What are you watching?

[Dicknose]

Jupiter in opposition...
at a night sky near you

[Rare White Ape]

Best show in the entire solar system.

[Rare White Ape]

I watched Thor: Love and Thunder the other day.

Bit shit, some cringe moments, but good story. 5/10 melons.

If I was to re-write it, I'd focus more on the origin story part of Mighty Thor and have it fill out the whole movie, rather than just: oh whoops she's a Thor now, in the first 30 minutes. That bit had lots of potential which was just ignored.

Typical of a Taika Waititi films, the cameos really shine. There are a handful of really great bit-parts here.

[dodint]

I came across a fun show called "i'm sorry" on HBO Max (it's on some other platforms as well). It ran for two seasons and was picked up for a third season which was eventually killed by COVID.
It was created by Andrea Savage and Jason Mantzoukas. They're playing comedy writers and it centers mostly around Andrea's family. Very simple premise but the writing is fun. Lots of fun supporting cast like Judy Greer, Martin Mull, Kathy Baker.

It's like a more grounded version of The League but kind of gives off that same vibe. Which makes sense given the crossover in talent.

NSFW explicit language:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rZeoAeS0MY

[Kchrpm]

I knew going in that She-Hulk was just going to be a week to week lawyer show, a very different style from the rest of the MCU series which were more like a long movie spread across episodes. I've really enjoyed it, the format, the tone, the writing, the subtle, small looping rather than one big arch, and the fact it's just having fun with things.

[sandydandy]

Watched Possessor last night. Thought it was quite excellent. A mind bender for sure. Great acting and cast.

[sandydandy]

Getting ready to watch Volume 3 of Unsolved Mysteries. Been waiting all year for this. Interesting how they’re releasing three episodes at a time over the next three weeks. I can live with that.

[George]

Finished Season Four of Better Call Saul. It has become a late-night obsession. I'll plan to just watch fifteen or twenty minutes before bed, but then a couple hours go by before I know it.

Don't get me wrong; I can't wait to see more. But, I thought...

...they could have ended it right there after S4. Instead of a season-ending cliffhanger, it was like a satisfying reward for making it through 40 episodes.

And I just learned that season six isn't yet on Netflix, so I guess I'll have to watch Breaking Bad in the meantime, after I finish S5 of BCS, of course.

But, unlike Saul, which makes me want more, when I've tried BB before I was actually glad when episodes ended because they weren't fun to watch. I wonder if it will still be that way.

[dodint]

We watched BB for about two seasons and then stopped because of a lack of interest. People kept saying "it'll get real good next episode/season" but it never did. I think it's because there are no likable characters.

[Freude am Fahren]

I just finished S5 of Better Call Saul as well. Debating paying for S6.

[Tom Servo]

We watched BB for about two seasons and then stopped because of a lack of interest. People kept saying "it'll get real good next episode/season" but it never did. I think it's because there are no likable characters.

This is where we ended up too. I think we only made it for about 1 1/2 and we're like "this is stressful and I kinda hate everyone," so we stopped watching.

[George]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj6KglaeUZo

[sandydandy]

Next three episodes of Volume 3 of Unsolved Mysteries should be released today. Can’t wait to watch this evening.

[FaultyMario]

Andor. Good!

But Jesúcristo bendito!, is there someone less likeable than Diego Luna?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Que es wrong with Sr. Luna according to tu ojos?

[George]

Stumbled upon The Man In The High Castle while looking for something to watch before bed the other night. Interesting idea.

Opinions of a mostly historical nature below after just one episode. No actual spoilers.

As much of a fan of sci-fi, time travel, dystopian futures, history, WWII, and imaginative storytelling as I have always been, the concept is hard to believe. Yeah, I know, so is a lot of stuff in good fiction. But still, there's something not quite right here. It didn't "suck me in" like good shows sometimes do. I'm not giving up, but I'm kinda doing one of these: :erm:

I should watch more than one episode before coming to conclusions, I know, but I never let incomplete information stop me from sharing an opinion. :)

[MR2 Fan]

The Man in the High Castle is a good show with a crap ending because apparently they didn't have the final season they were supposed to.

[George]

Well, that saves me a lot of time. Thanks. :up:

What made me skeptical of the concept is...

...not that the Allies could have lost WWII. They could have. If Hitler had invaded Great Britian in 1941 instead of the USSR, things could have turned out very differently. The USA might not have gotten involved in Europe. If the Japanese had destroyed our carriers on December 7th, 1941, it could have made us uncompetitive in the Pacific for a long time. Perhaps isolationism would have been seen as preferable in the months or years before we could mount a proper offensive against the Japanese with a new fleet, and in that time, the Japanese would have been improving their supply lines and defenses.

But, what I couldn't quite grasp, is the idea that the American culture would have changed so drastically in such a relatively short time. Just because one country conquers another doesn't mean the conquered citizens start taking on the habits and personalities of the conquerors.

Or, maybe they do and I need to double-down on my self-guided continuing education in world history. I guess as the Roman empire grew, people in conquered lands became "more Roman" as time passed. But, I'm thinking that takes generations, not less than twenty years.

[Tom Servo]

But, what I couldn't quite grasp, is the idea that the American culture would have changed so drastically in such a relatively short time

/me glances over at the QAnon and Election Truther people

[George]

You're probably right.

[FaultyMario]

Que es wrong with Sr. Luna according to tu ojos?

The characters he gives life to end up having the worst personalities.

Yeah I get it, you're an orphan/cancer widower/incel, but do you really have to be such a dick?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Every man has a dick. Everyone has an asshole. Why are you so hard on a fellow Mexican? :p

Anyway, I really never noticed the guy before until Rogue 1. I thought he was cast well. At least convincing and memorable enough for me. Enjoying watching further background development of the character. Too bad the guy no longer has a future. :p

[Phil_SS]

/me glances over at the QAnon and Election Truther people

Touche

But I couldn't get past the first episode as well. And it has nothing to do with the culture change, it's that the Germans could transport a nuclear bomb across the Atlantic and then also somehow invaded from that far away. Yeah get the fuck outta here. It's just way too far for me to go, no pun intended.

[George]

It occurs to me that my attitude and Phil's are probably what lots of invaded and conquered peoples have had over the centuries.

"This is our land. We named these places that we own and we live by our own rules. No one can come and take these things from us."

[Phil_SS]

It occurs to me that my attitude and Phil's are probably what lots of invaded and conquered peoples have had over the centuries.

"This is our land. We named these places that we own and we live by our own rules. No one can come and take these things from us."

I'm not even at that level.

The logistics of what was proposed just isn't even remotely possible. Again, how did the Germans cross the Atlantic? They couldn't even figure out a way to cross the English channel and somehow they are going to cross the Atlantic?

I don't care if they nuked a couple cities. They still have to cross the Atlantic to invade. Maybe I should read up on the premise of the show to understand how they can even pretend to justify how it happened. Like, I need a History channel special outlining the before. :)

[dodint]

Oh boy, you're in luck, the History channel loves itself some Nazi content.

[George]

The logistics of what was proposed just isn't even remotely possible. Again, how did the Germans cross the Atlantic? They couldn't even figure out a way to cross the English channel and somehow they are going to cross the Atlantic?

Exactly. Same with the Japanese on the west coast. I just don't see it happening, then or now.

We all saw what happened when the Commies tried it back in '84! :cool:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_I4WgBfETc

[Phil_SS]

Exactly. Same with the Japanese on the west coast. I just don't see it happening, then or now.

We all saw what happened when the Commies tried it back in '84! :cool:


Happened in 2010 as well. But nobody watched that movie.

Funny enough. Red Dawn came at a time when that did seem possible. Extremely highly unlikely, but at least the technology existed.

[Blerpa]

I'm not even at that level.

The logistics of what was proposed just isn't even remotely possible. Again, how did the Germans cross the Atlantic? They couldn't even figure out a way to cross the English channel and somehow they are going to cross the Atlantic?

