I've been watching all the Marvel movies this month for some reason. You?
117 thoughts on “Movie Day”
Hasn't been a big movie month for me so far, but I'm itching to get out and see Rouge One soon. Mostly started watching some December staples.
... Not sure why my original moniker came up there.
I watched a bunch of stuff over the weekend.
* Linds and I went to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I really liked it. While I do love the later Harry Potter movies, they do lose a bit of the awe and wonder of the first few. This movie had it. The beasts are beautiful, and I liked all the actors. They seemed to do a few more whip pans that I'm accustomed to, and every time they did it, they would blur everything, and my eyes would have a hard time adjusting afterwards. Still, it was very pretty and fun.
* I watched Rumble In Hong Kong with a friend. Notable for being one of the very few movies where Jackie Chan is a villain. He has this enormous mole on his face for some reason. It's horrible, and during one juncture, they stop the meager action entirely so that the protagonists can sit around and discuss all the awful magazines and violent movies that are destroying civilization. The scene just drags on and on, and then it moves on like nothing ever happened. Then later, the primary protagonist is locked in a room for a while, and they follow someone else while she talks with people. Just really weird, and boring and badly done. I laughed a lot.
* The Babadook. I sort of thought I'd like this a little more than I did. It's effective and moving, but the second half (once the stuff starts getting real) sort of undoes a little of what I liked about the first half.
I did really like the way the characters flip, though. For the first half of the movie, you're seeing everything through the mother's eyes and how her kid is putting her through all these things, then you start to see things from the kid's perspective. Also, I did like the ending, though I came very close to intentionally spoiling it halfway through so that I could find out whether or not she actually kills the kid - if that had happened,it would've been a gut punch that would've soured my opinion on the movie considerably.
* Wet Hot American Summer. Supremely stupid and hilarious. If a joke doesn't land, wait five seconds. Another one will.
* Spy Hard. Supremely stupid and not funny (I knew this already, since I'd seen it as a kid). If a joke doesn't land, wait five seconds. They'll try and fail again. There are very brief moments when Leslie Nielsen's comedic timing fixes a joke that doesn't work, but they are, indeed, rare.
* Black Mirror. Watched White Bear and The Waldo Moment. "White Bear" is a near constant gut punch, and "The Waldo Moment" is hilarious in retrospect (made even funnier by the fact that it was roundly criticized at the time for being sort of overly obviously unrealistic.
"The Waldo Moment" is one that has kind of faded into the background for me. I think I wanted more from it than we got. A different ending, perhaps?
Spot on re: "White Bear".
That was a nasty trick they played, because for us the protagonist is this poor woman, whereas for the society she is a monster. Really gets you siding with the "victim." This one has sooooo much to unpack.
RE: Waldo, I think you're probably right about the different ending, and there are no emotional stakes to the episode (he burns the one bridge with a lot of time left in the episode, and there's nothing else to make you care about any of them).
RE:White Bear, yeah....yeah. I've thought about it (especially the ending) a lot in the past couple of days, and i really don't know how i feel.
I just thought of this now, but maybe what would have been effective there is if, as the Waldo character were causing worldwide ruin, the protagonist had been able to reestablish that bridge and have a personal happy ending... you know, the contrast between the personal happy and political disastrous? I think that could have made it a bigger winner.
Ohoho, do you remember which show you're talking about?
Honestly, to this point, that is the biggest failing of the show. The worst case scenario (sometimes, as in "White Bear", or in my favorite episode "Ten Million Merits", an even worse scenario than the viewer thought possible) is pretty much what always happens. It honestly makes it harder to care for the characters when they are specifically going to be put through the worst possible wringer with no followup to lighten the blow at all.
This is something that Season 3 improves upon. Doesn't outright fix, but it certainly improves. Well, some of the episodes.
co-sign on Fantastic Beasts. Lots of awe and wonder, interesting lead characters. The role of the president could have had more depth in it, but that's a quibble.
Speaking of Harry Potter . . . I did a movie night with both boys for the first time when Mr. NaCl was out of town on a recent Friday night. We watched the first Harry Potter and although the peperoncino needed to sit on my lap, he wasn't overly scared by anything. They started to lose interest with 20 minutes to go, but they finished it the next night. (They're clearly not drawn in by plot at this age . . . it's all about whether there's something interesting to look at at any given moment, particularly for the 3-year-old.)
It was fun enough to rewatch (I hadn't seen it since it was released in the theater) and it was a nice change of pace from the usual evening wrestling match at my house.
Those movies do have quite a bit of rewatchability. I have found myself drawn to the occasional marathon on ABC Family.
While I do love the later Harry Potter movies, they do lose a bit of the awe and wonder of the first few
My main problem with the early ones is that they don't have the awe and wonder of the books, and they feel like tedious technical works that deaden the entire world that's been built. I found more awe and wonder in the dark ones, by far.
Also, on Wet Hot American Summer - man, that movie goes to great lengths. Sometimes you laugh because the joke is funny, and other times you laugh at the ludicrous conceit of a joke. David Wain also made They Came Together, a movie that's more mainstream-friendly but has essentially the same blueprint.
The funny thing about the first movie is that each character's first appearance is obviously set up for maximum effect, allowing those who have read the books to gasp with delight as they see the character "in the flesh" for the first time. Since my boys don't really know the books (yet), those moments had absolutely no effect on them whatsoever.
Aaaactually, the boy hasn't seen any of the movies yet, and I was thinking that reading the series together would be a good way to foster reading enjoyment. I've been wondering when a good time to start that would be.
I read the jalapeno the first book a little at a time at bedtime when he was 5, but although we got all the way to the end, we took some breaks along the way and I don't think he retained much. That said, YMMV.
