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Annael
Elvenhome
Fri, 4:55pm
Post #1 of 8
(905 views)
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What have you been watching?
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While we wait for the doors to Fiesta to open .. .
Top of my list is "Murderbot." I have some quibbles with how it's being done - Murderbot should be much more obviously a cyborg, for one - but the casting is spot-on and I'm enjoying it. My main criticism is that the episodes are way too short!
Watched "Sirens" on Netflix. I thought it was going to be another of those "oh look at the very rich people with their amazing houses and clothes and cars and see how unhappy they really are" and it was, but the introduction of two sisters who came out of poverty and an abusive/traumatic childhood added a meaningful layer. One sister is what I've heard called "service to self" oriented, while the other is "service to others," and they handle the situation they find themselves in accordingly. It got me musing on how just perhaps, whether someone is essentially "self" or "others" oriented can explain a whole lot about their beliefs and actions.
I'm also watching "Nine Perfect Strangers," where strangers are invited to a "healing retreat" that involves psychedelics but also a great deal of manipulation by the woman in charge, and her motives aren't entirely pure. I just edited a book about the use of psychedelics, particularly psilocybin, for helping folks with PTSD and other major trauma sequelae, which was pretty convincing. But of course a TV drama is going to make it much more - dramatic. Great casts in both seasons.
We saw "Materialists" in the theater. It was better than I expected, not a simple rom-com. I admit to a dislike of Dakota Johnson, mostly because I'm angry about the travesty that was her version of "Persuasion," one of my favorite books, but I have to give her props for her role in this one. The script was a bit glib and predictable but raised some good questions about how we value ourselves and others. Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans were great, of course, when are they not?
Also watched "KPop Demon Hunters." Good fun.
And you?
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Fri, 4:57pm)
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CuriousG
Gondolin
Fri, 5:28pm
Post #2 of 8
(779 views)
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Rich shows vs poor shows, and not intentional
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I really liked the 1st season of White Lotus: smart acting, good dialogue, good plot points. Then season #2 was a bit of a yawn (except for a boat scene), and season #3 just bored me to tears, but I kept watching, hoping it was a slow burn, but it was all slow and no burn. I saw nothing interesting or redeeming in S3 and consider it a total waste of time, so I'm done with that series and its bloated reputation.
I watched Nine Perfect Strangers, and it started off well. I think towards the end I just didn't care that much about the characters as I had initially. I'd still recommend it to people, however. Since you bring up psychedelics: I saw an interesting Netflix documentary made by Cary Grant's daughter that went into some detail on his LSD therapy to overcome past traumas--Cary Grant had trauma?!?!?! How could anyone that cool and debonair and successful have trauma?! -- but he did, and though the psychedelics wiped him out for a day at a time, he did resolve lifelong issues in his old age, so while merely a data point of one and not a scientific study, it was interesting.
Various people encouraged me to watch Call the Midwife. I'm certainly not in the demographic for it, and while I don't tune in for the endless births and maternity checkups (though they're a refreshing change from crime shows' endless crimes), I feel like it's Ted Lasso without the humor (and soccer/football), meaning that it's about people with hearts of gold who try to do the right thing, while they also have various flaws, so it's a good watch when the daily news is full of people of the opposite character makeup. The social history is fun too: a husband in the birthing room?!!??! And my jaw dropped open when a smart, glamorous, earnest saleswomen made a convincing sales pitch to the poor women of the East End on all the benefits of buying baby formula instead of breast feeding.
Special mention to Trixie (Helen George), who will fight anyone's cause fearlessly and energetically, and Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter--I've loved her since Logan's Run), whose voice is mesmerizing, whose aura is inspiring, and who should run for president: strong, kind, wise, heart in the right place, never loud, always respectful and showing self-control. The subtlety of the show is amazing: her attention to a dying baby in a hospital was so heartfelt that I had to replay the scene a few times, it was so sad but it was an epic act of kindness, but it sorta flew by me without dramatic camera shots or dramatic shouts or dramatic speeches. The writing and tone are remarkably consistent across seasons, and they keep coming up with new characters to have issues along with babies, but I don't feel it's overboard like a soap opera. Yeah, I'm hooked. (If Sister Julienne's evil twin ever shows up with evil inheritance plans to turn the convent into a brothel-casino, I'll know it's gone to the soaps.)
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Otaku-sempai
Elvenhome
Fri, 7:15pm
Post #3 of 8
(457 views)
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My spouse was curious about this so we watched it on Netfilx last night. We were honestly surprised at how good it was! The high-concept pitch for K-Pop Demon Hunters must have been something like: Jem meets Sailor Moon.
“Hell hath no fury like that of the uninvolved.” - Tony Isabella
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Annael
Elvenhome
Fri, 7:38pm
Post #4 of 8
(387 views)
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I've loved Jenny Agutter since "Logan's Run" also
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I'm also a big fan of Sean Pertwee, and he and Agutter did a film of 'Silas Marner" together with Ben Kingsley as the titular character. Excellent, if you ever come across it.
(Confession: I do get her mixed up with Jenny Seagrove; I was going to recomment "Local Hero" also, but it wasn't her!)
I'll look for that documentary about Cary Grant.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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CuriousG
Gondolin
Fri, 8:17pm
Post #5 of 8
(299 views)
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I think Logan's Run deserves more love as a classic
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especially with the close parallels in "Last Day. Renew. Carousel" with Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," the same mindless human sacrifice that everyone agrees to because everyone agrees to it, and it's anathema to even think of alternatives.
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cats16
Gondolin
12:15am
Post #7 of 8
(70 views)
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I've been very bad at keeping up with posting this thread.
I'm hoping to catch Wes Anderson's latest, The Phoenician Scheme, this weekend. I haven't seen The Materialists, though I'm also not the biggest Johnson fan and agree about that Persuasion adaptation.
Recently I watched -
Scarecrow (1973) starting Al Pacino and Gene Hackman. I had heard of this one for sometime but never had the chance to see it. Really enjoyed it, especially for the unexpected Pacino performance. Hackman, like in most of his roles, feels like a semi-rabid dog that could attack at any moment, or maybe run up and quietly lick your face too, you're never quite sure.
An Autumn's Tale (1987) - This is a very cute little New York City movie from the late 80s that captures an interesting era of the city, warts and all. It's a romcom with Chow Yun-fat in a very fun, against type kind of role. Highly recommend if you can find it, it's a bit quirky but in a fun way.
The Brutalist (2024) - I agree with many folks who have said that the first half is stronger than the second. The music is very evocative in a way that you feel more than you can really articulate. Beautiful to look at, though I think the first hour or so hit a mark the rest couldn't quite maintain.
Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!
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