What Have You Watched Recently?

[Old Man]

Jojo Rabbit is indeed brilliant, if bittersweet.

[slikmar]

Saw Asteroid City today. Lot of good people in it, subtly humorous, and can't really describe it except to say is not what you think. I do recommend it though.

[csyphrett]

Trapped in the hospital for the week. Watched a bunch of Ghost Adventures (Wife wanted it), Bones, Castle, Spongebob Squarepants (Wife wanted that), Forensic Files, Bad Boys 1 and 2, and Captain Marvel and rewatched part of Ant man and the Wasp.

CES

[Pariah]

I hope you and yours are well, csyphrett.

[mattingly]

In honor of the late Alan Arkin, I've watched:

The In-Laws

Simon

The Return of Captain Invincible

Argo

 

Today, I'll watch:

The Rocketeer

Gattaca

The Seven-Percent Solution

Edward Scissorhands

 

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Another rendition of And Then There Were None with Charles Dance and Sam Neill. It's my favorite Agatha Christie. I read it back with the original title Ten Little Indians. It was changed for obvious reasons but this version takes it a step further and even the poetry on the walls is changed to Ten Little Soldier Boys. 

 

Three episode mini-series. It's pretty well done, but slow. I've fallen asleep on each of the first two eps and had to rewind. 

[csyphrett]

12 hours ago, Pariah said:

I hope you and yours are well, csyphrett.

I got a pacemaker, Cat got a blood clot. That's how it goes sometimes

CES

[L. Marcus]

Pacemaker -- yay; blood clot -- nay.

[Ternaugh]

I'm two episodes into the second season of Is It Cake? on Netflix. Contestants make an illusion cake, celebrity panel tries to determine which one is a decoy and which is cake. Some of the creations are downright amazing, others, not so much.

 

Hulu has a new show called Secret Chef where the contestants work in an isolated kitchen under an alias, and then have their dish scored by the other contestants. I'm two episodes in on this show, and I plan on giving it one more episode to see if I want to watch the rest.

 

I tried to watch the first episode of Marvel's Secret Invasion on Disney+, but I will probably need to re-watch the first half again as I started to fall asleep.

[Starlord]

Extraction and Extraction 2.  Netflix.  I had watched the first movie when it came out but I watched again before the sequel.  Both are heavy on action in the John Wick style - Chris Hemsworth's protagonist is a bit more of a worthy hero than Wick (an ex-assassin who kills other assassin because they killed his dog and stole his car).  He starts as an elite mercenary with a death wish who rescues (extracts) hostages and moves into a redemptive arc with the 2nd movie - the ending to which was predictable about 30 minutes in but it was executed well.  Definitely seems to be setting up a franchise after the last scene in the 2nd movie.  There are some fantastic action scenes (one piece involving 2 helo gunships against a train is incredible) and if you like Wick-style movies you will like these.  B+ for Extraction; A- for Extraction 2

 

Uncharted.  Netflix.  I like this video game series but I stayed away because of awful reviews.  I actually thought it was a decent show possibly because I had such low expectations going into it.  Holland and Wahlberg are good together and I got pulled in.  I really enjoyed National Treasure and this had elements of that - just not as good.  B-

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

7 hours ago, Ternaugh said:

I tried to watch the first episode of Marvel's Secret Invasion on Disney+, but I will probably need to re-watch the first half again as I started to fall asleep.

 

My mother couldn't remember episode 1 at all even though she stayed awake. I lost a lot of details myself. I think it just wasn't very memorable.

[Ternaugh]

The live show, Awakening at the Wynn. It was excellent. 

 

 

[Ternaugh]

I've now watched the first two episodes of Marvel's Secret Invasion. It feels like the plot is developing glacially slow. I also had to fight nodding off while re-watching the first episode--all the more problematic since I started watching it at Noon.*

 

The Warriors: Now considered something of a classic, it's the story of a group of gang members trying to get back to their home turf after a big meeting of all the gangs goes wrong. There's two versions floating around, and this one was the original theatrical cut (with upgraded 5.1 sound). The "Ultimate Director's Cut" inserts comic book-style segments between certain sections. I feel that the original theatrical cut runs better, but YMMV. (Paramount+)

 

