Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you WATCHING?

Blue Velvet...wierd and great movie. It gets downright insane. But that's David Lynch for you. Lynch reminds me of the Joker. (Killing Joke version)

A classic actor I've come to really respect is Gregory Peck. I have to say he does not act the same in every film...and his films are pretty good.

Recently saw him Spellbound (didn't love that movie), The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and I have Mr. Deeds goes to Washington next.

I have not read The Snows of Kilimanjaro but I enjoyed the film. I hear the film and and book are quite different. Ava Gardener's character was completely made up for the film. Ava is a hot little number. Never seen any of her films. Have to catch a few. (The Sun Also Rises I have on my list to watch...she's in that...and I've read that book. It will be interesting).

About every 30 minutes or so, my wife would pause the movie and take 5 minutes to explain all the stuff they skipped or changed. I agree the movie on its own wasn't great (and the mystery easy), but from the sounds of it the book was much better.

I highly recommend the new version which I think trumps this one. Both are fairly faithful to the book so some scenes are almost verbatim, but the acting is superior and the ending is much, much better.

I love Lynch but I don't love Blue Velvet. It is masterfully rendered and a decent enough parable, but the lengths of depravity and mysogny, no matter how effectively rendered, aren't justified (or prehaps redeemed is the better world) by the movie's message or theme. It's a little too proud of it's horrifying moments that it wallows in them rather than use them to an artistic and effective point. It's a very fine line, but moreso than other Lynch works, I think Blue Velvets falls victim to itself.

By the Way, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is the English title, whereas the actual translation of the English title is "Men Who Hate Women", which actually informs the story quite a bit better in my mind.

Great book, but not sure how well it could be translated to film. I know a US remake version will be coming out next year.

My Brother-in-Law just sent down the first three seasons of Breaking Bad. We've already plowed through Season One and are two episodes into Season 2. It's really, really good. My wife didn't care for it at first, but now she's more hooked than I am.

I recently watched one of Frank Capra’s films from 1937 called, “Lost Horizon”.

About 30 minutes into it I started getting déjà vu. The rest of the film just cinched it. This will only have meaning to fans of the show “Lost,” but take a gander at the plot (abridged just to highlight the parallels):

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">A group of Westerners are traveling home on a plane, when it crashes deep in an isolated land, completely hidden from the outside world. They all survive the crash (though the pilot is killed) and, after a short time taking shelter in caves, are met by the inhabitants of the land. These inhabitants, who are led by a mysterious figure, live in a seemingly impossible environment – both completely hidden from the outside world and, at the same time, built in a modern fashion with all conveniences of civilization. Meanwhile, in the outside world, a search ensures for the plane which just “disappeared”.

The crash survivors, including a scientist, a con-man, and a terminally ill passenger (who begins to miraculously recover in this place), are initially anxious to get back to civilization but, over time, they come to appreciate that this hidden land is a miraculous place where all of what they were before can be wiped clean. Most of them come to feel that they don't want to leave.

The hero is eventually granted an audience with the mysterious leader who tells him that his arrival was not an accident at all; that he was brought there intentionally. The leader has been watching the hero for years. It turns out that the leader is actually hundreds of years old (he was 108 when he realized he would no longer age), but is preserved by the magical properties of the place. He is finally prepared to die, however, and needs someone who will take his role in protecting this place.

Before this happens, though, through a heated discussion between two characters – one, a realist and one, a “man of faith,” the hero is convinced to escape the place with a small group of the survivors. After leaving, one of the escapees commits suicide and the hero, after a time, realizes that he never should have left and that he has to go back.

Forsaking everything in the real world where he is a highly respected person, the hero tries for a long time to find the place again (growing an almost comical beard in the process), but eventually makes it back to fulfill his destiny.</span></span>

Wow, right?

I’m not saying that this movie was the only source for “Lost,” as clearly there are a great many other elements to the show… but I would be highly suspect if the above movie were not the core source. I mean, my wife and I were literally watching “Lost Horizon” with mouths agape at points going, “That’s almost the exact conversation from Lost.”

WOW. Really, wow. I never heard of this movie before! It clearly is a huge inspiration on Lost. I totally have to watch it!

I've long felt that DR. STRANGE was almost entirely the creation of Steve Ditko, with Stan Lee only writing the dialogue (and some of his best, in my opinion). However, the ONE DS plot I do feel Stan contributed was the ORIGIN... part of which seems to have been inspired by the film LOST HORIZON. It's notable that with the ORIGIN story, Doc, who originally resembled Vincent Price (see THE RAVEN) began to resemble Ronald Colman. And of course, there's The Ancient One (Sam Jaffe)...

