What are you watching?

[Leon]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to Utopia - I've probably talked about how much I liked the original british series on here. Haven't been able to start it because my wife has been spending every evening trying to make a writing deadline, but finished last night.

I'm holding out on the USA version of Utopia. It seems to be getting a hammering on IMDB last time I looked. So I'll see if it gets past that before I venture forth. Given how much I enjoyed the original, I don't know that there's any urgency to seek a repeat but different. Though I do like John Cusack.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, I am feeling some trepidation - Though I like the previous work of the US creative team. The original was just so weird and dark and... constructed? Deliberate?
And I've got no idea how it'll work without the guy who played Wilson Wilson.

[MR2 Fan]

I'm rewatching the (first 3) Pirates of the Caribbean movies. They're intriguing as that they're very well produced, have great scenes and action, but also have some very odd choices.

Yes, some people don't like them, especially by the third and later ones, but I still think they have an interesting otherworldly lore built around them...and the music is some of the best.

[JoshInKC]

So I'm 6 episodes into Utopia now... It's okay. There's some really good casting (Wilson, Grant, Becky, Ian, Samantha), and some rather meh choices and writing. It somehow manages to be both more complicated and more dumbed-down than the original. I'll finish the season and then see how I feel about the future, but I'm not looking forward to more of this show as much as I'm looking forward to watching the original again. There are some faint echoes of the british series in the directing and music, but just enough to make think "Boy, this could be better."
Serious spoilers below
I really don't like what they did to Arby - It's like they're trying to combine his series 1 and 2 arcs from the original, but there's no build up or visible show logic to lead us to understand what's going on with him. This is kind of a big problem, since in the original he was a cipher, but somehow understandable and that's what made him interesting.
I also think they made an unforced error at the end of the second ep with Jessica Hyde killing samantha, and I'm not sure if the show can quite recover from it. I get that they were trying to show just how brutal she's been made to be, but that was just ridiculous.

[Phil_SS]

I'm rewatching the (first 3) Pirates of the Caribbean movies. They're intriguing as that they're very well produced, have great scenes and action, but also have some very odd choices.

Yes, some people don't like them, especially by the third and later ones, but I still think they have an interesting otherworldly lore built around them...and the music is some of the best.

Totally agree. They are fun movies to watch. :up:

[JoshInKC]

I also watched the first two episodes of The Good Lord Bird, which is a showtime series 'about' John Brown and Bleeding Kansas. Stars Ethan Hawke as John Brown and apparently Daveed Diggs as Frederick Douglass. It's happily not a white savior story, which it would be very easy to turn into.
Pretty good and fun so far, though it might be steering a little bit too far into "John Brown was a crazy lunatic*" territory for my taste - though that does make for fun stuff on screen.

*: I think that narrative is overblown as a bit of southern revisionism (like the states' rights nonsense). "That guy who thought blacks were the equal of whites (and was willing to fight for it) was a frothing at the mouth loony!" is a pretty good story if you want to keep 'equality=crazy' in peoples' minds.

[Tom Servo]

Just finished up Schitt's Creek. We barely slogged through the first season but it really improved over the course of the series, that was a fun show.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, schitt's creek took a season or so to get going, but turned into one of the best shows and nicest of the past 5 years.
The name hurt it too.

[Tom Servo]

It did. It had no right to be as good as it was with that title, and I never would have given it a shot if it weren't for Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara. Well, and I think Chris Elliott is criminally underrated, but that's me.

What was great too was that the rest of the cast were so strong that the two headliners didn't steal the show, despite Catherine's wardrobe.

[Leon]

Agreed with Schitts Creek. Initial look suggested it was a one joke show, but then got so much better.

[Tom Servo]

It has left me significantly less annoyed that What We Do In The Shadows didn't win the Emmy, though I still think Shadows is better.

[Leon]

Shadows has plenty more shots at it, while this was the last chance for Schitt's :)

[G'day Mate]

Agree on all fronts re Schitt’s creek, but I must say that the final episode was a bit dumb. I don’t remember many specifics, other than the “happy ending” but which seemed completely pointless as it added nothing then they all moved on

[sandydandy]

Re: Schitt's Creek. I don't watch it, but my son is a huge fan. I tried watching an episode or two and it didn't really do anything for me. I'm not usually into these goofy type shows like the Office or Schitt's Creek. I did notice Schitt's cleaned up at the Emmys. Still probably won't watch.

[Leon]

I've watched through a Canadian Sitcom called "Kim's Convenience". It's a nice little show. Nothing too demanding, light viewing, with a few chuckles in there. As a bonus, unlike "Friends" everyone isn't white :P

[MR2 Fan]

I've watched through a Canadian Sitcom called "Kim's Convenience". It's a nice little show. Nothing too demanding, light viewing, with a few chuckles in there. As a bonus, unlike "Friends" everyone isn't white :P

Yes, I've been watching it...nice lighthearted show. Also, Pastor Nina (Amanda Brugel) is very cute. My favorite is when she's trying to explain to Mr. Kim why the sign showing "Discunt" was inappropriate and not just a bad misspelling

[Tom Servo]

Re: Schitt's Creek. I don't watch it, but my son is a huge fan. I tried watching an episode or two and it didn't really do anything for me. I'm not usually into these goofy type shows like the Office or Schitt's Creek. I did notice Schitt's cleaned up at the Emmys. Still probably won't watch.

We'd watched the first like 5 episodes and essentially gave up on it, but a friend of ours convinced us it got better. It really, really did.

[sandydandy]

Netflix (Canada) just released the second season of Unsolved Mysteries. I’m getting goosebumps as I get ready to watch it!

[JoshInKC]

Finished Utopia the other day - Final judgement is a soft recommendo. You'll be disappointed if you watched the british series, but if you haven't it's a kind of fun (if uneven), violent, conspiracy show with some decent casting. I'll probably watch the second season, assuming it gets one.

[Cam]

Finished the second season of The Boys.

It was satisfying to see Meave, Annie and the Female kick the shit out of that nazi cunt Stormfront. :lol:

[sandydandy]

Just watched a new episode of My Next Guest with Dave Letterman, where he interviews Robert Downey Jr. in a fantastic and uplifting interview. RDJ opens up with great candor and in detail about his past issues with drug and alcohol addiction, and we learn about Dave’s previous addiction as well. He’s such an inspiring figure who leads by example and really represents hope for others.

Plus I’m always hoping he’ll give us one more performance as Iron Man one day.

[MR2 Fan]

I think when COVID is starting to go away, certain things may get pushed to promote people going back to the movies again (however they will watch them). Something tells me RDJ could be convinced possibly.

[Phil_SS]

My daughter has become obsessed with Harry Potter, thus we have been watching the movies. In like the past 2-3 weeks she has watched all of them multiple times. :lol: Viewing them together, we are only up to Goblet of Fire.

Myself, I never saw the Half Blodd Prince or the Dealthy Hallows, so for me I will actually get to see what happens for the first time.

[sandydandy]

I think when COVID is starting to go away, certain things may get pushed to promote people going back to the movies again (however they will watch them). Something tells me RDJ could be convinced possibly. I think if Covid doesn’t go away anytime soon it’ll be the end of big blockbuster movie productions as we know it. There will be a major correction in big actor’s salaries as most everything will go direct to streaming. This might be the beginning of a major paradigm shift in the film industry.

[FaultyMario]

devil all the time

[Kchrpm]

I'm not exactly sure that budgets will go down for "blockbusters" going straight to streaming.

[sandydandy]

Well without anticipated box office revenues it would be hard for studios to justify big budget productions. They would lose a lot of money. I don't know the exact figures, but I'm pretty sure streaming revenues are a fraction of movie theater. Unless everyone raises their subscription fees all at once. It's a strange new time we're living in. I hate the idea of getting used to it. :mad:

[Kchrpm]

Well without anticipated box office revenues it would be hard for studios to justify big budget productions. They would lose a lot of money. I don't know the exact figures, but I'm pretty sure streaming revenues are a fraction of movie theater. Unless everyone raises their subscription fees all at once. It's a strange new time we're living in. I hate the idea of getting used to it. :mad:

If the theater model completely goes away, I would expect premium releases on streaming services, like Mulan did, to become more prevalent. You get the initial sale plus more subscribers.

[speedpimp]

Finished the second season of The Boys.

It was satisfying to see Meave, Annie and the Female kick the shit out of that nazi cunt Stormfront. :lol:

Jenson Achles will be in season three as Soldier Boy

[dodint]

Well without anticipated box office revenues it would be hard for studios to justify big budget productions. They would lose a lot of money. I don't know the exact figures, but I'm pretty sure streaming revenues are a fraction of movie theater. Unless everyone raises their subscription fees all at once. It's a strange new time we're living in. I hate the idea of getting used to it. :mad:

Wouldn't it be something if studios had to rely on novel ideas and creative story telling to sell a movie instead of whatever it is Michael Bay does?

[MR2 Fan]

It is interesting to me how much things like the MCU and Fast and Furious, and um, Star Wars, I guess... series have SEEMINGLY carried theaters in a lot of ways (feel free to disagree) over the past few years.

