Escape Artists
The Lounge at the End of the Universe => Gallimaufry => Topic started by: Russell Nash on March 26, 2008, 10:22:27 PM
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OK, I just signed up for a Netflix-like service. There is no Netflix over here. I went to put stuff on my list and drew a complete blank. I surfed around the site for a while and got a bit of a list going, but it's not a strong list.
I need your help. I would like everyone to tell me the 5 most deserving films to be on my list. I didn't say best. I said deserving. Which 5 need to be seen? I should say discs, because TV series are also welcome. If I have some of your choices on my list already or have seen them, I'll ask you for more. I'll also post the titles I'm adding.
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1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Monty Python's Personal Best DVD Set — each of them got their own personal best disk with about an hour of skits from the show.
3. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
4. Cashback
5. Across the Universe
Went for ones that entertained more than made me think, though the two are pretty well linked in my mind.
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Yojimbo
Gojira
The Whole Wide World
Black Sun: the nanking massacre (I designed and wrote the DVD extras)
Ratatouille
The Producers (the original with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder)
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1. 1408
2. Kung-fu Hustle
3. Stardust
4. Night Watch
5. Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (documentary about They Might Be Giants)
In no particular order, except that's the order I thought of them.
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New stuff:
1. Once
2. No Country For Old Men
3. Michael Clayton
4. Into the Wild
5. The Departed
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These are from our newly acquired Netflix list, but we've seen them before:
Nine Dead Gay Guys
Hot Fuzz
The Shadow (1994)
The Fountain
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
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Hey, you could do a week of numbers!
1408
1776
300
9 Dead Gay Guys
Once
;D
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Rather difficult, without knowing what you've seen or what you like, but from the top of my head, some classics you may have missed:
The Lion in Winter
Brazil
V for Vendetta
Pan's Labyrinth
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
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Just out of interest, which service did you finally choose? ;-)
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-The Day The Earth Caught Fire
Hard-bitten journalists discover something very bad. Picture The West Wing crossed with '50s science fiction. One of my all time favourite movies.
-The Nightmare Man
Six part BBC series about a series of murders on a small Scottish island. Well written, acted and not what you think it is.
-Clerks II
Not only is it Smith's funniest movie but it's oddly, dignified. That's not something you should be able to say about a film which involves a man, a donkey and a Sam Fox record but it's true.
-Mulholland Drive
Note to movie studios. DON'T tell David Lynch his film's too weird. It makes him MAD.
-Doctor Who-Silver Nemesis
The Doctor checks his diary and discovers the world is scheduled to end. Now. One of the best classic WHO stories.
-The Cat Returns
Unfathomably pretty and deeply, deply endearing Studio Ghibli movie featuring the late great Peter Boyle as the world's largest grumpiest white cat.
-Ghost in the Shell
-Ghost in the Shell II:Innocence
-Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex 1st Gig
-Ghost in the Shell:Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig
-Ghost in the Shell:Solid State Society
One of the most defining anime series. Intensely complicated, very very smart and remarkably literate. Also, there's hitting.
-The Hunt for Red October
I have a deep love for Ben Affleck's take on Jack Ryan, but this remains the best Clancy movie to date. Classic, old school submarine movie.
-Daredevil and Daredevil:Director's Cut
The most unfairly pilloried Marvel movie is actually one of the best. Affleck's great, the plot's unusually complex and smart and the film is COMPLETELY unrecognisable in the Director's cut. Fascinating experience in cutting if nothing else.
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Primer (took til my third viewing to actually understand it)
Code 46 (beautifully-shot near-future SF film)
Enchanted (you can watch it with your kids, and it's really pretty enjoyable for a disney-type fantasy film)
Mystery Men ("maybe you should put some shorts on if you're going to fight any more evil today")
The Incredibles (should've been nominated for best picture, not just best animated film)
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Everything is Illuminated (underrated and absolutely AMAZING)
Amelie (just in case you havent yet. A must-see)
Ulee's Gold (lovely film. Just lovely)
I just saw American Gangster last night and found it absolutely 100% excellent. I'd recommend it.
Speaking of Denzel Washington, his little-seen movie 'The Great Debaters' was absolutely fantastic. I would definitely recommend it whenever it arrives on DVD. (not sure if it's out yet).
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"Most deserving"... interesting caveat... even though you've probably seen most of these, here's my take (for now):
To Kill a Mockingbird
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Schindler's List
Dead Poets Society
... I'll have to get back to you on the fifth one.
<edit after some thought>
For now, I'm gonna say Rear Window, but I'll probably change my mind about this one.
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-Daredevil and Daredevil:Director's Cut
The most unfairly pilloried Marvel movie is actually one of the best. Affleck's great, the plot's unusually complex and smart and the film is COMPLETELY unrecognisable in the Director's cut. Fascinating experience in cutting if nothing else.
OMG! I thought I was the only person in the world who liked that movie.
Russell, I'm trying to go for movies that haven't already been mentioned, or that I don't know if you've seen.
1) Fight Club (We've already talked about this, haven't we?)
2) A Scanner Darkly -- The most pure adaptation of Philip K. Dick's work I've seen, with trippy rotoscope animation over Keannu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey, Jr., and Woody Harrelson. A very weird movie, but a very strong one.
3) LA Confidential -- Hands down, my favorite crime movie. Russell Crowe's break-out performance, and good turns from Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, and the guy from Babe and Star Trek: First Contact.
4) Veronica Mars (TV Show) -- one of the wittiest, freshest, best-written TV shows. It's way more Philip Marlowe than it is Nancy Drew. And I still maintain Kristen Bell says "frak" better than anyone in the BSG cast. Season 1 and Season 3 are great, but Season 2 was just pretty good (at best, despite cameos by Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon).
5) Lost -- people give this series a lot of shit. But personally, I think it's the best TV show I've ever seen, and I've seen a decent amount (Heroes, BSG, 24, Veronica Mars, and the X-Files -- which used to be my personal favorite). If you start from the first season and watch it all the way through, it will blow your mind. Especially now that we're heading toward the endgame -- only 2 1/2 seasons from now.
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OMG! I thought I was the only person in the world who liked that movie.
Russell, I'm trying to go for movies that haven't already been mentioned, or that I don't know if you've seen.
1) Fight Club (We've already talked about this, haven't we?)
2) A Scanner Darkly -- The most pure adaptation of Philip K. Dick's work I've seen, with trippy rotoscope animation over Keannu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey, Jr., and Woody Harrelson. A very weird movie, but a very strong one.
3) LA Confidential -- Hands down, my favorite crime movie. Russell Crowe's break-out performance, and good turns from Kevin Spacey, Guy Pearce, and the guy from Babe and Star Trek: First Contact.
4) Veronica Mars (TV Show) -- one of the wittiest, freshest, best-written TV shows. It's way more Philip Marlowe than it is Nancy Drew. And I still maintain Kristen Bell says "frak" better than anyone in the BSG cast. Season 1 and Season 3 are great, but Season 2 was just pretty good (at best, despite cameos by Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon).
5) Lost -- people give this series a lot of shit. But personally, I think it's the best TV show I've ever seen, and I've seen a decent amount (Heroes, BSG, 24, Veronica Mars, and the X-Files -- which used to be my personal favorite). If you start from the first season and watch it all the way through, it will blow your mind. Especially now that we're heading toward the endgame -- only 2 1/2 seasons from now.
Didn't know there was a Director's cut... gonna have to check that out!
Fight Club!!! Good call!!
I liked LA Confidential a lot, except for that part where Exley seems to completely step out of character in that one scene with Lynn Bracken. It almost ruined the movie for me. I haven't seen that movie in ages!
I almost put Lost down, too. I "ditto" that whole "5)", in fact! :)
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Just out of interest, which service did you finally choose? ;-)
I'm trying Amazon. They have a two week free trial. I don't know how it normally works, but they send out the discs one at a time. Meaning I can keep three at a time, but The morning after I watch the first I can send it back, while I still have the other two. I don't have to send all three back at once and then wait for the package to come back with the next three. (This is how I always understood Netflix to work, although I've never looked into it, so I could be wrong.)
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Following [Chris Nolan's debut. Think Memento on steroids]
Arsenic and Old Lace [the funniest movie ever made]
The Blood of Heroes / Salute of the Jugger [Rutger Hauer in a post-apocalyptic sports movie]
The Man Who Wasn't There [The Coen Brothers do film noir at least as well as they do everything else]
Sinbad of the Seven Seas [watch it with a bunch of easily-amused friends, and you won't be disappointed]
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Oh! Thanks for jogging my memory Winter (that's twice in the same day now!). Love Arsenic and Old Lace. But for my fifth offering, I'm gonna have to say His Girl Friday (another Cary Grant movie).
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Fight Club!!! Good call!!
I liked LA Confidential a lot, except for that part where Exley seems to completely step out of character in that one scene with Lynn Bracken. It almost ruined the movie for me. I haven't seen that movie in ages!
I almost put Lost down, too. I "ditto" that whole "5)", in fact! :)
Yeah, a lot of people were getting frustrated in season 3, but I think the last half of that season (specifically the finale) blew my mind. I like the show's not afraid to take huge chances and is not afraid to be smart. This season, in particular, is fantastic.
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1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Monty Python's Personal Best DVD Set — each of them got their own personal best disk with about an hour of skits from the show.
3. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
4. Cashback
5. Across the Universe
Love #1 and #3. #4 and#5 added.
Yojimbo
Gojira
The Whole Wide World
Black Sun: the nanking massacre (I designed and wrote the DVD extras)
Ratatouille
The Producers (the original with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder)
Wanted to add the first four, but there's no English track on the German discs. I buy everything from Pixar. The Producers is added. I'm annoyed it didn't come in the Mel Brooks collection I bought.