As an aside, please note that the main girl in LOST HORIZON is played by Jane Wyatt, who decades later played "Amanda" on STAR TREK (Spock's mother).

I am so looking for this movie!

Wow! I never realized how close the parallels between Lost Horizons and Lost were! Now I want to watch again with that in mind!

It's funny that Lost Horizons seems to be a largely forgotten novel/movie these days, while the fabled land at the core of the movie, Shangri-La, has become a part of the collective pop culture consciousness. I suspect the vast majority of people think that the idea of Shangri-La is much older than it's actual 1930s origins.

I am watching (and reading) Tsubasa: Resevior Chronicles. I love CLAMP and Yuko is my favorite character they have created so far. Anime is a bit tiresome with the long pauses...but most animes do that. Almost done with Season 1 and then on to Season 2.

Currently watching the A&E Nero Wolfe series from about ten years ago, and wondering why I never knew of the existence of this particular piece of awesomeness until recently.

Just checked and one of the Libraries in this area has this...renting it this week.

I'm officially hooked on this show, with seven episodes in now! It's really fun to watch. It does have some angsty stuff going on, but it also has a humorous side to it that is coming out more and more as each episode goes by. There's this scene in last week's episode in which Aidan (the vampire lead) has an allergic reaction to garlic that is handled quite hilariously!

Being Human just has a good mix of soap opera, its own internal mythology and a real sense of humor that's really clicking with me. Definitely recommended!

Unintentional comedy... Sons of Anarchy

Fairly Legal. Not great, but okay at 10 or 11 on a Thursday night.

The Defenders... cute show. Belushi's ex should be the lady from his last show, according to jim, who played his wife. Now that could be funny.

Scrubs... still love this show. The lady playing Jordan... hottcha...

Got back into How I met your mother in syndication. Watched the show at first, but lost it.

Rules of engagement... The entire cast is funny.

Tried both the british and american version of Being Human and just can't stick it.

Waiting for Eureka and Warehouse 13 to return.

Waiting for Apr. 23rd, 9pm and the return of the wonderful Matt Smith as Doctor Who.

Don't forget Amy and Rory! The last season if Doctor Who was easily my favorite since the series was revived.

How I Met Your Mother is always cool for a solid watch, even if I don't watch it religiously. Like the Office (but much more so IMO), if I catch it and I've got a few minutes, I'll rawk it out.

Community needs to get into syndication ASAP.

Just watched the Dresden Files on Netflix. Solid cast, Murphy was a fun watch, very attractive and smart.

don't know how the character is in the books, but in the show he seemed awfully squirmy and twitchy, as one character noted.

Would have liked to have seen more, but, it only lasted one season.

I forget who it was, but thanks to the poster here that recommended the series.

Castle. The show is just fun.

I called in sick for a tummy bug today and watched two movies on DVD this afternoon. I had checked both out from the library some time ago and finally got around to seeing them.

First was 1964's The World of Henry Orient, with Peter Sellers and Angela Lansbury. Sellers plays a concert pianist that two teenage schoolgirls become obsessed with. It's hilariously funny and very poignant in some places. I saw it on the late, late show when I was a teenager and decided to see it again.

Second was 1969's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin play two young people in a weeks-long dance marathon in the 1930s. Gig Young won an Oscar for his role as the emcee. I had never seen it before.

Both great films in their own ways. I never would have put them together, but seeing them together I noticed some casting coincidences. Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster) appeared in a supporting role in both movies. Phyllis Thaxter was in Henry Orient and Susannah York was in They Shoot Horses. Of course Thaxter played Martha Kent and York played Lara in Superman: The Movie

I love the American version of Being Human.

The British version not so much.

^Me, too, fk! I've extolled its virtues a couple of times in this thread. It really got better and better over the course of its 13 episodes with this week's being the last of the initial run. It was announced last month that there will be a second season. It's got a good mythology to it, an increasingly impressive cast, a nice humorous touch and it tied up a lot of loose ends while leaving room for future stories.

I watched most of the first episode of the British version. Just didn't grab me. I may look at it some more, but I don't see it impressing me like the American adaptation does.

See I'm the exact opposite. We love the British version, but the American one really left us cold (full disclosure, we only watched the first few episodes). George and Annie are just so much more likable than their American counterparts. It may just be a matter of which you were exposed to first, but we were really turned off by the new one.

Also, Herrick was much creepier than Bishop, in that he was so disarming in his looks and mannerisms, that it's that much scarier when he goes full on vampy evil.