My latest trip to Marcus Theater was for The Lego Batman movie, which was hilarious. Otherwise, TV has been the order of the day when I've had the chance to waste time on a screen.
183 thoughts on “Movie Day”
Baby Driver is a lot of fun. It kind of reminded me of Drive, if Drive took itself way less seriously (don't get me wrong, one of the things I found charming about Drive was that it did take itself seriously, but this movie hits a much different, more enjoyable tone). Killer soundtrack that features quite heavily in the actual movie.
Jon Hamm lasts a beat or two too long. It gets to "bad horror movie from the 80s" levels.
The new episode of Game of Thrones was good as a table setter. It's just kind of nice to get back into that world, really.
Finally got through the first season of This Is Us. It's.....fine. As I predicted, it for the most part runs out of gas when there's no constant "surprise twist!" to fuel the narrative, and that finale was insanely weak.
The episode where Randall's dad dies is really good, though. I don't imagine this show will hit those heights again.
I really like This Is Us but I went into it thinking I'd hate it. Expectations were low.
I expected to hate it, as well. It has proven to be good enough to be added to my DVR, which is way better than I would've expected.
I finally got around to watching Oldboy (the original, Korean one from 2003). Its great, but man, it falls well into the "feel bad" category of films.
Like Nibbish said, it was great to jump back into the goings on in Westeros.
Other than that, man, I haven't watched much lately. I spend most of my alone time playing video games these days and haven't to the theater since GotG2 came out.
Oldboy has been on my Netflix list for literally the entire twelve(?) years I've had Netflix, and the knowledge that it's so devastating has kept me from catching it.
This. Haven't had it on the queue for quite as long, but it's been a looong time.
Its... yeah, I don't blame you.
I cold-watched the Spike Lee/Josh Brolin remake (I think with no knowledge it was a remake, and thus, no knowledge of potential devastation). I immediately sought out the original and was glad that I did. Well worth the watch and puts Lee's to shame.
Fortunately, I was warned that there were two versions and that the remake was generally crappy.
I would have appreciated a warning. I might give the original a shot to clean the "meh" taste from my mouth.
And here I keep forgetting there's a remake.
This is the first I'm hearing of it (at least since I watched the original).
New Spiderman was what Spiderman should be...the anti-Batman. No brooding here. You can tell they were thinking John Hughes when they made it. I'm not typically a LOL person, but I definitely caught myself a couple times, and the reveal at the ¾ mark did catch me -- good job.
GoT new season got the ball rolling. I did find that one of my plot problems from last season was even more exasperating this season:
When Euron vowed to build a thousand ships, I thought, "With what timber? Where are your shipyards and skilled workers? How many years is that going to take? Who's going to sail them -- I only see a couple dozen people? Then when he shows up with the ships outside of Kings Landing after only several months...wtf?
Twin Peaks new episodes are keeping my attention, although the Dougie thread is problematic (and primarily lame). Episode 8 is a landmark in experimental television.
Regarding your GoT spoiler. I was right there with you. It was so logistically impossible that it was actually distracting me from the scene, and I had to rewind it and watch again.
Cercei: <begins to say something, but is drowned out by the voice in my head saying "no, you don't, Euron, what you clearly have is a boat conjuring wand of some sort>
I wondered about that too. I assumed they raided the (entire) northern coasts and then worked 36 hour days.
This.
Also regarding the new season of GoT - I understand the need to set the stage, and with so few episodes remaining in the series, they don't have the luxury of spending an entire episode with just one or two subplots/characters.
That being said, with so few episodes remaining, this one felt almost superficial. The open blew me away, but mostly because I'd forgotten about Frey's demise. Daenerys' return to Dragonstone/Westeros was supposed to be compelling and powerful ... but it actually felt sort-of flat.
Yes. Completely agreed on your spoiler.
On your second point, I agree, but I think that was how it was meant to be.
I felt like they were finally starting to really tie things together and it's nice to have even some partial resolution after forking into so many subplots. At this point in the game, Cersei really looks short on resources, but so far she has always found a way to survive. The Jon Snow vs. Sansa tension is interesting given their perceived bloodlines, and since the end of S6 we've known that Jon Snow and Daenerys are really cousins, so I wonder if that ever comes to light or plays a role in some sort of cooperation against the White Walkers. Having Daenerys' return to Westeros be painless could be seen as a good way to keep from overegging the pudding--if everything is a struggle then each struggle seems a little more routine, but I agree to a point that it wasn't particularly interesting. I also found it somewhat interesting that the archmeister threw a bit of cold water on the question of "are the White Walkers going to kill everyone?" with his attitude that there have always been struggles for power outside the Citadel but everything goes on anyway. I'm not sure how much credibility he's supposed to have, but it could allude to that being more of the secondary plot to the struggle for the Iron Throne.
In a lot of ways, I think it's easier to spin off a story into a thousand different directions and add layers of detail, but it gets tricky when you start resolving the plotlines--that seems to be when people start to get irritated with the story because it's not playing out the way they saw it playing out.
It's certainly time to begin resolving the plotlines, no doubt.
I just can't think of another episode where all the different story arcs, and all the different locations & remaining characters received some screen time, but none of it beyond Arya's work seemed to move things forward. It just occurred to me that this episode would have served as a great final episode for last season, rather than the first of this season.
All that being said, you're right that they're going to have their hands full resolving the plotlines in satisfying ways. Your comment about Sam's conversation with the archmeister's is something I didn't consider RE: Pursuit of the Iron Throne > Defeat the White Walkers. Echoes of the Sansa & Jon Snow conversation.
Also, I neglected to mention that the scenes with the Hound and the Brotherhood were pretty fantastic; contemplative and revealing. I'm excited to see what they have planned for Beric, Thoros and the Hound.
I can see how the episode might feel that way. I wouldn't sell short the scenes with Cersei, though. We got more tension between Jamie and Cersei, which could be consequential, and the alliance with the usurper Greyjoys, which at least sets a stage for how the Lannisters could even think of defeating Daenerys' fleet. I actually wonder if it came down to it, if Jamie would support Tyrion over Cersei at this point. He seems more disturbed about their children dying than she did, and overall he is a lot less power hungry than his father or his sister, even his brother revels in the behind-the-scenes power while Jamie just seems to be more happy to do as he's told.
But yeah, this isn't exactly the sort of episode where you are going to actively want to re-watch it randomly rather than as part of the whole, as opposed to something like The Mountain and the Viper or the red wedding.
I think of the big characters left, he is one of the ones I would be the most dissapointed for if he ends up just dying for no good reason. I could certainly be ok with him not making it to the end of the series, since I just sort of assume a large number of those left are going to get gotten at some point, but I hope it's more than just a random, "oops, you got stabbed, now you're dead" thing.
Re getting got, I totes agree with you. When Omar got his reward I was satisfied, or ... ?, that his role had been played to the fullest. I'll be disappointed if the hound doesn't run the length of his arc.
that's fair, though i only mention it as several citizens have not watched it though expressed an interest to eventually.
Dido on Spiderboy. It was good fun.
Also saw The Big Sick. Funny, poignant. Holly Hunter was fantastic, Ray Romano excellent, Kumail Nanjiani was very good in the lead and Zoe Kazan was cute as a bug and very good as Emily. But what took this film over the top for me was Kumail's family. Every scene with his family was awesome.
Started Better Call Saul a bit ago. A few episodes into the 2nd season now. Agreed with others that the first season drags a bit, but they brought way more to the table than I was expecting for a prequel to BB. I think I praised him before, but Odenkirk has been fantastic in the role in a way that I'm guessing has even surprised him a little. If the 2nd and 3rd seasons are as good as everyone says they are, it sounds like I'm in for a treat.
Not sure why I've been stalled on this for so long; probably because the first season is slow, I guess. I'm five episodes in or so, and it's technically sound across the board, but it just hasn't jumped to the front of the line.
You are right around the dullest, slowest part of the entire series. Linds and I were never particularly close to abandoning it, but the middle of the first season was definitely the part where we thought "eh...I really hope it picks up"
I was also thinking around that point that I might not be able to keep going much longer, but it has now grown into one of my favorite current shows.
I'm with these fellas.
We're almost done with the first season of The Good Place. Better than the first season of Parks & Rec, and after a slow start gets progressively better as it goes on. I was skeptical about Kristen Bell, just because the first few episodes she doesn't really have her comedic timing down, but it definitely gets better. And I heart Ted Danson.
You're just the second person I've heard mention this show, but also the second to recommend it.
What's it on?
NBC, and we have OnDemand, so watching it on there. I wonder if the NBC website has it
Ah, NBC is the one network we don't get.
We have a very odd setup, where some regional group or somesuch purchases networks and then broadcasts them around the area. I don't quite understand it, but this is what I've been told. So I get FSN, and Fox and CBS and 5 different PBS channels, all over the air.