1. 1408
2. Kung-fu Hustle
3. Stardust
4. Night Watch
5. Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (documentary about They Might Be Giants)
#1,3, and 4 added. #2 no English track.
New stuff:
1. Once
2. No Country For Old Men
3. Michael Clayton
4. Into the Wild
5. The Departed
All added except for #4. The concept just doesn't do it for me.
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Yojimbo
Gojira
The Whole Wide World
Black Sun: the nanking massacre (I designed and wrote the DVD extras)
Ratatouille
The Producers (the original with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder)
Wanted to add the first four, but there's no English track on the German discs. I buy everything from Pixar. The Producers is added. I'm annoyed it didn't come in the Mel Brooks collection I bought.
Yojimbo and Gojira are in original Japanese with English subs. Black Sun is in original Chinese with English Subs. None of them have English dubs. I did the DVD work for the Unearthed Films release, so if you can find that one, get it - I also think it's region 0.
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1. 1408
2. Kung-fu Hustle
3. Stardust
4. Night Watch
5. Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns (documentary about They Might Be Giants)
#1,3, and 4 added. #2 no English track.
I remembered Kung Fu Hustle being in Chinese with English subs... NetFlix says:
Subtitles:
English, French
Closed Captioned Closed Captioned
Language and Sound:
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
And, FWIW, Netflix sends each disc in its own envelope, so you can send them back one at a time.
But I'm glad you did this... y'all reminded me to add a couple to MY queue! (When three unrelated folks suggest "Everything Is Illuminated" in the same week, it's a sign from TCoRN!)
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The Lion in Winter
Which vintage?
The Lion in Winter (1968 with Peter O'Toole and Kate Hepburn)
or
The Lion in Winter (made for TV, 2003, with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close)
I favour the 1968 version.
Both of them have two of my favourite bits of dialogue:
Prince John: A knife! He's got a knife!
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It's 1183 and we're barbarians!
Henry II: Give me a little peace.
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A little? Why so modest? How about eternal peace? Now there's a thought.
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Which vintage?
The Lion in Winter (1968 with Peter O'Toole and Kate Hepburn)
or
The Lion in Winter (made for TV, 2003, with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close)
I favour the 1968 version.
Absent actually having a live performance of the play to go see, most certainly the 1968. I mean, the story is great and all, but the acting in that movie is just amazing. I think it's Katherine Hepburn's best role, and that's saying a lot. And it's also got a then-unknown by the name of Anthony Hopkins. What's not to love?
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But I'm glad you did this... y'all reminded me to add a couple to MY queue! (When three unrelated folks suggest "Everything Is Illuminated" in the same week, it's a sign from TCoRN!)
Technically it's a sign for TCoRN.
(what kind of heretic are you, anyway?)
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But I'm glad you did this... y'all reminded me to add a couple to MY queue! (When three unrelated folks suggest "Everything Is Illuminated" in the same week, it's a sign from TCoRN!)
I didn't put that one on my list, but you can add me to the pool of people recommending it. I was really surprised by that film.
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I had forgotten about Everything Is Illuminated. I remember wanting to see it. I'm going to have to add it to my queue as well.
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But I'm glad you did this... y'all reminded me to add a couple to MY queue! (When three unrelated folks suggest "Everything Is Illuminated" in the same week, it's a sign from TCoRN!)
Technically it's a sign for TCoRN.
(what kind of heretic are you, anyway?)
Oh, right... I forgot about your Lizard King... I was referring to "Tad's Cinema of Rented Netflix".
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Forgot my other favorite TV series to watch (not sure if there are DVDs though), Black Adder.
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Forgot my other favorite TV series to watch (not sure if there are DVDs though), Black Adder.
Yep, I have the boxed set! It's great to watch all the Blackadders close to each other --- he's very different in each of the four seasons.
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Forgot my other favorite TV series to watch (not sure if there are DVDs though), Black Adder.
Yep, I have the boxed set! It's great to watch all the Blackadders close to each other --- he's very different in each of the four seasons.
I never got my wife to watch them, but I did catch her saying, "Percy... Who's queen?" to the children the other night. (No, none of the children are called "Percy".)
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Yep, I have the boxed set! It's great to watch all the Blackadders close to each other --- he's very different in each of the four seasons.
I never got my wife to watch them, but I did catch her saying, "Percy... Who's queen?" to the children the other night. (No, none of the children are called "Percy".)
A good thing, that. I'd hate to have to report you and your wife for child abuse. ;)
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Lion in Winter is one of my all-time favorite movies (1968 version). II watched it about 10 years ago, and have loved it since. I am trying to convince Thaur to watch it now ;D I was going to list Black Adder, but someone got to that before me, too, darnit.
Since that's been covered, and better late than never, here are my *other* 5 for you:
-Slither
-Antonia's Line
-Queen Margot (French film)
-Puppetry of the Penis
-Samurai Jack (all seasons)
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I watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium this weekend. I have to say, I really enjoyed it! I'd recommend putting it in the queue. I wouldn't put it up against some of the ones already posted, but, well, I was very surprised at how good it was. It's got a great message.
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Lion in Winter is one of my all-time favorite movies (1968 version). II watched it about 10 years ago, and have loved it since. I am trying to convince Thaur to watch it now ;D I was going to list Black Adder, but someone got to that before me, too, darnit.
Since that's been covered, and better late than never, here are my *other* 5 for you:
-Slither
-Antonia's Line
-Queen Margot (French film)
-Puppetry of the Penis
-Samurai Jack (all seasons)
Slither... Puppetry of the Penis... Samurai Jack....
Nope, I have nothing to say about that at ALL... not a thing. Nope.
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Oh! I just remembered another one. The most underrated show in the history of television: Freaks and Geeks. That one I would definitely call deserving!
I'll try to stop now...
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Oh! I just remembered another one. The most underrated show in the history of television: Freaks and Geeks. That one I would definitely call deserving!
Seconded. I'd never heard of it before last year when my wife put it in our queue. Though it only ran for one season, it kicks the ass of My So-Called Life, and it doesn't end feeling unfinished like that show did.
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Yojimbo
Gojira
The Whole Wide World
Black Sun: the nanking massacre (I designed and wrote the DVD extras)
Ratatouille
The Producers (the original with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder)
Wanted to add the first four, but there's no English track on the German discs. I buy everything from Pixar. The Producers is added. I'm annoyed it didn't come in the Mel Brooks collection I bought.
Yojimbo and Gojira are in original Japanese with English subs. Black Sun is in original Chinese with English Subs. None of them have English dubs. I did the DVD work for the Unearthed Films release, so if you can find that one, get it - I also think it's region 0.
I'm going through Amazon Germany. The asian films you listed are in Japanese (or Chinese) and are dubbed in German. They also have subtitles in German. When I see a film that needs my attention, I still need it in English.
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Oh! I just remembered another one. The most underrated show in the history of television: Freaks and Geeks. That one I would definitely call deserving!
Seconded. I'd never heard of it before last year when my wife put it in our queue. Though it only ran for one season, it kicks the ass of My So-Called Life, and it doesn't end feeling unfinished like that show did.
Thirded. Though it was a crime it ended so soon.
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These are from our newly acquired Netflix list, but we've seen them before:
Nine Dead Gay Guys
Hot Fuzz
The Shadow (1994)
The Fountain
The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
- 9 Dead… not available
- Hot Fuzz… Liked Shaun of the Dead so why not
- The Shadow… Loved the radio show, therefore I can't watch this
- The Fountain… Heard about it, added
- The Day The Earth Stood Still… added
Rather difficult, without knowing what you've seen or what you like, but from the top of my head, some classics you may have missed:
The Lion in Winter
Brazil
V for Vendetta
Pan's Labyrinth
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Lion… Already on the list
Brazil, V, Pan… Already seen
Rosencrantz… Added
Alisdair:
Added: Clerks II and Mulholland Drive
Primer (took til my third viewing to actually understand it)
Code 46 (beautifully-shot near-future SF film)
Enchanted (you can watch it with your kids, and it's really pretty enjoyable for a disney-type fantasy film)
Mystery Men ("maybe you should put some shorts on if you're going to fight any more evil today")
The Incredibles (should've been nominated for best picture, not just best animated film)
Primer… Maybe later
Code 46, Enchanted… added
Mystery Men… seen
The Incredibles… I buy everything from Pixar
Everything is Illuminated (underrated and absolutely AMAZING)
Amelie (just in case you havent yet. A must-see)
Ulee's Gold (lovely film. Just lovely)
I just saw American Gangster last night and found it absolutely 100% excellent. I'd recommend it.
Speaking of Denzel Washington, his little-seen movie 'The Great Debaters' was absolutely fantastic. I would definitely recommend it whenever it arrives on DVD. (not sure if it's out yet).
Amelie, Illuminated… Loved both
American Gangster… added
Birdless: Seen them all. Good choices.
1) Fight Club
2) A Scanner Darkly
3) LA Confidential
4) Veronica Mars (TV Show)
5) Lost
1) Already on the list
2) Added
3) Loved it
4) Added
5) Tried it. I couldn't get into it.
Following [Chris Nolan's debut. Think Memento on steroids]
Arsenic and Old Lace [the funniest movie ever made]
The Blood of Heroes / Salute of the Jugger [Rutger Hauer in a post-apocalyptic sports movie]
The Man Who Wasn't There [The Coen Brothers do film noir at least as well as they do everything else]
Sinbad of the Seven Seas [watch it with a bunch of easily-amused friends, and you won't be disappointed]
Following, Man who wasn't… added
Seen the Hauer stuff and Arsenic and Old Lace.
Birdless: I've seen Almost evrything with Cary Grant.
