Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )

202 Pages V « < 15 16 17 18 19 > »   
Reply to this topicStart new topic
> Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion
SubRosa
post Jan 1 2012, 07:25 PM
Post #321


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I started watching Bettany Hughes' The Spartans last night. Still have two episodes of it to go. I have her Helen of Troy next. I have seen them both years ago, and going back to them again is still lots of fun. I really like her documentaries. She not only is a good speaker, and has a slightly tongue-in-cheek, down to earth style, but she also presents a depth of information not normally found in t.v. documentaries.

For example, she shows us a real hoplon - from which the Greek hoplite got his name - and how it dictated tactics. Both with ancient sculptures of battles, and modern re-enactors, she showed us a phalanx as it really was, men all standing shoulder to shoulder in a long line 8-12 ranks deep. Then slamming into the enemy phalanx and pushing and shoving away at one another until one line broke its formation, resulting in their defeat. She even mentioned the hoplite drift, caused by each man getting closer to the man on his right, whose shield covered half of his body.

I do not know why it is so hard for Hollywood to show this reality in films. Instead they always want to show people mixing up in some wild melee, all spread around. The reality is that ancient war was a team sport, fought in dense formations, where the loser was the first to lose their cohesion. An Athenian general once berated the Spartans for their practice with weapons, because individual skill mattered little on the battlefield. You were all packed in too tightly to do anything except push forward, and jab nearly blindly ahead with your spear. It was all about endurance and courage.

Also refreshing to see in a documentary is her open admission of homosexuality in Ancient Sparta, something many 300 fans cannot admit (why weren't there any scenes in 300 of Gerard Butler pile driving 12 year old boys?). Whether it is the girls celebrating the Ambrosial Night, going down to the shrine of Helen at the Eurotas river, getting all oiled up, singing, dancing, reciting erotic poetry, and making love under the stars. Or that fact that part of the institutionalized pederasty was just that, older men were not only the mentors and teachers of boys, but lovers. That is something that makes even many historians squirm and try really hard to pretend did not exist. Even Spartan wedding ceremonies were a result of this. A bride had her head shaved, was put in an army tunic, and put in an unlit room. The groom would enter and have his way with her. They did everything they could to relieve the shock at having a sex with a woman, by trying to make it hard to realize that it was in fact a woman he was with, and not a boy.

The docu on Helen of Troy was not just about her and the Trojan War, but Mycenean culture in general, as well as warfare at that time. I remember one of the coolest parts of it was that she had a historical reenactor who actually built chariots from that era and put them to use. He also made the figure eight wicker shields they used, and real life practice with them showed them to be surprisingly strong and durable.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 1 2012, 08:24 PM


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
mALX
post Jan 8 2012, 10:47 PM
Post #322


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Cyrodiil, the Wastelands, and BFE TN



"Face Off" - really interesting !!

This post has been edited by mALX: Jan 8 2012, 10:48 PM


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
McBadgere
post Jan 8 2012, 11:17 PM
Post #323


Councilor
Group Icon
Joined: 21-October 11



Sherlock - The Hounds of Baskerville...

The newish BBC take on Sherlock Holmes by Steven "Doctor Who" Moffatt and Mark "Doctor Who" Gatiss...Guess why I watched it initially?...

Aaamywho...This last one is probably the best hour and a half's TV I've seen in a long long time...It was in every way brilliant...If it comes on BBC America or the netflix thing, GET IT...Soooooo brilliant...Soooo soooo sooo brilliant...
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Uleni Athram
post Jan 13 2012, 01:24 AM
Post #324


Master
Group Icon
Joined: 19-September 11
From: From: From: From



Anything Quentin Tarantino produced really, but Inglorious Basterds hold a special place in my mind. Not because of its violence or anything, but the character of Hans Landa. He's a type of evil that makes you smile and laugh. In the words of TVTropes, he's an Affably Evil, Magnificent Basterd. Christoph Waltz's acting is seriously superb. I applaud him.


