Whatcha Been Watching?

[Scrustle]

I've been watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex recently, since I discovered that the whole first series is actually up on Youtube, on Manga Entertainment's own channel. I'm really enjoying it. So much so I would even say it's actually a lot better than the first film (I've yet to see the second). I think the kind of stories they try to tell with Ghost in the Shell fit the episodic style far better than a full-length film. Much better paced, and doesn't get bogged down in itself. Also gives them the opportunity to drift from the path of the overarching narrative to do smaller, more character-focused things, or to delve in to some of the philosophical themes. I'm even enjoying the subplot stuff with the Tachikomas. They're quite charming in a way.

I also watched a film on that channel; Redline. I saw trailers for it ages ago, when I think they were advertising the release of the dub. It always looked really cool to me, but I never saw it until lately. Really fun film. A visual feast, full of gorgeous, imaginative, and extremely stylised animation, that doesn't let up for the whole film. The plot is kind of nonsense though, but it has a sense of humour about itself. It's kind of only there to give a slap-dash reason for insane things to happen, but it has a certain level of self-awareness about that fact. It's ridiculous, but all the more fun and hilarious because of it.

I was a little thrown off by recognising some of the voice actors though. One of the main characters is the same guy who voices Weiss from Nier, except here he's a scumbag with an American accent. The protagonist's voice was really familiar to me as well, and when I looked it up it turned out his voice actor was Mondo from Killer is Dead.

[DomsBeard]

Speechless at the end of last night's 24. Was genuinely one of my favourite episodes ever.

[Scrustle]

So I just watched the first two episodes of Korra Book 3! I'm a little bit sceptical about the series now, because I still don't think it's ever been able to touch what TLA was, and it's squandered a lot of potential. A lot of times last series I was thinking that it looked as if it was going in a good direction, but it never really played out as well as it could have. It was still good, but I don't think I can really give the show that benefit of the doubt anymore. That said, these first two episodes were pretty good. They picked things up really quickly. We've already got Team Avatar going on a journey around the Earth Kingdom, and a group of very shady individuals have been gathering in the background. It's not clear yet what they're going to do with all this stuff, but they've definitely hit the ground running this time, instead of all those false starts they had last time round. And on to some spoilery stuff...

Spoiler: show

Zuko is back! And he's riding on a goddamn dragon! He seems like a very different person to who he was in TLA though, but that makes sense given how long it's been. It might take a little getting used to his new voice though. It's not that it's bad or anything, but Dante Basco just was Zuko to me. But obviously they weren't going to go with his voice again, for a very aged version of the character. As well as him voicing someone else in this new series, as brief a part as it was. Zuko seems to know something about these shady presumably antagonist characters though. So it'll be interesting to see exactly who they are and how he is linked to them.

And speaking of those lot, one of them doesn't seem to have arms. The waterbending woman. It was a little hard to tell, but it seems she only has stumps, but she uses waterbending tentacles as a substitute. Quite an interesting and unique choice for character design. As for the group as a whole, there's not really much else to go on. We don't know who they are, except that they're very dangerous, and that they seem quite obviously evil. Not sure how I feel about that. A stereotypically evil antagonist can be done well, and it was brilliantly in TLA, but that was because the Fire Lord was very much a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. He was the one pulling the strings, and when you did finally get to see him he really came across as very intimidating. These guys, so far don't seem to be very secretive at all. They also have a huge vendetta against the Avatar already. So yeah, could go either way with them.

And there are new airbenders! That was a pretty interesting plot development. I think that was actually a good direction for them to take. It certainly gives the characters something to do, a mystery to work out, as well as an opportunity to introduce more characters. I liked that when they went around searching for these new airbenders to join Tenzin and the nomads, that most of them said no. Forcing someone to join a completely different society just because they suddenly gained an ability they didn't ask for shouldn't be easy. Not sure about the kid that they did get to join them though. Seems like he probably will betray everyone, because "drama". Hopefully it'll be handled better than that.

I did notice something that didn't seem right to me though. Korra briefly went in to the Avatar State at one point. I thought she wasn't supposed to be able to do that anymore because of being cut off from the past Avatars. It wasn't acknowledged at all. I thought maybe it might be explained in that game that Platinum are making, since that's supposed to take place between Book 2 and 3, but I sincerely doubt that. To be honest, even though that game is going to be written by one of the show's main writers, and I'm excited to play it, I'm not holding out much hope for the story. Judging by how it seems to have affected the story of Book 3 (not at all) it might as well be considered non-canon anyway.

[Todinho]

I quickly looked at the spoiler tab and saw what I've been wanting to see since season one of Korra I wasnt gonna watch this season but now I have to!Yeah I know it's pure fanservice and I'll probably keep having problems with the show but as long they keep true to that character and he does awesome stuff I'll be happy.

[Electric Crocosaurus]

Up to episode 8 of the second season of Hannibal, and this has turned into the most weird and wonderful show on TV currently. It exists in a bizarre world of heightened reality, where one man can put together these dazzlingly inventive murderous scenes each week, but it's genuinely unsettling, and flawlessly performed by Mads Mikkelson and Hugh Dancy. News of a 3rd season is very welcome.

