What Have You Watched Recently?

[Pariah]

On 10/4/2022 at 5:29 AM, Tech said:

Watched "Tangled" and "The Swan Princess"

 

The Swan Princess is highly underrated. Steven Wright and John Cleese had great chemistry, I thought.

 

Last week we watched The Tale of Despereaux as part of a homework assignment for LBP. (He had to compare and contrast with the book, which they read in class.) It was surprisingly good. Excellent voice cast, solid animation, and a relatable story. Critics weren't big fans, but we enjoyed it. 

[wcw43921]

Jerry & Marge Go Large

You'd have to go the Hallmark Channel to find a more heartwarming movie.  A retiree with an aptitude for math discovers a flaw in a lottery game that enables him to actually win tens of thousands of dollars the more he plays.  He gets his wife involved, and then the people of the small town where he lives.  Bryan Cranston is great as a man who learns how to use his math skills for good, and Annette Bening plays his wife, who gets to reconnect with her husband in a most wonderful way.

[Pariah]

I've been seeing clips from Yellowstone in my Facebook feed, but I haven't watched any full episodes yet. But from what I have seen, I conclude that it is basically The Sopranos set in southern Montana. Is this about right?

[Ternaugh]

The few episodes of Yellowstone that I watched made it feel more like Dallas or Dynasty, but updated through a modern filter. I enjoyed the few episodes that I watched, but it didn't really grab me enough to remember to go back to Peacock to watch it regularly.

 

Wednesday: I've seen references to Buffy in relation to this, but it's probably more akin to creator/producer team Millar Gaugh Ink's Smallville, in that it deals with a teen with abilities, who is having to navigate a mystery set in a small town with a weird past. It was watchable, but somewhat forgetable. (Netflix)

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Wednesday: It's cute, but not what I expected at all. That character is not Wednesday Addams in any previous incarnation. It's good to see Gwendolyn Christie getting so much geek work. 

 

Rings of Power: I'm having a hard time finishing this. To call it slow is a dangerous understatement. The director really loves their slo-mo and music cferscendos. It's not a movie, it's a series. Figure your pacing out. (And where the hell did all those horses come from?) 

[Matt the Bruins]

Fire Island: A modern adaptation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice mapped onto the social status conflicts and romantic foibles of a group of gay friends spending one last week at the titular vacation destination. No surprise that the basic premise and storyline would be good when built on the skeleton of one of the great literary classics, but I thought the execution was deftly handled and it had some important things to say about race and privilege within the gay community. Also, Bowen Yang completely blindsided me by giving a powerful dramatic performance that was understated and nuanced.

[Iuz the Evil]

 

I managed to maintain my skepticism until the music played. I’m in, let’s do this… 

[rravenwood]

On 11/28/2022 at 6:40 AM, Scott Ruggels said:

1899 on Netflix.  A woman doctor is a passenger on a German liner bound for New York, when the ship intercepts a message purportedly sent from another liner from the same company that’s been missing for four months.  The passengers are displeased with the detour.   Aboard the floating derelict, they find only one passenger, a 12 year old boy. Or is he the only passenger.   
 

A slow burn creeping dread sort of mystery that really feels like how a Calll of Cthulhu game should feel.  Soft recommendation as it’s creeeeeepy, and a lot folks here seem to be sensitive souls.   

 

(I really don't think my comments spoil anything at all, but I've hidden most of the below just to be on the safe side...)

 

My wife and I have so far watched the first two episodes of this, and...

Spoiler

...while clearly it's a "things are not what they seem" story, at this juncture it's still pretty wide open as to what's actually going on.  It's made by the same folks who created "Dark" (which I watched a year or two ago - I recommend it, although it definitely becomes a lot to keep track of!) so I'm interested to see if this turns out to be an exploration of similar themes or goes in a totally different and unexpected direction.

 

The decision to make it a multilingual shoot is also pretty different, at least to my experience - I'm glad that it's done totally in-character and follows the logical consequences of people interacting who don't all speak the same language, rather than a situation where some actors speak their dialogue in a different language but the characters somehow magically still manage to understand each other.

 

 

[Ternaugh]

The Silence of the Lambs: Criterion Collection Blu-ray, with an extra disc of bonus features. The movie holds up amazingly, mostly due to the interactions of Foster and Hopkins. The transfer's good, and manages to keep the look of film. (Blu-ray)

 

Violent Night: Part Die Hard, part Home Alone (if it was rated R). Criminals raid the estate of a wealthy family and hold them hostage, but didn't count on having Santa putting them on his "very naughty" list. Recommended. (In theaters now)

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Bullet Train. That was freaking amazing! Why didn't someone tell me?

