, the middle 3 books are the Geralt/Yennefer/Ciri trio story that the game developers used as their predecessors. Course, I also recommend the games as they are well done RPGs.

[wcw43921]

8 hours ago, Michael Hopcroft said:

Some of those pioneering films are still great, but have issues. I'm looking at you, When Worlds Collide -- only one group of humans gets the chance to survive the apocalyptic event and they're all white. Even for the early 1950s, that is extremely problematic.

 

 

If memory serves, there was a line in the movie about how other spacecraft were being built elsewhere in the world.  Had there been a sequel, we would likely have seen those other spacecraft, and seen how the crew from the first movie dealt with them, whether they were from China or Africa or elsewhere.  And we would have seen everyone deal with the spacecraft crew that brought guns.  That said, you're right--an American crew should have had more than just Caucasians.

[Michael Hopcroft]

5 hours ago, slikmar said:

I highly recommend the original books. the first and last are a series of short stories, readable at any time and only a wavering timeline, the middle 3 books are the Geralt/Yennefer/Ciri trio story that the game developers used as their predecessors. Course, I also recommend the games as they are well done RPGs.

And there is a tabletop adaptation of either the games, the novels, or both. It was written pre-Cavill, of course. I think I own a copy.

 

I could list on one sheet of paper the pop culture hero characters that Henry Cavill is not interested in playing. But it will be a very short list. Other actors need work too, you know!

[Ternaugh]

11 hours ago, zslane said:

 

 

 

Summary of first video: Witcher was bad for plagiarizing Elric, which was plagiarized from multiple sources (but with style).

[Spence]

Watched the new Ghostbusters last night. 

I liked it.

It was another one of the recent movies made to actually entertain.

Between this, Dune and what I have heard about the new Spiderman it is just possible that Hollywood may has started to make entertainment the priority again. 

 

I certainly hope so.

[slikmar]

2 hours ago, Spence said:

Watched the new Ghostbusters last night. 

I liked it.

It was another one of the recent movies made to actually entertain.

Between this, Dune and what I have heard about the new Spiderman it is just possible that Hollywood may has started to make entertainment the priority again. 

 

I certainly hope so.

Don't Jinx it. In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel: 

[discussing Nigel's Guitar collection] 

Nigel Tufnel : Look... still has the old tag on, never even played it.

Marty DiBergi : [points his finger]  You've never played...?

Nigel Tufnel : Don't touch it!

Marty DiBergi : We'll I wasn't going to touch it, I was just pointing at it.

Nigel Tufnel : Well... don't point! It can't be played.

Marty DiBergi : Don't point, okay. Can I look at it?

Nigel Tufnel : No. no. That's it, you've seen enough of that one

[Spence]

2 hours ago, slikmar said:

Don't Jinx it. In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel: 

 

[Pattern Ghost]

On 1/8/2022 at 9:59 AM, zslane said:

 

I like how the second guy here says that he can't wait to see what CD Projekt Red does with an unlicensed property . . . Cyberpunk 2077. Yeah, totally original universe that isn't licensed right there.

 

Credibility as any kind of expert on the genre went out the window with that one. He just did a bit of reading on the internet and made a profanity-filled rant video for hits.

 

Also, I always want to punch people the second I hear the word "cuck" come out of their mouth.

 

My take: I've never played the Witcher games. I've never read the books or stories. I've seen the show. When I watched it, I didn't say, "Hey! This reminds me of Elric." I've read the Elric saga five or six times. I don't care about the superficialities, numerous though they may be. It looks like less of a direct rip off of Elric, and more of a grabbing of random tropes (buff potions before combat, monster hunting, etc.) from pop culture generic fantasy, a la D&D, Warhammer, that were themselves already borrowing heavily from Elric and other sources.

 

It's about the execution, the particulars. Ideas are a dime a dozen.

 

It would be very interesting to see an analysis from an IP law attorney, but just for academic reasons.

[mattingly]

I went back through Almost Human, a cyberpunk-lite cop show starring Karl Urban.

 

Free on Tubi.

 

[wcw43921]

Cobra Kai Season Four

 

Once again this series continues to impress.  It is, quite possibly, the second best sequel ever made--and in a world that includes The Empire Strikes Back, Superman II, The Color Of Money, and the Lou Grant TV series, that's saying something.  It didn't go the way I thought it would--

Spoiler

I was expecting that Tory would lose, and she would throw a temper tantrum about it the way that Mike Barnes did in Karate Kid III.  Instead she appears to be on a path to redemption, which is a common theme on this show--characters become vicious and hateful, then something happens to bring them into the light.  I do not know that anyone saw coming Terry Silver's betrayal of Kreese--I certainly didn't.  

 

Surely I can't be the only fan on this show here--does anyone else watch?

[Spence]

5 hours ago, wcw43921 said:

 

Surely I can't be the only fan on this show here--does anyone else watch?

Is it that Karate Kid thingy?

