I had a decent month, and I'm off today to talk about it. Cool.
184 thoughts on “Movie Day”
Just Interstellar it seems. I agree with what most have said here. Wonderfully, jaw-dropping moments with too much "love holds the universe together" sentiment that Nolan really isn't capable of doing anyway.
Just 17 episodes left of Breaking Bad.
I'll be excited to talk Breaking Bad with you when you finish. I was too far behind to get in on much good conversation of my own.
I think I would enjoy the show more if I had to wait a week in between episodes to let things simmer.
Heh, yep- that's exactly what I've said about it.
Wild. I had read the book and the movie is a pretty faithful adaption and well done. This is a movie you can bring your gal pal too and both of you will get something out of it. Great scenery, good stuff about hiking, good message. I had one quibble however:
The alley scene is not in the book and I have heard subsequently that it never happened. I just thought it was too gratituous and unneeded. I understand that the movie has to "show" and not "tell" about her sexual indiscretions but they could have done that with a montage of Cheryl thrusting with a bunch of different dudes. Also I think it makes men look bad. How many guys really tag team a waitress in a back alley just because she looks at them lustily? I think we were actually seeing a fantasy of the director or script writer in that scene.
What did you think of the heroin scenes? I get that they needed to be filmed in a slightly different style from the rest of the movie, but there was something very sensual and appealing about them in a way that differed from the book's slightly more matter-of-fact portrayal of them. While I don't think filmmakers have a responsibility to portray drug use in a particular way, I guess I wasn't completely on board with how it was handled in this case.
Oh no doubt. I just thought the director was being "arty."
Dr. Chop and I watched Locke last night. Tom Hardy is very impressive as a man on the brink, but once the reveal happens (at ~7 minutes in) there is only one logical conclusion for the movie.
Tom Hardy is very impressive as a man on the brink
Just watched “Peaky Blinders". The same could be said for him in that. And “Bronson".
He's the definition of terrifying in Bronson.
I watched Species and Under the Skin. The first was pretty standard low grade Sci-Fi fare, but the second was an extremely well filmed and mildly disturbing movie. It had very little dialogue, and smartly shied away from explaining everything, like many films are prone to do.
I noted a young Alfred Molina in Species, and the next day picked him out in Ladyhawke in a role I remember but before I knew who he was.
We tried watching Under the Skin but had to stop early in the movie. The short bit we saw was good though!
In the DVD extras, one of the filmmakers commented that he was particularly struck, especially when the toddler attempted to struggle to its feet.
I enjoyed Under the Skin a whole ton, but after watching it I wasn't sure I ever wanted to watch it again. I've been reading about it a lot lately and I think I'm maybe ready for a rewatch. I'll probably use Lucy as a chaser, though.
Lucy is on my library reserve list.
It is tremendously, wonderfully stupid.
Pacific Rim!
My favorite stupid movie of all time.
That same kind of stupid, I thought. I expected Godzilla to scratch that itch for me this year, but it was Lucy!
The worst part is, that's the movie my brother told me that I'd be seeing in the months leading up to its release.
I do need to see Lucy, because it looks awesomely ridiculous.
Yeah but Species has boobies!!111!!!
So does Under the Skin but it's basically the farthest thing from sexy!
Watched Ascension last month. I liked it but I have low standards for science fiction shows. It had a pedestrian twist after the second hour and a crazy (in the WTF sense) twist at the end. The ending left a lot of questions unanswered for a potential series. I doubt that will happen and I'm not that upset about it.
Heh, I watched this too. I agree that it wasn't great, but the pulpy style was kinda fun. And all of the establishing shots were of the Minneapolis skyline!
Ditto on both points. It was a little weird to see snippets of Minneapolis as it's not something that happens. It was never mentioned where this was happening so it felt like they were trying to set it in Random US City.
I think they should have picked Fargo. Plenty of missile silos to hide in out there.
Family has taken to watching The Librarians, which is pretty mindless fare -- similar to Dr. Who but without the pretentious drama. Also started giving Agent Carter a try, although my interest is flagging after only a couple of episodes. It's neat seeing James D'Arcy, who I mostly remember as Pullings from Master and Commander.
I haven't watched yet, but I'm still struggling with the concept of Lindsey McDonald having two hands.
Agent Carter hasn't really held my interest, either. The hero is battling some shady orgaization we, the viewer, know nothing about and have no reason to fear except that is they're against Carter they must necessarily therefore be bad. It's been done in the MCU, and done better, and for me it's not enough this go-round.
It's not some shady organization, it's Hydra. It's not spelled out, but anyone who'd seen Captain America (which has been ladled out pretty heavily in the show) should know that.
Of course anyone who's up on things knows it's some form or another of Hydra. But the "oooooh, creepy guys with matching neck scars" isn't enough to engender any feeling of tension with regards to their actions or motives.
We finished series 2 of The Fall over Christmas and boy oh boy is that a good show. I'm really hoping they do a third series, but who knows if they will. Jamie Dornan got good practice being a disgusting predator on this show, so I'm sure he's ready for his starring turn in 50 Shades of Grey!
I was excited to finally get a chance to watch The Guest. I had high hopes after You're Next and it definitely delivered. It had that same VHS thriller motif, but I liked this flick even more I think. Soundtrack was awesome, the ending was awesome, I can't wait for these gentlemen to make another motion picture.
I have Gone Girl at home to watch in the next few days and I'm hoping to catch a bunch of stuff at the theater soon. Hopefully next month isn't so slow.
I'm looking forward to seeing Gone Girl.
Watched Clue with the family after the kids got the game for Christmas. The kids (8/5) found it a little scary, which I take as a sign of good parenting (not something I'll often claim) that we haven't exposed them to significantly more frightening media. Still an amusing enough movie for mom and dad.
We also watched Earth to Echo with them. It looked interesting, but I recall little acclaim for it after it came out, and probably rightly so. It also reminded us that our 8-year-old needs some solid nearby buds, but there's probably time yet to find that, right? I was trying to recall at what age I could really start roaming the neighborhood...probably 8-9-10 or somewhere in there.
The wife and I see very little regular TV ("what's Breaking Bad about?"), so it was a big deal to sit down and pick out a series to watch together when we'd get a chance. We went with Sherlock (the Benedict Cumberbatch version)...had to start somewhere. Its three seasons are really just 9 total episodes of 90 minutes, so it's more like mini-movie nights, which suits us fine. I'll let you know how that goes. I chuckled a few times at the first episose...those Brits...
While it helped put Benedict Cumberbatch on the fast track, you're giving Martin Freeman short shrift...
short shrift
He was a Hobbit, after all.
I like him quite a bit. As far as BC goes. I'm not sure that I've actually seen him in anything besides my little sister's FB postings.*
*rescinded. I did see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
You didn't catch last year's Star Trek reboot? He was very good in that.
I suspected I'd get scolded for that. My movie backlog is looooong. It's on my Netflix list.
Hey, I totally get it: I didn't see Life of Pi until last week.
Actually read that book and also wanted to see it...is it on Netflix?
Yes - on DVD...not sure if it's available via streaming.
Re: 8yo. How far away do you live from me?
Also, I know I biked to T-ball and the park it was at when I was 7. It was only two blocks away.
I also had greatly explored the woods in my backyard. This is in New Ulm, the river bluffs (a mile from the river) being undeveloped wooded land that separates the "top of the hill" folk from the rabble like us.
As I got older, I actually lost some freedom as I had to start respecting property lines. I couldn't trespass through backyards (though I kept going through the wooded parts of each lot).
Our family lived in North Minneapolis up until age 10. When she was 6 and I was 8, my sister and I bicycled unaccompanied more than a mile via Memorial Parkway to the courts and recreation center at Webber Park for tennis lessons and swimming. I suspect you can't let children that age do the same thing nowadays.
When you want to, you get people (in-laws, neighbors) either telling you not to because predators (sorry, look at the rates of stranger predation), or at best, because others will give you grief, get you in trouble, etc.
I did let my eldest kids when they were 9 and 7 test out our walkie-talkies by walking to the River (1/3 mile). I'd do more if they asked, though my wife drags her feet.
The River's a bit of a challenge because it actually is dangerous. But the creek to it isn't (at least 330 days a year). If they fall in that, they just need to come home muddy and wet.
Piling on, eh? I'll let my kids get stopped by the cops and deal with the consequences.
Preferrably on a day that school is in session, so I can get HSLDA representation if it comes to anything.
Seems like this would be good for FKB; I know I definitely have more to say on the topic.
Hey hj, did you ever get a volunteer for this Thursday? If not, seems like there's some good fodder here. (I suppose this means I'm volunteering myself unless someone else wants to run with it.)
Don't think so. It's all yours.
Also, walked 2/3 mile in summer after second grade for one week from some summer educational program that lasted a week.
I loooooooooved Clue as a kid. Probably started watching it at sleepovers around age 8 or 9. (I just covered my eyes for the scary bits.)
EAR and CER were watching it tonight while HPR and I kept working through Attenborough's The Life of Birds, which is probably the best nature geek TV I've ever watched.
Watched Mary Poppins a couple weeks ago, you may remember my rant on that movie. I just couldn't get into it.
Watched American Sniper on Friday. My suggestion, if you want to know about Chris Kyle's life, read the book. The movie's okay, and it was interesting to see parts of the book acted out, but overall, I didn't love it. Not to say it's a bad movie, I just didn't love it.
Watched Muppets Most Wanted on Saturday in the same theater I saw Poppins. About what I expected. I'm a fan of the Muppets, and enjoyed the revamp that came out a couple years ago. This one was good, but not great. Enjoyable. Loved the cameos and the humor.
