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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078 |
Maybe also not so coincidently, Benton (B&C) and Goldman (B&S) are about the same age and both did grad work at Columbia. Maybe they collaborated?
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9,168
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 9,168 |
Ebert, surprisingly, gave Butch and Sundance a mixed review. He enjoyed the beginning immensely but found the last hour drug out too long, and wasn't as fresh as the rest of the film. He also thought the ending aped too much from Bonnie & Clyde, which is something I never thought of before, but I can totally see now that he brings it up. I still thought it was great, but it's interesting to see an alternate point of view. I thought it dragged in the middle. And honestly, this movie is a *bromance* - the girl's not needed. That was all a waste of time.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078 |
Get rid of the girl, get rid of the bicycle. The movie's nothing without the bicycle. True ignorance: I went to Bolivia because I really wanted to see where B$S (supposedly) got it (Tupiza) but ended up getting 3 days in hospital (e-coli/salmanella) which took me off my path and I ended up settling for a hike along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Sometimes bad things work out okay. I did miss out on the Solar Uyuni and lots of people time and hope to get back there someday.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,364
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,364 |
I've been a big fan of American Horror Story since it began despite some much less than stellar seasons (*cough* Coven *cough*) but I find this latest series, Hotel, so over-the-top disgusting and beyond-the-pale nihilistic that I am struggling to stay with it.
And I'm not talking about the gore (which I don't think would be appropriate to children but since I'm not a child, have no problem with), I'm talking about the tone-deaf glorification of hideously cruel and disgusting people who just keep committing one barbaric act after another and we the viewers are expected to... what?... sympathise with? support? be intrigued by? ... them?
There's not a single likable character in the cast (except maybe the main policeman character, but Wes Bentley is such a cold, emotionless actor that it's hard to generate much investment in him, and it seems fairly predictable that he's going to turn psycho by the end anyway) that I am purely just watching in the hope that every one of them die some gruesome death by the end of it.
And this latest episode, which just absolutely reveled in the activities of some fairly recent serial killers, was just completely tasteless. People have long accused AHS of being all about shocking its viewers but when the shocks get this boring and predictable, while still remaining unpleasant, it might be time that this show realises its run out of ideas.
Scream Queens is so much better anyway.
Sorry for the rant.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 40,641
Trap Timer
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Trap Timer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 40,641 |
Yeah, I'm not digging this season of AHS either. There's a severe lack of hook with either characters or plot, and so it does just come off as one over the top self-indulgent gruesome scene after another. Maybe they'll manage to tie it together into something interesting, but I'm skeptical at this point.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188
Legionnaire!
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Legionnaire!
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188 |
I was actually digging this season a lot, almost as much as Asylum (the best one so far), because it had shed it's campy trappings (giving them to Scream Queens) and I was actually down for some straight-up horror. The last episode soured me somewhat, as I thought it disrespectful to the surviving family members of their victims to use the real serial killers (and not even have them get any sort of comeuppance).
That said, the rest of the season has grabbed my attention. Lady Gaga is actually captivating as is Bohmer (Though I think they are turning far too many of the cast into vampires too early).
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,364
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,364 |
^ Asylum is also my favourite.
I also agree that:
* Lady Gaga has been really impressive so far and has the perfect look for her role; and * Matt Bomer has certainly been captivating (visually). I've never noticed him in anything he's done before but he looked so amazingly beautiful in his opening scene that I had to rewind it and watch it twice! I think it must have been the eyeliner. And I want his hair.
I don't mind horror without camp but there needs to be a point to it. So far we've had four episodes of sick people doing horrible things and...? I get that March is a psychotic murderer who likes to torture his victims. I got that the first 5 times they showed it. They need to start progressing some story otherwise it just becomes glorification of murder like in a Hostel movie IMO.
It's nice to see Evan Peters have something to do after a few seasons of being wasted though. And the rest of the actors are also giving it their all as usual.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188
Legionnaire!
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Legionnaire!
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188 |
Evan Peters put-on accent reminds me too much of a Dave Foley character from Kids in the Hall and takes me right out of it every time I agree they need to move on the plot soon. I think it's far too telegraphed that John's the killer he's hunting for, so hopefully they have a satisfying twist waiting there.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,692
Humanoid from the Deep
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Humanoid from the Deep
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,692 |
Marathon Man (1976) I'm a big Dustin Hoffman fan, but this movie was a disappointment for me. The first hour or so is fantastic, setting up a great dual story of Hoffman trying to get his PhD and win the girl while Roy Scheider is engrossed in an international espionage conspiracy. However, once Scheider and Hoffman meet up, the story begins to fall apart and the third act becomes quite tedious. The infamous tooth scene is well shot and suspenseful, but the action is rather uninspired and the ending is rather anti-climatic.
Keep up with what I've been watching lately! "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you."
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078 |
IZombie continues to get stronger. It's not just the quippy dialogue but the characters and the story are gaining depth without losing credibility or becoming too hard to follow. The lead characters are still people you'd like to hang out with and come off genuine friends.
If there's a reason this one is not on your watching list, read a couple reviews because it's well worth it. The one criticism I've read and I can see its validity, there's some stereotyping. Since a brain eating zombie takes on elements of personality, to show this they occasionally stereotype. Not racial, religious.... but occupational, cultural...
Generally family friendly too, at least by today's standards.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078 |
Taking advantage of the 30 days Amazon Prime free to watch "Man from the High Castel."
First ep really intriguing. Thought the second one, parts of it got a bit long winded. Still interesting.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 40,641
Trap Timer
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Trap Timer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 40,641 |
Yeah, I'm planning to watch that whenever the rest of my shows go on a break. Definitely sounds intriguing!
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 9,055
Long live the Legion!
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Long live the Legion!