Yeah, I'm not worried about age-appropriateness or comprehension, basically just worried about retention.
I can tell you that he will absolutely retain the joy of his dad reading to him.
Well, yeah, we already read to him a bunch. I'm just saying enough retention of the story to be engaged with it. I think it's a great series for kids to grow up with (the later books are definitely meatier and darker), but I don't what to start it too early.
Black Mirror - Finished up the series a couple nights ago. The last episode - "Hated In The Nation" - was probably my favorite. It could easily have been puffed out into a full film. "Shut Up And Dance" and "San Junipero" were also done really well, so 3 of the last 4 episodes were among my favorites. I appreciate so many of the criticisms that show makes, and I'd love to get a discussion group together or something for them, particularly because they often seem like jumping off points, not just statements.
Curse Of The Jade Scorpion - I adore Woody Allen's writing. I remembered really liking this one in early college. It doesn't hold up as well as I hoped, but a lot of the trademark wit is there. Allen as romantic lead fails, of course. Not the first of his I'd recommend, but I still like it fine. Makes me want to watch Midnight In Paris again.
A Holiday Affair - This one has gotten some play in our inter-generational household lately. Not all bad for a holiday movie, and if you need some variety in your Christmas selection, it could be worth a look. Not great, but acceptable.
Star Trek: TNG - Been watching a fair amount of this lately. I've been enjoying Season 7 more than I was thinking I was going to. I know a lot of the episodes aren't truly original, and are just different riffs on prior episodes, but I think a lot of the time these ones were the better versions.
Re: ST:TNG... I always enjoy watching this:
now a lot of the episodes aren't truly original, and are just different riffs on prior episodes
I think this sentence was for me 😀
I mean, you were necessarily part of the audience for TNG references, yes. But it was something I've made special note of on recent viewings too.
Just saying that on my blog I mentioned the unoriginal plots in Season 7 about 47 times, and you told me about 47 times that you liked the episodes better anyway. Glad neither of us has changed our opinion since then!
That is, admittedly, pretty funny.
I love TNG I am happy BBC America plays that show often, and in marathon form. Its probably the only reason I haven't ditched Netflix because I put that on and fall asleep to it. I wonder if they would reboot the franchise and make movies again (do the retcon thing JJ Abrams did for the original series)
I hope they do reboot it, and I hope they tap me for the ideas. I have thoughts, and I know I've discussed them with some of the other folks around here at other times. Hey, Star Trek people... read this and call me!
Saw rogue one, Manchester by the sea, moonlight, and watched all of insecure. Rogue one was fun, and we'll likely see t again with the family over the holidays. Manchester and moonlight are both very difficult to watch movies. Insecure was terrific through and through. Highly recommended by 🍖
I got finished on "Jessica Jones" and started "Luke Cage" The music in LC is fantastic.
I watched episode 1 of Luke Cage (I'm looking for something new EAR can join me on, because otherwise she can pick things like Lifetime Christmas movies.)
Will I need to have watched Jessica Jones to follow much of it?
No, but it won't hurt. There are some character relationships that are established in Jessica Jones that make Luke Cage a little more effective, but nothing essential.
It's almost like they could use the comic book convention of editors notes indicated previous issues, and leave it at that.
Also, Jessica Jones is much better.
I maintain that first-half Luke Cage is the best Marvel on Netflix so far. But that second half... ugh.
Haven't seen it, but I've heard this from several people.
But is the first half better than family feud?
Get LOST.
Meh, I'll pass.
Is that the show where they smoke monster bowls, or something?
The biggest thing I watched was Westworld which I thoroughly enjoyed.
After I finished up that one, I finally got back to watching It's Always Sunny. Other than that, not much else, although I'm hoping to get out to see Rogue One on Friday morning.
West World kinda blew my mind. Co-sign on the thoroughly enjoyed.
We're saving Rogue One, probably for Christmas Day. Runner daughter (& boyfriend) and I saw Arrival. While it was an entertaining movie (almost an indy feel to it), Runner daughter thought the opening monologue gave too much away. I thought the military were played overly-dumb
The discussions get even more interesting if you consider that in the story, from what I've read, her daughter dies from a fall on a mountain. Something which the mother has the potential to (try to) prevent.
The Last King (Birkebeinerne). On Netflix, Norwegian with subtitles. A cool historical-action film, I told my father-in-law it's a "swords-and-sandals epic on skis", though "epic" overstates. The fight/chase scenes were novel due to the mountainous and snowy setting. I feel like I got some Norwegian culture out of it, much like I feel I learn something new about China or Korea or Indonesia from most of the historical martial-arts movies I watch. Something to tide me over while I wait for the new episodes of Vikings to make it to Hulu, it happens about 350 years later. Not as violent or character-driven as Vikings, but it has a historical story to tell, and succeeds in that. I recommend it.
EAR and I actually went to the theater and saw Doctor Strange... in 3D at that. Date night, paying the eldest to be sitter.
I hadn't before taken in a modern 3D movie, it was much more enjoyable than I had expected. Maybe I should give them more chance (except for the cost).
I liked the movie more than the 3D, as well.
I think we'll try to find a way to see the new Star Wars.
Hey! Only Yickit (who's he?) managed to misspell it as "Rouge One". Don't see that one unless you want a documentary about the cosmetics industry.
It's a prequel to Moulin Rouge.
Or Red Dawn, with subtitles.
That was intentional AMR.
"Yickit" or "Rouge"?
I believe 95% of fb mentions of it have been misspelled.
The rouge part. I have no idea why a yickit popped up.
