Whatcha Been Watching?

[zen_anarchy]

one punch man ........ started watching tonight , fast became one of my favourite TV shows brilliant superhero cartoon that messes around with the conventions of the genre.

its good and not good for being a Japanese anime its as good as anything the west is creating ala south park or family guy , its just great

[Todinho]

So I finnished watching The Man in the High Castle,I gotta be honest the more I watched the more I disliked it the show lacks much of the subtlety of the book which is understandable but still disapointing and the characters were really bothering me for example Frink and Juliana who are the main characters of the show are completely different from their books counter parts,the only thing they share in common is the name,another point was how poor I found the racial and cultural aspect in the show which are extremely well portraid in the book and it was something that I felt was missing alot from the show and when touched upon was done so In a very blunt manner,by episode 5 i was ready to hate the show but then something changed.

It wasnt a major change but the show kinda struck out on it's own,it took an element of the book and just started going with it's own direction with and the new characters that they made for the show started to really come on their own and I really started to like them and the end climax of the show made a really cool twist to a plot point usually used in stories dealing with nazis but I wont spoil it but it was pretty interesting and it was them picking something from the book and doing something interesting with it,so yeah in the end I ended up coming around to it and really liking it as a whole I think the first half is a bad of a drag but that might just be my book perception,interested to see where they are going to go with season 2 maybe they'll actually focus on the Man in the High castle because there certainly wasnt enough of him this season.

[JaySevenZero]

Watched Ant-Man yesterday. It was a mid level Marvel film.It Feels like some of the eurly MCU films Was an intresting watch though as a fan of Egger wright as you could see alot of his fingerptints in the script, action sequences and sight gags from before he left the projet. I will have to have a play with the comantry to see if more light on the subjet is reveled. I am looking forward to Ant-Man & The Wasp!

I guess, for me, this film (which I enjoyed quite a bit) felt similar to the first Captain America film in that it felt a little slight at times but has the potential to become something more satisfactory with any sequels. It'll be interesting to see how the character develops in Civil War since, if the Lego sets are anything to go by, it's looking like he'll also become Giant Man in that film.

[Todinho]

Just watched Deadpool and I was pleasantly surprised since I wasnt really sure I would like since all I know about the character is that he breaks the fourth wall and the internet is in love with him but I was really happy with how it turned out. It's just a really solid action comedy movie with a superhero coat of paint,some jokes land better then others but it all works pretty well especially because all the actors are on point(by the way this is the first time Colossus was done right in the movies) so they all play well of one another and it was probably my favorite part of the movie. So yeah just a great movie a good breath of fresh in a genre of movie that has been getting stale lately.

[Todinho]

Watched the Pycho-Pass movie today,I wasnt gonna watch it at all because I thought that was just gonna be a re-telling of season 1 but it's actually a sequel done by the same creative team that did season 1 and man you can tell! For comparison season 1 was like Dark souls and season 2 was like dark souls 2,the drop in quality was really noticeable because not only the main writer and the director were not involved but it was being done by another studio altogether,knowing that now the quality of season 2 it's actually impressive even if it was disapointing,the movie on the other hand being done by the same creative team of season does a much better job exploring the world and concepts,I actually liked the direction they took with the plot of the movie and it was something I didnt expect at all and while I think the movie cut some corners and simplified things a bit too much it was still pretty good and a great way to expand on the themes of season 1.
Great stuff overall happy to have watched it because Psycho-Pass is one of the few pieces of modern media that does cyberpunk right as it should be,the style,the social critique and technology it's handled in interesting and clever ways and I wish we had more properties like that knew how to use the cyberpunk setting instead of just using the aesthetic because it looks cool or being really poorly thought out like say Human Revolution and what it looks to be Mankid divided.

[Todinho]

Got done watching Jessica Jones today and Im surprised the show turned out to be really different from what I was expecting it,I certainly didnt expect the show to have such a laser focus on it's theme of abuse that's for sure,especially being that well done so kudos Netflix and Marvel for wanting to make a superhero show that tackles such issues. Despite that I did have some problems with the show for starters the fights scenes are really bad and I get it it's not the focus of the show but especially after Daredevil I expected a little bit from a fight with people of super strenght,the inclusion of the cop character felt really forced to me and I felt it just served to do the Marvel thing of tying their properties together and at last the conclusion was a bit lackluster to say the least,though to be fair I dont know who Im disapointed with the writers or the villian,other then that it was solid throught and it makes really happy that Marvel is putting these types of show out(IMO Daredevil and this far outshine their recent movies) and it makes especially curious how the Luke Cage show is gonna turn out!

