Film and Episodic Content Discussion Thread

Just got back from seeing Dune 2 in IMAX. I liked it. I'm assuming that there'll be another one from where this one left off.

 

Watched Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves last night. What an enjoyable movie. Chris Pine is a delight throughout. The script gives him a lot to do and he is just killing it the whole time.

Special effects were also great for once. The creature and spell CG looked expensive and fun. CG stuff had real weight and mass. It reminded me of the Pirates of the Carribean films. Except for one thing: tiny Bradley Cooper was obviously faked and not great.

Fight choreography was top notch too. Michelle Rodriguez is doing some amazing stuff throughout. There’s a particular gag with a bow that is f'ing great. Almost Jackie Chan level of surprise and physical storytelling.

Highly recommended!

On the other end of the spectrum, I rewatched Marathon Man. What a masterpiece. I love a movie that just slowly unfolds and is patient enough to let the story emerge.

Also the tension! This movie is stressful. All the violence is intimate and personal, high stakes. If you haven’t seen it lately, worth a rewatch.

 

Second any votes for Netflix 'The Gentlemen." The proposition of any Guy Ritchie movie is that the world is made of pure evil, so the only question is if the intelligent can survive the stupid.

 

Just learned that Season-2 of EVIL is now available on Netflix, where I saw Season-1 a couple years ago. And Season-3 is apparently available on Prime. So now I can continue watching this very strange, entertaining series.

The god vs devil dichotomy of the plot bores me (I somehow overcame Catholicism and generally don't find entertainment in demonic possession narratives). But the cast of this series is exceptional:

• I'd watch Mike Colter read the phone book. He's magnetic here, somehow flourishing despite the many lines of liturgical mumbo-jumbo the scripts burdens him with
  
• I'd never seen the Dutch/American actress, Katja Herbers, before this show. She's a real winner, equally adept at drama and sly comic material (this show has plenty of both). Her alliance with (and attraction to) Mike Colter's character is the core of the story
• All four actresses who play her children are very good. I like how this show uses them as a charming little peanut gallery/Greek chorus. They're either being menaced, or acting silly like little girls, all the time in the show (charming)
• And Aasif Mandvi, who plays the resident religious expert and tech expert, does excellent work here. Though he has little in common with the religious goings on, he exemplies goodness of character, which pretty much guarantees he's going to be bounced around something wicked in future episodes

EVIL is one of those shows where just when you think it's a light-hearted spoof, something evil & bloody happens. The frequent appearance of dream imagery, replete with different/contrasting cinematography and lighting, is very imaginative. I'm a sucker for the visual depiction of dreams and the subconscious.

Glad to be starting Season-2 of this enjoyable series.