Movies (recently seen)

[End Master]

Another doc similar to King of Kong is Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade.

Has all these video game "celebrities" from the 80s and what they are doing now (or back in 2007 at least) The "villain" from King of Kong is in that one as well.

[donteatpoop]

I'm going to have to see that one too then.

It almost reminded me of a Will Farrel-esque movie. When the 'villian' showed up at the arcade and made sure to say hello to every single person except the main dude... hilarious!

[Locke]

I saw "Grand Budapest Hotel" today. You'll like it if you like Wes Anderson (I do). It's strange in the way his movies are always strange, but one of the better ones. A few laugh-out-loud moments, overall worth seeing. I think "Bottle Rocket" is still my favorite of his - I'd have to watch it again, though.

I saw it at this upscale dinner theater; I had wine and hummus and a pressed sandwich with figs and goat cheese, all very decadent. I wish they'd played Samsara there when it came out, instead of making me drive to the slums of Tallahassee to see it in a railroad station.

[donteatpoop]

You guys don't have theaters?

[Locke]

...what? No, there's a bunch, where did you get that?

[Vesnic]

...what? No, there's a bunch, where did you get that?

I think the bit about seeing an art film in a railroad station might have had something to do with it.

Speaking of railroad stations and their many potential purposes, and for all you Peter Dinklage/Game of Thrones fans, you absolutely must see The Station Agent if somehow you haven't by now, featuring him as a train expert and aficionado and hermit living in the old station master's house.

[dreamshell]

Caught that movie Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon End mentioned some time in the primordial past. Liked it, though I had mixed feelings about it turning into a straight slasher film in the last 15-20 minutes or so. Definitely some intriguing and funny ideas, though. Still need to see Dale & Tucker Vs. Evil, which seems of a similar vein.

Also watched Ghosts of Mars 'cause... well, I have no life, it was late and I was up. It's this weird mix of wannabe Western, horror film and sci-fi action thriller where everyone - everyone - is an asshole for no apparent reason. The result was less than stellar, despite the core concept's fun potential. Jason Statham looked really bad with his Chia Pet hair; shaving it was definitely a smart move. And, uh... well, Natasha Henstridge was pretty easy on the eyes. Am I wrong, or didn't she run somebody over and go to jail or something? Whatever.

Yeah, that's about it.

[End Master]

I liked Dale and Tucker better. Behind the Mask had a good concept, but something about it just came off as merely average.

I didn't mind Ghosts of Mars. Wasn't one of John Carpenter's best movies, but it was better than other ones he's done.

Oh and the new 300 movie sucked in comparison to the first one. It started out okay, but it went downhill. They should've just done what they did in the first one, namely go the whole fantasyesque ancient world. Instead they toned it down a bit and it was a little duller because of it.

Though it didn't help that the hero in it was equally as dull and I just didn't care how many impossible things he was doing. The only impossible thing he manages to do that I thought was kind of cool is ride a horse under fucking water as he's jumping from sinking Persian ship to sinking ship with it.

I suppose at least the villain was over the top, but it only seemed like they threw her in there so the movie would only be 99% homoerotic rather 100% instead. (There's a whole hate fuck scene between her and the hero)

Also saw 47 Ronin which was basically 300 set in Japan. (Or obviously what the creators of the movie were trying to go for) Wasn't bad.

[dreamshell]

Just finished watching Elysium. Yeah, classist warfare is nothing new and there were a couple minor issues as a result of editing or weird contrivances and the ending is a bit sappy and simplistic and there's some strange accent/lip sync thing going on with Jodie Foster's character, but. On the whole, I enjoyed my viewing. That's more or less my standard for what a popcorn sci-fi movie should be.

Could they have spent a bit more time establishing backstory and worldbuilding? Yes. Would I have liked that? Yes. Did I love the fuck out of all the gory carnage and watching a dead guy get brought back to life while his blown-apart face was reconstructed? FUCK YES.

I'm sort of confused why this movie got such a lukewarm reaction on par with Oblivion. I saw that one, too, and liked it alright, but of the two it's definitely the one that is more deserving of the shrug of the shoulder.

[Locke]

I never saw Oblivion, but I get the "lukewarm" reaction to Elysium. It just felt like I'd seen it before. Some common sci-fi genre tropes, the classist warfare you mentioned, effects, and action. The latter two hold the eye well enough, but there's nothing noteworthy there, and so many movies get by on those things. It's the summer flick you go to when nothing else is going on and you're looking for a popcorn movie. That's sort of what I was expecting going in - the trailer doesn't deceive on that score - so I guess I didn't find it disappointing. It wasn't boring, which was all I cared about at the time, but I'd forgotten about it till you you brought it up just now.

[End Master]

This forum's deader than something that's been dead for a very long time.

Anyway time to rape the corpse again with a quick recently watched round up.

Carnivale: Finally watched both seasons of this show. I was hesitant to do so for a long time since I always heard it was really good but ended on a cliff hanger that pissed everyone off.

