Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[mALX]

Not yet, but will be:


http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/t...ticle-1.2434274

Tonight at 9 EST on the National Geographic Channel - `Saints & Strangers' miniseries tells the bloody and twisted true tale of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving

Truthfully, although it was well done - I didn't like it as well as I thought I would. It did not feel immersive/believable to me. I was a bit disappointed that for all that build up it kind of just lay there, was not able to grab me and mesmerize or draw me in.






This post has been edited by mALX: Nov 23 2015, 04:54 PM

[Callidus Thorn]

Tried watching Avengers: Age of Ultron.

I've seen it before, but for some reason the last two or three times I've tried to watch it, it just hasn't grabbed me. Avengers Assemble, on the other hand, I could watch any day of the week.

Makes me wish I'd waited before picking it up.

[mALX]

I am not one to watch Christmas movies normally at all - bleah, do not like sappy contrived predictable drivel. But since I got "Dish" network instead of Comcast; it seems that (starting on September 1 or so) Dish seems to think that all us 'muricasns want to see is XMas movies 24 hours per day. So anytime I turn my TV on - even if I just want some background noise, I am stuck seeing something Christmasy.

So this one happened to catch my eye because I noticed Barney Stinson and thought I was seeing "How I Met Your Mother."

But that is not what it was/is; this is Barney Stinson in a Christmas special movie called "The Christmas Wish" - not as bad as most seasonal movies. And having Barney Stinson in it is a huge plus, lol.

[Callidus Thorn]

Urgh, I avoid christmas movies like the plague.

If that's what your stuck with, then you have my sincere condolences.

[mALX]

Urgh, I avoid christmas movies like the plague.

If that's what your stuck with, then you have my sincere condolences.

Yes, it is. And that movie - even Barney Stinson couldn't save the ending. The last 20 minutes of it were a crash-burn; not to mention mysteriously familiar to another Xmas movie where a girl seeking to fill her long-dead mother's journal of Christmas wishes ends up following the path of clues to meet up with the mother of the boy who (drunk driving) killed her mother.

Well, in this Barney Stinson one the gist of the ending is a xerox copy; but rather than play it out they assumed the viewer could guess the rest and just ended it with everyone knowing the secret but never seeing them being told it; no words passing anyone's lips and the key scenes cut as if the budget had reached its limits and the director just jammed a final Xmasy scene in rather than finalize the plot.

So = disappointment, and it is hard to feel disappointment in a movie you knew wasn't going to be good to begin with. In the end, even having Barney Stinson in it failed to save it, and even he fudged the final Xmasy scene by ignoring his grieving Grandmother beside him to put two hands on his girlfriend's shoulders. (Hey Barney, one arm on the girlfriend and one for the Grandmother, get it? ).

I really don't enjoy TV watching 99 % of the time, usually only put it on for background noise = and this is a good example of why,








This post has been edited by mALX: Nov 23 2015, 09:12 PM

[mALX]

I watched the end of that Saints and Strangers. Part 2 was actually a little better than part 1; but not very believable still. Example: The head of the Plymouth settlement's infant son was left behind in England while they got settled in, which took a couple years; then another 6 years supposedly passed, and his son is shipped over on a boat from England; so he looks to be about 8 years old. His father asks him if he remembers his mother and the boy says he remembers his mother's voice. Say what?

It was well done, but not riveting. The acting felt like good acting, not like seeing something really happening.

So ... meh.






This post has been edited by mALX: Nov 24 2015, 05:28 AM

[hazmick]

My extended edition box set of The Hobbit arrived today, so I've just spent 9 hours watching that. Totally worth it, and it looks great on the shelf next to my extended edition LOTR

[SubRosa]

I watched the extended editions over the weekend. Now I am picking my way through the appendices of the final movie.

[Decrepit]

For some reason my YouTube home page contained a link to a documentary about the life, such as it was, of a super obese man. Out of curiosity I watched it, and went on to watch another few such videos. These guys are indeed grossly overweight, one weighing more than half a ton! They can do no more than cumbersomely roll around in bed, and are limited even then. They depend on others for their most basic needs.

I came away with mixed emotions. By and large I find it hard to sympathize with these individuals, yet can not wholly condemn them. Here are a few generalities, as I see them:

1) They all wanted to lose weight and resume a normal life. One fellow, who hadn't been out of bed in over seven years, broke down several times and seemed totally genuine in his craving for a normal existence. Yet no matter how strong they desired change, it was exceeded by a overriding steadfast need to eat as much as they wanted of whatever they wanted as often as they wanted it. Nothing mattered so much as food.

2) Medical and fitness personal often bent over backwards to offer and sometimes provide aid as they could. The obese often could not utilize offered assistance simply because they were too large to be safely transported to a medical facility, and/or too obese to be operated on. They were told that by losing 'only' 100-150 pounds or so they would be safe to transport. The obese, with few exceptions, either couldn't or wouldn't do it. One fellow told the doc he didn't like being told what to do and threatened physical violence!

3) They were all married. Their wives, no paragons of weight control themselves, were to a woman enablers, feeding their husbands whatever they craved. One fellow actually dropped down to circa 190lbs and turned out to be a rather handsome bloke!!! He eventually lapsed and became super obese again. One reason he did so was because his wife didn't like his fit self!!! I ended up more disgusted with the women than their husbands. They were, after all, in total control of these men's diets and could insure they lost weight, at least until fit enough to feed themselves.

One fellow said something that led to me having a bit more sympathy for them. Something I hadn't thought of on my own. He said that almost every other consumptive addiction has the hope of being controlled by total abstinence. Yet a fat person must consume the very thing that causes his addiction every day.