In other words, people are often not going to theaters to see non-action blockbusters anymore, because those can be enjoyed at home more readily. People still wanted to flock to theaters to see the big action movies and to watch them before spoilers got out, etc. also.

It's a weird dynamic that we may not see the true outcome for a couple more years.

[TheBenior]

If the theater model completely goes away, I would expect premium releases on streaming services, like Mulan did, to become more prevalent. You get the initial sale plus more subscribers.

That would still probably mean a massive reduction of movies with budgets in the hundreds of millions. Initial reports of the Disney Plus Mulan release being a massive success were almost certainly wrong (the company whose data Yahoo said suggested $261 million in US sales says it was more like $62-93 million); Disney hasn't released numbers and is delaying other big releases.

[sandydandy]

Watched the Borat sequel. Pretty damn good! Not a lot of shock value stuff as in the first one, but still plenty of eyebrow raising moments.

Giuliani thing had to be staged, just like the Pam Anderson stuff in the first one.

[Kchrpm]

Initial reports of the Disney Plus Mulan release being a massive success were almost certainly wrong (the company whose data Yahoo said suggested $261 million in US sales says it was more like $62-93 million)
Ah, did not know that.

[sandydandy]

Watched Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9...not 9/11...11/9. A movie he made in 2018. I'll save the political stuff for the politics thread. The most important thing for me is how and why the hell did I never hear about this movie???

There's some serious Mandela Effect shit going on here. :erm:

[JoshInKC]

Because most people got sick of Moore and his movies like 10 years ago.

[Kchrpm]

The Mandalorian season 2 on Friday :up:

[drew]

We just finished season 2 of The Boys.

[FaultyMario]

Gangs of London. Worth the time?

[Leon]

Superstore is back again. A lightweight comedy that somehow manages to punch far above its weight class.

[FaultyMario]

i highly recommend Don't worry, he won't get far on foot.

kim Gordon and Carrie Brownstein?

yup, a fine, fine film.

[JoshInKC]

I missed that somehow. I'll give it a go.

[Kchrpm]

I watched The Christmas Chronicles on Netflix "with" a friend while we did live commentary in a group chat. It's an enjoyable streaming holiday movie that I've watched multiple times, and she had never seen, and it was fun commenting on it with each other. The group is planning on doing it with more movies this season, and it is definitely helping me with the anxiousness of the season.

[dodint]

That sounds like fun. Do you use that Netflix browser extension to do it? Used that once for an Innocence Project event and it was pretty neat.

[sandydandy]

Nothing but election coverage for a week.

[Kchrpm]

That sounds like fun. Do you use that Netflix browser extension to do it? Used that once for an Innocence Project event and it was pretty neat.

No, because it doesn't let you watch on your TV as far as I know. We just said "we're starting now" and used Facebook chat. If we do a Disney+ movie, since it has the functionality baked in and compatible with app and TV watching, we may use that.

[dodint]

Ah. I figured you were just casting your screen.

[Freude am Fahren]

Going back through Archer from the beginning to catch up where I had left off a few seasons ago.


Soooo damn good.

Watched the first two episodes of The Mandalorian. I do like how the show has individual adventures each episode. It's a bit of a throw back in that way. That said, I need it to move a little faster if they're only doing 8-10 episodes a season or whatever. The template works if you have a long season and can have 10 or so that can stand on their own and a handful that move the overall plot. With only 8 episodes, they're only going to have like 20 minutes of story arc.

[Leon]

Mandalorian continues to remind me of a computer game.

Complete mission A to get access to plot device X.

[MR2 Fan]

I finally watched the only MCU movie I hadn't seen yet: Thor The Dark World....the one that's at the bottom of most MCU movies lists and now I know why.

With about 20 minutes left I was severely bored. The jumping around they do constantly was confusing and there was very little humor that we know from the other MCU movies in the franchise, and I didn't really feel the sense of urgency that they have to resolve the evil elf plot that much.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, that one was a trainwreck - People say that those marvel movies are "Made in the editing room," and it's very clear they didn't have any idea what the movie was on when they started filming Dark World. I still can't work my head around as to why they hired Chris Eccleston for what turned out to be both minimal screen time and a performance absolutely covered in prosthetics.

[MR2 Fan]

I haven't watched any DCEU movies before....I started with Aquaman just because it seemed the most interesting. Ehh....visuals were great, but the plot was very plain and script was pretty basic as well.

It was definitely missing a few elements and it seemed to drag on a bit. I enjoyed Jason Momoa though and Amber Heard can go to hell (wait that may have been due to recent events)

[sandydandy]

Watching Jean Claude Van Johnson. So hilarious. :lol: I’m halfway through the series, it’s very easy to watch as the episodes are less than 30 minutes in length. It’s interesting how Van Damme gets more critical recognition for this kind of comedic reality work instead of the action roles of his prime that made him famous.

I went and revisited his feud with Steven Seagal and surprisingly it’s still ongoing. The two haven’t buried the hatchet yet. JCVD has made the effort but Seagal is such a dickhead, even to this day. Takes potshots at Van Damme every chance he gets. What sad overweight man.

[Phil_SS]

My wife and I mowed right through The Queen's Gambit. We both thought it was excellent and it is worth the watch just for the cinematography and the fashion.

[Tom Servo]

We're five episodes in. Agreed, it's quite good.

[sandydandy]

Watched Best of the Best 2 last night on YouTube. Full movie was available. I hadn’t seen this movie in probably 25 years. It was a nice trip down memory lane. Good kick ass action. But objectively speaking, storytelling wise, the movie was pretty shitty. Still have to watch the first one, it’s sitting in my list on Netflix.

[FaultyMario]

My wife and I mowed right through The Queen's Gambit. We both thought it was excellent and it is worth the watch just for the cinematography and the fashion.

Yes.

Then we went ahead and watched a couple of episodes from The Alienist S01.

I know that TQsG used a lot of cgi, but still, the set decor and the costume department must have been quite a hefty bill. There's a scene in The Alienist where the protagonists go to the Opera, it makes any of the TQsG bars and hotels look amateur in comparison.

[dodint]

Ash and I are watching Dickensian. Really enjoying it.

[Kchrpm]

I'm watching Marvel 616, a series of documentaries on Disney+.

The first is Japanese Spider-Man, which I didn't realize I had come before a lot of the big superhero robot media that it looks so much like.

The second is a look at influential women writers and artists in comics history.

I don't watch a ton of documentaries, and these are anything but hard-hitting so far, but I am enjoying them.

[MR2 Fan]

just got through 3 (of 4) seasons of The Man in the High Castle, going through the rest very soon. I wasn't aware it was based on a Philip K. Dick novel, but that intrigued me, so I began to watch it. IMO it's very good, but dark, and I mean that in a physical brightness way...it's annoying, almost have to watch it in the dark to make out everything going on.

I will say that it's a political drama with a sci-fi element that's nearly completely in the background the whole time. It's the least sci-fi, sci-fi I've ever seen

[MR2 Fan]

Update: I finished all 4 seasons....it keeps going well but the ending was a bit underwhelming..not sure if they were trying for a 5th season and maybe they had to rush things but felt like that was the case sadly

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, that last season was kind of weirdly rushed and I missed Tagomi. I really wonder what happened behind the scenes with that.

[JoeW]

Tagomi was the best character.

[MR2 Fan]

The weirdest part of the ending to me was

When random people were coming through the portal IN to that version of the world....and they said people were coming from everywhere? WHY though?

[MR2 Fan]

I watched The Queen's Gambit....I'll be honest, I watched it mostly because Anya Taylor Joy's eyes are incredible to me....so mesmerizing

[Tom Servo]

Just finished it as well, really enjoyed it.

[FaultyMario]

Mank on netflix.

It is America's Cinema Paradiso.

[sandydandy]

Had a lot of spare time these past few days and watched quite a few movies. Some nostalgic shit as well.

Currently in the middle of a Terminator binge watch. Watched the first three yesterday, which was easy. The hard part starts tonight with Terminator Salvation, then Genisys and then Dark Fate. Hope I can sit through them. I've already seen Salvation and Genisys, and don't remember them to be especially great. Also not really looking forward to Dark Fate, based on what I've seen in the trailers.

Other current Netflix and Prime stuff...Strange But True and I See You. Both were above average movies with clever twists. Also watched Traffik, which was pretty decent.

[SportWagon]

I've caught a couple of episode's of Dale Jr's series running on the History Channel. "Lost Speedways".

[dodint]

Mank on netflix.

It is America's Cinema Paradiso.

How much did it play off of Citizen Kane? I have heard they compliment one another.

[sandydandy]

Watched Tough Guy: The Bob Probert Story. It was very engrossing.

[Tom Servo]

We've been watching Pen15 on Hulu after some comedians I like had raved about it. It's a lot better than I expected

[JSGeneral]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iLVoEg9aLk

[JoshInKC]

Animation is probably the best way to present What If? Especially if they can get all the huge movie stars to show up and do a day or so of VO once a year or so.

[Kchrpm]

Indeed. Hayley said she recorded her audio years ago for the Captain Carter part.