--------------------
I wanna slap people and tell them I love them
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
SubRosa
post Jan 13 2012, 09:34 PM
Post #325


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I saw The Tunnel last week. It was a good little hand-cam horror movie. As the hand-held camera genre films go, it is definitely one of the better ones, like Rec/Quarantine or Cloverfield. The tunnels themselves are the biggest treat though. I do not know where the movie was filmed, but it is an incredibly cool place. It was plainly a real tunnel system, and not a sound stage.

I also started watching The Borgias this week. I finished the first disc yesterday. A good series. It really draws you in, even though the main characters are all scum. I have always been a Jeremy Irons fan, and he does a wonderful job as Roderigo Borgia/Pope Alexander. On one hand you see the greedy, ruthless schemer that he is, then the next you find him almost overwhelmed with piety from genuine religious experience at being elected Pope. He lets the Jews come to live in Rome after being banished from Spain, then tells him son to have a man murdered to pay for his daughter's dowry. He paints the picture of a very multi-hued character. Too bad he seems to have misplaced his razor though, as he always has a 7 o'clock stubble.

The guy playing his eldest son Caesere is excellent too. If anything, he is even more ruthless then his father. Yet at the same time we find him being reluctant to be dragged deeper and deeper into the church. What he really wants is to be prince of state, rather than a prince of the cloth. And damn, he makes a good schemer. Like his father though, he seems to have forgotten how to shave.

So if you liked shows like Rome, I recommend this as well. It portrays the decadent and brutal nature of Renaissance Italy quite well.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 13 2012, 09:35 PM


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
McBadgere
post Jan 14 2012, 10:04 PM
Post #326


Councilor
Group Icon
Joined: 21-October 11



Some anime called Gundam Wing...It's so wince inducing badly written (as, I suspect, is that sentence) it's positively amazing...

Haven't watched it since '98 I think...Brilliant... biggrin.gif ...Giant fighting tech!! Oh yes!!... biggrin.gif ...
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
treydog
post Jan 14 2012, 10:22 PM
Post #327


Master
Group Icon
Joined: 13-February 05
From: The Smoky Mountains



QUOTE
The newish BBC take on Sherlock Holmes by Steven "Doctor Who" Moffatt and Mark "Doctor Who" Gatiss...Guess why I watched it initially?...


Saw the first 3 episodes on Netflix

LOVE the adaptation of modern tech and modern times. Cumberbatch is simply perfect as a 21st century Holmes.

Staying with the detective genre, we just finished watching the ninth (and therefore last- for now) episode of Inspector George Gently.

Wonderful cultural time-travel for someone who lived throw the '60's but was too young to be completely aware... And brilliant acting as well. Highly recommended for anyone who likes police procedurals which are more about the coppers than the crimes.


--------------------
The dreams down here aren't broken, nah, they're walkin' with a limp...

The best-dressed newt in Mournhold.
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
The Solo Rollo
post Jan 16 2012, 11:42 PM
Post #328


Evoker

Joined: 8-November 11
From: Merry Old England



One word: Tobuscus

My favourite youtube celebrity. He really draws you into his videos, and is absolutely hilarious to boot!
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Uleni Athram
post Jan 17 2012, 04:38 AM
Post #329


Master
Group Icon
Joined: 19-September 11
From: From: From: From



Bless yo face! Tobuscus?! Yeah, I like him too. Particulary his LP of Amnesia: Dark Descent. Which reminds me that I still haven't finished watching it to the end.... Bless yo face, Han Solo-Rollo, but I must go now. Tobuscus calls.


--------------------
I wanna slap people and tell them I love them
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
McBadgere
post Jan 17 2012, 07:05 AM
Post #330


Councilor
Group Icon
Joined: 21-October 11



The kids know all the words to his Assassins Creed: Brotherhood trailer... biggrin.gif ...They keep playing it...Loses something eventually though... biggrin.gif ...

His Skyrim one makes me laugh every time though... biggrin.gif ...

