Film and Episodic Content Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Random Thoughts' started by purr1n, Jan 8, 2020.

  1. Tchoupitoulas

    Tchoupitoulas Friend

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    I enjoyed it quite a bit. The seasons are pretty short. The first was promising but a little meh in places - a bit forced and lacking charm, the humour not always working, as though they couldn't pitch it right, not serious enough to be a thriller, not funny enough to be a comedy. The second was much better, everything clicked nicely, the gags came easily and it made for good, silly fun even as it had some good suspense and mystery. Given the consistent, high quality of the books, I have high hopes for the upcoming seasons.



    Lance Reddick, RIP.
     
  2. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    It's a great film. Best of his? Not sure... I'm not a Lord of the Rings fan, but maybe those are better. The Frighteners is great too.
     
  3. Old Groucho

    Old Groucho Acquaintance

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    You got an epic like because, I thought I was about the only person in the industrialized world who doesn’t own a cell phone.
     
  4. caute

    caute Lana Del Gayer than you

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    When did this happen!?
     
  5. Old Groucho

    Old Groucho Acquaintance

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    Yesterday, Friday, March 17th. He was at home and just passed away.
     
  6. caute

    caute Lana Del Gayer than you

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    f**k, what an absolute loss... I wish i could dislike THAT.
     
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  7. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Yeah the Reddick loss sucks... just no words.

    So some dumb supernatural force compelled me to rewatch TENET last night, and somehow this movie is even worse than I remember. Not only does the film's logic make no absolutely no sense, the dialogue is about as intelligible as a guy trying to recite Hamlet with a mouthful of peanut butter. How in God's name did Warner Brothers allow this shit to happen? You poured $200M into a movie nobody can understand. And even when you turn on subtitles it still makes no sense and is just endless meandering nonsense.

    It also has this annoying modern trend where you have to turn the volume up to try and hear the dialogue, then the INSANELY LOUD MUSIC AND SOUND FX KICK IN during an action scene and you have to quickly lower the volume until somebody starts talking again, then turn it back up. God forbid they actually talk during the action scene itself.

    Tenet is like the movie version of your piss drunk best friend trying to recount a long, complicated story he can barely remember from 20 years ago. Nolan really needs to go back to his roots and start making smart, complex genre films with elegant and simple narratives people can understand. What happened to the guy who made Memento? Inception was extremely complex, but you could follow it because all the complexity had visual and narrative signposts to keep you oriented. Tenet was just incomprehensible gobbledygook.
     
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  8. caute

    caute Lana Del Gayer than you

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    LMAO
     
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  9. bixby

    bixby Friend

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    Yes it can be as challenging as using your dad's espn account and typing in the code, lucky for me my computer is 12 feet away. It is funny, I still have like 13 bucks left on an apple acct left from 12 years ago the result of some gift card. Who rents movies, haha. Actually I think I bought a Cd from a Turkish artist I like, yes Mercan Dede.

    And the show Slow Horses is quite good.
     
  10. Pharmaboy

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    I don't hear as well as I used to, so after a couple years with occasional audibility issues on the big OLED (sound of which really is more than decent), I got a ZVOX dilalogue intelligibility-boosting soundbar. Basically it's a hearing aid in reverse: it puts out midrange sound that's DSP-shaped with elevations of the particular frequencies most older people have acuity losses in. It's very adjustable and works exactly as advertised...a gamer changer.

    But...there are still occasional films just like what you describe; they have such severe SNR issues than no audibility soundbar could make them listenable. For those films I keep cranking volume to hear the far too indistinct dialogue, then get blow up by the insanely loud foley effects, explosions, gunfire, etc..

    FWIW, I am not hearing impaired; do not need hearing aids, any of that. There are many in my same boat and they probably react as I do--having no choice but to avoid certain films with problematic soundtracks.

    (another example of "modern life can kiss my ass")
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2023
  11. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

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    Everything I saw Lance Reddick in over the years was top-shelf...one of the best character actors ever. And from what I saw on personal appearances & interviews, an extremely engaging, present, funny man. His loss really hurts...
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2023
  12. Pharmaboy

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    Confession: this post will demonstrate how shallow and crass I really am.

    Last night I started watching a film that is quite obviously depraved and non-serious solely because of its cheesy name (DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE). How could I not watch a film with that title? I know going in it won't be filled with characterization, clever, insightful dialogue, and winning cinematrography. No, it's just going to be fists crushing facial bones and 9MMs blowing holes in people.

    (all the stuff I like)

    I also confess to a soft spot for Mel Gibson, the more recent, post-antisemetic drunken meltdown Mel, the one who somehow manages to (mostly) conceal his alcoholism, extreme/fascist variant of Catholicism, and pretty much global hate toward everyone not in his family or church. He's no longer a star, not even close. So now he just inhabits these lowdown junkyard dog roles, which he does very well, indeed. He's really good at playing ugly.

    This cheesy name thing is very real for me. The last time I did this it was a Sly Stallone vehicle called BULLET TO THE HEAD. That title wasn't false advertising, either--it was a wonderfully cheesy late career Sly Stallone actioner, one of the more depraved films I've seen in recent years (thus a favorite--I even bought the blu ray so I could show it to other viewers of questionable sanity & taste...my peeps).

    PS: I was distressed to read that DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE is now No. 1 on Netflx. That lets some air out of my imbecility balloon, but not enough to make me stop watching this modern classic.
     
  13. Pharmaboy

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    I've learned the hard way not to trust Netflix' heavy promotion of new series. A lot of times I start strong then never make it to episode-2 ... all initial flash & sizzle.