[FaultyMario]

How much did it play off of Citizen Kane? I have heard they compliment one another.

It is supposed to be the back story of CK's script.

It pays tribute to CK's photography, editing, music and spirit.

I'm sorry to emphasize the last part, but I think you have to draw a line between tribute and spinoff, and this is defo a tribute. The music is by Trent Reznor and you don't notice it, which is what good cinema music should do, IMHO.

[JoshInKC]

Indeed. Hayley said she recorded her audio years ago for the Captain Carter part.

Sweet. While we're on the subject - why the hell haven't they started a new Agent Carter series on disney plus? It'd be cheap as hell compared to what some of the other shows look like they cost, and it was a great, fun show.

[Kchrpm]

Hayley's busy making Mission Impossible movies, and they haven't shown any interest in including anyone or anything from AC or AOS in the future of the MCU yet.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Thanks to JoeW’s recommendation, I’m catching up on the expanse, up to season2 only..., but the show is beginning to feel too real watching it in 2020...

Earth is like US and Mars is like China and Belters represent all the rest ‘shithole’ countries and there’s an infectious protomolecule thing...

It’s engaging to watch so far, but this sci-fi is really beginning to feel too real...

Hope there’ll be a happy ending?

[JoeW]

Ummm yeah yeah! All the solar system sprouts flowers and everyone becomes friends!

:)

[Crazed_Insanity]

yeah... So I guess Jesus Christ finally returns as a Mormon to save the day? ;)

[JoeW]

Nailed it.

[mk]

Zodiac
(the code)

[sandydandy]

Watched Terminator: Dark Fate which wrapped up my Terminator binge watch. It was surprisingly decent.

[dodint]

It is supposed to be the back story of CK's script.

It pays tribute to CK's photography, editing, music and spirit.

I'm sorry to emphasize the last part, but I think you have to draw a line between tribute and spinoff, and this is defo a tribute. The music is by Trent Reznor and you don't notice it, which is what good cinema music should do, IMHO.

Ah, that makes sense. I hadn't heard much about it but knew there was some connection to CK.

Started watching Billions. Two of my favorite actors. Nothing subtle about it.

[JoeW]

Just started the new season of Expanse. This is likely the most scientifically realistic science fiction show I’ve seen in recent memory. Just so detailed.

[speedpimp]

Finishing up The Wilds. I didn't know what to expect going in, but I really like it.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Just started the new season of Expanse. This is likely the most scientifically realistic science fiction show I’ve seen in recent memory. Just so detailed.

Yeah, also all the sex, violence and foul languages...

Battlestar galactica only frack around, but expanse really fucked it up a notch for a TV series!

[JoeW]

Over the last several months I’ve rewatched the entire Stargate compendium (SG-1, Atlantis, Universe). Just a great show all the way through.

[Kchrpm]

I know very little about Stargate, except I think they use P90s and I just discovered Julia Benson and I am a fan.

[JoeW]

Yeah P90s abound.

[Cam]

Lori and I are chompin' at the bit for the new season of The Expanse.

[JoeW]

3 episodes in and it's amazing.

[Godson]

This week I watch "The Old Guard" on netflix. It was solid. I enjoyed it's mythical side, and it was decently believable.


Just watched "The Foreigner". It was a 7 out of 10.

I enjoyed the 2 hours it took up, but I won't be watching it again.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Okay, caught up to all of the Expanse. Yeah, JoeW's right, good show.

About the only unrealistic part I found was despite Belters are all portrayed as loud mouth, dirty and barbaric... when they all sleep together naked, they all look so beautiful with smooth skins... and nobody snored!?!?!? BS!!!! :p

Anyway, luckily season 5 finished filming before the shutdown. However, post-production may be slowed that's why we only have 3 episodes so far?

It is mind boggling how scyfy channel cancelled this show back in 2018? What were the executives thinking?

[JoshInKC]

The 3 episode thing is just what Amazon is doing now: They release 3 on the first weekend, and then 1 a week until the series ends.
They piloted the model with the most recent season of The Boys, and apparently it worked - They got people excited and interested with the first ones, and then it got talked about every week afterwards when the new ep dropped.
So look again this Friday.

What were they thinking? "Ehh, this costs more than our other shows, and the actors get contractually guaranteed raises after this season" probably.

[Crazed_Insanity]

We have a hit show on our hands but it costs too much to make them... so... let’s just cancel it?

Or perhaps it wasn’t really a hit back then? I didn’t know about it until JoeW mentioned it! :p but if it wasn’t a hit, how could the actors demand more money?

Anyway, shouldn’t they try to reduce cost a bit rather than just cancel? Or perhaps the shows creators knew they could get more money elsewhere...

Anyway, don’t know much about the behind the scene history, but glad things have worked out.

[JoeW]

It wasn't canceled due to viewership. It was something to do with distribution rights etc etc.

I was able to dig this up...

"The Expanse is produced by Alcon Entertainment, but when Syfy purchased the rights to the series in 2014, The Expanse's distribution structure was scattered. While Syfy handled the live broadcast of each episode, The Expanse's first 3 seasons would later stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S., Crave in Canada and Netflix in other territories. Modern audiences are rapidly turning away from watching premiere broadcasts in preference of on-demand viewing, and The Expanse is certainly a series that lends itself perfectly to binge-watch viewing. This trend meant that while viewership did decline during The Expanse's first 3 seasons on Syfy, the network's real problem was an increasing struggle to make their slice of The Expanse's distribution rights profitable.

When Amazon swooped in to salvage the Roci and her crew, they had the considerable benefit of already possessing streaming rights in the United States, and by shelling out some additional cash, Jeff Bezos was able to obtain exclusive distribution for The Expanse, making Amazon Prime the undisputed home of the show. Holding all of the cards made The Expanse a far more attractive proposition for Amazon than it was at its former home, since the streaming service aren't sharing out its sci-fi pie. Although only one further season is confirmed at present, this is certainly promising for the future of The Expanse, and makes another premature cancellation less likely."

[JoshInKC]

As far as how the actors could demand more - that's very common if not standard in acting deals: "If the show gets renewed for a 2nd season, everybody gets +10%, again for the third season. If the show continues to do well, and goes for more than 3 (or 4, or whatever) seasons, the regular cast get an automatic 20% bump." It allows the production company to not have to worry about salary negotiations getting weird, and it helps to keep actors locked in on a single show - Doing 4 seasons on one show is theoretically worth more money than jumping from show-to-show chasing incremental raises.

JoeW talked about a big part of the problem - syfy's (and plenty of other tv channels) business model isn't necessarily the best one these days. A similar thing happened to The Magicians, but apparently Bezos wasn't a fan of the books. It was apparently making money, but only just enough every year, and netflix was getting a greater percentage than syfy was comfortable with. The old problem of "Sure, we're not losing money, but we're making those guys over there RICH!*

*: "those guys over there" are making .01% more

[Godson]

I binged watched "Master Mechanic"

Ant from wheeler dealers builds a replica of the Alfa Romeo 158 from pretty much scratch.

It was excellent.

[Godson]

I finally watched Grand Torino.

Excellent movie. Not going to lie, when I saw the dog on the porch I lost it a little bit.

[neanderthal]

Wonder Woman 84. Meh. :|

[JoeW]

Sooo bad. I liked the 1st one a lot. But this one was just awful.

[Crazed_Insanity]

What about Disney/Pixar’s Soul?

I thought Pixar did an amazing job with the Mexicans with Coco...

However, IMHO, Soul wasn’t too bad, but didn’t reach that same lofty level for African Americans... also felt like it raised more questions than answers... maybe it’s setting up for a sequel? Anyway, just didn’t think the ending was satisfying enough, but maybe I was just too spoiled by all the past Pixar’s successes...

[Freude am Fahren]

The Flight Attendant on HBO Max.

Fairly entertaining, at times really good, at times just frustrating. Worth a watch if you've got time to kill and looking for something intriguing (or just want to watch Kaley Cuoco run around acting crazy).

Just started Raised By Wolves.

[Kchrpm]

I really liked Soul. RE the ending:
I read an interview with the creator where he said they discussed different endings that were more specific, showing Joe and 22 meeting up or what Joe's life was like, but that undermined the point on life being enjoyable just to live, not that you needed major moments or specific things to happen.

[JoshInKC]

I like the flight attendant a lot - I'm not sure that I've ever seen her (Cuoco) in anything before, but she was both fun and good in it. Plus, Michelle Gomez is nearly always worth watching.
And yeah, wonder woman 84 was not very good, in kind of inexplicable ways - The pacing seemed very weird/off, I'm still only kind of sure that Pedro Pascal was actually a villain, and that whole Egypt sequence was pretty racist. Chris Pine was good again, Wiig was okay until they sent her into the same arc as Catwoman in Batman Returns (shy nerdy girl becomes evil and resentful of society when she gets any power) and Pascal was pretty hilarious.

[Kchrpm]

Josh, while I agree with your spoiler sentiment

The justification is that the monkey's paw nature of the artifact took away her humanity, not that it was merely a result of her gaining power.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah I get what you're saying, but I don't think they delivered on that idea enough to make it actually distinguishable from my thing.
They really didn't pay off the monkey's paw angle very well - You'd think they'd have more scenes of seemingly innocuous wishes having terrible consequences as opposed to "Deport the Irish!" "Die, Bitch!"