[DomsBeard]

Cap America Winter Soldier.

I enjoyed this more than the first as Cap has a bit more personality even though it's predictable as hell throughout.

Her.

A very unique film with a great performance from Joaqin Phoenix. You could see this happening in the future for real.

The Lego Movie.

Absolutely brilliant, if you've ever played with Lego it's a must see. (and the hishe is amazing if you're into those)

[Todinho]

So yesterday I had the brillant idea to watch one of the Resident Evil movies,no not a live action one a CG one that are considered to be even worse,now I dont know if my expectations were so low nothing could disapoint me but I actually enjoyed this movie for what it was it has some cool actions scenes near the end that made the whole movie worth it,it also tries to show why it would make sense to have these BOW in a battlefield and it's not very long either it's less than 2 hours so you dont lose much time,now the plot and characters are paper thin but the movie at least tries it takes place in a former soviet republic that has entered in civil war with rebels wanting indepence from the central goverment that's currently completelly crushing their movement(how topical isnt it now this movie was made in 2012 so I guess somebody at Capcom is a seer of some kind,I wonder if Poroshenko knows kung fu now),anyway BOW's get involved and enter our protagonist Leon S Kennedy to sort things out.
I'd say is worth a watch if you're already in the RE boat and dont mind a mediocre movie with some cool actions scenes and needless fanservice(Leon is RE4 levels of badass here),the movie is Resident Evil:Damnation(what a great title isnt it XD)

[Alex79]

Just finished watching Breaking Bad complete run for the second time. I can easily see myself revisiting it again in a few years. Absolute quality from start to finish. We also watched the first episode of Orange Is The New Black last night after everyone has been going on about it for ages. Seemed ok, definitely going to give it a few more episodes. I really want to watch Deadwood. I've got the entire series and seen the first episode about three times now and never managed to get any further!

In movies I watched Captain Philips the other night, which I enjoyed although my girlfriend fell asleep. I'm going to rewatch District 9 tonight I think, which is one of my favourites from recent(ish) years.

[Scrustle]

Watched Korra Book 2 episode 1 today. As much as I have misgivings about that series, that first episode is actually pretty great. I think watching the whole thing through a second time will probably be a very different experience too.

But I mostly wanted to mention it just to inform people that the Region 1 Blu Ray is in fact region free, just as Book 1 was. Or they work in my PS3 at least. Either way, they're safe to get if you don't want to wait around for ages for them to release Region 2 versions, if they ever bother.

[The_Rooster]

Finished season 1 of Under the dome a retelling of the Steven King novel. Started good but drifted into to many plot points towards the end. Second season starts next month I probably start it.

Movie wise I watched The World's End and enjoyed it. It's not as funny as Shawn of the dead or Hot fuzz but I don't feel it was trying to be. I'm bias as I do love pegg and frost. Also watched Edge of Tomorrow not bad. Think Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers.

Over the next few days planning on watching The Raid 2, loved the 1st so hope this keeps it up.

[Todinho]

Watched all avaliable episodes of Korra and so far im liking it they are traveling around to interesting places,their quest is pretty straight foward and compeling and the villans are pretty cool looking foward for the rest of the season hopefully this time they'll get it right

Spoiler: show

There's not enough Zuko in this season,also is it just me or Zaheer sounds alot like a Amon 2.0 but with a much better team?Also how did they build thay gigantic metal city in less than 50 years?

[Scrustle]

So I just watched eps. 4 and 5 of Korra too. I wasn't actually expecting them to be released so soon. Haven't really been keeping an eye on the schedule as well as I should have obviously. But holy hell these episodes were really great! Ep. 5 especially.

Spoiler: show

At first I was pretty disappointed at where they went with Kai. He did pretty much exactly what I thought he would do. Betray everyone the first chance he gets, so he can get himself in peril. But it was cool to see him turn in to something more honourable through his experience in the compound, and to see him bonding with that other inmate. The breakout was a brilliant action scene too. I like that they mentioned Lake Laogai again as well, but it was also cool that they didn't just use the location again. Just a quick reference to it, but still going in a new direction instead.

But the next episode was amazing! I loved everything about it. I was really glad they moved on from Ba Sing Se, because we've seen enough of that already, and honestly, Republic City isn't really that different from it either. I also didn't really like the Earth Queen. But anyway, this new metal city is brilliant. Gorgeous visual design, and an introduction of a whole load of good characters, all of which serve to massively flesh out Lin, who's one of my favourite characters already. It was pretty amazing hearing about what Toph had gotten up to as well. Having multiple children from different fathers! And she's still alive somewhere too! I also really liked that they gave Bolin a new romantic interest that actually feels natural as well. It always felt kind of contrived and pointless having him go after Eska in Book 2. Plus having that girl also be one of the new airbenders gives her a great reason to stick around and interact with other people too. So far she does seem a little bland though, but hopefully they'll flesh her out some more.