Anyone here watch The Man In The High Castle? I ended up with a Prime trial for shipping purposes, and I'd been meaning to watch that once upon a time, so... should I try to squeeze it in before I cancel Prime?
I'm intrested in watching it, but have not started yet. We've been seeing trailers for it before episodes of The Grand Tour.
I saw the pilot and voted for it during Pilot Season. I'm glad it got made in to a full series, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
Only movie I've seen since last we met was Into The Woods. Pleasant, though a bit slow. I heard they chopped some key stuff from the play that makes it more satisfying of a script.
mid-way through Season 6 of The Office. Definitely a drop off from season 3, though still enjoying it. I wish there was more character growth. With the exception of Pam, pretty much everyone is the same person they were in season 2.
Finally saw Spotlight, and it was excellent. Also, finally saw the new Ghostbusters, and it was also much better than the backlash had prepared me for.
Did anyone else watch Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency on BBC America? I have no idea why I started watching, but it has some genuinely funny moments. I'm not much of a sci-fi guy, but it kept me entertained.
I would like to see Dirk Gently. I've enjoyed all the different adaptations of HGTG that I've encountered (except THAT FUCKING VIDEOGAME!)
Frustrated by babel fish puzzles are you?
I watched the DGHDA series. I enjoyed the books, on which it was (very loosely) based. Unfortunately the series was an episode or two too long -- seemed like there was too much reprisals and the endgame was visible quite a ways before it eventually wrapped. Have to say the Rowdy "3" were my favorites. Was cool to see that Bart's actress Fiona Dourif is Brad Dourif's daughter.
Trying to watch Once Upon A Time as a family on actual network TV. At this point the arbitrary rules of magic are starting to wear thin for me. Fortunately/Unfortunately the season is on break until March. (March?! Is this weird? I don't watch many shows on the antenna TV.)
Started watching the second season of Flash. As a family we don't seem as enthused about it. I think the arbitrary rules of magic science are starting to wear thin for me.
Muppet Christmas Carol with the little girls. Seven-year-old doesn't like ghost stories.
The Santa Clause.
I'm still on Bob's Burgers as my laundry folding show. (Roughly one show per basket.) Still enjoying the unabashed juvenility and silliness. At times I think I want to show my wife one of the hilarious sequences, but not sure she'd be able to read between the poop jokes. I'll need another such show eventually. Bojack Horseman?
I folded laundry to the first season of Fargo last night.
On that topic, I'm only about halfway through the season, but
Do you ever get pedantic about "cement" vs "concrete"?
Kind of-ish? I will swap in "mixer truck" when reading aloud (the peperoncino has been in a truck phase* for ages) if I suspect the book has the wrong name for the concrete mixer and in the moment I suddenly can't remember which is the right term.
*I love Tana Hoban's Construction Zone--such a classic!--but she uses some odd terms for trucks. The excavator is given the name "crawler backhoe" which probably isn't wrong, but I always change that one to excavator.
phase
Gibbous.
Oh, oops, wrong phase. Carry on.
We would have preferred: Oh, oops, wrong phase. Wax on.
I do not know what it's called while it's still liquid (to say nothing of what the vehicle that keeps it liquid should be called).
I know that concrete is the solid final product, which is made by mixing cement with some common household* ingredients.
*What? You don't have sacks of gravel in your crawlspace?
Is wet concrete properly a "liquid"?
We need a chemist to make a call.
No, we need a telephone to make a call.
No, we need an umpire.
Who's on first?
Wet concrete is properly called a slurry.
You needed a linguist, not a chemist.
Is Fargo streamable anywhere? I haven't been able to track it down.
Since its an FX show, I would try Hulu or the FOX on demand service that comes with a cable subscription.
Also available on Amazon Video for $15 for each of the first two seasons. I assume iTunes has a similar deal.
the actor who plays Flash just seems...annoying. I couldn't get into it.
Rick & Morty!
"BoJack Horseman" is very, very good. I've plowed through every season shortly after they've gone up. It's very funny and surprisingly moving. If a comedy about a man whose life is spinning out of control and he can't stop it despite good intentions sounds like your bag, accept no substitutes.
the Mrs. has been binging on This Is Us lately. I've caught partial episodes with her. Seems very well done.
This is probably our favorite network TV show right now. Very well done, I think the acting actually outpaces the writing. Out other favorite network show is Life in Pieces. Very funny and a unique sitcom structure with each episode divided into 4 discreet yet related vignettes.
I gave up on Mad Men. Watched the first episode of Rectify and really was sucked in.
Took 2 of the kids to Doctor Strange. They really liked it. I thought it was ok. Good effects.
Going to Rogue One this week.
Could not recommend Rectify highly enough. Truly one of the finest shows in television history. Like a Southern Gothic novel, it takes its time to get where its going (many will find it too slow and bail--their loss), but my gosh the places it will take your heart and mind. I typically don't get teary at fictional work, but I can't count the times I was reduced to ugly face bawling during it's 4 season run. Just a beautifully realized story with a phenomenal cast.
Then again, I also loved Mad Men, so YMMV.
Why don't I know Rectify?!
I loved Mad Men too, though it was slow going.
For starters, it was on the Sundance Channel. So, despite some critical hosannas, an audience didn't materialize. Yet. I think this series is ripe for a much wider discovery.
We're part way through season six of Parks and Recreation. It's good. Tough to know the end is near.
Watched Rogue One last night. Overall good. Had a very different feel than the other movies.
Some weirdness with cameos of characters from A New Hope. The actor that played Grand Moff Tarkin died in 1994 but there he was. Fooled me, but it's less an Uncanny Valley for me and more of an Uncanny Depression. Knowing that it was entirely CG does make me wonder more about the scenes. They were largely forgettable and now I know why.