[Leon]

new season of Letterkenny still delivering

[JoeW]

Finished it...always excellent.

[Kchrpm]

They really didn't pay off the monkey's paw angle very well - You'd think they'd have more scenes of seemingly innocuous wishes having terrible consequences as opposed to "Deport the Irish!" "Die, Bitch!"
Remember, though, that by the time *he* was the object, he was getting to choose what the consequence was, and saying it out loud, rather than it just being "whatever you hold most dear" or whatever. That's why he would turn away from the camera and say "and in return I will take your life force" among other things. At that point, the number and scope of wishes being granted was causing/contributing to the chaos, not just the monkey paw effect. The "Deport the Irish" and "Drop dead!" being the perfect examples, because they got exactly what their wishes were, and then were horrified by them.

All that said, I agree that, whatever the story reason, Barbara gaining powers and losing humanity is a common movie trope.

[dodint]

Started watching Billions. Two of my favorite actors. Nothing subtle about it.

Really liking this show. I picked up Showtime as a Prime Day deal for $2/mo for 2 months. Powering through this so I can cancel the sub, halfway done.

Although Your Honor looks good too so I might have to hold the sub over for a while longer.

[speedpimp]

new season of Letterkenny still delivering

The writing, word play and character interactions are still there, but it was sorely missing the pitter patter. I liked it, but something seemed a bit off.

[sandydandy]

Watched Assault on Wall Street aka Bailout: The Age of Greed. Had its moments of satisfaction but was ultimately preposterous. Still worth a watch.

[sandydandy]

Watched Death to 2020. It had its funny moments, but the extreme negative of 2020 still fresh in mind kind of overshadowed a lot of the humor for me.

Also watched First Man, which was just fantastic. Not a huge fan of Ryan Gosling in general, (even though he’s Canadian), but he was very good in this.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, I liked Death to 2020, but it was as the kids say kind of a lot.

[Yobbo NZ]

Cobra Kai season 3, only up to the 5th episode so far. I find it rather emotional watching some of these characters from the (so far) two movies reunite, it's great to see a continuation of the movies and done pretty well too.

[Leon]

I watched the latest American effort at recycling a British series.

In this case "Call me Kat" (Mayim Bialik) trying to use the jokes out of the UK series "Miranda" (Miranda Hart).

It is insufferably stupid. Their idea of comedy is repeated "spit out the drink" moments. Luckily it telegraphs anything you're supposed to find funny, by braying hysteria as a laugh track.

Luckily, it seems the rest of the population agrees, and it is rating 3.5/10 on IMDB. Which is a shame for Mayim, who I find quite interesting on social media. If there is any justice in the world, this series will be cancelled fast. However, look at some of the other rubbish that still keeps on being made.

[JoshInKC]

Ahhh, I was trying to figure out what the video ads for that show were reminding me of - and now that you mention it, I think it was Miranda. A show I thought was reasonably amusing but not enough that I watched more than a few episodes.

[sandydandy]

Watched the six part series Surviving Death. Interesting series that requires a bit of an open mind to watch. First episode was great, then it took a bizarre tangent over the next few episodes, then ended very strong. I recommend giving it a shot.

Also watched Escape Room, which was a complete waste of time.

[Kchrpm]

I suggest watching the game show Race To Escape instead

https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/race-to-escape

[JoshInKC]

Still can't figure out why they didn't renew that - couldn't have cost much and it was fun.

"Ha! Idiot!"

[Kchrpm]

Jimmy explained it once, I think there was an executive change at the network and that person didn't like game shows. Or was that the Match Game deal...

[JoshInKC]

That sounds right, but you're right - that could have been nat'l lampoon's funny money, wherebiglaughsgetyoubigmoney

[Kchrpm]

And then gets you cancelled!

[sandydandy]

Watched Pieces of a Woman. I had high expectations for this, but it kind of fell flat. It was alright, I guess. Check it out if you’re interested in multiple dick shots of Shia Leboeuf.

Also watched Alien Code, which I had very low expectations for. It was actually quite good.

Also saw Exit 0 which was an interesting mind-fuck.

Finally, watched Wish Upon which was pure garbage.

[MR2 Fan]

Wandavision....very different....just watched episode 3...really interesting in what direction they're going with this.

[mk]

Bonderøven

[JSGeneral]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odM92ap8_c0

[drew]

Going to dive into The Expanse S5 this weekend.

[Phil_SS]

I've been watching Longmire. Thanks to Rich's endorsement from a few years ago. :lol:

It's been great so far, especially the first 3.5 seasons. The overarching story that takes place over that time really sucked me in and the final episode to finish the story was awesome.

Since then it has been pretty good as well, currently almost done with season 5. With only one season left, it will be interesting to see how they finish out the series.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, Longmire was a really decent show with some solid performances in both the core and supporting cast. It also did a great job of giving a paycheck or two to virtually every Native American working in hollywood, and got a huge return on its investment.

[George]

If you want to spend more time in Absaroka county and other places with Walt and friends after you've finished the TV series, The Longmire novels by Craig Johnson are excellent. I get the audiobooks from my local library.

I stumbled upon The Professor And The Madman on Netflix and watched perhaps the first third of it last night. I have heard the audiobook written and read by author Simon Winchester and am looking forward to finishing it tonight.

[FaultyMario]

I heard there was new sitcom from Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl, Raising Hope), has anybody watched it?

[dodint]

I've been watching Longmire. Thanks to Rich's endorsement from a few years ago. :lol:

It's been great so far, especially the first 3.5 seasons. The overarching story that takes place over that time really sucked me in and the final episode to finish the story was awesome.

Since then it has been pretty good as well, currently almost done with season 5. With only one season left, it will be interesting to see how they finish out the series.

Wow, nice.

I watched that a few months ago but had the opposite take on it. The first few AMC seasons were decent, but a bit formulaic and episodic. The Netflix seasons got darker and cultivated longer arcs and I ended up liking it a lot.

I'm really liking Billions, I'm in the last season now. Best TV show I've watched in a long time.

I'm either going to check out Goliath next, or maybe the second season of Jack Ryan. Not sure.

[JoshInKC]

Goliath is pretty good if you're into the idea of watching Billy Bob Thornton be a drunk weirdo, and Paul Williams playing a part which seems like it was tailor-made for Warren Zevon before he died. I like it.
The second season of Jack Ryan went even farther into jingoistic imperialism than the first season, which is kind of impressive all on its own. I did not like it- though it was competently made, it just made me feel gross. However, I will probably watch the third season just to see how far they can push it.

[dodint]

I heard the second season was just very sloppy. They're supposedly secret agent types but get trapped fairly easy when the plot calls for it. That's why I am so far between viewing S1 and S2.

[JoshInKC]

That seems possible, I honestly spent most of the season trying to pick my jaw up off the floor in disbelief - Its politics are a hair to the right of of the 1980s Rambo sequels.
I would have been entirely unsurprised if Jack Ryan had said "We can coup who we want, because we're America."
But I like that Wendell Pierce is getting steady work.

[neanderthal]

Goliath is pretty good if you're into the idea of watching Billy Bob Thornton be a drunk weirdo, and Paul Williams playing a part which seems like it was tailor-made for Warren Zevon before he died. I like it.
The second season of Jack Ryan went even farther into jingoistic imperialism than the first season, which is kind of impressive all on its own. I did not like it- though it was competently made, it just made me feel gross. However, I will probably watch the third season just to see how far they can push it.

Couldn't quite put my finger on what I didn't like about it, but I think you've hit the nail on the head.

[neanderthal]

First episode of Lupin, on Netflix. It's definitely engaging.

[Kchrpm]

WandaVision episode 4 :up:

[MR2 Fan]

WandaVision Ep 4 was INSANE!!

[JoeW]

Just started watching Handmaids Tale.

Jeezus this show is the definition of heavy drama.

[sandydandy]

I watched a kid on YouTube livestream a 200 lap endurance race on the Nurburgring 24H course. He was playing GT Sport racing against the AI. He did it for almost 30 hours straight, (he did pause the game in-between and take a few breaks). It was insane.

I started watching a couple of laps last night when he was on lap 88. He was averaging about 8:10-8:15 per lap, something that was more or less consistent throughout regardless of his fatigue level. I then checked back in after midnight and he was on lap 108 and I watched until 127. Then this morning I checked again and he was at 172. A couple of hours later, around 2:00 my time he finished.

He did it all to raise money for a school in the Philippines. At last check he raised about £15,000 through PayPal donations, but I’m sure that will go up much more. He did three different livestreams, as he couldn’t do it all in one video because of YouTube’s 12-hour limit. The YouTube channel is Super GT. All three videos are now gone, but I’m sure he’ll upload them soon. I imagine he’s quite unavailable at the moment, because he’s probably sound asleep for the next half-day.

An unbelievable and unreal effort which demands respect, but it was also outright insane and probably extremely unhealthy for his body. Nobody would’ve faulted him for nodding off for a couple of hours every 60 laps or so, but nope he wanted to do it all in one shot.