I don't care if they nuked a couple cities. They still have to cross the Atlantic to invade. Maybe I should read up on the premise of the show to understand how they can even pretend to justify how it happened. Like, I need a History channel special outlining the before. :)

You do know the show is based on a 1962 novel by Philip K. Dick with thematics on american civil war and the I Ching?

This is the book background premise taken from Wikipedia:

"In The Man in the High Castle alternative history, Giuseppe Zangara assassinates President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, resulting in the continuation of the Great Depression and the policy of United States non-interventionism at the start of World War II in 1939. American inaction allows Nazi Germany to conquer and annex continental Europe and the Soviet Union into the Greater Germanic Reich. The exterminations of the Jews, the Romani people, the Slavs, homosexuals, and all other peoples whom the Nazis considered subhuman ensued. The Axis powers then jointly conquered Africa. Imperial Japan expanded its colonial empire with occupations of eastern Asia and Oceania, and invaded the West Coast of the United States, while Nazi Germany invaded the East Coast; the surrender of the Allies ended World War II in 1947. "

[Phil_SS]

That's how envisioned it in my mind, but I still can't get behind them being able to cross the oceans with enough men and materials. :shrug:

I know I'm being way pedantic, and I love Sci-fi, alternate history stuff. So maybe I'll give it another shot. :)

In the meantime I've been working my way through The Wire. I had seen the first season years ago so I needed to finish it out. Still very good. I liked the second season, I guess most people don't but I did. Third was decent. 4th has been the best after the 1st season. I'm about to start the 5th and final season, so it should be interesting to see how they close it out.

[G'day Mate]

Watching the "Untold" series of sports documentaries on Netflix. Very engaging. All stories are a bit different too.

[FaultyMario]

You do know the show is based on a 1962 novel by Philip K. Dick with thematics on american civil war and the I Ching?

I love the part where the Nazis create Lebensraum (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensraum) by draining the Mediterranean. I mean, it's totally bonkers but I believe it could be done (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantropa), and the change in world climate is reflected in the TV series.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I'm not even at that level.

The logistics of what was proposed just isn't even remotely possible. Again, how did the Germans cross the Atlantic? They couldn't even figure out a way to cross the English channel and somehow they are going to cross the Atlantic?

I don't care if they nuked a couple cities. They still have to cross the Atlantic to invade. Maybe I should read up on the premise of the show to understand how they can even pretend to justify how it happened. Like, I need a History channel special outlining the before. :)

Let's not forget that Germans were developing rockets... they're the world's experts in rockets at the time.

Americans and Russians 'absorbed' these nazi scientists in our current timeline and later on developed our own ICBMs... and eventually got to the moon all thanks to Nazi scientists.

Japanese also did invade the West Coast with lots of money in our current timeline. :p

[JoeW]

So speaking of alternate reality shows…

The Peripheral on Amazon is excellent.

Counterpart with JK Simmons was really good as well.

[JoshInKC]

Counterpart was very good - Smart and taking their time with some amazing performances. I wish they'd had another season or so.

The Peripheral is weird. I really like the book (by William Gibson), but they're seemingly changing a whole lot of the things and ideas that I specifically liked. It's still good and interesting, but it feels more Westworld-y and way more action-y than I'd prefer. But the design work and some of the performances are really good so far.

[JoeW]

I haven’t read the book so I don’t have a comparison in my head :)

JK is in another show called Night Sky on Amazon which is current and good as well.

[MR2 Fan]

I watched Werewolf by Night...I though it was fine but don't really understand the hype?

[JoeW]

Which is why I don’t plan on watching it :)

[Tom Servo]

I know nothing of this, but isn't that kinda the whole Werewolf schtick? Full moons only come out at night...

[MR2 Fan]

I will say it's cool that legendary composer Michael Giacchino directed it and as far as that goes, he did a great job....how many other composers are directing things?

[JoshInKC]

I thought it was a lot of fun (Man-Thing!)
But I was hoping that if Elsa Bloodstone were to enter the MCU it would be as a member of Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

[Phil_SS]

Willy's Wonderland.

Phenomenal Nick Cage movie. Great Halloween movie.:devil:

[SportWagon]

Majel Barrett, briefly, on The Lucy Show.
Even though it was 1962, she looked more like Lwaxana Troi than Nurse Chapel.

Also Buddy Ebsen, with a completely different voice, on The Andy Griffith Show.
Also William Windom guest starring on The Lucy Show.
Also Nancy Kulp, briefly, on The Lucy Show. (She makes a good naval officer).

[sandydandy]

Watched the Good Nurse, with Jessica Chastain. Really diabolical and based on a true story.

[speedpimp]

Speaking of The Andy Griffith Show, in The Darling Family episodes the head of the Darlings was none other than Denver Pyle, aka Uncle Jesse Duke.

[Tom Servo]

Been watching This Fool on Hulu. It's not going to win a lot of awards or anything, but it's pretty funny.

[Tom Servo]

Also watched God Forbid, also on Hulu, about Jerry Falwell Jr. Was upsettingly good.

[JoshInKC]

Been watching This Fool on Hulu. It's not going to win a lot of awards or anything, but it's pretty funny.

That was a fun show.

[speedpimp]

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. The first four episodes were hit and miss but things picked up quite a bit with the last four episodes.

[sandydandy]

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities. The first four episodes were hit and miss but things picked up quite a bit with the last four episodes. I was just about to post that, me bruv. I watched three episodes last night (not in any order) and was left feeling shitty afterwards. Not giving up on it though. Will continue tonight.

[speedpimp]

Make sure you're in a good mood when you watch "The Murmuring"(ep. 8) because the ending is a bit heavy, bruv.

[FaultyMario]

Ep. 10 of Andor was the tits.

[Leon]

Ep. 10 of Andor was the tits.

Agreed, heck of a ride :)

[sandydandy]

Make sure you're in a good mood when you watch "The Murmuring"(ep. 8) because the ending is a bit heavy, bruv. I watched the whole thing, bruv. I have to say I didn’t enjoy it. Out of 8 episodes I only liked one, which was Pickman’s Model. The rest were largely shit.

Anyway, last night we watched Awake (2007) with Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba. Watched it on Prime Video. I pressed the trailer button and they didn’t show a proper trailer, it was just a random scene out of the film. This irritated me so I went on YouTube to find the actual trailer and unfortunately it revealed way too much. I was able to easily predict the film, but we watched it anyway.

I guess the folks who run Prime also knew that, which is why they only inserted a small clip instead of the full trailer. I think if I didn’t watch the trailer I would’ve definitely enjoyed it more.

[SportWagon]

I happened to watch a couple of B&W episodes of Beverly Hillbillies which centered around the little cabin being brought from the hills of Missouri/Tennessee to the backyard of the Clampett mansion in Beverly Hills.

A major guest star was Sheiìa James, later known as Sheila Kuehl, apparently a California Democrat of some note.

In the show she played an enthusiastic sociology graduate student who was convinced the Clampetts were oppressed servants of the Drysdales. She drove a vintage sports car of some sort. Web searches find references to an MG TD used in another episode, so it was likely that. I never saw a proper radiator shot.

Reading show timelines, it's not clear to me the location of the cabin in the show, after its relocation, was ever tidily resolved. Mrs. Drysdale did not tolerate the cabin, and arranged for its demolition, although Mr. Drysdale halted the demolition by living in the cabin for a while. But I think the cabin just sort of quietly disappeared from the show.

In a movie sequel to the series, apparently Jed Clampett moved back to "the hills" after losing his fortune.

[speedpimp]

Watching The Watcher and it makes me wonder who watches the watchers? Seven episodes and I like it way better than I thought I would.

SW, Mrs. Drysdale barely tolerated herself. She is the epitome of being so uptight she'd shit a diamond if she sneezed. And it looks like the cabin was dropped after those two episodes. Sheila James has been in a lot of stuff, most notably Dobie Gillis. Thanks to streaming these shows can still be seen.

[George]

Also William Windom guest starring on The Lucy Show.