Wife and I are watching Friends again. Say what you want, but I like the show. Yes, it's a bit awkward at times, but it still holds many fond memories.
"Goodnight, Danny Trejo." I still laugh.
I wanted to love Muppets Most Wanted as I love the Muppets and pretty much every major live actor involved, but I just smirked a lot and never really guffawed like I wanted to. And yes, "Goodnight, Danny Trejo" was probably the line of the movie.
So it pales to "Man or Muppet"? I need to keep that song out of my head, because it's an earworm I love and it stresses relationships with people I have to speak with.
Over at Death By Troggles I'm going to be talking about movies a couple of times per week, just picking a movie I've seen using a random number generator. The first movie highlighted is Hoop Dreams.
I love Hoop Dreams. I lived in Chicago at the time and it is amazing how segregated that city is.
I haven't been able to watch much at all recently other than a ton of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Doc McStuffins. Other than that, FX has a Roku channel with every Simpsons episode ever, so I've been re-living the glory days. (Flaming Moe's is such a great episode.)
Does this service have a charge? I have a Roku now and haven't really explored its uses other than Netflix and PBS.
It requires a cable/dish subscription, unfortunately. I'm getting good use out of my dad's account username.
Keep an eye on this, though. Cable is losing subscribers every month. These services are going to have to change the way they do business.
My dad will never get rid of it, so that concern is only if they stop requiring the cable username and start just making it a pay service for the streaming channel. But yeah, I am excited about a cable/dish-less future.
True Detective – My wife and I powered through this in like a week. Interesting characters and story and the method by which we’re introduced to the action felt smart and almost novel. Woody did a fine job and McConaughey was very compelling, I’d definitely recommend this one.
Boyhood – By all accounts, a pretty amazing process. Mix in an engaging and talented group of actors and you get a pretty good result. I came away impressed with Linklater’s execution, but in some ways, it almost felt more like a documentary than a feature film. Worth seeing, but less cinematic and more personal than I expected.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – I like Costner and Chris Pine and enjoy the Clancy universe, so this was a welcome addition to the weekend viewing. Nothing groundbreaking in the “reboot” of the Jack Ryan world, but enjoyable nonetheless (and Kenneth Branagh plays a good bad guy).
The Life of Pi – Finally got around to seeing this, had wanted to read the book first, did so, and then the movie got pushed down the queue. Went through and cleared out a bunch of stuff off the DVD list and this one showed up. Wow…cinematography was just awesome and Suraj Sharma did a fantastic job as Piscine.
Girls – My wife has been watching this and I’ve seen a few episodes. Meh. If I don’t like any of the characters I’m watching, I probably won’t like the show.
Wall-E – We own this and Kernel has been really into it the past couple of weeks. A welcome respite from the Princess Sophie/Dora/Frozen routine of recent months*. Easily one of my favorite releases by Pixar.
2 Guns – What’s not to like about an action-comedy featuring Denzel Washington & Mark Wahlberg as undercover bad*$$#$ ? It was an absolutely laughable premise, and having been in the Navy, the part about how Wahlberg is supposed to be a sailor (and really, anything that had to do with the Navy) was stoopid, but the action sequences were fun and the banter between the actors almost made up for the lack of a story.
Freedom Riders – Public Television film from American Experience, the documentary explores the stories of those who, in 1961, decided to demonstrate against the segregation in interstate travel facilities in the Deep South by attempting to ride Greyhound busses from D.C. to New Orleans. The Supreme Court had mandated desegregation on interstate travel facilities, but the realities on the ground were that racism and hatred were alive and well. I did not realize how little President Kennedy (and his administration) was concerned about the Civil Rights Movement at the beginning of his presidency. This film was very well done.
*[Edited] and, like cheaptoy, Doc McStuffins.
I hate-watch Girls because I get one good laugh out of most episodes. Every single character is wholly unlikable. That's fine in a non-serious comedy (Arrested Development, Seinfeld) but it's a serious problem in a comedy that tries to make dramatic statements. None of the characters have really grown either, at least in any significant way.
That last sentence is something my wife noted too.
We only made it through the first season, and I haven't been in a rush to start the second. Dido on most of what's been said (though Jane and I agree that the little, chipper one is probably the only redeeming character, though again, only 1 season so far).
We've watched through season 2 and while I don't particularly like any of the characters, I appreciate their portrayals as flawed. For the most part. I hope season 4 deals with Adam being fired into the sun on a rocket. J & I need to catch up, though.
I made in through the first two episodes of season 1 and bailed. Unlike the characters of Broad City, I wouldn't want to spend one minute with Lena Dunham's gang. Abbi and Ilana, on the other hand*...
*twenty years ago
I may have a sizable crush on Ilana.
I hate-watch Girls
We watched two or three episodes and figured out pretty quickly that it was just going to irritate us.
If I don’t like any of the characters I’m watching, I probably won’t like the show.
But I watched 5 or so seasons of Gray's Anatomy on Schadenfreude alone.
I was convinced before the showdown that Rust was going to die. Of course, he probably would have with that stab wound.
Overall I liked it. Watching an episode a night probably helped limit the time for wild speculation about what would happen. Instead, I expected the case to be solved like a regular detective case and that's what happened.
Rust had been such a cynic and misanthrope for the entire show that when he didn't die (which I was expecting too), I found it really powerful that he basically said that he couldn't let go of life. "Light is winning" felt like redemption.
I was just a little disappointed that it ended up as a confrontation with Errol and that they didn't really address the larger family or the other people from that video. Could be that I missed something, but it seemed like loose ends.
I found this column had some fairly provocative observations.
A good amount of Deep Space 9 here. I'll finish the series someday. It really is very, very good. A fair amount of Friends on in the background. They're pretty much awful people, aren't they?
Lots of kids stuff. Rewatched Despicable Me over the past two nights. I enjoy that one. Probably my favorite children's movie released in a while.
Snowpiercer. Compelling new-world sci-fi. Hit a spot that hasn't been hit for a while, probably since Looper (which was significantly better, but that's the closest comparison I've got handy for what the movie accomplished for me.).
I wanted a... better ending. I like open-ended just fine, but a little bit more would have been great. A few more survivors emerging from the train, or something like that maybe? Just a little louder note of hope, I think.
DS9 really struggled to find its footing until Sisko got his ship. IMO.
I'd agree that the ship helped. I think the series did OK without it for a time, but they were running thin on ideas until they got it.
The acting has improved as the series has gone on too.
And the supporting cast is brilliant.
yes. As was true of all the series from TNG on, the actors and writers tended to grow the characters and improve the stories over time. TNG had some really awful episodes that first season, but by the end of its run it was a fantastic show with a tremendous ensemble feel.
TOS, of course, had nothing but supremely well-acted episodes, led by the World's Greatest Thespian.
I watched a bit of an episode on Netflix. EAR's choice. Kids around. It was... long and drawn out.
Maybe that's what I was hoping for in the ending too...not sure what about it didn't click for me. I've had a few conversations with others about it, and most seem to think it was a fine ending.
"Fine" is probably how I'd describe it, but it feels like they left something on the table.
I thought the ending was fine, and it was probably open to some interpretation too:
I think a case could probably be made that the polar bear shows that, now that humans have basically been off the planet for a number of years things are going in the right direction and will continue to do so once he eats the two survivors from the train and humans are gone forever.
My immediate reaction when I was watching was more positive because I watched The Lego Movie a day or two before. The movie stuck with me, though, so I had time to apply the cynicism to it.
They couldn't crash the train in a flat place where there used to be a city, but remote rocky mountains where even before the ice age, they'd've had a tough time surviving.
Sure, but then the whole movie was an hour and a half of needless exposition to make that point.
HOW ON GOD'S GREEN WHITE EARTH CAN A TRAIN REMAIN ON UNMAINTAINED RAIL FOR YEARS?!?! I can accept an eternal engine, but not that.
I'm not in the business, so I can accept an eternal rail as well.
Probably had integral rail grinding, undercutting, ballast cleaning components to the train. We could quote that for you.
Wait, was the earth frozen? Probably no drainage issues then...some mild preventative grinding might do the trick, especially if this was the only train on earth.
Broken rails were probably a problem for a while, though. I can't really help you there.
At the speeds it was travelling, it certainly had none of those components -- you can't do any of that at faster than walking pace, at best. I'm not bothered by asset failures as much as foreign material, ie: ice, massive snowdrifts, rockfalls, avalanches, structure failures around/over frozen bodies of water, ice-fouled switches...
Didn't see the movie yet...not often we talk maintenance of way, so I had to throw 1.5 cents in...
Our business is sustained by RR maintenance budgets, and I'm pretty sure we're just a few drops in the maintenance bucket. I never realized how much effort went in to keeping trains on their tracks.
Neither did the guys that wrote the screenplay!
It's like being a vet and watching war movies.
I can't tell you how many movies I've noted a locomotive crashing through a [fill in the blank] without any signs of slowing or even stopping (Back to the Future III, Blue Thunder, ...) -- what, the engineer didn't know it happened??
Or like being a vet and watching Doc McStuffins?
Being an actuary and watching people buy insurance?
Or like being a vet and watching Doc McStuffins?
Perhaps.
Being an actuary and watching people buy insurance?
Depends. When you watch people buy insurance, is it way, way cooler than the actual experience of insuring? And/or does is make you think "Wow, who wrote this crap?"
Neither did the guys that wrote the screenplay!
They probably did, but didn't care, because they knew the vast majority of viewers either wouldn't know or care.
But there were other points made during that hour and a half as well, and really, a lot of it was more or less world building.
Friends is a runaway winner of the "most inappropriately named show" award, right?
Snowpiercer is in my Netflix queue.
Heh.