Crazy!

[neanderthal]

I love his commentary. I use shadow realm in my day to day conversation if the need pops up. Also, "dying of death."


Steve's a good bloke.

[sandydandy]

Yes his commentary was hilarious. I was watching on my TV and had the live chat going at the side, and some of the comments were also pure gold. Especially the drinking games that were going on whenever Steve would mention “the children”.

[Rare White Ape]

I watched WandaVision eps 1-4 tonight. They’re intriguing, and just a little bit weird.

[George]

Had to go to Wal-Mart *shudder* yesterday for the first time since the pandemic started. While there, I remembered they used to have bins of $5.00 DVDs in back with the TVs and electronic stuff. They still do, and a $6.95 bin for Blu Ray DVDs also. I found an old favorite in the high-rollers bin: Flash Gordon from 1980!

My wife: "I said I'd never watch that movie when I met you and I still won't."
Me: "But the music! Queen! And..."
Wife: "No."

Daughter: "Dad, this looks creepy. I'm going upstairs."

Son: "This is cool!"

It's as good as I remember it. Better, maybe. Buy it at a Wal-Mart near you. :D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6uOHnxf85g&ab_channel=StudiocanalUK

[speedpimp]

Goliath is most definitely worth a look, especially the episode Diablo Verde. Another good one worth checking out is Bosch. It's also on Prime.


George that is one of the few movies I've ever hated. Didn't help that I had a math teacher that I didn't care for who was a dead ringer for Meng and he was called "Seng The Merciless".

[George]

Ha ha. People either seem to love that movie as a cool space/action/sci-fi adventure with an amazing soundtrack or hate it as cheesy dreck.

I think I saw it in the early to mid-'80s at a second-run theatre or a "dollar theatre" with the same older cousin who took me to see the movie Dune. I thought it was a good movie at the time and then it just disappeared.

It wasn't shown on TV and it was never on the shelves at video rental stores. It was just gone for a long time. I'm pleased to own it now, even if it is just a little cheesy.

[sandydandy]

I watched Alone. Quite a good movie.

[MR2 Fan]

WandaVision Episode 5

more questions...more ideas...


The person who might be coming to help Monica....I think it's going to be Shuri...it makes the most sense to me.

Also, the idea that Wanda can re-create things from other "matter" for this town, maybe she's re-created part of the Mind stone somehow and it might take Shuri to undo things.

[Rare White Ape]

I’m loving the tribute to the different generations of family sitcoms in that show.

And:

The X-Men crossover of Pietro is both weird and quite genius

[Rare White Ape]

Although I must say, the contributors to the MCU Wiki are a bit behind the 8-ball compared to the guys running Wookiepedia. Nothing has been added to reflect events seen in WandaVision, whereas Wookiepedia is usually updated within the hour after episodes of Mando.

[JoshInKC]

I’m loving the tribute to the different generations of family sitcoms in that show.

And:

The X-Men crossover of Pietro is both weird and quite genius
Yeah, it's very fun if someone is like my exact age who grew up with reruns of all the 50s 60s and 70s shows and are as familiar with their visual and writing styles - I've heard some complaints from younger people to whom those things don't have any real meaning, though. Anyway, I'm enjoying it a lot - there's enough weirdness to keep me engaged beyond "Wow, that's a pitch perfect version of the Dick Van Dyke show and these actors are clearly having a ton of fun." I think my favorite thing is just getting to watch Bettany and Olsen be funny - They're actors who are clearly very good at being funny, but don't seem to have careers which allow them to do so on camera, not unlike Michelle Williams.
The funny thing about Pietro showing up is that I called it, but 10 minutes early - Wanda is talking to the kids and mentions that she had a brother, then then 'Somethings wrong' and I said to my wife "It's Pietro!" I very much didn't expect the x men guy to show up though. My wife recognized him, but didn't remember that he was from the 'wrong' franchise - That's how little of an impact the quicksilver from ultron made.

[Rare White Ape]

I had to look that spoilery bit up, to find out why she 're-cast' the role. I had no idea who it was until I did some googling.

Now I know that the 'audience' applause when their face was revealed was a good note to recognise deep, deep fans of the movies.

[SportWagon]

I never watch "Forged in Fire". I am somewhat relieved when it comes on because I am not in the least bit tempted. Whereas if another Pawn Stars, or Counting Cars, or Pickers or... (perhaps that's about it) comes on I might be tempted for "oh, just one more".

I "Forged in Fire" a deliberate attempt by the History Channel to help drive viewers to alternative forms of media?

[sandydandy]

WandaVision is sooo good!

[speedpimp]

WandaVision is fucking killing it.

Over the past few days I've checked out The Vanished, Lucky Day and Nobody Sleeps In the Woods Tonight.
The Vanished is really good but odd.
Lucky Day seems like it's in a Tarantino adjacent universe. That makes sense as its writer/director(Roger Avary) wrote Pulp Fiction with Tarantino. There is also two Tarantino Easter eggs.
Nobody Sleeps... is basically a slasher flick made in Poland. Another good one.

[sandydandy]

True true, me bruv. I wonder if Magneto will show up at some point. Fassbender or McKellan. Also I wonder if Wonder Man will show up. It’s so exciting!
Currently in the middle of the third season of The Sinner. It’s bizarre so far. I absolutely loved first two seasons, and they received near universal acclaim, but this third season is kind of weak. Hopefully it gets better soon. Apparently there’s a fourth season in the works.

[Rare White Ape]

By not releasing WandaVision all at once, Disney has found a way to keep me subscribed.

The Bad Batch has GOT to come out once this is finished.

[MR2 Fan]

WandaVision Episode 6....YoMagic is creepy

[sandydandy]

Finished watching the third season of the Sinner. It was quite good. Not as strong as the first two seasons, as previously mentioned, but still very good. Jessica Hecht is still very lovely for her age.

Watched Death of Me last night and it wasn’t that great. In fact, it was terrible.

Will get around to the latest episode of WandaVision this week.

[George]

Lately we've been enjoying Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/) on PBS.

Also finally saw Black Panther over the last two evenings. The first half of the movie was better than the second, I thought, but still good overall. I was glad we had watched Captain America: Civil War recently so I knew a little backstory. I still haven't seen the majority of recent Marvel movies and I am looking forward to them. Our kids have seen most but seem very happy to watch them again.

[sandydandy]

Everything is good...except Thor: The Dark World and the second Ant-Man movie.

[JoeW]

I liked Dark World. But I'm a sucker for cool visuals.

[JoshInKC]

Finding Your Roots is good, I need to catch up on the last few seasons. Regarding Black Panther: the back half is not as good as the front, but I think that's just because the front is unnaturally good, and the back just has to include one of those big fights until everybody decides to stop fighting. Anything would be really hard to match the dramatic quality of the waterfall fight, so the climactic Panther v. KillmongerPanther all (slightly dodgy) CG in some underground train tunnels fight just had too high a bar to clear.
I should rewatch Dark World, I just remember being very disappointed in what they gave Ecclestone to do.

[Freude am Fahren]

I didn't think the 2nd Ant Man was that bad.

Been watching WandaVision as well. Really like it. Love the recast :lol:

Also almost done with Bates Motel. Quite good IMO. Some cheesy bits, but Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga are fantastic.

[Tom Servo]

Lately we've been enjoying Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (https://www.pbs.org/weta/finding-your-roots/) on PBS.

Oh yeah, some of those are great. 'Course, I think mileage varies depending on how much you care about the guests.

[George]

^ I suppose, but I haven't known some of the guests at all and it's still interesting to me. It comes on here at 6:00 PM on Saturdays and that's usually when we're getting dinner ready and hanging around instead of all in our separate places. I always think "I'm too busy to sit down and watch this" but I keep stepping into the TV room from the kitchen when it gets interesting, which is most of the time.

Any fans of the 1963 movie The Great Escape here? It's a longtime favorite of mine from way back when there were westerns and war movies on cable TV on the weekends. I don't find good movies on TV much anymore; I think maybe Netflix and similar streaming stations have made it so people don't want to sit through a movie with commercials now that they don't have to. I'm not speaking of TCM (Turner Classic Movies) but rather the more "run of the mill" cable channels like AMC and TBS and TNT and all the similar ones that used to show movies like Kelley's Heroes, The Dirty Dozen, The Bridge On The River Kwai, The Longest Day, and so many others for many years on the weekends. Dirty Harry movies. Bullitt. Cool Hand Luke. Deliverance. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. I miss the "classics".

Anyway, I bought the movie on DVD a long time ago but haven't seen it in years. It had some good DVD extras in which they talk about how the built the prison camp just for the movie and other stuff such as the the story of actor Donald Pleasance (who had actually been in a German POW camp during the war) and how they filmed the tunnel scenes. I put the DVD in our Blu-Ray player recently and it looked terrible. I could live with the old 4:3 screen ratio but not the blurriness of it. It looked out of focus and I knew the kids would never get lured into watching it with me, as spoiled as they are with High Definition everything.