[The_Rooster]

Watched a few films over the past week or so:

Black Mass.
Very good performance from Johnny Depp and the rest of the cast, Depp really throws himself into the role and towards the end is genuinely disturbing. Story telling is a bit all over the place but performances sell it.

Spotlight.
WOW! Is the best word to describe this film, this could be one of the most important films of the last few years. All cast are brilliant with Ruffalo and Keaton being the stand outs. Fully deserved the best picture Oscar.

Martyrs (2008).
Gruesome horror (now been remade for Western audiences coz most can't read subtitles.) The original is brutal and will push a horror fan to certain limits. Goes 'close to the bone' at moments but ok.

Straight outta Compton.
Very good! Great performances all round Easy-E being the stand out. Struggles in times trying to glamorise moments in their lives which I found hard to take sometimes. Good movie all round tho.

Deadpool.
Laughed from the opening credits till the post credits joke. A very different type of Superhero movie so much I can't see it fitting in the rest of the MCU. It certainly is the role Ryan Reynolds was born to play. With a few superhero movies out this year it's a fantastic start plus tough to live upto.

Goosebumps.
Bit different to the other films on my list but heard good things so thought I'd give a go, surprisingly very good. Started with low expectations but went up once the 1st book was opened. Jack Black's voice is slightly all over the place and you could tell he just went for I'm unhinged voice.

[Todinho]

I've been watching Knights of Sidonia the Netflix original anime,to be honest I just watched it because I was listening to some especulation on Kojima's next game and someone said it might take cue's from this anime(btw if you were wondering where Kojima pulled that bullshit photosynthesis explanation in MGSV look no further) and overall I think the show is a mixed bag,for example the world and the style of the anime are great and really stand out so even though the basic setup is Attack on Titan meets Battlestar Galatica the attention to detail and the world building puts the show apart from being just a generic show. That being said The world unfortunally is far superior to everything else in the show,the animation for example while looking great in depiction the enviroments and mechas looks terrible when it comes to the characters,you can barely tell them apart at times,which is pretty bad because the characters are also pretty bland in their writing so good character design sure would've helped ,the biggest problem though is that the plot just went nowhere especially because in the middle of season 2 the show out of nowhere turns into a harem/romance anime! I kid you not the plot just stops and they barely build on the world,it`s all dedicated to these flat characters that are barely developed having your typical anime romance hijincks,it was so boring I nearly gouged my eyes out!Then shortly after that we finnaly get some good action scenes at least but then the season just ends with nothing getting resolved...I hope the make another season at least , if it ends like this it`ll be really disapointing becayse despite my issues with it I do think it`s a decent show and I wanna see were the actual plot goes.

[Combine Hunter]

Wanted to like Daredevil Season 2, and for a while I thought I might. But then it just becomes unfocused and silly again. I can't stand how patronizing the dialogue is to the audience, although that's just I problem I have with the Daredevil TV show in general. Nothing can be left for us to figure out, or just learnt through context. Everything has to be explained in detail at all times, with this sloppy exposition ladened dialogue. If this season had at least attempted to focus on Frank Castle story, I might have still enjoyed it, but the writers are so worried you'll get bored that they throw all sorts of characters from the Daredevil mythos at you. I just got so frustrated at the show's in ability to take it slow, and trust that its audience will stick with it.

I know a lot of people love this show, so I apologise, but I'm frustrated because I do actually love this character. This show is just not for me.

[ratsoalbion]

I know quite a number of highly intelligent, even legitimately intellectual folks who really love this show and don't find it overly patronising, so I'm not sure why you find it so much that way.
Also, Tanya works in police intelligence and she didn't find Kingpin's hold over the cops in season one to be immersion-breakingly ridiculous, so there's that too.

BTW, I haven't started watching the new season yet - we're only two episodes into Jessica Jones - but I thoroughly enjoyed season one.
Not in a life-changing, Earth-shattering, OMG my mind's been blown sorta way, but as a comic book romp it hit most of the right spots for me.

[Combine Hunter]

See, I think Jessica Jones is much more successful. It focuses on themes it wants to explore, trusts the audience to do the math and uses visual storytelling instead of conveying everything through dialogue. It's not just the Kingpin's hold on the police I find hard to swallow, it's the character and the performance too. I find Vincent D'Onofrio's over zealous scenery chewing to be incredibly grating and I don't think his motives really made sense. IMO TV has had A LOT of great antagonists in the last 10 - 15 years, and I've struggled to understand why others have connected so much with this character in particular (to each their own of course.) As far as super hero shows go, I personally rate David Tennant's Kilgrave much more highly.

