Movies you've seen lately

[40hz]

One of my favorite things about Elementary are the fact that they were not afraid to take certain parts of the mythology, and completely turn them on their head.  And I love the primary actors.

-wraith808 (August 26, 2014, 02:28 PM)

Don't get me wrong. I very much like Lucy Liu. But most of the turn-on-its-head "twists" (can it still be a "twist" if dozens have proposed them all before in various essays and fanfics starting back in the 70s?) don't really add much IMHO. They're just 'different.' Much like the newer "alternate universe" StarTrek movies - they're mainly different for the sake of being different.

I suppose it gets the writers out of having to come up with something original within (that's the hard part) the established framework and story universe. But to my mind, it's sorta cheating. Like entering some blank verse in a sonnet writing contest.

Now...if Elementary had been structured as a completely original sleuth series without all the Sherlock Holmes references, I think I might have enjoyed it. But all those labored Holmes allusions just hit me as contrived, and ultimately, more distracting than intriguing or entertaining.

But that's me. And as I said, I know fellow Baker Street Irregulars that positively love the Elementary series. So what do I know?

[wraith808]

But that's me. And as I said, I know fellow Baker Street Irregulars that positively love the Elementary series. So what do I know?

-40hz (August 26, 2014, 06:11 PM)

The world is full of people with just as many varied tastes, preferences, and likes.  It's good that there's so much for people to varyingly like and not. 

[nosh]

Watched the first few episodes of Extant (Halle Berry) - seems very formulaic, very boring and
The Strain (vampire series with heavy Guillermo del Toro involvement) - the creatures are insect-like and creepy but the storyline here doesn't intrigue me either... had high expectations of this one.

I'm about to try "Sons of Anarchy" - seems to have a mature theme and a solid IMDB rating.

[wraith808]

I've been watching The Last Ship, and I really like it!  Also, I watched Dominion, which had its season finale, and really enjoyed it.  Defiance has also been good this season.

[Shades]

The Strain: episodes 1 & 2 and 3 woke/kept my interest, 4 and 5 not so much...but 6 is getting better again. I'll keep watching this one.
The Last Ship: I'm with Wraith on this one, much more entertaining than I originally anticipated.
Dominion: great concept, good production values...but the main actors don't bring 'it' for me.
Under the Dome: waste of time. There should not be a season 3.
Falling Skies: at its usual strength. The professor should do a new: The Librarian movie again. I always found those entertaining 1, 2, 3.
Defiance: season 2 is indeed better than the 1st one. I liked Julie Benz in Dexter, I like her much more in Defiance.
The Knick: interesting one about a New York hospital around 1920, where Clive Owen is finding the proper operation procedures we take for granted nowadays.
The Leftovers: weird one from the creative minds behind Lost. 2% of the global population disappears without any trace at the same time and we get to watch how the ones that stayed behind deal with this.

I recently finished an oldie but goodie: Legend of the Seeker (only two seasons) don't let the first appearances trick you into thinking that it is intended for pre-teens. The producers from series as Spartacus, Hercules and Xena were behind it. A lot of actors play in Legend of the Seeker and Spartacus. Legend of the Seeker is much more suggestive and uses dominatrices, while Spartacus is brutal gore and nudity. Fight scenes in both series are well done. Production values from Spartacus were better, story-wise the advantage would go to Legend of the Seeker.

As a fan of D&D I can't help but think that the story of Legend of the Seeker would translate in an awesome D&D campaign.

[wraith808]

Dominion: great concept, good production values...but the main actors don't bring 'it' for me.

-Shades (August 28, 2014, 09:50 PM)

Don't know if you watched the whole season, but the last couple of episodes were real game changers... from the plot to the actors.

[Renegade]

I've seen some of the shows mentions. Here are my 2 satoshis.

Dominion: Blah. Trying to watch... but it keeps losing my interest. "Supernatural" does a much better job with the 'supernatural'.

Defiance: Very good show. It peters out at times, but picks up quickly.

The Last Ship: Much better than I thought it would be. Still a bit jingoistic, but, a decent story.

The Strain: This is a good show. It keeps getting deeper & deeper. Once it hits season 2, it will likely be far better than any of the others I've mentioned here. But, it's still in that "season 1 finding its pace" phase.

Falling Skies: It has its moments, and will go through several episodes of "blah" before it picks up again. But, when it picks up, it does extremely well.


If you keep track of movies and TV shows, you'll likely have noticed that they very often come out in pairs where the same basic themes are played out with the same archetypes, but the specifics are changed for different audiences. e.g. The Last Ship & The Strain. Here's how that plays out:

Theme: The godvernment saviour

The Last Ship - Navy
The Strain - CDC

Theme: Medical emergencies!!!