48 Hrs.: Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy star as a cop and his prisoner who are trying to track down a violent criminal. Parts of it haven't aged particularly well. It's somewhat hard to find on Paramount+ on Roku, as a basic search doesn't turn it up (but does show Another 48 Hrs.) I had to find it by clicking on what initially appeared to be an empty Related Films section on The Warriors (both had the same director, Walter Hill). (Paramount+)

 

 

 

*We used to think that there was some kind of subliminal sleep command embedded in the movie, Battle Beyond the Stars, as we'd generally fall asleep at about the same point, and wake up for the end credits. Mom and I fell asleep when attempting to watch it on a Sunday Movie of the Week, and a few years later, my friend, his brother,  their mother, and I fell asleep while watching it on cable. We had to vigorously shake his brother to get him to wake up. I only managed to see the whole thing when we rented a VHS tape some years later.

[tkdguy]

Series finale of Endeavour. Great show. I enjoyed it a lot.

 

The Championships at Wimbledon have begun, although a lot of matches were suspended because of rain.

[mattingly]

For the Fourth, I watched some American "history":

 

1776

Dave

National Treasure

 

[death tribble]

Right then

 

You, Me and the Apocalypse

A comet is due to hit the Earth and you find a disparate group of people in a bunker trying to avoid itn so how did they get there ? A priest and nun are investigating false messiahs, a woman is put on trial for helping a terrorist, a woman is looking for relatives as she needs their blood, the advisors to the American president and a bank manager whose wife disappeared some years ago tries to work out what to do now in the company of his adopted mother. This is a dark comedy. The bank manager has a twin brother who is the terrorist. Said person has been blighting his twin's life including kidnapping the wife who was pregnant. The group comes together as the comet gets closer and then is about to hit the world. The problem is I found the terrorist to be an utter pain by the end and wish something bad had happened to him. Rob Lowe played the priest and Diana Rigg played the mother looking for her relatives. Not recommended.

 

Halls of Montezuma

World War 2 film about the marines in the Pacific who invade an island and then come under sustained rocket attack. Richard Widmark plays the commanding officer of the platoon the story focuses on with Jack Palance, Robert Wagner and Neville Brand as members. Karl Malden is the corpsman and Richard Boone the superior officer. I have seen it several times and I can still watch it again.

 

Sandokan: Pirate of Malaysia

This is an old Steve Reeves movie about the fictional Malayan pirate. In this one he is trying to rescue the Sultan from the British. It is throwaway fun with the odd distraction of the dub failing at a couple of points near the end so that it goes from English to Italian.

 

Resident Evil Retribution

This is the penultimate Resident Evil film. Alice gets knocked off the tanker by an Umbrella Corp attack and awakens in a suburb which the undead attack. She then reawakens in an Umbrella facility and is aided in escaping it in order to join the fight to stop the T-virus and the Corp. If you have not seen previous Resident Evil films then do not bother, otherwise enjoy.

 

Johnny Handsome

Mickey Rourke is a disfigured crook who arranges a job for a friend to dig him out from under only to end up being betrayed by the people they bring in, Lance Hendrikson and Ellen Barkin. The friend is killed and Rourke goes to prison where it is reported he is killed. A prison doctor (Forest Whitaker) gives him a new face and ID while Rourke's old nemesis on the police force, Morgan Freeman, says no good will come of it. Rourke sets up a new scheme in order to get close to the people who betrayed him but it does not go well. Not bad at all.

 

Narrow Margin

Gene Hackman is an assistant DA trying to get to a witness so that they will testify against a gangster who killed his lawyer for embezzlement. Tracked down by killers they have to flee on a train in the Canadian Wilderness. I have not seen this since I saw it in the cinema. Very enjoyable. Anne Archer plays the witness, James B Sikking (Lt Hunter from Hill Street Blues) is one of the assassins and J T Walsh and M Emmet Walsh have small parts which add to the film. 

[Scott Ruggels]

On 6/25/2023 at 9:43 PM, Ternaugh said:

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1: This animated series tells the story of a bunch of young prisoners who find a lost Federation ship and manage to escape. With dreams of becoming part of Starfleet, they must deal with a threat to the entire fleet. It was really good, and I binged it over the course of a couple of days--unfortunately, it's becoming another victim of the streaming wars. Even though its second season is in post-production, the show's just been canceled, and Paramount+ will be pulling all episodes from their service very soon. Watch it while you can.

 

It may be, that they will sell it to Netflix, as Paramount Studios is in bad shape financially, and are licensing streaming product, particularly star trek to other streaming services.