This post has been edited by McBadgere: Jan 17 2012, 07:06 AM
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
SubRosa
post Jan 22 2012, 12:09 AM
Post #331


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I finished The Borgias last week. At least the first season. My final episode of Farscape was yesterday. So now I am in the dead zone of nothing to watch. So I dug through my dvds, and broke out Reilly: Ace of Spies. Any one who likes Sam Neill should watch this. It shows him in his prime, playing the world's first super-spy (and his character was real). It is definitely slow by today's standards, no super-fight scenes, flashy gizmos, or eye-popping cgi. But what it does have is solid acting, a strong plot, and a character who is as brilliant as he is devious.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 5 2012, 08:48 PM


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
SubRosa
post Jan 29 2012, 02:16 AM
Post #332


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I finally finished with Reilly: Ace of Spies. I had forgotten how good it was. Sam Neill is simply outstanding in this role. Most amazing of all is that it's true. Sidney Reilly is the ultimate spy (and probably the most successful one the British ever had). He is brilliant, ruthless, and a mercenary to the core. He used everyone around him to achieve his goals, including his wives. There were often times that no one was sure who he was really working for.

Anyone who likes spy stories or political dramas will like this. There is almost no action, as it is all about planning, thought, and maneuvering. Which is to say, its about being smart, not acrobatically shooting things. The setting is also fascinating. It begins at the turn of the 20th century, and goes to the mid 20s.

This is a time when spying was still a gentleman's game, to be played with honor and fairness, and of course only something done by officers (because only they could have the breeding necessary to be so honorable of course). Reilly otoh, is a thoroughly modern spy. He is not an officer, or gentleman, and has no scruples. But he gets the job done when no one else can. For the first half of the series, he views it all as a game in fact. He even says as much in the Dreadnaughts & Double-Crosses two parter (where he successfully represents the Germans in getting the contract to build the new Russian fleet, beating out the British for the same deal. The upshot of course is that thanks to his involvement with the Germans, he will have access to the blueprints of every German warship, and send copies back to London). But to the outside it certainly looks like he has sold the British out.

Things all change with the Russian Revolution. In fact, half the series takes place in or after the Revolution. Reilly is a Russian by birth, so this he takes seriously. Finally something is personal to him: fighting the Bolsheviks. At one point, he very nearly overthrew them, and took power in Russia for himself. While ostensibly working for the British, it is plain that Reilly is on his own mission, and is doing it all for himself, and his personal beliefs.

Besides Reilly, we also get to see some of history's most fascinating figures. Prominent are of course Lenin, Stalin, and Felix Dzerzhinsky (head of the Soviet secret police). All are expertly portrayed. Dzerzhinsky especially shines here, as he gets a large role in the last 7 episodes, and is the only man to ever truly outplay Reilly at the game. Although in the end, Reilly beats him, even though the cost is fatal to himself.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 29 2012, 02:18 AM


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Fawkes
post Feb 5 2012, 02:11 AM
Post #333


Finder
Group Icon
Joined: 13-December 11
From: Solitude



Just went to see Women in Black, well besides never sleeping again, I'm keeping the lights on biggrin.gif
I do like the fact that it's like Insidious, It does not need gore for it to be frightening.


--------------------
Jericho the "hero"

"The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom"-Nyx
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Darkness Eternal
post Feb 5 2012, 02:23 AM
Post #334


Master
Group Icon
Joined: 10-June 11
From: Coldharbour



Spartacus: Vengeance.

Don't hate! RIP Andy!


--------------------
And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed.
I long for scenes where man hath never trod
A place where woman never smiled or wept
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie
The grass below—above the vaulted sky.”
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
SubRosa
post Feb 14 2012, 11:43 PM
Post #335


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I have been watching X-Files for the last few weeks. I just finished the most disgusting episode ever: The Host Well, it might not be quite as gross as the inbred episode, but this one definitely makes my inside churn. Ewww. Funny thing is, it is also notable in that it has the first appearance of Steven Williams as Mister X, who was my favorite of all the men in black in the X-Files.


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Darkness Eternal
post Feb 17 2012, 05:49 AM
Post #336


Master
Group Icon
Joined: 10-June 11
From: Coldharbour



Being Human, season 2. (SyFy). Sam Witwer is awesome. Loved him in the Force Unleashed.


