Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[Jacki Dice]

I started The X-files a few days ago. My grandma used to watch it, but I wasn't at her house often enough to really remember much other than this scene where some.... thing(?) was crawling out of some space and it looked like it had been skinned and I was scared for weeks.

Anyway, I'm really liking Mulder. I can't say that I "believe" in aliens, but I kinda enjoy the idea of Area 51 and ancient astronauts the same way I love ghost and paranormal stories.

Also, I finally got caught up with The Walking Dead. I love it. I think it's my favorite show right now.

Is that the original X-Files show? There were a couple of episodes that crawling critter might have been from. The Host is my first thought. It was about a Fluke-man living in the sewers. I think the other was called The Family, it was about a family of horrifically inbreds living in the country.

It was either the show or it might have been a movie, if X-files did a movie. All I know is I was terrified of it crawling out from under spaces for a few weeks.

[mirocu]

The X-files has two movies although I have only seen the first

[SubRosa]

Or it could have been the strechy guy - Tooms. He could elongate his body parts, so that he could crawl through air vents or even the cracks under doors. He was in two episodes.

I have been watching Inside The American Mob on Netflix. Fantastic. It starts out in 1970, and mostly concentrates on the New York mafia and The Commission. Though there is one episode solely about the Philadephia mob - which was controlled by the Commission. It's from a combination of mobsters and Feds - including Joe Pistone - aka Donnie Brasco, Rudolph Gulliani, etc...

[mALX]

Or it could have been the strechy guy - Tooms. He could elongate his body parts, so that he could crawl through air vents or even the cracks under doors. He was in two episodes.

I have been watching Inside The American Mob on Netflix. Fantastic. It starts out in 1970, and mostly concentrates on the New York mafia and The Commission. Though there is one episode solely about the Philadephia mob - which was controlled by the Commission. It's from a combination of mobsters and Feds - including Joe Pistone - aka Donnie Brasco, Rudolph Gulliani, etc...

GAAAAAAAH!!!!! Not Rudy!!!!

[SubRosa]

I finished Inside the American Mob. So today I watched Goodfellas. Even after all these years, it's still a great gangster movie.

[Decrepit]

This afternoon a watched what is as of this date the most recent QI episode available at YouTube. I have felt this season's QI episodes to be comparatively lackluster, but think this one darn good one despise a slow start.

Either yesterday or this morning I concluded my second viewing of Yogscast Sips LP of the game Banished. Good stuff.

Just a few minutes ago I finished DVD disk one of the 1993 Turner Pictures movie Gettysburg, which ends only a few minutes after one of the film's most stirring climactic scenes. If memory serves, it was chancing upon this clip at YouTube that led to me researching the movie and eventually buying it on disk. I'll likely watch disk two either tonight or some time tomorrow.

(2015-12-17 ADDENDUM: I did indeed finish watching Gettysburg last night.)

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 17 2015, 11:23 AM

[hazmick]

I finished The Frankenstein Chronicles today. An absolutely fantastic end to a thoroughly enjoyable series. They managed to squeeze so much drama, intrigue, and excitement into 6 episodes and told a fascinating story that rivals or beats any other show I've seen in a while.

Sean Bean's portrayal of John Marlott was really really well done, and the show also introduced plenty of actors I'm unfamiliar with but hope I see more of in the future.

[Decrepit]

Yesterday evening I watched Akira Kurosawa's Ran on Laserdisc. For a relatively long movie it sped by in the blink of an eye. Alas, my LD is in the old pan-and-scan format, of which I am a sworn enemy. (Pan-and-scan is why I bought very few movies on VHS, that format never adopting 'letterboxing' beyond rare exceptions. Letterboxing on Laserdisc was more prevalent but not universal.)

Also watched, the supplemental commentary tracks on my DVD of Gettysburg.

Several nights ago I attempted to watch Laputa: Castle in the Sky but fell asleep early on and didn't wake until fairly far into the film. I didn't feel like backtracking so threw in the towel.

[hazmick]

Been to see the new Star Wars film this evening. It was ok. About what I expected.

Very nice CGI, nice soundtrack, overall a technically good film. I would have preferred more storytelling and interesting characters, but that's why I watch the Clone Wars cartoons.

The new Stormtrooper armour looks quite nice.

[Decrepit]

I just rewatched a clip focusing on half-swording. The combatants don't hold back as much as one often encounters in such demonstrations, surprising in that one man is not armored. Watching this shows, amongst other things, how inadequately even the best video games depict true medieval combat techniques, though Kingdom Come Deliverance promises to be a step in the right direction.

Relatedly, I watched an interesting answer to the question, "Which movie or TV series has the most realistic arms, armor and fighting?" and a very brief talk on the role of historical advisors in film.