Forgot my other favorite TV series to watch (not sure if there are DVDs though), Black Adder.
I'll probably add it later on. My wife gets annoyed with heavy accents.
-Slither
-Antonia's Line
-Queen Margot (French film)
-Puppetry of the Penis
- (all seasons)
Slither… Can't get the wife to watch a zombie flick.
Antonia's Line, Queen Margot… No english track.
I watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium this weekend. I have to say, I really enjoyed it! I'd recommend putting it in the queue. I wouldn't put it up against some of the ones already posted, but, well, I was very surprised at how good it was. It's got a great message.
Heard a couple of comments on this one. It's been added
Oh! I just remembered another one. The most underrated show in the history of television: Freaks and Geeks. That one I would definitely call deserving!
I'll try to stop now...
Not available.
Thanks folks, This list is better than I could have hoped.
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I'm interested to know what you think of them! Will you be putting up reactions somewhere (here)?
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I'm interested to know what you think of them! Will you be putting up reactions somewhere (here)?
If it's something people want, I'll put up my list, each film we see, and a reaction/review/stupid comment on each one.
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I'm interested to know what you think of them! Will you be putting up reactions somewhere (here)?
If it's something people want, I'll put up my list, each film we see, and a reaction/review/stupid comment on each one.
Maybe we should think of a Escape pod movie club? One movie a week, usually SF/Fish, thread in Galli for people to take it apart?
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I'm interested to know what you think of them! Will you be putting up reactions somewhere (here)?
If it's something people want, I'll put up my list, each film we see, and a reaction/review/stupid comment on each one.
Maybe we should think of a Escape pod movie club? One movie a week, usually SF/Fish, thread in Galli for people to take it apart?
That's a cool idea.
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I'm interested to know what you think of them! Will you be putting up reactions somewhere (here)?
If it's something people want, I'll put up my list, each film we see, and a reaction/review/stupid comment on each one.
Maybe we should think of a Escape pod movie club? One movie a week, usually SF/Fish, thread in Galli for people to take it apart?
That's a cool idea.
Seconded. You start it Haradel?
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We could give it a try. Although watching a movie a week might be a stretch for me :)
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I'll get it started tomorrow or Friday, I have an article due for newspaper tomorrow (http://blogs.nyit.edu/chronicle/)(it's a horrid website, I don't have any control over it) that I still need to interview a fair number of people to finish, so maybe tomorrow night. If you guys want to nominate some movie picks from the list we deluged Russell with, I'll get the next few weeks planned out.
We could give it a try. Although watching a movie a week might be a stretch for me :)
Don't worry, it'll be pretty loose rules-wise. I'll post what movie it is in a new thread on (Sundays?), and it'll just go from there. It's not like we're all going to be meeting in a cafe for tea and crumpets, so just post once you've watched it. I guess the only rule for now is that it fits within the bounds of SF|F, and be good. Though I reserve the right to chuck that for a really good movie.
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It shouldn't have to be "good"... that's part of the fun!
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Also, maybe if you could post what next week's movie is going to be when you post the thread, I might have a chance to get it from Netflix in time :)
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Some more for your delectation:
Eureka [US TV show set in a secret town for of scientific geniuses]
Life on Mars [British cop show that might or might not involve time travel]
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension [Aliens are invading, and only a surgeon-physicist-rockstar can stop them]
The Return of Captain Invincible [Three words: Christopher. Lee. Musical.]
The Iron Giant [Space-robot teaches a boy about friendship]
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It shouldn't have to be "good"... that's part of the fun!
Some redeeming quality then. First thread will go up later today, I'm still figuring out a good first one.
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It shouldn't have to be "good"... that's part of the fun!
Some redeeming quality then. First thread will go up later today, I'm still figuring out a good first one.
I'd put up a thread asking for nominations and for announcing the future threads.
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Eureka [US TV show set in a secret town for of scientific geniuses]
Life on Mars [British cop show that might or might not involve time travel]
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension [Aliens are invading, and only a surgeon-physicist-rockstar can stop them]
The Return of Captain Invincible [Three words: Christopher. Lee. Musical.]
The Iron Giant [Space-robot teaches a boy about friendship]
Eureka, Life on Mars- Not available, sound cool though. I have a kind of watch list. I added them to it.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension- Seen it. Great film.
The Return of Captain Invincible- doesn't sound that interesting. I'd need a little corroborating evidence before I added it.
The Iron Giant- This is one of the ones I really wanted to see, but never remembered when it was time to rent or buy something. ADDED
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Here's the list as it currently stands:
- Spiderman 3
- Heroes Season 1
- Payback
- Die Hard 4
- Bones Season 1
- The Iron Giant
- Clerks 2
- Deadwood - Season 3
- Stardust
- The Producers
- Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Grey's Anatomy - Season 1
- Fight Club
- Harold and Maude
- The Lion in Winter
- Smallville - Season 6
- Veronica Mars - Season 1
- The Sopranos - Season 1
- X-Files - Season 1
- The Following
- Across the Universe
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- 1408
- Night Watch
- Michael Clayton
- The Departed
- Beowulf
- Hot Fuzz
- The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
- Mulholland Drive
- Enchanted
- Code 46
- American Gangster
- A Scanner Darkly
- The Man Who Wasn't There
- Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
- Knocked Up
- Box of Moonlight
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Eureka, Life on Mars- Not available, sound cool though. I have a kind of watch list. I added them to it.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension- Seen it. Great film.
The Return of Captain Invincible- doesn't sound that interesting. I'd need a little corroborating evidence before I added it.
The Iron Giant- This is one of the ones I really wanted to see, but never remembered when it was time to rent or buy something. ADDED
Speaking of Life on Mars, the LA Times just reported that the US version's pilot has been shot. (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-pilots5apr05,0,2825317.story)
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For the EP Film Club (sounds more highbrow than movie club) I have added Metropolis and bumped it to the top of my list.
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For the EP Film Club (sounds more highbrow than movie club) I have added Metropolis and bumped it to the top of my list.
Well, there goes my plans for Plan 9.
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For the EP Film Club (sounds more highbrow than movie club) I have added Metropolis and bumped it to the top of my list.
Well, there goes my plans for Plan 9.
Seen it once. Don't need to see it again.
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You know, this might be a good time to trot out the old "Grid o' Critocrisy" from our college days.
The GoC was a tool we envisioned but never implemented for evaluating various and sundry cinematic presentations. Basically, we (being my circle of misfit musician/linguist friends) determined that there should be three categories: "Film", which is intended to be art for art's sake and encompasses all manner of highbrow conventions; "Movies" which are made for the mainstream, but can combine elements of the other two categories; and "Flicks" which are the popcorn & bubblegum thrill-ride, meant to appeal to your id.
When you evaluate a show, you score it on a 1-5, where 1 point is given for each element (visual, writing, music, editing, and "other") within each of the three categories. An example:
Starship Troopers: Film=2 Movie=4 Flick=5
Much Ado About Nothing: Film=4 Movie=4 Flick=2
Then you rate yourself, on what you like to see:
Etienne: Film=5 Movie=0 Flick=0 (Etienne is a fictional art student who turns his nose up at everything)
Kathy: Film=1 Movie=5 Flick=2 (Kathy is the prime demographic for studios; she likes Kevin Costner)
Me: Film=2 Movie=3 Flick=3 (Mr. Average... yeah, right)
Then you work out an algorithm that weights your preferences against the rating bestowed by a large group. (This is the part we were bad at, so we multiplied and averaged to get a percentage.)
So, using our system, Etienne's "score" for ST would be 13, while Branagh's Shakespearean production would get 27. (That's what you get for being a snob.) Kathy would have 43 and 37; I would have 41 and 35.
What does this prove? That bored musicians shouldn't try to do mathematics during class breaks.
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Added: Dr.Strangelove
I haven't seen it in years and the EP Review reminded me how much I wanted to see it again.
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Someone asked for reviews. I'm not going to go nuts, just give some impressions. Spoilers will be hidden.
Spiderman 3: Not as good as the other two. I thought they tried to handel too much in one film. I liked it well enough, but I have already forgotten much of it.
Heroes (season 1): Fun, but it got weaker and weaker as the season went on. I got to where I was screaming, "ok, Sylar's knocked out. Now crush his f*****g head!!" Seemed like it would have made a fantastic 12 episode season on HBO, but it couldn't hold on for 22.
Cashback (recommended by Heradel): Great little flick out of England. A guy working over night in a supermarket finds that it's so boring, he can actually stop time. Lots of nudity. Who knew Heradel was that dirty?
Die Hard 4: Bad, bad, bad. I liked the first shoot out, but then it just went downhill like a hog on roller skates. Also commented here. (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=944.msg24335#msg24335)
Moderator: Fixed Title
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Added a bunch of stuff. Here's the list as it currently stands:
- Bones Season 1 (seen a few. Jury's out)
- Metropolis (Have, but haven't watched yet)
- Fight Club (removed: borrowed from someone)
- Dr. Strangelove (Would have added, but I borrowed it from someone first)
- The Complete Blackadder (Would have added, but I borrowed it from someone first)
- The Iron Giant
- Clerks 2
- Deadwood - Season 3
- Stardust
- The Producers
- Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Grey's Anatomy - Season 1
- Harold and Maude
- The Lion in Winter
- Smallville - Season 6
- Veronica Mars - Season 1
- The Sopranos - Season 1
- X-Files - Season 1
- The Following
- Across the Universe
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- 1408
- Night Watch
- Michael Clayton
- The Departed
- Beowulf
- Hot Fuzz
- The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
- Mulholland Drive
- Enchanted
- Code 46
- American Gangster
- A Scanner Darkly
- The Man Who Wasn't There
- Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
- Knocked Up
- Box of Moonlight
- New Additions:
- Flags of Our Fathers
- Letters from Iwo Jima
- There Will Be Blood
- 3:10 to Yuma
- Death Proof (one part of Tarantino's Grindhouse. Over here it was released in two parts.)
