Whatcha Been Watching?

This is the place where you can conflab about all the other stuff besides videogames
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8422
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

We just finished watching Ozark. Really good throughout the first season, looking forward to the second!

Spent a while browsing Netflix afterwards. Who knew there was a Dead Rising film!? Not me! Watched a bit of it, and it was predictably dreadful!
User avatar
Bloody Initiate
Member
Posts: 43
Joined: October 1st, 2015, 3:06 am

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Bloody Initiate »

Watched Ex Machina and Moana this weekend. Both good.
Watched Baby Driver last weekend. Also good. A familiar cast in different roles, perhaps is the most I'd say.
Just finished the 6th season of Game of Thrones. Oof.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

Finnaly got around to watch Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, took me awhile especially since guadians 1 is my favorite thing out of the entire MCU and while vol 2 is still pretty great I have to say that enjoyed the first one a bit more, I think the first movie was better paced and was this fresh take on multiple genres, it was just this bolt of energy that really took me by storm but still today I can easilly watch that movie on loop and not get tired of it but this one I felt it dragged a little bit, when it ended I felt like there was some fat that could've been cut while I wouldnt touch anything on the first one.

The main difference between the two is that the second movie focus alot more on the characters and I actually welcome that aspect because I really liked that stuff in the first movie, it's some of my favorite parts so I was fine with that,especially the stuff with Gamora and Yondu, but I think they could've dedicated a bit more time to that, in building it up more,especially given the ending that I think could've been even better had they done that, honestly they could've cut a few jokes and the movie wouldnt suffer at all.
Also the whole thing with Kurt Russel and Starlord I didnt care much for because it's something that's been done 1000 times before in so many other movies and it plays out exactly how you'd expect so I didnt really care.
Still a great movie and if it has anything over the first one is that visually it's stunning, some scenes really blew me away especially with their use of color and the soundtrack is just as great as the first one as you'd expect.

PS: I could watch baby groot forever, never has a CGI character been this adorable.
arry_g

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by arry_g »

Todinho wrote: August 15th, 2017, 7:22 am Finnaly got around to watch Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, took me awhile especially since guadians 1 is my favorite thing out of the entire MCU and while vol 2 is still pretty great I have to say that enjoyed the first one a bit more, I think the first movie was better paced and was this fresh take on multiple genres, it was just this bolt of energy that really took me by storm but still today I can easilly watch that movie on loop and not get tired of it but this one I felt it dragged a little bit, when it ended I felt like there was some fat that could've been cut while I wouldnt touch anything on the first one.

The main difference between the two is that the second movie focus alot more on the characters and I actually welcome that aspect because I really liked that stuff in the first movie, it's some of my favorite parts so I was fine with that,especially the stuff with Gamora and Yondu, but I think they could've dedicated a bit more time to that, in building it up more,especially given the ending that I think could've been even better had they done that, honestly they could've cut a few jokes and the movie wouldnt suffer at all.
Also the whole thing with Kurt Russel and Starlord I didnt care much for because it's something that's been done 1000 times before in so many other movies and it plays out exactly how you'd expect so I didnt really care.
Still a great movie and if it has anything over the first one is that visually it's stunning, some scenes really blew me away especially with their use of color and the soundtrack is just as great as the first one as you'd expect.

PS: I could watch baby groot forever, never has a CGI character been this adorable.
I liked GotG 2 a lot, like you not as much as the first but I did really enjoy it. My main problem with the movie was actually the theme of family, not that it was a bad theme but that it was so on the head and without nuance. Still, maybe I'm expecting too much, it was fun and that's what matters.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

Yeah there was alot of been there done with some of the stories while the first one felt entirelly fresh, still pretty great though.
User avatar
macstat
Member
Posts: 372
Joined: November 24th, 2015, 1:12 pm
Location: Wrocław, Poland
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by macstat »

I recently watched GotG II as well. My feelings are pretty similar to what Todinho said a couple of posts earlier.

I also think that this whole Starlord-Father arc was pretty meh, and it took some time for it to start doing something interesting (while other characters already kicked ass). My favs in this movie were Rocket and Yondu, both were developed very well and had great moments.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

I also only recently caught up with GotG: vol.2 on the flight over. It washed over fine, and I'm a bit behind on my Marvel movies, so if you're watching on a plane: good times. A solid distraction.

I also caught up with La La Land. As someone who loves Whiplash, and may have a slight crush on Emma Stone, it was an easy sell.