Interstellar and The Theory of Everything in Santa Fe with the family over the break; The Imitation Game with the Girl back home.
Interstellar was entertaining, but oscillated between pretty awesome and pretty dumb. Everything was a pretty touching love story, considering two-sided infidelity.
Loved Imitation Game, and was really flabbergasted by the criticisms I read from some corners before-hand about the film soft-pedaling teh Gay aspects and the horror of what was done to Turing. No, the film is pretty clear on both points, and very poignantly lambasts the Brits (and, by general historical association, most of the world) for their state-enforced maltreatment of homosexuals.
also, Charles Dance is delicious as the awful Tywin Lannister Commander Deniston.
Charles Dance is...
Sold!
Me too. Until GoT I hadn't gotten to see him in far too long.
Last time I saw him was his seminal performance in The Golden Child.
I probably last saw him in Alien3.
Ooo ooo! I want to see Sardo Numspa Vs. Alien! Get r dun, Billy.
Dickens' Bleak House, with Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock.
Reading song lyrics from a book in Big Fat Quiz Show of the Year ____
Ahem, *adjusts glasses*
Actually, John Snow (no, not that one) presents song lyrics in the form of a news report. Charles Dance reads excerpts from "celebrity" autobiographies.
I watched Boyhood. Like CoC said above, it was a documentary-type movie. I didn't know what I thought of it at first, but I've been thinking about it quite a bit since watching it. I definitely liked the second half more than the first. I wonder if I would have related to it more if the family story was closer to my own?
Something amazing happened last weekend . . . I saw a movie in a theater for the first time in almost 5 years! I went to Wild. I was happy to see it, but I felt like it was rushing from one event to the next, and I don't know if there was enough context for everything for it to be clear to someone who hadn't read the book. Since I read the it not quite a month ago, I didn't have that problem. What I keep thinking about, though, is this: given that real life is messy and incoherent, so how does one turn that into a movie that satisfies our need for coherence? Overall, it was enjoyable to watch, if you're into the story of a young woman attempting an extremely difficult hike for which she's not particularly well prepared.
Quibbles:
1. I thought the character of Cheryl (played by Reece Witherspoon) should have looked dirtier/sweatier throughout--the book really conveyed how gross she was much of the time.
2. There was some kind of weird CGI fox that appeared every so often, and it was off-putting and was just plain weird in a movie otherwise grounded in realism.
3. The movie is pretty female focused, (it passes the Bechdel test!) but the sex scenes felt as though they were filmed through a male gaze. (I have more thoughts about that, actually, but I'm not sure they're quite rated PG or whatever it is we aim for around here, so I'll just leave it at that.)
And now the answer to the most important question of all:
Should Pepper have bothered applying mascara before going to see this?
No! I'm guessing I'd cried it all off by the time we reached the movie's midpoint.
I saw a documentary on women film makers that talked about the sex scene in Fast Times... in the dugout was one of the first shot from a female point of view. I have to admit I had never really thought about it.
I watched a number of films* in college for gender studies courses, so I think I'm particularly attuned to it because of that. Also because female.
*Trying to remember what they were: Kids, High Art, ???
the sex scenes felt as though they were filmed through a male gaze.
This is kind of a bummer. I haven't seen the flick and while I'd like to this is a kind of massive turn off. This is part of why I haven't brought myself to watch Blue is the Warmest Colour yet.
There's no doubt they are Reese Witherspoon's actual nipples. If they aren't that's some amazing CGI work.
On the one hand, this is something of a dream come true.
On the other, I despise male gaze-y depictions of sex. SO TORN.
given that real life is messy and incoherent, so how does one turn that into a movie that satisfies our need for coherence?
I like things that are a bit off. But I can't think of the movies that didn't wrap things up and didn't have a clear point or anything. They drive EAR nuts though.
Was Wendy and Lucy like that? She hated that even though I kindof liked it. I may have put too much weight on the Will Oldham cameo.
I thought the character of Cheryl (played by Reece Witherspoon) should have looked dirtier/sweatier throughout--the book really conveyed how gross she was much of the time.
Could be that they didn't want to have an attractive star looking this way, and could be that they made the decision because having someone dirty and gross can be a nightmare for continuity.
I thought Witherspoon's acting was a detraction to that "Ricci with a Pig Nose" movie. I saw she was producer or exec producer or something, so maybe she pushed for the project but wanted that role for herself even though it didn't work?
Could this be something similar? Or am I drawing too much out of one credit?
Even though she was probably a little "too pretty" for the role, I would argue that she did pull it off pretty dang well. Academy thought so to as she got got an Oscar nomination.
I agree with free.
Re: Spooky's comment . . . I can see how the continuity thing would be a huge problem. (Aside: I was reading a graphic novel with the jalapeno in which a character has a paint-splattered shirt in one scene. I noticed that the illustrator decided to make the splatters different in every panel, rather than trying to be consistent about it. I thought that was a good way to deal with what otherwise would have been pretty tricky/time consuming.)
I binged watched the first season of Broad City when I was hammered by the flu-bug a few weeks back. Crude, rude, and laugh out loud funny. The two leads (show creators and real life BFFs) have an incredible chemistry and both are excellent physical comediennes. The 2nd season just started and I'm looking forward to more laughter.
I love “Broad City". I laugh out loud more at that show than I have at any show in a while. The girls have such great chemistry, and the secondary characters (especially Hannibal Burress as Lincoln) add just the right bit of extra interplay.
In lesser hands the material could be really stupid and offensive, but those two manage to pull it off. And you're right, Hannibal Burress is terrific.
Yeah, they do. It's such a great show. And I, three, love Hannibal.
My wife received a 6-month Netflix subscription and I've watched more TV and movies that aren't British Literary Adaptations in the past three weeks than I may have in the prior three years.
I'm so glad I got CER and HPR started on watching some Studio Ghibli films before Christmas.
Pom Poko — I've seen it before (I own it on DVD), but this was the first time I watched it with kids. A very odd entry in the Ghibli canon (it's not directed by a Miyazake). It starts out like a nature documentary (though its animated) about Raccoons, but then almost a war documentary (with serious voice overs). CER and HPR really enjoyed it though. AJR knows the theme song (just a traditional Japanese Nursery Rhyme, translated) even though she's never heard it. It's made me re-think the way to deal with children's fears about ghosts and monsters and such. I'll now tell the kids that those things aren't true, just ways of people explaining Raccoons and Foxes. We have both creatures in our woods, so it'll work. I think I like the movie more for the mythology it creates than the story itself, but it's got enough of those Ghibli touches where the easy and trite options are not taken, and true evil and true good don't exist, more just people (or raccoons) trying to do their best.
Nausicaä — This is really fantastic, one of the best. I need to get the Manga that expands the story and the universe. It was too scary for CER, so she didn't watch it. I thought she would like the warrior-princess. One thing I love is how she shows a worthiness to and ability to lead her people that actually is a bit about governance. (Compare to whatever princesses have to do in Princess Diaries). On re-watching it I also liked the character of the Tolmekian Princess.
Laputa (Castle in the Sky) — HPR liked this better than Nausicaä but he's wrong. (Although the gang they hang with is fun that's missing from Nausicaä.)
On to Netflix... Atlantis — one of the holes in my Disney canon list. It was OK. I really don't remember much of what I thought of it.
I still need to watch Treasure Planet and (just looked it up) Bolt.
The Nut Job — Lower expectations, and I don't remember much. I do remember some laughs. Mulan 2 — What do I remember about this? I don't know. Still looking for a Mulan doll with armor as an outfit choice. Will buy on sight. Not shopping online.
Agents of SHIELD — It's still hard to find the sweet spot between my and my wife's tastes. This program and the films from this universe pretty reliably hit it. We're only about 6 episodes in. Sherlock — This hits it, too. We had watched the first four episodes on broadcast, but our calendar got messed up and we lost it. Netflix tricked us because it showed 6 episodes in season 3 (ooh! they ordered more!) but it was three "making of" and etc features. When episode 3 of season 3 finished, we were ready for episode 4. We felt cheated.
A Bit of Fry & Laurie — I think season 1 was the best, but there's good stuff on the later series as well, although some things repeat the old jokes. EAR isn't into it.
Happy People — Werner Herzog, showing off Siberia via the backwoods hicks or whatever. As soon as it was over, I had to find the town on the map. As far as I can tell, it's like, what if the not very lakey parts of northern MN and Wisconsin went on for a thousand miles east and west and 300 north and south. I loved it when the river started to break up and it was almost like the land was moving. Herzog maybe wanted me to get something out of it, but what I got is that the best job to have in old Communist Russia was "Sable Hunter" because it was almost capitalist in that you got what you put in (times the luck of wild animals). EAR didn't enjoy it but did watch most of it.
Tons and tons of nature documentaries. Among those that don't have David Attenborogh as narrator, Yellowstone is top-notch. There was something with Patrick Stewart that seemed bottom-of-the-barrel, and I turned it off. Oh, and Nature: Honey Badgers was better than it was promoted to be. It couldn't shake off the PBSness to go all Discovery/Animal Planet like it might have.
Nature made a documentary about a former LSU cornerback?
Yes, but now Netflix is recommending "Property Brothers". Maybe their property is in Baton Rouge?
Highly recommended.
I... can't. Too many nature documentaries.
I fell asleep early and woke up at 1:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. I watched two and a half last night. Plus Snowpiercer.
"National Geographic: Secret Yellowstone" Meh and dated. BBC's "Yellowstone" is 100 times better and covers almost all of it. That said, I learned that "Waterfall Chasers" is a species of person that exists. They look at topo maps and speculate where undocumented waterfalls may exist. Google Maps probably ruined things for them. Maybe they can team up with the guys from Happy People and find Siberian waterfalls.