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Inventing the Abbotts
- Blood Diamond
- Labyrinth
- Little Children
- Babel
- The Good German
- Barton Fink
- Holy Smoke!
- Best Laid Plans
- Numbers - Season 1
- Rendition
- The Icestorm
- Ride with the Devil
- Monk - Season 1
- Soylent Green
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Payback (recommended by Heradel): Great little flick out of England. A guy working over night in a supermarket finds that it's so boring, he can actually stop time. Lots of nudity. Who knew Heradel was that dirty?
That's Cashback.
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Payback (recommended by Heradel): Great little flick out of England. A guy working over night in a supermarket finds that it's so boring, he can actually stop time. Lots of nudity. Who knew Heradel was that dirty?
That's Cashback.
Payback is an action flick where Mel Gibson's character tries to get even with his wife and ex-partner who try to kill him or something. My wife watched it once while I was in the room. Don't add this donkey to NetFlix.
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Payback is an action flick where Mel Gibson's character tries to get even with his wife and ex-partner who try to kill him or something. My wife watched it once while I was in the room. Don't add this donkey to NetFlix.
Kris Kristofferson is good in it. But he doesn't really have a major role.
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In the 1980's, ITV (in the UK) made a show called Sapphire and Steel, as a low-budget answer to Dr. Who*, about a couple of people (Aliens? Gods? Time Lords) who go around fixing holes in reality. It starred Joanna "Ab Fab" Lumley and David "The Man From UNCLE" McCallum. They made six stories, each 4-8 episodes long.
Worth checking out.
* Each episode probably cost about 50 quid to make.
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In the 1980's, ITV (in the UK) made a show called Sapphire and Steel, as a low-budget answer to Dr. Who*, about a couple of people (Aliens? Gods? Time Lords) who go around fixing holes in reality. It starred Joanna "Ab Fab" Lumley and David "The Man From UNCLE" McCallum. They made six stories, each 4-8 episodes long.
Worth checking out.
* Each episode probably cost about 50 quid to make.
I looked into that, but every Netflix member review I saw roundly panned it. I have the Big Finish audios which I still haven't listened to.
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In the 1980's, ITV (in the UK) made a show called Sapphire and Steel, as a low-budget answer to Dr. Who*, about a couple of people (Aliens? Gods? Time Lords) who go around fixing holes in reality. It starred Joanna "Ab Fab" Lumley and David "The Man From UNCLE" McCallum. They made six stories, each 4-8 episodes long.
Worth checking out.
* Each episode probably cost about 50 quid to make.
Lower budget than 80's Dr. Who??? What'd they do, have David McCallum and Joanna Lumley each play every character on the show in costumes made from brown paper sacks or spring for lunch on alternating days or not turn the cameras on? Not to say Dr. Who's cheapness doesn't add to the charm, it does.
Now I must locate this series and watch it!
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Payback (recommended by Heradel): Great little flick out of England. A guy working over night in a supermarket finds that it's so boring, he can actually stop time. Lots of nudity. Who knew Heradel was that dirty?
That's Cashback.
Payback is an action flick where Mel Gibson's character tries to get even with his wife and ex-partner who try to kill him or something. My wife watched it once while I was in the room. Don't add this donkey to NetFlix.
Thanks for the correction. I wouldn't want to get that wrong. Cashback had way more nudity. I did like Payback though.
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In the 1980's, ITV (in the UK) made a show called Sapphire and Steel, as a low-budget answer to Dr. Who*, about a couple of people (Aliens? Gods? Time Lords) who go around fixing holes in reality. It starred Joanna "Ab Fab" Lumley and David "The Man From UNCLE" McCallum. They made six stories, each 4-8 episodes long.
Worth checking out.
* Each episode probably cost about 50 quid to make.
Intriguing , but not available.
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In the 1980's, ITV (in the UK) made a show called Sapphire and Steel, as a low-budget answer to Dr. Who*, about a couple of people (Aliens? Gods? Time Lords) who go around fixing holes in reality. It starred Joanna "Ab Fab" Lumley and David "The Man From UNCLE" McCallum. They made six stories, each 4-8 episodes long.
Worth checking out.
* Each episode probably cost about 50 quid to make.
Lower budget than 80's Dr. Who??? What'd they do, have David McCallum and Joanna Lumley each play every character on the show in costumes made from brown paper sacks or spring for lunch on alternating days or not turn the cameras on? Not to say Dr. Who's cheapness doesn't add to the charm, it does.
Now I must locate this series and watch it!
I think they were the only actors who got paid. Generally, you would have them, and maybe three or four other people, mostly Welsh drama students who were doing it for their CV or children who probably got paid in ice cream. Sets and locations were things like "a big house" or "an abandoned railway station", with stories rarely (if ever) having more than one location. Special effects were limited to double exposures and voiceovers. Unlike Dr Who, they didn't have monsters or aliens, or big flashy explosions to deal with, which was probably an accounting decision.
Overall, it worked pretty well, woth solid acting from the principles, and some pretty intense storylines. Anyway, I loved it when I was growing up, and having recently bought the box set the A&E put out (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00061QJIA/escapepod-20) I'm re-watching them, and they're still as good as when I saw them the first time around.
Moderator: EPized link
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Cashback (recommended by Heradel): Great little flick out of England. A guy working over night in a supermarket finds that it's so boring, he can actually stop time. Lots of nudity. Who knew Heradel was that dirty?
I'm a regular Pigpen.
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Cashback (recommended by Heradel): Great little flick out of England. A guy working over night in a supermarket finds that it's so boring, he can actually stop time. Lots of nudity. Who knew Heradel was that dirty?
I'm a regular Pigpen.
Ew... Peanuts porn? "Hey, Charlie Brown, I promise not to yank away the football this time...." ::)
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Ew... Peanuts porn? "Hey, Charlie Brown, I promise not to yank away the football this time...." ::)
Peppermint Patty/Marcy ;D
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Ew... Peanuts porn? "Hey, Charlie Brown, I promise not to yank away the football this time...." ::)
Peppermint Patty/Marcy ;D
Linus and Charlie Brown always seemed to have a special relationship (though I think its probably more along the lines of their Boston Legal alteregos).
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Ew... Peanuts porn? "Hey, Charlie Brown, I promise not to yank away the football this time...." ::)
Peppermint Patty/Marcy ;D
Linus and Charlie Brown always seemed to have a special relationship (though I think its probably more along the lines of their Boston Legal alteregos).
Why exactly was snoopy always under the covers when he was in Charlie Brown's bed and why was he there so often?
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Why exactly was snoopy always under the covers when he was in Charlie Brown's bed and why was he there so often?
Now you're just taking it too far man, Snoopy's just this dog, you know?
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Why exactly was snoopy always under the covers when he was in Charlie Brown's bed and why was he there so often?
Now you're just taking it too far man, Snoopy's just this dog, you know?
And what's his relationship with Woodstock anyway? Cross-species stuff is just weird.
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Wow... a whole thread that just nose-dived in to Peanuts Slash-Fic.
I think this is some kind of internet first.
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Wow... a whole thread that just nose-dived in to Peanuts Slash-Fic.
I think this is some kind of internet first.
Sadly it isn't.
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Wow... a whole thread that just nose-dived in to Peanuts Slash-Fic.
I think this is some kind of internet first.
Sadly it isn't.
You would know...
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Wow... a whole thread that just nose-dived in to Peanuts Slash-Fic.
I think this is some kind of internet first.
Sadly it isn't.
You would know...
:( I was hoping to attain an Internet first. Good grief.
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Wow... a whole thread that just nose-dived in to Peanuts Slash-Fic.
I think this is some kind of internet first.
Sadly it isn't.
I'd like to see some documentation on that.
I couldn't find any, but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough.
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Internet Rule 34: If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.
(http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/2655/y42f7rwffgjsub77c2rq44msz1.jpg)
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(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/rule_34.png)
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::desperately trying to pull this thing back on topic::
So I added a few classics to my list today. A few Jimmy Stewarts, a little Alfred Hitchcock, maybe even a Cary Grant. I'll do a full update later.
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::desperately trying to pull this thing back on topic::
So I added a few classics to my list today. A few Jimmy Stewarts, a little Alfred Hitchcock, maybe even a Cary Grant. I'll do a full update later.
I'll suggest Witness, police drama starring Harrison Ford as a detective who has to take refuge with an Amish family. Features a good look at Amish culture, Ford at the top of his game, and some to-die-for scenes and direction by Peter Weir. (I'm a sucker for the shot of the policemen going down into the Amish settlement at dawn.) Kelly McGillis makes her super-fox thing work brilliantly, even in plain-dress. And believably.
For series, you might want to try Dead Like Me, a two-season Showtime offering in which the heroine -- Georgia "George" Lass, played by Ellen Muth -- dies in the first episode, struck by the toilet seat of the Soyuz space station as it plunges to earth. The rest of the series concerns her adventures in the afterlife, where she's assigned the role of "reaper" -- one of those who escort the souls of the dead from the site of their demise to the route that leads to their Ultimate Destination.
Reapers don't have it easy -- they need day jobs to support themselves, but have only limited interaction with the living. Mandy Patinkin does a great turn as the foreman of his crew, which includes George, along with a likable, mysteriously-displaced British drug addict and thief; a no-nonsense meter maid; and a spoiled actress.