I was aware of the backlash against the movie, but I can't hate it. It definitely has its flaws, but for me it fell into the category of "it's alright, but it's no Singin' in the Rain", which is a movie I have a deep love for. Seriously, if you have not seen Singin' in the Rain, correct that as soon as possible. That is a great, great movie.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

So I watched Defenders and I have to say Im quite sad at how the Marvel "Netflix universe" turned out, to me it has been a straight downhill slope since Daredevil, season 1 of Daredevil to me was incredible it had everything I wanted, it was followed up by Jessica Jones which I thought was great and on equal level until the ending where I didnt like too much, then we got to Daredevil season 2 where everything that didnt involve the Punisher was boring and I didnt care for, next was Luke Cage that had a good start but quickly became really mediocre and from what I hear Iron Fist is just plain mediocre and Defenders is no different, I was really disapointed it's this run-of the mill story and the whole appeal of the team-up wasnt even done that well, I dont think any of the strengths of the individual shows is here and all you're left with are some actions scenes with bland coreography and some quips, also like I said I didnt watch Iron Fist but from everything I saw here I sure am glad I didnt and it's really bad that Defenders is so focused around him.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

So season 7 of Game of Thrones ended and the series has turned into straight up fan-fiction, I had to let alot of things go to be able to keep watching the show but the last 2 episodes of last season did manage to bring me back in just because of how good they were and now Im just watching it for the spectacle of the thing and blocked out that this is an adaptation.

This season though really shows that they really have nothing from the books now, one of the reasons they say they shortened the season was because it was too expensive but another I think it's that they only have now the broadest of outlines from Martin like characters have to meet and go from point A to B, etc. This was also reflected on the dialogue which at times was atrocious which was actually surprising to me because the show always managed to have some interesting dialogue that wasnt in the books. They also completelly fail at setting up any interesting intrigue or mystery like that slog in Winterfell that couldnt be so obvious and unrealistic it's so contrived and worse they did the Heavy rain thing and just lied to the audience because they couldnt make a interesting plot. Bran's character is such a clusterfuck he's very existence makes the show worse and cheapens the entire story

Lastlly what really bothered was how this season utterlly betrayed the past seasons and the books I mean episode 6 was the antithesis of everything that Game of Thrones was and even the most ardent show fans have come around to admiting it and noticing it, this is no longer George RR Martin story it's just a high fantasy show of good versus evil, where all the good guys are on one side versus the bad guys. If anything though seeing this rough outline at where things are gonna go has me pretty excited for the books,if they ever come out, and it's giving me all sort of theories at how things are gonna paly out there so there's that, from the show however Im only expecting the lowest common denominator but hey at least it has some nice special effects.

I also watch War Machine with Brad Pitt on netflix, really good movie about the afeganistan war focused around the general Obama sent in to "clean up the mess" especially given that Trump recently gave the ok to further extend the longest war in US history I think it's a very intereting movie to watch and Brad Pitt is great in it. Im also working up the courage to eventually watch Netflix's version of Death Note and Im kinda of hoping it's the so bad it's good variety of movie and not just plain bad.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

So I still havent worked up the courage to watch the Death Note movie and probably never will in the mean time though I started to watch the Mist netflix series, I never read the short story by stephen King but I adore the Frank Darabond movie adaptation, it's one of my favorite movies actually, so when I saw at glance there was netflix series I had to watch and well...It's really bad, Im not even comparing it to the movie I was seeing it as it's own thing I mean from the get go it makes it clear it's gonna be it's own story but even then it's so bad and weak, the main problem is that the dialogue and characters are really bad and since the concept of the story is characters trapped together and having to deal with one another it just tanks the entire show I didnt even make it to episode 5 I just gave up halfway through 4, also there are no monsters in the show because I guess they didnt have the money for it.

On the other hand I movie that I just watched and actually had alot of fun doing it was Jurassic World, I never watched originally because I thought it was just another cash grab made to profit out of nostalgia, but I was doing nothing today so I decided to give it a go on a whim but boy was I wrong because this is one of the best comedies I've watched in awhile, I mean from the start the very premise of the movie is absurd it's " People are tired of Dinosaurs so let's make a super Dinosaur!" especially because in every shot they made sure to show how the people visiting the park were in awe and loving every second nobody looked "bored" by the Dinosaurs. Of course we have the evil military men that want to turn the Dinos into weapons! Genius, a plan worthy of Umbrella. But by far the best part is when the evil Dinosaur is loose and all the good Dinosaurs have to team up to fight it, which was preceded by a heartwarming scene where the raptors stop following the evil Dinosaur and remember their love for Chris Pratt, Incredible.