I just saw him this past Saturday evening on the first Columbo episode, "Prescription: Murder" from 1968. One of the cable channels airs Columbo every Saturday at 6:00 PM and we often have it on while cooking dinner and so forth.

For those who don't know him:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHGW-qplAQE

The other day, I was working from home and went upstairs for more coffee and saw John Colicos, the original Klingon, on an episode of Quincy that my wife had on.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ4QnCuGWn0

[FaultyMario]

Do you remember when trailers revealed nothing?

Like just: there's a scene here, and the music sounds like this, and this guy here might or might not be in the final cut, we don't know, nobody told us anything, we were only given this reel to edit.

[George]

Those are the best. They should tease without showing stuff that happens far into the episode/movie.

The two Star Trek trailers above are practically condensed episodes. But perhaps viewers long before On-Demand Everything saw them right after an episode and then had all week to forget the details.

[MR2 Fan]

watched Wakanda Forever...was really good. The biggest issue I had is that, as I had heard from a few people on twitter....for some reason many of the scenes have an issue with super low brightness/contrast, especially in the first half of the movie. Many times I could barely see what was happening, and I wasn't watching a 3D version or anything, just standard definition.

[Dicknose]

"The Peripheral" with Chloe Grace Moritz. SciFi based on William Gibson (haven't read it). Not bad, got some future tech and future future tech!
Only 2 eps in but enjoying it so far.

[JoeW]

You better catch up…it’s awesome.

[MR2 Fan]

Watched NOPE last night. Really liked it, though there were a few odd things that were interesting but had nothing to do with the actual mystery, but still a lot of fun and unique take on things

[Tom Servo]

Finally watched some movies I'd been meaning to get around to.

Everything Everywhere All At Once was fantastic. I loved how I felt like I was always on the edge of figuring out how everything worked while also disoriented, and Michelle Yeoh always rules. Great fight choreography too.

Matrix Resurrections was very long and kinda boring. I had high hopes for that and was grateful when it was over.

[JoeW]

Don’t watch Don’t Worry Darling. Just when you think it’s about to get good the credits roll and you are disappointed.

[MR2 Fan]

Alita: Battle Angel, really good, hoping we get a sequel soon because there's a whole other plot point that hasn't been resolved. (Note: I haven't seen the manga or anime)

[JoeW]

Yeah I loved that movie. Really great setup for another movie.

[speedpimp]

Everything Everywhere All At Once was fantastic.

Understatement of the century. It is batshit insane in the best way possible.

[JSGeneral]

Understatement of the century. It is batshit insane in the best way possible.

It has rocks!

[George]

I just stumbled upon this and it literally made me laugh out loud.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3FzkEoIQBw

[Freude am Fahren]

Don’t watch Don’t Worry Darling. Just when you think it’s about to get good the credits roll and you are disappointed.

Accurate.

[JoeW]

Well I watched what Rotten Tomatoes called a stinker.

Black Adam.

Fuck Rotten Tomatoes. This movie was awesome fun. I can't wait for more.

[FaultyMario]

All stories are a bit different too.

Oh, yes they are.

I mean, dude, are you really saying "He ripped off your guitar sound"? mmm (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAfkxHcqWKI)...

[Kchrpm]

Right now? This.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9scfWN6aXaU

[sandydandy]

I watched Fatale recently, with Hilary Swank. She looked amazing, and the movie was solid.

Also watched the Vice documentary Nine Lives of Vince McMahon. It was good but nothing we haven’t seen before. There was a lot of archive footage from Vice’s previous Dark Side of the Ring episodes all mishmashed in there.

[MR2 Fan]

I'm quite late but binge watched all 3 seasons (so far) of The Boys....really enjoying it for the most part. The actor who plays Homelander is perfect for the role especially with his facial expressions. Karl Urban has a role that I'm sure he has a lot of fun with. The only parts that weren't that great mostly involved The Deep...his stuff was mostly either boring or just really weird.

[sandydandy]

Alicia Silverstone was in the news earlier this week. She had posed nude for PETA. Not sure how her posing nude is charitable for anyone, aside from those collecting wank material…even then, it would’ve been better 20 years ago. I saw the pictures, they were okay.

So I decided to rewatch the Crush. She was supposed to be a 14-year-old girl in that movie, but was really 17 at the time, (actually maybe 16 at the time of filming). I had watched this in the theater way back in 1993, and probably a few times on TV since. Good movie overall.

I always liked Alicia, we share the same birthday.

[MR2 Fan]

I always liked her in the Aerosmith music videos in the 90's

[sandydandy]

Definitely remember that.

[sandydandy]

Started watching the Watcher yesterday. One episode in and it’s fantastic!

[speedpimp]

Watched Black Adam and enjoyed it. Watching Glass Onion: Knives Out and so far, so good.

[JoeW]

Netflix show Wednesday is great.
Witcher Blood Origin is just ok. IMDB has a shit ton of 1 star reviews but apparently I am not repulsed by merely being entertained.
Top Gun 2 is quite good. Looks like they tried to emulate the first movie in nearly every shot.
Caught up with Cobra Kai by watching the entire series over the last month. Pretty damn enjoyable. I just can't get enough of Johnny as the man straight out of the 80's...which I sometimes very much empathize with.

[sandydandy]

Finished the Watcher. Did a crazy 6-hour binge watch a few nights ago. Pretty good series.

[speedpimp]

Watched Bull last night. One very short and very tight revenge movie.

[Kchrpm]

I think Glass Onion was great.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, Glass Onion was a lot of fun. Daniel Craig playing Foghorn Leghorn just doesn't get old for me.
I'm looking forward to watching it again when I get a chance.

[JoeW]

The first movie wasn't very good for me. I'll watch the Glass Onion based on your recommendations.

[dodint]

Glass Onion was more fun but wasn't as good of a movie, if that makes sense. Consider the tonal shift of swapping out shrill stick-up-her-ass Jamie Lee Curtis with helpful idiot Edward Norton and you'll get what I'm saying.

[MR2 Fan]

Haven't watched Glass Onion yet, decided to watch "The Last Dance"...the Chicago Bulls/Michael Jordan documentary, almost finished with it....really enjoying it as I was a basketball fan back then, I even watched him play against the Magic around 1997-ish....they (the Bulls) won.

[dodint]

Last Dance was good. I don't even like basketball but being a teenager in the 90s that was right in my wheelhouse.

[JoeW]

Shaq on HBO was good as well.

[dodint]

If there's an individual that needs more exposure it's Shaq.

[George]

Who?

[dodint]

Hah.

[sandydandy]

I had planed to start on House of the Dragon this week. The week is half over and I still haven’t started.

[Tom Servo]

If you're not out here in LA like me, you might not be familiar with "FYC", or "For Your Consideration" billboards. They're billboards throughout the city begging members of various academies to vote for a show or movie for awards season.

It feels very disingenuous of HBO to cancel Westworld and also have billboards up begging for people to vote for it for the Emmys, but here we are.

[MR2 Fan]

not only cancel it but remove all previous episodes from HBO Max entirely

[JoeW]

I’m seeing a few shows made by certain streaming platforms being removed from the parent platform and being whored out to rival platforms.

I don’t blame rivals for trying to spice up their lineup by buying some time with another show. But when the parent company removes it from their service it is not cool. People sign up to your service to watch your exclusives and removing them is a slap in the face.

[Tom Servo]

This is why I still buy games rather than use subscription services, buy Amazon MP3s rather than use Spotify, etc. Once I own something, I want to own it forever.

HBO is setting a really bad precedent here, especially considering it doesn't really cost them anything to keep storing the video. It might be some sort of music licensing issue or whatever, but I think if HBO doesn't see a big enough backlash about this, other companies are going to start doing the same thing.

[Rare White Ape]

Netflix have produced shows and had them broadcast on free to air TV here, many months after they debuted on the platform, so sharing their content is nothing new. Plus it lets oldies who aren’t tech savvy get some exposure to new programs while also allowing Netflix to make a few bucks from a new audience.

