What Have You Watched Recently?

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Today was $3 day at cinemas around the country, so I finally went to see Top Gun: Maverick. Good movie, much better than expected. I got choked up at Kilmer's appearance. 

 

I considered staying to see more, but I spilled nacho cheese on myself and just wanted to go home. 

[Scott Ruggels]

Watched The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. I am not that familiar with Tolkien other than the excellent Peter Jackson movies, so I am not wedded to the lore.  It was passable but a bit slow. I am getting tired of the current girl power focus, and the diverse casting just kept reminding me it’s 2022, rather than a “Timeless Tale”.   The visuals borrowed heavily from Maxfield Parish which isn’t bad, but the costuming was rather uneven.  The Dwarves were fun, but the Elves came across like college students and faculty. The tone came across as all ages, but in a more antiseptic way than the Jackson movies did. It’s not terrible, but I like House of the Dragon better. 

[Ternaugh]

11 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

Watched The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. I am not that familiar with Tolkien other than the excellent Peter Jackson movies, so I am not wedded to the lore.  It was passable but a bit slow. I am getting tired of the current girl power focus, and the diverse casting just kept reminding me it’s 2022, rather than a “Timeless Tale”.   The visuals borrowed heavily from Maxfield Parish which isn’t bad, but the costuming was rather uneven.  The Dwarves were fun, but the Elves came across like college students and faculty. The tone came across as all ages, but in a more antiseptic way than the Jackson movies did. It’s not terrible, but I like House of the Dragon better. 

 

Much of Tolkien's other material was really meant as background for telling the main stories, and, as such, isn't very rich with details when it's adapted to a series like this. The producers do seem to be trying to stay somewhat true to that material (as filtered by the previous movies), for better or worse, but I think that's what is leading to the slowness in plot. 

 

I'm not particularly bothered by the diversity in casting or characters, and I'm particularly enjoying the proto-hobbit group.

 

The visuals are often a carry-over from the movies, and I believe that I'd read that the production had access to many of the costumes and props from Jackson's movies. That said, some of the new costuming decisions looked awkward to me. The first dwarfs that we see onscreen are wearing "heads"--a helmet with an integrated face mask sculpted to look like a generic dwarf's face. Unfortunately, when we see a few of them walking together, it appears very much like they were stamped (or more probably, vacuum formed), as there's no apparent difference between them. I'm guessing that this was to save on the extensive time that designing and applying unique makeup for what are essentially extras, but it lost for me some of the uniqueness of dwarven craftsmanship that was shown in the films.

 

You are right on the money about the tone, and I'm taking that to be the producers trying to make something that appeals to a wide audience to justify the high costs associated with getting the rights and making this (I'm seeing $250 million for rights alone, and another $215 million for the 8 episodes--making it the most expensive television production ever). House of the Dragon, I'll agree, is the better of the two shows, but it's not one I find enjoyable. I'll probably watch the next episode for LotR: Rings of Power, but I have no need to go back to King's Landing at all.

 

 

[tkdguy]

I haven't seen Rings of Power yet, but I think the diverse casting is much ado about nothing. I watch opera, and it happens all the time there. I've seen an African American play both a Roman general and an English nobleman. I've seen a Korean play a poet during the French Revolution. The recent BBC production of Les Miserables had a diverse cast, and I don't remember hearing any outcry.

[Starlord]

I guess we need to get a quadriplegic to play a quadriplegic now.  All actors have to play their exact race, sex, creed, etc.  How dare they do a story starring Galadriel - a major figure in Tolkien's work.

 

Who the bleep cares?  Oh wait I know....

 

I thought Rings of Power was better than House of the Dragon actually.  House of the Dragon - somewhat decent guy is incredibly naive re:  his enemies.  Oh wait - where  have I seen this before, maybe some guy named Ned?

[slikmar]

1 hour ago, Starlord said:

I guess we need to get a quadriplegic to play a quadriplegic now.  All actors have to play their exact race, sex, creed, etc.  How dare they do a story starring Galadriel - a major figure in Tolkien's work.

 

Who the bleep cares?  Oh wait I know....

 

I thought Rings of Power was better than House of the Dragon actually.  House of the Dragon - somewhat decent guy is incredibly naive re:  his enemies.  Oh wait - where  have I seen this before, maybe some guy named Ned?

