Last Movie You Watched

[Chum]

2 hours ago, Amulek said:

If you are open to a bit of magic then I would recommend checking out The Magicians.

I tried. The last scene I saw involved oral sex with a doorknob. Not that all my choices are also watched by Pres Nelson but man.

2 hours ago, Amulek said:

Good Omens might be worth checking out. It's a bit irreverent, but who doesn't like the idea of a demonic Bentley which is capable of changing virtually anything you try to play into a Queen song eventually.

I liked it. Irreverent is good. I read a lot of Pratchett in the 80s. He's gotten kind of popular since then but I'm hanging in.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Chum

[Amulek]

1 hour ago, Chum said:

I tried. The last scene I saw involved oral sex with a doorknob. Not that all my choices are also watched by Pres Nelson but man.

I had to look up what scene you were talking about as I didn't remember it at all. But yes, while there isn't any nudity, the show is a bit on the edgy side - that's something I probably should have mentioned.

But that is sort of the cost of entry for good programming these days.* The writing is good; character development is solid; the humor is witty; and when they throw in a musical number it is always first rate. On the flip side, yes, the show centers around college age kids, so there's a fair amount of content relating to sex - including jokes, hookups, etc. I don't recall anything going beyond PG-13 territory, but I know everybody has different tolerances for those sorts of things.

*As always, the exception to this rule has got to be Better Call Saul. It's every bit as well written as Breaking Bad - same universe / same creatives - but immensely cleaner. Zero nudity (at least thus far, and with only 3 episodes remaining that's unlikely to change), language isn't over the top, and while there have been some deaths, none have been especially gory. Fingers crossed that they are able to stick the landing twice in a row.

 

[Tacenda]

I went to see "Vengeance", last weekend. I loved it, a few f bombs but for an "R" very mild and no sexual explicit scenes and good moral to the story. That's the only way I can hack an "R" rating. 

Edited August 1, 2022 by Tacenda

[bluebell]

Has anyone watched The Orville?  It looks just like star trek so I'm trying to figure out what it's catch is.

[longview]

19 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Has anyone watched The Orville?  It looks just like star trek so I'm trying to figure out what it's catch is.

I have.  It is a campy ridiculous version of Star Trek (along the lines of The Next Generation).

ETA:  Nehor would call it ABSURD.

Edited August 1, 2022 by longview

[Amulek]

15 hours ago, bluebell said:

Has anyone watched The Orville?  It looks just like star trek so I'm trying to figure out what it's catch is.

I've been watching The Orville - the final episode of the series airs this week.

Like @longview said, it's meant to be kind of an homage to TNG, back when sci-fi was less gritty and a bit more feel-good.

I've enjoyed it well enough. The characters are more everyday people than paragons of virtue, and as a Seth MacFarlane creation there tends to be more humor as well.

I also like that it's a bit more episodic; that's a nice throwback as well. That isn't to say that there aren't some story arcs, but they are a lot less heavy handed than what we've seen recently in the Stark Trek universe.

I would say that fan reaction to DISCO, along with the surprise popularity of The Orville, were big factors in Star Trek trying to swing back more toward the basics with its latest installment: SNW (which I have also liked well enough).

 

[Tacenda]

Has anyone seen the movie, "Everything Everywhere All At Once", yet? Deciding whether to stream it or not.

[Stargazer]

On 8/1/2022 at 3:03 AM, Chum said:

Uhura died. dang.

Yes, Nichelle Nicholls died, dang it. But she was suffering from dementia, and arguably it was all for the best.

On the other hand, Uhura lives.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Stargazer

[Stargazer]

I keep wanting to see Top Gun: Maverick, but one thing or another keeps me from getting to it. First it was Covid, now it's something else.

[Tacenda]

3 hours ago, Stargazer said:

I keep wanting to see Top Gun: Maverick, but one thing or another keeps me from getting to it. First it was Covid, now it's something else.

Gotta see it before it leaves the theater, you shouldn't be disappointed at all. 

[bluebell]

Not movies but two really good documentaries are Aftershock (Hulu) and The Most Hated Man on the Internet (Netflix).

Aftershock is about two black men and family members who start a movement to improve black maternal mortality rates in the US after both of their partners died after childbirth because they received negligent care.  The maternal mortality rate is horrifying in the US (we have the highest of any developed nation, by a long way) in and of itself but for black women it's even worse than for white women.  

As this affects everyone who loves a woman who may someday give birth, so fixing the problems is something that all of us should be invested in.  And it's just embarrassing that we are so bad at basic care for pregnant women.  There is no excuse for it other than greed (and racism).

TMHMOTI is about Hunter Moore, who started a revenge porn site in 2012 and happily ruined people's lives (while gaining a HUGE loyal fan club) for years before a housewife took him down.  He is basically the most awful and debauched person ever and you will want to see him suffer by the end.  It will make your blood boil you will be so mad, but he gets his eventually.  This is a no kids in the room show though as the language is horrible and it does show explicit photos (specific body parts are blurred but you can tell what you are looking at, even though they are brief).

[Calm]

“. In November 2015, Moore was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, a $2,000 fine, and $145.70 in restitution.^[7] He was released from prison in May 2017.” from wiki

Please tell me he was sued for much, much more and lost

[bluebell]

Just now, Calm said:

“. In November 2015, Moore was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, a $2,000 fine, and $145.70 in restitution.^[7] He was released from prison in May 2017.” from wiki

Please tell me he was sued for much, much more and lost

Well, I guess people don't need to watch the documentary to see how it all ended now.  