[Scott Ruggels]

 I caught Nimona Last night on Netflix. A well scripted, and well animated film, using NPR shaders to give it an aolmost flat cut out look, even though the characters were 3D> There was also a feeling of Klaus , due to some facial expressions. Very entertaining.

[Clonus]

Carmen Sandiego.  This was the Netflix series where instead of starting out as an agent of Acme, Carmen starts out having been raised from a baby by the forces of VILE.  Just as the original Carmen turned to a life of performative crime, stealing things just to screw with her former agency but always letting them recover the goods if they can solve her puzzles, this Carmen dedicates herself to destroying the criminal organization she was once part of.  And I'm pissed because because Netflix only released 3 of the 4 seasons so I can't see the end.  As far as this cable channel goes, the series ends on a cliffhanger.  The series has spectacularly animated action sequences although there's no way Carmen's broad-brimmed had could stay on through all that.  It's a kid's show but a high quality kid's show.  

 

Catwoman:  Hunted.  Speaking of cartoon heroic thieves, I also watched the Japanese version of Catwoman who takes on a crime syndicate who offend her with their human trafficking ways.  She is helped in that endeavour by Batwoman and Interpol which is being depicted as an actual police agency.  It all has a very Japanese filter.  I kept wondering when Lupin III was going to show up because damned if that wasn't a knockoff of his background music.  

 

Coroner.  Third season.  I kind of liked the ultra-short hair the lead actress was rocking in the first season as a legacy from shaving her head to play Medusa in that ill-conceived Inhumans TV series.  But she's letting it grow out and it's at a rather awkward stage at the as of the third season.  The episode dated quickly since it was all about Covid with the victim being a health care worker in the pandemic.  

[death tribble]

Home to Danger

A woman returns to Britain from abroad after the sudden death of her estranged father who is believed to have committed suicide. At the reading of the will her father gives her his share of the business he ran as gesture of reconciliation. As a result someone tries to have her killed but who and why ? This is a short film with only Stanley Baker and Peter Jones being well known to people but they only had small roles.

 

The Phantom Empire

This a Gene Autry serial with a central conceit. Gene has a radio show which he must broadcast every day from radio ranch so with the events that happen he has to get back to the ranch and broadcast each day or lose the ranch. Now there are scientists who will stop at nothing looking for radium which is nearby and the hidden realm of Murrania which is underground and uses radium. The Queen will stop at nothing to ensure no-one discovers the realm. Gene is helped by two bumbling sidekicks and the Junior Thunderriders Club. The club is named after a mythical local bunch of riders whose riders sound like Thunder when they ride. Actually they are from Murrania and the Queen uses them to get rid of anyone who gets too close to the realm. The scientists kill the owner of the ranch but the children of said owner believe in Gene and help him escape. Meanwhile the Queen tries to capture Gene while a treacherous councillor tries to seize control of the realm. This was made in 1934 and was one of the first things Autry did. it is not bad.

 

Private Property

Two drifters break into an empty house to spy on a disaffected housewife. One plans to get the other experience with said housewife. But it ends badly. This is a short film which has Warren Oates in the cast

Not worth a second look.

 

Valley of the Dragons

Two men trying to fight a duel get carried off by a comet and have to survive dinosaurs and tribes people. This is based on a Jules Verne story and it is ok but the fake dinosaurs are rubbish

 

Underworld USA

A teenager witnesses four men beating his father to death and years later tracks them down for revenge. One is in prison hospital and is the only one the boy could identify and he gets close to him to get the names of the others in order to take revenge. He gets into the same gang where the other three have risen high in the hierarchy. He sets them up for a fall but then finds he may have to get rid of their boss before he is free. This is a Sam Fuller film with Cliff Robertson plays the adult out for revenge.

 

The War Lover

Steve McQueen and Robert Wagner are the pilots of a B17 bomber on missions over Occupied Europe in 1943. While the others are looking forward to returning home, McQueen is enjoying the war. Ordered to return after cloud cover blocks a target, McQueen takes the bombers in his flight down and finds a way to hit the target. He wins no friends with the high ups but he gets results. Steve and Robert also lock horns over a woman. Unusual to see McQueen in an unsympathetic role. Worth a look.