When I read, well, up to where he stopped writing, Song of Ice and Fire, my description of a lot of what happens was "No Honorable Deed goes unpunished". Saddest part of that is that, going beyond Ned, as soon as formerly smart and devious characters, Tyrian for example, start acting honorably where others can see it, they get punished too.

[Pattern Ghost]

House of the Dragon: So far, it's OK. Don't have much love left for the franchise at this point, but the wife wants to watch it. Acting is pretty decent, especially the young version of the main character and Matt Smith. Not looking forward to the time skip where they switch out the younger actresses, but crossing my fingers the older versions will be good.

 

LotR: Rings of Power: So far, pretty good. Galadriel is good. Not too arsed about her being a warrior based on descriptions of her in the 2nd age in Tolkien, even if he never stated it outright. Diversity casting doesn't bother me, though I think they should hang a lantern on Nori and her mother (adopted? Harfoot genetics different from big folk?), loved Bronwyn's badassery moment. First episode was a little slow, but it looks like it's picking up steam pretty quick by the second. Purists have complained that they left out stuff from the Silmarilion. (Based on stuff I've seen on the web and YouTube.) That's because they don't have rights to the Silmarilion. The second age stuff is based on the appendices to LotR, and that leaves a LOT for the show writers to fill in.

 

Never Have I Ever: Funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Main character is a very bad decision-maker. Drama bits are also satisfying. Great show.

 

Hellbound: Korean show on Netflix. No major resolution in season 1 for the overarching situation, so if it doesn't get a season 2, we're going to be left hanging. Otherwise, good watch, just want more answers.

 

Indian Matchmaking: God help me. You will know that Sima is from Mumbai by the end of this, if you have any brain cells left. Kind of one of those guilty pleasure things, minus the pleasure?

 

Locke and Key: Latest, and final, season dropped recently. Good show, fair way to wrap it up, though IMO the weakest of the seasons. Overall, show is worth a watch, and better than I thought it would be based on trailers.

[Scott Ruggels]

Finally caught the first season of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal on what’s left of Adult Swim’s Roku channel. Dinosaur and a caveman team up to survive in a prehistoric world.  Very well animated, with a lot of clever animator tricks. No dialogue what do ever, and a bit less abstract than Samurai Jack, but often with the same pauses before frenetic action. The stories feel like early pulp adventures with time periods mixed up, but there are rules. Just enjoy watching “Spear” the Neanderthal, and Fang the Femsle Tyrannosaur as they interact with each other and the world around them. Unfortunately, since I do not have a cable or HBOMax subscription, anything after the fifth episode, I am locked out of.  

[Christopher R Taylor]

Watched Samaritan, was pretty good. The big reveal was pretty easy to see coming, and the story wasn't real fresh but it was entertaining anyway.  Stallone's powers were interesting; he could heal from almost anything but it would cause him to burn up and could be fatal if he can't cool himself down somehow in a hurry.  He's pretty immune but more like Power Man from the comics: bullets hurt, but don't damage him much.  It looked like he wore armor of some kind, probably to reduce bullet impact.

[Ternaugh]

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: I was at Best Buy after work, and had the choice of buying the latest Jurassic World movie on 4K, or Star Trek II on 4K. I'm not regretting my decision. The color grading is improved (HDR10 to match my equipment, thought he disc also has Dolby Vision), and the picture is (mostly) clearer*, with details showing up that I've missed in previous viewings of the Blu-ray and DVD. Sound mix is supposed to be Dolby Atmos, but it's very subtle. Only a few scenes had noticeable use of the side and rear channels, and I really couldn't detect any use of positional audio beyond what I'd expect in a good surround mix. That's probably for the best, as it preserves the original feel of the movie. Both the original theatrical version and the slightly longer Director's Cut are included; I watched the Director's Cut, which has a few additional scenes that help set up key plot points.

 

 

 

*Some graphics elements don't seem to have converted well, like the computer tactical displays shown early on in the movie, but for the most part, everything else looks great.

 

 

[Pattern Ghost]

Just saw Thor Love and Thunder on Disney Plus. I don't think it earned its ending. If they'd spent more time with Gorr, perhaps it might have. Didn't feel like it had a substantial through line. The levity is fine, but needs to be tempered with some more serious character moments. Gorr might have been better introduced over multiple movies, TBH.