"Nature: River of No Return" Newlyweds spend their first married year in the Frank Church Wilderness of Idaho, filming. He was a Wolf researcher before this "honeymoon". She was... not given enough chance to talk about her life before this event and what was going through her mind. I wanted to know more about the actualities of living on the trail for that long. But I really didn't want it to be longer. Their observations about nature seemed too naïve, at one point he (a wolf researcher! who wanted to film a successful hunt!) hopes an injured elk can keep the wolves at bay for the night. The only prey I really wanted to escape the wolves were some white-tailed bucks that had their antlers in velvet yet. At the same time, I wanted to see a chase of a buck with growing antlers to see if something would break off. Lots of good footage of American Dippers.
"Wildest Islands: Zanzibar" I started this series last night after no success falling asleep. This did the trick. Something about the pacing of this and its sister series "Wildest Indochina" (which I watched earlier) makes it easier to fall asleep.
* The Hobbit: Fight Scene
I didn't hate this movie, but in the end, it left me feeling nothing. Also, the near constant use of CGI really took me out of several scenes. Also, the only moment that even feigns emotional connection with the viewer...
Naturally happens while a dwarf lies impaled on some orc's sword.
* The Fault in Our Stars
Decent YA weepie. I didn't find it quite as irritating as I thought I would.
* Revenge (TV)
This show has gone off the rails, and not in the fun, soapy "oh, wasn't that craaaazy?" way, but rather the "we haven't had a good idea where this show was going since season one. At one point, the show was fun, but it's pretty much a hate-watch for the both of us now.
Also, at long last, the "Free+1" movie pass that has allowed Linds and I to see well over a hundred movies at the local cinema for free has finally come to an end. Fare thee well, free movie pass.
I have like 7 movie passes left as my "gift" for buying Marcus's version of that pass. I'm going to be sad when they're gone but I honestly don't have any great ideas on what to go see.
oh, yea, I also watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Tolkien off my DVR recently. Gaaaah. I suppose I will eventually see Part 3 for completeness (after all, I actually paid money to purchase most of the Dune prequel crap co-written by Herbert's son despite my growing revulsion with each volume). But ugh. Kill Oakenshield already.
Again, I don't hate them, but based on the source material (and the competant way similar source material was handled in the LotR trilogy), a person can't help but be disappointed. By the time the third one came around, it really was "yeah, I guess... I mean, it's Sunday, and I don't specifically have something better to do".
I fell asleep during the 45 minute Hobbit dance at the beginning of the first flick, so I passed pretty hard on the next two.
Actually, that was one of the Matrix sequels.
One of my favorite movie going experiences was going to the 3rd Matrix flick in the theater. A friend's friends camped out and literally had tickets to every showing of the movie on opening day. so they asked if I wanted to come. I brought a friend who had (mercifully) avoided watching the second one. She laughed at almost all of the forced drama, loudly. It definitely made the movie more tolerable.
Your friend's friend showed.... poor judgment.
I have still yet to see the third one because I completely hated the second one and could see it was already circling the drain as a franchise.
I saw Matrix 2 in the theatre. One of the worst moviegoing experiences I ever had. The theatre was fully lit when they had people entering, so if you were near the aisle, you had to look at everyone walking up to their seats. They kept the big lights on a bit into the movie.
I saw Matrix 3 at home more than a year after it came out on DVD for completeness, when we had the via-mail Netflix. And since then I scrubbed everything I know about them, including their existence.
I can't think of any other instances of a really good (and influential) movie being almost completely eliminated from the public conciousness because of its two sequels quite like The Matrix.
I'm going to suggest that the first one wasn't really all that good, and people realized that upon watching the sequels.
Maybe. I'm certainly not willing to rule that out. It was influential, though, at least in terms of special effects.
It was a good action movie, too, even if the philosophy was college bull-session stuff. Not that this kept Phyllo from loving LOST, of course.
even if the philosophy was college bull-session stuff
Heh, I remember my thought after seeing the first was, "Well, these guys obviously took a World Religions course in college."
And after seeing the rest, you thought "yes, and I guess they needed to prove it"?
Spooky, the principle difference is that Lost actually said something (eventually).
which is the one where the go-bots invade Zion and the defenders are all wearing big mechanical war suits? The Boy made me take him to see that on Imax. It was...better than Beowulf (also on Imax).
One of the best decisions I ever made was to stop watching movies for completeness's sake. I know it's supposed to be better than II, but I've never seen Star Wars Episode III and I doubt very much that I ever will.
It's better, but it doesn't make it good or necessary. I mean, nobody talks about the movie, so there's no pop culture conversations you're missing out on. I feel the same way about Matrix III.
I wish I could get Linds to see that. The only movie series I've ever been able to stop midway through was Saw, because why in the hell was I going to put myself through that THREE MORE TIMES? I remember we rented the fifth movie, we got about five minutes in, and I just told her "this is stupid, let's watch something else" and was shocked when she said "okay".
You made it farther through the Saw series than I did. I really liked the first one, and thought the second was alright. But by the time rib cages were being ripped apart and everything was seemingly happening gratuitously in the third one, I gave up.
We pretty much agree on the series, then. I liked the first one quite a bit, found the second one to be fine (if a completely different movie - but that didn't bother me, it was some good "make your skin crawl a bit without making you feel sick about having watched it" watching). The third made me honest to god nauseous at one point, so I wanted to be done right there.
Linds wanted to keep going, because she's a completionist. We muddled through the fourth one, both of us disliking it all the way. For some reason, she still wanted to see the fifth, which I was lucky enough to dissuade her from five minutes in.
I actually didn't mind the hot mess that was the 2nd. The 3rd, though, is certainly as laughable as others have suggested.
I saw a very long car chase with the pair of evil twins while my FIL was watching and realized I'd be skipping both sequels. I know this comes up every now and then and I've heard the answer, but I still can't remember which one that scene is from.
That was the second one, which I have seen.
I remember having a coworker tell me how much better it was than the second, and how it was almost as good as the first.
I ended up watching it and if it wasn't as bad as the second, it was close. I came back the next day and asked him how he thought it was a decent movie if he had hated the second, and it turned out that he was high out of his mind while he watched it and couldn't remember a single thing from the movie.
Everything made a lot more sense at that point.
I just watched the Amazon pilot for "The Man in the High Castle". I really hope it gets picked up. I rather enjoyed it. At least if it doesn't, I can always find out how it ends (the book has been on that damn "to read" list for years)
Let's see...
I've started using Archer as the show to watch when I'm feeding the Valet and have 20 minutes to kill. After a really, really long lay-off, Sheenie and I finally began watching Cheers again and have just the final season left. My gosh did that show just go downhill in a hurry.
I finally saw The Lego Movie and enjoyed it except for the scenes with the father and son. I didn't need an explanation for the world because I was enjoying it more on my own. I also saw Horrible Bosses and liked it more than I would expect. I have yet to find a time when Charlie Day didn't crack me up.
SPACESHIP!
Huh, I had the opposite reaction to the father and son. I thought it took what was an entertaining animated action-comedy and turned it into something truly great.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I could have done without it, but I didn't feel it detracted.
Following up on the earlier DS9 talk, tonight I watched the episode "Far Beyond The Stars." One of the best episodes of television I've ever watched, I think. Very well done.
good callback, Phyllo. That was a hell of an episode.
I saw a lot and was around yesterday, and somehow forgot to show up.
"American Horror Story," season three (half-ish done)
The show's writing continues to get better, although it's harder to engage when reanimation is a thing and nobody's dead for very long. The show's handling it well enough, but it's hard to be afraid for anyone's life when they keep coming back. Evan Peters has always been my least favorite part of the show, so having him lumber around as a confused, silent meathead is about the best case scenario for me. To his credit, I actually don't dislike his performance in this.
"BoJack Horseman," season one: still funny. I have just a couple of episodes left. I'm still impressed that such an absurd show can have so much to say, and the relationships are surprisingly deep.
"Arrested Development" again. Almost done. I really am pleased with the quality of the most recent season, if not the format. Part of what I loved about it was seeing each character stumble through life in each episode. I typically like theme episodes in dramas, but in this show I guess I just wanted chaos.
"Comedy Bang Bang" is hilarious.
I still love the music and direction of Conan the Barbarian as much as I did twenty years ago.
Resident Evil: Extinction. I should not have trouble remembering scenes and characters this much just weeks after watching a movie, undistracted. This was really, really hollow. The effects were great but no care was given to character or plot. It exists solely to take us from one stop to another, which doesn't surprise me, but you can still tell a good story in there. The villain was the most laughably eeeeeeevil I've seen since Avatar. Even for a zombie movie, the bad guy was too simplistic.
No one seems to do well at writing a good evil character. If there's a fly, gotta pull the wings off.
A good evil character? Here's one!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhfuuKiTcYQ
If you had posted Dr. Lizardo, I would have allowed it.
oooh. Missed opportunity on my part.
History is-a made at night. Character is what you are in the dark.
bS - I'm with you there. Rickman is pretty good.
Don't forget his Hans Gruber.
That's my favorite bad guy, right there.
I watched Dredd two nights ago. It was pretty good, not deep or anything, but efficient sci-fi action that never let up and I can't think of anything that really bothered me about it.
I'd watch sequels.
I think Cheaptoy recommended it? Whoever it was, thanks.
I fell asleep last night watching Skyfall. I don't know if I've ever watched a Bond movie I enjoyed, but this wasn't the movie's fault. I was tired and should have just gone to bed. The opening scene was cool and so was the title sequence.
I don't think I've seen anything else from Craig's Bond. Can I just jump in here or should I start with something else?