It's on Hulu too if you have that. J & I watched the first episode and plan on getting around to it at some point, just haven't had time lately.
I watched it on Hulu.
Started it when we finished Parks & Rec and I thought EAR could use a Schurr-penned replacement.
She had similar thoughts to Algonad.
I watched The Good Place. I'm on the fence with it. The side characters just aren't that interesting.
They definitely need to develop them better or add new compelling ones.
Finished The Good Place last night. I really enjoyed the ending, though
They're going to have to really change up the characters the second season to keep it interesting. I like Rashomon-style stuff, but over the course of a full season it's going to need a big shuffle.
Agreed.
With a lot of time in our hands, we saw Captain Underpants and Despicable Me 3 over the past two weeks. They were both right in line with what I expected.
Captain Underpants was silly and funny here and there, with a whole lot of toilets and farts. My 6-year-old laughed hysterically at least five times, which is also as expected considering how much he laughs at the books. I enjoyed it somewhat, but certainly not a movie I would seek out on my own.
I liked Despicable Me a lot more than Captain Underpants, which is also what I expected. It was funny, had much more of a plot, and was more in line with animated movies the adults will enjoy as well, rather than being a straight-up kids movie. Nothing spectacular, but does what it sets out to do.
On the non-kids front, I loved the first GoT episode. It seems like it definitely set things up for an exciting season. We also watched the first two episodes of The Night Of. I think I'll like it a lot once it gets going, but it is a little frustrating at the start, watching someone in the legal system doing dumb things.
Unfortunately, I think the first episode was so good that it set very high expectations for the rest of the season. It was still a good season but merely good instead of great.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
watching someone in the legal system doing dumb things
Which reminds me that I watched The Accountant. While I enjoyed it, I found his tax advice to a couple at the beginning of the movie confusing; if they are already losing money, why is their tax burden too great? They don't owe money in the first place. Also, I like that they approach autism in the film, but I'm not sure they do a good job of it. That said, similar to Keanu Reeves->John Wick, this is a character that Ben Affleck can play well.
Also watched The Accountant and also enjoyed it. Popcorn movie to be sure, but entertaining. The autism as a plot vehicle worked fine for me, but I don't interact with spectrum individuals, so I have no idea if the presentation was anywhere near accurate or handled appropriately. I don't recall an uproar from autism advocate groups, so perhaps?
I was very happy he didn't end up with the Anna Kendrick character. It was not a romance, don't try to make it one.
Agreed. Thankfully no Hollywood ending.
Runner daughter and I enjoyed the Captain Underpants books (almost 2 decades ago?!) so we might grab this from the library when it gets there and watch it for old times sake
Aquinas is reading them this summer and enjoying them.
And far too often acting out scenes. Oy.
In the showing we went to there was what appeared to be an adult son and his dad. They laughed a lot.
Six years since a four-episode binge when I lived in Los Angeles, I finally picked up "Mad Men" again and binged on...I want to say eight episodes in a day. I'm hoping it isn't another six years before I move on it again, because I really do love the painful dreariness of it all.
"Glow" on Netflix has been a ton of fun; it's a fictionalized account of the growth of an all-female wrestling company that did actually exist in the '80s. The acting has been mostly strong, with good comedy and some drama peppered throughout. It's by the same folks as Orange is the New Black, which is fairly evident, as there's a rich ensemble of female leads with wildly differing personalities. It doesn't seem to have OITNB's early issue with making nearly every male in the show come off as garbage, which is nice. It does, however, fall into the trap again of having the lead character be arguably the least dynamic and interesting. Luckily, Alison Brie has much more range than Taylor Schilling, so it comes off much better. I'm halfway through the ten episodes and I definitely hope we get more.
I went to The Lego Batman Movie and roared. The story was adequate, but the jokes were relentless. When the orphans are singing "Man in the Mirror" and we get a temporary closeup on them as they're doing MJ's "Sham-on!" bit, or however it would be typed, I was losing it completely.
As always, Sour Cream and I are watching Phineas and Ferb, and I'm also going through Arrested Development for about the sixth time or so. I've had Moonlight at home via Netflix for weeks, but I have to be in the right mood at the right time for something heavy like that, which is typically at night, and I've been working nights almost exclusively for a few weeks now.
OITNB still has that issue. It's not as bad as the first couple seasons; they've tried to develop a couple of complex male characters. But many more are still caricatures and it really detracts from some of the well-developed prisoners.
I haven't started GLOW yet, but looking forward to it.
I watched the first episode, and want to watch more, but so does Philosofette, so we have to coordinate that, which is tough with children who refuse to sleep.
Rick & Morty returns July 30th!
I see a lot of Rick & Morty bits on my FB feed. Cultish following on this one?
Everyone I know that's checked it out loves it. I've been meaning to get on the bandwagon, but I don't think it's offered through my regular methods of consumption.
It's pretty irreverent and scattered, but man is there a lot of deep thinking behind the story lines. Of course, they're borrowing from almost every Sci Fi idea out there, and there is a heaping helping of time/dimension travel to confound everyone. Still, this is just helping me through the long wait for the next Venture Bros season.
I watched Daddy's Home. It was as expected. Both Wahlberg and Ferrel crack me up so it was goid for a couple laughs.
I totally agree on Spiderman. Really fun.
Big Sick is on my list.
I just saw a preview for Atypical on Netflix. It stars the boy from United States of Tara as a teenager with Autism gong through dating, etc. Looks pretty good.
I watched The Sixth Sense with the 14 and 16 year olds. Both liked it. First time I'd seen it since it came out.
I'm through season 1 and 2 on Saul. It was a slow start but very good.
I just finished season 2 of Fargo. I enjoy it but don't consider it a must see.
Oh, I forgot about Fargo. We finished up season 3 recently. I didn't like it as much as the first two seasons, but still thought it was pretty great. I'd say season 1 was my favorite, followed by number 2 and then 3. But, still one of my favorites even with that decline.
I liked the first season of Fargo a lot, but I sure seemed to have a lot more issues with it than others.
I re-watched Fate of the Furious last night. It is the most uneven of the last batch of films, but the highs are some of the highest in the series, so the film ends up being pretty decent. I liked it more on a rewatch since I knew what bad dialogue I could just zone out through.
I feel like I've watched a ton of stuff but I just can't remember it all... Planning on seeing Spider-Man next week, and J & I are planning on going through G.L.O.W. at some point. And I'm stupid excited for Atomic Blonde.
I love the Furious franchise so, so much. I didn't love Fate as much as the few before, but it's still a fun, fun time.
Yeah, G.L.O.W. is on my list too.
I will watch anything Charlize Theron does - she's so good.
I agree. I wish the next Mad Max installment would get on track. Would love to see another Furiosa role.
I'll get this way with directors but certainly not actors. She did, after all, have her Aeon Flux.
I had to watch that on Netflix just because I was curious... the animated series was on MTV when my friends had it and I didn't.
Was it the same story?
Kinda, but Aeon Flux on Liquid Television was a beautiful, dark, gritty and above all SILENT drama. There was no dialogue, ever, although you got the idea of the plot.
I was very excited about the possibilities of the movie. Then in the first trailer I saw, someone immediately spoke, and I knew it would be shit with no regard for what made the toon so cool.
I remember the animation, but I guess I never watched enough to know that it was entirely word-free.
I put the movie alongside Ultraviolet - visually stunning crap that wasted quality actors' time.
So, I just found out that Will & Grace is getting 12 new episodes (possibly more). This show was THE show that my wife and I watched when we first got married. I am both excited and worried. Excited to see if the Karen and Jack chemistry is still there. Worried that it will fall flat in a whole new world.
I have been boycotting Game of Thrones until the damn books get done and I can read the story to it's end. Then I will watch the shows. I am losing my patience on the book side of things. Argghhh!
On GoT, I read the books, then watched up to the first couple episodes of the 3rd season. No particular reason to stop there, just got busy or something, but I've been reluctant to watch more episodes as I want to read the books first. You know, WHENEVER THEY COME OUT!!!
(Really hoping he's actually working on the last two at the same time and then releasing them on top of each other. Don't really see that happening though.)
Isn't Martin involved in another new show coming out? I don't think his word processor is seeing a whole lot of action...
But this is what it is, so I keep on juggling. WINDS OF WINTER, five successor shows, FIRE AND BLOOD (that's the GRRMarillion, remember?), four new Wild Cards books, some things I can't tell you about yet... it's a good thing I love my work.
Sounds like his word processor is getting a lot of work. That Winds of Winter file, however, may go a few days (weeks) between saves.
I was talking with my friend today, and he was vehement about his intentions to not watch the show past the fifth season because the books didn't go beyond them.