When I finally had the opportunity to watch it for free (HBO shows are currently free to watch on Amazon Prime!) I figured I'd give it a shot anyway. I was glad to discover that it didn't really end on that bad of a cliff hanger, since it more or less still wrapped up the story. (Just left it open for further stories had it not been cancelled)

It was a good show over all. I sort of think it took a little long to finally join the two major plots together though. Really if they hadn't had Clancy Brown playing the minister, (since he always makes a good villain) I probably would've gotten bored with that aspect of the storyline. It was called carnivale after all I wanted to see more focus on that.

Also watched the last few seasons of Big Love. This was more something Katie was watching a long time ago and I just caught episodes every now and then, but hey it was free so watched it. Anyway it got sort of outlandish towards the last two seasons with a kidnapping in Mexico and him becoming a senator and coming out as a polygamist etc.

I dunno, his sister wives were annoying most of the time.

Tried watching the The Wire finally, but I wasn't too interested and it was just the first episode. I guess I might give it another go later.

Also watched the 2nd season of Vikings which was just as good as the 1st even if they are starting to blatantly deviate from historical events now. (They already killed off a king who outlived Ragnar in real life.)

[Bear Bipolar-Bear]

Well I don't like to watch too many TV shows or movies with naughty nouns and vexatious verbs, but that doesn't mean I'm a boring bear! For instance, I am quite hot in anticipation of the upcoming Paddington Bear film, which will chronicle for the very first time in cinema history the adventures of that greatest of heroes from the deepest reaches of Darkest Peru. With a stellar cast and the advantages of all the newest technology, I expect this film will far surpass the television series, though these are of course in and of themselves worthy and pleasurable endeavors.

I also heard that Disney has recently completed a film treating upon my noble species, though I am loathe to admit I have yet to see it. Now that fair summer stretches her muslin softness over all of God's creatures, I do not doubt that soon I shall find respite and glory in that shrine of vernal magic: the summer blockbuster! If anyone has a suggestion appropriate for a Bear of my tastes and station, I should be much obliged, as Paddington will not be released until the winter.

I thank you everybuddy for being such a stalwart crew and supporting the efforts even of an unworthy savage such as myself. Hugs for one and all! (But only if you want them. I don't like to be a pushy Bear.)

[donteatpoop]

Good to see I'm not the only one who thought the end of Carnivale wasn't such a bad ending. It ended like a movie that wants a sequel.

Still though, really wish that had gone on at least a few seasons longer.

[Vesnic]

Woohoo! I told ya Sansa would go ASS-BAD this season! The bitch is comin' for ya and she's got a whip and the meanest looking shoulder pads since 1986. She's my girl.

But seriously? That fight scene? Actually too much. This show has been pushing and pushing and pushing the envelope and now my proverbial thumb has a real bad papercut because they just didn't know when to stop. I get it. Oberyn dies. Horribly. The Mountain grabs his head for a moment like maybe he'll just snap his neck and get it over with, but we all know the Mountain better than that, don't we? But really, I didn't need to see that. I didn't need to feel like I was back in drivers' ed with all those gory vids to get us not to drink and drive. I'm sure they did this scene with complete anatomical precision, and there's something about that, about wasting perfectly good budget money on hiring "experts" to determine exactly what a crushed skull looks like, that bothers me. This sort of microscopic fascination with the lurid details has a way of detracting from the larger picture. It seems to be a stand-in for feeling something emotionally or even understanding it completely intellectually. It doesn't seek understanding, it just seeks to see, to looking into, jaw agape, without having to provide any words of one's own. It's creepily voyeuristic and masturbatory (insert skull-fucking joke here). Scenes like this are turning people into deranged death-mongering assholes instead of just deranged assholes, and I know this for a fact because a homeless guy died in the park right in front of me and all the people around just couldn't relate to this idea. Not only did they not help, they just seriously couldn't seem to comprehend what was going on. What's the big deal, dude? No exciting blood, nothing that makes my ball-hairs tingle...meh. Let it lie. Literally. I suppose bedsores on the body of a terminally unloved individual just don't hack it these days, do they?

[End Master]

Scenes like this are turning people into deranged death-mongering assholes

I know right? It really ruins it for those of us that were deranged death mongering assholes before it became trendy for a bunch of fucking hipsters.

Probably the fact it was a homeless person was the reason nobody gave a shit. If it had been a kid there probably would've been more of a reaction. Also depends on where you were at the time. If it was in a high crime area, random dead people might be so common of a sight that it doesn't phase the locals.

Anyway I won't actually get to see the new Game of Thrones stuff until it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray next year. Glad to hear Sansa's actually doing something useful for a change rather than whining and getting routinely abused. Though knowing you to be a Sansa Fangirl, you're probably over-exaggerating and I'm sure Bran is still sucking as usual.

I'm wondering what's going to happen if he doesn't finish writing the series by the time the show catches up to the books.