The Last Ship - A lethal virus plague
The Strain - A vampire infectious plague

Archetype: The torn hero who battles against all the same crap as every other infuriatingly trite "hero" character with all the accompanying baggage and idiocy you've come to expect

The Last Ship - CO CDR Tom Chandler
The Strain - Ephraim Goodweather

Archetype: The good guy who has done something really bad & is in need of redemption

The Last Ship - Quincy
The Strain - Jim Kent

etc. etc. etc.

The exact same thing plays out in countless shows and movies that are always released in pairs within a few months of each other, though occasionally you do see these pairs released in successive seasons.

[4wd]

Probably the only autobiography I'll ever watch and that comes down to the way it was produced:



It covers from his beginning up until the mid-80's, after he beat his addictions.

[Renegade]

It covers from his beginning up until the mid-80's, after he beat his addictions.

-4wd (August 31, 2014, 07:23 AM)

What's even more surprising is AC since then. Along with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Brian Welch of Korn, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, and Dan Spitz of Anthrax, and Blackie Lawless of WASP, they have all converted to Christianity. THAT bit in a documentary I would like to see.

[Renegade]

A Clockwork Orange (imdb)



After reading a recent news article, I immediately thought of a few parallels in A Clockwork Orange. Strange how fiction becomes or parallels reality sometimes.

What kind of look do you get on your face when you hear bits of Beethoven's 9th? Why, this of course!



Much of the set really isn't SFW. So, no bar furniture screenshots.

Or perhaps this:



Where the priest basically lays down Immanuel Kant for buddy boy (big issue and brought up later):



"Goodness is chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man."

Possible spoilers/reminders ahead

The doctor making a comment:



"Soon we may be needing all our prison space for political offenders."

Time to watch a movie!!!



And lick a boot!



What is he looking at?!?



Hint: It's bloody awesome! Oh, the applause!

Familiar faces? God, the irony there...



Hmmm...

But, no more after that.

After 43 years, the film still really keeps up and relevant.

 

[40hz]

+! for Clockwork Orange. Especially the soundtrack. Wendy Carlos's "electronic realization" of Beethoven's Ode to Joy on Moog synthesizer is still a masterpiece. (Oddly, you can't seem to find the original cut anywhere on YouTube. What's usually posted is the remix. For some reason, the original gets taken down almost as quickly as it's put up. Must be some weird contractual issue - or Carlos being Carlos.)

spoiler alert

You'll also never think about Gene Kelly or hear the song Singin' in the Rain quite the same way ever again once you watch Clockwork Orange. That scene (which originally netted the film an X-rating before it was re-edited for US release) is easily one of the most difficult three or four minutes you'll ever sit through while watching a movie. Still brutally shocking - even after all these years.

Here's the Kelly original:

I'll leave the locating of the Clockwork Orange scene as an exercise for the reader.

[Renegade]

Aliens on the Moon: The Truth Exposed

No image. But it's on YouTube:

It's about how there are aliens on the moon. And probably Mars as well.

Lots of fun!

[Renegade]

The Possession of Michael King



If you're into horror, and supernatural horror, this is a fairly decent one. It's not the best out there, but it's still worth a watch. Horror is a hard genre to get down right. It's probably one of the most difficult. This film does a good job of balancing everything all the way around.

[MilesAhead]

I really enjoyed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
with Robert De Niro.  Talk about breaking the mold!  Instead of a monster who can only moan an guzzle beer we get the confrontation where the "monster" argues philosophy with his creator.  A must see.

[Renegade]

Wer



Worth a watch! 

I don't want to say much about this, but just go into it blind.

It's a horror on a relatively common topic, but does it really well. I think the horror fans out there will be pleased.

[Renegade]

Space Station 76



A space station drama with a distinct 70's feel. The sound track is very much in the 70's groove. (They used Skywalker Sound - don't get much better.)

No action. No lasers. No aliens. No plot. Just a drama.

It's a chick flick in space with a 70's feel.

But hey, if you're going to watch a chick flick, might as well have it on a space station.

Not really my cup of tea, but that could speak volumes for others. I'm sure there are people that will really enjoy it. The writing is very good with a great cast, and they do try to give a depth to the characters. It's very well done, so it still scores well there.

It probably would be a lot better high.

[MilesAhead]

@Space Station 76

Jack Plotnick Director?  There's got to be some laughs in that flick. 

[superboyac]

I'm rewatching "The Puffy Chair", an indie movie by the Duplass brothers -- who I think are geniuses.  One of my favorites.

