What Have You Watched Recently?

[death tribble]

Eyes down, look in.

 

Amityville Dollhouse

The Amityville curse is transferred this time not to a lamp but a dollhouse. The dollhouse is brought into a new house and something evil in some figurines in the dollhouse begin to infect the new house. The house has been built by a man trying to establish a new family. He has a son and the wife has two children. The evil pits the children against each other and tries to get the mother to go after her step son. Friends work out that something is going on and try to help. There are not a lot of deaths and you can see once and then forget.

 

100 Years of Horror

Christopher Lee presents a look back at horror that was made in the early 1990s. It looks at Universal's monsters and the Hammer films amongst others. But it is presented by Christopher Lee and he does not do rubbish.

 

Way of the Gaucho

This film is made in Argentina and is about the end of the Gaucho way of life. After a man kills another in a gaucho fight, he gets a second chance by joining the army. However the army major sets out to break him. And as the major is played by Richard Boone, the guy ends up leaving. He deserts and finds a woman in trouble menaced by the local Indians. He saves her and returns her to the ranch she came from which was his home. But the major catches him there. Others in the army help him escape after seeing the punishment he undergoes. He then becomes an outlaw who the major tries to bring down. It is an unusual Western with an ending which is not as violent as you would imagine it could be.

 

Without Warning

This 80s film has Martin Landau and Jack Palance as locals in a town menaced by weird flying creatures and 'something' stalking the night. The film was said to be an inspiration for Predator and you can see why. Kevin Peter Hall who played the Predator is playing the alien here as well. It was an early role for David 'CSI Miami' Caruso. Worth seeing for the older actors and if youy are a Predator fan what was an inspiration for the film.

 

Serpent's Lair

A couple move into an apartment vacated because the previous owner committed suicide and tried to burn the place. After the wife is injured by a cat, the husband meets Lilith who claims to be the sister of the previous owner. Turns out she is a succubus and is trying to kill him through exhaustion by having sex with him repeatedly. Jeff Fahey plays the husband and this is one of his earlier films made in Hungary. You would not know as the film crew ensure that they do not film any street signs or anything that would clue you in that you are in a different country.

 

Arkansas

This is a slow paced film noir played very discretely by the actors who include John Malkovich and Vince Vaughan. Two guys are employed to work for a drug dealer out of a national park in Arkansas running drugs in the South of America. The film plays in discrete chapters showing how the guy in charge developed his operation and ran it. Low powered but perfect for Dark Champions GMs to adapt. Recommended.

 

The House on Sorority Row

A prank goes wrong for the recent graduates of a sorority and someone starts stalking the seven women involved. Not very gory but nice to see the women as the main protagonists rather than men.

 

Wrestlemania 36

Long term members of the forum will know that I like Wrestling and I recently acquired a number of Wrestlemania DVDs that I did not have. This is the pandemic version from 2020 and the lack of an audience makes a huge difference. You can hear the trash talk that the wrestlers use against each other. But they still go all out to fight. This is also the first Wrestlemania broken down into two nights. There are two odd matches Jon Cena vs The Fiend Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Fun Match and A J Styles vs The Undertaker in a Boneyard match but more of that later.

The Kabuki Warriors (Iyo Sky and Asuka) are first off against Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss which the latter won.

King Corbin then loses to Elias. Becky Lynch and Shania Baszler are then up with Becky successfully retaining her belt.

Sami Zayn then retains the Intercontinental belt against Daniel Bryan

There is then a ladder match for the tag team titles with only one member of three tag teams taking part as some people had tested positive for the virus and so as a precaution only those who were clear actually fought. John Morrison took on Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso.

Seth Rollins then took on Kevin Owens and the Monday Night Messiah lost.

Braun Strowman then took on and beat Goldberg in a quick match

Then we had the first of two cinematic matches as The Undertaker and A J Styles had a Boneyard Match. Basically a fight in a cemetery. This is one of the highlights as The Undertaker takes on Gallows and Anderson as well. It was set up well and was fun and gave the Undertaker a fitting ending match. That was the end of night 1.