Maybe his children will be able to find out how the saga ends from the replacement writer.
I was once like that. I gave up though and got caught up. Brandon Sanderson isn't getting any younger.
Are you thinking Martin will die and Sanderson will have to finish this epic series too??
Nah, just making a joke because Sanderson has already done that once for a series that got out of hand in the length department.
I missed the comment ahead of yours
As I understand it, the "Fullmetal Alchemist" anime series got ahead of the manga, and they were written by different people, so they had to make things up that ended up very differently than the manga.
So a few years later, they did a new series, "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" that matched the manga. So both series start the same way.
Maybe GOT should have gone that way.
It still could! We'll never know for sure, but it still could.
Has anyone seen The Leftovers? That one seems up my alley and may check out.
Saw Dr. Strange. Had some fun concepts. Wonder Woman was decent. Might see Spiderman, since it has great reviews.
The Beguiled was ok, i guess It got fantastic reviews and some great film making, but the story was just kinda meh.
Definitely seeing A Ghost Story, when it finally gets here on Friday.
I was in the HBOGO menu about the start the first episode of The Leftovers, but scrolled past Silicon Valley and took a hard right instead. Still intend to go back to it.
My wife really enjoy(s/ed) The Leftovers. The few episodes I've watched with her were pretty good, but I think I'd have to watch from the beginning for it to really pull me in. Too much missed backstory to watch intermittently.
Yeah, it's definitely a show you really need to watch from the beginning. Even then it doesn't always make sense, so I can't imagine trying to watch it without seeing it all.
For a while I had roommates that loved to watch CSI Miami, Law and Order SVU, etc., and I think I actually enjoyed those shows more when I came home halfway through the episode--it was more fun trying to figure out what was happening that way. The Leftovers is definitely not like that--like you said, it's hard enough to follow as it is, but I have loved it. The first season more than the second season. Got started on the third season this week, curious to see where they go, but I liked the first episode. My wife won't watch it so it's harder to make progress.
I absolutely loved Leftovers, and can't recommend it ebough. By the end of the run it became one of my all-time favorite shows. It's definitely odd, and there were a lot of episodes that ended in confusion and my wife and I both just saying WTF? But, that's the kind of show I really enjoy. I hate it when I feel like I'm being spoon-fed obvious clues and answers.
I took two whacks at the left overs, and the second time it stuck. I'm half way through season 3 and it's paying off in unexpected ways.
Been watching a reshowing on PBS of Remember Me, a three-part drama/mystery starring Michael Palin as an octogenarian who witnesses a murder in an elderly home. I've only seen the first episode (of three), and the use of jump-edits and other shock techniques are throwing me off a bit.
Finished Netflix anime Ajin: Demi-Human that I wrote about here last month. I think the payoff's good. There was a big conclusion, but there's an opening for more*. I tried watching bits in English and the voices sucked. I'm really tied to the way the sounded in Japanese.
*Unlike Aldnoah: Zero and another mecha anime I watched that had clear endings with nowhere to go after the second season.
Started and finished the Netflix-available episodes and "movies" of the anime Little Witch Academia with my 5- and 7-year-olds (so in English). I love it. Something like a Harry Potter world where the witches aren't secret.
It's rated TV-Y7, but I had so skip past some bits for the little girls (as EAR was around). At times darker than what I would have expected for that rating... true peril of death and dismemberment, but everyone comes out OK in the end.
I've re-watched parts in Japanese, and I think the voice characterization is really close. There's apparently another 12 episode that have already aired in Japan.
The "movies" (one 25 minutes and one 50 minutes) are like pilots or drafts for the show, and I don't like them as much. The "mean girl" is actually cruel there, while I think in the series, she's just seen as cruel.
Special interest to me: one of the main characters' main interests is mushrooms.
I watched the first half of Norwegian movie "Cave" or "The Cave", suspense, possibly supernatural horror coming (though it hasn't yet)... nothing's happened.
It's a cheap film, kindof reminds me of "Blair Witch" but with the intent of cave exploration, not finding the truth about a witch story.
For some reason it started dubbed, and that was horrible, a bit laughably so, but I kept with it that long anyways. It wasn't worth going to the other TV to fix that (our Blu-Ray does not have audio track controls).
I doubt I'll go back to it.
I haven't yet gone back to Attack on Titan... as I've been saying for weeks: maybe tonight.
I watched "The Cave".
Really, nothing happens. Definitely nothing supernatural. Ends with a stupid cliffhanger, too.
So it's like what if Blair Witch ended 5 minutes earlier?
Anyone finish Black Mirror yet? I'm still itching to talk about some of those last episodes.
I've seen the first episode. Does that help?
For the life of me, I don't understand why the first episode gets thrown around as the high water mark of that show. If it's not the worst episode, it's right down there.
It does? I've only seen a handful of episodes, but yeah, that one is my least favorite.
I wouldn't say its my least favorite, but I would say it's probably the least inventive.
Only if you're gonna watch the last one(s). Seriously, that last episode is basically just a really cool movie.
I wanted to share this as it popped into my facebook feed memory thing, and seemed like worthy of attention around these parts... it's an essay a friend of mine wrote after watching M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Which I still have yet to see. But it seems like a neat take, and I still like Shyamalan's "this movie is really about something else" approach (at least in Unbreakable and Signs). So yeah... here it is:
I need to write this down while it’s still relatively timely.
M. Night Shyamalan needs a defender. I will pick up the gauntlet. With the arrival of The Last Airbender in theaters this summer, many have taken the opportunity to look back at his recent movies as declare Shyamalan a flop-maker. True, his last two movies did not meet the same kind of box office success that he generated with the momentum of The Sixth Sense, but I think that any honest moviegoer would have to admit that there is often little correlation between creating an important, well-constructed film and commercial success (think Arnold Schwarzenegger). I haven’t seen The Last Airbender yet, and I probably won’t until it’s on video (I’m not committed to the franchise – and I’m disappointed that it doesn’t take place in Philadelphia), but I’m not writing about this, but rather his previous movie, The Happening.
Most people I’ve spoken with – as well as most film critics – have given this movie a big, stinky ‘thumbs down.’ I’d like to argue that with this reaction, Shyamalan has proved the point that he was trying to make with The Happening, showing precisely how strong his grasp is of the art of narrative and of the human condition. As a brief reminder, The Happening is the story of a hopelessly optimistic science teacher (Mark Wahlberg) and his somewhat eccentric wife (Zoe Deschanel) as they navigate turbulent times; not only as a mysterious sickness sweeps the eastern seaboard leading people to take their own lives, but also as they draw closer together from the brink of divorce.
Here’s the thing, that may be the plot, but that is not what the movie is really about. If you saw The Lady in the Water, you know that it was hard to miss Shyamalan’s criticism of his critics imbedded in the story. There is actually a character in the movie who is a film critic, who is completely wrong about the way the narrative should work out and is then devoured by a grass-covered wolf monster. I believe that The Happening is similarly aimed at his critics but not the professional ones, but the ones that were seated around me in the theater.
The moment it struck me was the most ridiculous moment of violence in the film. I still hear people talk about “the time when the guy lawn-mowered himself” as an example of the movie’s complete failure to be anything serious. But it was then when the seriousness of the project hit me. I was in room full of people snickering at someone taking his own life in one of the most gruesome ways imaginable. Suddenly, the story of The Happening didn’t seem so distant. I realized that the people who were losing their humanity weren’t on the screen, they were watching it.
The symptoms of the disease in the happening begin with desensitization, lack of affect. We suffer from the same condition. We complain about the illicit content in the media, but would anything else pique our collective interest? The final symptom of the illness is suicide. The plague in the film is not one that injects self-destructive tendencies into otherwise peaceful people, it merely accelerates the trajectory of a society that insists that people are objects and that creation is disposable.
But most of us didn’t go to The Happening to have a mirror held up to the dehumanizing patterns of our culture. We wanted to see, as the trailers promised, “Shyamalan’s first rated R feature.” This line almost assured that The Happening would have its desired effect, to show the movie going public for what it is. That’s what really happened at The Happening. Suddenly, my stomach turned. Not because of the gore on the screen, but because of the much more gruesome reality playing around me. I was physically ill. I stopped watching the screen and started watching the audience.
And then I realized that I was the audience.
I'm going to say that even if that was Shyamalan's intent, he failed on nearly every level to make a coherent script, film, or artistic statement.
Not having seen that particular film, I disagree strongly with your assessment. 😉
Here's something I was thinking about: what shows have you petered out on? For example, I stopped somewhere in the middle of second season of House Of Cards, and truthfully, I don't have any intention of picking it back up.
I only saw the first season of that and similarly don't plan to go back. OINTB is another one, but two seasons instead of just one. I lasted about three episodes of Mad Men before I lost interest and I think I started season three of The Walking Dead before the "meh"'s took over.
