Whatcha Been Watching?

[JaySevenZero]

Y'know, I didn't think I'd be looking forward to a Zack Snyder film but here we are!

Truth is, I do get excited for sci-fi that goes big on spectacle and doesn't need to offer much beyond just a rollercoaster ride of action on alien worlds. The fact that it's Netflix just guarantees that I'll be watching this on Dec 22nd, besides, it'll act as filler between multiple rewatches of The Creator and the release of Dune Part 2 in March and if it happens to be good film too, well, then that'll be a bonus.

[Truk_Kurt]

Mank
Continued my watching of David Finchers movies before The Back Page Podcast episode on them later this month by watching Mank.
I can't say I enjoyed watching this film much at all and it definitely ranks at the bottom of his films I've seen so far for me. It is about the writing of the script for Citizen Kane and what was going on in that period in Hollywood and America. Gary Oldman is really good as Mank but the rest of the film I just found really dull. Not helped by the sound which made it difficult to hear what people were saying so I eventually put subtitles on.
I just don't think the true story upon which it is based is interesting enough at a fundamental level to make a 2 hour movie out of, regardless of who was behind the camera. The script for Mank was written by Finchers Dad and it does feel like it was a project that Fincher wanted to do to honour his Dad. Sadly for me I just found it a bit of a slog to get through.

[Truk_Kurt]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Next up on my David Fincher list was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I really enjoyed this, a really good example of one of those films that follows the whole life of a person but Benjamin has the unique aspect to him that he ages in reverse. It tells a good drama/love story which got me quite emotional at times, has great performances all round and a wonderful soundtrack. I think they could have played more into the whole reverse aging thing a bit more as it only really comes into the film at the beginning and end but that's my only slight criticism. 4/5

[Truk_Kurt]

The Marvels
Thought this was ok, the 3 main characters had a great dynamic and I liked all the stuff with the cats. The villain was naff though and it was a bit too heavy on CGI space fights for me. 2.5/5

[Alex79]

I started that new F1 documentary on Disney Plus, having really enjoyed Netflix's Drive To Survive, but to be honest I found it really dry and uninteresting, despite being a big Keanu Reeves fan.

[JaySevenZero]

Been a long time coming but if this is as much of a ride as the astounding Fury Road was, I'm hyped!

[Rhaegyr]

Fury Road is pretty much the best action film I've ever seen so to say I'm hyped is an understatement.

[Truk_Kurt]

Over the weekend I watched the final 2 David Fincher movies I hadn't seen in Zodiac and Panic Room. Both were brilliant. Zodiac in particular just cemented to me that Fincher is at his best when doing crime/murder mystery. What with Zodiac, Seven, Gone Girl, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Mindhunter. So now I have seen all his work I would rank them as follows, with the preface that there was only Mank I really didn't like, The Killer and Alien 3 weren't amazing but had some redeeming qualities. But the rest were brilliant films, he's defenitiely one of, if not my favourite director.

1 Seven
2 Fight club
3 Gone Girl
4 Dragon Tattoo
5 Zodiac
6 Panic Room
7 Social Network
8 Benjamin Button
9 The Game
10 Alien 3
11 The Killer
12 Mank

[Rhaegyr]

Reservation Dogs - Season 3

The most funny, touching, dramatic, well acted and downright joyous thing I've seen in years. Can't remember the last time I watched a show with such a likable cast. Incredible show that everyone needs to watch.

Can't rate it highly enough.

[JaySevenZero]

Reservation Dogs - Season 3

The most funny, touching, dramatic, well acted and downright joyous thing I've seen in years. Can't remember the last time I watched a show with such a likable cast. Incredible show that everyone needs to watch.

Can't rate it highly enough.

I absolutely loved this show and I second your opinion wholeheartedly!

[Truk_Kurt]

Oppenheimer
If I’m honest it didn’t really click with me, not by any stretch saying it’s bad as it’s definitely more me than the film but I just found it hard to keep up with over its mammoth running time. It was worth it for the Trident Test explosion scene though. I think it was perhaps just a bit too much of a tally for my own tastes. Can definitely see why people would love it though.

Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves
You know, I really liked it. I’m not one for fantasy films normally but this was just a lot of fun to watch. I thought it was funny but knew when to be serious and there was a great chemistry between the leads. Hugh Grant was great too. It speaks volumes that someone like myself with zero D&D knowledge can enjoy it.

[JaySevenZero]

I feel compelled to write that Rebel Moon on Netflix was without any doubt one of the most derivative, embarrassingly written and downright soulless wastes of two hours and fifteen minutes of my time I've watched all fucking year and I even went in with low expectations but Zack Snyder still managed to deliver a work of such puerile and hackneyed annoyance. Now to wait until April to see if the second part is just as fucking bad as the first!

[Alex79]

Despite the ever growing pile of things I would genuinely love to watch I have spent the last month re-watching all of Parks and Rec. It's still great.

[Tolkientaters]

I just finished watching Scavengers Reign on Max and its now my favorite show this year. There's a sequence in the final episode that was similar to the sequence in Twin Peaks the Return episode 8 and Annihilation, it gave me chills and is definitely the best thing I've seen this year.

It's a fantastic original scifi animation with a simple premise that just executes everything just about perfectly, absolutely worth checking out.

[Truk_Kurt]

Trying to catch up on some shows from 2023 and started Pokerface and it has been excellent. If you haven't heard of it, it's a show written by Rian Johnson of Knives Out and Glass Onion fame. Like those films, it is a murder mystery show except that you see at the start of the episode who has done the murder and the rest of the episode is all about how main character Charlie solves the murder. What makes it even more unique though is that Charlie has the ability to tell when people are lying. Each of the 10 episode has it's own story of the week but there is an overriding narrative which is established in the first episode. It also has a touch of humour and exaggerated characters like Knives Out and Glass Onion.

It's on Now TV/Sky for anyone who wants to check it out.

[JaySevenZero]

Trying to catch up on some shows from 2023 and started Pokerface and it has been excellent. If you haven't heard of it, it's a show written by Rian Johnson of Knives Out and Glass Onion fame. Like those films, it is a murder mystery show except that you see at the start of the episode who has done the murder and the rest of the episode is all about how main character Charlie solves the murder. What makes it even more unique though is that Charlie has the ability to tell when people are lying. Each of the 10 episode has it's own story of the week but there is an overriding narrative which is established in the first episode. It also has a touch of humour and exaggerated characters like Knives Out and Glass Onion.

It's on Now TV/Sky for anyone who wants to check it out.

This is a great series, if anyone's a fan of Columbo I reckon you'll get something out of it for sure.

[Rhaegyr]

Can't believe I'm saying this in 2024 but - Beavis and Butt-Head.

Also can't believe I'm saying this - it's probably the best it's ever been.

[Truk_Kurt]

Society of the Snow
First film of the year watched in Society of the Snow which has just launched on Netflix. It's a Spanish subtitled film telling the true story of the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster. It's an incredibly bleak film to the point where it is verging on horror as you see the lengths these people went to to survive and the constant set backs they faced. It's an incredible story. It does run on a little long with some scenes dragging out but that's my only criticism. 4/5

[Alex79]

Can't believe I'm saying this in 2024 but - Beavis and Butt-Head.

Also can't believe I'm saying this - it's probably the best it's ever been.

New series? Or you watching old ones?

[Rhaegyr]

Can't believe I'm saying this in 2024 but - Beavis and Butt-Head.

Also can't believe I'm saying this - it's probably the best it's ever been.

New series? Or you watching old ones?

New series with a free Paramount + trial.

It's really good, especially if you used to like it back in its' hey-day. Much better than the one season revival in 2011.