Watched all of White Lotus a while ago. Really good dark comedy set on a fancy hotel on Hawaii, lots of really good characters and very funny moments, but also has a few more sincere moments that work well too.
Would recommend highly. Unfortunately it's come off Now TV as of a few weeks ago, so you'll have to find another way to view.

Feirsteax wrote: ↑November 9th, 2021, 9:53 am Watched all of White Lotus a while ago. Really good dark comedy set on a fancy hotel on Hawaii, lots of really good characters and very funny moments, but also has a few more sincere moments that work well too.
Would recommend highly. Unfortunately it's come off Now TV as of a few weeks ago, so you'll have to find another way to view.

Good shout. I watched that without knowing anything about it when I had a nowtv trial and thought it was great. I just want to add that the cast is incredible. I thought the guy who played the hotel manager was excellent and probably my favourite character of anything this year.

As a superfan of the Big Bang Theory (yesss I know!.. Its my comfort tele and I have legit watched it end to end at least 30 times), I was always reluctant to watch Young Sheldon because the first few episodes didn't capture me.

Binged the first 4 seasons and boy I was wrong, It grows on you like a mouldy sock. It hugs that Malcom in the Middle line of not needing a laugh track with witty quick fire stories and moments, coupled with genuine heart.

Honestly brilliant if you are a fan of easy watching. Happy to say pleasantly surprised.

I just can't, man. I'm happy for you and all that, but Big Bang Theory just irks me in a way little else manages.

Mind you, I'm certainly no TV snob, if you fancy something else just as easy watching and pleasantly nice, check out Superstore. Watched it from start to finish recently and loved it.

Seph wrote: ↑November 9th, 2021, 6:16 pm Good shout. I watched that without knowing anything about it when I had a nowtv trial and thought it was great. I just want to add that the cast is incredible. I thought the guy who played the hotel manager was excellent and probably my favourite character of anything this year.

100% agree, he was a brilliant character. And a shout out to Jennifer Coolidge as well who I thought was great in her role too.

Alex79 wrote: ↑November 9th, 2021, 8:14 pm I just can't, man. I'm happy for you and all that, but Big Bang Theory just irks me in a way little else manages.

Mind you, I'm certainly no TV snob, if you fancy something else just as easy watching and pleasantly nice, check out Superstore. Watched it from start to finish recently and loved it.

Then you might actually enjoy Young Sheldon ironically.

Watched Dune twice now. I was lukewarm on it first time, but I fell in love with it the second time round. Understanding it a bit more, catching some things I'd missed and enjoying that huge expansive world was a fantastic experience. It was a lot of set up, but it still felt like a worthwhile story in its own right, ending with Paul's beginning of his new life, it was very metaphorical and symbolic and all that. Loved it.

Timothy did a good job as well, didn't expect to like him as Paul but I thought he did a good job.

Watched Ant Man and the Wasp last night for my podcast and was really disappointed with it. The first film was one of the best MCU films I've seen in my journey so far, but this was one of the worst. It had some laughs but I just found the plot to be difficult to follow and the script confusing with too many sciencey terms being thrown around which made no sense, it kind of reminded me of Doctor Who in that way. I also felt that the fight sequences didn't play into the whole shrinking and enlargening mechanic as much as the first film and also lacked the comedy element in the fights. For example the first film has the sequence with the fight on the Toy train track which was also quite funny, this film had nothing like that. Paul Rudd was still great though.

Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters Afterlife

I had never watched the original Ghostbusters before and was going to see Afterlife on Sunday so decided to watch the original on Friday night. I thought it was good fun but didn't really see why it is held down as a classic but maybe it's just as me. The characters were fun and the special effects must have been great at the time. I can't believe it was a PG as there was some pretty scary stuff in there I know would've terrified my as a kid. Anyway I enjoyed it and it did help me understand Afterlife a bit more which I enjoyed about as much as the original. It has some really funny moments in it and the girl in it is really good. Again though, nothing about it really blew me away. I can imagine though that if you are a huge fan of the original films you will get a lot more out of Afterlife as I have heard a few people now say it made them cry. One person behind me in the cinema clapped at the end. I would give both films 3/5.