Yeah I dont think the movie is really good at all, they stripped all of the tension and pretence of science of the original and turned all the characters into generic archetypes that dont go anywhere and whose "journey" doesnt feel earned at all like say the "romance" of Chris Pratt and whatever the main leads name is, and I was joking above but during the climax of the movie I literally couldnt stop laughing out loud through the entire ending sequence at how absurd and nonsensical it all was, it's not just that there are just so many dumb things in the whole movie you can easilly pick it apart, alos I know what Im about to say cant possibly be true but to me the CG in this movie seemed more fake then those of the original I dont know what it is about it but from the opening scene it all looked so artificial.
So I think this is a terrible movie and the original from 1993 is 100 times better, still I was crying from laughter at the end so gotta recommend it and I cant wait for the sequel where there will be raptors with Machines guns in the middle east!
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8422
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

We've been watching Blindspot. Elevator pitch is a woman turns up covered in tattoos with no memory. Each tattoo is a clue to a crime. It's fucking TERRIBLE, and we can't stop watching it :lol: I mean it's really, really bad. Have a look!
kintaris

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by kintaris »

Alex79uk wrote: September 7th, 2017, 11:27 am We've been watching Blindspot. Elevator pitch is a woman turns up covered in tattoos with no memory. Each tattoo is a clue to a crime. It's fucking TERRIBLE, and we can't stop watching it :lol: I mean it's really, really bad. Have a look!
Oh man. I saw that being trailered a couple of years ago and assumed it would never actually see the light of day :lol: will have to try at least one episode. I was screaming with laughter and indignation throughout the Iron Fist first episode just the other day - I assume this is worse!
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

On contrast Train to Busan is a good movie and a great zombie movie, imagine the zombies of 28 days later but confined to single setting in a train, also the movie actually remembers that zombie fiction is supposed to be about something unlike 90% of zombie works nowadays so I really liked that, easilly one of the best zombie movies of this decade.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8422
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

kintaris wrote: September 7th, 2017, 1:06 pm
Alex79uk wrote: September 7th, 2017, 11:27 am We've been watching Blindspot. Elevator pitch is a woman turns up covered in tattoos with no memory. Each tattoo is a clue to a crime. It's fucking TERRIBLE, and we can't stop watching it :lol: I mean it's really, really bad. Have a look!
Oh man. I saw that being trailered a couple of years ago and assumed it would never actually see the light of day :lol: will have to try at least one episode. I was screaming with laughter and indignation throughout the Iron Fist first episode just the other day - I assume this is worse!
It's made for idiots. Example; terrorists have stormed a hospital whilst our FBI agents are holed up inside. Lead character tries to use his cellphone, it doesn't work. "They're jamming the signal", he says. He tries the land line. "It's dead..." Then I swear he almost looks at the camera and explains, "That means they've cut the phone lines too!"

:lol:

Does it? Is that what it means? THANKS!!!

:lol:

Also, EVERY SINGLE TIME a character 'realises' something to do with the crime, rather than assume the audience will remember what it's referring to, you're treated to a mini flash back of the thing happening.

It's incredible. But I'm not even watching it for laughs (although it IS unintentionally hilarious), there's just something entertaining about it. It's totally mindless, but there is an element of mystery that I actually want to find out why the things are happening. Bizarre.
User avatar
Stanshall
Member
Posts: 2370
Joined: January 31st, 2016, 6:45 am

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Stanshall »

The new Berserk anime movies are apparently now on Netflix which prompted me to go back to the 97 anime. I don't watch much anime at all but I've probably never seen such a heavy television show. The characters are absolutely tremendous, their motivations and emotions are so conflicted and relatable, and their challenges are so staggering, and yet somehow credible, it's a genuine masterpiece for me. The music is also up there with anything from my very favourite shows.

I first watched it because of the Dark Souls links and I hoped for something rather profound but it went far beyond my expectations and into territory I've never seen in a show.
User avatar
Combine Hunter
Moderator
Posts: 892
Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:40 pm

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Combine Hunter »

I've been watching My Hero Academia, because it's become that rare Anime that lots of people are talking about positively on my feed. Even heard chat about it on the Waypoint podcast. I'm enjoying it, but I feel like I'm tolerating stuff that would normally put me off, unlike Attack on Titan where that stuff is completely absent. I suppose that speaks to how good "the good" is, that I WANT to tolerate some of the stuff I take issue with.

