What DVD / Video did you watch last night? (pt3)
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redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Get stuffed, comparing Underbelly with the Wire is like comparing Lock, Stock with Le Cerle Rouge.
It's a badly acted, poorly scripted, mediocre piece of trash that passes the time well enough but it is not by any stretch of the imagination great.
QueenOfGoths
Fuck you Dave!
"Splice" - not bad, quite scary and disturbing on parts
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
Well, I liked it
redsquirrel
This Machine Kills Progressives
Sure, but that's a completely different matter from it being great, or like the Wire (have you actually seen the Wire, Underbelly is nothing like it)
I have a soft spot for the Mentalist, but I'm not claiming that it's anything other than a slightly better than average competently made police procedural.
The Wire is great, Edge of Darkness is great, Underbelly is not great.
I have a soft spot for the Mentalist, but I'm not claiming that it's anything other than a slightly better than average competently made police procedural.
The Wire is great, Edge of Darkness is great, Underbelly is not great.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
Horrible bosses.
Bit crap and a bit of a cop out.
Bit crap and a bit of a cop out.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
I have seen the Wire - it is great - I said that Underbelly was 'sort of' like the Wire -
Mrs21 thought Underbelly was great - she is Australian
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
A Separation - utterly stunning film. Superb for every second, gripping and heart-wrenching. Unmissable.
Beasts of the Southern Wild - utter, utter wank. Just horrid.
The Thick of It - Series 1. Great stuff, even with Langham getting one line per episode that, in view of later events, does make you kinda cringe.
Beasts of the Southern Wild - utter, utter wank. Just horrid.
The Thick of It - Series 1. Great stuff, even with Langham getting one line per episode that, in view of later events, does make you kinda cringe.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
I attempted to watch Skyfall, but it was a load of wank, so I switched it off.
I also ended up watching We Bought A Zoo, mainly cos I have the hots for Scarlett Johannsen. Typical syruppy toss from Cameron Crowe
I also ended up watching We Bought A Zoo, mainly cos I have the hots for Scarlett Johannsen. Typical syruppy toss from Cameron Crowe
Virtual Blue
ready
I liked Skyfall - mainly cos it didn't feel like a Bond movie.
Dredd - a mess. I mean, haven't they seen The Raid that shot on a even lower budget but superior in every way?
Dredd - a mess. I mean, haven't they seen The Raid that shot on a even lower budget but superior in every way?
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
I think that's why I didn't like it!
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
I watched episode one of Fringe.
Turns out it is nothing to do with hair.
I was not majority impressed, and it has that idiot form Dawson in it. Is it worth sticking with?
Turns out it is nothing to do with hair.
I was not majority impressed, and it has that idiot form Dawson in it. Is it worth sticking with?
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
i don't think so, but i didn't give it much of a chance
i do like john noble though.
TruXta
tired
It gets better IMO. Much better than X-files, which it was clearly inspired by.
DexterTCN
Troy and Abed in the morning
Just a sherlock rip-off imo.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
an unintended Spanish / Latin American theme emerged over the weekend...
Julia's Eyes I'd been meaning to rent this, then copped out because I was too scared and thought it would be all misogynist stalk 'n slash torture porn, which is not my personal cup of congealed blood. But this film is not in that style ... it's more like a rather chilly, beautifully-shot, classy old-fashioned psychological thriller (but yes there is gore.) Brilliant central performance and generally conjures that sense of more melancholy than mania - it's of a piece with other Guillermo del Toro-produced stuff like The Orphanage or Hierro.
Even the Rain is a rather humourless, PC, film-within-a-film, which nests the tale of a dodgy low-budget Spanish film crew's recreation of Columbus' landing in the Americas, and the Catholic debates over whether 'indios' had souls which followed, into a recreation of Bolivia's "water war" (strikes and oprising over water privatization in Cochabamba) in the early 2000s. All very didactic in parts and the stagey "look, history's still repeating itself!! Spaniards still exploiting indigenous Americans, do you see?" moments are a bit obvious. But it's got a terrific cast (including Gael Garcia Bernal) acting up a storm and there are some really subtle, personal moments which emerge from the tensions among the crew-within-the-film. And it's not stupid, and it's got its heart in the right place ... unlike the makers (and many of the characters) in:
Apocalypto ... which I got sucked into re-watching... again ... even though I'm pretty convinced by now that it's a Nietzchean (almost neonazi) allegory which spits on the cultural legacy of the real Mayans, as well as being a lazy remake of Tintin and the Empire of the Sun and a couple of poor B-movie "man is the real prey" chase movies as well. Say what you like about that monster Mel Gibson but he knows how to build the tension ... if you watch it on a non-ad-having TV channel it is pretty hard to rip yourself away. (at least not before the jaguar rips the face off that guy.)