I've been watching Its Always Sunny in short bursts, but then I forget to go back for fairly lengthy periods of time. I still love it, though, so I'm not sure it qualifies.
Actually, I was kind of thinking about IASIP. I'm also on a "short burst" pattern with that show, but I definitely intend to catch up/finish it (depending on my/their schedule).
Another I'd put in this category is Six Feet Under. I think I've talked about it here before, but I stopped watching in about the 4th or 5th. No particular reason, it just wasn't holding my attention anymore. Not sure if I'm going to pick that one up again or not.
I made it through 1+ seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I felt it was pulling a mini-HEROES with a couple characters, and my attention was flagging.
Ah, HEROES. Yeah, I stopped watching that one.
I watched through Season 3 of Agents and it got worse and worse. I read somewhere season 4 was pretty good, and recently picked it up, and, yes, it is quite enjoyable, at least 6 episodes in.
Agents of Shield is one of the very few shows I quit on. I don't think I made it through the first season.
It got better.
Linds and I are stuck somewhere in the third season. She wants to keep trying, but honestly, the show is a chore...and unless you binge it (which, I mean, I'm not super into binging on chores), you forget everything that's going on, and you spend half the episode going "who's this guy, again? oh who cares, Frank is going to win, anyway".
I'd just as soon never go back.
I bailed on House of Cards last year. I jumped ship off The Walking Dead after season two.
Bones and Heroes are the only two shows I can think of that I stopped watching. I started Bones around season four and ceased watching in season seven. Heroes I stopped either after season two or during season three.
I started Breaking Bad too and haven't finished that. It's different however because the wife doesn't want to watch it and I don't have time to do it myself. There's a few other shows like that.
Breaking Bad here too... and under similar circumstances.
Made it through maybe 4 seasons of Dexter. I don't have time to look right now, but we've had a similar discussion here before... may have been more focused on shows we haven't started and/or finished but would like to.
I left Breaking Bad the same way y'all did, but found my way back. I think it was worth it.
I want to watch it but don't have the time right now.
Dexter for me too and also four seasons. Wife has no interest plus read that it went downhill after Lithgow's season so didn't have any interest in finishing it.
Wise choice. Season 6 with Olmos and Hanks (Colin) is pretty decent but 7 and 8 are just wretched
Here it is joe ... sort-of (more of a "shows I need to get around to watching/finishing" comments section, but close enough).
Bones somewhere near the end. Likewise, House. And I gave up on Mentalist after the big bad was defeated and they tried to continue the show another season without the entire supporting cast.
I've found it easier to give up on shows these days-
Doctor Who (after the first Matt Smith season, whatever the number was. ) I might go back to it eventually- given that I watched the first episode and then didn't pick it up again for at least another year- but between the Rory and Amy relationship and overall ridiculousness, I gave up. The Magicians- yeah... I caught up to what was posted on Netflix and started on the current season on the SyFy channel, and then just dropped it. The writers have no idea what they're trying to do. The first season was interesting (quirky characters and magic!) but after the season 2 climax, I felt like the series lost direction. The Wire- just wasn't feeling it after a couple episodes. Castle - once the main characters got together, it was a slow slide into meh-ness.
I almost never do this. Most stuff that I watch beyond 2 or 3 episodes, I finish sooner or later. The only prominent recent example is everyone's current favorite Pop Culture Phenomenon, which I almost gave up on after the Season 4
they nonsensically inserted Sansa into a plotline she shouldn't be anywhere close to at that point just so they could have their overpowered Super-Duper-Villain rape her
I'm one of the few people who liked Season 3 of House of Cards. Season 4 was rough and I haven't thought about checking out Season 5, maybe in the Winter.
I bailed on The Blacklist. James Spader was a lot of fun, but the rest of the show was a complete mess.
I'm still with it.
EAR tried to start the spinoff series on Hulu, but it spins off halfway through the latest season of the main series (which is still not on Netflix, nor is it on Hulu... or it's one of those 5-latest-episode things), and I was lost so I got her to leave it alone.
Which is not to say I can remember wtf is going on, or even if I had it figured out.
I made it through one laughably stupid episode. That show is the epitome of network action: dumb hype lines, one-dimensional characters and a final line that, unashamed, had Spader literally announce what the series is about.
Sometimes I settle for cheap.
I've mentioned them before: How to Get Away with Murder, Bloodline, Quantico*
*I may come back to this, but EAR bailed after we both were into season 1.
We're most of the way through season 1 of Bloodline. It's really good, but doesn't seem to be something we're in the mood for very often.
I bailed on Bloodline season two after three episodes because it's not good. The show should have ended, imho, with the morally impossible question of did they do the right thing.
Sounds similar to us. We finished season 1 about a month before 2 was released. We got through ep 1 of season 2 and realized we didn't want to know more. I tried ep 2 myself and wasn't into it without my wife.
We bailed on Girls after season 3 or 4. Other than that I'm not sure we've ever made it through a whole season and then stopped.
I watched the first half of the first (and only) season of Son of Zorn. I kept waiting to like it, but it was pretty awful.
I watched all but the last season of Entourage. After having on my phone ready to watch for 2-3 years I finally figured out that I'm never actually going to watch it.
I think I made it through a little more than a season of Californication before dtopping, but it's quite possible I didn't make it out of season 1.
Oh yeah, Entourage is another one I stopped on. I believe I stopped whenever Scorsese showed up.
Dr. Chop bailed on Entourage when they bought, or leased?, a Bentley. Similarly she bailed on Big Little Lies because she hates Californians. Sorry doc.
I stopped watching Prison Break after the 3rd or 4th season, but I wish I would have stopped after the first. Wasn't at all interested in the reboot.
I gave up on Homeland a season or two ago, and it doesn't sound like I'm missing much.
I'm a few seasons behind on the Americans, but I intend to catch up someday. The more episodes I have saved up in the DVR, the more intimidating it is to get back into a show. I think I had around 30 saved up of the Americans and then I lost everything on my DVR when my building changed providers.
I'm half a season behind on The Black List, and I think I'm probably done with it. It just feels like the writers didn't intend for it to go on this long and now they're making it up as they go - same problem Prison Break had. Oops, that guy is dead, I guess the conspiracy has to go up another level.
Thanks for the reminder on Prison Break. I stopped after the first season. Sounds like I'm glad I did.
I suffered six episodes. I found myself laughing, often, when the show was trying to be suspenseful because the evil authority figures were so cartoonish. Plus, Wentworth Miller was painful. I figured there were better uses of my time.
All I've seen is the fourth episode of the most recent season of Doctor Who ("Knock Knock") and the third episode of Class ("Nightvisiting"). The Doctor Who episode was very good. You had a creepy old house, David Suchet was excellent as the landlord, and the story moved along well and ended well. You could argue that they never really explained the alien very well, but that often happens in Doctor Who. I was quite pleased with it.
As good as that was, that's how bad the episode of Class was. We knew everything we needed to know about the alien in the first five minutes. We then got forty-five minutes of the various characters talking about their feelings until finally they destroyed the alien at the end. Even that might've been worked except that I haven't seen any reason to care about the characters' feelings. The only one who's remotely interesting is Miss Quill, and so far she's been given very little to do. I have more episodes recorded--I haven't decided yet if I'll bother with them or not.
I've seen 3 or 4 eps of Class, and I'm shutting it down. It's aimed at tweens, and I don't see how they can make this interesting while being pinned down to a school setting.
Also, regarding Doctor Who: While the most recent season has (through four episodes) been pretty good, I've been slowly buying DVDs of the classics and find myself enjoying them more. I've watched all (I think) of the available first doctor serials and almost all of the available second doctor serials. Yes, the special effects aren't good by today's standards, but the stories (mostly) are quite good, plus I prefer the slower pace of the classic series.
I didn't get into Dr. Who until the beginnings of the Peter Capaldi era, then went back and watched a bunch of Matt Smith episodes and David Tennant episodes (and I would rank them Capaldi >> Tennant >= Smith).
The few episodes I've seen with earlier Doctors (Tom Baker, one or two of Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton) have been all but unwatchable, IMO. I thought the acting was atrocious, for the most part. It was not campy enough to succeed as camp, and not serious enough to succeed as sci fi.
But the Capaldi seasons, for the most part, have been fantastic television. The relationship with Clara easily could have been creepy, but it wasn't. And they brought it to a satisfying if difficult end. Likewise the relationship with River Song. I've only seen this year's Christmas special and the first episode, so I don't yet know where this season is going, but I like it so far. Bill seems like an interesting character.
Billie needs to speak English. Talk about needing CC turned on.
We like what we like, of course, but if you don't like Tom Baker's Doctor, you hold a minority opinion.