Both touching and funny, it's one of my very favorite shows. It takes a somewhat darker turn in the second season, but the characters do continue to grow. There's supposed to be a direct to DVD movie in the works. I'm hopeful...
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::desperately trying to pull this thing back on topic::
So I added a few classics to my list today. A few Jimmy Stewarts, a little Alfred Hitchcock, maybe even a Cary Grant. I'll do a full update later.
I'll suggest Witness, police drama starring Harrison Ford as a detective who has to take refuge with an Amish family. Features a good look at Amish culture, Ford at the top of his game, and some to-die-for scenes and direction by Peter Weir. (I'm a sucker for the dawn shot of the policemen going down into the Amish settlement at dawn.) Kelly McGillis makes her super-fox thing work brilliantly, even in plain-dress. And believably.
For series, you might want to try Dead Like Me, a two-season Showtime offering in which the heroine -- Georgia "George" Lass, played by Ellen Muth -- dies in the first episode, struck by the toilet seat of the Soyuz space station as it plunges to earth. The rest of the series concerns her adventures in the afterlife, where she's assigned the role of "reaper" -- one of those who escort the souls of the dead from the site of their demise to the route that leads to their Ultimate Destination.
Reapers don't have it easy -- they need day jobs to support themselves, but have only limited interaction with the living. Mandy Patinkin does a great turn as the foreman of his crew, which includes George, along with a likable, mysteriously-displaced British drug addict and thief; a no-nonsense meter maid; and a spoiled actress.
Both touching and funny, it's one of my very favorite shows. It takes a somewhat darker turn in the second season, but the characters do continue to grow. There's supposed to be a direct to DVD movie in the works. I'm hopeful...
Witness is an old favorite of mine. Saw it again just a few years ago. Ironically my pseudo-german helped me understand the Amish-german better than my German wife could understand it.
I'll add Dead like me if it's available.
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Both touching and funny, it's one of my very favorite shows. It takes a somewhat darker turn in the second season, but the characters do continue to grow. There's supposed to be a direct to DVD movie in the works. I'm hopeful...
That's good to know. Shwankie and I couldn't make it through the first season for all of George's constant, incessant, inane, childish whining.
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Both touching and funny, it's one of my very favorite shows. It takes a somewhat darker turn in the second season, but the characters do continue to grow. There's supposed to be a direct to DVD movie in the works. I'm hopeful...
That's good to know. Shwankie and I couldn't make it through the first season for all of George's constant, incessant, inane, childish whining.
George actually does grow up a bit, under Rube's patient tutelage. I liked the character of Rube a lot -- really cares for his charges, even when they exasperate him (for good reason), and tries to help them out. But, fundamentally, he's about getting work done.
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Witness is an old favorite of mine. Saw it again just a few years ago. Ironically my pseudo-german helped me understand the Amish-german better than my German wife could understand it.
When I did research on the Amish a while back, I read that there is one tiny pocket of Germany where the local dialect is almost identical to the German spoken by the Amish. Apparently, nobody is completely clear why that one came to predominate, because the Amish were drawn from a much wider area.
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Why exactly was snoopy always under the covers when he was in Charlie Brown's bed and why was he there so often?
Now you're just taking it too far man, Snoopy's just this dog, you know?
And what's his relationship with Woodstock anyway? Cross-species stuff is just weird.
I know I'm coming in late to this, and I'm taking the off-topic further off topic, but I've always been disturbed by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. Namely the part where Woodstock carves the turkey and then starts eating it. Cannibals come in all shapes and sizes.
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Why exactly was snoopy always under the covers when he was in Charlie Brown's bed and why was he there so often?
Now you're just taking it too far man, Snoopy's just this dog, you know?
And what's his relationship with Woodstock anyway? Cross-species stuff is just weird.
I know I'm coming in late to this, and I'm taking the off-topic further off topic, but I've always been disturbed by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. Namely the part where Woodstock carves the turkey and then starts eating it. Cannibals come in all shapes and sizes.
Two birds, one... ew, nevermind; I just revolted myself. :-X
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I know I'm coming in late to this, and I'm taking the off-topic further off topic, but I've always been disturbed by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. Namely the part where Woodstock carves the turkey and then starts eating it. Cannibals come in all shapes and sizes.
Do you eat cows? You're both mammals! Just as much related as a canary (or whatever Woodstock is supposed to be) and a turkey...
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I know I'm coming in late to this, and I'm taking the off-topic further off topic, but I've always been disturbed by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. Namely the part where Woodstock carves the turkey and then starts eating it. Cannibals come in all shapes and sizes.
Do you eat cows? You're both mammals! Just as much related as a canary (or whatever Woodstock is supposed to be) and a turkey...
Wouldn't it be more like us eating a chimpanzee or a gorilla?
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I know I'm coming in late to this, and I'm taking the off-topic further off topic, but I've always been disturbed by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. Namely the part where Woodstock carves the turkey and then starts eating it. Cannibals come in all shapes and sizes.
Do you eat cows? You're both mammals! Just as much related as a canary (or whatever Woodstock is supposed to be) and a turkey...
Wouldn't it be more like us eating a chimpanzee or a gorilla?
I wanted to say that, and accompany it with a Get Fuzzy (http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/bucky-katt/) example... but that's the best I could find. :(
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I know I'm coming in late to this, and I'm taking the off-topic further off topic, but I've always been disturbed by the Peanuts Thanksgiving Special. Namely the part where Woodstock carves the turkey and then starts eating it. Cannibals come in all shapes and sizes.
Do you eat cows? You're both mammals! Just as much related as a canary (or whatever Woodstock is supposed to be) and a turkey...
Wouldn't it be more like us eating a chimpanzee or a gorilla?
Modern birds (Superorder Neognathae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neognathae)) split off from their common ancestor somewhere around 75 million years ago. Woodstock and a turkey share a common ancestor no older than that, and probably not younger than 25 million years. I don't know much about the history of birds, but I'd be confident with those error bars.
On the other hand, humans share a common ancestor with chimps some 5 million years ago, and with gorillas 8 million years ago. Cows are artiodactyls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artiodactyl); their common ancestor with humans lived approximately 90 million years ago. All birds are more closely related to each other than we are to cows, but except for the very closest families (chickens and turkeys, for example), they're all less closely related than we are to the great apes.
About 40 million years ago, we shared an ancestor with rabbits which, while not as common a foodbeast as they used to be, are still very tasty. They might be the best analogy here.
Family tree of placental mammals (http://tolweb.org/Eutheria/15997)
Family tree of modern birds (http://tolweb.org/Neornithes/15834) (requires a bit of drilling-down)
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Finished Metropolis. I posted my thoughts in the EPMC#1 thread (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1477.msg25129#msg25129).
Iron Giant and FF2 have come in the mail today.
We're halfway through season 1 of Bones. I think we'll finish the season; but if it doesn't get better, we won't watch season 2.
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Finished Metropolis. I posted my thoughts in the EPMC#1 thread (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1477.msg25129#msg25129).
Iron Giant and FF2 have come in the mail today.
We're halfway through season 1 of Bones. I think we'll finish the season; but if it doesn't get better, we won't watch season 2.
Did Bones get significantly better than the pilot episode, or did it stay on par with it? Someone gave us the season 1 DVD to watch, but the pilot really put me off.
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Finished Metropolis. I posted my thoughts in the EPMC#1 thread (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1477.msg25129#msg25129).
Iron Giant and FF2 have come in the mail today.
We're halfway through season 1 of Bones. I think we'll finish the season; but if it doesn't get better, we won't watch season 2.
Did Bones get significantly better than the pilot episode, or did it stay on par with it? Someone gave us the season 1 DVD to watch, but the pilot really put me off.
It's definately trying to hit its stride. I would say the middle of the season is better than the pilot, but it has too many of the normal network TV conventions. It wants to be different, but it can't seem to break free.
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We're halfway through season 1 of Bones. I think we'll finish the season; but if it doesn't get better, we won't watch season 2.
How much is Stephen Fry in it? He's the only thing that inclines me to look into the series (in the same way that Hugh Laurie is the only reason I watch House.
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We're halfway through season 1 of Bones. I think we'll finish the season; but if it doesn't get better, we won't watch season 2.
How much is Stephen Fry in it? He's the only thing that inclines me to look into the series (in the same way that Hugh Laurie is the only reason I watch House.
According to IMDB he's only in three episodes out of three seasons. None of those are in the first season.
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update:
Added:
- Dead Like Me - Season 1
- Bitter Moon
- Shop Around the Corner - Jimmy Stewart
- Bell Book and Candle - Jimmy Stewart & Kim Novak
- The Naked Spur - Jimmy Stewart & Janet Leigh
- Call Northside 777 - Jimmy Stewart
- Ride with the Devil
- M*A*S*H - Season 1-3
- Lucky Number Slevin
- Stranger than Fiction
- Serendipity
- The Prestige
- The Spiderwick Chronicles
Reviews:
- The Iron Giant - I really liked this one. Additional comments (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1598.msg26488#msg26488)
- Children of Men - Pretty cool story shot with amazing long takes. Comments and spoilers. (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1542.msg26013#msg26013)
- The Day The Earth Stood Still - So very dated, but still good. Comments (http://forum.escapeartists.info/index.php?topic=1565.msg26015#msg26015)
- Bones (Season 1) - Anthropologist with three+ doctorates, who's been all over the world identifying or determining the cause of death of victims just from their skeletons. She's also a Kung Fu master is anerexic is played by a 30 year old actress and she's beautiful despite not caring. It'*s a network show with all that brings. Production is pretty good, but the stories aren't really that great. We watch it when we have stuff to do and can't give it our full attention. Half attention is all that it needs. When season 2 comes out, we won't be bothering with it.