Speaking of Sequels, Netflix has parts 2 for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and How to Train Your Dragon, but not parts 1, which I haven't seen. I probably need to watch parts 1, right?
Yep, I recommended Dredd. This also gives me another chance to post this:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrsJsvL30g
I haven't actually seen any Bond movies other than Brosnan or Craig, and I think my memory of Goldeneye is maybe a little skewed by the N64 game. I feel mostly like Casino Royale is really the only Bond movie I'd ever really need.
Casino Royale is great, and easily the best Bond film of the ten or so I've seen.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is definitely worth seeing.
from le Wik: being evasive, a Welsh local mechanic is asked about a nondescript broken part he has removed from a car, and replies "Well I don't know the English word, but in Welsh we call it a be'chi'ngalw." In Welsh, be'chi'ngalw has the same meaning as the word "whatchamacallit" or "thingamajig.
Been quite a while, but I remember enjoying that film
I'm kind of late to this party, but I am had jot my thoughts down about a show called "Man Seeking Woman". Its on FXX Wednesday nights following "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (that show is still on!). Anyway, its a show about a guy trying to figure out his dating life. Kind of a yawner of a premise. Its only been done 10,000 times. But, where it differs is that its snaps between real life and fantasy life regularly.
Its sometimes funny, then flips to bizarre the next second. Its not the best show, but it is certainly interesting television. Its about 3 or 4 episodes in, if you like your entertainment on the surreal side, check this one out.
Just Interstellar it seems. I agree with what most have said here. Wonderfully, jaw-dropping moments with too much "love holds the universe together" sentiment that Nolan really isn't capable of doing anyway.
Just 17 episodes left of Breaking Bad.
I'll be excited to talk Breaking Bad with you when you finish. I was too far behind to get in on much good conversation of my own.
I think I would enjoy the show more if I had to wait a week in between episodes to let things simmer.
Heh, yep- that's exactly what I've said about it.
Wild. I had read the book and the movie is a pretty faithful adaption and well done. This is a movie you can bring your gal pal too and both of you will get something out of it. Great scenery, good stuff about hiking, good message. I had one quibble however:
Another question for you:
Oh no doubt. I just thought the director was being "arty."
Dr. Chop and I watched Locke last night. Tom Hardy is very impressive as a man on the brink, but once the reveal happens (at ~7 minutes in) there is only one logical conclusion for the movie.
Tom Hardy is very impressive as a man on the brink
Just watched “Peaky Blinders". The same could be said for him in that. And “Bronson".
He's the definition of terrifying in Bronson.
I watched Species and Under the Skin. The first was pretty standard low grade Sci-Fi fare, but the second was an extremely well filmed and mildly disturbing movie. It had very little dialogue, and smartly shied away from explaining everything, like many films are prone to do.
I noted a young Alfred Molina in Species, and the next day picked him out in Ladyhawke in a role I remember but before I knew who he was.
We tried watching Under the Skin but had to stop early in the movie. The short bit we saw was good though!
Yes, that certainly was upsetting.
I enjoyed Under the Skin a whole ton, but after watching it I wasn't sure I ever wanted to watch it again. I've been reading about it a lot lately and I think I'm maybe ready for a rewatch. I'll probably use Lucy as a chaser, though.
Lucy is on my library reserve list.
It is tremendously, wonderfully stupid.
Pacific Rim!
My favorite stupid movie of all time.
That same kind of stupid, I thought. I expected Godzilla to scratch that itch for me this year, but it was Lucy!
The worst part is, that's the movie my brother told me that I'd be seeing in the months leading up to its release.
I do need to see Lucy, because it looks awesomely ridiculous.
Yeah but Species has boobies!!111!!!
So does Under the Skin but it's basically the farthest thing from sexy!
Watched Ascension last month. I liked it but I have low standards for science fiction shows. It had a pedestrian twist after the second hour and a crazy (in the WTF sense) twist at the end. The ending left a lot of questions unanswered for a potential series. I doubt that will happen and I'm not that upset about it.
Heh, I watched this too. I agree that it wasn't great, but the pulpy style was kinda fun. And all of the establishing shots were of the Minneapolis skyline!
Ditto on both points. It was a little weird to see snippets of Minneapolis as it's not something that happens. It was never mentioned where this was happening so it felt like they were trying to set it in Random US City.
Family has taken to watching The Librarians, which is pretty mindless fare -- similar to Dr. Who but without the pretentious drama. Also started giving Agent Carter a try, although my interest is flagging after only a couple of episodes. It's neat seeing James D'Arcy, who I mostly remember as Pullings from Master and Commander.
I haven't watched yet, but I'm still struggling with the concept of Lindsey McDonald having two hands.
Agent Carter hasn't really held my interest, either. The hero is battling some shady orgaization we, the viewer, know nothing about and have no reason to fear except that is they're against Carter they must necessarily therefore be bad. It's been done in the MCU, and done better, and for me it's not enough this go-round.
It's not some shady organization, it's Hydra. It's not spelled out, but anyone who'd seen Captain America (which has been ladled out pretty heavily in the show) should know that.
Of course anyone who's up on things knows it's some form or another of Hydra. But the "oooooh, creepy guys with matching neck scars" isn't enough to engender any feeling of tension with regards to their actions or motives.
We finished series 2 of The Fall over Christmas and boy oh boy is that a good show. I'm really hoping they do a third series, but who knows if they will. Jamie Dornan got good practice being a disgusting predator on this show, so I'm sure he's ready for his starring turn in 50 Shades of Grey!
I was excited to finally get a chance to watch The Guest. I had high hopes after You're Next and it definitely delivered. It had that same VHS thriller motif, but I liked this flick even more I think. Soundtrack was awesome, the ending was awesome, I can't wait for these gentlemen to make another motion picture.
I have Gone Girl at home to watch in the next few days and I'm hoping to catch a bunch of stuff at the theater soon. Hopefully next month isn't so slow.
I'm looking forward to seeing Gone Girl.
Watched Clue with the family after the kids got the game for Christmas. The kids (8/5) found it a little scary, which I take as a sign of good parenting (not something I'll often claim) that we haven't exposed them to significantly more frightening media. Still an amusing enough movie for mom and dad.
We also watched Earth to Echo with them. It looked interesting, but I recall little acclaim for it after it came out, and probably rightly so. It also reminded us that our 8-year-old needs some solid nearby buds, but there's probably time yet to find that, right? I was trying to recall at what age I could really start roaming the neighborhood...probably 8-9-10 or somewhere in there.
The wife and I see very little regular TV ("what's Breaking Bad about?"), so it was a big deal to sit down and pick out a series to watch together when we'd get a chance. We went with Sherlock (the Benedict Cumberbatch version)...had to start somewhere. Its three seasons are really just 9 total episodes of 90 minutes, so it's more like mini-movie nights, which suits us fine. I'll let you know how that goes. I chuckled a few times at the first episose...those Brits...
While it helped put Benedict Cumberbatch on the fast track, you're giving Martin Freeman short shrift...
He was a Hobbit, after all.
I like him quite a bit. As far as BC goes. I'm not sure that I've actually seen him in anything besides my little sister's FB postings.*
*rescinded. I did see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
You didn't catch last year's Star Trek reboot? He was very good in that.
I suspected I'd get scolded for that. My movie backlog is looooong. It's on my Netflix list.
Hey, I totally get it: I didn't see Life of Pi until last week.
Actually read that book and also wanted to see it...is it on Netflix?
Yes - on DVD...not sure if it's available via streaming.
Re: 8yo. How far away do you live from me?
Also, I know I biked to T-ball and the park it was at when I was 7. It was only two blocks away.
I also had greatly explored the woods in my backyard. This is in New Ulm, the river bluffs (a mile from the river) being undeveloped wooded land that separates the "top of the hill" folk from the rabble like us.
As I got older, I actually lost some freedom as I had to start respecting property lines. I couldn't trespass through backyards (though I kept going through the wooded parts of each lot).
Our family lived in North Minneapolis up until age 10. When she was 6 and I was 8, my sister and I bicycled unaccompanied more than a mile via Memorial Parkway to the courts and recreation center at Webber Park for tennis lessons and swimming. I suspect you can't let children that age do the same thing nowadays.
When you want to, you get people (in-laws, neighbors) either telling you not to because predators (sorry, look at the rates of stranger predation), or at best, because others will give you grief, get you in trouble, etc.
I did let my eldest kids when they were 9 and 7 test out our walkie-talkies by walking to the River (1/3 mile). I'd do more if they asked, though my wife drags her feet.
The River's a bit of a challenge because it actually is dangerous. But the creek to it isn't (at least 330 days a year). If they fall in that, they just need to come home muddy and wet.
Or someone calls the cops.
Piling on, eh? I'll let my kids get stopped by the cops and deal with the consequences.
Preferrably on a day that school is in session, so I can get HSLDA representation if it comes to anything.
Seems like this would be good for FKB; I know I definitely have more to say on the topic.
Hey hj, did you ever get a volunteer for this Thursday? If not, seems like there's some good fodder here. (I suppose this means I'm volunteering myself unless someone else wants to run with it.)
Don't think so. It's all yours.
Also, walked 2/3 mile in summer after second grade for one week from some summer educational program that lasted a week.
I loooooooooved Clue as a kid. Probably started watching it at sleepovers around age 8 or 9. (I just covered my eyes for the scary bits.)
EAR and CER were watching it tonight while HPR and I kept working through Attenborough's The Life of Birds, which is probably the best nature geek TV I've ever watched.
Watched Mary Poppins a couple weeks ago, you may remember my rant on that movie. I just couldn't get into it.