Night 2 starts with Charlotte Flair coming for Rhea Ripley's NXT title and winning it. They gave both women enough time to strut their stuff.

Alesitair Black then took on and beat Bobby Lashley.

Otis then took on Dolph Ziggler after he broke up the KAYFABE relationship Otis had with Mandy Rose on Valentine's Day which was helped by Sonya Deville. Otis won and Mandy and Sonya clashed before Otis carried Mandy off.

Edge then defeated Randy Orton in a last Man Standing match. It was too long.

The Street Profits then took on Angel Garza and Austin Theory and won.

Then there is a fatal five way for the Smackdown Women's championship. Bayley vs Naomi, Sasha Banks, Lacey Evans and Tamina. Tamina was out first, then Naomi, then Sasha and finally Lacey Evans allowing Bayley to retain her championship.

This is followed by the Firefly Fun Match wherein Jon Cena was taken through his history before he actually faced the Fiend. This was actually well done and show how badly Bray will be missed as his creativity is all over this.

Brock Lesner then faced Drew Galloway and lost. This was one of the matches that really would have benefitted from the live crowd. Drew deserved the crowd..

The extra matches were the kick off matches Cesaro vs Drew Gulak which the former won and Natalya vs Liv Morgan which the latter won.

And Drew's first title defence against the Big Show

The extras were the lead up to the matches most of which were pre-restriction based. This included Charlotte Flair and Drew Galloway having won the Royal Rumble matches choosing their opponent, Edge and Randy Orton starting a feud and Jon Cena vs The Fiend

 

Wrestlemania 37

The first post pandemic show and the crowd really makes a difference. Again across two nights

This was hosted by Titus O'Neill and Hulk Hogan. And having some one singing to kick off the event again enhances it. Bebe Rexha was the singer for night one and Ashland Craft for night two.

Mr McMahon also welcomed people back

the first match was Bobby Lashley vs Drew Galloway which Bobby won

Next up was a Women's tag team match to determine who would face the Women tag team champions the next night. Natalya and Tamina beat Lana and Naomi, Billie Kay and Carmella, Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose and the Riott Squad (Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan)

Cesaro then beat Seth Rollins

The New Day then lost to A J Styles and Omos

Braun Strowman then beat Shane McMahon in a cage match

Damien Priest and Bad Bunny then defeated the Miz and John Morrison in a tag team match

Bianca Belair who won the Royal Rumble in January chose to challenge Sasha Banks and beat her for the Smackdown Women's championship. This was the first time two African American Women headlined an event.

Night 2 opened with Bray Wyatt as the Fiend taking on Randy Orton. This was disappointing especially as Orton won

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler then took on Natalya and Tamina and won.

Sami Zayn then took on Kevin Owens and lost

Sheamus then defeated Riddle to win the US Championship

Apollo Crews then defeated Big E to win the Intercontinental Championship

Rhea Ripley then took on Asuka and beat her for the RAW Women's championship

Roman Reigns then beat Edge and Daniel Bryan to retain the Universal championship

The Hall of Fame class of 2020 and 2021 were also presented to the crowd

The third disc had the NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver and Bobby Lashley vs Cedric Alexander and the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale

Jey Uso won the Battle Royale

MSK won the NXT Tag Team Championship match

Raquel Gonzalez beat Io Shirai for the NXT Women's championship

And Karrion Kross beat Finn Balor for the NXT championship

 

Wrestlemania 32

So I did not get the Wrestlemanias in order and at the same time so sue me.

The programme proper kicked off with a ladder match for the Intercontinental title which Zack Ryder won by defeating Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Sin Cara and Stardust

Chris Jericho then beat A J Styles

The League of Nations (Rusev, Sheamus and Alberto del Rio) then beat The New Day. Barrett then boasted that no three men could beat them. Cue Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin who did just that.