[rravenwood]

3 hours ago, death tribble said:

The Phantom Empire

This a Gene Autry serial with a central conceit. Gene has a radio show which he must broadcast every day from radio ranch so with the events that happen he has to get back to the ranch and broadcast each day or lose the ranch. Now there are scientists who will stop at nothing looking for radium which is nearby and the hidden realm of Murrania which is underground and uses radium. The Queen will stop at nothing to ensure no-one discovers the realm. Gene is helped by two bumbling sidekicks and the Junior Thunderriders Club. The club is named after a mythical local bunch of riders whose riders sound like Thunder when they ride. Actually they are from Murrania and the Queen uses them to get rid of anyone who gets too close to the realm. The scientists kill the owner of the ranch but the children of said owner believe in Gene and help him escape. Meanwhile the Queen tries to capture Gene while a treacherous councillor tries to seize control of the realm. This was made in 1934 and was one of the first things Autry did. it is not bad.

 

I'd nearly forgotten about that one - not sure if I saw the whole thing or not, but a local UHF station broadcast this serial when I was a teenager many decades ago, and I remember getting a kick out of it at the time.

[Ternaugh]

 

[Ternaugh]

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One: This one's in theaters. The IMF team has to track down a weapon that could destroy all humanity if it falls in the wrong hands. It's very good, and worth seeing in the theater. (In theaters now)

 

Moonlighting: First episode of the classic 80s series about a former model who finds that her accountants took everything but some businesses used for tax write-offs. It's essentially a throwback to the screwball comedies of the 30s and 40s, and still enjoyable. It's not available in reruns or streaming because of the music rights, and I hadn't picked up the DVDs the first time around when they were available. I finally broke down and bought the first box set of Seasons 1 and 2, when Amazon had them for $64.99 (about 3 times the original price). There's three more sets covering seasons 3, 4, and 5, but I haven't picked them up yet. (DVD)

[fdw3773]

Grantchester on Masterpiece Mystery. It's Season 8 and am pleasantly surprised since the Season 7 season finale had the feel of it being a series finale. 🙂

[Pariah]

Short answer: A lot of Star Trek.

 

First, I wrapped up my viewing of Star Trek: Voyager with the series finale, "Endgame". In my humble opinion, it is the best finale of the first five series. TOS didn't have a finale per se. "All Good Things" is probably the most imaginative. I found "What You Leave Behind" a little disappointing. Sure, it was nice to see Ducat and Kai Winn get their respective comeuppances, but the whole episode felt rushed—like there were too many loose ends to tie up in a 2-hour finale. And we do not speak of the finale of that other series, which basically turned the entire four-year adventure into a holodeck episode of TNG. (More on which momentarily.)

 

On the whole, Voyager was better than I remembered. I didn't see the entire series in its first run, and there were a number of episodes I know I had never seen before. The series was not without its flaws, most of which I blame on inconsistent writing and characterization, especially for Janeway. And there were a few particularly problematic episodes, like the courtroom episode with the Doctor (which ignores "The Measure of a Man" from TNG), the episode where Neelix and Tuvok merge into a composite being that Janeway effectively decides to execute, and the infamous warp ten salamander episode. But there were a lot of really exceptionally good episodes, too.

 

After "Endgame", I watched the most recent Strange New Worlds episode, "Charades". It wasn't the strongest episode; I found it formulaic and rather Goofy. But Ethan Peck gave a great performance as a suddenly-no-longer-Vulcan Spock. This show's cast never ceases to impress me.

 

Having finished Voyager and caught up on Strange New Worlds, I decided the next thing to do watch was "Broken Bow", the two-part pilot for Enterprise (later rebranded Star Trek: Enterprise). I had seen the entire run before, and I remember not enjoying it quite as much as the others. The pilot reminded me why. Archer is cranky, T'Pol is condescending (and not in a good way like the original Spock could be), Trip is walking around with a huge chip on his shoulder, and frankly most of the other characters are simply not that interesting (Dr. Phlox being a notable exception). And the mutual antagonism between Humans and Vulcans always rubbed me the wrong way. And let's not forget the theme song—or better yet, please let's do. Mother of Hades. I finished the pilot with the profound impression that I don't really need to watch this series again, at least not right now. It's some future point. I might skip the first two seasons and start at the beginning of the Xindi War. That's where the series really started to get interesting.

 

So, what to watch next? I've been catching the occasional episode of the original series. I'm about a third of the way through season 2, as I recall. Maybe I'll pick up there and finish watching it. And maybe I'll watch a few of the movies as well.

.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Pariah