To be clear Leon, I have never once attacked someone personally for liking this show, or implied that they are dumb for liking it. I know I lay into the show its self a great deal, but I've never made it personal. I do understand the concept of someone intelligent loving the things I hate, and hating the things I love. I am not attacking the quality of your friends or family, or anyone's, when I attack this piece of media.

[ratsoalbion]

I didn't mean to imply that you had Josh! More trying to find a way of expressing my surprise at your experience (which you seem unusually keen to impress as you don't normally 'go to town' discussing things you're not as keen on) based on my own, and those of some of my peers and pals.

[Todinho]

As someone who loved Daredevil season 1 I have to agree with Josh that Season 2 really had a focus problem,the first 4 episodes are stellar actually and it could have been made into a full movie called Punisher vs Daredevil and it would have been great,unfortunally things kinda of go to hell when Elektra comes in and we have to deal with dumb ninjas instead of the interesting moral dilemas of the Punisher,I was actually mad that less time was being given to the legal part of the show in the middle due to the Elektra storyline(I was 100% with Foggy) and while I think season 1 had a clear theme of morality and justice I have to agree that season 2 just fell apart in the middle, despite that I was happy with the Punisher(dude from walking dead killed it in the role) and I really liked Foggy's and Karen arc's here but otherwise a bit of a letdown.

I also watched The Raid and The Raid 2 the famous indonisian martial arts movies about the greatest rookie cop in human history XD ,seeing them just after Daredevil season 2 kinda took alot of the thunder of the show because the fights in these movies leave any fight in Daredevil in the dust,with you want a brutal martial arts movie to watch look no further some of the best action I've seen in this type of movie.

I also watched Zootopia today and color me impressed, I thought it was gonna be just an average kids movie and it kinda is but it's actually about something racism and it actually deals with it's subject matter in a kid friendly but still smart way I was pretty happy with it and I have to say I never thought I'd see the day where Disney animation studios would be making better animations and stories then Pixar and that's both great and sad...

[Flabyo]

I finally powered through season 3 of House of Cards, something I'd put off after several people told me it was bad. I don't think it was bad, just not as good as what went before.

I'm about halfway through season 4 now, and while it starts *painfully* slow, the arc through episodes 4,5 and 6 is right up there with the best of the first couple of seasons I think.

The chickens are coming home to roost, and the pay-off is going to be glorious. I hope.

[Combine Hunter]

(which you seem unusually keen to impress as you don't normally 'go to town' discussing things you're not as keen on)

I think it's because I do have history with this character, and I want to like this show.

[ratsoalbion]

I see, whereas I have no history with the character whatsoever.

[macstat]

Yesterday i started watching Portlandia and so far I'm enjoying it. I like this office style awkward humor and hipster theme has a ton of potential for hilarity.

[Todinho]

Finnished Narcos today the Netflix original series about Pablo Escobar and the war on drugs,the show didnt seem to cause much of an impression in the west but over here it became really popular because José Padilha(Known overseas as the Robocop remake director but known over here as the maker of the great Elite Squad 1&2) and Wagner Moura(the best current brazilian actor IMO) are involved in it and boy can you tell the show borrows heavily from Padilha's style in both Elite Squad movies to the point sometimes lifting some scenes and lines almost directly from it .Overall I really liked it,the beginning is a little slow but once it gets going it doesnt let up and you're constantly at the edge of your seat which is really surprising when it comes to this type of almost docu-drama tv show,it does rely alot on narration and exposition but that almost seems required for the show to be able to deliver so much info to the audience so if you hate that you're not gonna like this that being said though it's a great piece showing not just Pablo Escobar's empire but also Colombian society at that time and US interests and politics at the time I also love that politically nobody is glamorized from the drug dealers to communist guerrilas and US agents they are all shown with a level of humanity without sugar coating or glossing over what they did at the time,Escobar particulary is very well portrayed and while he's never shown as a "good guy" you go from simpatizing with him to hating his guts in a very natural way.
So yeah It was a pretty great crime drama and I highly recomend to anyone interested in the genre or is interested in the history of the war on drugs or Colombia.

[Beck]

I went to see Batman VS Superman tonight's with the missus. I enjoyed it, my girlfriend thought it was average. The film is loosely based on some of the alternative darker time lines which I found refreshing. Ben Afflecks is really good in it and I think he did well playing a darker Bruce Wayne / Batman.
7/10

[Alex79]

Yeah my sister liked it too, from what I've seen audience opinion seems a lot higher of it than reviews suggest it might be. I've been looking forward to it for years so I'm remaining hopefully optimistic!