I caught parts of Baker's seasons on PBS as a child, and I never understood what was going on.
But the theme music was cool.
Yes, the theme music is awesome.
I'm comfortable being in the minority. Not the first time.
Says the white male.
Heh. Fair point.
I was also an ex-football player jock in grad school. Oppressed class, I tells ya.
And again regarding Doctor Who, R. I. P. Deborah Watling, who played Victoria Waterfield, companion to the second Doctor, at age sixty-nine.
I just started Shooter, with Ryan Phillipe.
First episode really grabbed me... I hope it doesn't let me down.
EAR is loving the long-running Canadian show Heartland. I can tolerate it but... it gives me something I don't need to catch up on, or lets me read while she's watching.
Both on NetFlix
No, seriously everybody. If you like heist movies, chase scene movies or rock music, watch Baby Driver. This really ought not be buried.
Too late. Buried is our middle name.
All in All is All we are.
yeah yeah yeah yeah.
I can't wait to see Baby Driver. Most of the time when I listen to lively music, I play out scenes in my head.
Saw Lion showed up on Netflix so watched that last night. Whoo yeah
I got addicted to The Magicians.
Don't judge.
New citizen drive already successful?
there goes the neighborhood.
Eh, it's not inkarnit...
Keep Colin away as long as possible.
I think Colin the Lesser only knows about this site in the vaguest of terms. I want to say he would know this isn't his scene, but...what is?
argh, you messed up my setup . someone was supposed to say "which one?" and then i was going to say "yes."
The wife binged the series and books. I'm not sure she loves it but did consume it all pretty quick. She has time during the day to watch something and has gone through a few series that I had interest in and now can't watch unless I do it solo.
Yeah, me too. I think I got through it in less than a week, and that was watching after my wife went to sleep. (Some scene early was disturbed her when she woke up into it. (I forget what it was though.)
I just got back from Dunkirk, and holy shitballs is that one intense movie. I may just go see it again tomorrow.
I am very interested in it. Any additional thoughts?
Yes.
Nolan really knows how to craft a story. I knew about the colossal military failure that resulted in Dunkirk, but the narrative the movie focuses on left me wanting to learn as much as I can about the evacuation. There isn't a lick of voice over or really that much dialogue anyway, and there isn't the blood and guts realism that we've come to expect from WW2 movies. Rather, the people Nolan focuses on are trying to survive in the worst of all possible situations. They've all resigned to die on the beach, but are still looking for any opportunity to get away. The decision making regarding how to shoot the film, the time line (and narrative device used to bend the timeline), and the acting are beyond top notch. I left the theater thinking, "how in the world did these people retreat from utter defeat only to go right back into the teeth of battle". Again, probably the most intense movie I've seen since Moonlight. I'd liken it to a British version of the Thin Red Line.
We went and saw it on Thursday in IMAX. Younger Daughter is going to see the 70mm film projection later this week and I may go with her. I loved how Nolan compressed and extended time and how he intersected the different perspectives. The photography itself was great, and the art direction - I'm sure you could probably find an anachronism if you looked real hard, but everything seemed so authentic. The aerial photography and editing (I think of it as scene choreography) are some of the best I've seen. Also, I almost never notice sound editing and effects until a second or third viewing, but not this time. But for all the great film-craft, it's still the story and the performances that stand out most. I haven't stopped thinking about some of those characters yet.
Everything Christopher Nolan touches is gold. Except Insomnia, which is bronze.
Counterpoint: The Dark Night.
I just watched Gone Baby Gone for the first time last night. (Don't judge me. We had a 6, 4, and 1 year old at the time it came out.)
The casting bothered me. You can't put Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris in those roles and not know the storyline will come back to them.
Oh man, the Lemonade episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is unbelievable. It's like a life-action Bojack
Baby Driver is a lot of fun. It kind of reminded me of Drive, if Drive took itself way less seriously (don't get me wrong, one of the things I found charming about Drive was that it did take itself seriously, but this movie hits a much different, more enjoyable tone). Killer soundtrack that features quite heavily in the actual movie.
The new episode of Game of Thrones was good as a table setter. It's just kind of nice to get back into that world, really.
Finally got through the first season of This Is Us. It's.....fine. As I predicted, it for the most part runs out of gas when there's no constant "surprise twist!" to fuel the narrative, and that finale was insanely weak.
I really like This Is Us but I went into it thinking I'd hate it. Expectations were low.
I expected to hate it, as well. It has proven to be good enough to be added to my DVR, which is way better than I would've expected.
I finally got around to watching Oldboy (the original, Korean one from 2003). Its great, but man, it falls well into the "feel bad" category of films.
Like Nibbish said, it was great to jump back into the goings on in Westeros.
Other than that, man, I haven't watched much lately. I spend most of my alone time playing video games these days and haven't to the theater since GotG2 came out.
Oldboy has been on my Netflix list for literally the entire twelve(?) years I've had Netflix, and the knowledge that it's so devastating has kept me from catching it.
This. Haven't had it on the queue for quite as long, but it's been a looong time.
Its... yeah, I don't blame you.
I cold-watched the Spike Lee/Josh Brolin remake (I think with no knowledge it was a remake, and thus, no knowledge of potential devastation). I immediately sought out the original and was glad that I did. Well worth the watch and puts Lee's to shame.
Fortunately, I was warned that there were two versions and that the remake was generally crappy.
I would have appreciated a warning. I might give the original a shot to clean the "meh" taste from my mouth.
And here I keep forgetting there's a remake.
This is the first I'm hearing of it (at least since I watched the original).
New Spiderman was what Spiderman should be...the anti-Batman. No brooding here. You can tell they were thinking John Hughes when they made it. I'm not typically a LOL person, but I definitely caught myself a couple times, and the reveal at the ¾ mark did catch me -- good job.
GoT new season got the ball rolling. I did find that one of my plot problems from last season was even more exasperating this season:
Twin Peaks new episodes are keeping my attention, although the Dougie thread is problematic (and primarily lame). Episode 8 is a landmark in experimental television.
Regarding your GoT spoiler. I was right there with you. It was so logistically impossible that it was actually distracting me from the scene, and I had to rewind it and watch again.
This.
Also regarding the new season of GoT - I understand the need to set the stage, and with so few episodes remaining in the series, they don't have the luxury of spending an entire episode with just one or two subplots/characters.
Yes. Completely agreed on your spoiler.
On your second point, I agree, but I think that was how it was meant to be.
I saw it differently.
It's certainly time to begin resolving the plotlines, no doubt.
Most definitely.
Re getting got, I totes agree with you. When Omar got his reward I was satisfied, or ... ?, that his role had been played to the fullest. I'll be disappointed if the hound doesn't run the length of his arc.
...spoiler?
was omar's death in question?
At almost ten years since that episode, I think the spoiler warning has expired.
that's fair, though i only mention it as several citizens have not watched it though expressed an interest to eventually.
Dido on Spiderboy. It was good fun.
Also saw The Big Sick. Funny, poignant. Holly Hunter was fantastic, Ray Romano excellent, Kumail Nanjiani was very good in the lead and Zoe Kazan was cute as a bug and very good as Emily. But what took this film over the top for me was Kumail's family. Every scene with his family was awesome.
Started Better Call Saul a bit ago. A few episodes into the 2nd season now. Agreed with others that the first season drags a bit, but they brought way more to the table than I was expecting for a prequel to BB. I think I praised him before, but Odenkirk has been fantastic in the role in a way that I'm guessing has even surprised him a little. If the 2nd and 3rd seasons are as good as everyone says they are, it sounds like I'm in for a treat.
Not sure why I've been stalled on this for so long; probably because the first season is slow, I guess. I'm five episodes in or so, and it's technically sound across the board, but it just hasn't jumped to the front of the line.
You are right around the dullest, slowest part of the entire series. Linds and I were never particularly close to abandoning it, but the middle of the first season was definitely the part where we thought "eh...I really hope it picks up"
I was also thinking around that point that I might not be able to keep going much longer, but it has now grown into one of my favorite current shows.
I'm with these fellas.
We're almost done with the first season of The Good Place. Better than the first season of Parks & Rec, and after a slow start gets progressively better as it goes on. I was skeptical about Kristen Bell, just because the first few episodes she doesn't really have her comedic timing down, but it definitely gets better. And I heart Ted Danson.
You're just the second person I've heard mention this show, but also the second to recommend it.
What's it on?
NBC, and we have OnDemand, so watching it on there. I wonder if the NBC website has it
Ah, NBC is the one network we don't get.
We have a very odd setup, where some regional group or somesuch purchases networks and then broadcasts them around the area. I don't quite understand it, but this is what I've been told. So I get FSN, and Fox and CBS and 5 different PBS channels, all over the air.