But they didn’t take their content off their own service while this arrangement was in place. It might even be the other platform asking for exclusivity in the deal. You’d have to consider what each party’s strategy might be here.

But it is very stinky and if it becomes a problem then it would be more excuse for people to set sail and brave the salty seas for their shows.

[TheBenior]

HBO is setting a really bad precedent here, especially considering it doesn't really cost them anything to keep storing the video. It might be some sort of music licensing issue or whatever, but I think if HBO doesn't see a big enough backlash about this, other companies are going to start doing the same thing.
I was under the impression that there's a non-zero cost associated with having near instantly streamable video storage vs archival storage of said video.

That being said, the speculation I'd heard when HBO pulled a lot of older/complete animation series from streaming this year was that they were trying to avoid paying residuals, renewing contracts, and/or hoping to license out or sell series rights.

Though with the insane reported budget of Westworld season 4 ($160 million) and terrible viewer figures, maybe there's some elaborate tax avoidance scheme going on.

[Tom Servo]

It's non-zero, but I also don't think it's particularly high, either. The streaming itself is definitely the more expensive part, storage is cheap.

[FaultyMario]

Cold Pursuit. It was fun, except for the final final ending. That was unnecessary.

[Leon]

Meet Cute.

Advertised as Comedy / Drama.

Absolutely isn't. It's like a terribly miscast and boring version of Palm Springs.

[speedpimp]

Cold Pursuit. It was fun, except for the final final ending. That was unnecessary.

I loved that movie. Great comedy.

[sandydandy]

Finally got around to watching Mortal Kombat. It was quite excellently done and thoroughly satisfying. I love both this and the 1995 MK movie for different reasons. Both are fantastic, (MK Annihilation was pure garbage of course).

I especially loved how they played the classic 1995 MK music at the end, (or a variation of it at least). That was a nice touch. Can’t wait for the inevitable sequel.

[JoeW]

New Avatar was amazing.

[sandydandy]

Watched the documentary January 6th. What a fucked up day that was.

[Leon]

re-watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Still awesome.

[sandydandy]

Watched a couple of movies and a TV show over the weekend.

The Resident - pretty creepy stuff, but overall a good movie that's cleverly done and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Fall - seriously intense and pulse-pounding. Also quite scary. Highly recommended. Some of the dialogue is cringe, but overall a great movie.

Both of these movies featured Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who for some reason I didn't instantly recognize from the Watchmen movie, (he was the Comedian).

Also watched all five episode of Treason, which was quite good. I saw the trailer and looked at the episode lengths (30-40 minutes each) and figured it was a small investment to make so I binge watched it in one sitting. It was pretty fast paced and intense. I love spy related stuff.

[Tom Servo]

Watched the first episode of Last of Us. I thought it did a really good job of being a show while paying homage to the game. Looking forward to the rest of it.

[JoshInKC]

I also watched that. Haven't played the game, but I thought the episode was pretty good. It really helps that both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are really good & charismatic camera presences.

[MR2 Fan]

I watched Interstellar for the second time*

The first time was on an airplane and that's a terrible place to watch movies, so I always put an asterisk. The second time was much better and I really wish I had seen this in the theater (IMAX preferably) when it came out. Maybe it will be re-shown sometime.

The music is also amazing as I'm sure most of you already know...so I've been listening to that a lot. There are some clunky bits (Anne Hathaway's character talking about love reminds me of Rose Tico in the Last Jedi, it was just as cringe here) but overall a very good experience.

[Tom Servo]

Started watching The Traitors after NPR talked it up. It's goofy as fuck, but it's not bad. Reality show competition that's vaguely Clue-like - three of the twenty or so people are designated traitors. The home viewers know who they are, but nobody else in the castle does. The traitors "murder" someone every night (kicking them off the show), and then the day ends with everyone voting who to send out that they think is a traitor.

It's silly, but the part that makes it work is Alan Cumming hamming it up about as hard as he fucking can as the puppet-master for the whole thing. I've always been a fan of his, and he's at his hammiest-weirdest in this.

[dodint]

I liked Interstellar. I was living in Wisconsin at the time and drove down to Madison to watch it in Imax. I also bought the score, too. So I agree with you on all counts. ;)

[Rare White Ape]

I saw it in what our cinema brand calls V-Max. A big-arse curved screen maybe a bit smaller than IMAX. There are 35 of them in Australia.

And yeah, great film. A bit exhausting at times with its length and some of the scenes dragging on. A true auteur type film I guess, but for a wider audience.

My favourite aspect was the dedication to realistic science within the sci-fi, of course! It will live on forever thanks to the research work done on black holes to help visualise them for the special effects.

[Leon]

Legend of Vox Machina Season 2, because I'm a huge D&D nerd :) Also a major Critical Role fan of many years.

[JSGeneral]

Legend of Vox Machina Season 2, because I'm a huge D&D nerd :) Also a major Critical Role fan of many years.

/crawls out from Rock I Was Apparently Unknowingly Under (-2 Awareness)

There's a Season TWO!?! Thank you! I'll look this up.

[retsmah]

Just watched Fresh (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKk5VAK1GZQ) on Hulu, it says it's "horror/thriller" which is probably the best place for it. Even as someone that's not super into horror movies I don't think it was particularly scary, and is also pretty funny. Anyway, I liked it!

[sandydandy]

I watched Facing the Fat, about a 300+ pound guy who goes on a 40 day (later extended to 55 day) water diet. It was so stupid and outrageous and also dangerous. I don't know what he was thinking. I question the mentality of anyone who found it motivational as well, because it's not. He lost a bunch of weight (44 lbs I believe), but only after putting his body and mind through hell. Had he just eaten healthy in those 55 days then he would've probably lost the same amount of weight and felt better about himself, which would've set the foundation for long-term weight loss and good health. I say this because I followed his story after this movie, (which was in 2009), and saw that he not only gained all of that weight back, but also ballooned all the way to 500 lbs and then eventually did a similar diet and dropped to 385 lbs or something. Look him up, Kenny Saylors. Classic example of the dangers of yo-yo dieting. I also question the doctor that was advising him who was working at that faux-clinic. He should have his medical license revoked!

[Tom Servo]

I also question the doctor that was advising him who was working at that faux-clinic. He should have his medical license revoked!

I figure as long as these anti-vax "America's Frontline Doctors" folks can somehow maintain their medical licenses, I don't think there's much hope for taking them away from phony weight-loss-promising quacks.

[sandydandy]

:(

[Phil_SS]

Agree with the others on Interstellar. Great film because of it's faithfulness to real science and the cinematics. Soundtrack is cool but it also sounds like a Boston album, especially Third Stage. :D Which isn't bad, Third Stage is one of my all time favorites of that era.

I watched the first two episodes of The Last of Us. I really like it so far. I did not play the game.

My wife and I watched the second season of The White Lotus. It was good but not as good as the first season. I think that is because we already have exposure to the kind of series with Season 1. And Armand was such a great character in the first one.

[sandydandy]

Watched The Little Things with Denzel Washington. Couldn’t make heads or tails of it with its ambiguous ending. Had to watch a couple of “explained” videos after to try to understand it.

[Kchrpm]

Poker Face. Murder mystery show by Rian Johnson starring Natasha Lyonne on Peacock, quite entertaining.

[speedpimp]

Losing weight on a slow but steady basis makes it easier to keep the weight off. I might know someone who has lost a ton of weight and managed to keep it off.

[MR2 Fan]

Losing weight on a slow but steady basis makes it easier to keep the weight off. I might know someone who has lost a ton of weight and managed to keep it off.

is that on streaming? :p

[speedpimp]

It's only streaming when they need to tap off some water.

[JoshInKC]

Poker Face. Murder mystery show by Rian Johnson starring Natasha Lyonne on Peacock, quite entertaining.

Yeah, we really enjoyed those 1st 4 episodes. Lyonne is fun as always, and the rotating supporting cast is really good.
It was really kind of relaxing to be watching a show and not have to worry about overarching plot beyond the occasional 4 hour time limit.

