The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: Off Topic: Early November: what are you watching?

The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: Off Topic:
Early November: what are you watching?

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 6 2019, 4:49pm

Views: 1022

Early November: what are you watching?

I saw Forbidden Planet pop up on Netflix, and felt compelled to watch it again. Watching a sci-fi film from 1956 in 2019!??!!? Yes. It holds up well for me due to the acting, set design, and story-telling, plus the "special effects" (the phrase used before "cgi") are artfully done. I still get a little bit of vertigo when they venture into the heart of the planet and look up and down a gargantuan shaft where energy is generated. And there are little scenes which pack a lot of significance, such as where Robby the Robot, whom Morbius has described as an appliance with no feelings or personality, senses *something* bad about to happen and clearly knows what's behind it, but he doesn't want to talk about it and changes the subject. And then there's Anne Francis and those legs.... Cool

Some things I just have to write off as "cute," such as where these people in the space-faring, technologically-advanced future have communication devices where the "phone" is attached by a retractable string/wire to their belt. Seriously?!?!? Oh, just say it's quaint and move along.

So, whose legs, I mean, what have you been watching lately?

Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea

Nov 6 2019, 7:56pm

Views: 954

I seem to be on a Jane Austen kick

I've watched Emma (Romola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller), Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth of course), and Persuasion (Ciarin Hinds and Amanda Root) and Sense and Sensibility (Emma Thompson). I have only Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park left. I've heard they made Sanditon but I can't find it.

Then I may move on to the Bronte Sisters - Jane Eyre (Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens are my favorite) and Tenant of Wildfell Hall (also Toby Stephens) and Wuthering Heights.

It just feels like a gothic novel kind of month... :)

_

Heed WBA when building blanket forts.
ITLs don't get enough FAS. :)

Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator

Nov 7 2019, 12:16am

Views: 952

The Dead Don't Die 0/5; Terminator: Dark Fate 3.5/5

The Dead Don't Die was remarkable: a film featuring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Steve Buscemi, Carol Kane and Adam Driver that is beyond tedious to watch. I felt myself ageing during that movie. I really wish I had missed it.

Terminator: Dark Fate was enjoyable. Great lead characters and a freshness that's been missing from most of the sequels. It still does the fight-run-fight-run routine but Mackenzie Davis and Linda Hamilton add a heck of a lot to the experience. It's the best sequel since T2 (and I say that as someone who enjoyed most of Terminator: Salvation).

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Ataahua's stories

(This post was edited by Ataahua on Nov 7 2019, 4:24am)

sparrowruth
Rivendell

Nov 7 2019, 1:43am

Views: 938

the last jedi

My sister and I watched TLJ for the first time Sunday night, as she's been wanting to for some time and finally had both the DVD and a working tv....and no parents around Wink

we love them dearly but it's not quite the same to watch movies with them

I'll admit to being a bit distracted, especially in the first half of the movie, but for all the spoiler-y stuff i've seen since TLJ came out (what?? two years ago already?) the plot still managed to surprise me. and I definitely expected Luke to have more screen-time than he did. All in all, it was an enjoyable evening, though i'm not especially invested in star wars

Kelly of Water's Edge
Rohan

Nov 7 2019, 10:26am

Views: 910

This last trilogy

in the Skywalker saga seems to be following a format of saying goodbye to one of the "big three" in each movie (although Luke will apparently appear as a force spirit in the last one). We'll see how Carrie Fisher's death affects the last Skywalker movie. I get the impression they didn't have everything they wanted, but possibly more than we might think. At least one breakdown of the last trailer I read seemed a bit concerned about C-3PO too. It will be fun to see Lando back again - although possibly bittersweet without Han there.

However, the focus is even moreso on the new generation (I see that Mark Hamil is now 68 - not ancient, but not super young anymore either) - who are of course going to be participating more in the heavier action scenes which Star Wars is known for. Nod to the past but eyes on the future - which is why the first generation hasn't dominated this trilogy.

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 7 2019, 3:57pm

Views: 886

"Sense & Sensibility" is one I like to re-watch

Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet both deliver powerhouse performances.

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 7 2019, 4:12pm

Views: 884

Now that review is a kiss of death for a movie :)

Quote

I felt myself ageing during that movie. I really wish I had missed it.