It's on Hulu too if you have that. J & I watched the first episode and plan on getting around to it at some point, just haven't had time lately.
I watched it on Hulu.
Started it when we finished Parks & Rec and I thought EAR could use a Schurr-penned replacement.
She had similar thoughts to Algonad.
I watched The Good Place. I'm on the fence with it. The side characters just aren't that interesting.
They definitely need to develop them better or add new compelling ones.
Finished The Good Place last night. I really enjoyed the ending, though
Agreed.
With a lot of time in our hands, we saw Captain Underpants and Despicable Me 3 over the past two weeks. They were both right in line with what I expected.
Captain Underpants was silly and funny here and there, with a whole lot of toilets and farts. My 6-year-old laughed hysterically at least five times, which is also as expected considering how much he laughs at the books. I enjoyed it somewhat, but certainly not a movie I would seek out on my own.
I liked Despicable Me a lot more than Captain Underpants, which is also what I expected. It was funny, had much more of a plot, and was more in line with animated movies the adults will enjoy as well, rather than being a straight-up kids movie. Nothing spectacular, but does what it sets out to do.
On the non-kids front, I loved the first GoT episode. It seems like it definitely set things up for an exciting season. We also watched the first two episodes of The Night Of. I think I'll like it a lot once it gets going, but it is a little frustrating at the start, watching someone in the legal system doing dumb things.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
watching someone in the legal system doing dumb things
Which reminds me that I watched The Accountant. While I enjoyed it, I found his tax advice to a couple at the beginning of the movie confusing; if they are already losing money, why is their tax burden too great? They don't owe money in the first place. Also, I like that they approach autism in the film, but I'm not sure they do a good job of it. That said, similar to Keanu Reeves->John Wick, this is a character that Ben Affleck can play well.
Also watched The Accountant and also enjoyed it. Popcorn movie to be sure, but entertaining. The autism as a plot vehicle worked fine for me, but I don't interact with spectrum individuals, so I have no idea if the presentation was anywhere near accurate or handled appropriately. I don't recall an uproar from autism advocate groups, so perhaps?
Agreed. Thankfully no Hollywood ending.
Runner daughter and I enjoyed the Captain Underpants books (almost 2 decades ago?!) so we might grab this from the library when it gets there and watch it for old times sake
Aquinas is reading them this summer and enjoying them.
And far too often acting out scenes. Oy.
In the showing we went to there was what appeared to be an adult son and his dad. They laughed a lot.
Six years since a four-episode binge when I lived in Los Angeles, I finally picked up "Mad Men" again and binged on...I want to say eight episodes in a day. I'm hoping it isn't another six years before I move on it again, because I really do love the painful dreariness of it all.
"Glow" on Netflix has been a ton of fun; it's a fictionalized account of the growth of an all-female wrestling company that did actually exist in the '80s. The acting has been mostly strong, with good comedy and some drama peppered throughout. It's by the same folks as Orange is the New Black, which is fairly evident, as there's a rich ensemble of female leads with wildly differing personalities. It doesn't seem to have OITNB's early issue with making nearly every male in the show come off as garbage, which is nice. It does, however, fall into the trap again of having the lead character be arguably the least dynamic and interesting. Luckily, Alison Brie has much more range than Taylor Schilling, so it comes off much better. I'm halfway through the ten episodes and I definitely hope we get more.
I went to The Lego Batman Movie and roared. The story was adequate, but the jokes were relentless. When the orphans are singing "Man in the Mirror" and we get a temporary closeup on them as they're doing MJ's "Sham-on!" bit, or however it would be typed, I was losing it completely.
As always, Sour Cream and I are watching Phineas and Ferb, and I'm also going through Arrested Development for about the sixth time or so. I've had Moonlight at home via Netflix for weeks, but I have to be in the right mood at the right time for something heavy like that, which is typically at night, and I've been working nights almost exclusively for a few weeks now.
OITNB still has that issue. It's not as bad as the first couple seasons; they've tried to develop a couple of complex male characters. But many more are still caricatures and it really detracts from some of the well-developed prisoners.
I haven't started GLOW yet, but looking forward to it.
I watched the first episode, and want to watch more, but so does Philosofette, so we have to coordinate that, which is tough with children who refuse to sleep.
Rick & Morty returns July 30th!
I see a lot of Rick & Morty bits on my FB feed. Cultish following on this one?
Everyone I know that's checked it out loves it. I've been meaning to get on the bandwagon, but I don't think it's offered through my regular methods of consumption.
It's pretty irreverent and scattered, but man is there a lot of deep thinking behind the story lines. Of course, they're borrowing from almost every Sci Fi idea out there, and there is a heaping helping of time/dimension travel to confound everyone. Still, this is just helping me through the long wait for the next Venture Bros season.
I watched Daddy's Home. It was as expected. Both Wahlberg and Ferrel crack me up so it was goid for a couple laughs.
I totally agree on Spiderman. Really fun.
Big Sick is on my list.
I just saw a preview for Atypical on Netflix. It stars the boy from United States of Tara as a teenager with Autism gong through dating, etc. Looks pretty good.
I watched The Sixth Sense with the 14 and 16 year olds. Both liked it. First time I'd seen it since it came out.
I'm through season 1 and 2 on Saul. It was a slow start but very good.
I just finished season 2 of Fargo. I enjoy it but don't consider it a must see.
Oh, I forgot about Fargo. We finished up season 3 recently. I didn't like it as much as the first two seasons, but still thought it was pretty great. I'd say season 1 was my favorite, followed by number 2 and then 3. But, still one of my favorites even with that decline.
I liked the first season of Fargo a lot, but I sure seemed to have a lot more issues with it than others.
I re-watched Fate of the Furious last night. It is the most uneven of the last batch of films, but the highs are some of the highest in the series, so the film ends up being pretty decent. I liked it more on a rewatch since I knew what bad dialogue I could just zone out through.
I feel like I've watched a ton of stuff but I just can't remember it all... Planning on seeing Spider-Man next week, and J & I are planning on going through G.L.O.W. at some point. And I'm stupid excited for Atomic Blonde.
I love the Furious franchise so, so much. I didn't love Fate as much as the few before, but it's still a fun, fun time.
Yeah, G.L.O.W. is on my list too.
I will watch anything Charlize Theron does - she's so good.
I agree. I wish the next Mad Max installment would get on track. Would love to see another Furiosa role.
I'll get this way with directors but certainly not actors. She did, after all, have her Aeon Flux.
I had to watch that on Netflix just because I was curious... the animated series was on MTV when my friends had it and I didn't.
Was it the same story?
Kinda, but Aeon Flux on Liquid Television was a beautiful, dark, gritty and above all SILENT drama. There was no dialogue, ever, although you got the idea of the plot.
I was very excited about the possibilities of the movie. Then in the first trailer I saw, someone immediately spoke, and I knew it would be shit with no regard for what made the toon so cool.
I remember the animation, but I guess I never watched enough to know that it was entirely word-free.
I put the movie alongside Ultraviolet - visually stunning crap that wasted quality actors' time.
So, I just found out that Will & Grace is getting 12 new episodes (possibly more). This show was THE show that my wife and I watched when we first got married. I am both excited and worried. Excited to see if the Karen and Jack chemistry is still there. Worried that it will fall flat in a whole new world.
I have been boycotting Game of Thrones until the damn books get done and I can read the story to it's end. Then I will watch the shows. I am losing my patience on the book side of things. Argghhh!
On GoT, I read the books, then watched up to the first couple episodes of the 3rd season. No particular reason to stop there, just got busy or something, but I've been reluctant to watch more episodes as I want to read the books first. You know, WHENEVER THEY COME OUT!!!
(Really hoping he's actually working on the last two at the same time and then releasing them on top of each other. Don't really see that happening though.)
Isn't Martin involved in another new show coming out? I don't think his word processor is seeing a whole lot of action...
Per his LJ,
Sounds like his word processor is getting a lot of work. That Winds of Winter file, however, may go a few days (weeks) between saves.
I was talking with my friend today, and he was vehement about his intentions to not watch the show past the fifth season because the books didn't go beyond them.
Maybe his children will be able to find out how the saga ends from the replacement writer.
I was once like that. I gave up though and got caught up. Brandon Sanderson isn't getting any younger.
Are you thinking Martin will die and Sanderson will have to finish this epic series too??
Nah, just making a joke because Sanderson has already done that once for a series that got out of hand in the length department.
I missed the comment ahead of yours
As I understand it, the "Fullmetal Alchemist" anime series got ahead of the manga, and they were written by different people, so they had to make things up that ended up very differently than the manga.
So a few years later, they did a new series, "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood" that matched the manga. So both series start the same way.
Maybe GOT should have gone that way.
It still could! We'll never know for sure, but it still could.