Brock Lesner then beat Dean Ambrose in a street fight

Charlotte Flair then beat Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks to win the inaugral Women's Championship which replaced the Divas championship.

Shane McMahon then lost to the Undertaker in Hell in a Cell.

Baron Corbin then won the Andre the Giant memorial battle royale.

There was then a quick match in which the Rock beat Erik Rowan

Lastly we had Roman Reigns beating Triple H for the Championship

The dark matches were Kallisto vs Ryback for the United States Championship

The Total Divas team beat Team Bad and Blonde

The USO beat the Dudley Boys

The rest was the Hall of Fame ceremony with The Godfather, Jacqueline, Big Boss Man, The Warrior Award winner, Stan Hansen, The Freebirds, Snoop Dogg and Sting 

[Scott Ruggels]

I have very much enjoyed the Netflix adaptation of Cixin Liu's The Three Body Problem. The  nook won the Hugo in 2015, and  displayed very hard science. The  Netflix adaptation was  Well acted and  used the 8 episode format quite well. Hopefully, Netflix will allow it a season per volume, so we get the whole story. I may try out the Chinese Television version on Amazon, which is said to be closer to the book, but is 26 episodes per season.

[slikmar]

I recently have been watching the Zorro series on Prime. Done in spanish, but dubbed English. Some minor changes to the story but I have enjoyed the first 9 or so episodes and the changes work so far. Recommend it for fans of Zorro.

[Ternaugh]

4 hours ago, slikmar said:

I recently have been watching the Zorro series on Prime. Done in spanish, but dubbed English. Some minor changes to the story but I have enjoyed the first 9 or so episodes and the changes work so far. Recommend it for fans of Zorro.

 

Two bits, four bits, six bits, a peso. All for Zorro, stand up and say so!

[mattingly]

"Thank God for small favors!"

[Bazza]

Stranger Things season 4. Waiting for season 5 next year. 

[Dr. MID-Nite]

From my FB review...

 

Movie Review: Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024). This sequel to 2021's Godzilla vs Kong more or less picks up right where the earlier film left off. Overall, this was much better than I expected (though my expectations were admittedly low). While the movie isn't deep by any means, it moves along at a brisk pace and is generally engaging throughout. I give extra credit for the decent amount of personality given to Kong and kin (and they also carry much of the movie). The only real negatives are the somewhat rushed ending and Godzilla mostly regulated to a supporting role. Better half guessed the extra guest star. I'm so proud. Worth a rental at the very least.

[Ternaugh]

Ghostbusters: The original and still the best. (4K UHD Blu-ray)

 

Ghostbusters II: This time it's a threat from a river of slime and a demonic portrait ("This isn't Gainsborough's Blue Boy, eh?"). Entertaining. (Digital copy)

 

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call: I made it 15 minutes, before the comedy workshop nature of the film got to me, and I quit. The reason that the original held up so well is that it was essentially a horror movie with comedic elements. This one's an extended SNL sketch with better special effects. Oh, there are parts that are good, but there's so much dreck to get through. (Digital copy)

 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife: The nostalgia's powerful with this one. Gozer gets another go, but that's essentially a chance for us to be introduced to a new generation. I liked it. (4K UHD Blu-ray)

 

Zorro: The Gay Blade: Two brothers inherit the mantle of Zorro after their father dies, one has a fierce fashion sense. (DVD)

 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: Newest entry in the series, this one finds us back in the Firehouse in New York, with the Spengler family from Afterlife. After an orb containing an ancient evil is found, Ghostbusters, old and new, must unite to prevent New York from freezing solid. We liked it. (In Theaters)

[Pariah]

On 3/31/2024 at 12:58 AM, Ternaugh said:

Two bits, four bits, six bits, a peso. All for Zorro, stand up and say so!

 

On 3/31/2024 at 6:06 AM, mattingly said:

"Thank God for small favors!"

 

"He wears his clothes well. I could never get into his pants."

 

"I bet I could."

