What Have You Watched Recently?

[Joe Walsh]

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain - I'd never heard of Louis Wain, but apparently about 100 years ago he was a quite popular artist who specialized in drawing cats. This movie "based on a true story" keeps it pretty entertaining, but I'd say the first half is better than the second.

[Bazza]

Honey I shrunk the kids. 

[Ternaugh]

Stargirl (Seasons 2 and 3): I really enjoyed this series, and was glad as to how they finished up the series. Well worth a watch. (HBOmax)

[death tribble]

Prisoners of the Tower

A short film about the Tower of London. Narrated by Valentine Dyall who had a deep menacing voice. It was made shortly after the war so showed war damage as one of the towers had been hit by a bomb and that it had still to be repaired.

 

Witchcraft

Two feuding families in modern day (60s) get more than they bargained for when an old witch ancestor is released from her grave and comes to wreak revenge on the descendants of those that condemned her and anyone else who gets in the way. This is a British horror with Lon Chaney Jnr. It was very good.

 

X The Unknown

This film has been mentioned by others in this thread and is a horror that does not outstay it's welcome. Made in the 50s it has Dean Jagger and Leo McKern as the protagonists against something that wants energy to live.

 

Murder by Contract

An existential hit man finds his latest contract is a woman and he has trouble trying to kill her. Vince Edwards who played Dr Ben Casey in the hitman. Dated but interesting.

 

Dublin Nightmare

After a robbery where two of the crooks disappear and then one ends up dead, the IRA start looking for the missing man. An old photographer friend of his looks into the death of his friend and why tghen someone is trying to kill him. Again dated to the period (late 50s) but still worth a look.

 

Maigret Season 4

The last season of the detective show based on Georges Simenon's books. The penultimate story has one of the police officers killed and leaves Maigret himself wounded. He then takes little official part in the last story but leaves notes for Lucas to follow. They did some filming in France and it is nice to see how it was. All four seasons of the 1960s show with Rupert Davies are worth watching.

[wcw43921]

Shin Ultraman

 

A giant in red and silver.

 

A warrior of light from beyond the stars.

 

In our time of greatest need, he comes swiftly to our aid.

 

He--is Ultraman.

 

I had high hopes for this movie, and it did not disappoint.  I was a fan of the original Ultraman in 1966, and this is a reimaging of that series, compressed into about two hours.  The SSSP (Science Patrol in the American dub of the series) doesn't have the fancy weapons and vehicles of the original, but they seem to get along without them.  I liked the actors in the movie, especially Masami Nagasawa, who plays Hiroko Asami new to the SSSP from Japan's intelligence service.  (I find her quite fetching, and I shall have to learn more about her.)

 

One of the first sites I found on the internet when I joined online with my little WebTV set was Wayne Koizumi's Absolute Ultraman.  It had just about everything you could know about every Ultraman series and movie made, and then some.  I was so disappointed when he took the site down--it was like a longtime friend had moved away.  I hope he's well, and liked this movie as much as I did.

 

This movie has a two-night showing in American theaters--last night was a subtitled version, and tonight's will be dubbed in English.  If there is any movie that is best appreciated by seeing it in the theater, it is this one.  I'll be there tonight, and I hope you will, too.

 

The movie at IMDB

[Starlord]

He has Ultra-long legs....

[Lord Liaden]

This version of Ultraman has always been depicted as slender, but much stronger than he looks.

 

BTW there was a "trailer" for a proposed Ultraman reboot that was floated by his studio, Tsubaraya Productions, in 2016. Never materialized, but it looked pretty cool.

 

 

[mattingly]

Just finished rewatching The Mandalorian. So good.

[Ternaugh]

Clue: Mystery/comedy based upon the board game. A fun watch. (Prime Video)

 

Deathtrap: Based upon the Broadway play, with a failing playwright plotting the demise of a student to steal his play. Reminds me a bit of Sleuth (also with Michael Caine), and has parts that were probably an inspiration for Knives Out. A good watch. (DVD)

[mattingly]

Clue is amazing. I often watch it as a double feature with Murder by Death.

 

[death tribble]

Little Devils

A man who makes gargoyles which then go onto to kill people as the mud is irradiated. Russ Tamblyn plays a doctor. It is worth a look.

 

Ravenous

A tale of cannibalism in the Old West. I had not seen this since I saw it at the cinema. Good cast. Robert Carlyle, Guy Pierce, David Arquette, Jeffrey Jones and Neal McDonough. Pierce is an army captain sent to an isolated fort as reward for his bravery in the Mexican-American War. Then a man turns up with a tale of starvation and eating people.

 

Hysteria

A psychiatrist brings his patient to a colleague after his department is closed down. But the colleague (Patrick McGoohan) is doing something radical that is not really legal. And it has an odd effect. Chips in the mind allow all the patients to share abilities and memories. And the psychiatrist's former employer had made sure to send him to McGoohan as their is another patient there who is under his care that his rich parents want back. It turns out that one of the other patients is dominating the others as her mind is stronger. But McGoohan and the patient who is dominating the others (Amanda Plummer) know what is going on and are intent on continuing their work. Worth a look.

 

The Order

This is a Heath Ledger film where he is a priest looking into the death of his mentor. He begins to think that a sin eater may be involved. Unusual and worth a look.