Vader was in two scenes. The first was unnecessary. The second was okay. He seemed unusually aggressive considering all subsequent movies Vader takes a far more patient approach to getting what he wants.
Finally, Leia makes an appearance in the closing seconds. She was hinted at earlier and I thought that was enough. But no, have to beat us over the head with the linkage between Rogue One to A New Hope.
C-3PO and R2-D2 also make a quick appearance. Could have done without the joke but whatever. Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan also make a very brief appearance. This one I didn't mind although, thinking about it more, extremely fortunate they manage to escape so quickly before Jedha is destroyed.
I took the family to Rogue One last night and enjoyed it.
I agree with Sean that this one had a different feel to it. Primarily due to the lack of Jedis and The Force in this one. Definitely more focus on the War in Star Wars.
I agree that the scene with Leia was a little overkill but I will say that when they hinted at her participation earlier in the movie, my 10 y.o. son leaned over and told me he hadn't realized they were talking about Leia the first to me he had seen it last Friday. It may have been needed for some age groups.
we've got Christmas Day reservations
I've got tomorrow morning reservations, meself.
"Do you have reservations?" "Yes, but we decided to come anyway."
Im slowly catching up on a year's worth of movies
Finally saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Good action movie, but it seems like a remix of the 1970s original Star Wars. Star Trek Beyond I liked it a lot more than Into Darkness (a low bar to clear) and I hope Simon Pegg continues to write for the movies. I wonder how they will replace Chekov... XMen Apocalypse I sort of liked it. I like the XMen universe and its characters and all that, but the Big Bad in the film seems like he should have never been defeated because he is built up to be a BIG BAD and I could not get over that.
Somehow, my favorite part of Star Trek Beyond was the Beastie Boys bit.
That was my least favorite part (though the majority of opinions I've heard so far are on your side). As they were queuing it up in the movie, I knew it was going to be something in that vein. Didn't call the song (though I know the callback), but I knew it was going to be something circa 1990-2010, and was guessing it was going to be far too pandering.
I only recently saw Beyond, and probably need to watch it again to form a full opinion (lots going on, and I was also focusing on other things while watching it). Honestly, I didn't mind ST:ID that much. Glaaaaring plot holes (I'm reminded of bS' comment), some of the clunkiest exposition I've ever seen ("Bones, what are you doing with that tribble?"), and the exceedingly pointless
At the suggestion of some much younger co-workers, I've binge-watched some comedies of late.
Silicon Valley: I didn't realize this was a Mike Judge joint or I probably would've jumped in sooner. A true laugh out loud comedy. (Dinesh's description of the company logo still reduces me to giggling.)
Atlanta: Donald Glover leads a fine cast in this inconsistent GA dramedy. When it hits, it goes long. When it misses, well, they're up there taking their hacks. Will definitely see what they've got up their sleeves in season 2.
Search Party: Super dark comedy about 4 self-absorbed 20-somethings who try and solve the mystery of a missing former classmate. Some weird tonal shifts throughout its run, but lots of laughs as well. Alia Shawkat (Maebe from Arrested Development) is terrific in the lead role.
You're the Worst season 1: In which an 'orrible bloke meets a spiteful girl. Mean-spirited and more than a little dirty. I'm in. Looking forward to seasons 2 and 3.
I watched the first season of Silicon Valley and really enjoyed it, but for some reason never got around to watching the rest. Might have to give it another shot.
You're the Worst is one of my favorite things on TV. Season 2 does some really impressive stuff.
I really need to watch Search Party.
I just want to remind all Citizens of their duty to watch Superior Donuts when it debuts in a month or so. Nobody wants the Boy to have to move back home....
My wife and I are three episodes into The O.A.
Don't let anyone tell you it's like Stranger Things ... it ain't that by a far piece, beyond falling under the loose, "Sci-fi" header & tenuous "missing person" theme. But compelling/interesting material, Brit Marling's pretty amazing (acting/creating & the first I've seen of Hershel in a few years; looking forward to the remaining episodes.
I'm about halfway into Top of the Lake.
A short BBC detective series in the best sense.
I think this is the first TV or Movie I've ever seen set in New Zealand (though I've seen much filmed there). It's set in the south part of South Island, which seems to be halfway between the Wales of Hinterlands and Alaska.
So of course I'd like to move there.
I didn't watch Mad Men, but the lead actress apparently had a big role in that as well.
Took the 13 y.o. to La La Land. Not my usual type of movie but was well done and entertaining. Stone and Gosling are just so likeable.
The 13 y.o. loved it.
With the wife's injury and my illness, and the network and cable channels offering little of interest at the moment, we've been watching a lot of Netflix in bed lately:
The Crown - So well done, remarkable production values, great cast and performances. I'm a big fan of historical dramas. Season one covers Elizabeth's early years, her father's assumption of the throne, her marriage and coronation, but season two is set up for the confrontation with Nasser and the Suez Crisis.
Easy - All kinds of people in Chicago reach out for connections, mostly of the physical kind. I'm impressed with the writing, there's some really good dialogue in this show (the episode with Marc Maron is a prime example). I expect next season they'll do more overlapping of the different characters' lives.
Shameless - Pretty late to this party since it's already six seasons deep and we're only 4 episodes in, but I'm hooked. Funny, quirky, outrageous, but also human and real. William H. Macy won a SAG award for his role as the alcoholic dad and I'd say it was earned. It aint' Ozzie and Harriet, but that's kind of the point.
