Another Oscars has come and gone. I don't believe I'd seen any of the films, so I was enjoying a book instead. Still, I know some people are into this kind of thing. Anything you liked? Anything that was missing? Any bits that bit the dust hard?
Also, what other non-Oscar worthy content have you been watching?
This was easily the highlight of the Oscars.
Marcus Theater had a deal. Three week period where you can see four of the best picture nominees for $28. I purchased before I checked out the showtimes. 11am on week days. I'm still mad.
I saw Past Lives. It's slow but I loved it.
I loved it, too. It was a small, contained story with not even all that much plot, but it was so well done, and so well-tuned to the emotions behind the story.
My wife and I watched everything that got any Oscar nomination, and I think that was probably my third favorite out of all of them (with Poor Things first, and American Fiction just beating out Past Lives).
I saw Barbie, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, and American Fiction. For my preference (not "best"), I'd go Past Lives, American Fiction, Barbie, Oppenheimer.
Did we have a book post?
I've actually been making use of my public liberry.
I was just thinking about heckling one of the usual suspects into setting one of those up as it's been awhile. Thank you for volunteering!
Mmhmm.
I'm game for this. I've started tracking my reading now and I'm on something like a 32-day streak. I've finished 4 books this year which is way above my pace in recent years.
attaboy, puns.
So I finally saw Barbie this weekend. It was a great. I would have loved to been a fly on the wall at Mattel when the story was pitched. It's pretty subversive and I am sure there were more than a few "Barbie brand managers" who were very uneasy with the story. If anyone knows of a great article on Mattel's involvement with the movie, please share.
One thing I thought was interesting, is that Barbie in the real world was supposed to be "boxed" and sent back to Barbieland. Presumably she would also be be stripped of any memories of the real world as part of that boxing and be blissfully unaware of the world around her. Now all summer there were Barbie boxes set up in movie theaters where one could get their photo taken and shared on social media. However, was this actually a means by which to strip the memories of the message the movie was sending? The movie was basically a set up of the patriarchy and a lot of women went to that movie. It's a dangerous message to have out there in the popular culture. Perhaps getting in that Barbie box and having your photo taken was a way to blunt that message. I think about these things.
You do know that the sale of clownfish skyrocketed after Finding Nemo, right? The public doesn't get it, so there's nothing to blunt.
Also, Born on the Fourth of July was a pro-war movie.
I think the reaction to the Barbie movie is as funny as the movie.
They made a Barbie movie with a message that was entertaining for a 50 year old man. That's a feat!
We went to see Barbie in the theater and it was one of the best movie-going theater experiences I've ever had. People were really having a good time, it was great to see.
Dune: Part 2 was fantastic. Almost perfectly cast (Christopher Walken looked like he barely knew where he was), amazing visuals, just a great treatment of the source material. I don't know how he's going to pull off Messiah, but I trust Villeneue with anything at this point.
Shogun is also amazingly good. I haven't read the books so I'm coming in blind, but also political drama set in feudal Japan is right up my alley.
We just finished Season 5 of True Detective last night, and Shogun is high on my list to start next. Glad to hear good things about it.
What did you think of True Detective? I liked it but was disappointed it wasn't better.
I thought TD started strong due to creepiness, seemed to peter out at the end.
I liked it a lot. The creepiness held up for me throughout the season, and enough mystery/surprise to keep me interested.
I also had to watch half the finale again yesterday, because while trying to remember what happened at the end I realized I fell asleep while watching it the first time through, and evidently missed the second half. (Note: Read that as being caused by me and my nightly level of exhaustion, not an indictment of the show itself.)
I just starting reading Shogun. Only a couple hundred in. Some interesting choices so far, but it's good.
Funny. I found a paperback copy of Shogun forgotten in a booth at Perkins in like 1999. Saw that they were (re)making a miniseries and dug it out to read. I find that I don’t remember it at all.
I'm looking forward to Netflix' 3 Body Problem, but the last trailer and the early reviews have me a little disconcerted. I'm afraid modifications to the storyline (which I expected) and the film work is sacrificing story for spectacle. There are a number of very interesting ideas presented in the book, but is very China-centric. That said, boiling it down to eight episodes (I haven't heard the length of each episode) might be short shrift, since the Chinese version consisted of thirty 1-hr episodes (with at least two being mostly fluff). I guess the good news is that the Game of Thrones guys are working off of a completed book this time around.