    Well, the exception is happening right now: I'm about to finish episode-4 of THE NIGHT AGENT, and this new espionage/action series is really working for me. It probably helps than I've never seen most of the actors before (already knew D.B. Woodside & Robert Patrick). So these are (mostly) fresh faces doing a clever variation of the inside vs outside "the agency" (can mean FBI, Secret Service, or CIA -- or maybe all 3 cumulatively). The pacing is very effective; action is well filmed/executed; and the overall story generally makes sense. There's an appealing Bourne vibe to the lead actor, though they are careful not to push it all; this character is a real company man and doesn't live on the run, though he learns to when he has to.

    I sense the subplot iinvolving the 2 assassins hunting the 2 principal actors is about to get tiresome, but hey, nothing's perfect.

    It's extremely rare for me to actually binge watch anything. I think this is the 2nd time I watched two episodes at a time (the other was Prime's REACHER).

    So far, so good--and strongly recommended.
     
  14. Philimon

    Philimon Friend

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    Season 4 is approaching so I am sharing my old review from HF where I used to post reviews.:

    [​IMG]
    Barry (4/4)

    Bill Hader is co-creator and exec producer. This show is as funny as dramatic, but spends most time on the lighter side.

    The story is about an assassin who serendipitously also becomes an actor. He is a depressed and disillusioned hitman, then finds happiness by attending acting classes in a small hollywood theater. He does heavy work, then pretends heavy work in his off time. Theater is at first hilarious and therapeutic, then becomes his new home, but escaping the past is hard... lol. Its not as dumb as I make it sound. If you’re a fan, then you’ll trust Hader. If you’re not a fan, try atleast two episodes. The first episode is not enough to get a feel for the direction of the show. Similar to Amazon’s Fleabag (also 4/4), in that it starts unclear in tone but ends up being smart, dark, and funny. Also similar to Fleabag in it’s nods to the audience. Fleabag did it with surreal direct address monologue, Barry does it indirectly with scenarios during acting class.

    I am a fan of Hader, he is a genius comedian and cinephile, and it shows here. Supporting actress Sarah Goldberg’s acting is a major highlight and importantly makes the story feel more significant.

    =========

    I wrote the above review after season 2. Season 3 sped up the pacing of the story and character development (to my disappointment) so initially thought they were setting it up to be the last season. Nope! Season 4 is said to be last season and begins airing (hbomax) on April 14. fyi Season 3 contained a car chase schene that would be worthy of adding to list of greatest car chase scenes like those in Ronin or Mad Max Fury Road. Season 3’s sped up plot doesnt do any favors for the show but they didnt have much choice because Covid struck before filming and so Im sure people’s timetables were not fitting smoothly… You can see the time discrepancy in how the actors have physically aged from season 2 to season 3 but I didnt let it bother me.

    Barry and Fleabag are two of my favorite drama series of the 2020s. Highly recommended! Im not sure on dates but I would include Stranger (season 1 only) and After Life (season 1 only) in there as well but a notch below. I may have forgotten some others…
     
  15. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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  16. Skyline

    Skyline Double-blindly done with this hobby

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  17. Pharmaboy

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    I wouldn't expect anything could make trad TV studios look logical & insightful, but this article has that effect. Many of the best shows in TV history started very slowly then built and built, finally flourishing in syndication...all of which is missing in Netflix' streaming model.

    This quote in particular gives me heartburn:

    "Netflix also considers three other metrics when it decides whether to cancel or renew a show. It looks at two data points within the first seven days and first 28 days of a show being available on the service. The first is Starters, or households THAT watch just one episode of a series. The second data point is Completers, subscribers who finish an entire season."​

    First 7 and 28 days (!!?). Think how many great TV shows and films (and relationships!) would have died off if those standards were applied.

    We all have our grievances on this topic. My biggest is ARCHIV 81, a Netflix horror series so in tune with my sensibilities (including the great work of the 3 principal actors) that it felt like I was imagining it. The final episode fired off a complex plot twist that perfectly cued up season-2, which unfortunately will never happen.

    (Content Interruptus is extremely frustrating)
     
  18. ColtMrFire

    ColtMrFire Writes better fan fics than you

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    Yeah their business model is not about making whole, complete works of television, it's about subscriber growth. Which means they have to constantly pump out NEW CONTENT to attract new subs, which means little to no money for the shows people already on the platform are actually enjoying. Hence, mass cancelations.

    This is why theatrical movies will always be better than streaming content. Because the philosophy/strategy is completely different. To ensure a movie has as big a return on investment as possible, studios have to try and make it as good as possible to not only get people into the theater, but to keep them coming back, since they are not subscribing... doesn't always work of course, but the effort is far more obvious than streamers, who make WAAAAAAAY too much content to focus any kind of real effort on quality (I think there is something like over 1,000 shows on TV).
     
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  19. Pharmaboy

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    In my experience what you say is painfully true. Very few streaming series have as much depth and consistency as 3 or 4 well made films do. I used to trade off my consumption of streaming series with streaming movies and attending local movie theaters, usually once a week, sometimes more. But all that has changed.

    For one thing, the number of decent films available on Netflix & Prime is probably lower than ever in their history. I'm leaving aside the bargain basement trash both services, but especially Prime, use to fill their content coffers.

    And sad to say, at least where I live (a long way from small screens that show small indie & foreign films) we're still feeling the blast radius of the COVID-19 lockdown in terms of how many & what kinds of films hit the screens. There are still noticeably fewer films debuting each week; and it seems like many if not most are attempts at big tent-pole productions: action, magic, comic book superheroes or animation, all basically for people under voting age.
     
  20. Boops

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    Drove through the Tar tunnel yesterday.

    AC77F32A-5F5D-4FD7-929F-410D20248C75.jpeg
     

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