I've also got a German movie called Look Who's Back in the queue to watch with Younger Daughter. It's about Adolph Hitler suddenly reappearing in modern day Berlin, sort of a Rumpelstiltskin story with Hitler as the guy who wakes up after 70 years.
D'oh! That would be Rip Van Winkle, not Rumpelstiltskin.
Saw the Makeup Movie (awesome) and LaLa Land (very entertaining, and I liked the ending, contra the opinions of most in my party) this past few days.
Re-watched The Usual Suspects. Gotta say, didn't really hold up for me.
Kaiser Salsa is my favorite at Moe's Southwest Grill fwiw
I think that is true of any twist ending.
Well, it depends. I still really enjoy Wild Things, which has 8 twist endings. I think if you really liked the movie before the twist happened, then it probably will hold up. I honestly remember very little about The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense apart from the twist endings, so I imagine I wouldn't like them very much a second go round.
The Sting has one of the most famous twist endings and it's still a remarkable film.
I factored that in as well, but there's a lot of other aspects that caused it lose points on the second go around.
Hasn't been a big movie month for me so far, but I'm itching to get out and see Rouge One soon. Mostly started watching some December staples.
... Not sure why my original moniker came up there.
I watched a bunch of stuff over the weekend.
* Linds and I went to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I really liked it. While I do love the later Harry Potter movies, they do lose a bit of the awe and wonder of the first few. This movie had it. The beasts are beautiful, and I liked all the actors. They seemed to do a few more whip pans that I'm accustomed to, and every time they did it, they would blur everything, and my eyes would have a hard time adjusting afterwards. Still, it was very pretty and fun.
* I watched Rumble In Hong Kong with a friend. Notable for being one of the very few movies where Jackie Chan is a villain. He has this enormous mole on his face for some reason. It's horrible, and during one juncture, they stop the meager action entirely so that the protagonists can sit around and discuss all the awful magazines and violent movies that are destroying civilization. The scene just drags on and on, and then it moves on like nothing ever happened. Then later, the primary protagonist is locked in a room for a while, and they follow someone else while she talks with people. Just really weird, and boring and badly done. I laughed a lot.
* The Babadook. I sort of thought I'd like this a little more than I did. It's effective and moving, but the second half (once the stuff starts getting real) sort of undoes a little of what I liked about the first half.
* Wet Hot American Summer. Supremely stupid and hilarious. If a joke doesn't land, wait five seconds. Another one will.
* Spy Hard. Supremely stupid and not funny (I knew this already, since I'd seen it as a kid). If a joke doesn't land, wait five seconds. They'll try and fail again. There are very brief moments when Leslie Nielsen's comedic timing fixes a joke that doesn't work, but they are, indeed, rare.
* Black Mirror. Watched White Bear and The Waldo Moment. "White Bear" is a near constant gut punch, and "The Waldo Moment" is hilarious in retrospect (made even funnier by the fact that it was roundly criticized at the time for being sort of overly obviously unrealistic.
"The Waldo Moment" is one that has kind of faded into the background for me. I think I wanted more from it than we got. A different ending, perhaps?
Spot on re: "White Bear".
RE: Waldo, I think you're probably right about the different ending, and there are no emotional stakes to the episode (he burns the one bridge with a lot of time left in the episode, and there's nothing else to make you care about any of them).
RE:White Bear, yeah....yeah. I've thought about it (especially the ending) a lot in the past couple of days, and i really don't know how i feel.
This is something that Season 3 improves upon. Doesn't outright fix, but it certainly improves. Well, some of the episodes.
co-sign on Fantastic Beasts. Lots of awe and wonder, interesting lead characters. The role of the president could have had more depth in it, but that's a quibble.
Speaking of Harry Potter . . . I did a movie night with both boys for the first time when Mr. NaCl was out of town on a recent Friday night. We watched the first Harry Potter and although the peperoncino needed to sit on my lap, he wasn't overly scared by anything. They started to lose interest with 20 minutes to go, but they finished it the next night. (They're clearly not drawn in by plot at this age . . . it's all about whether there's something interesting to look at at any given moment, particularly for the 3-year-old.)
It was fun enough to rewatch (I hadn't seen it since it was released in the theater) and it was a nice change of pace from the usual evening wrestling match at my house.
Those movies do have quite a bit of rewatchability. I have found myself drawn to the occasional marathon on ABC Family.
While I do love the later Harry Potter movies, they do lose a bit of the awe and wonder of the first few
My main problem with the early ones is that they don't have the awe and wonder of the books, and they feel like tedious technical works that deaden the entire world that's been built. I found more awe and wonder in the dark ones, by far.
Also, on Wet Hot American Summer - man, that movie goes to great lengths. Sometimes you laugh because the joke is funny, and other times you laugh at the ludicrous conceit of a joke. David Wain also made They Came Together, a movie that's more mainstream-friendly but has essentially the same blueprint.
The funny thing about the first movie is that each character's first appearance is obviously set up for maximum effect, allowing those who have read the books to gasp with delight as they see the character "in the flesh" for the first time. Since my boys don't really know the books (yet), those moments had absolutely no effect on them whatsoever.
Aaaactually, the boy hasn't seen any of the movies yet, and I was thinking that reading the series together would be a good way to foster reading enjoyment. I've been wondering when a good time to start that would be.
I read the jalapeno the first book a little at a time at bedtime when he was 5, but although we got all the way to the end, we took some breaks along the way and I don't think he retained much. That said, YMMV.
Yeah, I'm not worried about age-appropriateness or comprehension, basically just worried about retention.
I can tell you that he will absolutely retain the joy of his dad reading to him.