 

The Pianist

Based on the true tale of a Polish-Jewish pianist who is playing the piano live on the radio when Germany bombed Warsaw. He survives in the city while his family are deported and killed in Treblinka. A member of the Jewish police separates him from the transport. He hides in various unoccupied buildings and witnesses the Jewish Uprising and then the Warsaw Uprising. A German officer finds him and feeds him before the Germans evacuate. He is found by the Russians and plays on the radio again the same piece of music that he was playing when the Germans attacked. This is a long film and got Adrien Brody an Oscar for Best Actor. It is well worth a look as it shows someone surviving outside the death camps but always in peril of discovery.

 

Vanishing Point

The story of a man delivering a car from Denver to California who tries to do it in under 39 hours as a result of a bet. The film was renowned as one of THE car chase movies and it delivers. The driver is concerned about what happens to his pursuers stopping to check that they are alright before continuing. Barry Newman plays the drivers who is taking speed to keep himself awake. He is also helped by a DJ who hears about him from the police radio. I had never seen the film before and it flies by having an iconic ending.

[csyphrett]

Watched the last Columbo with Columbo trying to tie a club owner and his girlfriend to the disappearance of their money man and murder of a tabloid reporter. Julius Carry is here as Columbo's sidekick, and Carmine Gionvanzzi is the victim. One of Tony Soprano's captains serves as a gangster from back east

CES 

[Scott Ruggels]

Finished all five seasons of The Wire on HBOMax. IT was a Sunday apointment where my mother and I would watch three episodes during and after dinner, and I found it fascinating, how it looked at Baltimore, and the various issues that surrounded it. Mom had seen it before, but it was new to me, and the quality of action was amazing. Does make me want to avoid Baltimore, though.

[slikmar]

On 9/19/2022 at 7:17 AM, GM Joe said:

Everything Everywhere All at Once: Wow. This one showed genre literacy *and* an understanding of good story structure. It's not flawless; it felt repetitive for a while. Chopping 20 minutes off the runtime would improve it. But otherwise, it's fantastic. An interesting story about characters that are easy to understand and care about. The main character goes through a transformation and by the end of the story is truly changed. Surprising stuff happens. Delightful stuff happens. One of the best supers movies I've ever seen.

Saw this last night. Really enjoyed it and can say it is one of the strangest movies I have ever seen, in a good way. Ke Huy Quan, who plays the husband, reminded me a lot of Jackie Chan and I kept wondering if the part wasn't originally written for Jackie, although Quan does an amazing job. Of course, Yeoh is the star and also is incredible.

[wcw43921]

I think the lead role was written for Jackie Chan, but they gave it to Michelle Yeoh instead.  Which turned out really well for all concerned--especially the audience.

[Starlord]

First episode of The Last of Us was very good.

[slikmar]

16 hours ago, wcw43921 said:

I think the lead role was written for Jackie Chan, but they gave it to Michelle Yeoh instead.  Which turned out really well for all concerned--especially the audience.

I don't know, I would find it hard to see Jackie married to Quan, LOL. Though he could probably pull it off.

[Old Man]

17 hours ago, wcw43921 said:

I think the lead role was written for Jackie Chan, but they gave it to Michelle Yeoh instead.  Which turned out really well for all concerned--especially the audience.

 

I don't think Jackie could have filmed this.  His career seems to have finally caught up with him healthwise.  Same goes for Jet Li, unfortunately.

 

Unbelievable movie though.  Fun to watch and the whole time you're watching you wonder how they filmed it.

[Grailknight]

I finally was able to get a block of time and Xfinity working simultaneously and watch this. Great movie that succeeds as action/kung-fu, sci-fi and relationship drama all at once. The three leads each do a great job. I don't know if this movie was written for Jackie Chan but the action scenes and the humor fit his style. And Pomeranian-fu nearly cost me a pulled stomach muscle.

[slikmar]

and if you didnt feel old and lazy enough, remember that Michelle Yeoh is 60 years old doing this. Not to mention Jamie Lee Curtis.

Her facial expressions in the stairway fight were priceless and perfect.

[Pariah]

When it comes right down to it, Michelle Yeoh was one of only two reasons to watch the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. The other was Jason Isaacs.

[Ternaugh]

The first two episodes of the new Night Court have dropped on Peacock (Tuesdays on NBC, for those still using linear TV). The only returning character is former prosecutor Dan Fielding (John Larroquette), who is convinced by the new judge Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch) to come back as the public defender. So far, the tone is spot-on in comparison with the original, and my only disappointment is that I need to wait a week for the next episode.

 

[slikmar]

I noticed on one of our channels that there is a sequel to Undercover Brother - A movie I enjoyed and thought had some great stuff in it. So I recorded it, despite misgivings over the fact no one from the original seemed to be involved. This one has UB being frozen and it features his brother. Unlike the original, his brother is an idiot. I watched about 45 minutes and kept hoping it would show at least some of the originals humor/intelligence, then I deleted it. So, based on what I saw, if you liked the original, I can't recommend it. I could be wrong, as I said, since I didnt make it through, so if anyone else did watch and made it through and it got better, let me know and perhaps I will try again.

[Ternaugh]

Superman and Lois, seasons 1 and 2: Lois and Clark move to Smallville with their twin teen-age boys. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the next season. (HBOmax)

 

Velma, episode 1: An edgy reimagining of the Scooby Gang before they were a team. It isn't very good. (HBOmax)

 

 

[Joe Walsh]

Finally got around to watching the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery. As a new fan of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, I wanted to go back and see the series it sprang from. Wow, those first two episodes of Discovery were something else! I hope the series continues to be as good.