Off the subject, I enjoyed another video from the fellow who talked about film advisors.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Dec 20 2015, 04:49 PM

[Grits]

I loved the new Star Wars movie. The Grits family went Thursday night to a theater that a friend had rented for his practice’s Christmas party, so it was full of people that we know. It turned out that we even knew a bunch of his patients who were there. The experience was very much the movie night of old before the Internet and on-demand everything. It would be difficult to separate the movie from the overall cultural experience. Lots of fun to see everyone in their Star Wars gear wandering through the bars and restaurants around the theater before the movie. It was hilarious to see the plaza outside empty in two seconds when it was over. After all most of us were there with our kids, and it was a school night.

[mirocu]

The "new" Star Wars movie...?



Didn´t that come in the 80s?



*loads up VHS tape*

This post has been edited by mirocu: Dec 20 2015, 03:48 PM

[Grits]

I forgot to mention, I finished Jessica Jones. Loved it. Now Mr. Grits and I have embarked upon a Walking Dead journey. I didn’t like it the first time I tried to watch it, but it’s better now with a more forgiving attitude and few cocktails on board.

[Callidus Thorn]

Made the mistake of checking out the Banished lp Decrepit linked in What Are You Playing? It makes for remarkably compelling viewing.

[SubRosa]

I just rewatched a clip focusing on half-swording. The combatants don't hold back as much as one often encounters in such demonstrations, surprising in that one man is not armored. Watching this shows, amongst other things, how inadequately even the best video games depict true medieval combat techniques, though Kingdom Come Deliverance promises to be a step in the right direction.

Relatedly, I watched an interesting answer to the question, "Which movie or TV series has the most realistic arms, armor and fighting?" and a very brief talk on the role of historical advisors in film.

Off the subject, I enjoyed another video from the fellow who talked about film advisors.

Bravo! The only problem with actually watching these videos and reading the old longswording manuals is that once you see it, you realize how silly most movie sword-fighting is. Especially people chopping through armored opponents with arming swords.

However, some films do manage to sneak in real longswording moves in when the director isn't looking (or whoever it is in the film industry that hates real sword fighting and bans its depiction). Ironclad did that in a few places, which got me cheering. But then that same movie had armored men literally being chopped in two from skull to groin... Troy was like that too. It sneaked in some real sword and spear moves between the silliness.

Now I am looking for Maria the Virgin Witch...

I forgot to mention, I finished Jessica Jones. Loved it. Now Mr. Grits and I have embarked upon a Walking Dead journey. I didn’t like it the first time I tried to watch it, but it’s better now with a more forgiving attitude and few cocktails on board.

Congrats on Jessica! That was the best superhero show I have seen for a long time. Maybe ever. Like I said in my review a few pages back, it is all so very personal. Plus, David Tennant! It has me looking forward to the Luke Cage series.

I never got past the first two seasons of Walking Dead. The women are depicted as Suzy Homemakers, and in the second season the Queen Bee even gives a big speech about how all women should do is clean the house and have dinner on the table for their man when he gets home. The one female character in those seasons who defies the apparent ban on XX Chromosomes carrying a weapon wants to kill herself, and then allows someone else to try. So she's not a role model either.

I know the show went through multiple showrunners, and I think the later ones changed that by introducing new female characters who weren't damsels in distress - like the pics I see of the African girl with the katana. But it was all too little, too late for me. I was thoroughly disgusted by the show in season two.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 20 2015, 08:08 PM

[mALX]

Made the mistake of checking out the Banished lp Decrepit linked in What Are You Playing? It makes for remarkably compelling viewing.

That is the vid that made me beg SubRosa for the game, if I'm not mistaken in the vid you are referring to,

[Callidus Thorn]

Sipsburgh and its amusing housing situation?

[mALX]

Sipsburgh and its amusing housing situation?

That narrator had me in hysterics, lol.

[Grits]

SubRosa, I’m starting to remember why I didn’t make it far with Walking Dead the first time. The characters seem like they were written by people who don’t know much about people. The plot moves along, though, so tonight we’re going to watch a few more episodes paired with some seasonal brews.

[SubRosa]

SubRosa, I’m starting to remember why I didn’t make it far with Walking Dead the first time. The characters seem like they were written by people who don’t know much about people. The plot moves along, though, so tonight we’re going to watch a few more episodes paired with some seasonal brews.

That is what makes or breaks a show for me. Do I like the characters? Or maybe a better way to put it is do I enjoy watching the characters. I did not like David's Tennant's character in Jessica Jones. But he was an awesome villain. I just loved watching him, and all of his rationalizations and half-truths, as he tried to justify his sociopathy and casual cruelty.

TWD had way too much soap opera melodrama in it for me. Because of that I could really could not care less if they all lived or died. That is always my cue to stop watching.

OTOH I loved Z-Nation - I even bought it on dvd - because I liked the characters in it. They were a lot of fun to be around. The rest of the show could be campy, and had cheap cgi. But none of that detracted from the joy of watching Murphy, Abbie, 10k, Doc, and the rest getting into a new z-venture every episode.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 21 2015, 01:32 AM