[sandydandy]

Losing weight on a slow but steady basis makes it easier to keep the weight off. I might know someone who has lost a ton of weight and managed to keep it off. I think I know the same guy, me bruv. Met him over a decade ago when he was pretty big. Now he's a small guy with a big heart. :cool:

[speedpimp]

You know him too, bruv? Small world, innit.

[sandydandy]

Watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It was so full of heart, and action, and sadness. It was hard not to get choked up at several points during the film when references were made to T'Challa. Story was fantastically done. Namor was awesome too.

Nice to see Shuri's tremendous growth as a character and into the role of Black Panther.

Was a little irritated that they changed Namor's home from Atlantis to Talocan. WTF is up with that?

T'Challa lives at the end! The future of the name is secure.

[JoeW]

I was underwhelmed by Wakanda.

I didn't like the turn that wholesome and happy Shuri made. I thought the new girl was just thrown in and all of a sudden she somehow has made a powersuit at MIT? She started to explain the Vibranium detector and started out with some BS about mylar sheets? Meh. And in practice the final rendition of it was very cheesy looking. The way Shuri got to be Black Panther kind of irritated me as well...especially having evil thoughts like that. And most especially not believing in all the mysticism of Wakanda history...that was annoying and off putting. I wish Namor would have had a origin movie. That character deserved a whole lot more...especially with a rich backstory like that. Seems a shame to gloss over such a hardcore subject. Would have liked to see all the Talocan characters given a full movie to really dig into that world. I did enjoy the connection between Wakanda and Talocan though.

[George]

Free streaming channel Pluto TV has had a Star Trek channel for quite a while now, but it has always been showing the early seasons of The Next Generation when I've tuned in previously.

For the last few days, they've been showing the original series in order, over and over. I still enjoy the good episodes as much as ever, and even more when it has been a few years since I've watched any.

http://superanemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Doomsday-Machine-14.jpg

[Dicknose]

Anyone watching Last of Us??
Enjoyed the first ep, but now waiting to binge a few (plus Im the only zombie watcher in our household)

[Tom Servo]

Only watched the first episode so far. I think I'm in the same boat as you.

Cunk on Earth is fucking great.

[MR2 Fan]

I watched Avatar 2. it was..........long. Thematically this rehashed a lot of things the original one did, I think, but it's fine....just was hoping it wasn't...

Earth people trying to invade again, or practically the same exact earth people

but hey, it's a beautiful film but once again 30 minutes too long....lots of it with the end action scenes. Then again, James Cameron took 13 years and had to justify it somehow, so 3 hour 17 minute runtime/etc.

[JoshInKC]

Only watched the first episode so far. I think I'm in the same boat as you.

Cunk on Earth is fucking great.

Yeah, any new Cunk content is always a treat. I highly recommend getting your hands on Cunk on Britain, the Charlie Booker stuff, and Cunk and Other Humans. Most of them are unavailable on this side of the pond, but accessible via "the high seas".

[Tom Servo]

She somehow does the Ali G thing but in such a serious tone and manages to keep a straight face, I have no idea how she does it. It could so easily just be annoyingly dumb or something but she does it so damn well. Even down to that deliberate walk towards the camera like every other documentary like it has - just all the details are nailed.

[dodint]

Ever watch After Life?

[JoeW]

Last of Us is great.

[Tom Servo]

Ever watch After Life?

I haven't, I'll have to take a look.

[speedpimp]

Finished up Extraordinary yesterday. In a world where everyone gets a super power when they turn 18 one woman doesn't and hilarity ensues.

[dodint]

I haven't, I'll have to take a look.

I ask because she plays a very similar, though albeit more serious character in it.

I wrote this on another forum last year:



Is the actress that plays Kath just really fantastic at pulling off the awkward conversation? I was climbing out of my skin when she was on the date with the barrister. She has a certain unowned sadness that really affects me.


I still think about that quiet desperation.

[JoeW]

I tried to watch Cunk on Earth…got through about 75% of the first episode and gave up. It’s got chuckles but it’s the same type of jokes all the way through. This is probably one of those shows where I really need to be in the exact mood to enjoy it.

[MR2 Fan]

The Flash trailer is out and whoa....putting the Ezra Miller stuff aside and me not being a huge fan of recent DC Movies..........this looks incredible. I hope it's also not just a one-off "finally a great DC movie right before it's all thrown away and rebooted"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKfD0Lfzew

[SportWagon]

I'd noticed previously episodes of The Beachcombers listed on APTN. But yesterday, since there was nothing else to watch, I actually caught the end of one of them.

Relic actually did a good thing for a change.

[Phil_SS]

Last of Us is great.

Totally agree. Very well done.

I never played the game so I only know the basis of the story not the particulars. So for me it is all new. Been a great story so far (Ep.3 was a great piece of cinema) and I like how the episodes are sorta linear like the video game appears to be, it's a nice homage.

[JoeW]

I didn’t even know it was from a video game. I just heard people raving and had to give it a shot.

[MR2 Fan]

Two things:

Just watched Quantumania (No spoilers) and I really enjoyed it, but I'm also an MCU fanboy and this movie is definitely a very Marvel formula movie. What takes it higher is Jonathan Majors as Kang...he steals the movie and this is basically a "part 1" of the Kang saga


ALSO, HYPED For this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcfbg994fu4

[Tom Servo]

Just saw episode 2 of Last of Us, which I haven't heard anyone reference as being something special. We're both in a world of terror and crying. I gather than Ep 3 and 5 will basically just leave us as piles of jelly.

[JSGeneral]

Looks like batshit crazy fun. Or maybe just batshit crazy...


https://youtu.be/2NnPzpuU5ao

[JoeW]

I’m in :)

[Crazed_Insanity]

What a wonderful idea! To have Kimi play John Wick and fuck Nazis up!

[Tom Servo]

I think we maybe got anticipointment from Last of Us Ep 3. So many people had told me it was one of the greatest episodes of television they'd ever seen. I liked it, thought it was quite well done, but not *that* great.

[Phil_SS]

That looks awesome!

[Dicknose]

I ask because she plays a very similar, though albeit more serious character in it.

Also caught her in an Aussie show, Frayed. I guess she was out here, maybe knew the writer who is a female comedian. Again playing that slightly confused person.


Bro-in-law and I loved Cunk, my sister had a few laughs and lasted half an ep, that was all she could take.

[Tom Servo]

Yeah, I get Joe's point about Cunk, it really is just kinda the same joke in that she is quite dumb but plays it extremely seriously, but she's so good at it. I couldn't stop laughing...I dunno if it's that unerring sense of confidence the entire time, like she never really realizes how dopey she's being, or what, but just absolutely loved it. I can get why it might not land, though.

[JoeW]

I find it funny…I get the references and they are clever…but it’s the same thing over and over. It just gets a little tiresome. Like I expected different kinds of jokes but it’s just the same thing over and over.

I might try again because humor is a mood thing for me. I could watch a comedian and be dying laughing one day and watch another special by the same guy another day and just turn it off after 5mins. Maybe I’m broken :)

[Rare White Ape]

I love it!

But why are they using The Final Countdown as the theme music instead of the arguably more tense and fitting Tetris music from the Game Boy?

(Edit: this is in reference to the Tetris Movie posted on the last page... I didn't see the next whole page of this thread)

[Tom Servo]

I find it funny…I get the references and they are clever…but it’s the same thing over and over. It just gets a little tiresome. Like I expected different kinds of jokes but it’s just the same thing over and over.

I might try again because humor is a mood thing for me. I could watch a comedian and be dying laughing one day and watch another special by the same guy another day and just turn it off after 5mins. Maybe I’m broken :)

I hope my post didn't come across as criticism. There are tons of comedies that people love that I just do not get. Comedy is a subjective thing.

[JoeW]

Oh no...I was just elaborating ;) I want to like it so much because I grew up on British comedies and humor.

[George]

We watched [Breaking Bad] for about two seasons and then stopped because of a lack of interest. People kept saying "it'll get real good next episode/season" but it never did. I think it's because there are no likable characters.

