Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[mALX]

I am, as usual in the evenings, watching dr. Stuart Ashen reviewing tat on his brown sofa

BwaaHaa! I know some products I'd like to see him "review," lol.

[Callidus Thorn]

I'm watching Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham is magnificent. And they gave him some fantastic lines, too.

I would love to see that one!

One of my favourite bits ever in a film: Heehee



And(unconnected) I stumbled across this while looking for that.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Jan 14 2016, 11:56 PM

[mALX]

I'm watching Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham is magnificent. And they gave him some fantastic lines, too.

I would love to see that one!

One of my favourite bits ever in a film: Heehee



And(unconnected) I stumbled across this while looking for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnbN3Pya_AM



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgxwLQsM0iM





This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 15 2016, 12:33 AM

[hazmick]

Been catching up on new films today. The Hateful Eight, The Revenant, and Spectre.

The Hateful Eight is an American western mystery film, by Quentin Tarantino. It wasn't bad. Lots of shooting and interesting characters, as expected of one of his films. The story itself is fairly interesting, though the ending felt a little...sub-par.

The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, was great. It's a semi-biographical western set in the early 1820's. The story itself is simple enough, but the acting talent is what brings the film alive.

Spectre, the new Bond film, was also quite good. Not as good as the older Bonds of course, but good nonetheless. Carries on the story from the previous film with some good throwbacks to the older ones. Don't want to spoil anything, but I'd say it's worth the watch.

[Callidus Thorn]

Watching Looper.

Gods, is this thing a mess. On so many levels.

[SubRosa]

Yesterday I started watching season 2 of Z-Nation. Tons of fun! This is even better than the first season. It amazes me how superior this is to The Walking Dead. TWD has a lot more money, so has prettier effects shots. But it is so much worse in every other category.

When a regular dies in Z-Nation, you feel sad, because the characters are actually likeable in this show. Where in TWD I mostly just cheered, because I couldn't wait for those a-holes to die. You can even feel bad for the minor characters that die in the same episode you met them. They may not have a huge amount of screen time or depth, but they are always interesting.

The zombies are so much more original and creative in Z-N as well. Where TWD has the same basic shufflers in every episode. Z-N has all sorts of different Z's. Fast ones, slow ones, radioactive ones, drugged ones, etc... Season 2 introduces Blasters, who are Z's that have been mutated by nuclear explosions (but are different from the glowing irradiated ones we saw in Season 1's nuclear power plant episode). Blasters are super fast, and smart enough to actually run away and hide when people shoot at them. There are even Zombie-Human hybrids, with weird powers of their own.

Plot-wise it is also so much better. TWD's plot is your standard zombie show plot: survive. That's it. Z-N has an actual, tangible goal for its characters. Deliver the only known survivor of a zombie bite to a lab so an anti-zombie vaccine can be made from his blood. I like it because the characters are actually doing something other than just randomly mucking along. They are out to save the world, not just eke out another day in it. Plus the whole road trip nature gives us a chance to visit all sorts of different places and meet new people (and see how they die).

It is also so much more Fun! Z-Nation definitely puts the fun back in the zombie genre. It's not as blatant as the Return of the Living Dead movies. But there is still humor and silliness, to the point of being campy sometimes. But the camp is what keeps it from being just a dreary parade of people dying badly in an utterly pointless existence.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 21 2016, 08:51 PM

[mALX]

Yesterday I started watching season 2 of Z-Nation. Tons of fun! This is even better than the first season. It amazes me how superior this is to The Walking Dead. TWD has a lot more money, so has prettier effects shots. But it is so much worse in every other category.

When a regular dies in Z-Nation, you feel sad, because the characters are actually likeable in this show. Where in TWD I mostly just cheered, because I couldn't wait for those a-holes to die. You can even feel bad for the minor characters that die in the same episode you met them. They may not have a huge amount of screen time or depth, but they are always interesting.

