Recent viewings . . .

[dean_martin]

After binge-watching the first 4 seasons of Game of Thrones in late July and August, I still can't force myself to sit through a full-length feature film. No reflection on GoT, or anything else for that matter - just a phase in which I can't sit that long without getting fidgety.

But, I have watched some stuff.

I'm from Hollywood - this "documentary" chronicles Andy Kauffman's time as a wrestler in Memphis. Hilarious! And, only about 60 mins.

On the Air - This is David Lynch's TV series that bombed. The pilot episode is especially good. 7 episodes were made. I think only 3 aired. The pilot may have been an hour, but it flew by. The remaining epis were 30 mins. each. It becomes a jumbled mess around epi 3, but it is interesting for a Lynch completist.

Ever watch "Nothing but Trailers"? I have a "trailer" compilation made by Video Search of Miami sometime in the 90s. It's a collection of clips from import/bootleg films from Europe, Asia, Mexico and South America back when VHS was king and laserdisc was "videophile". Quite entertaining. No holds barred, R-rated trailers are the best!

Tyson v. Holyfield, Nov. 9, 1996. I could not remember whether this was the ear-biting fight. It's not. It was their first meeting not long after Tyson got out of prison. WOW! What a fight! I don't usually watch recordings of sporting events that I've already seen, but if you're a fight fan, this one is worth a repeat viewing. All heavy weight title fights should be this entertaining/competitive. The commentary and buildup took me back to those days. I think I have Tyson v. Holyfield 2 somewhere. I hope I can find it.

Next up:
I'm gonna try to watch 2 Andy Warhol docs, 2 William S. Burroughs docs and one Truman Capote doc. I started one of the Warhol docs "Superstar", but it just rambled on.

Then, "Overlords of the UFO", "Beyond Belief", and "Mysteries from Beyond Earth" - cheesey docs on the strange and mysterious from the mid 70s. Odds are that I won't make it to the ends of all 3.

[Mr Peabody]

I haven't watched much lately either. Not sure if just nothing interesting or I miss the old days of browsing the video store. Redbox is alright but don't have the best selection but I'm not about to pay $6.99 for inferior quality from PPV, no matter the convenience.

Speaking of that, I came into the room and my kids are like sit down and watch Kiss Meets Scooby-Doo with us. Me, "where did you get that?" "Oh, it's on Demand". So I notice when I get my satellite bill it's higher, I've been really thinking about cutting the cable anyway, I'm like, you gave me a reason, I just had a price hike earlier this year. Well, you know it, they had somehow ordered that horrible movie from PPV, I mean it wasn't the real voices, just stupid. I was shocked they even charged for it. So what could I do, suck it up and learn how to use the parental controls that were apparently featured for good reason, LOL. Maybe the charge was for the movie to use actual Kiss songs.

It is interesting how kids hear old songs on movie soundtracks and like them. Goes to show a good song is a good song and will stand the test of time. Think Guardians of the Galaxy.

Speaking of that, it seems too many movies today are marathons, it's not too many movies that keep you entertained for 3 hours give or take. What happened to the good ole 1.5 hour movies?

I think one of the last movies I saw at home was Fault In Our Stars, I should have known when the wife wanted to watch and I read the box...... it was a good movie but one of those you need the Kleenex box handy.

[Feanor]

Thanks, dean_martin.

(Relatively) recent views by me on Netflix.ca or Shomi (Rogers & Shaw cable):

= The Departed, (DeCaprio, Daman, Nickolson) 4*/5

= Interview with the Vampire, (Cruise, Pitt) 2*

= Killing them Softly, (Pitt) 3.5*

= Margin Call, (Spacey) 3.5*

= Grand Budapest Hotel, 4*

= Interstellar, (McConaughey, Hathaway) 3.5*

= Pubic Enemies, (Depp, Bale) 3.5*

= Mr. Turner, 4*

= The Drop, (Hardy, Gandolfini) 4*

= 12 Years a Slave, (Ejiofor, Fassbender, Cumberbatch) 4.5*

= Redemption, (Statham) 3*

= Blitz, (Statham) 2.5*

= Olympus has Fallen, (Freeman) 3*

[Jack in Wilmington]

We've been going to the movies every Tuesday ($5.00 all day ) for the last couple of months. Here's what we've seen so far.