I've been cringing my way through this series slowly. I hadn't watched any in a few weeks because I was just tired of it, and because I realized I had slept through a couple episodes late at night and I didn't want to retreat in my march to the finish of this difficult series.

Then, in the last couple evenings/late nights, I watched season three, episodes six through nine (or, in Netflix-speak, S3:E6-9, I suppose), and guess what? It just got real good. :up:

[dodint]

Glad you're enjoying it.

I don't have faith that it won't be like The Walking Dead. Getting worse with each episode for ten years.

[Tom Servo]

Finished up Extraordinary yesterday. In a world where everyone gets a super power when they turn 18 one woman doesn't and hilarity ensues.

I am 12 minutes into episode one and laughing so hard I am crying.

EDIT: Goddammit, 12 minutes later and I'm legit crying.

[JoeW]

Best name ever….Jizzlord.

[JoeW]

Shrinking on Apple TV is great.

[JoeW]

The latest episode of The Problem with Jon Stewart is fantastic regarding guns. The interview portion is pure gold.

[Tom Servo]

Just saw episode 5 of Last of Us, and we're pretty much annihilated.

[sandydandy]

Watched Don’t Pick Up the Phone. Three-part series. Unbelievably bizarre.

[FaultyMario]

Does anybody know of a movie or tv series about Zheng He, the bad ass explorer?

[speedpimp]

Mario: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2118013/

[MR2 Fan]

Watched "Margin Call" last week and watching "The Big Short" tonight after planning to watch it last week....seems odd as I had no idea this week was going to start repeating the same crap

[FaultyMario]

Thanks rich!

[sandydandy]

Watched "Margin Call" last week and watching "The Big Short" tonight after planning to watch it last week....seems odd as I had no idea this week was going to start repeating the same crap I love Margin Call. Great ensemble cast who realistically portray what was likely going on at big investment banks holding toxic assets in 2008. I rewatch this movie regularly. I’ve tried but just can’t get into the Big Short. Will try again very soon.

Anyway I tried watching Echoes but couldn’t finish it. I gave it three episodes but then just ended up reading the spoilers. I really like Michelle Monaghan, but this series was confusing and frustrating, and not worth any further investment of time.

[MR2 Fan]

I love Margin Call. Great ensemble cast who realistically portray what was likely going on at big investment banks holding toxic assets in 2008. I rewatch this movie regularly. I’ve tried but just can’t get into the Big Short. Will try again very soon.

Yeah, they're very different movies about the same scenario. I think because they tried to accurately capture the people involved and their unique quirks maybe that's off-putting? I do like the "random celebrity explains things like I'm 5" part and how in some parts they just talk to the camera about what actually happened or what didn't exactly happen the same way. I'm still a bit confused about a lot of it but got the general idea.

[retsmah]

I'm also in the "I love Margin Call and re watch it frequently" camp. I think it's coming off of Netflix or maybe already has, so those days may be over for me.

I don't even really understand why I personally like it so much. There's a part of me I think that wants to work a fictional wall street job exactly as displayed on screen (and not the very long days we are meant to understand are happening off screen), like I want to go into an office with nice views and good lighting, put in some earbuds and fuck around on a computer for a few minutes, go to a brief but dramatic meeting and call it a day.


I'm also finally getting into Last of Us, I just watched Episode 5 so it'll probably be a week or so before I get to the finale with everyone else. Loving it so far!

My fiance doesn't want to watch it, but I have some time where I can watch while she's working. I recently took the ~30 seconds to figure out how to connect my bluetooth earbuds to the TV and watch without interrupting her work meetings going on in the next room.

[Tom Servo]

Not something I'm watching at the moment, but Michelle Yeoh got an Oscar. She's been incredible in so many different movies I've seen that never would get any recognition and I'm thrilled that she finally got it.

[Yw-slayer]

She is a great actress. It was a good movie, although I'm not sure I'd have rated it best picture. Then again I haven't seen any of the other candidates other than Top Gun Maverick (which, while good, wasn't as good as Everything).

I did over the last few months finish Everything, After Yang, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Doraemon 2 (the CGI movie), and possibly some other stuff that i don't remembee much about at the moment.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I think she initially got noticed by Hollywood by Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? Sure has come a long way! Her Career really blossomed in Hollywood. I really like the male actor more, Chow Yun-Fat, but things just didn't work out for him in Hollywood. Even the supporting actress Zhang Ziyi became more famous than him. I guess Asian actors need to know some martial arts in order to be really noticed in Hollywood.

I haven't seen a lot of movies lately to make any judgments, but it does seem that Academy is particularly nice to asians this year. Not gonna complain about that! :p

[JoeW]

History of the World Part II is somewhat meh.

[Tom Servo]

I was afraid of that. I know a lot of people love Spaceballs, but I always feel like that was the last Mel Brooks movie I'd actually consider funny, and nowhere near as good as his earlier work. I wish he'd just went out on a good note with High Anxiety.

[sandydandy]

I'm also in the "I love Margin Call and re watch it frequently" camp. I think it's coming off of Netflix or maybe already has, so those days may be over for me.

I don't even really understand why I personally like it so much. There's a part of me I think that wants to work a fictional wall street job exactly as displayed on screen (and not the very long days we are meant to understand are happening off screen), like I want to go into an office with nice views and good lighting, put in some earbuds and fuck around on a computer for a few minutes, go to a brief but dramatic meeting and call it a day. I too can’t really put my finger on why I like Margin Call so much. Maybe it’s the appeal of the Wall Street lifestyle. Or watching Paul Bettany eating breakfast with soy sauce.

You’re right it is coming off of Netflix soon. I already had the movie on DVD before I ever subscribed to Netflix, so I’m good.

[sandydandy]

Watched the Rental on Prime Video. It was actually pretty decent.

[MR2 Fan]

I didn't watch Shazam 2, apparently no one else did either. Honestly I never watched the first one but overall it seems to be a decline in Marvel/DC AND Star Wars stuff recently with Mando Season 3 getting low viewership numbers as well and I believe Andor, as highly rated as it was, also didn't get high viewership

I think there might be franchise fatigue overall, but I want to see how Guardians 3 does at the box office.

[George]

I forget now where I saw it, but earlier today online I saw that Better Call Saul Season Six is coming to Netflix in April.

I've seen BCS seasons 1 - 5 and am on season 4, episode 7 or 8 of Breaking Bad now.

I just want to get it all over with before I stumble across any more spoilers for both series. But, once again last night, I had to turn off BB because I just can't stand some of the situations Walt gets himself into. I don't mind the criminal stuff. In fact, I wish there was more of it, compared to his family drama that tends to put a knot of tension and frustration in my stomach. Some of that is just so "cringe", as my kids would say - they leave off the y at the end - that I'm compelled to hit the Power button on the TV remove, go to bed, and come back days later as free time allows and my interest in the show returns.

[Phil_SS]

History of the World Part II is somewhat meh.

It had it's good points and it's meh points no doubt. Honestly, my wife and I started to watch History of the World Part I and a lot of it was meh as well.

[Phil_SS]

Chow Yun Fat will always be a hero for The Killer and Hard Boiled. Don't care if the movies were made by Hollywood.

[Kchrpm]

John Wick 4 does a great job at providing what you want to see.

[MR2 Fan]

not something I'm specifically watching but a pet peeve of a lot of movies/TV shows I've seen........a countdown timer is happening, death and destruction is a few seconds away BUT there's always enough of time for a main character to do some exposition of plot or talk about their emotions to another character, because it COULDN'T be done after they defuse the bomb, etc. etc.

[JoeW]

Yeah 30secs left before doomsday but they use 35 of them to have a tender expression of love or reminisce about some shit. And THEN they do something about it. It’s classic.

[speedpimp]

They don't call them tropes for nothing.