 

Hot Skull. It's a Turkish sci-fi miniseries on Netflix. Very odd. Post apoc setting in a world beset by a plague that is transmitted through speech. I'm halfway through. I think I'll finish, but not sure I can recommend it

[Ternaugh]

Bullet Train: A very twisted and fun train ride with assassins (and a snake) on a train. Worth watching. (Netflix)

 

The Santa Clause: A toy company exec Scott watches Santa fall off the roof to his death, and he and his son finish that Santa's rounds. Scott then finds out that he's the new Santa, as certain changes begin before the next Christmas. 

The Santa Clause 2: After being Santa for a few Christmases, Scott needs to find someone to become Mrs. Claus.

The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause: Jack Frost tries to replace Scott as Santa. 

I enjoyed watching these three movies, though I'm having difficulty getting into the new series. (Disney+)

 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The original animated feature from 1966, a classic watch. (Peacock)

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Classic that laments the commercialization of Christmas*, with one of the best jazz scores ever. (Apple TV+)

[rravenwood]

7 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

A Charlie Brown Christmas: Classic that laments the commercialization of Christmas*, with one of the best jazz scores ever.

 

[emphasis mine] Oh yeah - it's just not Christmas to me without listening to Vince and the gang!

 

On a different note, we finished watching 1899 last night, and now I can fully second Scott's earlier recommendation of this.  It does take it's time to get started, but I think it's worth it.

[csyphrett]

Watched Columbo as our detective teams up with Rod Steiger as a mob boss to gaslight George Wendt into confessing to the murders he committed.

CES  

[Pariah]

Over the weekend I watched the Star Trek: Voyager 2nd season episode "The Thaw". Voyager discovers a ruined planet that is back on the brink of supporting life again. They find a stasis pod with five occupants, two deceased. They patch into the pod's computer system to discover that the three remaining occupants are being held hostage by the computer program—now manifesting as a deranged clown—that has become the embodiment of fear. The clown killed the other two in the pod, and now threatens to kill Harry Kim (of course it's Harry in mortal danger). Captain Janeway uses a stratagem to get everyone out and shot down the program once and for all. It ends with one of the best exchanges of the series:

 

Clown: "What will become of us? Of me?"
Captain Janeway: "Like all fear, you eventually ... vanish."
Clown: "I'm afraid."
Captain Janeway: "I know."

 

Sadly, the next episode up is "Tuvix", nearly as cringeworthy as "Threshold". Maybe I'll play it in the background while I grade lab reports. 

[Starlord]

4 minutes ago, Pariah said:

Over the weekend I watched the Star Trek: Voyager 2nd season episode "The Thaw". Voyager discovers a ruined planet that is back on the brink of supporting life again. They find a stasis pod with five occupants, two deceased. They patch into the pod's computer system to discover that the three remaining occupants are being held hostage by the computer program—now manifesting as a deranged clown—that has become the embodiment of fear. The clown killed the other two in the pod, and now threatens to kill Harry Kim (of course it's Harry in mortal danger). Captain Janeway uses a stratagem to get everyone out and shot down the program once and for all. It ends with one of the best exchanges of the series:

 

Clown: "What will become of us? Of me?"
Captain Janeway: "Like all fear, you eventually ... vanish."
Clown: "I'm afraid."
Captain Janeway: "I know."

 

Sadly, the next episode up is "Tuvix", nearly as cringeworthy as "Threshold". Maybe I'll play it in the background while I grade lab reports. 

 

The only thing fear had to fear...was fear itself?

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

I did not see the clown episode, and kinda wish I had. But Tuvix made me give up on the series. No going back now. 

[Joe Walsh]

Amsterdam (HBOMax): An enjoyable retelling of the attempted fascist coup during FDR's administration. The movie could have been done better if they'd spent more time editing the script, but it was enjoyable enough to watch.

 

[death tribble]

A lot to catch up with

 

The Other

Twins in 1930s America experiment with astral projection. Diana Muldaur plays the twins mother. This has a slow burn until you get to the twist. Then you don't know what happens.