Watched American Sniper on Friday. My suggestion, if you want to know about Chris Kyle's life, read the book. The movie's okay, and it was interesting to see parts of the book acted out, but overall, I didn't love it. Not to say it's a bad movie, I just didn't love it.
Watched Muppets Most Wanted on Saturday in the same theater I saw Poppins. About what I expected. I'm a fan of the Muppets, and enjoyed the revamp that came out a couple years ago. This one was good, but not great. Enjoyable. Loved the cameos and the humor.
Wife and I are watching Friends again. Say what you want, but I like the show. Yes, it's a bit awkward at times, but it still holds many fond memories.
"Goodnight, Danny Trejo." I still laugh.
I wanted to love Muppets Most Wanted as I love the Muppets and pretty much every major live actor involved, but I just smirked a lot and never really guffawed like I wanted to. And yes, "Goodnight, Danny Trejo" was probably the line of the movie.
So it pales to "Man or Muppet"? I need to keep that song out of my head, because it's an earworm I love and it stresses relationships with people I have to speak with.
Over at Death By Troggles I'm going to be talking about movies a couple of times per week, just picking a movie I've seen using a random number generator. The first movie highlighted is Hoop Dreams.
I love Hoop Dreams. I lived in Chicago at the time and it is amazing how segregated that city is.
I haven't been able to watch much at all recently other than a ton of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Doc McStuffins. Other than that, FX has a Roku channel with every Simpsons episode ever, so I've been re-living the glory days. (Flaming Moe's is such a great episode.)
Does this service have a charge? I have a Roku now and haven't really explored its uses other than Netflix and PBS.
It requires a cable/dish subscription, unfortunately. I'm getting good use out of my dad's account username.
Keep an eye on this, though. Cable is losing subscribers every month. These services are going to have to change the way they do business.
My dad will never get rid of it, so that concern is only if they stop requiring the cable username and start just making it a pay service for the streaming channel. But yeah, I am excited about a cable/dish-less future.
True Detective – My wife and I powered through this in like a week. Interesting characters and story and the method by which we’re introduced to the action felt smart and almost novel. Woody did a fine job and McConaughey was very compelling, I’d definitely recommend this one.
Boyhood – By all accounts, a pretty amazing process. Mix in an engaging and talented group of actors and you get a pretty good result. I came away impressed with Linklater’s execution, but in some ways, it almost felt more like a documentary than a feature film. Worth seeing, but less cinematic and more personal than I expected.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – I like Costner and Chris Pine and enjoy the Clancy universe, so this was a welcome addition to the weekend viewing. Nothing groundbreaking in the “reboot” of the Jack Ryan world, but enjoyable nonetheless (and Kenneth Branagh plays a good bad guy).
The Life of Pi – Finally got around to seeing this, had wanted to read the book first, did so, and then the movie got pushed down the queue. Went through and cleared out a bunch of stuff off the DVD list and this one showed up. Wow…cinematography was just awesome and Suraj Sharma did a fantastic job as Piscine.
Girls – My wife has been watching this and I’ve seen a few episodes. Meh. If I don’t like any of the characters I’m watching, I probably won’t like the show.
Wall-E – We own this and Kernel has been really into it the past couple of weeks. A welcome respite from the Princess Sophie/Dora/Frozen routine of recent months*. Easily one of my favorite releases by Pixar.
2 Guns – What’s not to like about an action-comedy featuring Denzel Washington & Mark Wahlberg as undercover bad*$$#$ ? It was an absolutely laughable premise, and having been in the Navy, the part about how Wahlberg is supposed to be a sailor (and really, anything that had to do with the Navy) was stoopid, but the action sequences were fun and the banter between the actors almost made up for the lack of a story.
Freedom Riders – Public Television film from American Experience, the documentary explores the stories of those who, in 1961, decided to demonstrate against the segregation in interstate travel facilities in the Deep South by attempting to ride Greyhound busses from D.C. to New Orleans. The Supreme Court had mandated desegregation on interstate travel facilities, but the realities on the ground were that racism and hatred were alive and well. I did not realize how little President Kennedy (and his administration) was concerned about the Civil Rights Movement at the beginning of his presidency. This film was very well done.
*[Edited] and, like cheaptoy, Doc McStuffins.
I hate-watch Girls because I get one good laugh out of most episodes. Every single character is wholly unlikable. That's fine in a non-serious comedy (Arrested Development, Seinfeld) but it's a serious problem in a comedy that tries to make dramatic statements. None of the characters have really grown either, at least in any significant way.
That last sentence is something my wife noted too.
We only made it through the first season, and I haven't been in a rush to start the second. Dido on most of what's been said (though Jane and I agree that the little, chipper one is probably the only redeeming character, though again, only 1 season so far).
We've watched through season 2 and while I don't particularly like any of the characters, I appreciate their portrayals as flawed. For the most part. I hope season 4 deals with Adam being fired into the sun on a rocket. J & I need to catch up, though.
I made in through the first two episodes of season 1 and bailed. Unlike the characters of Broad City, I wouldn't want to spend one minute with Lena Dunham's gang. Abbi and Ilana, on the other hand*...
*twenty years ago
I may have a sizable crush on Ilana.
We watched two or three episodes and figured out pretty quickly that it was just going to irritate us.
If I don’t like any of the characters I’m watching, I probably won’t like the show.
But I watched 5 or so seasons of Gray's Anatomy on Schadenfreude alone.
isn't that the reason anyone watches a soap?
I wouldn't know.
True Detective
What'd you think of the ending?
I really liked it.
A good amount of Deep Space 9 here. I'll finish the series someday. It really is very, very good. A fair amount of Friends on in the background. They're pretty much awful people, aren't they?
Lots of kids stuff. Rewatched Despicable Me over the past two nights. I enjoy that one. Probably my favorite children's movie released in a while.
Snowpiercer. Compelling new-world sci-fi. Hit a spot that hasn't been hit for a while, probably since Looper (which was significantly better, but that's the closest comparison I've got handy for what the movie accomplished for me.).
DS9 really struggled to find its footing until Sisko got his ship. IMO.
I'd agree that the ship helped. I think the series did OK without it for a time, but they were running thin on ideas until they got it.
The acting has improved as the series has gone on too.
And the supporting cast is brilliant.
yes. As was true of all the series from TNG on, the actors and writers tended to grow the characters and improve the stories over time. TNG had some really awful episodes that first season, but by the end of its run it was a fantastic show with a tremendous ensemble feel.
TOS, of course, had nothing but supremely well-acted episodes, led by the World's Greatest Thespian.
I watched a bit of an episode on Netflix. EAR's choice. Kids around. It was... long and drawn out.
Maybe that's what I was hoping for in the ending too...not sure what about it didn't click for me. I've had a few conversations with others about it, and most seem to think it was a fine ending.
"Fine" is probably how I'd describe it, but it feels like they left something on the table.
I thought the ending was fine, and it was probably open to some interpretation too:
Sure, but then the whole movie was an hour and a half of needless exposition to make that point.
HOW ON GOD'S
GREENWHITE EARTH CAN A TRAIN REMAIN ON UNMAINTAINED RAIL FOR YEARS?!?! I can accept an eternal engine, but not that.I'm not in the business, so I can accept an eternal rail as well.
Probably had integral rail grinding, undercutting, ballast cleaning components to the train. We could quote that for you.
Wait, was the earth frozen? Probably no drainage issues then...some mild preventative grinding might do the trick, especially if this was the only train on earth.
Broken rails were probably a problem for a while, though. I can't really help you there.
At the speeds it was travelling, it certainly had none of those components -- you can't do any of that at faster than walking pace, at best. I'm not bothered by asset failures as much as foreign material, ie: ice, massive snowdrifts, rockfalls, avalanches, structure failures around/over frozen bodies of water, ice-fouled switches...
Didn't see the movie yet...not often we talk maintenance of way, so I had to throw 1.5 cents in...
Our business is sustained by RR maintenance budgets, and I'm pretty sure we're just a few drops in the maintenance bucket. I never realized how much effort went in to keeping trains on their tracks.
Neither did the guys that wrote the screenplay!
It's like being a vet and watching war movies.
I can't tell you how many movies I've noted a locomotive crashing through a [fill in the blank] without any signs of slowing or even stopping (Back to the Future III, Blue Thunder, ...) -- what, the engineer didn't know it happened??
Or like being a vet and watching Doc McStuffins?
Being an actuary and watching people buy insurance?
Perhaps.
Depends. When you watch people buy insurance, is it way, way cooler than the actual experience of insuring? And/or does is make you think "Wow, who wrote this crap?"
Neither did the guys that wrote the screenplay!
They probably did, but didn't care, because they knew the vast majority of viewers either wouldn't know or care.
But there were other points made during that hour and a half as well, and really, a lot of it was more or less world building.
Friends is a runaway winner of the "most inappropriately named show" award, right?
Snowpiercer is in my Netflix queue.
Heh.
Interstellar and The Theory of Everything in Santa Fe with the family over the break; The Imitation Game with the Girl back home.
Interstellar was entertaining, but oscillated between pretty awesome and pretty dumb. Everything was a pretty touching love story, considering two-sided infidelity.
Loved Imitation Game, and was really flabbergasted by the criticisms I read from some corners before-hand about the film soft-pedaling teh Gay aspects and the horror of what was done to Turing. No, the film is pretty clear on both points, and very poignantly lambasts the Brits (and, by general historical association, most of the world) for their state-enforced maltreatment of homosexuals.
also, Charles Dance is delicious as the awful
Tywin LannisterCommander Deniston.Charles Dance is...
Sold!
Me too. Until GoT I hadn't gotten to see him in far too long.
Last time I saw him was his seminal performance in The Golden Child.
I probably last saw him in Alien3.