Jurassic World 4/5
Inside Out 3.5/5
Ant Man 4.5/5
Trainwreck 4/5
Mission Impossible 4/5
Man From Uncle 4/5
A Walk In The Woods 4.5/5

Next up The Intern

[Feanor]

We've been going to the movies every Tuesday ($5.00 all day ) for the last couple of months. Here's what we've seen so far.

Jurassic World 4/5
Inside Out 3.5/5
Ant Man 4.5/5
Trainwreck 4/5
Mission Impossible 4/5
Man From Uncle 4/5
A Walk In The Woods 4.5/5

Next up The Intern

I suspect you're an easier marker than me.

[Jack in Wilmington]

I suspect you're an easier marker than me.

We would know that if we saw the same movie. I've been on a lucky streak lately, as everything I've seen has been good. I've also seen enough previews to choke a horse and I sort of know what movies don't appeal to me.

Plus it seems like our friends are on the opposite side of the curve as everything they've seen lately has been terrible.

[Feanor]

We would know that if we saw the same movie. I've been on a lucky streak lately, as everything I've seen has been good. I've also seen enough previews to choke a horse and I sort of know what movies don't appeal to me.

Plus it seems like our friends are on the opposite side of the curve as everything they've seen lately has been terrible.

I guess I'm a bit highfalutin in my criterion. I tend to judge films partly on their intellectual content, (in so far as I'm judge), not just on how much I enjoyed them.

So for instance the the Jason Statham flicks I mentioned, Redemption (3*) and Blitz (2.5), I gave them mediocre scores because they were a bit formulaic but despite that I did find them entertaining.

[Feanor]

I've really been sucking up flicks lately, (I'm retired let's remember). Here's a few more ...

= Oblivion, (Cruise) 3*/5

= A Walk Among the Tombstones, (Neeson) 3.5*

= The Imitation Game, (Cumberbatch, Knightley) 4.5*

= A Serious Man, 4*

= Body of Lies, (DeCaprio) 4*

= Amistand, 4.5*

= Terminator Salvation, (Bale) 1.5*

= Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, (Cruise) 3*

[ForeverAutumn]

I don't really have much time for movies or TV these days, but we did watch St. Vincent the other night, with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. I'd give it a 4/5. I really enjoyed it in spite of it's predictability and cheesiness.

We also watched an Indie Canadian film called The Grand Seduction, about a small town in Newfoundland who can win a big factory contract that will revive the town if they can convince a doctor to live in the town. It's a great little film if you get the chance to see it. And for those of you who don't know anything about the fishing villages on Canada's east coast, it'll be educational too. :)

Hubby and I upgraded our satellite to fibre optics last December. The cable company screwed up a promotion and, as a result, we've been getting a bunch of movie channels for free. We've recorded close to a 100 movies in the last year. Now they've started charging us $10/mth for the channels, so I'm probably going to cancel them until we've had a chance to watch what we've recorded. I don't even know what we've recorded any more. I've completely lost track!

[dean_martin]

I don't really have much time for movies or TV these days, but we did watch St. Vincent the other night, with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. I'd give it a 4/5. I really enjoyed it in spite of it's predictability and cheesiness.

We also watched an Indie Canadian film called The Grand Seduction, about a small town in Newfoundland who can win a big factory contract that will revive the town if they can convince a doctor to live in the town. It's a great little film if you get the chance to see it. And for those of you who don't know anything about the fishing villages on Canada's east coast, it'll be educational too. :)

Hubby and I upgraded our satellite to fibre optics last December. The cable company screwed up a promotion and, as a result, we've been getting a bunch of movie channels for free. We've recorded close to a 100 movies in the last year. Now they've started charging us $10/mth for the channels, so I'm probably going to cancel them until we've had a chance to watch what we've recorded. I don't even know what we've recorded any more. I've completely lost track!