Well, yeah, we already read to him a bunch. I'm just saying enough retention of the story to be engaged with it. I think it's a great series for kids to grow up with (the later books are definitely meatier and darker), but I don't what to start it too early.
Black Mirror - Finished up the series a couple nights ago. The last episode - "Hated In The Nation" - was probably my favorite. It could easily have been puffed out into a full film. "Shut Up And Dance" and "San Junipero" were also done really well, so 3 of the last 4 episodes were among my favorites. I appreciate so many of the criticisms that show makes, and I'd love to get a discussion group together or something for them, particularly because they often seem like jumping off points, not just statements.
Curse Of The Jade Scorpion - I adore Woody Allen's writing. I remembered really liking this one in early college. It doesn't hold up as well as I hoped, but a lot of the trademark wit is there. Allen as romantic lead fails, of course. Not the first of his I'd recommend, but I still like it fine. Makes me want to watch Midnight In Paris again.
A Holiday Affair - This one has gotten some play in our inter-generational household lately. Not all bad for a holiday movie, and if you need some variety in your Christmas selection, it could be worth a look. Not great, but acceptable.
Star Trek: TNG - Been watching a fair amount of this lately. I've been enjoying Season 7 more than I was thinking I was going to. I know a lot of the episodes aren't truly original, and are just different riffs on prior episodes, but I think a lot of the time these ones were the better versions.
Re: ST:TNG... I always enjoy watching this:
now a lot of the episodes aren't truly original, and are just different riffs on prior episodes
I think this sentence was for me 😀
I mean, you were necessarily part of the audience for TNG references, yes. But it was something I've made special note of on recent viewings too.
Just saying that on my blog I mentioned the unoriginal plots in Season 7 about 47 times, and you told me about 47 times that you liked the episodes better anyway. Glad neither of us has changed our opinion since then!
That is, admittedly, pretty funny.
I love TNG I am happy BBC America plays that show often, and in marathon form. Its probably the only reason I haven't ditched Netflix because I put that on and fall asleep to it. I wonder if they would reboot the franchise and make movies again (do the retcon thing JJ Abrams did for the original series)
I hope they do reboot it, and I hope they tap me for the ideas. I have thoughts, and I know I've discussed them with some of the other folks around here at other times. Hey, Star Trek people... read this and call me!
Saw rogue one, Manchester by the sea, moonlight, and watched all of insecure. Rogue one was fun, and we'll likely see t again with the family over the holidays. Manchester and moonlight are both very difficult to watch movies. Insecure was terrific through and through. Highly recommended by 🍖
I got finished on "Jessica Jones" and started "Luke Cage" The music in LC is fantastic.
I watched episode 1 of Luke Cage (I'm looking for something new EAR can join me on, because otherwise she can pick things like Lifetime Christmas movies.)
Will I need to have watched Jessica Jones to follow much of it?
No, but it won't hurt. There are some character relationships that are established in Jessica Jones that make Luke Cage a little more effective, but nothing essential.
It's almost like they could use the comic book convention of editors notes indicated previous issues, and leave it at that.
Also, Jessica Jones is much better.
I maintain that first-half Luke Cage is the best Marvel on Netflix so far. But that second half... ugh.
Haven't seen it, but I've heard this from several people.
But is the first half better than family feud?
Get LOST.
Meh, I'll pass.
Is that the show where they smoke monster bowls, or something?
derp.
The biggest thing I watched was Westworld which I thoroughly enjoyed.
After I finished up that one, I finally got back to watching It's Always Sunny. Other than that, not much else, although I'm hoping to get out to see Rogue One on Friday morning.
West World kinda blew my mind. Co-sign on the thoroughly enjoyed.
We're saving Rogue One, probably for Christmas Day. Runner daughter (& boyfriend) and I saw Arrival. While it was an entertaining movie (almost an indy feel to it), Runner daughter thought the opening monologue gave too much away. I thought the military were played overly-dumb
Arrival -- It was decent, a good discussion ensued afterward. Some interesting thoughts on if time is linear or not.
I re-watched Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story. I think it is goofy fun. Lots of spoofs of real life musicians and especially biopics of musicians.
I have two episodes left of Goliath on Amazon Prime. It's ok. Sometimes it wants to be shocking for shocking sake. I guess I'd recommend it.
Hoping to see La La Land and Rogue One these next couple of weeks.
The Last King (Birkebeinerne). On Netflix, Norwegian with subtitles. A cool historical-action film, I told my father-in-law it's a "swords-and-sandals epic on skis", though "epic" overstates. The fight/chase scenes were novel due to the mountainous and snowy setting. I feel like I got some Norwegian culture out of it, much like I feel I learn something new about China or Korea or Indonesia from most of the historical martial-arts movies I watch. Something to tide me over while I wait for the new episodes of Vikings to make it to Hulu, it happens about 350 years later. Not as violent or character-driven as Vikings, but it has a historical story to tell, and succeeds in that. I recommend it.
EAR and I actually went to the theater and saw Doctor Strange... in 3D at that. Date night, paying the eldest to be sitter.
I hadn't before taken in a modern 3D movie, it was much more enjoyable than I had expected. Maybe I should give them more chance (except for the cost).
I liked the movie more than the 3D, as well.
I think we'll try to find a way to see the new Star Wars.
Hey! Only Yickit (who's he?) managed to misspell it as "Rouge One". Don't see that one unless you want a documentary about the cosmetics industry.
It's a prequel to Moulin Rouge.
Or Red Dawn, with subtitles.
That was intentional AMR.
"Yickit" or "Rouge"?
I believe 95% of fb mentions of it have been misspelled.
The rouge part. I have no idea why a yickit popped up.