Ooo ooo! I want to see Sardo Numspa Vs. Alien! Get r dun, Billy.
Dickens' Bleak House, with Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock.
Reading song lyrics from a book in Big Fat Quiz Show of the Year ____
Ahem, *adjusts glasses*
Actually, John Snow (no, not that one) presents song lyrics in the form of a news report. Charles Dance reads excerpts from "celebrity" autobiographies.
I watched Boyhood. Like CoC said above, it was a documentary-type movie. I didn't know what I thought of it at first, but I've been thinking about it quite a bit since watching it. I definitely liked the second half more than the first. I wonder if I would have related to it more if the family story was closer to my own?
Something amazing happened last weekend . . . I saw a movie in a theater for the first time in almost 5 years! I went to Wild. I was happy to see it, but I felt like it was rushing from one event to the next, and I don't know if there was enough context for everything for it to be clear to someone who hadn't read the book. Since I read the it not quite a month ago, I didn't have that problem. What I keep thinking about, though, is this: given that real life is messy and incoherent, so how does one turn that into a movie that satisfies our need for coherence? Overall, it was enjoyable to watch, if you're into the story of a young woman attempting an extremely difficult hike for which she's not particularly well prepared.
Quibbles:
1. I thought the character of Cheryl (played by Reece Witherspoon) should have looked dirtier/sweatier throughout--the book really conveyed how gross she was much of the time.
2. There was some kind of weird CGI fox that appeared every so often, and it was off-putting and was just plain weird in a movie otherwise grounded in realism.
3. The movie is pretty female focused, (it passes the Bechdel test!) but the sex scenes felt as though they were filmed through a male gaze. (I have more thoughts about that, actually, but I'm not sure they're quite rated PG or whatever it is we aim for around here, so I'll just leave it at that.)
And now the answer to the most important question of all:
I saw a documentary on women film makers that talked about the sex scene in Fast Times... in the dugout was one of the first shot from a female point of view. I have to admit I had never really thought about it.
I watched a number of films* in college for gender studies courses, so I think I'm particularly attuned to it because of that. Also because female.
*Trying to remember what they were: Kids, High Art, ???
the sex scenes felt as though they were filmed through a male gaze.
This is kind of a bummer. I haven't seen the flick and while I'd like to this is a kind of massive turn off. This is part of why I haven't brought myself to watch Blue is the Warmest Colour yet.
You have my attention.
are you sure that's not a
There's no doubt they are Reese Witherspoon's actual nipples. If they aren't that's some amazing CGI work.
On the one hand, this is something of a dream come true.
On the other, I despise male gaze-y depictions of sex. SO TORN.
given that real life is messy and incoherent, so how does one turn that into a movie that satisfies our need for coherence?
I like things that are a bit off. But I can't think of the movies that didn't wrap things up and didn't have a clear point or anything. They drive EAR nuts though.
Was Wendy and Lucy like that? She hated that even though I kindof liked it. I may have put too much weight on the Will Oldham cameo.
I thought the character of Cheryl (played by Reece Witherspoon) should have looked dirtier/sweatier throughout--the book really conveyed how gross she was much of the time.
Could be that they didn't want to have an attractive star looking this way, and could be that they made the decision because having someone dirty and gross can be a nightmare for continuity.
I thought Witherspoon's acting was a detraction to that "Ricci with a Pig Nose" movie. I saw she was producer or exec producer or something, so maybe she pushed for the project but wanted that role for herself even though it didn't work?
Could this be something similar? Or am I drawing too much out of one credit?
Even though she was probably a little "too pretty" for the role, I would argue that she did pull it off pretty dang well. Academy thought so to as she got got an Oscar nomination.
I agree with free.
Re: Spooky's comment . . . I can see how the continuity thing would be a huge problem. (Aside: I was reading a graphic novel with the jalapeno in which a character has a paint-splattered shirt in one scene. I noticed that the illustrator decided to make the splatters different in every panel, rather than trying to be consistent about it. I thought that was a good way to deal with what otherwise would have been pretty tricky/time consuming.)
I binged watched the first season of Broad City when I was hammered by the flu-bug a few weeks back. Crude, rude, and laugh out loud funny. The two leads (show creators and real life BFFs) have an incredible chemistry and both are excellent physical comediennes. The 2nd season just started and I'm looking forward to more laughter.
I love “Broad City". I laugh out loud more at that show than I have at any show in a while. The girls have such great chemistry, and the secondary characters (especially Hannibal Burress as Lincoln) add just the right bit of extra interplay.
In lesser hands the material could be really stupid and offensive, but those two manage to pull it off. And you're right, Hannibal Burress is terrific.
Yeah, they do. It's such a great show. And I, three, love Hannibal.
My wife received a 6-month Netflix subscription and I've watched more TV and movies that aren't British Literary Adaptations in the past three weeks than I may have in the prior three years.
I'm so glad I got CER and HPR started on watching some Studio Ghibli films before Christmas.
Pom Poko — I've seen it before (I own it on DVD), but this was the first time I watched it with kids. A very odd entry in the Ghibli canon (it's not directed by a Miyazake). It starts out like a nature documentary (though its animated) about Raccoons, but then almost a war documentary (with serious voice overs). CER and HPR really enjoyed it though. AJR knows the theme song (just a traditional Japanese Nursery Rhyme, translated) even though she's never heard it. It's made me re-think the way to deal with children's fears about ghosts and monsters and such. I'll now tell the kids that those things aren't true, just ways of people explaining Raccoons and Foxes. We have both creatures in our woods, so it'll work. I think I like the movie more for the mythology it creates than the story itself, but it's got enough of those Ghibli touches where the easy and trite options are not taken, and true evil and true good don't exist, more just people (or raccoons) trying to do their best.
Nausicaä — This is really fantastic, one of the best. I need to get the Manga that expands the story and the universe. It was too scary for CER, so she didn't watch it. I thought she would like the warrior-princess. One thing I love is how she shows a worthiness to and ability to lead her people that actually is a bit about governance. (Compare to whatever princesses have to do in Princess Diaries). On re-watching it I also liked the character of the Tolmekian Princess.
Laputa (Castle in the Sky) — HPR liked this better than Nausicaä but he's wrong. (Although the gang they hang with is fun that's missing from Nausicaä.)
On to Netflix...
Atlantis — one of the holes in my Disney canon list. It was OK. I really don't remember much of what I thought of it.
I still need to watch Treasure Planet and (just looked it up) Bolt.
The Nut Job — Lower expectations, and I don't remember much. I do remember some laughs.
Mulan 2 — What do I remember about this? I don't know. Still looking for a Mulan doll with armor as an outfit choice. Will buy on sight. Not shopping online.
Agents of SHIELD — It's still hard to find the sweet spot between my and my wife's tastes. This program and the films from this universe pretty reliably hit it. We're only about 6 episodes in.
Sherlock — This hits it, too. We had watched the first four episodes on broadcast, but our calendar got messed up and we lost it. Netflix tricked us because it showed 6 episodes in season 3 (ooh! they ordered more!) but it was three "making of" and etc features. When episode 3 of season 3 finished, we were ready for episode 4. We felt cheated.
A Bit of Fry & Laurie — I think season 1 was the best, but there's good stuff on the later series as well, although some things repeat the old jokes. EAR isn't into it.
Happy People — Werner Herzog, showing off Siberia via the backwoods hicks or whatever. As soon as it was over, I had to find the town on the map. As far as I can tell, it's like, what if the not very lakey parts of northern MN and Wisconsin went on for a thousand miles east and west and 300 north and south. I loved it when the river started to break up and it was almost like the land was moving. Herzog maybe wanted me to get something out of it, but what I got is that the best job to have in old Communist Russia was "Sable Hunter" because it was almost capitalist in that you got what you put in (times the luck of wild animals). EAR didn't enjoy it but did watch most of it.
Tons and tons of nature documentaries. Among those that don't have David Attenborogh as narrator, Yellowstone is top-notch. There was something with Patrick Stewart that seemed bottom-of-the-barrel, and I turned it off. Oh, and Nature: Honey Badgers was better than it was promoted to be. It couldn't shake off the PBSness to go all Discovery/Animal Planet like it might have.
Nature made a documentary about a former LSU cornerback?
Yes, but now Netflix is recommending "Property Brothers". Maybe their property is in Baton Rouge?
Highly recommended.
I... can't. Too many nature documentaries.
I fell asleep early and woke up at 1:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. I watched two and a half last night. Plus Snowpiercer.
"National Geographic: Secret Yellowstone" Meh and dated. BBC's "Yellowstone" is 100 times better and covers almost all of it. That said, I learned that "Waterfall Chasers" is a species of person that exists. They look at topo maps and speculate where undocumented waterfalls may exist. Google Maps probably ruined things for them. Maybe they can team up with the guys from Happy People and find Siberian waterfalls.
"Nature: River of No Return" Newlyweds spend their first married year in the Frank Church Wilderness of Idaho, filming. He was a Wolf researcher before this "honeymoon". She was... not given enough chance to talk about her life before this event and what was going through her mind. I wanted to know more about the actualities of living on the trail for that long. But I really didn't want it to be longer. Their observations about nature seemed too naïve, at one point he (a wolf researcher! who wanted to film a successful hunt!) hopes an injured elk can keep the wolves at bay for the night. The only prey I really wanted to escape the wolves were some white-tailed bucks that had their antlers in velvet yet. At the same time, I wanted to see a chase of a buck with growing antlers to see if something would break off. Lots of good footage of American Dippers.
"Wildest Islands: Zanzibar" I started this series last night after no success falling asleep. This did the trick. Something about the pacing of this and its sister series "Wildest Indochina" (which I watched earlier) makes it easier to fall asleep.