I'm unsure but I doubt it as revenge porn wasn't illegal back then.  (It's still not illegal in 2 states and there are no federal laws prohibiting it).  It would be amazing if he was though.

[Calm]

11 hours ago, bluebell said:

Well, I guess people don't need to watch the documentary to see how it all ended now.  

I'm unsure but I doubt it as revenge porn wasn't illegal back then.  (It's still not illegal in 2 states and there are no federal laws prohibiting it).  It would be amazing if he was though.

Oh, sorry.  I assumed documentaries are more or less known, just not in the details.  I am likely projecting as I have never watched a documentary I am not semi familiar with, my bad.   I will adjust my assumptions.

[bluebell]

11 hours ago, Calm said:

Oh, sorry.  I assumed documentaries are more or less known, just not in the details.  I am likely projecting as I have never watched a documentary I am not semi familiar with, my bad.   I will adjust my assumptions.

No worries!  It just made me laugh.  I almost always google a documentary subject while I'm watching it.  Most people probably do the same.

[bluebell]

Thirteen Lives on Prime.

It's about the boys soccer team in Thailand that was trapped in a flood cave for weeks.  Previously a documentary had been released about it but this is a movie, with well-known movie stars and the whole lot.  It was directed by Ron Howard.

It's a good movie if you like these kinds of stories, and managed to maintain a level of anxiety and suspense even though I knew how it was ultimately all going to turn out.  

[Chum]

I can recommend Top Of The Lake.  I got from a long scifi list but it's an offbeat AU drama. If you can't find a streamer carrying it, pirate sites are always ready to provide actual service.

[Calm]

The Sandman, Netflix…haven’t watched them all yet.  Fantasy, of course.  Different focuses, more exploring character and an idea than telling a story for many of them.

Neil Gaimen is involved, so it is much more than just an incredible idea bought and then stuck on a typical police procedural that then struggles to get past it and ends up cliched like Lucifer.  Not as good as Good Omens, not as humorous (you can, imo, tell what was Gaimen and what was Terry Prachett in Omens), but could be close in depth.  Definitely more thought provoking.  I have never read more than summaries of the original comic, it would be interesting to know how true to the feel of the original it is.  Were they as successful as they were with Good Omens in dramatizing it?

Language in some episodes, violence in some episodes, sex in some episodes…but that is where the 10 second jump becomes so handy.

added:  just read wiki, apparently very faithful…

Edited August 16, 2022 by Calm

[bsjkki]

11 hours ago, Calm said:

The Sandman, Netflix…haven’t watched them all yet.  Fantasy, of course.  Different focuses, more exploring character and an idea than telling a story for many of them.

Neil Gaimen is involved, so it is much more than just an incredible idea bought and then stuck on a typical police procedural that then struggles to get past it and ends up cliched like Lucifer.  Not as good as Good Omens, not as humorous (you can, imo, tell what was Gaimen and what was Terry Prachett in Omens), but could be close in depth.  Definitely more thought provoking.  I have never read more than summaries of the original comic, it would be interesting to know how true to the feel of the original it is.  Were they as successful as they were with Good Omens in dramatizing it?

Language in some episodes, violence in some episodes, sex in some episodes…but that is where the 10 second jump becomes so handy.

added:  just read wiki, apparently very faithful…

I am watching this too. Some very thought-provoking stuff. I would share but don't want to give anything away. We just finished episode 5. Definitely some language and violence. Episode 4 and 5 made me think. I hear 6 is really good but have not watched yet. 

[jkwilliams]

Belfast. It was excellent. 

[Chum]

On 8/11/2022 at 12:29 AM, Chum said:

I can recommend Top Of The Lake.

Well, I recommend season 1 of Top Of The Lake. Season 2 is missing some of what made 1 work.

I'm enjoying Deutschland 83. Cold war retro miniseries set between E./W. Germany.  Oh and speaking of <-, Counterpart is amazing. I'd put it on a top-series-ever list.

[Chum]

On 8/16/2022 at 6:30 PM, bsjkki said:

I am watching this too. Some very thought-provoking stuff. I would share but don't want to give anything away. We just finished episode 5. Definitely some language and violence. Episode 4 and 5 made me think. I hear 6 is really good but have not watched yet. 

Sandman was good. I'd put it up there with Good Omens.

[Chum]

On 8/16/2022 at 6:47 PM, jkwilliams said:

Belfast. It was excellent. 

I like period pieces. I'll give it a go.

[bluebell]

Rented The Painted Veil on Prime and watched it again for the 3rd or 4th time. 

It's a period piece that takes place in China in the early 1900s.  It's about an English doctor and his wife, who marry for the wrong reasons.  She has an affair and he drags her off to china to study cholera during an in-country outbreak as a kind of punishment.  (He wanted to divorce her for adultery but she begged him not to).  It's actually a very sweet and even romantic movie on forgiveness and personal accountability, but it's not at all a 'chick flick'. 

It has many deep parts and the end is very poignant.

It's probably 15 years old or around there and stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts.  It's based on a book and from what I've read, the name makes sense in the book, though it is never explained in the movie and I find that very annoying. 

It makes it hard to remember the name of the movie because there is no association with the story.

[Stargazer]

We had finally gotten around to being able to hit the cinema for Top Gun: Maverick, only to discover that it's no longer showing on local screens. Darn.