[Grailknight]

Yeah, Thor: Love and Thunder was kinda meh to me too. 

 

The mood is all over the place. Too many serious battles are played for laughs. Battles that should be humorous are done seriously(Thor and company kill more gods than Gor did on-screen??)  And I know the Asgardians are the stars of the show and a warrior pantheon, but Gor wasn't a big enough threat to have survived his supposed killing of pantheons.(No stone Thanos was tougher.) I don't know when Thor became the clown of the MCU, but the only serious scenes in the movie occur with him offscreen.

 

Still, it's not a bad movie and if you're into funny Thor, then it's fine. It's certainly not the worst MCU movie to me( Thor 2) but it fell too far on the humor side of Ragnarok. 

Spoiler

And it does promise Hercules in the post-credits.

 

[Ternaugh]

Thor: Love and Thunder: I went into Asgardians of the Galaxy with fairly low expectations, and generally enjoyed the film, but YMMV. (Disney+)

 

Pinocchio: Live action version of the Disney classic. I made it about 40 minutes in, through two attempts. It's supposed to be a musical, but nobody seems to sing on key, and the new songs are just kind of there, without much enthusiasm. I'd comment on the uncanny valley aspects of it, but it's essentially a story about a wooden puppet come to life, so that's to be expected. (Disney+) 

 

Tom Swift: First episode of a series on HBOmax. It wasn't bad, about on par with a decent old Sci-Fi channel series. That said, it's probably going to trigger a bunch of people with its portrayal of Tom Swift as a sensitive, gay black inventor with good fashion sense. Not that they're likely to have read any of the books, either. (HBOmax)

 

 

[Bazza]

Thor Love and Thunder. Patten Ghost is right, it didn't earn its ending. It didn't earn its beginning or middle either. About halfway through (for those who have seen it) I realised that after THAT scene that the film lack the qualities that make it a Marvel comic. Fundamentally the film needed an comic-book editor, that would at least endeavour to keep the existing characters in tact without misrepresenting them. It's basically fan-fiction without the screenwriter being a fan of what they are adapting. But the film's problems really began when Jan Foster plagiarised a maths paper from 100 years ago.  

Additionally, i found the villain kinda boring as, I had seen it before with Desak during Dan Jurgens's run, and I like Desak. Desal comes with Tarene the Designate who later adopts the moniker Thor Girl. So the whole script feels like a waste.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/f/f9/Desak_Sterixian_(Earth-616)_from_Thor_Annual_Vol_2_2001_0001.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20191231071921

[Cancer]

King Charles III's first speech.

[Pattern Ghost]

Cobra Kai Season 5 (Netflix): Still good, but not the best season. Still, had plenty of good bits, and some character development. Chozen was great. I suspect they'll wrap it up next season, though I've read that they plan to do spin off shows.

 

Morbius: Good cast, good visuals with the makeup and CGI. Overall, not a bad screen adaptation of the character in those regards. Story was pedestrian, predictable and boring.

[csyphrett]

It was Columbo night as Columbo matches wits with a killer dentist played by James Read who murdered his wife's lover and tried to frame her. Jo Anderson was the wife. She looked like a young Gillian Anderson in this. Nancy Walker, Ed Begley, Dick Sargent all played themselves as poker players

CES

[death tribble]

Corruption

This horror film has Peter Cushing as a plastic surgeon who tries to repair the face of his model girlfriend after he accidentally disfigures her. His experimental work means that he has to get glands from women to save his fiance. But then they attract criminals who want to rob them who do not know what they are doing. Odd but it has Cushing.

 

Equalizer 2

Denzel is back solving problems for people and bumping others off. When a friend is killed, he tries to solve her murder but runs up against an old friend. He then has to dispose of them while they now know what he is doing try to kill him. Watchable because Denzel.

 

Die, Die my Darling

Stefanie Powers was dating a guy who died in a car accident. She goes to see his mother who plans on reuniting them in the afterlife as she is a religious nut. Tallulah Bankhead is the mom. Psychological horror.

 

Men in Black International

Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are agents of the Men in Black. Thompson is a rookie who is assigned to the London Branch run by Agent T (Liam Neeson) High T is what he is called. Neeson and Hemsworth stopped the Hive getting through to Paris. Or did they ? The film is entertaining enough but it is ok rather than good.