Well, I thought about the movie again yesterday, googled it, and was surprised to find a Barnes & Noble store on my way home from work had the "new & improved" Blu-Ray DVD in stock. So, in a moment of pre-pandemic normalcy, I went to the store and bought it. The cover promises plenty of extra stuff and there's even a folded up map of the POW camp and tunnel(s) included in the case. I'm looking forward to spending almost three hours watching it soon, and I hope the kids will join me. I think it's fast-paced enough to hold their interest.

True story: Just today, as I drove them to school after a 90-minute snow delay, we saw a PT Cruiser painted with a shark mouth like a P-40 Warhawk. I pointed it out, as I tend to do with cool cars on the road, and my daughter said, "they painted planes like that in World War Two!" Wow. I have always been a WWII history buff but I had no idea they know anything about it.

[JSGeneral]

^ "Here's to the fifty." Great film.

[MR2 Fan]

HYPE!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utjE8wTF0qE

[Tom Servo]

The Great Escape is one of the few times where I can say that I've read the book but never seen the movie. Great book.

[dodint]

The Great Escape is....well, great.

Speaking of AMC, they trapped us the other day. Ash and I ended up watching most of The Green Mile, commecials and all.

[George]

I haven't read The Great Escape book but a long time ago I read The Colditz Story or Escape From Colditz. Google seems to show both titles. I remember it being very good. There was a movie, too, but I haven't seen it.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/IwEAAOSw1vlUy7Ci/s-l1600.jpg

AMC's commercials used to drive me nuts. They'd show no commercials at all in the first twenty minutes of a movie. As the movie went on, the commercials seemed normal. But, as it got toward the end, it seems like they'd play five minutes of movie and then five minutes of commercials. They'd hook you at the beginning but then drag out the ending forever with commercials.

[sandydandy]

Recently watched the miniseries Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. Quite fascinating. I’d seen several YouTube videos about that girl and her strange behavior in the elevator. Either she was high on something, or playing the “elevator game” or was actually interacting with someone offscreen and foul play ensued. I think it’s most likely the third scenario. We’ll probably never know.

[SportWagon]

Any fans of the 1963 movie The Great Escape here? It's a longtime favorite of mine from way back when there were westerns and war movies on cable TV on the weekends.Memories of Maggie Simpson (the baby) scurrying away to the theme music.

[Tom Servo]

Recently watched the miniseries Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel. Quite fascinating. I’d seen several YouTube videos about that girl and her strange behavior in the elevator. Either she was high on something, or playing the “elevator game” or was actually interacting with someone offscreen and foul play ensued. I think it’s most likely the third scenario. We’ll probably never know.

I hadn't realized how often I ride my bike past the Cecil, there's a really good northbound bikelane on Main St. which connects with the east-west ones on 7th, just south of the Cecil.

Also of note, the corner store you see in some of the exterior shots at 7th & Main is where U2 filmed the video for "Where The Streets Have No Name" on the rooftop.

[Tom Servo]

After years of balking because a) I'm just not that into mafia stuff and b) it bugs the shit out of me when people pronounce Lillehammer that way, I'm finally watching Lilyhammer after yet another friend recommended it. Wish I hadn't left it this long.

It's really fun seeing bits of Lillehammer in it, the NAV office and the driving school are right next to Lillehammer Bryggeri (Brewery). When I went there the first time with my dad, we went to the brewery but they were closed. A couple of guys were outside dumping out some trash and my dad got to talking to them, telling them how he grew up there and his father was a general at the military base there, they ended up letting us in and treating us to a bunch of their beers, and showing us the room where they had the walls lined with bottles from all over the world. Next time we went, we brought a bottle of Speedway Stout from Alesmith in San Diego to add to their collection and they treated us to a meal. I've already spotted the brewery in a number of shots.

Also saw the building where my dad went to elementary school in some of the other ones. Getting a huge kick out of all the people speaking Norwegian with the subtitles - I'm picking up maybe 40% of what they're saying, and I doubt I'd be that high if I didn't also have the English translation underneath.

None of that actually speaks to how good the show is, so far it's been a hell of a lot of fun. I'm just so stuck on seeing the city again.

A pic of a much, much younger me in that room at Lillehammer Bryggeri.

https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/532126_10150877850615855_1897442843_n.jpg?_nc_cat= 110&ccb=3&_nc_sid=cdbe9c&_nc_ohc=9qBbGXUHrz0AX_2FRwD&_nc_ht=scontent-lax3-1.xx&oh=e760c103752ff2a2dee5e6102722e68d&oe=60576A42

[speedpimp]

I loved Lilyhammer. Pretty sure it was also one of the first original Netflix series.

[JoeW]

Been watching a few sci-fi series on Netflix.

Tribes of Europa. Primarily German with some English thrown in for good measure. Post apocalyptic. Quite good so far.

Sisyphus. Korean time travel thus far. It’s 2 episodes old but I’m intrigued.

Space Sweepers. Korean space stuff. Good space scenes and fighting.

[sandydandy]

I hadn't realized how often I ride my bike past the Cecil, there's a really good northbound bikelane on Main St. which connects with the east-west ones on 7th, just south of the Cecil.

Also of note, the corner store you see in some of the exterior shots at 7th & Main is where U2 filmed the video for "Where The Streets Have No Name" on the rooftop. But is it safe to ride through Skid Row? The documentary would have you believe it's the most dangerous part of LA. I always thought it was Compton...(and Long Beach together now you know you in trouble!)

[Tom Servo]

I'm not sure how much it's changed in the past year or so (I haven't done a ton of riding downtown since covid started), but skid row traditionally is the area east of Los Angeles St. and west of Alameda. Main St. is one block west of Los Angeles St., so it's skid row adjacent, but I'd never consider Main St. to be part of skid row.

I have ridden through parts of skid row though - I never felt unsafe, just really sad. Not sure how I'd feel walking through there though, if only because there are big problems with things like hepatitis.

Main St. is probably the eastern edge of what's gentrified over the years in downtown LA. Lots of good restaurants along Main, and as mentioned, it's got a really wide, green-painted, buffered bike lane. I've definitely never felt even remotely unsafe riding there.

Most of LA really isn't all that dangerous, at least not anywhere near how dangerous it could be 20-30 years ago. Compton and Long Beach still have gang problems, but they're nothing like they used to be. Skid Row is dangerous because of the aforementioned public health issues and because there are a large number of people with untreated mental illness and drug abuse problems who can occasionally get violent. I do think the documentary played up the "danger" level, but they weren't kidding when it came to occasionally just coming across someone who's completely out of their mind.

[Rare White Ape]

HYPE!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utjE8wTF0qE

Last week someone asked me quite excitedly if I'd seen the MK trailer, and I was like, nah it'll be shit just like the C-grade trash of the 90s movies and I've not bothered to go look it up.

UNTIL NOW when I saw your post. It actually looks really good. And violent! As it should be.

You fucken bewdy.

[MR2 Fan]

:D

[sandydandy]

Last week someone asked me quite excitedly if I'd seen the MK trailer, and I was like, nah it'll be shit just like the C-grade trash of the 90s movies and I've not bothered to go look it up.

UNTIL NOW when I saw your post. It actually looks really good. And violent! As it should be.

You fucken bewdy. I wouldn’t call the first MK movie C-grade trash, I enjoyed it quite a bit. The second one was of course complete stinky shit. Worse than C-grade.

I look forward to the new one. Trailer looks awesome. I do worry about Chin Han as Shang Tsung. I like the actor but he has big boots to fill, as Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa absolutely killed it in the 1995 film as Shang Tsung. He was the best character in the movie by far, and Tagawa portrayed him masterfully.

“Your soul is mine!”

[tigeraid]

No Johnny Cage, no deal.

[George]

RE: Tom Servo's picture - that must be where this song came from:

:sing: Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beeeeeer....
Take one down, pass it around
Ninety-eight bottle of beer on the wall...

Singing that as a kid with others on the school bus, I always wondered how there could be bottles of beer on a wall. Now I know. :up:

Also, here's a follow-up on The Great Escape from a few days ago. The "new and improved" Blu-Ray DVD looks so much better than my old 4:3 DVD it's not even funny. It looked great in all but just a couple quick shots that were a little bit grainy for a couple of seconds.

My wife and the kids had never seen it and a few times when I glanced over at them, their eyes were glued to the screen. It really is a fast-moving film for its day and it kept everyone's attention throughout. At one point, we paused for a short break (it is a long movie) and the kids went nuts when I hit the pause button. I didn't plan to, but I happened to choose the scene in which...

(Don't read the spoiler if you haven't seen the movie)

...Danny, the Tunnel King, who has already started cracking up from claustrophobia, is going through the tunnel for the last time on his way out. The power goes off due to a nearby air raid, causing the lights they've strung through the tunnel to go out, plunging the tunnel into total darkness as he's about halfway through. The TV screen went completely black just before I hit Pause. The kids started shouting "NO!" and "Turn it back on!". :lol:

Regarding an outdoor scene near the end of the movie involving vehicles (not the one with McQueen), I was reminded of how older movies handled things like that so well.