[MR2 Fan]

Marvel Studios just getting bad news after bad news right now:

"Jonathan Majors was reportedly arrested this weekend on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment. His rep claims “he's done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up."- via TMZ (and several other oulets)

[Crazed_Insanity]

Just finished watching this year’s best picture… I actually loved it! Just like I loved Matrix and Pulp Fiction! To me, it really felt like Matrix/Pulp Fiction/Tropic Thunder all rolled into one! So naturally, I really can’t wrap my head around how it won best picture! I guess Will Smith probably slapped the entire Academy silly.

Well, if Top Gun and Avatar could be nominees, then I suppose the results weren’t so surprising… :p

[JoeW]

I dunno. I was entertained but not enough to watch it again.

[sandydandy]

Watched a couple of movies over the weekend.

The Tall Man with Jessica Biel. A little strange and bizarre, but overall pretty decent.

Wicked with Julia Stiles. A little predictable but still decent.

[retsmah]

Just watched Annihilation, which was weird but I thought also pretty good. I've listened to the podcast Tanis and thought the trailer for Annihilation looked kinda similar, which did turn out to be the case. Doing a little googling afterwards it seems like they do share some inspiration in books.

[speedpimp]

Up Here. Just imagine if you crossed Herman's Head with a musical(but a lot more). It's on Hulu.

[G'day Mate]

Alone Australia. Soooooooo ocker :lol: Love it!

[dodint]

Finally getting around to Queen's Gambit. We like it so far.

[JoeW]

New season of Dave just dropped. 1st episode is good.

[speedpimp]

Gangs of London. It's like Game of Thrones without dragons.

[Cam]

(I don't watch a lot of stuff, so it's my first visit in this thread for a while.)


Chow Yun Fat will always be a hero for The Killer and Hard Boiled. Don't care if the movies were made by Hollywood.

While I agree those movies are great, how could you forget the universally acclaimed, multiple-award-winning, box office smash Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?

Lori and I started to watch The Peripheral. We are four episodes in and are both wondering if it is going to start making sense any time soon.

[Cam]

Watched Top Gun Maverick recently. It was so friggin' hokey. The plot was literally ripped from Ace Combat. :lol: I mean, it could have been a cut scene from Ace Combat.

Admittedly, I was impressed with Cruise's fitness. Pretty good for a 60 year old dude.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I liked it for sentimental reasons only. I understand perhaps it saved or helped jump start the movies industry post-pandemic, but nominating it as best picture in Oscars was kinda crazy. Not as crazy as best actor smacking the crap out of the host, but still crazy.

It's a decent Hollywood action movie, but I think the original was still better overall. I liked F-14 better, I liked the female characters better, I like the music better too. Lady Gaga's song simply didn't take my breath away at all! :p Story-wise, they're probably both just as corny, but acceptable enough.

[JoshInKC]

Lori and I started to watch The Peripheral. We are four episodes in and are both wondering if it is going to start making sense any time soon.
Ummmm....
I'd love to tell you how much sense it starts making, but as someone who enjoyed the book it is loosely based on and did an episode by episode podcast (https://johnny60.libsyn.com/) watching and analyzing the show... I'd advise finding something to love about it (characters, performances, production design, etc) that isn't 'how much sense it makes' because it doesn't. The show ends up doing a lot of "What would be 'cool' on-screen right this second? We've got a ton of amazon's money to spend." at the expense of story and logic.

I'll watch the 2nd season out of a sense of obligation, but I sadly don't have a ton of hope for it.

[retsmah]

but as someone who enjoyed the book it is loosely based on and did an episode by episode podcast (https://johnny60.libsyn.com/) watching and analyzing the show...

I haven't watched this show, but I appreciate the podcast format of "watch through of this thing, and actually we made it all the way through and it's still fun and now we gotta do something else." My fiance listens to a podcast on the baby sitters club that I think is now onto romance novels, and another on buffy the vampire slayer that has moved onto x-files. Which is why she's now re watching the x-files!

[JoshInKC]

I agree that it's a good podcast format and listen to a few of them.
The Periphipod is actually only the final 10(ish) episodes on that feed.
The rest is my co-host and I watching Johnny Mnemonic (1995) one minute at a time - It was a very stupid idea, but got us through the pandemic lockdown.
Now we're doing a broader review of Cyberpunk media at the High Tech Low Life (https://sites.libsyn.com/457296) podcast

[JoeW]

Didn’t read the book but I loved that show and can’t wait for season two.

[JoshInKC]

Good! I had problems with it - I tend to over analyze and find flaws in everything, but I'm glad other people enjoyed it.

[Rare White Ape]

Admittedly, I was impressed with Cruise's fitness. Pretty good for a 60 year old dude.

I used to really despise Cruise (and there's a lot to despise about him) but of late that has softened because I have come to admire his dedication to film making.

[Tom Servo]

I like keeping the two separate. Sure, he's had some good performances, but he still sucks. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is a great album, but Varg still sucks ass.

[JoeW]

I would have used a more pedestrian example like Michael Jackson :)

[MR2 Fan]

I watched "Tetris" on AppleTV (free subscription)

The movie was quite good, not perfect as a couple of the players involved sort of felt like caricatures, HOWEVER it's also possible they were just that...weird.

The Maxwells in particular which I didn't know, the head of the company, Robert Maxwell's daughter is...........Ghislaine Maxwell :eek:

Also, I'm guessing people will think that most of it was made up but honestly we know that a LOT of what's in the movie actually happened...from what I know from seeing other reports and documentaries, about 75% was pretty accurate at least. Of course there's some additional hollywood flair.

The thing I didn't realize before was how close the timing of when Tetris was being promoted and the collapse of the Soviet Union was. Not that they were directly related except for that creeping capitalism mindset and was Tetris the catalyst in some way?

[Tom Servo]

I would have used a more pedestrian example like Michael Jackson :)

Where's the fun in that?

[JoeW]

Primarily because my musical references don’t extend into the realm of Varg :)

I can’t deny I like a good Jackson 5 or Michael Jackson song…but evidence is strong against his personal transgressions.

Not really sure I could come up with anything esoteric unfortunately.

[JoeW]

Watched a new movie on Prime called Alienoid. Not in english but the movie is a sci fi action movie with some time travel, magic and martial arts elements. Pretty entertaining actually. Cool premise.

[Kchrpm]

I watched two movies today, with similar and quite different elements:

The Super Mario Bros Movie

Almost Famous

Both are based heavily on nostalgia and references, especially to music but also just in "remember when this happened?". Both were quite fun to me, despite my lopsided knowledge of characters and happenings in one vs the other.

I think that, without a great knowledge of all the things happening in Almost Famous, they just seem like interesting (though not overtly life changing for the most part) things happening to the characters. Many things happen in TSMBM that are only interesting because of their similarity to a game moment, and otherwise have no significance.

One was a critically acclaimed box office bomb that became a cult classic. The other is, I believe, doing very well in theaters but is critically panned, and will probably lead to at least one sequel.

[Leon]

Watched the D&D movie last night. Very amusing :)
Lots in there for the avid D&D player too, as far as spells and creatures go.

[Kchrpm]

Oh yeah, I saw the D&D movie as well, I really enjoyed it.

[Phil_SS]

(I don't watch a lot of stuff, so it's my first visit in this thread for a while.)

While I agree those movies are great, how could you forget the universally acclaimed, multiple-award-winning, box office smash Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?

I didn't forget. My point was that I don't need a movie to come from Hollywood to enjoy the movie. Or to think of an actor as a hero or to think of an actor as successful.

[sandydandy]

I watched a blast from the past.


https://youtu.be/aRTCG3HD3S8

Was feeling nostalgic so I watched He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special. It was fun and reminded me of some of the old He-Man toys I used to have and miss dearly. Once I was done playing He-Man with them I used them as wrestlers in my old WWF wrestling ring.

Anyway, the movie itself was decent. Some very cringe dialogue, (especially from Adam...his voice hurt my ears), but good fun overall. It's about 45 minutes long, and the second half is the movie all over again but with commentary by the creator I guess. No ads!