- FF2 - Rise of the silver surfer - OK comic book movie. Spolier question: If the Silver Surfer could have destroyed this being at any time, why did 8 planets have to get blown up first? Is this part of the lore or was this just for the movie?? It really had the feeling of just trying to set up the Silver Surfer movie franchise.
- Stardust - Absolutely fantastic. There were so many comments about it being like the Princess Bride that I was a little shocked by all of the sex jokes. DeNiro was a blast.
Thanks again for everyones help with my list. Let me know if I need to add anything else.
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Yeah, Stardust and Princess Bride really have nothing in common except that they're both the great fantasy movie of their generation. It's very easy for people so say "it's the next Princess Bride", but it really isn't. In fact, I can think of almost no similarities between them, beyond the fact that they're love stories set in a fantasy world.
Oh, and I want Tristan's sword. Why is no-one making replicas yet?
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OK, maybe they've started making them since I last googled it.
www.strongblade.com/prod/sb-sd-sword.html
Me wants!
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Two months later and I'm back to give a few more reviews.
- Smallville - Season 5 - We keep watching this, because it's good brainless stuff to help my wife wind down from a long day at work. If there was some BTVS or something that we hadn't seen, we wouldn't be watching this anymore. It just barely holds on.
- Clerks 2 - I groaned when I heard Kevin Smith was going back to this. I figured it was a reflex action after Jersey Girl. He delivered on this one. I don't think it's better than the original, but unlike many sequels it respects the original. The funniest joke in the whole movie went right past my wife, because she's only seen the original once. Spoiler and offensive language in white: Randal turns to Dante and asks, "did you ask her how many guys she's blown?"
- Deadwood - Season 3 - I'll miss Deadwood and I'm annoyed there's no last season to wrap up all of the loose ends. That said I was getting pretty annoyed at the dialogue. It is no surprise that the producer of Deadwood also produced NYPD Blue. There was a whole town of prospectors, Whorehouse operators, and sheriffs all talking like Andy Sipowicz.
- The Producers (1968) & The Producers (2005) - The two films should be talked about together. Both are funny. Both are in bad taste, but in a good way. The first one is funnier. The second one has a better story for how they chose their Hitler. The second one seemed safer. Eventhough they were basing a musical on Hitler, they didn't want to offend too much.
Edit: I originally had the movies titles reversed, but this caused some confusion when I said first and second. Now I have the first listed first. - Ratatouille - Pixar, 'nuff said. I'll buy this one.
- Escape From New York - Low budget future gloom and doom. I have a weak spot for low budget stuff. Maybe that's why I liked Buffy and Firefly. This had its moments and was really fun, but it won't stand up to repeated viewing.
- Bitter Moon - Was going for a Henry and June type of thing. Got something that was just boring and bad. The girl in this film was drop dead gorgeous and naked for half of it, but these scenes were just dull.
- Fight Club - Not what I expected. Surprised me. I don't know if it's as good as the other folks around here think it is, but it's really good.
- Superman Returns - I had seen a bit on cable several months back. I hated it. We borrowed the disk from a friend to try it again. It wasn't as bad as expected, but unless you need to see every Superman movie, don't bother.
Side note: This movie demonstrates one of my problems with movies now-a-days. It is however a bit of a spoiler. After a scene where Superman gets the crap beat out of him and gets stabbed in the back Lois dives into the water to save him. She is wearing a long heavy dress. No one in there right mind would try to swim in it. However the movie would have gotten a non-family friendly rating if she had stripped to her underwear before she jumped in. It's OK to beat someone up and break the blade off in his back, but god forbid we know what color bra Kate Bosworth is wearing. - Harold and Maude - Watched this one only because of the film poll. I knew nothing about it going in. I loved it. I'm not going to say anything other than it's a great comedy. I think it's best to go into it blind.
- The Lion in Winter - Another film poll movie. Very good, but very melodramatic. You really need to be in the right mood for this.
- The Following - Excellent film by Chris Nolan. It tries to be as intricate as Memento ended up being, but has more holes. There are just too many points where the plan could have gone off the tracks, but the movie acts like there was only one possibility.
- Across the Universe - Yet another great call from Heradel. I knew nothing about this one. The plot summary on Amazon left me thinking this was just some tiny little high concept film. Before it was even done, my wife told me we needed to buy it. We watched it on a wednesday. I bought it on Ebay on saturday. I normally hate it whenever folks try to mess around with The Beatles, but the folks that did this really have respect for the tunes.
- The Bourne Ultimatum - Unlike most action films, I didn't really need to turn up my suspension of disbelief to high on this one. Maybe I'm giving it a slide, because I just watched Die Hard 4 a little while back. If you want action without having your intelligence insulted, this is a pretty good choice. Also the opening scene up to where he gets on the train was filmed in Berlin.
- 1408 - Movies based of Stephen King short stories are always better than ones based on his novels.
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Last night I watched Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang on Alasdair's recommendation. I loved it. Downey and Kilmer both rocked every scene they were in.
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Last night I watched Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang on Alasdair's recommendation. I loved it. Downey and Kilmer both rocked every scene they were in.
Saw it back on cable. They really played well off of each other.
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OK, maybe they've started making them since I last googled it.
www.strongblade.com/prod/sb-sd-sword.html
Me wants!
I forgot I'd mentioned this here, but, for the follow-up: the world's best wife got me this for Father's Day. Though it'll be a few weeks before it actually arrives.
- The Producers (2005) & The Producers (1968) - The two films should be talked about together. Both are funny. Both are in bad taste, but in a good way. The first one is funnier. The second one has a better story for how they chose their Hitler. The second one seemed safer. Eventhough they were basing a musical on Hitler, they didn't want to offend too much.
When you say "the first one" or "the second one", are you talking about the order they were made in, or the order you cited them in?
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- The Producers (2005) & The Producers (1968) - The two films should be talked about together. Both are funny. Both are in bad taste, but in a good way. The first one is funnier. The second one has a better story for how they chose their Hitler. The second one seemed safer. Eventhough they were basing a musical on Hitler, they didn't want to offend too much.
When you say "the first one" or "the second one", are you talking about the order they were made in, or the order you cited them in?
I wondered about that myself. I assume he meant the order of release, though I haven't seen the later release so I can't say for certain.
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Two months later and I'm back to give a few more reviews.
- Superman Returns - I had seen a bit on cable several months back. I hated it. We borrowed the disk from a friend to try it again. It wasn't as bad as expected, but unless you need to see every Superman movie, don't bother.
I watched this on HBO or something over the weekend and couldn't believe how bad it was. The last hour was so ridiculous I couldn't believe it. I went in thinking it would be decent and left thinking it was one of the worst movies I've seen in quite a while. >:( I'm generally not a fan of superhero stuff but I though Iron Man was great. 8)
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I'm generally not a fan of superhero stuff but I though Iron Man was great. 8)
Well, there's a simple explanation for that ...
... it is. 8)
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Last night I watched Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang on Alasdair's recommendation. I loved it. Downey and Kilmer both rocked every scene they were in.
Oh excellent, glad you liked it:)
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- The Producers (2005) & The Producers (1968) - The two films should be talked about together. Both are funny. Both are in bad taste, but in a good way. The first one is funnier. The second one has a better story for how they chose their Hitler. The second one seemed safer. Eventhough they were basing a musical on Hitler, they didn't want to offend too much.
When you say "the first one" or "the second one", are you talking about the order they were made in, or the order you cited them in?
I wondered about that myself. I assume he meant the order of release, though I haven't seen the later release so I can't say for certain.
Oops! sorry about that. I had these on two seperate lines then realised it made since to talk about them together. Since I saw the new one first, it was in front. In my "review" I was using release order. I'll bounce back up there and add a note about that for anybody else who comes along.
Two months later and I'm back to give a few more reviews.
- Superman Returns - I had seen a bit on cable several months back. I hated it. We borrowed the disk from a friend to try it again. It wasn't as bad as expected, but unless you need to see every Superman movie, don't bother.
I watched this on HBO or something over the weekend and couldn't believe how bad it was. The last hour was so ridiculous I couldn't believe it. I went in thinking it would be decent and left thinking it was one of the worst movies I've seen in quite a while. >:( I'm generally not a fan of superhero stuff but I though Iron Man was great. 8)
I think the only reason we were able to watch it was because we knew it was bad. The last half was really bad. It ended up being an MST3K thing for us.[/list]
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Added:
- Flushed Away
- Logan's Run - Only became available recently.
- Darjeeling Limited
- Iron Man
- Once - Was recommended before, but it only became available recently.
- Happy Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I know I'm going to hate it, but I did it anyway.
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I'm generally not a fan of superhero stuff but I though Iron Man was great. 8)
Well, there's a simple explanation for that ...
... it is. 8)
I'm sure it's a great movie, but I'm boycotting Iron Man as a brand. Hopefully, in First Avenger, we'll see Cap punch Tony Stark in the face. That would be fun.
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Happy Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
:)
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Happy Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
:)
You can tell how interested I am in seeing it? I don't even care enought o spell it right. Or is that the correct spelling for the porn version?
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Happy Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
:)
You can tell how interested I am in seeing it? I don't even care enought o spell it right. Or is that the correct spelling for the porn version?
I thought it was "Hairy Potter" starring Tommy Chong as the title character. ;D
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Happy Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
:)
You can tell how interested I am in seeing it? I don't even care enought o spell it right. Or is that the correct spelling for the porn version?
I thought it was "Hairy Potter" starring Tommy Chong as the title character. ;D
That one died in development when Cheech Marin refuse to be Weasley.
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I'm generally not a fan of superhero stuff but I though Iron Man was great. 8)
Well, there's a simple explanation for that ...
