Now Watching, Films/ movies discussion Options

[SubRosa]

Checked the version on Netflix, looks like it's the dubbed version, unfortunately.

I'll see if I can pull it up subtitled on Hulu.

If it is instant viewing, then it probably is dubbed. The discs all have japanese audio and subs though.

[Thomas Kaira]

No worries, Hulu has the subtitled version.

[SubRosa]

I have been watching Cadfael for the past few weeks now. It is a wonderful series. Thank you haute for turning me on to it. When she first explained it was a mystery show set in medieval England, I first thought of The Name of the Rose, another wonderful movie about a detective monk. Cadfael lives up to the comparison. Derek Jacobi is perfect in the leading role, and in the first season, Sean Pertwee as the sheriff opposite him. Sadly, Pertwee only sticks around for the first season, and then is replaced by lesser actors.

While it is a mystery show, and we are always led on a twisting and turning path until the truth is discovered, what I really like here is simply gritty, realistic slice of town life in 12th century England. It is very well portrayed, from the cloistered monks to the tradesmen and nobles. We don't really get to see a lot of this in film or t.v., and most we do tend to gloss over the actual setting, and just concentrate on people hacking one another up with swords.

The main character, Cadfael himself is of course the strongest part of the show. He is smart, compassionate, easy to like, and never one to underestimate. They have given him a rich background of being a former soldier in the crusades, not to mention sailor, and other things, before he finally settled down to become a holy herbalist at the abbey. All those things stand him in good stead, as he has a knowledge of the world, and its people, that other cloistered monks do not.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 1 2011, 05:55 PM

[haute ecole rider]

I am absolutely tickled that you enjoyed the series so much. A lot of what I have learned about plant pharmacology has originated from this series and reinforced by my own research (I have the Herbal PDR - sadly it's probably outdated).

It is quite strongly character driven, and I agree, for me, Sean Pertwee will always be the one and only Hugh Beringar. And yes, my Legion rider Hugh Berennus is Pertwee's Beringar. So if you want a clear idea of how he looks, talks and acts, just watch the first season of Brother Cadfael Mysteries.And enjoy all the alchemy that is such an integral part of the show!

[Uleni Athram]

I just stumbled upon a teleseries named The Borgias. I thought it was a parody of the game Assassin's Creed but I was wrong. IT'S ACTUALLY COOL. Full of family drama, court intrigue in the 15th century and well, romance. I haven't watched it to the fullest but all I can say from my first episode is that you guys should watch it.

*drools*

[liliandra nadiar]

Castle, Warehouse 13 and Eureka are the main things I watch. Though sometimes something else will catch my eye such as Australian series H2O, Just Add Water, though that's on hold with the account while I wait for finances to stabilize so I can resume Netflix/Hulu streaming.

[SubRosa]

I started watching Ironclad on Netflix last night. The previews made it look like nothing but a monument to testosterone. But what I have seen so far is interesting. It seems like a remake of the Magnificent Seven, just with knights. Plus it has some actors I like, James Purefoy, who really impressed me in Rome. Brian Cox has always been a favorite of mine. I loved Vladimir Kulich as Beowulf in the 13th Warrior. Plus Derek Jacobi, Jason Flemyng, and Mackenzie Crook.

[Thomas Kaira]

Now watching Big Trouble in Little China.

Let's see if it lives up to all the people say it is...

[SubRosa]

You are in for a ton of fun! I have seen that movie about fifty times, and I still love it.

[SubRosa]

Today was a big blu-ray bonanza: Guns of Navarone, The Crow (the original with Brandon Lee), Manhunter (was marked down cheap), and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie (also on sale). Now the question is, what to start with?

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 18 2011, 10:07 PM

[Thomas Kaira]

I would say worst first, so Pirates of the Caribbean.

That movie is proof that Jack Sparrow was not all that made the other ones decent. He was the counter to Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly's more serious story, which was the focus of the previous three. Sparrow was the comic relief, and what made him so memorable is that he always came in at the right moments.

Now they're gone, and all we're left with is an obvious cash-in that proves we didn't go see Pirates just for Jack Sparr... *ahem* Captain Jack Sparrow's zany antics.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Oct 20 2011, 02:35 AM

[Captain Hammer]

Careful TK. When speaking of Pirates o.t.C., never just abbreviate it to just Pirates.

Pirates is a different film entirely, and sold in a far more restricted setting than Pirates of the Caribbean...