Julia's Eyes I'd been meaning to rent this, then copped out because I was too scared and thought it would be all misogynist stalk 'n slash torture porn, which is not my personal cup of congealed blood. But this film is not in that style ... it's more like a rather chilly, beautifully-shot, classy old-fashioned psychological thriller (but yes there is gore.) Brilliant central performance and generally conjures that sense of more melancholy than mania - it's of a piece with other Guillermo del Toro-produced stuff like The Orphanage or Hierro.
Even the Rain is a rather humourless, PC, film-within-a-film, which nests the tale of a dodgy low-budget Spanish film crew's recreation of Columbus' landing in the Americas, and the Catholic debates over whether 'indios' had souls which followed, into a recreation of Bolivia's "water war" (strikes and oprising over water privatization in Cochabamba) in the early 2000s. All very didactic in parts and the stagey "look, history's still repeating itself!! Spaniards still exploiting indigenous Americans, do you see?" moments are a bit obvious. But it's got a terrific cast (including Gael Garcia Bernal) acting up a storm and there are some really subtle, personal moments which emerge from the tensions among the crew-within-the-film. And it's not stupid, and it's got its heart in the right place ... unlike the makers (and many of the characters) in:
Apocalypto ... which I got sucked into re-watching... again ... even though I'm pretty convinced by now that it's a Nietzchean (almost neonazi) allegory which spits on the cultural legacy of the real Mayans, as well as being a lazy remake of Tintin and the Empire of the Sun and a couple of poor B-movie "man is the real prey" chase movies as well. Say what you like about that monster Mel Gibson but he knows how to build the tension ... if you watch it on a non-ad-having TV channel it is pretty hard to rip yourself away. (at least not before the jaguar rips the face off that guy.)
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
I am told (by wiki) that it has a proper arc and end, this is why I gave it a go. If this is not true I am not sure I can give it any more of my time. Not a lot happened in 45 minutes.
TruXta
tired
It does have a proper arc which seems at least half thought out from the start. It gets a lot better, and Noble's character is ace.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
WHo is noble?
TruXta
tired
The mad professor.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
Oh right.
I am thinking about it and I am not sure I can watch any more of that Dawsons guy. Does he die at some point?
I am thinking about it and I am not sure I can watch any more of that Dawsons guy. Does he die at some point?
TruXta
tired
Peter, the main character? Nah, he sticks around. I never saw Dawsons so don't have any bad associations.
Reno
The In Kraut
I didn't think it was better. While the overall mythology of Fringe is more interesting, both shows were mainly "monster of the week" shows and those episodes never worked as well for me with Fringe. Fringe is OK if you are a real sci-fi buff, but unlike The X-Files, which for a while was the most talked about US drama on the telly, Fringe didn't have the ability to draw in those who aren't.
TruXta
tired
Maybe because the X-files were more of a novelty in terms of contents? It had JFK conspiraloonery, alien abductions, Men in Black, NWO angst etc etc all rolled up in one - at a time when these things were massively on the public radar. X-files had some outstanding single episodes, but the bigger arcs were usually pretty shit.
Reno
The In Kraut
Skyfall was the first Craig Bond that actually felt like a traditional Bond film to me. And I love the Bond films.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
I don't think I watched it either, I think I must have caught trailers or something. He just annoys me. All of the Dawsons annoy me. That was some incredible casting.
Reno
The In Kraut
I liked that The X-Files had a format where it could encompass anything from horror to sci-fi and from dead serious drama to comedy. People now always go on about how the arch of X-Files was shit, but at least they started out well and in any case, those arch episodes where rarely more then 6 out of 24 episodes a year. They made up a relatively small part of a show which was always meant to be a "monster of the week" show.
TruXta
tired
I think Fringe is pretty similar in that whilst the comedy isn't quite as prevalent as an episode framer, it still varies quite a lot between crime procedural, horror, scifi and occasionally fantasy. Personally I thought that as the X-files went on the arches went from promising to crap and then simply annoying.
ATOMIC SUPLEX
Member Since: 1985 Post Count: 3
I never dug the X files. I never managed to get into it at all, and I like sci-fi and wot not.
Reno
The In Kraut
...but as I said, I didn't care, as most of The X-Files never was about the overall mythology.
Not sure why Fringe didn't click with me, I really wanted to like it but it had the oposite problem of the X-Files. I found it boring when it didn't focus on the mythology and a lot of the time it didn't. It's individual cases which got wrapped up in an episodes were rarely that great.
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