(Again, don't read if you don't know the movie)

Instead of seeing the Saving Private Ryan or Quentin Tarantino version, the camera cuts away to well behind the action and we just see the vehicles and hear the equipment being used. I think that's how Hitchcock would have done it, and reminded me of how some things portrayed on Old Time Radio were so powerful with no visuals at all. Of course, this was likely a product of the time and the lack of good special effects. Still, I thought that scene was well done.

Great movie, for so many reasons. See it again, if it has been a few years since the last time.

[George]

Memories of Maggie Simpson (the baby) scurrying away to the theme music.

Just found that on YouTube. Very nice!

My kids said Phineas & Ferb did a reference to the movie also, which doesn't surprise me. Phineas & Ferb is a really intelligent show that easily holds the attention of adults as well as children (or at least this adult), especially one you learn their "formula".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju-WrqNOx-w&ab_channel=MostlySimpsons


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSkwkPMeSx4&ab_channel=MostlySimpsons

[Rare White Ape]

Hot damn Vision is a smooooth talker. Jesus.

[sandydandy]

WandaVision finale. It was decent. Not as great as I had hoped. Would’ve been nice to see a Doctor Strange cameo. I was also soured on the bait and switch with X-Men Quicksilver. Oh well. This will set up the next Doctor Strange movie, which is said to tie into a scene from Logan, which will be great.
Also watched Centigrade, which was 90 minutes of my life that I will never get back. The acting was terrible. Total lack of chemistry between the husband and wife. It was so bad that halfway through I just read the spoilers. Watched to the end anyway.

[MR2 Fan]

I watched nearly all of the X-Men related movies over the past 2 weeks, in case they are relevant to the MCU in the future. Definitely not great films, but entertaining enough?

Logan I just watched and it did kind of bother me that the generous black farming family all got brutally murdered. I know people have been more sensitive to how black people are portrayed in the movies and some of it was a bit too much, but it just bothered me, they didn't deserve that. At least the racist rednecks also got killed

[Rare White Ape]

I'm hearing that the X-Men movies will be rebooted with a new cast, save for the established appearances in Deadpool.

But that will be kinda weird because Josh Brolin would then play two different villains in a linked continuity, and Deadpool is itself a continuation of the X-Men series.

But I hope they can get around that, because you can't have X-Men without Wolverine, and you can't have Deadpool without Ryan Reynolds.

[Cam]

Just finished the latest season of The Expanse.

That was a cheap-ass, anti-climactic way to kill off Alex, WTF? :erm: Reminds me of the Poochie episode of The Simpsons. :lol: Wikipedia: "...it contained a hastily animated, retroscripted segment stating that Poochie had decided to return to his "home planet", and that he died on the way there."

[JoshInKC]

End of the Expanse:The actor got into some trouble (https://deadline.com/2020/06/the-expanse-star-cas-anvar-investigation-sexual-misconduct-allegations-1202971689/), but it didn't pop up until after the season had been shot. They announced he was no longer on the show, and then did some editing and (I assume) very limited shooting to set up that Bull guy as his replacement.

[JoeW]

Love that show so much.

[Tom Servo]

Finished Lilyhammer. Loved it.

Wife is into The Crown, I'm having a hard time getting into it, but I think that comes from growing up in a household that watched nothing but Masterpiece Theater and Mystery on PBS. Hoping to convince her to watch The Expanse instead.

[tigeraid]

The Expanse:

Yes it did suck, but they were kinda backed into a corner, the actor was "cancelled." It sucks, because the CHARACTER Alex was charming and great. But really, we have Cas Anvar to blame.

Interestingly (SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS!) Aversarala dies this way instead of Alex, suddenly due to High-G maneuvers. So I have a feeling that's not gonna happen on the show now, yay!

[George]

‘Jack Reacher’ Star Alan Ritchson on Scoring the Lead Role in the Amazon Series and What Fans Can Expect (https://collider.com/jack-reacher-tv-series-star-alan-ritchson-interview/)


...they’re going to be adapting one book per season, and they’ll be starting with the first Jack Reacher book, Killing Floor...

Killing Floor is the first and one of the very best Reacher novels. A whole season - even with the short seasons they have these days - of just that book could be excellent.

[Dicknose]

Ted Lasso - not bad, a few chuckles. One of those "you could really hate the lead but dont".
Did find it amusing when I realised that GoT Septa "shame" Unella is in it.

[sandydandy]

Watched Biggie: I Got a Story To Tell. At first I thought ugh another Biggie documentary, but this one is quite decent. Told from the point of view of his close friends and associates. It was fitting to watch this week seeing as how we just passed the 24th anniversary of his death.

[Crazed_Insanity]

End of the Expanse:The actor got into some trouble (https://deadline.com/2020/06/the-expanse-star-cas-anvar-investigation-sexual-misconduct-allegations-1202971689/), but it didn't pop up until after the season had been shot. They announced he was no longer on the show, and then did some editing and (I assume) very limited shooting to set up that Bull guy as his replacement.

Ah, I was wondering why is it necessary for such a plot twist.

[sandydandy]

I watched Better Luck Tomorrow, which contains the unofficial backstory of Han Lue aka Han Seoul-oh from the Fast and Furious franchise. Unofficial because it’s not considered part of the franchise, but the director has confirmed that the connection does exist.

Anyway, it was a pretty good movie overall. Han is a supporting character who’s quite mellow for the most part, and is always smoking a cigarette. In virtually every scene.

[MR2 Fan]

Watched the first episode of Falcon & Winter Soldier...enjoyed it so far, but it's just an opener episode

Anyway, I really wish the MCU did a show entirely about the effects of the snap and the return of everyone, then referred to as "the blip" and the effects of that also, beyond the very minor stuff we've seen so far

[sandydandy]

Saw Falcon & Winter Soldier. Good first episode. I like the character developments being made to both Sam and Bucky. Especially Bucky. Had to Google who that was at the end, and when I found out I said holy shit. It’s amazing the sheer number of Avengers there are, and it’s nice seeing more of them getting screen time.

[FaultyMario]

Drive To Survive 3

I dunno, the few episodes i've seen felt too slow. And the "overdubbed" race commentary detracts from it.

I like how they included Jeannie for a more inclusive narratorial team, but I'd liked a crazier female journo instead.

[JoeW]

Yeah. I imagine the Covid thing really restricted their footage and access. I am enjoying it but not as much as the previous seasons.

I must say I like Vettel more and more now :)

[JoshInKC]

RE: Falcon and Winter Soldier
1st episode spoilers
I'm a little worried about the potential for Flag Smasher being the ultimate bad guy of the show. He only kind of works as a comics villain, and I fear the transition to live action could easily lead the show further down the inherently-semi-fascist-nationalistic-superhero-saves-the-day path. Which is something the MCU has managed to pretty artfully underplay and relatively avoid so far. Plus, those (apparently bad) dudes being coded as antifa isn't a great look.
But maybe they've got a really good plan for all this.

[Kchrpm]

RE: Falcon and Winter Soldier
1st episode spoilers
I'm a little worried about the potential for Flag Smasher being the ultimate bad guy of the show. He only kind of works as a comics villain, and I fear the transition to live action could easily lead the show further down the inherently-semi-fascist-nationalistic-superhero-saves-the-day path. Which is something the MCU has managed to pretty artfully underplay and relatively avoid so far. Plus, those (apparently bad) dudes being coded as antifa isn't a great look.
But maybe they've got a really good plan for all this.

The big bad is being signaled in the promotions as being Zemo from Winter Soldier, who has already shown the ability to concoct huge complicated plans to get people fighting against each other, so I wouldn't take anything this early on anywhere near face value

[sandydandy]

RE: Falcon and Winter Soldier
1st episode spoilers
I'm a little worried about the potential for Flag Smasher being the ultimate bad guy of the show. He only kind of works as a comics villain, and I fear the transition to live action could easily lead the show further down the inherently-semi-fascist-nationalistic-superhero-saves-the-day path. Which is something the MCU has managed to pretty artfully underplay and relatively avoid so far. Plus, those (apparently bad) dudes being coded as antifa isn't a great look.
But maybe they've got a really good plan for all this. I had never heard of this guy before. Had to Google him.

[JoshInKC]

The big bad is being signaled in the promotions as being Zemo from Winter Soldier, who has already shown the ability to concoct huge complicated plans to get people fighting against each other, so I wouldn't take anything this early on anywhere near face value

I saw those promos and somehow completely forgot that.
And I do love Zemo, especially if they're giving him his ski mask. I DEMAND A THUNDERBOLTS MOVIE/TV SHOW!

[neanderthal]

Zach Snyder's Justice League was absolute trash.

[Tom Servo]

Drive To Survive 3

I dunno, the few episodes i've seen felt too slow. And the "overdubbed" race commentary detracts from it.

I like how they included Jeannie for a more inclusive narratorial team, but I'd liked a crazier female journo instead.

A friend who has shown zero interest in racing over the past decade or so I've known her asked me today how to best watch F1 and plans to subscribe to their streaming package.

It's apparently an effective marketing vehicle.

[JoeW]

Snyder cut...better than the trash it replaced. But still mostly trash. 4hrs? Jeezus. I found myself fast forwarding through some of the really trudgy bits. Seemed like he went overboard with the “director’s cut” artistic privileges.