Has anyone seen The Leftovers? That one seems up my alley and may check out.
Saw Dr. Strange. Had some fun concepts. Wonder Woman was decent. Might see Spiderman, since it has great reviews.
The Beguiled was ok, i guess It got fantastic reviews and some great film making, but the story was just kinda meh.
Definitely seeing A Ghost Story, when it finally gets here on Friday.
I was in the HBOGO menu about the start the first episode of The Leftovers, but scrolled past Silicon Valley and took a hard right instead. Still intend to go back to it.
My wife really enjoy(s/ed) The Leftovers. The few episodes I've watched with her were pretty good, but I think I'd have to watch from the beginning for it to really pull me in. Too much missed backstory to watch intermittently.
Yeah, it's definitely a show you really need to watch from the beginning. Even then it doesn't always make sense, so I can't imagine trying to watch it without seeing it all.
For a while I had roommates that loved to watch CSI Miami, Law and Order SVU, etc., and I think I actually enjoyed those shows more when I came home halfway through the episode--it was more fun trying to figure out what was happening that way. The Leftovers is definitely not like that--like you said, it's hard enough to follow as it is, but I have loved it. The first season more than the second season. Got started on the third season this week, curious to see where they go, but I liked the first episode. My wife won't watch it so it's harder to make progress.
I absolutely loved Leftovers, and can't recommend it ebough. By the end of the run it became one of my all-time favorite shows. It's definitely odd, and there were a lot of episodes that ended in confusion and my wife and I both just saying WTF? But, that's the kind of show I really enjoy. I hate it when I feel like I'm being spoon-fed obvious clues and answers.
I took two whacks at the left overs, and the second time it stuck. I'm half way through season 3 and it's paying off in unexpected ways.
Been watching a reshowing on PBS of Remember Me, a three-part drama/mystery starring Michael Palin as an octogenarian who witnesses a murder in an elderly home. I've only seen the first episode (of three), and the use of jump-edits and other shock techniques are throwing me off a bit.
Finished Netflix anime Ajin: Demi-Human that I wrote about here last month. I think the payoff's good. There was a big conclusion, but there's an opening for more*. I tried watching bits in English and the voices sucked. I'm really tied to the way the sounded in Japanese.
*Unlike Aldnoah: Zero and another mecha anime I watched that had clear endings with nowhere to go after the second season.
Started and finished the Netflix-available episodes and "movies" of the anime Little Witch Academia with my 5- and 7-year-olds (so in English). I love it. Something like a Harry Potter world where the witches aren't secret.
It's rated TV-Y7, but I had so skip past some bits for the little girls (as EAR was around). At times darker than what I would have expected for that rating... true peril of death and dismemberment, but everyone comes out OK in the end.
I've re-watched parts in Japanese, and I think the voice characterization is really close. There's apparently another 12 episode that have already aired in Japan.
The "movies" (one 25 minutes and one 50 minutes) are like pilots or drafts for the show, and I don't like them as much. The "mean girl" is actually cruel there, while I think in the series, she's just seen as cruel.
Special interest to me: one of the main characters' main interests is mushrooms.
I watched the first half of Norwegian movie "Cave" or "The Cave", suspense, possibly supernatural horror coming (though it hasn't yet)... nothing's happened.
It's a cheap film, kindof reminds me of "Blair Witch" but with the intent of cave exploration, not finding the truth about a witch story.
For some reason it started dubbed, and that was horrible, a bit laughably so, but I kept with it that long anyways. It wasn't worth going to the other TV to fix that (our Blu-Ray does not have audio track controls).
I doubt I'll go back to it.
I haven't yet gone back to Attack on Titan... as I've been saying for weeks: maybe tonight.
I watched "The Cave".
Really, nothing happens. Definitely nothing supernatural. Ends with a stupid cliffhanger, too.
Thanks for suffering it for me.
Anyone finish Black Mirror yet? I'm still itching to talk about some of those last episodes.
I've seen the first episode. Does that help?
For the life of me, I don't understand why the first episode gets thrown around as the high water mark of that show. If it's not the worst episode, it's right down there.
It does? I've only seen a handful of episodes, but yeah, that one is my least favorite.
I wouldn't say its my least favorite, but I would say it's probably the least inventive.
Only if you're gonna watch the last one(s). Seriously, that last episode is basically just a really cool movie.
I wanted to share this as it popped into my facebook feed memory thing, and seemed like worthy of attention around these parts... it's an essay a friend of mine wrote after watching M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Which I still have yet to see. But it seems like a neat take, and I still like Shyamalan's "this movie is really about something else" approach (at least in Unbreakable and Signs). So yeah... here it is:
I'm going to say that even if that was Shyamalan's intent, he failed on nearly every level to make a coherent script, film, or artistic statement.
Not having seen that particular film, I disagree strongly with your assessment. 😉
We did get one good thing out of it though:
Here's something I was thinking about: what shows have you petered out on? For example, I stopped somewhere in the middle of second season of House Of Cards, and truthfully, I don't have any intention of picking it back up.
I only saw the first season of that and similarly don't plan to go back. OINTB is another one, but two seasons instead of just one. I lasted about three episodes of Mad Men before I lost interest and I think I started season three of The Walking Dead before the "meh"'s took over.
I've been watching Its Always Sunny in short bursts, but then I forget to go back for fairly lengthy periods of time. I still love it, though, so I'm not sure it qualifies.
Actually, I was kind of thinking about IASIP. I'm also on a "short burst" pattern with that show, but I definitely intend to catch up/finish it (depending on my/their schedule).
Another I'd put in this category is Six Feet Under. I think I've talked about it here before, but I stopped watching in about the 4th or 5th. No particular reason, it just wasn't holding my attention anymore. Not sure if I'm going to pick that one up again or not.
I made it through 1+ seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I felt it was pulling a mini-HEROES with a couple characters, and my attention was flagging.
Ah, HEROES. Yeah, I stopped watching that one.
I watched through Season 3 of Agents and it got worse and worse. I read somewhere season 4 was pretty good, and recently picked it up, and, yes, it is quite enjoyable, at least 6 episodes in.
Agents of Shield is one of the very few shows I quit on. I don't think I made it through the first season.
It got better.
Linds and I are stuck somewhere in the third season. She wants to keep trying, but honestly, the show is a chore...and unless you binge it (which, I mean, I'm not super into binging on chores), you forget everything that's going on, and you spend half the episode going "who's this guy, again? oh who cares, Frank is going to win, anyway".
I'd just as soon never go back.
I bailed on House of Cards last year. I jumped ship off The Walking Dead after season two.
Bones and Heroes are the only two shows I can think of that I stopped watching. I started Bones around season four and ceased watching in season seven. Heroes I stopped either after season two or during season three.
I started Breaking Bad too and haven't finished that. It's different however because the wife doesn't want to watch it and I don't have time to do it myself. There's a few other shows like that.
Breaking Bad here too... and under similar circumstances.
Made it through maybe 4 seasons of Dexter. I don't have time to look right now, but we've had a similar discussion here before... may have been more focused on shows we haven't started and/or finished but would like to.
I left Breaking Bad the same way y'all did, but found my way back. I think it was worth it.
I want to watch it but don't have the time right now.
Dexter for me too and also four seasons. Wife has no interest plus read that it went downhill after Lithgow's season so didn't have any interest in finishing it.
Wise choice. Season 6 with Olmos and Hanks (Colin) is pretty decent but 7 and 8 are just wretched
Here it is joe ... sort-of (more of a "shows I need to get around to watching/finishing" comments section, but close enough).
Bones somewhere near the end. Likewise, House. And I gave up on Mentalist after the big bad was defeated and they tried to continue the show another season without the entire supporting cast.
I've found it easier to give up on shows these days-
Doctor Who (after the first Matt Smith season, whatever the number was. ) I might go back to it eventually- given that I watched the first episode and then didn't pick it up again for at least another year- but between the Rory and Amy relationship and overall ridiculousness, I gave up.
The Magicians- yeah... I caught up to what was posted on Netflix and started on the current season on the SyFy channel, and then just dropped it. The writers have no idea what they're trying to do. The first season was interesting (quirky characters and magic!) but after the season 2 climax, I felt like the series lost direction.
The Wire- just wasn't feeling it after a couple episodes.
Castle - once the main characters got together, it was a slow slide into meh-ness.
I almost never do this. Most stuff that I watch beyond 2 or 3 episodes, I finish sooner or later. The only prominent recent example is everyone's current favorite Pop Culture Phenomenon, which I almost gave up on after the Season 4
and then did finally abandon partway through season 5 after
I'm one of the few people who liked Season 3 of House of Cards. Season 4 was rough and I haven't thought about checking out Season 5, maybe in the Winter.
I bailed on The Blacklist. James Spader was a lot of fun, but the rest of the show was a complete mess.