... it is. 8)
I'm sure it's a great movie, but I'm boycotting Iron Man as a brand. Hopefully, in First Avenger, we'll see Cap punch Tony Stark in the face. That would be fun.
While I thought Iron Man was pretty good, I'd pay top money to Cap do that. And wait in line opening weekend ;D
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Harold and Maude - Watched this one only because of the film poll. I knew nothing about it going in. I loved it. I'm not going to say anything other than it's a great comedy. I think it's best to go into it blind.
Glad you enjoyed it! And you're right, probably best not to know much about the plot or characters.
The Lion in Winter - Another film poll movie. Very good, but very melodramatic. You really need to be in the right mood for this.
I guess. Maybe I'm just always in that sort of melodramatic sort of mood. Lion in Winter is one of my favorite movies of all time. I've also seen stage productions of the play, which are also good - but really it's O'Toole and Hepburn's performances that make me re-watch this one so often.
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The Lion in Winter - Another film poll movie. Very good, but very melodramatic. You really need to be in the right mood for this.
I guess. Maybe I'm just always in that sort of melodramatic sort of mood. Lion in Winter is one of my favorite movies of all time. I've also seen stage productions of the play, which are also good - but really it's O'Toole and Hepburn's performances that make me re-watch this one so often.
It's not a film to watch after a long day with the kids. When your brain is mush and you're just tired, it doesn't work. I guess that's why there are all types of movies.
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- Ratatouille - Pixar, 'nuff said. I'll buy this one.
Shwankie and I got this just the other day. We got bored half way through with how utterly predictable it all was and ended up stopping it so we could get a snack, check out e-mail, etc. I nudged her in to finishing it and you know what? We enjoyed it. It wasn't earth shattering or anything, but it was a really good movie.
- Fight Club - Not what I expected. Surprised me. I don't know if it's as good as the other folks around here think it is, but it's really good.
I'm a space monkey and have been for years, but I've only recently gotten Shwankie to watch it. She felt much the same as you. I think my involvement with a group that wasn't entirely unlike the Paper Street Soap Company is what moves it up a notch for me.
- The Lion in Winter - Another film poll movie. Very good, but very melodramatic. You really need to be in the right mood for this.
Shwankie finally bulled me in to watching it. I'm really not a fan of period movies, but I do enjoy witty and biting dialog.
- Across the Universe - Yet another great call from Heradel. I knew nothing about this one. The plot summary on Amazon left me thinking this was just some tiny little high concept film. Before it was even done, my wife told me we needed to buy it. We watched it on a wednesday. I bought it on Ebay on saturday. I normally hate it whenever folks try to mess around with The Beatles, but the folks that did this really have respect for the tunes.
It really isn't a very good movie. It is, at best, a string of music videos set to 60s music, with something like a plot connecting them.
That said Shwankie and I decided we needed to buy it about half way through. Really worth watching, owning, and buying the soundtrack.
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- Across the Universe - Yet another great call from Heradel. I knew nothing about this one. The plot summary on Amazon left me thinking this was just some tiny little high concept film. Before it was even done, my wife told me we needed to buy it. We watched it on a wednesday. I bought it on Ebay on saturday. I normally hate it whenever folks try to mess around with The Beatles, but the folks that did this really have respect for the tunes.
It really isn't a very good movie. It is, at best, a string of music videos set to 60s music, with something like a plot connecting them.
That said Shwankie and I decided we needed to buy it about half way through. Really worth watching, owning, and buying the soundtrack.
I don't know about buying the soundtrack, but all the rest of it happened to us in the same way. I was more amused by the way they worked all of the songs in than by anything else. I don't know how long that will last, but the images will carry it through from there.
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-Doctor Who-Silver Nemesis
The Doctor checks his diary and discovers the world is scheduled to end. Now. One of the best classic WHO stories.
Is that one on DVD now? Last time I checked the only 7th Doctor stories available were "Ghost Light", "Remembrance of the Daleks" and "The Curse of Fenric".
Paradoxically, I love Sylvester McCoy's portrayal of the Doctor, but hate most of his actual stories. Of the few that I like, "Ghost Light" is my favorite.
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For anyone renting in Germany:
Amazon gave up their rental service. They sold it to a company called LoveFilm. LoveFilm's website and such was a pain in the ass, so I switched to a different site. Lovefilm had a big banner saying they rated really well in a big review of sites. I read the review. LoveFilm was number 2. Amango was number 1. I switched over to Amango. Amango and seven other of the top ten reviewed sites just got bought by another company. This company put the rates through the roof and put a limit on the number of discs per month. LoveFilm got rid of the package we were using, so we couldn't switch back.
Long bulletpointed story later, we are now at Glorimedia. They didn't even show up on the test we were using, but the forum postings we found seem to show it as the secret up and comer. We'll see.
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-Doctor Who-Silver Nemesis
The Doctor checks his diary and discovers the world is scheduled to end. Now. One of the best classic WHO stories.
Is that one on DVD now? Last time I checked the only 7th Doctor stories available were "Ghost Light", "Remembrance of the Daleks" and "The Curse of Fenric".
Paradoxically, I love Sylvester McCoy's portrayal of the Doctor, but hate most of his actual stories. Of the few that I like, "Ghost Light" is my favorite.
Seemingly not, but Amazon have the VHS for under five dollars at a link...I...don't know how to hyperise
(Mod inserted link) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303145930/escapepod-20)
There you go:)
And yeah Mcoy was a great idea and a great performance which at times (This, Ghost Light, Remembrance of the Daleks, bits of Battlefield and Survival) absolutely shone. The rest of the time...not so much.
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Paradoxically, I love Sylvester McCoy's portrayal of the Doctor, but hate most of his actual stories. Of the few that I like, "Ghost Light" is my favorite.
Seemingly not, but Amazon have the VHS for under five dollars at a link...I...don't know how to hyperise
(Mod inserted link) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303145930/escapepod-20)
There you go:)
And yeah Mcoy was a great idea and a great performance which at times (This, Ghost Light, Remembrance of the Daleks, bits of Battlefield and Survival) absolutely shone. The rest of the time...not so much.
Actually I put "Silver Nemesis" in the "not good" category, though it's nowhere near as unwatchable to me as "The Greatest Show in the Glaxy" or the truly execrable "Delta and the Bannermen" which is the absolute nadir of the whole 26-year run as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather watch "Paradise Towers" than "Silver Nemesis", despite the painfully bad performance of the story's villain.
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... and back to topic, Iron Man is now on DVD this week and I've got it on my Netflix queue. Its availability is currently designated "Long Wait".
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We will be starting with our fourth company Nov.1st. The list of movies to rent is a mess. I'll fix it all up and post it after we start with the new service.
I haven't done reviews in a while so here we go:
- Friends season 10 - I started with this back at the first broadcast. It lost its special place after a couple of seasons and I stopped watching it around season 5 or so. A couple of years ago I bought and resold some seasons on Ebay. I decided now it was time to just see the rest and be done with it. Now hat I have seen it I can say that if you liked the show before, it's not a bad idea to finish it out. If not, it's just a sitcom.
- Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 - We like to have some light weight TV shows around for nights when we're just sort of tired. This one fits the bill. Take ER move it to the surgical intern program and make it a little more touchy-feely. Hardly a show went by where one of the interns didn't do something that would have gotten their license revoked, but it's small touches kept us interested.
- Smallville - Season 6 - Getting long in the tooth. This is one for when you should be in bed, but need to wind down your brain a bit first. Pure popcorn, no need to think, forget about it before your head hits the pillow.
- Veronica Mars - Season 1 - The creator worked on Buffy. The producer also produces Smallville. Is that why Veronica is a tiny blond who can kick ass and find dirt on anyone? I think it is. Combine Buffy with Cloe and put it in a "real" world school. Entertaining and amusing, but not deep. This one at least has some slightly memorable parts.
- Beowulf - The overall plot arc was cool. I haven't read the original, but I'm guessing that part belonged to it. The animation was cheap and many of the shots were just silly. The director was having far too much fun with the simulated helicopter shots. All in all, OK but weak.
- Darjeeling Limited - This had a feel of a seventies movie. It shows us a situation that is absolutely absurd and stupid. Even the characters know it's stupid. As the story moves along the comedy slides in and out of view. We get a pull at the heartstrings here, a slap there. At the end we don't exactly know how we feel about it.
- The Departed - Scorsese mob flick. I liked it. Maybe the wife thought it was too brutal. One thing about a Matt Damon movie set in south Boston is that Damon using his real accent makes it seem like he can act.
- Dr. Strangelove - It needs your attention, but then it will keep you very amused. Don't try to draw parallels to real life. You will either find the movie totally preposterous or you will scare the shit out of yourself.
- Enchanted - Very clever and lots of fun. I think kids might like it, but this one is aimed at the adults who grew up on old time Disney.
- Flags of Our Fathers - I've seen a lot of different looks at the war, but this one was different. How do you handle being a hero for being in a stupid photo? Your friends are still out there sleeping in the dirt and dying, but you're staying in the best hotels in the country.
- Letters from Iwo Jima - Now see the battle from the other side. You get so involved in these characters that you fear for them when the enemy is rushing over the hill. Then you remember that we always thought of this enemy as the good guys.
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Stoner comedy that is funny as shit. Normally when something starts getting this stupid I can't take it, but this one kept me going all the way. Doogie Howser is just evil.
- Juno - Not what I expected. Very clever, but not as outright funny as I expected.
- Knocked Up - Just straight out funny. They try to be a little cutesy towards the end, but I just ignore that.
- Little Children - A look at suburban stay-at-home parents who aren't cut out to be stay-at-home parents. Quite depressing and at the end rather unfulfilling. Although, if you liked Titanic, because Kate Winslet got naked; this movie is for you.