[Kchrpm]

A friend who has shown zero interest in racing over the past decade or so I've known her asked me today how to best watch F1 and plans to subscribe to their streaming package.

It's apparently an effective marketing vehicle.

Similarly a friend of mine has said he wants to go a race with me this year, anything other than NASCAR, because he enjoys the show.

[JoshInKC]

The snyder cut was more markedly coherent than the old version of the movie, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a bad idea from the beginning. It needed the full 4 hours if it was going to be coherent because it was terribly conceived - "Let's jump straight into the Avengers, and skip the movies that introduce all these characters and give us reasons to care about them." Also, it was just kind of exhausting because Snyder has no idea how to metaphorically vary the volume of his pictures - movies need small, personal, and quiet moments so that the big loud action stuff has impact. He's addicted to trying to make every frame of the movie some giant epic thing.
Finally, how many times did we hear "Motherbox"? They did a horrible job of dealing with those - trying to make them important by repeating a ridiculous word over and over again.

[JoeW]

Some positive bits...I liked seeing the Green Lanterns...I used to read those in the 80's/90's and I found the Reynolds Lantern movie entertaining.

I like WW. Although the way they introduced her "falling with style" flying routine in WW84 was stupid. Because she would likely have used that tactic in the post 1984 timeline movies. Honestly she may as well fly like the Hulk flies at that point.

Superman being in these movies is hard to deal with cinematically. It's akin to Captain Marvel showing up at the end of Avengers. If they had shown up at the beginning there would be nothing for the little people to do. I guess they can't be everywhere at once so it gives the weak heroes a way to showcase their meager talents on the weak enemies. Like Hawkeye or Romanoff etc in Marvel.

I can see a more grand film idea coming where Superman can't leave our solar system to fight these cosmic beings because he would just be a regular dude. So he is limited to staying in the neighborhood or hoods with only yellow suns.

Not sure I could have stomached an entire origin movie of Cyborg. Flash is fun...but Marvel does it soo much better with Quicksilver (the Xmen version obviously). That version of a speedster is the best portrayal of that I have ever seen. So interesting to watch.

[MR2 Fan]

So I just watched the movies leading up to Justice League as I had never watched the other DCEU movies before and just watched the 4 hour slog of Justice League last night. Zack Snyder really doesn't like humor does he?

The Flash was the only levity in the movie and it wasn't enough. Agree that you can't really do origin stories for a bunch of characters in one movie, it just becomes too bloated. It also seemed like a bunch of missed potential...like they would set up one thing and then just not follow-through with it later.

I do love the apocalyptic future shown in BvS and this movie though, would love to see a whole movie with all of that in it.

[speedpimp]

If Falcon & The Winter Soldier is 10% as good as Wandavision was then it will still be pretty damned good.

[Yw-slayer]

It's at least 10% as good. More typical Marvel from the start, and still pretty dammed good.

[sandydandy]

Watched Season 5 of Better Call Saul. Things are heating up. Season 6 is filming as we speak. It will be the final season.

[sandydandy]

Re-watched Titanic after many years. Actually I watched a documentary on the Titanic first, then had an urge to watch the movie again. It’s still eally really good, and has stood the test of time. Maybe not some of CGI effects with the water, but most everything else is still outstanding.

Also episode 2 of Falcon & Winter Soldier:
Kicked ass! I love the characterization of John Walker. He’s a bit of an arrogant dick and it’s spot-on with the source material. Bucky looked like he was going to blow his lid every time Walker called him “Bucky”. I look forward to fireworks, and then the eventually acceptance of Walker after he proves himself, and changes his name to US Agent.

[JoeW]

Well if you like a good old fashion monster movie like I do then Godzilla vs Kong is awesome.

[dodint]

We had watched the Kong movies but not the Godzilla ones, so last night I put the...2014?...Godzilla on. It was about what I expected. Ash was a bit put off by how the protagonist just happened to keep ending up exactly where the action was, but that's the genre. Not sure if I'll watch the next Godzilla movie before watching GvK.

[JoeW]

You probably should. They all tie into each other. Especially the most recent 2 before the one released yesterday. There is a reason he can find the action...which is explained better in the 2nd one.

[Yw-slayer]

Shin Godzilla is also pretty good, if more focused on politics.

[Tom Servo]

I'm boycotting until Gamera gets included in all of this.

[George]

I'll take Ultraman for the block.

[Tom Servo]

That damned Shadoe Stevens is always there with that block...

[sandydandy]

I watched Run last night. Decent movie, but misleading trailer. That’s a huge pet peeve of mine!

[dodint]

You probably should. They all tie into each other. Especially the most recent 2 before the one released yesterday. There is a reason he can find the action...which is explained better in the 2nd one.

So, we watched the second one (2019) over the weekend. It's probably not a great movie when you're rooting for the 'good person turned bad person turned good again' to be killed faster than they were.

They should've called these Deus Ex Godzilla for all the convenient timing.


That said, we'll watch the new one soon. ;)

[speedpimp]

I watched the first episode of the new season of Creepshow and how sweet it is. The second story was amazing.

[MR2 Fan]

Latest episode of Falcon and Winter Soldier.....no spoilers but MCU changing situation I think

[neanderthal]

Latest episode of Falcon and Winter Soldier.....no spoilers but MCU changing situation I think

Just watched all four episodes. Kinda ho hum about it, although I did enjoy the fake Cap America getting his ass kicked by the Dora Milaje. He's a smarmy fuck.

[MR2 Fan]

I agree it started a bit slow...PLOT development wise, not action wise...ironic because technically these 6 episodes could span 3 regular movies in length, but I think it's getting really good now. Only 2 more episodes left, I really wonder if this is going to tie into a second season or another movie coming up.

[MR2 Fan]

So anyone who's been watching Falcon & Winter Soldier and confused about some of the plot issues, this might explain why (potentially a dropped virus plotline):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhKIAHABGac

[dodint]

KvG was pretty not bad.

[JoeW]

We need a KvG meets Pacific Rim movie.

[neanderthal]

Warrior on HBO. A+

[neanderthal]

Warrior on HBO. A+

Oh my God this is so good!!!!

[JoeW]

I would like to offer my thanks for mentioning it as well. The first scene has me hooked...

[neanderthal]

I would like to offer my thanks for mentioning it as well. The first scene has me hooked...

The opening scene hooked me too.

I usually just skip to the next episode at the end of whatever episode i'm watching. Happened to notice, the ONE time that the ending credits were rolling, that it was based on the writings of one Bruce Lee.

[George]

LeVar Burton is going to be a guest host on "Jeopardy!"

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/levar-burton-host-jeopardy-george-stephanopoulos-robin-roberts-david-faber-joe-buck-1234957061/

I've thought that was great idea ever since a bunch of people on the internet decided he should and started an online petition. He seems like a righteous dude.

We watch "Jeopardy!" (or at least have it on) most weeknights and I've enjoyed most of the guest hosts. One thing they have in common is they get better as the days go by. I'm not sure I'm ready for a permanent host. Having different people do the job has been fun to see.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, I'm 100% in favor of this. He seems like such a natural fit for the role.

[dodint]

Yeah, but, fuck Joe Buck.

[Freude am Fahren]

You should just make that your signature, since really, it's applicable in all conversations.

I haven't watched any of the Aaron Rodgers episodes, but I've heard good things. I'm not a fan of him in football or life, but I am curious to see how he's doing here.

[MR2 Fan]

watched the finale of Falcon and Winter Soldier....really enjoyed it and the series overall...

Only ONE minor gripe


I'm not a big fan of the suit, it's a bit too silly looking to me, especially the...headgear(?), especially when giving his great speech toward the end. Yes I guess it's probably comics accurate, but the MCU usually tones down the costumes to feel more realistic...this one was a bit too overdone IMO

[sandydandy]

Falcon & Winter Soldier finale:
I’m really glad to see Sam grow into the role of Captain America - but I dislike the suit. Also wasn’t a big fan of him still keeping his Falcon tech. I thought he would would’ve ditched it, but I guess it’s still very useful considering he doesn’t have any actual enhanced strength or endurance like Rogers and Walker. I really thought he was getting some sort of vibranium suit from the Wakandan briefcase last episode, which would’ve compensated for his lack of super soldier enhancement, but I guess it was just vibranium wings. I do hope they redesign that suit.

Loved the speech and the big fuck you to anyone who doesn’t like the idea of a black Captain America. His predecessor chose him for the role at the end of Endgame, and I’m glad he finally embraced it.

Not a huge fan of Sharon Carter being a villain. I was wondering who the Power Broker was for a few episodes. I guess I can live with it. Why was she exiled again? I think I missed something there.

Glad Walker transitioned into US Agent, as expected. Nice work on the development of Bucky’s character too.

A good fun series overall.

Can’t pretend I didn’t notice a bit of foreshadowing in this episode of what and who’s to come.

One word: Doom.

It’s almost an orgasmic feeling. :D

[Dicknose]

Stowaway - Netflix movie with Anna Kendrick and Toni Collette.
Interesting that Toni went with her native accent.