I'm still with it.
EAR tried to start the spinoff series on Hulu, but it spins off halfway through the latest season of the main series (which is still not on Netflix, nor is it on Hulu... or it's one of those 5-latest-episode things), and I was lost so I got her to leave it alone.
Which is not to say I can remember wtf is going on, or even if I had it figured out.
I made it through one laughably stupid episode. That show is the epitome of network action: dumb hype lines, one-dimensional characters and a final line that, unashamed, had Spader literally announce what the series is about.
Sometimes I settle for cheap.
I've mentioned them before:
How to Get Away with Murder, Bloodline, Quantico*
*I may come back to this, but EAR bailed after we both were into season 1.
We're most of the way through season 1 of Bloodline. It's really good, but doesn't seem to be something we're in the mood for very often.
I bailed on Bloodline season two after three episodes because it's not good. The show should have ended, imho, with the morally impossible question of did they do the right thing.
Sounds similar to us. We finished season 1 about a month before 2 was released. We got through ep 1 of season 2 and realized we didn't want to know more. I tried ep 2 myself and wasn't into it without my wife.
We bailed on Girls after season 3 or 4. Other than that I'm not sure we've ever made it through a whole season and then stopped.
I watched the first half of the first (and only) season of Son of Zorn. I kept waiting to like it, but it was pretty awful.
I watched all but the last season of Entourage. After having on my phone ready to watch for 2-3 years I finally figured out that I'm never actually going to watch it.
I think I made it through a little more than a season of Californication before dtopping, but it's quite possible I didn't make it out of season 1.
Oh yeah, Entourage is another one I stopped on. I believe I stopped whenever Scorsese showed up.
Dr. Chop bailed on Entourage when they bought, or leased?, a Bentley. Similarly she bailed on Big Little Lies because she hates Californians. Sorry doc.
I stopped watching Prison Break after the 3rd or 4th season, but I wish I would have stopped after the first. Wasn't at all interested in the reboot.
I gave up on Homeland a season or two ago, and it doesn't sound like I'm missing much.
I'm a few seasons behind on the Americans, but I intend to catch up someday. The more episodes I have saved up in the DVR, the more intimidating it is to get back into a show. I think I had around 30 saved up of the Americans and then I lost everything on my DVR when my building changed providers.
I'm half a season behind on The Black List, and I think I'm probably done with it. It just feels like the writers didn't intend for it to go on this long and now they're making it up as they go - same problem Prison Break had. Oops, that guy is dead, I guess the conspiracy has to go up another level.
Thanks for the reminder on Prison Break. I stopped after the first season. Sounds like I'm glad I did.
I suffered six episodes. I found myself laughing, often, when the show was trying to be suspenseful because the evil authority figures were so cartoonish. Plus, Wentworth Miller was painful. I figured there were better uses of my time.
All I've seen is the fourth episode of the most recent season of Doctor Who ("Knock Knock") and the third episode of Class ("Nightvisiting"). The Doctor Who episode was very good. You had a creepy old house, David Suchet was excellent as the landlord, and the story moved along well and ended well. You could argue that they never really explained the alien very well, but that often happens in Doctor Who. I was quite pleased with it.
As good as that was, that's how bad the episode of Class was. We knew everything we needed to know about the alien in the first five minutes. We then got forty-five minutes of the various characters talking about their feelings until finally they destroyed the alien at the end. Even that might've been worked except that I haven't seen any reason to care about the characters' feelings. The only one who's remotely interesting is Miss Quill, and so far she's been given very little to do. I have more episodes recorded--I haven't decided yet if I'll bother with them or not.
I've seen 3 or 4 eps of Class, and I'm shutting it down. It's aimed at tweens, and I don't see how they can make this interesting while being pinned down to a school setting.
Also, regarding Doctor Who: While the most recent season has (through four episodes) been pretty good, I've been slowly buying DVDs of the classics and find myself enjoying them more. I've watched all (I think) of the available first doctor serials and almost all of the available second doctor serials. Yes, the special effects aren't good by today's standards, but the stories (mostly) are quite good, plus I prefer the slower pace of the classic series.
I didn't get into Dr. Who until the beginnings of the Peter Capaldi era, then went back and watched a bunch of Matt Smith episodes and David Tennant episodes (and I would rank them Capaldi >> Tennant >= Smith).
The few episodes I've seen with earlier Doctors (Tom Baker, one or two of Jon Pertwee, Patrick Troughton) have been all but unwatchable, IMO. I thought the acting was atrocious, for the most part. It was not campy enough to succeed as camp, and not serious enough to succeed as sci fi.
But the Capaldi seasons, for the most part, have been fantastic television. The relationship with Clara easily could have been creepy, but it wasn't. And they brought it to a satisfying if difficult end. Likewise the relationship with River Song. I've only seen this year's Christmas special and the first episode, so I don't yet know where this season is going, but I like it so far. Bill seems like an interesting character.
Billie needs to speak English. Talk about needing CC turned on.
We like what we like, of course, but if you don't like Tom Baker's Doctor, you hold a minority opinion.
I caught parts of Baker's seasons on PBS as a child, and I never understood what was going on.
But the theme music was cool.
Yes, the theme music is awesome.
I'm comfortable being in the minority. Not the first time.
Says the white male.
Heh. Fair point.
I was also an ex-football player jock in grad school. Oppressed class, I tells ya.
And again regarding Doctor Who, R. I. P. Deborah Watling, who played Victoria Waterfield, companion to the second Doctor, at age sixty-nine.
I just started Shooter, with Ryan Phillipe.
First episode really grabbed me... I hope it doesn't let me down.
EAR is loving the long-running Canadian show Heartland. I can tolerate it but... it gives me something I don't need to catch up on, or lets me read while she's watching.
Both on NetFlix
No, seriously everybody. If you like heist movies, chase scene movies or rock music, watch Baby Driver. This really ought not be buried.
Too late. Buried is our middle name.
All in All is All we are.
yeah yeah yeah yeah.
I can't wait to see Baby Driver. Most of the time when I listen to lively music, I play out scenes in my head.
Saw Lion showed up on Netflix so watched that last night. Whoo yeah
I got addicted to The Magicians.
Don't judge.
New citizen drive already successful?
there goes the neighborhood.
Eh, it's not inkarnit...
Keep Colin away as long as possible.
I think Colin the Lesser only knows about this site in the vaguest of terms. I want to say he would know this isn't his scene, but...what is?
argh, you messed up my setup . someone was supposed to say "which one?" and then i was going to say "yes."
The wife binged the series and books. I'm not sure she loves it but did consume it all pretty quick. She has time during the day to watch something and has gone through a few series that I had interest in and now can't watch unless I do it solo.
Yeah, me too. I think I got through it in less than a week, and that was watching after my wife went to sleep. (Some scene early was disturbed her when she woke up into it. (I forget what it was though.)
I just got back from Dunkirk, and holy shitballs is that one intense movie. I may just go see it again tomorrow.
I am very interested in it. Any additional thoughts?
Yes.
Nolan really knows how to craft a story. I knew about the colossal military failure that resulted in Dunkirk, but the narrative the movie focuses on left me wanting to learn as much as I can about the evacuation. There isn't a lick of voice over or really that much dialogue anyway, and there isn't the blood and guts realism that we've come to expect from WW2 movies. Rather, the people Nolan focuses on are trying to survive in the worst of all possible situations. They've all resigned to die on the beach, but are still looking for any opportunity to get away. The decision making regarding how to shoot the film, the time line (and narrative device used to bend the timeline), and the acting are beyond top notch. I left the theater thinking, "how in the world did these people retreat from utter defeat only to go right back into the teeth of battle". Again, probably the most intense movie I've seen since Moonlight. I'd liken it to a British version of the Thin Red Line.
We went and saw it on Thursday in IMAX. Younger Daughter is going to see the 70mm film projection later this week and I may go with her. I loved how Nolan compressed and extended time and how he intersected the different perspectives. The photography itself was great, and the art direction - I'm sure you could probably find an anachronism if you looked real hard, but everything seemed so authentic. The aerial photography and editing (I think of it as scene choreography) are some of the best I've seen. Also, I almost never notice sound editing and effects until a second or third viewing, but not this time. But for all the great film-craft, it's still the story and the performances that stand out most. I haven't stopped thinking about some of those characters yet.
Everything Christopher Nolan touches is gold. Except Insomnia, which is bronze.
Counterpoint: The Dark Night.
I just watched Gone Baby Gone for the first time last night. (Don't judge me. We had a 6, 4, and 1 year old at the time it came out.)
The casting bothered me. You can't put Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris in those roles and not know the storyline will come back to them.
Oh man, the Lemonade episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is unbelievable. It's like a life-action Bojack