Anyone here watch The Man In The High Castle? I ended up with a Prime trial for shipping purposes, and I'd been meaning to watch that once upon a time, so... should I try to squeeze it in before I cancel Prime?
I'm intrested in watching it, but have not started yet. We've been seeing trailers for it before episodes of The Grand Tour.
I saw the pilot and voted for it during Pilot Season. I'm glad it got made in to a full series, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.
Only movie I've seen since last we met was Into The Woods. Pleasant, though a bit slow. I heard they chopped some key stuff from the play that makes it more satisfying of a script.
mid-way through Season 6 of The Office. Definitely a drop off from season 3, though still enjoying it. I wish there was more character growth. With the exception of Pam, pretty much everyone is the same person they were in season 2.
Finally saw Spotlight, and it was excellent. Also, finally saw the new Ghostbusters, and it was also much better than the backlash had prepared me for.
Did anyone else watch Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency on BBC America? I have no idea why I started watching, but it has some genuinely funny moments. I'm not much of a sci-fi guy, but it kept me entertained.
I would like to see Dirk Gently. I've enjoyed all the different adaptations of HGTG that I've encountered (except THAT FUCKING VIDEOGAME!)
Frustrated by babel fish puzzles are you?
I watched the DGHDA series. I enjoyed the books, on which it was (very loosely) based. Unfortunately the series was an episode or two too long -- seemed like there was too much reprisals and the endgame was visible quite a ways before it eventually wrapped. Have to say the Rowdy "3" were my favorites. Was cool to see that Bart's actress Fiona Dourif is Brad Dourif's daughter.
Trying to watch Once Upon A Time as a family on actual network TV. At this point the arbitrary rules of magic are starting to wear thin for me. Fortunately/Unfortunately the season is on break until March. (March?! Is this weird? I don't watch many shows on the antenna TV.)
Started watching the second season of Flash. As a family we don't seem as enthused about it. I think the arbitrary rules of
magicscience are starting to wear thin for me.Muppet Christmas Carol with the little girls. Seven-year-old doesn't like ghost stories.
The Santa Clause.
I'm still on Bob's Burgers as my laundry folding show. (Roughly one show per basket.) Still enjoying the unabashed juvenility and silliness. At times I think I want to show my wife one of the hilarious sequences, but not sure she'd be able to read between the poop jokes. I'll need another such show eventually. Bojack Horseman?
I folded laundry to the first season of Fargo last night.
On that topic, I'm only about halfway through the season, but
Is Fargo streamable anywhere? I haven't been able to track it down.
Don't think so. Work friend borrowed me the DVDs about a year ago. Finally getting around to it...
Ahem.
Thank you.
So, I clicked the link and then knew....
Dr. Chop says thanks too.
Do you ever get pedantic about "cement" vs "concrete"?
Kind of-ish? I will swap in "mixer truck" when reading aloud (the peperoncino has been in a truck phase* for ages) if I suspect the book has the wrong name for the concrete mixer and in the moment I suddenly can't remember which is the right term.
*I love Tana Hoban's Construction Zone--such a classic!--but she uses some odd terms for trucks. The excavator is given the name "crawler backhoe" which probably isn't wrong, but I always change that one to excavator.
Gibbous.
Oh, oops, wrong phase. Carry on.
We would have preferred:
Oh, oops, wrong phase. Wax on.
I do not know what it's called while it's still liquid (to say nothing of what the vehicle that keeps it liquid should be called).
I know that concrete is the solid final product, which is made by mixing cement with some common household* ingredients.
*What? You don't have sacks of gravel in your crawlspace?
Is wet concrete properly a "liquid"?
We need a chemist to make a call.
No, we need a telephone to make a call.
No, we need an umpire.
Who's on first?
Wet concrete is properly called a slurry.
You needed a linguist, not a chemist.
Since its an FX show, I would try Hulu or the FOX on demand service that comes with a cable subscription.
Also available on Amazon Video for $15 for each of the first two seasons. I assume iTunes has a similar deal.
the actor who plays Flash just seems...annoying. I couldn't get into it.
Rick & Morty!
"BoJack Horseman" is very, very good. I've plowed through every season shortly after they've gone up. It's very funny and surprisingly moving. If a comedy about a man whose life is spinning out of control and he can't stop it despite good intentions sounds like your bag, accept no substitutes.
the Mrs. has been binging on This Is Us lately. I've caught partial episodes with her. Seems very well done.
This is probably our favorite network TV show right now. Very well done, I think the acting actually outpaces the writing. Out other favorite network show is Life in Pieces. Very funny and a unique sitcom structure with each episode divided into 4 discreet yet related vignettes.
I gave up on Mad Men. Watched the first episode of Rectify and really was sucked in.
Took 2 of the kids to Doctor Strange. They really liked it. I thought it was ok. Good effects.
Going to Rogue One this week.
Could not recommend Rectify highly enough. Truly one of the finest shows in television history. Like a Southern Gothic novel, it takes its time to get where its going (many will find it too slow and bail--their loss), but my gosh the places it will take your heart and mind. I typically don't get teary at fictional work, but I can't count the times I was reduced to ugly face bawling during it's 4 season run. Just a beautifully realized story with a phenomenal cast.
Then again, I also loved Mad Men, so YMMV.
Why don't I know Rectify?!
I loved Mad Men too, though it was slow going.
For starters, it was on the Sundance Channel. So, despite some critical hosannas, an audience didn't materialize. Yet. I think this series is ripe for a much wider discovery.
We're part way through season six of Parks and Recreation. It's good. Tough to know the end is near.
Watched Rogue One last night. Overall good. Had a very different feel than the other movies.