--------------------
And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed.
I long for scenes where man hath never trod
A place where woman never smiled or wept
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Untroubling and untroubled where I lie
The grass below—above the vaulted sky.”
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
SubRosa
post Feb 27 2012, 05:21 AM
Post #337


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I just finished watching Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. It is as brilliant as it is twisted. A wonderful satire of hillbilly slasher films, where the hillbillys are the good guys, and the college students the psychos. If you like black comedys, I highly recommend it.


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
SubRosa
post Mar 4 2012, 11:01 PM
Post #338


Ancient
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Between The Worlds



I saw the 2011 version of The Thing last night. It was definitely a worthy successor to the previous two films. It is a prequel to the Carpenter film, and they did try to keep true to the events of his movie. They even duplicated several sets and items from the Carpenter version, such as the one where they find the hollowed out block of ice in the Norwegian base, or the bodies of the two men melted together (seeing how they got that way was very cool!).

At the end however, it seemed like they had missed a lot. But you have to watch through the end credits. You see the last bits there, taken straight from the Carpenter movie. The alien/dog, the Norwegians chasing it in the helicopter, etc... They even used the same music from Carpenter's movie, which was just the icing on the cake.

A few things felt derivative, like how the Norwegians just happened to have flamethrowers too. They even came up with an alien test. But theirs was different, and I have to say, was both inventive and made perfect sense. OTOH, nothing felt forced, and everything that happened made sense.

The effects were naturally better as well, and the Lovecraftian horrors that the alien turned into went beyond what Carpenter could do in 1982.

If you like the other two movies, definitely watch this. Good horror stuff.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 4 2012, 11:02 PM


--------------------
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Lady Saga
post Mar 5 2012, 01:13 PM
Post #339


Mouth
Group Icon
Joined: 20-February 12



Wait, isn't The Thing about a plant that says "feed me?" and stuff. ohmy.gif If so, I've seen the original a couple times. It's hilarious. EDIT: dang. that was little Shop of Horrors I was thinking about. I'm getting old. sad.gif

Lately Netflix recommended an old soap opera called Dark Shadows to me. I read about it and thought it sounded interesting. Man, I'm hooked! It started during the mid-1960's. From what I've read online, a lot of the scenes were one-takes, which means you occasionally see actors blow their lines, forget what they're supposed to say, cough, etc.

It's a 100% atmospheric show. cool.gif It's not about great acting or special effects, it's more about the mood of the show. It captures the mood of a haunted house perfectly, try looking it up. I'm not saying you all will like it, I'm just saying there's nothing else like it. Passions comes closest, I guess, but Passions is a modern show where they had a lot of retakes and everything is more or less perfect, as most shows are.


The cool thing about a soap opera is the writers and stuff get to plan ahead (way ahead) if they need to. They aren't limited to a one-time plot as in a movie; there's a bit of movement. I'm not a big soap opera-watcher, but this one is different. I think I read Dark Shadows at one time had a pretty good market share during daytime TV, which means it was on for quite a few years, but it eventually got cancelled. It's one of those shows that managed to complete the transition from B&W to full-color, too, but I haven't made it to the color episodes yet.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Mar 5 2012, 01:15 PM
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post
Acadian
post Mar 5 2012, 01:54 PM
Post #340


Paladin
Group Icon
Joined: 14-March 10
From: Las Vegas



Oh my goodness. Barnabas Collins and his Dark Shadows day show grew to almost cult-like proportions during its heyday! I guess I'm giving away my age. . . . tongue.gif

I once met Blackie Dalton - the gunfighter who went out into the streets of Dodge City and died to kick off each weekly episode of Gunsmoke. Ooooh - and who can forget Joe Friday?


--------------------
Screenshot: Buffy in Artaeum
Stop by our sub forum!
User is offlineProfile CardPM
Go to the top of the page
+Quote Post

202 Pages V « < 15 16 17 18 19 > » 
Reply to this topicStart new topic
1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)
0 Members:

 

- Lo-Fi Version Time is now: 19th March 2024 - 05:09 AM