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 9,055 |
Jessica Jones, at the moment. Most of the way through binge-watching it.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078 |
Jessica Jones, at the moment. Most of the way through binge-watching it.
How has that been? I don't think I get the premise, that she's a former superhero?
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 33,081
Time Trapper
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Time Trapper
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 33,081 |
i loved the first episode of JESSICA JONES. THE dispiciblde villain-- traanslated great to screen...
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,457
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,457 |
Its a slow build but really well done.
Touch the magic...
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 33,081
Time Trapper
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Time Trapper
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 33,081 |
Shoot, JJONES takes a hit at episode 4 with the intro of the annoying to me Simpson cop character who won't GET THE FUCK OFf THE SCREEN FOR 5 MINUTES ALREADY). Plus this whole ep felt like filler.
I'll get back to it at some point but the great trajectory was certainly derailed for me.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 6,078 |
Sometimes I think there's actors in show just because they're screwing the right person. So evident that the character sucks or gets way too much screen time. It's my paranoia and I'm keeping it.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188
Legionnaire!
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Legionnaire!
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188 |
Finished Hemlock Grove. The whole series was certainly up and down and the final season certainly bore that out. Some plots developed and played out nicely, others just ground to abrupt halts. In a show where a lot hinged on Roman, he was so inconsistent in his portrayal (which is different from "conflicted" which is what they were trying for), that the final, rushed showdown didn't hold water for me.
Strangely, Olivia (Famke Janssen)'s story arc, which I couldn't care less about for most of the season, had the best sense of closure in the finale.
The show gets high marks for it's ambition alone, but it was a bit too messy.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 9,055
Long live the Legion!
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Long live the Legion!
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 9,055 |
Finished Jessica Jones. It was surprisingly good, and had an uphill slog to impress me, since I was not a fan of the character, or of Patsy 'Hellcat' Walker, who turned out to be the best supporting characters in the show, a 'Foggy' to Jessica's 'Matt' (along with Luke Cage, whose actor kind of knocked it out of the park, while avoiding the Blaxploitation angle and playing him more serious). That said, if they ever have Misty Knight appear, I kind of want her to play *up* that same angle, in the vein of Angela Basset's current character in American Horror Story: Hotel, whose flashbacks to her film career in such hits as 'Bride of Blackenstein' are just hilariously over the top. Finished Hemlock Grove. The whole series was certainly up and down and the final season certainly bore that out. Some plots developed and played out nicely, others just ground to abrupt halts. In a show where a lot hinged on Roman, he was so inconsistent in his portrayal (which is different from "conflicted" which is what they were trying for), that the final, rushed showdown didn't hold water for me.
Strangely, Olivia (Famke Janssen)'s story arc, which I couldn't care less about for most of the season, had the best sense of closure in the finale.
The show gets high marks for it's ambition alone, but it was a bit too messy. Agreed. Roman's character-turn didn't really feel that organic (although I did like when people would point out to his face that he was acting just like his mother...). Olivia's elegant narcissism, even if she was utterly toxic to everyone around her, was kind of enthralling to watch, and really made me take a second look at Famke Janssen as an actress. Gosh, I had no idea this was a 'last season' until important people started dropping like flies! Minor nitpick. Shelly's height was inconsistent, it seemed. Despite *saying* that she was 'seven feet tall' at one point, there were far too many scenes where she's standing around other people and they are her height *or taller.* Viewers know from Lord of the Rings that the camera can do all sorts of tricks with perspective to make the tallest dude in the cast appear to be a dwarf, or whatever, so I don't see any excuse for why they kept messing that detail up.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188
Legionnaire!
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Legionnaire!
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 4,188 |
Minor nitpick. Shelly's height was inconsistent, it seemed. Despite *saying* that she was 'seven feet tall' at one point, there were far too many scenes where she's standing around other people and they are her height *or taller.* Viewers know from Lord of the Rings that the camera can do all sorts of tricks with perspective to make the tallest dude in the cast appear to be a dwarf, or whatever, so I don't see any excuse for why they kept messing that detail up.
My wife and I had the same reaction. Not only is she supposed to be freakishly tall, but freakishly strong (She's the Frankenstein, to their Wolfman and Dracula), but this is only brought up when convenient to the plot. While her story had the most upbeat conclusion, her depiction was the least consistent one.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 25,675
space mutineer & purveyor of quality sammitches
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space mutineer & purveyor of quality sammitches
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 25,675 |
Watched "A Night At The Opera" again yesterday. Monday requires the Marx Brothers. Oh, and bourbon + soda, too.
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 33,081
Time Trapper
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Time Trapper
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 33,081 |
JJONES rebounded for me with episodes 5-6, snd i've better accpted the character they introduced thawt I disliked.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 9,055
Long live the Legion!
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Long live the Legion!
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 9,055 |
My wife and I had the same reaction. Not only is she supposed to be freakishly tall, but freakishly strong (She's the Frankenstein, to their Wolfman and Dracula), but this is only brought up when convenient to the plot. While her story had the most upbeat conclusion, her depiction was the least consistent one. Huh, I never noticed her being the Frankenstein, despite it being pretty much shouted from the rooftops, with her name 'Shelly' (after Mary Shelly) and her being such a big R Romantic. She was a great character, not just in and of herself, but in how she brought out the best (and worst) in those around her. Roman was never more likable than when he was her protective big brother, Peter when he was play-flirting with her at their introduction, and Dr. Price when he was so clearly his best self around her, while Olivia's amazing selfishness really stood out in her treatment of her daughter.
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Re: So what are you WATCHING?
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,890
Wanderer
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Wanderer
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 8,890 |
Real life! There's a hawk on the fence outside my window.
"Everything about this is going to feel different." (Saturn Girl, Legion of Super-Heroes #1)
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