Thanks for the tip on The Grand Seduction, FA. The description sounds like something the wife and I can watch together.

Well, I made it through two of the documentaries mentioned above. The South Bank Show's Andy Warhol is relatively interesting and provides some insight into Andy's real demeanor and interests as related through interviews of those who were close to him. For me, Warhol's always been kind of hard to read as a person. On a side note, I'm not that familiar with The South Bank Show. A friend of mine gave me the Warhol episode. Apparently, it is/was a long-running British show that featured exposes on 20th century celebrities, artists, politicos, etc. This one kept my interest more-so than the other Warhol doc "Superstar".

Truman Capote, Tiny Terror - An A&E Biography. Yeah, that was like watching someone pick up his new Ferrari, following him around and witnessing his driving off a cliff. Good stuff!

In keeping with the "shorter is better" theme and being influenced by several days of overcast and gloomy weather, the wife and I watched a suspense/chiller last night. The Seventh Victim is a 1943 film with a running time of about 71 mins. which was the norm for "B-movies" back then. Producer Val Lewton was in charge of RKO Studio's B Unit. He produced several movies with very limited budgets, but these films deeply influenced the horror genre. They had to be more clever than Universal's horror films from the '30s due to monetary and other restraints and they are. The shower scene in The Seventh Victim probably inspired Hitchcock's in Psycho. Anyhow, the subject matter with which The Seventh Victim deals, in 1943 no less, still boggles my mind. Also, you see Kim Hunter in her first film role, Ward Cleaver before he was the Beaver's dad, a one-armed woman who plays the piano, as well as excellent use of lighting/shadows. If you find the Val Lewton Collection on disc, go for it. TCM airs these movies regularly including I Walked with a Zombie, Cat People, The Leopard Man, Ghost Ship, The Body Snatcher, Isle of the Dead and Bedlam. Given the circumstances under which they were made, i.e., the "studio system" of the times, some are better than others. Indeed, one of the rules Lewton had to play by was that the studio heads gave him the film titles. He had to come up with the scripts himself.

[Jack in Wilmington]

We've been going to the movies every Tuesday ($5.00 all day ) for the last couple of months. Here's what we've seen so far.

Jurassic World 4/5
Inside Out 3.5/5
Ant Man 4.5/5
Trainwreck 4/5
Mission Impossible 4/5
Man From Uncle 4/5
A Walk In The Woods 4.5/5

Next up The Intern

I can now add "The Intern" to the list of very good movies that I've seen lately. Robert DeNiro, like fine wine, keeps getting better with age. Anne Hathaway is the Sandra Bullock of the 21st century with more acting ability and loved seeing Rene Russo again. Forgot how much I missed her.

[blackraven]

I saw the Martian the other day. Great film, but was a little slow at times.

[dean_martin]

Last night I watched "Burroughs: The Movie" directed by Harold Brookner and released in 1983. This is a fascinating documentary capturing Burroughs' interactions with family and friends in addition to the typical bio info. The "style" or approach of this doc reminded me of the approach used in another favorite, but later documentary "Crumb". Highly recommended.

I have another one called "William S. Burroughs Commissioner of Sewers", but I'll probably move on to other subject matter and save it for later.

[Hyfi]

Minions was funny
Vendetta was violent, but fun watching Big Show from WWE get his
Club Life just sucked

[Worf101]

Hey guys!!!! It is SOOOOO GOOOD to see this thread.... I thought it was just Smoke and moi watching anything these days!!!!!

Crimson Peak - C-minus - Worse film I've ever seen by Del Toro. Bad script, weak acting and plot holes big enough to drive a convoy of tractor trailers through. Pretty costumes, pretty people, marginally scary ghosts but nothing compared to "The Ring". Don't waste yer money!

The Wrecking Crew - B - A good but not great documentary on the L.A. Session musicians of the 60's and 70's. Not as good as "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" or "20 Feet From Stardom" but it was very interesting. Glenn Cambell was da man back in the day. Netflix.

Worf