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As to more pleasant viewing, I watched the first two episodes of a Wizardry 7 LP, the first and only Wizardry 7 LP with English commentary to appear on YouTube in many years!

Sadly, since the launch of Fallout 4 Gopher has posted no new Minecraft episodes.

This post has been edited by Decrepit: Nov 25 2015, 11:34 PM

[mALX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eac91tZsZMw

[treydog]

New Netflix series starring Stellan Skarsgaard- "River"

Yes- another British cop drama- but things are not what they seem.

Definitely worth watching.

[Destri Melarg]

New Netflix series starring Stellan Skarsgaard- "River"

Yes- another British cop drama- but things are not what they seem.

Definitely worth watching.

Excellent. Saw that this was out last night while queuing up Marvel's Jessica Jones (which is another series that is definitely worth watching). I'll be sure to check it out, thanks.

[Grits]

Thanks, treydog! That sounds like just the thing to start this afternoon.

[mALX]

I'm dying to see that female cop show where the dog drives the car and blows bubble gum bubbles! (just to see the dog! )

[SubRosa]

I have had Stellan's show in my queue for a little while now. I just don't know when I will have the time for it!

I saw the first episode of Jessica Jones today. It was really good. It was bugging me where I knew Krysten Ritter from, so I had to pause watching and look her up on the IMDB. Turns out she was Gia in Veronica Mars.

I like Jessica. She is a real fixer-upper as a character. Which is good, because her flaws give us room for character development. She'd be boring if she was perfect. The bartender she slept with was very cool too. I am guessing he is Luke Cage, and I am sure we are going to see more of him. David Tenant was really something as the villain. He has always been a great actor. He is just downright creepy and terrifying here.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Nov 26 2015, 07:32 PM

[Callidus Thorn]

Just watched Tombstone. Damn good film.

What surprised me was the way that Val Kilmer completely stole the entire film as Doc Holliday.

[mirocu]

As per my usual December tradition I just started watching DarkChiron´s LP of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. That game has tons of atmosphere

[SubRosa]

I just finished Anzac Girls, a six part miniseries about a group of Australian and New Zealand nurses in WWI. Overall it was good. But at one point I was wondering if it passed the Bechdel Test. It did, but I had to really look for scenes that qualified, which is not good.

I think the problem was it focused too much romance, which often made the main characters seem like their lives revolved around their boyfriends/fiance/husbands - all of whom were acquired during the series. At times they seem less like individuals with agency, and more like simply extensions of the men in their lives - objects whose only purpose was to adorn these men. There was a very nice argument at the end between one character and her husband when she refused to leave the front and go to London with him on leave. That was great, because it was the first time one of them really put herself, and what she was doing, first.

In the end it was definitely worth the watch. It was no China Beach. But still good.

I am also about two thirds of the way through Jessica Jones. It is a very tense, raw show. It's like an exposed nerve. It really stands in sharp contrast to some of the other super tv shows I have seen lately, like The Flash and Daredevil. In those there is a hero out doing good (insert perfect smile here) for the sake of doing good. Jessica OTOH, is not a hero, and she doesn't want to be. She is just an ordinary person with super strength, and a very F'ed up past, and a sociopathic stalker with the power to literally make people do whatever he says.

It all makes Jessica is a much easier person to relate to. Because strip away the super powers, and she has the bad luck and drama in her life that many real people are forced to endure, like a messed up childhood, overly-controlling boyfriend, and psycho ex. Where if you strip away super speed and senses, and guys secretly fighting crime as masked vigilantes is a lot harder to relate to (at least for me, YMMV )

I also had a near fangirl moment when I realized that one of the supporting characters is a Daredevil supervillain in waiting. Officer Simpson is clearly Nuke. Or will be some day. The red, white, and blue pills clinched that.

Now I am wondering what the Iron Fist show will be like. I find myself hoping for an Asian male to play the lead. The whole mystical ability to control chi just screams Asia to me. Maybe because, well, Asia... Of course Hollywood will never do that.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 7 2015, 10:51 PM

[SubRosa]

Today I finished the Appendices for Battle of the Five Armies. Part 12 of the Appendices of the LOTR and Hobbit films. Now I want to watch the movies all over again.

[mALX]

Today I finished the Appendices for Battle of the Five Armies. Part 12 of the Appendices of the LOTR and Hobbit films. Now I want to watch the movies all over again.

Did you find differences between the book and movie? And when you did, which did you prefer?


One thing I love about Pride and Prejudice/Sense and Sensibility - you can read or watch and unless the acting doesn't carry it off (which I have yet to see happen); there is enough similarity in the dialogue and storyline that you don't feel jarred into having to choose if you like this better than that, (and if the BBC has produced it, you can be assured it will be a wonderful rendition).

The first time I ever read a book after watching a movie = it was Jaws, believe it or not, The movie was whimsical and the characters were all likable except the Mayor - and even though the shark was so obviously mechanical, it was frightening to someone who swam in the ocean daily back then.

The book was totally opposite, it was gritty and delved deeply into several totally unlikable characters in a way that made it an excruciating read. I preferred the movie, felt they made a hugely better rendition of it than the original Author. But Peter Benchley did have the idea and provide the character names and plot; so really glad they gave him the nod on that.

But that always made me leery of reading the original story after I've seen the films (Other than all the Jane Austen stories).

Then there are some that I've read that were so good that I wished they had made movies of them, like several Taylor Caldwell stories. (under any of the names she wrote under).

Anyway, it made me curious on whether you liked the movies or books better when you found differences between the two.






This post has been edited by mALX: Dec 8 2015, 02:13 AM