I enjoyed Zombieland (original; haven't seen the new one) a lot, so while I like straight-horror movies, I enjoy the mixture of comedy and horror too. But it's hard to do it right, and it sounds like it failed in The Dead Don't Die.

Another that I enjoyed, if you keep your expectations low, is Tucker and Dale vs Evil.

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 7 2019, 4:14pm

Views: 878

I expected a lot more screen time for Luke too

and also a more active, heroic role than the grumpy old guy on an island. Things change as the movie progresses, but it was hard for me to see his early role as anything beyond a grown man pouting.

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 7 2019, 4:20pm

Views: 880

Maybe Mark Hamil will get better scripts now :)

In Reply To

(I see that Mark Hamil is now 68 - not ancient, but not super young anymore either)

I was surprised back in the day that his career didn't take off post-Star Wars the same way that Harrison Ford's did. I remember reading long ago that Hamil complained he kept getting offers for roles like he had in Corvette Summer: a teenager losing his virginity. He said he wasn't getting much else, he wasn't a teenager, and he didn't want to get stuck in a low-level role in the public mind (think Tina Louise and Ginger on Gilligan's Island). So, he opted for Broadway instead.

Or that was his story, and my reading was pretty superficial. Maybe he's just not as talented an actor as H. Ford is.

Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator

Nov 7 2019, 6:08pm

Views: 865

Zombieland II is fun.

A little weaker than the first film but there are a lot of laughs, especially due to a new cast member - who is a *delight*.

FWIW, Sean of the Dead is among my top-ten films. Smile

sparrowruth
Rivendell

Nov 7 2019, 7:13pm

Views: 860

I wouldn't expect anything else

Quote

However, the focus is even moreso on the new generation (I see that Mark Hamil is now 68 - not ancient, but not super young anymore either) - who are of course going to be participating more in the heavier action scenes which Star Wars is known for. Nod to the past but eyes on the future - which is why the first generation hasn't dominated this trilogy.

obviously, a new trilogy set in a different time period will focus on different characters. and given that it's set when the crew from the first trilogy are parents with grown children it makes sense to have the next gen take the brunt of the action. i was just surprised: given the title, which references luke, and how big of a deal looking for him was from the beginning, i expected someone to go find him a lot sooner than the last 5 minutes of the film, maybe for him to become a sort-of yoda-figure to the next gen.

Annael
Immortal

Nov 10 2019, 4:15pm

Views: 601

Have you seen the 2008 TV series?

Equally good, and of course we get more of the book as it's longer.

I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.

-- Gaston Bachelard

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
my blog: https://jodybower.com/myths-archetypes-in-film/

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 10 2019, 4:24pm

Views: 597

I would say the movie is a little rushed, plot-wise

Not too rushed, but you get the feeling that they had to skip some plot and character developments that the book would spend more time on. I didn't know there was a TV series. But if it doesn't have Kate & Emma in it...

The only Jane Austen I've read is Pride and Prejudice, which I enjoyed quite a bit, but I guess not enough for me to delve into her other books. So many books, so little time.

One quote that sticks in my mind was how humorous people could sound in their roundabout way of talking. This was from a character who, in modern parlance, would have been closer to saying, "I was mad as hell," but instead she says, "Indeed I could not. I was uncomfortable enough. I was very uncomfortable, I may say unhappy." Oh, dear, she verged on unhappiness! Get the smelling salts, she may faint! Smile

Annael
Immortal

Nov 11 2019, 3:44pm

Views: 580

I wasn't fond of Emma as Elinor

She was a bit long in the tooth for the part. In the TV series, Hattie Morahan (the enchantress in the live-action Beauty & the Beast) is Elinor. I must admit I didn't care for the actress who played Marianne in the TV series. The movie has the advantage of an all-star cast while most of the TV cast are not A-listers, and the comedic parts are not as funny as the movie.

Persuasion is my favorite Austen novel. Do not bother with the TV series which was terrible; the 1995 movie with Ciaran Hinds far outshines it.

Thor 'n' Oakenshield
Rohan

Nov 13 2019, 3:24pm

Views: 492

Sense8 on Netflix...