The zombies are so much more original and creative in Z-N as well. Where TWD has the same basic shufflers in every episode. Z-N has all sorts of different Z's. Fast ones, slow ones, radioactive ones, drugged ones, etc... Season 2 introduces Blasters, who are Z's that have been mutated by nuclear explosions (but are different from the glowing irradiated ones we saw in Season 1's nuclear power plant episode). Blasters are super fast, and smart enough to actually run away and hide when people shoot at them. There are even Zombie-Human hybrids, with weird powers of their own.

Plot-wise it is also so much better. TWD's plot is your standard zombie show plot: survive. That's it. Z-N has an actual, tangible goal for its characters. Deliver the only known survivor of a zombie bite to a lab so an anti-zombie vaccine can be made from his blood. I like it because the characters are actually doing something other than just randomly mucking along. They are out to save the world, not just eke out another day in it. Plus the whole road trip nature gives us a chance to visit all sorts of different places and meet new people (and see how they die).

It is also so much more Fun! Z-Nation definitely puts the fun back in the zombie genre. It's not as blatant as the Return of the Living Dead movies. But there is still humor and silliness, to the point of being campy sometimes. But the camp is what keeps it from being just a dreary parade of people dying badly in an utterly pointless existence.

This does sound a lot more "well thought out" for longevity; where as by its own repetition TWD would eventually get boring and stale.

What ever happened to that weekly show that premiered a year ago where a girl was bitten by a zombie and worked in the morgue to get brains to eat? I was looking forward to seeing more of that, and never found it again.

I also like the plot you described here, kind of close to "The Last of Us" - I'll try to get my son to record a season on his thumb drive and bring it to me, lol.

[SubRosa]

You are thinking of I, Zombie. It is in its second season now. I have only seen the first season, since that is all that is out on dvd/netflix so far. It was a fun show. Though the plot got a little poor toward the end of the first season. Hopefully it picks up in the second season.

[mALX]

You are thinking of I, Zombie. It is in its second season now. I have only seen the first season, since that is all that is out on dvd/netflix so far. It was a fun show. Though the plot got a little poor toward the end of the first season. Hopefully it picks up in the second season.

That is it! I couldn't find it after seeing the first few shows, darn it! Yes, that show had some potential (but could get bogged down in repetition if they weren't careful).

[SubRosa]

I just finished The Last Survivors. It's a small post-apocalypse desert-world movie that was surprisingly good. It is more like The Road than Book of Eli, in that it is not an action movie. Survivors hide, try their best to survive, and when they have to: fight. It even has a Western-style water-rights twist, in that the preacher master-villain is pumping up all the water left in the valley in order to drive out everyone else. And those who don't leave or surrender to him, he murders.

[hazmick]

Just watched the first episode of Black Sails, season 3. Good start to the season, looks as if it'll be as good (if not better) than the previous two.

Now they're introducing Edward Teach and Woodes Rogers into the mix, which should make things even more exciting.

[mALX]

My son came home with the first two seasons of "Breaking Bad" yesterday - my first time seeing an episode of the show, even though it has been out some time from what I gather.

My son has been watching the show from its premier; and was kind of shocked to learn I hadn't seen it before; so he downloaded the two seasons from NetFlix.

Well, we marathon watched both seasons and now my eyes are burning and every slight light looks too bright; but I enjoyed it a lot - and not just because it was great to spend so much time with my son not having to run out the door for school or work, lol.

It is an intense show, but extremely well done and acted; and there really isn't a limit on its potential storylines like there was with "Dexter," (which was the last marathon series my son downloaded from NetFlix and brought home).

Most stunning to me was the performance by Bryan Cranston; beloved "Hal" from the "Malcolm in the Middle" series. I never expected this kind of ability and range out of Cranston; WOW!!!!!!

Another great feature of this series is the synchronicity between characters and events; a great example being the whole storyline between Jane/Jesse/Walt/Jane's Dad - and the domino effect of collisions as their personalities bounce off one another to the final mid air collision that ends the season = Awesome !!!