Truk_Kurt wrote: ↑November 24th, 2021, 1:04 pm Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters Afterlife

I had never watched the original Ghostbusters before and was going to see Afterlife on Sunday so decided to watch the original on Friday night. I thought it was good fun but didn't really see why it is held down as a classic but maybe it's just as me. The characters were fun and the special effects must have been great at the time. I can't believe it was a PG as there was some pretty scary stuff in there I know would've terrified my as a kid. Anyway I enjoyed it and it did help me understand Afterlife a bit more which I enjoyed about as much as the original. It has some really funny moments in it and the girl in it is really good. Again though, nothing about it really blew me away. I can imagine though that if you are a huge fan of the original films you will get a lot more out of Afterlife as I have heard a few people now say it made them cry. One person behind me in the cinema clapped at the end. I would give both films 3/5.

Heretic!!!!

But seriously, interesting comments there Kurt. I think it's probably of it's time for sure and I can totally appreciate the disconnect for alot of people.

I have yet to see afterlife and if you think it's on par with the originals, then it's bodes well because I love the originals.

Cmon Cmon.

Presumably so named because that's what you'll be saying to yourself as you check your watch, waiting for it to end.

In all seriousness, it's fine. Very much a naturalistic 'slice of life' type film where there isn't really a plot, so if you like that kind of thing you'll probably enjoy it. I tend to prefer more traditional/formulaic movies with more conflict and resolution, and it just isn't that kind of thing.

Some nice acting and sweet moments, but it's also quite pretentious at times. Staid observations/cliches about parenthood don't magically become profound just because you film them in black and white and intercut them with non-scripted interviews with real kids. And you have to wonder that if it didn't star an A List actor, would everyone be heaping all this praise on it? Because I doubt it. Would have worked better as a short film imo.

Started watching that Beatles doc on Disney Plus, Get Back. Fascinating to see them rehearsing and trying to come up with song ideas. As someone who's been in bands for the best part of 30 years, that tension between them when trying to write songs was so relatable. The niggling nit-picking and short tempered frustration, I can only imagine how much worse it must have been for The Biggest Band In The World.

It's led to me rediscovering the band a bit on Spotify. Of course I know them, I've listened to them all my life, but every now and then I'll really dive back in for a few days. It's easy now to look back and almost dismiss all the hype and praise the band got over the years as excessive, to think they were 'over-rated' or something like that, but no, that's just wrong, they were absolute genius song writers, exceptional for the time and the songs will outlive them by hundreds of years, they're just classics. Absolute classics. Stuff like Hello Goodbye, Come Together, Eleanor Rigby, man, most of them to be honest.

They have some absolute classics that's for sure. I know they get lots of hype but some of their stuff really is timeless. I have to agree.

Recently watched Run Lola Run, a movie that had been on my watchlist since it came out over twenty years ago, but I somehow never got around to.

It's a little gem of a movie. Really inventive and exuberant, a perfect time capsule of late 90s Euro cool, and the short running time (well under 90 mins iirc) just flies by.

Did anyone see the new Resident Evil movie? My wife and I were not fans of it.

That isn't surprising. The trailer makes it look like a fan film.

I watched the original The Thing last week after a recommendation from the Modern Escapism podcast and really loved it. Reminded me a lot of Alien but I thought it was much scarier due to the horrendous monster designs (horrendous in a good way), the practical effects and make up for them were superb. I thought I was going to have nightmares! The sense of paranoia was palpable too between the crew members. Plus it has Kurt Russell in it and so my theory of any film with a 'Kurt' in it being good continues

Anyone else watching Dr. Brain? it's an apple tv show (at least in the US), but it's some of the best scifi TV I've seen. It's really well directed and it does a great job making a really compelling mystery without being incomprehensible. It's the best show I've seen this year.

Got massively into Critical Role lately... I know I know, it's pretty much a well known thing at this stage and I totally intended to check it out sooner. I am totally in love with this format (ironically works better in podcast form for me) because it's such a good listen on my commutes.

Hey kids, it's Master Chief!



--Dan