I took the family to Rogue One last night and enjoyed it.
we've got Christmas Day reservations
I've got tomorrow morning reservations, meself.
"Do you have reservations?" "Yes, but we decided to come anyway."
Im slowly catching up on a year's worth of movies
Finally saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Good action movie, but it seems like a remix of the 1970s original Star Wars.
Star Trek Beyond I liked it a lot more than Into Darkness (a low bar to clear) and I hope Simon Pegg continues to write for the movies. I wonder how they will replace Chekov...
XMen Apocalypse I sort of liked it. I like the XMen universe and its characters and all that, but the Big Bad in the film seems like he should have never been defeated because he is built up to be a BIG BAD and I could not get over that.
Somehow, my favorite part of Star Trek Beyond was the Beastie Boys bit.
That was my least favorite part (though the majority of opinions I've heard so far are on your side). As they were queuing it up in the movie, I knew it was going to be something in that vein. Didn't call the song (though I know the callback), but I knew it was going to be something circa 1990-2010, and was guessing it was going to be far too pandering.
I only recently saw Beyond, and probably need to watch it again to form a full opinion (lots going on, and I was also focusing on other things while watching it). Honestly, I didn't mind ST:ID that much. Glaaaaring plot holes (I'm reminded of bS' comment), some of the clunkiest exposition I've ever seen ("Bones, what are you doing with that tribble?"), and the exceedingly pointless
at the end aside, it was kinda good.
Huh, maybe I didn't like it.
At the suggestion of some much younger co-workers, I've binge-watched some comedies of late.
Silicon Valley: I didn't realize this was a Mike Judge joint or I probably would've jumped in sooner. A true laugh out loud comedy. (Dinesh's description of the company logo still reduces me to giggling.)
Atlanta: Donald Glover leads a fine cast in this inconsistent GA dramedy. When it hits, it goes long. When it misses, well, they're up there taking their hacks. Will definitely see what they've got up their sleeves in season 2.
Search Party: Super dark comedy about 4 self-absorbed 20-somethings who try and solve the mystery of a missing former classmate. Some weird tonal shifts throughout its run, but lots of laughs as well. Alia Shawkat (Maebe from Arrested Development) is terrific in the lead role.
You're the Worst season 1: In which an 'orrible bloke meets a spiteful girl. Mean-spirited and more than a little dirty. I'm in. Looking forward to seasons 2 and 3.
I watched the first season of Silicon Valley and really enjoyed it, but for some reason never got around to watching the rest. Might have to give it another shot.
You're the Worst is one of my favorite things on TV. Season 2 does some really impressive stuff.
I really need to watch Search Party.
I just want to remind all Citizens of their duty to watch Superior Donuts when it debuts in a month or so. Nobody wants the Boy to have to move back home....
My wife and I are three episodes into The O.A.
Don't let anyone tell you it's like Stranger Things ... it ain't that by a far piece, beyond falling under the loose, "Sci-fi" header & tenuous "missing person" theme. But compelling/interesting material, Brit Marling's pretty amazing (acting/creating & the first I've seen of Hershel in a few years; looking forward to the remaining episodes.
I'm about halfway into Top of the Lake.
A short BBC detective series in the best sense.
I think this is the first TV or Movie I've ever seen set in New Zealand (though I've seen much filmed there). It's set in the south part of South Island, which seems to be halfway between the Wales of Hinterlands and Alaska.
So of course I'd like to move there.
I didn't watch Mad Men, but the lead actress apparently had a big role in that as well.
Took the 13 y.o. to La La Land. Not my usual type of movie but was well done and entertaining. Stone and Gosling are just so likeable.
The 13 y.o. loved it.
With the wife's injury and my illness, and the network and cable channels offering little of interest at the moment, we've been watching a lot of Netflix in bed lately:
The Crown - So well done, remarkable production values, great cast and performances. I'm a big fan of historical dramas. Season one covers Elizabeth's early years, her father's assumption of the throne, her marriage and coronation, but season two is set up for the confrontation with Nasser and the Suez Crisis.
Easy - All kinds of people in Chicago reach out for connections, mostly of the physical kind. I'm impressed with the writing, there's some really good dialogue in this show (the episode with Marc Maron is a prime example). I expect next season they'll do more overlapping of the different characters' lives.
Shameless - Pretty late to this party since it's already six seasons deep and we're only 4 episodes in, but I'm hooked. Funny, quirky, outrageous, but also human and real. William H. Macy won a SAG award for his role as the alcoholic dad and I'd say it was earned. It aint' Ozzie and Harriet, but that's kind of the point.
I've also got a German movie called Look Who's Back in the queue to watch with Younger Daughter. It's about Adolph Hitler suddenly reappearing in modern day Berlin, sort of a Rumpelstiltskin story with Hitler as the guy who wakes up after 70 years.
D'oh! That would be Rip Van Winkle, not Rumpelstiltskin.
Saw the Makeup Movie (awesome) and LaLa Land (very entertaining, and I liked the ending, contra the opinions of most in my party) this past few days.
Re-watched The Usual Suspects. Gotta say, didn't really hold up for me.
Kaiser Salsa is my favorite at Moe's Southwest Grill fwiw
I think that is true of any twist ending.
Well, it depends. I still really enjoy Wild Things, which has 8 twist endings. I think if you really liked the movie before the twist happened, then it probably will hold up. I honestly remember very little about The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense apart from the twist endings, so I imagine I wouldn't like them very much a second go round.
The Sting has one of the most famous twist endings and it's still a remarkable film.
I factored that in as well, but there's a lot of other aspects that caused it lose points on the second go around.