Especially great and intriguing was how throughout season 2 the beginning scenes of each episode had me riveted to find out whose bodies were in Walt's drive; I assumed gunfire and family members - was pleasantly shocked by the truth.

I'm not big on TV watching, but I really enjoyed it!






This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 27 2016, 03:42 AM

[SubRosa]

Watching Force 10 From Navarone. It goes without saying that it's not as good a Guns of Navarone. But it is still a good war/spy movie. Now I am thinking of doing an Alistair MaClean festival, and watching Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles Dare, and whatever else MaClean I can think of.

[haute ecole rider]

OMG, Force Ten from Navarone!! I loved Robert Shaw in that movie!

Yes, Guns of Navarone is much better, but still Force 10 is fun to watch, especially with Harrison Ford still in Han Solo/Indiana Jones mode.

[treydog]

ice Station Zebra... yes, it's a bit of a mess, but still.

Can't think of any others not named, though I think there might have been an adaptation of The Satan Big under a different title

[SubRosa]

I watched Ice Station Zebra recently, when I did a cold war fest. So that one's off the table. I think there is a Satan Bug movie, but Netflix does not have it...

[treydog]

Forgot Caravan to Vaccares and Breakheart Pass.

According to IMDB.COM, there was also When Eight Bells Toll

[SubRosa]

Alistair MaClean lost out tonight. Instead I started watching Planet Dinosaur. I bought it from the BBC and it came in the mail yesterday along with the remastered Walking With Dinosaurs, and two Nigel Marvin specials - Chased By Dinosaurs and Jurassic - Monsters of the Deep. I have seen the others before, but this is my first time watching Planet Dinosaur. So far it is really good, with neat episodes about Spinosaurs and Microraptors (which look a lot like Archaeopteryx to me).

[mALX]

My son came home with the first two seasons of "Breaking Bad" yesterday - my first time seeing an episode of the show, even though it has been out some time from what I gather.

My son has been watching the show from its premier; and was kind of shocked to learn I hadn't seen it before; so he downloaded the two seasons from NetFlix.

Well, we marathon watched both seasons and now my eyes are burning and every slight light looks too bright; but I enjoyed it a lot - and not just because it was great to spend so much time with my son not having to run out the door for school or work, lol.

It is an intense show, but extremely well done and acted; and there really isn't a limit on its potential storylines like there was with "Dexter," (which was the last marathon series my son downloaded from NetFlix and brought home).

Most stunning to me was the performance by Bryan Cranston; beloved "Hal" from the "Malcolm in the Middle" series. I never expected this kind of ability and range out of Cranston; WOW!!!!!!

Another great feature of this series is the synchronicity between characters and events; a great example being the whole storyline between Jane/Jesse/Walt/Jane's Dad - and the domino effect of collisions as their personalities bounce off one another to the final mid air collision that ends the season = Awesome !!!

Especially great and intriguing was how throughout season 2 the beginning scenes of each episode had me riveted to find out whose bodies were in Walt's drive; I assumed gunfire and family members - was pleasantly shocked by the truth.

I'm not big on TV watching, but I really enjoyed it!

Finished season's 3 & 4 of Breaking Bad yesterday and last night with my son (and his girlfriend for season 4). That is one intense show!

The scene where Gus is walking dead - urgh, that was freaky as hell! I might have nightmares about that scene,

There is only one season left broken up into two halves - waiting for my son to bring them home to see them. Urk. Can't wait!





This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 31 2016, 02:54 PM

[SubRosa]

Watching Season 9 of Doctor Who. It has been pretty underwhelming for the most part. The acting is good, it is just the writing that is weak. Like it has been since Steve Moffat took over as showrunner.

Still, there were a few bright spots. The first minute of the first episode was great, with the hand mines and the big reveal of who the boy is. But after that that two part episode went downhill. I just finished a two-parter about the Zygerians that was pretty good. The best in this season so far. Hopefully it will pick up, but I am not crossing my fingers. I am not sure if I will even bother with Season 10 at this point.