 

 

[death tribble]

Mantovani Plays the Music From Film encores

Mantovani and his orchestra play music from films from the 1950s. This is a programme under half an hour in length. Nice easy listening and watching.

 

Night Tide

Dennis Hopper is a sailor who falls in love with a girl who plays a mermaid in a sideshow who may have killed her previous two boyfriends. But is she really a siren ? Odd little film

 

Uncle Silas

An heiress falls into the clutches of her uncle after the death of her father.  The uncle is supposed to be reformed but is he ? This is an old story which does not get many airings as either film or on TV

 

The Trial

Orson Welles directs Antony Perkins in this 1960s film of Franz Kafka's book. You have to buy into the central conceit of the police not telling the accused what the crime he is accused of nor the judges. It is a bit high brow and convoluted. And has an ending that will leave some people feeling deeply unsatisfied.

 

The Great St Louis Bank Robbery

This is a Steve McQueen film before he became really famous. A bank robbery is organised but the participants do not like each other. And then the sister of one who once dated McQueen's character tries to get him to back out of the job or to stop the job entirely. It is based on an actual robbery attempt. The police are a bit gun happy.

 

King of the Underworld

Todd Slaughter plays an evil criminal in three linked stories who resorts to blackmail, kidnap and murder. Very much of its time. 

[death tribble]

Secret Army season 1

This was a BBC and Belgian TV coproduction about the running of escape routes for downed allied airmen getting the pilots and crew back to Britain. This was what the comedy Allo Allo was based on a few years later. It is also a lot more brutal and pragmatic than you would get in any film about the war. The evaders are not part of the resistance network so they do not go around performing sabotage or deliberately targeting enemy soldiers. However in order to protect themselves they do kill allied airmen who might talk if captured by the Gestapo and Luftwaffe police and they do kill German who try to infiltrate the escape line. You also see the results of trusting the wrong people i.e. a British author living in France betrays an airman to the French police and a monk tells the Germans that an airman is being sheltered at the monastery which results in the Germans killing one of the brothers and the airman. For a harder more complicated look at survival in wartime this is worth a look. It ends with the British agent who has been trying to work with the escape line having to flee Brussels before arrest by the Gestapo. He takes a busload of Hitler Youth out of the city and then flees to the French/Swiss border.

 

Take Me High

This is a Cliff Richard film I had not heard of at all from the 1970s. It is simply not as good as Summer Holiday for example. It does not have any really well known Cliff tune either. Cliff works in a bank and instead of being sent to New York he is sent to Birmingham. It is a curious beast probably more for a British audience who know who Cliff is.

 

Nickelodeon

This is a Peter Bogdanovich film about the early days of film making. It has Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal, his daughter Tatum, John Ritter and Brian Keith in the cast. And yet it comes off as uneven. This is despite Reynolds. Ryan O'Neal stumbles into the film business becoming first a writer and then a director with Reynolds becoming the leading man.

 

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

Peter Fonda is a race driver who needs a better car so he robs a supermarket with his mechanic. The woman he slept with the night before and who he just walked out on comes after him and ends up along for the ride as the police under Vic Morrow's  direction try to catch them. Although cars are put out of action, the police are seen using strategy to find and catch the robbers. This is before they know that said robbers have a police radio. But when they do they come up with a way to use it against them. It does not destroy as many cars as The Blues Brothers or Smokey and the Bandit but then again it is a more serious film. The ending is a bit of a shock though

 

The Tall Stranger

A man is ambushed and shot by cattle rustlers. H is rescued and treated by homesteaders who are being lured into settling on the land of a cattle baron. This is the brother of the man they just saved. The brothers come to blows but also have to stop the rustlers who are in league with the person trying to set up the homesteaders. Joel McCrea is the hero of the piece and you also have Leo Gordon unusually playing a good guy.

 

Tales of Beatrix Potter

How about a film with no dialogue ? This is a ballet production of some of Beatrix Potter's work. It is beautiful and danced by the Royal Ballet. Not just for kids and will stand repeated watchings.

[csyphrett]

It was Columbo night again and we watched Columbo take on twin brothers played by Martin Landau and a deaf chess master.

CES 

[Tjack]

   The chess master was Laurence Harvey.   He starred in the Manchurian Candidate and co-starred in The Alamo as Col. Travis.   A fine actor, he seemed to be typecast as tighta$$ed unlikeable characters. 
 

    It’s now 9:00 am and I just finished watching The Eternals.  It dropped on Disney+ early this morning.   I’ll discuss it later today in the MCU thread if anybody cares.

[Joe Walsh]

Solar Opposites (Hulu). Animated series from Rick and Morty's Justin Roiland. Seemed promising, but we bailed 10 minutes into the first episode. Watching paint dry would be more fun.

 

Marvel's Hit-Monkey (Hulu). Animated series from Marvel about a monkey who is seeking revenge. One episode in, it's OK.