[Ternaugh]

Frozen: A tale about Hans, Kristoff, Anna, Sven, and Elsa, the Snow Queen. A good watch. (4K UHD Blu-ray)

 

Wish: A king gathers the greatest wish from each of his subjects when they turn 18, and protects them in a tower, until a girl learns the secret. The movie had potential, but it's brought down by some lackluster songs. (Disney+)

[Pariah]

The first two episodes of the third and final season of Star Trek:

 

"Spock's Brain" : Mother of Hades, this was a bad episode. 

 

"The Enterprise Incident" : As good as the previous episode was bad. Leonard Nimoy is brilliant as Spock seduces a female Romulan commander, while a surgically-altered Kirk sneaks around the Romulan ship, trying to steal their new cloaking device. 

[tkdguy]

"Brain and brain! What is brain?"

[Ternaugh]

33 minutes ago, Pariah said:

The first two episodes of the third and final season of Star Trek:

 

"Spock's Brain" : Mother of Hades, this was a bad episode. 

 

"The Enterprise Incident" : As good as the previous episode was bad. Leonard Nimoy is brilliant as Spock seduces a female Romulan commander, while a surgically-altered Kirk sneaks around the Romulan ship, trying to steal their new cloaking device. 

 

I'm not fond of "The Empath", even though it premiered on the same night that I did.

[Pariah]

On 4/3/2024 at 11:07 PM, tkdguy said:

"Brain and brain! What is brain?"

 

Yes, this kind of scintillating dialogue is one of the things that makes the episode so ... memorable. 

[Pariah]

After a bit of binge-watching during my family's spring break, I finished re-watching the 4th season of Star Trek: Discovery. It is an interesting series. I feel like each season has been incrementally better than the one before. And the last two or three episodes, where the crew are trying to figure out how to communicate with a completely alien species using hydrocarbon chains and light sequences, might be the best science fiction in the whole franchise. Whoever wrote these episodes was clearly a fan of Carl Sagan's Contact.

 

Now maybe I'll give Enterprise another shot. 

 

Edited April 6 by Pariah

[death tribble]

NO !

 

You are too young to die !!!

[Bazza]

But what a way to go…  

[Starlord]

14 hours ago, Pariah said:

Now maybe I'll give Enterprise another shot. 

 

 

[Bazza]

As I said: But what a way to go…  

[Pariah]

Relax, gents. I've seen the entire series before. And seasons 3 and 4 were pretty good. Except for the finale, of course. But there is a lot of chaff to sift through to get to anything substantial, mainly in the first season. We'll see.

[slikmar]

It always saddened me because I was (well, still am) a big Scott Bakula fan and had hopes for that series.

[Lord Liaden]

Enterprise was just starting to find its footing in season 4, exploring the founding of the UFP and the first conflict with the Romulans. And finally exchanging Jolene Blalock's ridiculous body stocking for a proper uniform.

 

Sad that it got cut off so soon.

[Pariah]

15 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

And finally exchanging Jolene Blalock's ridiculous body stocking for a proper uniform.

 

This one thing is representative of the main problem I had with Enterprise: so much of it was just gratuitous. T'Pal's catsuit, the half-naked decon chamber scenes, the 90s power ballad opening theme, etc. So many things that were supposed to broaden the show's appeal, but didn't contribute anything of quality to it. 

 

( And let's not forget how much better Deanna Troi looked in a proper uniform than in her three rotating catsuits.  )

[Ternaugh]

I lost faith with the temporal cold war plot. I called it quits when Archer pulled a Bobby Ewing, and stepped out of a shower to find it hadn't happened yet. The only thing missing was an, "Oh, boy!"

 

I only re-visited the show again when it was shown on Sci-Fi several years later. Any show that Jeffrey Combs was on as Commander Schram, and the mirror universe episodes in the 4th season were highlights for me.

 

 

[Lord Liaden]

"Faith of the Heart" I actually liked a lot as the theme for Enterprise. IMHO it's a catchy tune, and the lyrics really summed up the premise of the show at its outset.