- Michael Clayton - I really liked this one at the time and now I'm hard pressed to come up with too many details. It could have been based on a John Grisham novel. A hard luck lawyer who finds the truth and has to run for his life…
- My Blueberry Nights - On Norah Jones' first and so far only outing as an actress she chose a very unconventional love story. The film doesn't take a lot of risks , but it keeps you interested.
- Night Watch - Russian vampires. I don't know if this one deserves all of the acclaim it got. I think it just shows that American horror movies have gone so far over to being brutal just to be brutal, that a brutal movie with a plot will get a lot of attention, even if it's in Russian.
- A Scanner Darkly - Weird film, but don't take your eyes off of it. I wasn't fully paying attention. When the twist happened, it took me forever to figure it out. I then went back and watche dthe first 30 minutes or so with the commentary on, so I could make sure I had it all.
- Swimming Pool - A French/British thriller. It's a bit of fun and there's lots of skin. The original movie is in English and French. I had the choice of watching it in German or in the original with German subtitles. When I speak a lot of German my head gets a little cross-wired, but listening to English and then reading German with French audio was making smoke come out of my ears.
All caught up now
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- Smallville - Season 6 - Getting long in the tooth. This is one for when you should be in bed, but need to wind down your brain a bit first. Pure popcorn, no need to think, forget about it before your head hits the pillow.
I saw (most of) the first season, and it bored me. There were a few in-jokes for fans of Superman (like the origin of the phrase "Man of Tomorrow"), but mostly is was a cheap monster-of-the-week show that never went anywhere. Actually, there was one episode I really liked (and, probably not co-incidentally, it was the only episode without a kryptonite-powered super-monster in it), where Clark had to deal with a hostage situation without anyone finding out he was Superboy.
I hear later seasons introduced something resembling a plot, but I could never be bothered to check them out. Should I?
- Beowulf - The overall plot arc was cool. I haven't read the original, but I'm guessing that part belonged to it. The animation was cheap and many of the shots were just silly. The director was having far too much fun with the simulated helicopter shots. All in all, OK but weak.
It's about as faithful to the original as any movie adaptation is, which isn't very. It was a good interpretation of the story, and I enjoyed it, but the CGI was too distracting. It felt too much like I was watching a cutscene from a video game. Except that it lasted for two hours.
- Night Watch - Russian vampires. I don't know if this one deserves all of the acclaim it got. I think it just shows that American horror movies have gone so far over to being brutal just to be brutal, that a brutal movie with a plot will get a lot of attention, even if it's in Russian.
Is anyone still making actual horror movies? I mean, I know it's easier to just slap some blood and gore in there call it a day, but are there any directors out there who are making movies that are truly, disturbingly, frightening? It's always been a thin genre, but these days it seems to have vanished completely...
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Thanks to a mention in Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" podcast, I've put James Burke's series Connections in my queue; watched the first episode last night.
I remember being forced to watch this show in elementary school, but I barely paid attention then. Now I can appreciate it as a good, insightful show.
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I loved A Scanner Darkly. Amazing cast, bizarre feel, and surprisingly faithful to the book. Worth watching again, I think.
- Smallville - Season 6 - Getting long in the tooth. This is one for when you should be in bed, but need to wind down your brain a bit first. Pure popcorn, no need to think, forget about it before your head hits the pillow.
I saw (most of) the first season, and it bored me. There were a few in-jokes for fans of Superman (like the origin of the phrase "Man of Tomorrow"), but mostly is was a cheap monster-of-the-week show that never went anywhere. Actually, there was one episode I really liked (and, probably not co-incidentally, it was the only episode without a kryptonite-powered super-monster in it), where Clark had to deal with a hostage situation without anyone finding out he was Superboy.
I hear later seasons introduced something resembling a plot, but I could never be bothered to check them out. Should I?
I saw a decent chunk of the first season and a few bits of the second. I thought it was kind of fun, but what I really enjoyed about it was the guy they got to play Lex Luthor. I found myself rooting for him most of the time, even though I knew he was going to turn out to be President Evil.
- Night Watch - Russian vampires. I don't know if this one deserves all of the acclaim it got. I think it just shows that American horror movies have gone so far over to being brutal just to be brutal, that a brutal movie with a plot will get a lot of attention, even if it's in Russian.
Is anyone still making actual horror movies? I mean, I know it's easier to just slap some blood and gore in there call it a day, but are there any directors out there who are making movies that are truly, disturbingly, frightening? It's always been a thin genre, but these days it seems to have vanished completely...
Heh. It's kind of like the horror literature genre, you mean? It annoys me when I go into bookstores and find the horror section filled predominantly with Stephen King, Dean Koontz (why, God, why?), Laurell K. Hamilton, and about a zillion different versions of Lovecraft's Call of the Chuthula.
There are some people out there trying to make good horror movies. I'm intrigued by what I've read about David Goyer's the Unborn. But right now, though, Hollywood seems intent to mostly churn out brutal for the sake of brutal movies like the Saw series or remaking the latest Japanese horror film (which admittedly, The Unborn trailer makes it look like the film might be aping some from those).
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Having seen both versions of The Ring (original first, then the remake), I won't bother to watch remakes of Japanese horror films any more. Not even if they remake Audition.
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I liked the Ring remake but it's the only one I've seen and I've heard essentially every other Japanese horror remake has been a waste of time. So, yeah. Unless I hear it's worth checking out, I probably won't.
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[Friends season 10 - I started with this back at the first broadcast. It lost its special place after a couple of seasons and I stopped watching it around season 5 or so. A couple of years ago I bought and resold some seasons on Ebay. I decided now it was time to just see the rest and be done with it. Now hat I have seen it I can say that if you liked the show before, it's not a bad idea to finish it out. If not, it's just a sitcom.
Oddly, one of my favourite seasons, especially for the vast amount of excellent Chandler/Monica stuff (I still say that should have been the spin off too).
Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 - We like to have some light weight TV shows around for nights when we're just sort of tired. This one fits the bill. Take ER move it to the surgical intern program and make it a little more touchy-feely. Hardly a show went by where one of the interns didn't do something that would have gotten their license revoked, but it's small touches kept us interested.
This actually gets a lot better as it goes on. The focus moves off Meredith and it becomes an ensemble piece with some really strong characters. That being said I still think the Scrubs gag ('I'm just going to go home and watch Grey's Anatomy' 'I LOVE that show! It's like they filmed our lives!') holds.
Re watched Cloverfield recently, which I actually liked a lot better the second time around (Although that may well be due to the colour commentary from Kate. We established, quickly, that at the first tremor? We'd have been downstairs, in a cab, heading as far as we could in the other direction:))
Also making my way through From The Earth To The Moon, the Tom Hanks produced mini-series about, mostly, the Apollo program. It's as startlingly good now as it was the first time I saw it, with a cast of very nearly every great character actor working today. The standouts in the first half remain the episode about Apollo 1 and it's aftermath which is very difficult to sit through for all the right reasons and the episode following the engineers who had to construct the LEM. That one's very odd and very funny.
For work I've also just sat through Edge of Darkness again. Which is the greatest piece of TV drama of the last thirty years.
Seriously.
It follows Ronald Craven, a Yorkshire CID officer in the mid-80s as he struggles to understand the reasons behind the brutal murder of his daughter. As he struggles to come to terms with it, it's connection to his past and the secrets his daughter kept from him, Craven is drawn into a conspiracy involving nuclear power, the British Intelligence Services, a CIA agent called Darius Jedburgh and an activist organisation called GAIA. It sits, perfectly, on the boundary line between horror, thriller and science fiction is relentlessly smart, very funny and is as much a study in one man's attempts to cope with grief as it is a conspiracy story. It's unmissably good.
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[...]
Grey's Anatomy - Season 1 - We like to have some light weight TV shows around for nights when we're just sort of tired. This one fits the bill. Take ER move it to the surgical intern program and make it a little more touchy-feely. Hardly a show went by where one of the interns didn't do something that would have gotten their license revoked, but it's small touches kept us interested.
This actually gets a lot better as it goes on. The focus moves off Meredith and it becomes an ensemble piece with some really strong characters. That being said I still think the Scrubs gag ('I'm just going to go home and watch Grey's Anatomy' 'I LOVE that show! It's like they filmed our lives!') holds.
[...]
My girlfriend is at school at George Mason in Virginia, we watch Grey's together over Skype. It's had it's ups and downs, but it's a really good show and the Executive Producers do a pretty good ramble, er, podcast.
I just ran into the West Wing on Bravo. I've watched (and loved) the entire series before, but it's been a few years and something the times made the episode hit pretty hard (debate episode of the reelection arc). That was a great show, and it hasn't really gotten dated. Sure, it's missing out on the innovations created by the web, but the show always focused on the message so you don't really notice the innovations not being depicted.
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I loved West Wing, but they really had a problem with military accuracy. Especially after John Sacret Young (sp?) took over. Hollywood is full of military technical advisors. I don't see how hard i is to call one and get the proper names for planes and what equipment would be used in what situations.
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For Noir lovers out there
1) Le Samourai
2) Brick
3) Chinatown
And for the Sci Fi
4) johnny mnemonic
5) Cowboy Bepop: the movie
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5) Cowboy Bepop: the movie
I'm watching that tomorrow night, like I do every Hallowe'en.
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OK, maybe they've started making them since I last googled it.
www.strongblade.com/prod/sb-sd-sword.html
Me wants!
I forgot I'd mentioned this here, but, for the follow-up: the world's best wife got me this for Father's Day. Though it'll be a few weeks before it actually arrives.
Apparently, by "a few weeks", I actually meant "five months", but it finally arrived today.
And you should all be jealous. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever owned...