 

Next of Kin

After her mother dies a woman returns to the old age people's home that her mother ran. Then she finds her mother's diary. And strange things start to happen. This is an Australian film worth a look although the last act seems rushed.

 

Resident Evil: the Final Chapter

In this installment you find out about what happened and how the Umbrella Corporation pulled it off. Iain Glen plays the villain with some relish. Alice returns to Racoon City and the scene of the first film. I was not expecting much but Iain is really worth the price of admission.

 

The Howling III

Werewolves in Australia. It is cheap and it is fun. See once and then decide if you like.

 

The Mephisto Waltz

A music journalist is granted an interview by a famous pianist who it turns out is dying. But is there something sinister going on ? Alan Alda is the journalist, Jacqueline Bisset is his wife and Curt Jurgens is the famous pianist. This is a Quinn Martin production and has a guest spot from Bradford Dillman. Highbrow for a horror.

 

Pulse

A boy goes to spend Summer Holiday with his father as his mother and father are divorced. But the electrics are suspect and have caused the death of one of the neighbours. But is there something evil in the wires ?m It is ok but the film just did not grip.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Just finished Hot Skull, and I cannot recommend it. On one hand, the production values were great, much better than anticipated. Performances were good all the way around. But the story... it made promises it didn't keep. Very unsatisfactory ending. 

[Ternaugh]

Babylon 5 Season 2: The show started to hit its stride this season, in the lead-up to the Shadow War. I'm enjoying this re-watch of the series. (HBOmax)

 

Black Adam: It's not very good. As others have commented, the portrayals of the Justice Society members are probably the best part of the film, but the story's muddled, the battle sequences are often hard to watch, and the title character isn't all that compelling. (HBOmax)

[Joe Walsh]

On 12/16/2022 at 6:00 PM, death tribble said:

The Howling III

 

Werewolves in Australia. It is cheap and it is fun. See once and then decide if you like.

 

I've always loved that entry in the series.

[Pariah]

Last night we watched Elf. It's one of about three Will Ferrell movies that I can stand. It features Bob Newhart as Elf Dad, James Caan as Grumpy Dad, Mary Steenburgen as Not-Grumpy Mom, Ed Asner as Santa, and Zooey Deschanel as the blonde-haired love interest, with Peter Dinklage as the "angry elf" kids' book writer. Goofy fun, and one of Lady P's family favorites.

[csyphrett]

Wstched Columbo with the boy and David Easche and Shere Dupree go in together to murder a broker and frame Barry Corbin for it. They are done in by Columbo realizing they know each other

CES

[death tribble]

Part of the Christmas round up

 

The Puppet Masters

This is a 1994 sci fi film based on Robert Heinlein's 1951 novel of the same name. America is attacked by alien parasites can Donald Sutherland and his allies defeat them ? There are a good few background actors who will be familiar to people like Keith David, Yaphet Kotto and Richard Belzar. The good guys are also portrayed as smart which is a nice change. The ending is a little rushed and I can see why the film does not have a lot of recognition.

 

Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies

This is a comedy Austrian zombie film with the heroes stuck on top of a mountain when a local outbreak starts. It is silly with the 'zombies' dispatched in a number of inventive ways. See once for a laugh.

 

Dinosaurs the Last Day with David Attenborough

David narrates the day the dinosaurs died based on evidence found on at a site called 'Tanis' in America. He presents the evidence for the end of the Cretaceous era and why there is difficulty in knowing why the dinosaurs died out. They use a cyclotron in Britain to look at some of the evidence including what is believed to be fragments of the asteroid that hit Earth. It is very interesting and a must watch.

 

Christmas Eve with Tom Baker

A church service from 1994 with carols and readings from the Bible but Tom is reading from a Christmas Carol. Very British.

 

Carry On Christmas Carol

The Carry On team do a version of the Christmas Carol with Sid James playing Scrooge. Dated but if you have seen the Carry On films, fun.

 

Bear Island

Donald Sutherland is part of a scientific group on the remote Bear Island trying to predict the weather due to climate change. It is superficially based on the 1971 book by Alistair MacLean and came out in 1979. The island was a U-Boat base and some neo-Nazis are trying to recover gold that was there to continue the movement. To do this they need to kill of some of the expedition. It is alright but wastes a cast that includes Christopher Lee, Vanessa Redgrave, Lloyd Bridges and Richard Widmark.  

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Finally saw Black Adam.

 

That was not good.