But I really wish it would give it a rest with the pervy stuff. It's no where near as bad or as frequent as most anime out there, but it serves no narrative function and distracts from all the good character stuff they're doing with Izuku Midoriya and Shoto Todoroki. Just get rid of Minoru Mineta basically.
User avatar
Scrustle
Member
Posts: 2425
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 6:02 pm

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Scrustle »

Finished off watching Texhnolyze today. Not really sure what to make of it. I was initially drawn to it because it's from the same writer as Serial Experiments Lain, which is one of my all-time favourites. Texhnolyze does share some similarities with Lain, but I'm not sure those stylistic and pacing techniques work as strongly here. It's got that same slow, ponderous pace with surreal presentation that leave a lot up to interpretation, but I think those things lent themselves much better to the themes of Lain than this. It's still very interesting though, as a look in to society, technology, and inequality. It creates a very strong mood, and takes the topics it deals with in an interesting direction at the end. But unlike Lain, I didn't really feel like there was much to "work out." I think some of the things it obfuscates, it doesn't really need to, and it isn't really as interesting to ponder what might be going on as in Lain. But I did enjoy how it created a gritty and brutal feel to its world, which is one point where it stands apart from Lain. It does a good job of creating a world which comes across as truly miserable, and like you're seeing an image of civilisation that has degraded to the brink of extinction. The ending was quite impactful as well, and unexpected. So, I suppose I liked it. It sure as hell isn't an uplifting show. Not that I was expecting it to be.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

A film I finally caught up to seeing very recently was Shin Godzilla. I foolishly started to watch it on the overnight flight back to Sydney from Tokyo (JAL), and made it about half way through before sleep set in.

Based on the first half, I watched it all the way through over the weekend, and yeah, it's pretty great. The two American attempts at Godzilla were never really going to work - it is a character born out of uniquely Japanese experiences, and it was great to see it back with Toho studios. After spending a bit of time in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the last trip gave the viewing experience more cultural context too.

Without going into spoilers (though I get the feeling I might be a bit behind others on the forum), the satirical aspects are dead on, and pretty funny. And yeah, Satomi Ishihara does not make for a convincing American, try as she might, but that really is the only miscasting (don't blame her for taking the part - any working actor would). The rest of the cast is pretty top notch.

Very easy recommendation.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

Due to everyone else’s kid in the office being sick, and coworkers coming to work and coughing over everything, I have had the last few days off to recover from my new sickness.

So besides gaming I took this as an opportunity to finally sit my ass down and watch Tokyo Story.

I have the opportunity for years, as it’s in our library, and have always put it off. It’s critical reputation can be intimidating, and I was assuming it was going to be a movie that was a “cinematic lesson”, rather than something that I would enjoy.

Fortunately I was glad I took to time to watch it. There’s plenty of literature out there about this film already, so I will just say that the relationship between the parents and their children was something that I think anyone can easily relate too, and while it is a long movie (though two-and-a-quarter hours is not really long), it isn’t slow so much as very deliberately paced. Give it a go, but it may require some patience. It won’t be for everyone, but you won’t know until you watch it.

Finally, this is a film from 1953, and it still feels very relevant. Priorities for the younger generation revolve around work, and making time where you can for your family is not always easy, or convenient. Also 1950’s Japan is not something you’re going to see a lot of in modern movies without crappy CGI, dig into the past whenever you can.
kintaris

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by kintaris »

Late to the party but I also finally caught up on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, last night.

Echo the sentiments of everyone else above, but I had two particular sticking points, both related to the humour of the film (which was pretty spot on throughout the first movie):

1. Was the father-son "playing catch" moment supposed to be laugh-out-loud funny in it's utter cheesiness? My wife and I both started laughing at the stupidity of the scene as though it was self-aware, but the musical cues brought us both up short in a "wait, is that supposed to be an emotional moment" sort of way. In fact I had this problem throughout the Star Lord & Ego scenes - I couldn't quite decide whether it was a light attempt at pastiche or a genuine effort towards making me feel empathy. Because I couldn't decide which way I was supposed to be going, these moments took me out of the immersion and left me a bit cold.

2. Drax is a great character and I totally get what the writers were going for, but his continual belitting verbal abuse of Mantis started to feel incredibly awkward by the end of the movie. It's unfortunate that they tried to introduce any romantic partnership for Drax at all to be honest. His bluntness - normally an entertaining comment on our repressed natures - just comes across as relentless misogynistic bullying. I'm sure that's not the intention, but it's just not a narrative I feel that we need in movies like this right now. The movie wouldn't have suffered if one or two of those lines had been cut.

Overall I think they leaned a little too hard into giving these characters some emotional depth and it ended up falling flat or worse. But, the visuals were great and the three major Baby Groot sequences made it all worthwhile.
Post Reply