A brilliant sci-fi series from the Wachowskis, about eight people from around the world who become telepathically linked to each other. The more I watch of the Wachowskis' work, the more I realize that they are quickly becoming two of my favorite directors. I'm very excited for their upcoming Matrix movie, if it has any resemblance to the projects they've been working on this past decade, such as Sense8 and Cloud Atlas (not Jupiter Ascending, though). The show also featured a charming cameo from Sylvester McCoy (Radagast), and a very good performance from Joseph Mawle, who has, of course, just been cast in Amazon's Lord of the Rings series - let's just say, he makes for a very intimidating villain. Sadly, the show was canceled after just two seasons - the showrunners did make a full-length movie to try and wrap everything up, but it feels overstuffed; unsurprisingly, since they were trying to stick three more seasons worth of material into two and a half hours.
Last night, I also watched Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs on Disney+ - I haven't watched it in a very very long time, so it was a nice trip down memory lane. The song sequences, however, are incredibly long and repetitive, to the point where I had to fast forward through some of them.

"It is my duty to fight" - Mulan

Annael
Immortal

Nov 13 2019, 4:04pm

Views: 486

I loved Sense8

but I can see how it was incredibly expensive to film, what with all those locations around the world.

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 13 2019, 5:12pm

Views: 482

Sense8

I really liked the first season. Like The Matrix, they did some experimenting in how they told the story and how they filmed it, and it paid off. I did have to re-watch it to really figure out what was going on and what I'd missed on the first viewing, but I viewed that as a good thing. (And I'm sure most people get it the first time.) There was also an active, international fan base for season 1 that was fun to be a part of with our endless speculation and analyzing. The climactic fight scene with the gang in Kenya remains one of my favorite action scenes, ever.

The second season didn't draw me in as much as the first, but I was still disappointed when it was cancelled.

It was funny reading some online comments about the wrap-up movie and how one of the factions, you may recall (though covered briefly), was "all Lorien." It featured a wise old woman saying wise things in a cathedral that was in a sort of misty area, and it made me think that Tolkien's influence just keeps cropping up, whether you like it or not.

Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea

Nov 14 2019, 12:15am

Views: 465

What I loved about Emma Thompson in S&S

was how well she captured what I hear when I read Jane Austen. I hear her voice, her wicked sense of humor, and her intelligence. The rhythm of the Thompson screenplay and the delivery of the lines captured all of that so well.

_

Heed WBA when building blanket forts.
ITLs don't get enough FAS. :)

Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Annael
Immortal

Nov 14 2019, 3:15pm

Views: 447

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I got invited to a press screening of this. Rather than a biopic of Fred Rogers, it's a fictionalized account of his friendship with Tom Junod, an embittered journalist working for Esquire, and how Rogers, by just being himself, changed Junod's life. Tom Hanks is too big to be Rogers , but he inhabits the character nonetheless. Highly recommended.

ElanorTX
Tol Eressea

Nov 16 2019, 5:57am

Views: 381

Has anyone seen the stage version of Once?

I loved the movie but am uncertain about paying $60+ for the live performance.

"I shall not wholly fail if anything can still grow fair in days to come."

CuriousG
Half-elven

Nov 24 2019, 9:22pm

Views: 345

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)

This could have been a good series, just as the 1st season of American Horror Story was: spooky house with mysteries and vengeful ghosts and the people who get sucked into its perils. But instead it was really about unpleasant, unlikable people recycling the same old childhood grievances as adults with a very occasional, cliche "spooky" scene thrown in. I was never scared, and since I didn't like any of the characters (unusual for me; I usually find someone to like), I didn't care what happened to them, though nothing much did. It would be better to bill it as a psychodrama about a family with unresolved issues, and *endless* flashbacks, which made it even more tedious. So, maybe I'll save someone else some time on this one.

dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator

Nov 30 2019, 6:33pm

Views: 330

It's hard to not recognize Hanks in the character

But he played Fred Rogers very well, the little mannerisms and way of talking. My kids all grew up on Mr. Rogers - my eldest says he should be required for every child - so it was nice to "revisit" the neighborhood. Not often do I find myself smiling through most of a movie.

Did you notice how the aspect ratio would shift between normal screen and fit-to-TV, depending on where the action was taking place?

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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"