[McBadgere]

I watched Krull last night for the first time in years...Took me back thirty years-ish to seeing it in the cinema the first time!...Wow...Yes, yes mui fromage!!...But by God it's fun...Loved it...Many things that I thought I remembered didn't happen, but I had forgotten more than I thought...Maybe I'd invented the other bits as the years went on...

Going to watch Ironclad next week as part of our film night once a week thingy...Where we all sit down together as a family and watch something...Is good ya?!...

[SubRosa]

Krull! Oh goddess, I think I blocked that from my memory!

I was not impressed with Ironclad. It seemed to start out as a remake of The Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven set in medieval England (which would be rather cool to see). But it is not. Even James Purefoy and Brian Cox could not save it for me. It is mostly just a lot of gratuitous killing strung between a paper thin plot. Some of the action scenes were decent. I saw a few RL moves in there, which was a wonderful surprise. But then the other half of the fighting was pure idiocy. People sticking their sword 3 feet into someone's chest and then pulling it out as if it were in tissue paper, an armored man being chopped completely in half by a sword, etc... It also does not help that I know the reality behind the movie. Aside from the fact that King John did lay siege to Rochester Castle, and did eventually use a mine, the rest is just b.s. I suggest renting Captain America instead.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 27 2011, 06:27 PM

[McBadgere]

We watched The Ugly Truth on tele last night...I'd been dragged to the cinema to see it and I loved it there...God it made me laugh...Refreshingly honest...Very un-PC...My kind of film really...

I hate those gross-out comedies...I don't find them all that funny...Yes, I'll laugh at parts (hur-hur), but to be honest, something like The Ugly Truth which says fairly rude things, but in a straight-forward way - much better...

[haute ecole rider]

OMG! Guns of Navarone! I loved that movie! Almost as much as Great Escape and Magnificent Seven!

Don't know why I love those testosterone movies so much. I guess when they're well done I totally relate to the characters. Chick flicks? Meh. Mostly.

[SubRosa]

I just saw Fast Five, and have to admit that it was not only excellent, but by far the best of the Fast n' Furious franchise. Just as the 4th movie learned from previous mistakes, and recast the original stars, this one learned from other films, and stretched a bit from a formula of pure cars. It borrows heavily from films like the new Oceans Eleven trilogy, Italian Job, etc... Instead of just a lot of racing, the good guys are making a clever theft from a crime boss, using lots of planning and prep work. Just to make things interesting, the biggest, baddest cop in the Western Hemisphere is on their tails (the Rock) at the same time.

At the same time it brings us a crew of fun and interesting characters to back up our two heroes. In fact, they brought back characters from all the other FnF movies to make up the squad, which I thought was very neat. To be honest, they made the best part of the movie for me, because there is a real sense of family between all the characters, and it is great just to see them interact with one another.

Of course there are some fantastic car chases too...

They also took a cue from the new Marvel films, by adding in a teaser at the end of the closing credits, bringing back yet another old character. While I had been thinking this would have been the perfect movie to cap off the franchise, it is plain that they intend to continue with it. If they can keep up making films like this one, it will be well worth it.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Nov 1 2011, 02:04 AM

[McBadgere]

Tonight, I've been informed, we're going to watch the first few episodes of the ORIGINAL Thundercats...Th'wife got the first season boxed set for her birthday yesterday...

All together now!!...

Thunder...Thunder!!...THUNDER!!...

[SubRosa]

I just finished watching Trollhunter. In spite of how campy it sounds, it was surprisingly good. I am not a big fan of the hand-held camera genre, but like Quarantine and Cloverfield, this does it well. Basically a group of college students are trying to film a story about a poacher, who turns out to be a government sponsored troll hunter. He's sick and tired of all the secrecy around his job, so he lets them tag along with him as he does his work. In true horror movie fashion, they reveal a bit at a time, slowly upping the stakes until the final showdown with the 200' tall Jotun.

The trolls themselves are a bit cartoonish in appearance. But I cannot deny that they do fit the mythology of trolls, and what we are used to seeing in artwork. One look at them and you think "that's a troll alright." Rather than just some big horrific monster that they happen to call trolls. So it works for me. There are even little touches like the trolls being able to smell the blood of a Christian.

Finally, Norway itself was a real attraction in this movie. We see her in all her dark, brooding glory. The glistening waters of fjords, with mountains jutting about them like teeth. Clouds shrouding the tops of high peaks. Deep conifer forests. The landscape itself creates this feeling of powerful forces lying shrouded just beyond one's awareness. It is a land of giants and thunder gods.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Nov 5 2011, 05:53 AM

[haute ecole rider]

Sounds like perfect troll country!