 

Vuelta 2022

Just the highlights of the race marred by one missing day when for an unexplained reason the highlights were not shown and two others when only half an hour was shown. The missing day was also important as one of the main contenders and overall second was knocked out of the race. The racing itself was dominated by riders being knocked out by Covid. Also some were taken out by crashes. In both cases this was critical. Sam Bennett who was leading the Sprint competition was taken out by Covid. As was Primoz Roglic's lieutenant, Sepp Kuss. Jay Vine who was leading the mountains competition and Primoz Roglic who was second overall had to retire due to crashes. Julian Alaphillippe was also a crash victim. Remco Evenepoel was the eventual winner and he had held the jersey for most of the race. As with the Giro the highlights were on the Quest channel. And it would greatly help if the woman presenter stuck to a single hairstyle and style of clothing throughout the Grand Tour. The programme should be about the cyclists not her.

 

Rage at Dawn

This is a Randolph Scott Western where he is trying to infiltrate the Reno gang. They actually existed. The gang controlled a county and had the local judiciary and law in their pockets. When they were caught, a lynch mob broke into the jail and hanged them. This is shown in the film with the latter not being too graphic. Worth one look.

[slikmar]

14 minutes ago, death tribble said:

Equalizer 2

Denzel is back solving problems for people and bumping others off. When a friend is killed, he tries to solve her murder but runs up against an old friend. He then has to dispose of them while they now know what he is doing try to kill him. Watchable because Denzel.

Really enjoyed the first one with Denzel and he is great in the 2nd one, I just wished they hadn't jumped to Friend is Killed, not to mention

Spoiler

His other friend/former squad being the villains.

To me, became standard actiony movie, where the first one had a lot of intelligence behind it. The Equalizer has so much other that it could have done.

[mattingly]

11 hours ago, death tribble said:

Men in Black International

Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are agents of the Men in Black. Thompson is a rookie who is assigned to the London Branch run by Agent T (Liam Neeson) High T is what he is called. Neeson and Hemsworth stopped the Hive getting through to Paris. Or did they ? The film is entertaining enough but it is ok rather than good.

 

I liked how they realized what had been happened to them, but overall the movie didn't have quite enough oomph to be good.

 

 

[Scott Ruggels]

Just finished Binging  Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix. It's not often you watch an Anime made from a property you have worked on. Well it was more based on Cyberpunk 2077, as it was produced by CD Projekt Red, and the story was written by a Pole, but my former Boss' name was on the first title card "Based on the world created by Mike Pondsmith.  The story was a very straight Cyberpunk story, with a team consisting of three Solos, two Net runners, a Tech and a Nomad. One of those Solos, David Martinez is a prep school drop out who recently lost his mother to random gang violence and needs to find a job quick. He meets up with an attractive petty thief, who leads him into the world of the Edge runners, and the attendant money. The animation was by Studio Trigger, of Japan, and was quite well done, with backgrounds that were based on locations in Night City from the game.  If you like Cyberpunk stories, this works well and has that echo of film noir plots that A lot of cyberpunk stories have. Recommended.

 

[EDIT] and if you are worried about a typical Netflix Cliff Hanger for next season, don't be. This comes to a decisive End, as a one and done.

[slikmar]

We watched Red Notice on Netflix the other night. Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. Fun if predictable heist movie. Worth the watch. Also discovered something interesting. We watch the Tick and other stuff on Prime a lot and don't eat that badly into our data plan with Hughesnet, but near as I can tell, watching that one movie on Netflix for an hour and a half movie, used around 3-4 GB of our data.

[Pariah]

I just watched the Star Trek episode "Amok Time". Leonard Nimoy did a fantastic job of portraying a Vulcan on (and beyond) the edge of losing control. This episode set a lot of benchmarks for the way Vulcans would be portrayed throughout the franchise. 

 

I also watched the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Maneuvers". Seska is just the worst.

[Lord Liaden]

Seska certainly wasn't a good person, but she wanted to survive and thrive a very long way from home. Voyager didn't look like a good bet for her to do that, and her relationship to its crew was based on a lie anyway.

[tkdguy]

Watching a rerun of the MET production of Eurydice. I've always found Neoclassical music hit or miss. Mixed feelings about this one. Definitely better than some I've seen, but I'm not going out of my way to see a live performance.