I have been watching Foundation. Midway through season 2.
I think the credits should stop saying "based on" and instead say "vaguely inspired by" the books by Asimov.
It's not bad tv. It just doesn't much resemble the books.
I have yet to read the Shogun book on the shelf. I haven’t watched the original series. I feel like I need to do both of those things before watching the new series. 😬
I binged all four seasons of Succession during the month of February. For having literally not one sympathetic character, it was great TV. Fantastic writing and dialogue.
Yeah, I'm not normally a fan of those kind of shows, but it really is so good.
https://www.theonion.com/cool-dad-raising-daughter-on-media-that-will-put-her-en-1819572981
When my girls were little, the song "Little Willie" by Sweet came on at the pool. They were singing along while all the other kids stared at them.
I've been watching Mr In-between on Hulu. Australian show about a hitman dealing with how his violence affects his personal life. It's a really good show. Characters remind me of Guy Ritchie movies.
Hey did anyone watch the Americans? I started watching it on the plane a few weeks ago. I remember it getting good reviews but not sure if I'm up for 6 seasons. I may watch the first season and the last. I'll obviously miss a bunch but will probably get the gist. Thoughts?
The first season was okay. The show wasn't sure what it was trying to be. It figured it out in the second season and was excellent after that. It is an intense show and every episode felt like you needed to get a drink to unwind. Binging it would be tough I think but maybe watching multiple at once could help ease some of the tension since you will get resolution faster. We stopped watching in the fourth season because it was too much for the spouse and I didn't pick it back up after that.
It's a slow-burn show and with an only okay first season, I don't know how much you'll get watching that one and skipping the middle. Maybe the first and last episode of each middle season?
Thanks. That's really helpful. I'm midway through the first season and definitely see the potential. Also, since I know the show lasts six seasons, any jeopardy Elizabeth and Phillip are in is somewhat tempered by the fact that "they still have 70 episodes left in the series, clearly they just didn't get caught by the CIA."
I'm stuck somewhere in the middle of it. Like sean said, it's not really a wind down at the end of the night kind of show, so that's partially why I got stuck. It is a really good show though and I've heard the ending is great, so that's a motivating factor for me to pick it up again.
I thought it ended up being great. First season took a while for me to get hooked, but when it did I was all in. It then only got better as it went along. Skipping the middle seasons would be a huge mistake, imo. Like the others said, it does bring the intensity in spades, so binging more than two eps might wear you out. Take it slow and steady and enjoy the huge payoff at the end.
O.k. You guys are convincing me to power through the 1st season and then watch the whole thing. I watch while riding my bike so there's that. But hopefully in next couple of weeks I can get the bike outside. I can fill in when needed. It will probably take until next season's inside biking to get to the end anyway.
So I ended up watching all of Season 1, 2, and 6 in their entirety. I watched the first and last two episodes of season 3, 4, and 5 plus read the recaps for the episodes I missed while picking off a couple of other episodes that looked interesting.
Yeah and that's the only time we had to watch it.
Well, about that... We watched it while it aired so weren't sure how long it would go and while you know they are the protagonists, no one ever feels safe.
It isn't my thing, but I now recall there are older Cup or Movie posts praising the show's music selections. Found one.
It did have some dynamite needle drops. Here's the show's musical supervisor's Top10. I distinctly remember great moments set to Roxy Music, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Bauhaus as well.
https://variety.com/2018/music/news/the-americans-music-supervision-songs-1202730700/
At one point, the music of Yaz is part of the plot.
It's a great show. I just did a rewatch a few months ago, and it holds up really well.
Just finished Masters of the Air on AppleTV. Excellent miniseries from the same people that brought you Band of Brothers and The Pacific. It follows the Bloody 100th, a squadron of B-17s stationed Europe. Equal parts rousing and heartbreaking. Great cast led by Austin Butler, Callum Turner, and Nate Mann. If you liked the first two, you will not be disappointed.
M. Emmet Walsh passes away at 88.
Runner daughter and I watched the first two (of eight) episodes of 3 Body Problem last night. The dialog was a bit flat, and I questioned a couple minor changes from the book, but so far, so good.
We've been watching Palm Royale with Kristen Wiig and Carol Burnett, it's really fun. Also started Girls 5 Eva, about an 80s girl band making a comeback. Also very fun, especially if you were young in the 80s.