(see attachment in previous post)

-mouser (April 15, 2014, 05:25 AM)

oh my god, mouser.  I think you're right, these guys are geniuses.  this movie was so good, it feels like it has been made by some 80 year old master, good god.

[IainB]

...What's even more surprising is AC since then. Along with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Brian Welch of Korn, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, and Dan Spitz of Anthrax, and Blackie Lawless of WASP, they have all converted to Christianity. THAT bit in a documentary I would like to see.

-Renegade (August 31, 2014, 07:44 AM)

Impressive - I hadn't known about that - though perhaps these were not as spectacular conversions as the academic and atheist C.S. Lewis' self-conversion to Christianity:

"The most dejected, reluctant convert in all England" C.S. Lewis in Surprised By Joy.
_____________________________

Interestingly he did not convert to RC though.

[IainB]

After coaching my daughter in her maths homework, I sat up late reading on my own and did some TV Channel-hopping - simultaneously watched some overlapping late-night Sunday TV suspense movies out of interest (everyone else was in bed so I had the con and could scroll the channels to my heart's content).
My perceptions:
Poison Ivy: The Secret Society (2008)

• Badly produced.
• Poor acting.
• Flimsy and confusing plot/story.
• Bad points somewhat alleviated by some occasionally nice flashes of attractive mammary glands.
• A seemingly pointless movie (or possibly too subtle for me to see the point).

The Dark Knight Rises (2012):

• Really good interpretation and dramatisation of the classic comic character.
• I thought it had a good plot and story-line, with all the right bits to keep the viewer's attention, even though I had seen this movie before.
• Well-acted parts.
• Some quite good bits of gratuitous violence.
• Watch-able, though a bit formulaic.

Quarantine (2008)

• Very poor plot and acting.
• Amateur doco-style camera-control induced motion sickness and was also distracting and annoying.
• Deadly boring and predictable.
• Switched it off and went back to reading my $FREE SF story on Kindle instead: Origins (Spinward Fringe Book 0) by Randolph Lalonde.

I rather enjoyed the Spinward Fringe book. Difficult to put down. Recommended! 
Now want to read the rest in the series...

[superboyac]

Dark Knight rises was a great movie!  When the comic came out when i was a kid, it was a big deal.  It's the best comic-to-animated adaptation I have seen, it is remarkably faithful to the book.  Very fun to watch.

[Renegade]

...What's even more surprising is AC since then. Along with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Brian Welch of Korn, Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, and Dan Spitz of Anthrax, and Blackie Lawless of WASP, they have all converted to Christianity. THAT bit in a documentary I would like to see.

-Renegade (August 31, 2014, 07:44 AM)

Impressive - I hadn't known about that - though perhaps these were not as spectacular conversions as the academic and atheist C.S. Lewis' self-conversion to Christianity:

"The most dejected, reluctant convert in all England" C.S. Lewis in Surprised By Joy.
_____________________________

Interestingly he did not convert to RC though.

-IainB (September 22, 2014, 08:22 AM)

C.S. Lewis has been one of my favourite authors for a very long time. His Christian apologetics never venture into the territory of being nasty or cruel or anything of the sort. He's simply one of the finest authors to have ever lived. Our love of the Narnia chronicles is a testament to his skill. 

I really would like to see a documentary on Christian converts. It would be interesting.

You make a good point about Lewis being reluctant, etc. It isn't easy to change world views.

[4wd]

Quarantine (2008)

• Very poor plot and acting.

-IainB link=topic=34481.msg364851#msg364851

Well being a Hollywood remake for English speakers of the much better Spanish [REC], it's to be expected.

[IainB]

...C.S. Lewis has been one of my favourite authors for a very long time. His Christian apologetics never venture into the territory of being nasty or cruel or anything of the sort. He's simply one of the finest authors to have ever lived. Our love of the Narnia chronicles is a testament to his skill.

-Renegade (September 22, 2014, 10:02 AM)

Amusingly I only knew him mainly for The Screwtape Letters and his sci-fi trilogy which I think I read at about age 12 or so:

• Out of the Silent Planet
• Perelandra - Voyage to Venus
• That Hideous Strength

I had not studied him, and it was years later that I registered that he was an atheist who had converted to Christianity, and who was also the author of the Good v. Evil themed series - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Narnia, etc.
I was intrigued and wanted to understand and find out how his reasoning stood up to his religious conversion. It seemed like he would have been a most unlikely candidate for conversion. That's when I read his Surprised By Joy and other essays.
He's a person I would have liked to have met in real life.

[panzer]

I am going to watch this one today:

Century of Enslavement: The History of The Federal Reserve

http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=5IJeemTQ7Vk