* The Hobbit: Fight Scene
I didn't hate this movie, but in the end, it left me feeling nothing. Also, the near constant use of CGI really took me out of several scenes. Also, the only moment that even feigns emotional connection with the viewer...
* The Fault in Our Stars
Decent YA weepie. I didn't find it quite as irritating as I thought I would.
* Revenge (TV)
This show has gone off the rails, and not in the fun, soapy "oh, wasn't that craaaazy?" way, but rather the "we haven't had a good idea where this show was going since season one. At one point, the show was fun, but it's pretty much a hate-watch for the both of us now.
Also, at long last, the "Free+1" movie pass that has allowed Linds and I to see well over a hundred movies at the local cinema for free has finally come to an end. Fare thee well, free movie pass.
I have like 7 movie passes left as my "gift" for buying Marcus's version of that pass. I'm going to be sad when they're gone but I honestly don't have any great ideas on what to go see.
oh, yea, I also watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Tolkien off my DVR recently. Gaaaah. I suppose I will eventually see Part 3 for completeness (after all, I actually paid money to purchase most of the Dune prequel crap co-written by Herbert's son despite my growing revulsion with each volume). But ugh. Kill Oakenshield already.
Again, I don't hate them, but based on the source material (and the competant way similar source material was handled in the LotR trilogy), a person can't help but be disappointed. By the time the third one came around, it really was "yeah, I guess... I mean, it's Sunday, and I don't specifically have something better to do".
I fell asleep during the 45 minute Hobbit dance at the beginning of the first flick, so I passed pretty hard on the next two.
Actually, that was one of the Matrix sequels.
One of my favorite movie going experiences was going to the 3rd Matrix flick in the theater. A friend's friends camped out and literally had tickets to every showing of the movie on opening day. so they asked if I wanted to come. I brought a friend who had (mercifully) avoided watching the second one. She laughed at almost all of the forced drama, loudly. It definitely made the movie more tolerable.
Your friend's friend showed.... poor judgment.
I have still yet to see the third one because I completely hated the second one and could see it was already circling the drain as a franchise.
I saw Matrix 2 in the theatre. One of the worst moviegoing experiences I ever had. The theatre was fully lit when they had people entering, so if you were near the aisle, you had to look at everyone walking up to their seats. They kept the big lights on a bit into the movie.
I saw Matrix 3 at home more than a year after it came out on DVD for completeness, when we had the via-mail Netflix. And since then I scrubbed everything I know about them, including their existence.
I can't think of any other instances of a really good (and influential) movie being almost completely eliminated from the public conciousness because of its two sequels quite like The Matrix.
I'm going to suggest that the first one wasn't really all that good, and people realized that upon watching the sequels.
Maybe. I'm certainly not willing to rule that out. It was influential, though, at least in terms of special effects.
It was a good action movie, too, even if the philosophy was college bull-session stuff. Not that this kept Phyllo from loving LOST, of course.
even if the philosophy was college bull-session stuff
Heh, I remember my thought after seeing the first was, "Well, these guys obviously took a World Religions course in college."
And after seeing the rest, you thought "yes, and I guess they needed to prove it"?
Spooky, the principle difference is that Lost actually said something (eventually).
which is the one where the go-bots invade Zion and the defenders are all wearing big mechanical war suits? The Boy made me take him to see that on Imax. It was...better than Beowulf (also on Imax).
One of the best decisions I ever made was to stop watching movies for completeness's sake. I know it's supposed to be better than II, but I've never seen Star Wars Episode III and I doubt very much that I ever will.
It's better, but it doesn't make it good or necessary. I mean, nobody talks about the movie, so there's no pop culture conversations you're missing out on. I feel the same way about Matrix III.
I wish I could get Linds to see that. The only movie series I've ever been able to stop midway through was Saw, because why in the hell was I going to put myself through that THREE MORE TIMES? I remember we rented the fifth movie, we got about five minutes in, and I just told her "this is stupid, let's watch something else" and was shocked when she said "okay".
You made it farther through the Saw series than I did. I really liked the first one, and thought the second was alright. But by the time rib cages were being ripped apart and everything was seemingly happening gratuitously in the third one, I gave up.
We pretty much agree on the series, then. I liked the first one quite a bit, found the second one to be fine (if a completely different movie - but that didn't bother me, it was some good "make your skin crawl a bit without making you feel sick about having watched it" watching). The third made me honest to god nauseous at one point, so I wanted to be done right there.
Linds wanted to keep going, because she's a completionist. We muddled through the fourth one, both of us disliking it all the way. For some reason, she still wanted to see the fifth, which I was lucky enough to dissuade her from five minutes in.
I actually didn't mind the hot mess that was the 2nd. The 3rd, though, is certainly as laughable as others have suggested.
I saw a very long car chase with the pair of evil twins while my FIL was watching and realized I'd be skipping both sequels. I know this comes up every now and then and I've heard the answer, but I still can't remember which one that scene is from.
That was the second one, which I have seen.
I remember having a coworker tell me how much better it was than the second, and how it was almost as good as the first.
I ended up watching it and if it wasn't as bad as the second, it was close. I came back the next day and asked him how he thought it was a decent movie if he had hated the second, and it turned out that he was high out of his mind while he watched it and couldn't remember a single thing from the movie.
Everything made a lot more sense at that point.
I just watched the Amazon pilot for "The Man in the High Castle". I really hope it gets picked up. I rather enjoyed it. At least if it doesn't, I can always find out how it ends (the book has been on that damn "to read" list for years)
Let's see...
I've started using Archer as the show to watch when I'm feeding the Valet and have 20 minutes to kill. After a really, really long lay-off, Sheenie and I finally began watching Cheers again and have just the final season left. My gosh did that show just go downhill in a hurry.
I finally saw The Lego Movie and enjoyed it except for the scenes with the father and son. I didn't need an explanation for the world because I was enjoying it more on my own. I also saw Horrible Bosses and liked it more than I would expect. I have yet to find a time when Charlie Day didn't crack me up.
SPACESHIP!
Huh, I had the opposite reaction to the father and son. I thought it took what was an entertaining animated action-comedy and turned it into something truly great.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I could have done without it, but I didn't feel it detracted.
Following up on the earlier DS9 talk, tonight I watched the episode "Far Beyond The Stars." One of the best episodes of television I've ever watched, I think. Very well done.
good callback, Phyllo. That was a hell of an episode.
I saw a lot and was around yesterday, and somehow forgot to show up.
"American Horror Story," season three (half-ish done)
"BoJack Horseman," season one: still funny. I have just a couple of episodes left. I'm still impressed that such an absurd show can have so much to say, and the relationships are surprisingly deep.
"Arrested Development" again. Almost done. I really am pleased with the quality of the most recent season, if not the format. Part of what I loved about it was seeing each character stumble through life in each episode. I typically like theme episodes in dramas, but in this show I guess I just wanted chaos.
"Comedy Bang Bang" is hilarious.
I still love the music and direction of Conan the Barbarian as much as I did twenty years ago.
Resident Evil: Extinction. I should not have trouble remembering scenes and characters this much just weeks after watching a movie, undistracted. This was really, really hollow. The effects were great but no care was given to character or plot. It exists solely to take us from one stop to another, which doesn't surprise me, but you can still tell a good story in there. The villain was the most laughably eeeeeeevil I've seen since Avatar. Even for a zombie movie, the bad guy was too simplistic.
No one seems to do well at writing a good evil character. If there's a fly, gotta pull the wings off.
A good evil character? Here's one!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhfuuKiTcYQ
If you had posted Dr. Lizardo, I would have allowed it.
oooh. Missed opportunity on my part.
bS - I'm with you there. Rickman is pretty good.
Don't forget his Hans Gruber.
That's my favorite bad guy, right there.
I watched Dredd two nights ago. It was pretty good, not deep or anything, but efficient sci-fi action that never let up and I can't think of anything that really bothered me about it.
I'd watch sequels.
I think Cheaptoy recommended it? Whoever it was, thanks.
I fell asleep last night watching Skyfall. I don't know if I've ever watched a Bond movie I enjoyed, but this wasn't the movie's fault. I was tired and should have just gone to bed. The opening scene was cool and so was the title sequence.
I don't think I've seen anything else from Craig's Bond. Can I just jump in here or should I start with something else?
Speaking of Sequels, Netflix has parts 2 for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and How to Train Your Dragon, but not parts 1, which I haven't seen. I probably need to watch parts 1, right?
Yep, I recommended Dredd. This also gives me another chance to post this:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZrsJsvL30g
I haven't actually seen any Bond movies other than Brosnan or Craig, and I think my memory of Goldeneye is maybe a little skewed by the N64 game. I feel mostly like Casino Royale is really the only Bond movie I'd ever really need.
Casino Royale is great, and easily the best Bond film of the ten or so I've seen.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is definitely worth seeing.
I ran across The Man With the Iron Fists last night. I made it through about 10 minutes. Oy.
I can't believe nobody here has ever mentioned Magic Movie Moments Mit Me, Dr. Freud.
On Sunday, for breakfast movie we watched The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. Nice to watch something positive.
Best scene:
Been quite a while, but I remember enjoying that film
I'm kind of late to this party, but I am had jot my thoughts down about a show called "Man Seeking Woman". Its on FXX Wednesday nights following "Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (that show is still on!). Anyway, its a show about a guy trying to figure out his dating life. Kind of a yawner of a premise. Its only been done 10,000 times. But, where it differs is that its snaps between real life and fantasy life regularly.
Its sometimes funny, then flips to bizarre the next second. Its not the best show, but it is certainly interesting television. Its about 3 or 4 episodes in, if you like your entertainment on the surreal side, check this one out.