[SkylineObsession]

Read through this topic a couple months back, but just want to bring up The Boys again. I discovered it via constant memes on 9GAG, so got fed up with wondering what they were, googled it, found the show on Amazon Prime, subscribed, and got bloody well hooked on this awesome show.
Love how there are two Kiwi's in lead roles. Didn't even realise initially that Homelander was played by Kiwi Antony Starr (he looksand sounds insanely American with that hair colour and style) and now i kind of regret not noticing his acting ability sooner before he was overseas playing roles.

It's such a well written, well acted, damn scary (Homelander is scary as hell - so unpredictable with so much power), gory, crude, funny and overall highly entertaining show - me and wifey both love it.

[JoeW]

That show definitely explores the likely more real ramifications of what would happen if people attained powers.

[SkylineObsession]

Yeah i think that's part of the reason we enjoyed it so much, it shows that superheros can be people too and suffer from mental health and addiction problems. Plus the consequences of those problems with their superpowers... Part of the reason Homelander is so scary, because he ain't right in the head and is as powerful as superman basically.

[Kchrpm]

I can definitely understand the appeal of The Boys, but man, what a fucking bummer of a concept. I know that people like bummer concepts and seeing things being terrible in their media because terrible = real, but fuck that noise for me personally.

[sandydandy]

I watched Let Him Go, with Kevin Costner and the still lovely for her age Diane Lane. I don't usually watch Westerns, but this one was pretty good.

[speedpimp]

Lucky Hank on Amazon Prime. Bob Odenkirk as a college professor in a mid-life transition.

[George]

And in other Bob Odenkirk news, Better Caul Saul season six is available starting today on Netflix in the USA.

[neanderthal]

I don't particularly like war movies because they often get too jingoistic and ... I watched Guy Ritchie's The Covenant and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[sandydandy]

Watched Titanic (1953) in black and white. It wasn't bad. Nice little love story mixed in there which wasn't cringeworthy in the slightest bit. Definitely faster moving compared to Cameron's 1997 movie, especially after the ship hit the iceberg.

[MR2 Fan]

I've seen "A Night to Remember" which is very similar to James Cameron's in a lot of ways minus the added on love story of course

[sandydandy]

Thanks for mentioning, I’ll definitely check that one out.

[Blerpa]

A Night to Remember (1958) | Full Movie | Colour | 4k (https://youtu.be/46B_l5onsbY)

[Leon]

Apparently I'm not watching Netflix any more, because of their crackdown on password sharing. No longer can I be a person on the better half's account, as that is "registered" to her home IP address.

This policy reversal on passwords hasn't made it to USA / UK yet, but it is causing cancellations of accounts in the areas where the policy has been enacted. So those of you who share a login, watch out, they will probably be coming for your country soon enough.

[sandydandy]

A Night to Remember (1958) | Full Movie | Colour | 4k (https://youtu.be/46B_l5onsbY) Thanks for finding that.


Apparently I'm not watching Netflix any more, because of their crackdown on password sharing. No longer can I be a person on the better half's account, as that is "registered" to her home IP address.

This policy reversal on passwords hasn't made it to USA / UK yet, but it is causing cancellations of accounts in the areas where the policy has been enacted. So those of you who share a login, watch out, they will probably be coming for your country soon enough. I don’t understand this new crackdown. In our house there’s four of us who have several TVs/phones/computers/tablets that can be connected to our Netflix account at any given time. Our plan is for two screens. I hope they don’t start cracking down on people in the same household.

I have Netflix on my computer at work too, and would be annoyed if they disallowed that.

It’s like they’re begging for people to unsubscribe from their service.

[Tom Servo]

Ideally, Netflix only sees as far as your router. If they're seeing internal IPs/MAC addresses, there's a network misconfiguration going on.

It's still a stupid way to try to introduce it, but for most people who share an account within their household, it should not be an issue. As it is, your ISP can change your IP address any time they want, and some of them do regularly. It's not a good way to try to lock down to a single spot. Hell, for a while there Okta was telling me I was signing in from Tempe, AZ, despite being in Los Angeles. Before that, it was Irvine, CA. Now, suddenly, it's back in LA. All of those were going to be changes for the main gateway IP they were sending my traffic through.

[dodint]

Surely Netflix can tell if one IP is streaming multiple pieces of content at once.

[Tom Servo]

I think it's more that Netflix will block people if it sees a different IP than it's used to. That's part of their password sharing crackdown - if you connect from a different IP than what they normally see you come from, they will block it unless you add someone as a "guest account" for x dollars.

As it is, the top level plan allows for four simultaneous streams, so they definitely wouldn't be blocking more than one stream to the same IP.

[Tom Servo]

Watched Cocaine Bear. It was pretty much exactly what it said on the tin.

[Rare White Ape]

This Netflix thing isn't about preventing single-login use in a household. You're still able to share it with anyone. It's just that any device that it's being used on needs to 'check-in' on the same network connection as the primary device every 7 or 30 days or something.

So for example if your PC at home was the primary device, anyone in the house could be logged into Netflix and you follow your maximum simultaneous users as per usual. Or if you are one of the people who share Netflix logins with a friend or your parents or whatever, they can still use it until the system decides it needs to check in on the primary device's network connection.

There will be ways around it.

[SkylineObsession]

We aren't too bothered about the Netflix thing. We usually only subscribe to pay TV for anywhere from one month to three or four. When we've seen enough or when too many things appear on another service that we want to watch, then we cancel one and move to the other. Still hate paying for TV, but having no ads makes it worthwhile.

My step mum said Cocaine Bear was pretty funny/crazy, so we're keen to see it.

[Tom Servo]

It's very silly. Lots of good practical effects, especially when it came to blood and gore. A surprisingly strong cast given that it's clearly a B-movie.

If you don't take it seriously (and who would?) it's a good time.

[speedpimp]

Beef. The series is ten episodes and they go fast.

[George]

I finally finished it. I could have gone faster, but I don't have a lot of time to sit alone and watch TV. I watch other stuff with the family, but not this. It has been my late-night escape and I didn't want it to end.

I suppose if I weren't around his age, married with a teenage son who wants a car (and a daughter too); if I didn't wear glasses and plaid shirts and thick-soled shoes (but not those shoes :eek:); if I didn't have an okay job but without much prestige and have college buddies who have far surpassed me; if I didn't even live in a similar neighborhood and would probably wear a moustache if my wife didn't object, it might not have affected me as much as it did.

It makes one wonder what could happen in dark times and what is still ahead.



Don't open this if you haven't watched all of Breaking Bad.



When I heard this, I wondered if Vince got the whole idea from this song.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbILy-bCN4M

And something that made me chuckle...

The Volvo was missing a hubcap too. :)

[JoshInKC]

I can't put my finger on exactly why or how, but those Clarks Wallabies are somehow the exact correct choice for Walter's shoes.

[George]

Yeah. I remember those being called Earth Shoes. They were popular in the 1970s. In the '80s, in high school, they seemed to be the shoes stoners wore. Maybe they were all along.

They're perfect for a guy who's a decade or two out of style, just like his...

...double-breasted blue blazer with the bright gold buttons.

[sandydandy]

Watched 42 this weekend. I found it to be quite good and inspirational. Also it moved a little too fast, and Jackie's story was too compressed.

[MR2 Fan]

"Empire of the Sun", 1987 Steven Spielberg movie about a british kid in Shanghai during WWII when it's invaded by the Japanese and he gets sent to an internment camp.

This is one of those movies I never hear about, the only thing I knew was the basic plot details and the amazing score by John Williams. The movie was fine, but it didn't quite hit the right emotional notes and I wasn't sure where the plot was going exactly.

The kid, played by Christian Bale in his first (?) movie role seemed very uncaring overall about the death and destruction around him until the very end, only obsessed with airplanes, mostly the Japanese ones. I guess that's the point where he's bottling up all of his emotions but it didn't quite work in my opinion.

Overall 3/5

[Tom Servo]

Jury Duty on Amazon's Freevee. I do wish that if you paid for Amazon Prime you could just watch it there without ads, but oh well. First episode took a little bit of time to get up to speed, but we were laughing our asses off by the end of episode 2.