I'm not sure I like the idea of Varrick being back though. I never really liked him that much to begin with. He always came across to me as always being just a little bit too "wacky" for the sake of it. I've never been sure what to think of his betrayal either. It felt like it came out of nowhere, but in a way that also gives it a certain sense of realism to it. It's annoying when you can see a betrayal a mile off, like the Kai. But the way they just Varrick escape before seemed a bit unbelievable to me. He got away with what he did way too easily. Well, so far it doesn't seem like he's going to be a major part of the series like last time. He's just living in this metal place. He doesn't have a reason to interfere with anything else going on.

And on your spoilers Todinho:

Spoiler: show

I don't think Zaheer seems like Amon. His motivations and methods are completely different. We're still not sure exactly what he's aiming to do right now either. Amon was very clear from the start. But whatever Zaheer is up to, I think it's safe to say it's nothing like what Amon was trying to do.

And I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that an entire colony of metalbenders could build a city within 50 years. There's obviously a lot of them, and they're all very highly skilled metalbenders too. And it doesn't seem like the city is utterly enormous either. It doesn't seem anywhere near as big as Ba Sing Se for example.

And on Zuko, I don't think we've got far enough in to the series to see whether he's had an appropriate role in it yet. He hasn't really had much reason to do more than he has so far, and I'd rather it go that way than them trying to force him in everywhere because he's an old favourite. It seems that now he's more of a political figure than someone who gets involved in action, even though that was cool to see again. But still, it did seem like he was a bit rusty with his fighting skills, and that being the Fire Lord, his job is more about keeping things in order instead.

EDIT: I looked up Zuko on the Avatar Wiki and found that he's actually retired. Still, being retired means that he's naturally going to take a back seat in stuff like this. Plus he's almost 90.

But I'm unsure what to do about rewatching Book 2. I was expecting that new episodes would be coming slowly, so I would have a chance to quickly watch Book 2 again before we got more of Book 3. I guess not.

[Scrustle]

So today I watched Tekkonkinkreet. And holy hell is that an amazing film! It's a story about two orphaned young boys, called "Black" and "White", living in an old, run down district of a fictional city in Japan, getting mixed up with the criminal underworld and Yakuza and street thugs, and some very odd urban developers. Mostly it's about the relationship of the boys though, who are actually a feared force in the area, even by the other criminals. They're kind of their own little street gang in themselves.

It's an absolute visual feast though. The environments are gorgeous, and the characters and animation have a really interesting and unique style to them. There are quite a few trippy sequences too, where things get pretty crazy. There's something about the overall feel of the film though which is unlike anything else I've seen before. I suppose it has something to do with the directing, but I wouldn't know enough about filmography to know what it is precisely, but it definitely has an incredibly gripping feel all to its own.

The story is very emotionally powerful too. I don't want to spoil any of it, but it really hits you hard in some spots. Not just in the relationship between the boys either. There are a few scenes where even conversations between antagonist characters can tug at you. Although, a lot of the "antagonist" characters aren't really so black and white. They have some depth to them, and there's only really one major character who comes off as all bad.

I also got a distinct feeling that White, the younger of the two boys, was perhaps supposed to have Aspergers, or maybe something else similar to autism. It's never explicitly explained, although he does behave in a very specific way which they do draw attention to at several points. He acts younger than he is in some ways, and can also seem pretty detached from reality, speaking in strange terms and displaying odd, obsessive habits, and being rather single-minded. Black also has to take care of him in a lot of ways, like dressing him and such. There are also some more story specific things about what characters say about him, and how he reacts to certain events, but I want to avoid spoiling stuff.

Anyway, I was totally blown away by the film. Utterly amazing, and something very unusual. Go watch it. Right now.

[DomsBeard]

Transformers Age Of Extinction.

Terrible, terrible film. Beyond bad, awful, disgraceful I know of should've seen it coming but wow speechless.

[JaySevenZero]

So today I watched Tekkonkinkreet. And holy hell is that an amazing film!

I love this film. I saw this upon its release in a cinema in Tokyo in Dec. 06 and have watched it many times since the blu-ray release. I would recommend perhaps reading the original manga sometime as the creator, Taiyo Matsumoto has his own very distinctive visual style too. It's kind of a quirky film in many ways since it was directed by an American and the distinctive soundtrack is created by UK duo Plaid. It stands to date as one of my most watched anime features (along with Summer Wars).

After watching the film we couldn't resist buying a bunch of stuff such as a 'making of' book and these little fellows

[Scrustle]

So this is happening.

http://www.nickandmore.com/2014/07/23/n ... premieres/

What the hell is it with Nick and Avatar? Why do they seem to hate that they've got one of the best animated shows ever created?

[Electric Crocosaurus]

Went to see Guardians of the Galaxy last night. Marvel really do have this stuff in the bag: fun, solid action, plenty of laughs, it's exactly what you want from a summer blockbuster. The post-credits sting in particular is brilliant (possibly my favourite so far). With Phase 2 having been made up of sequels to this point, it was refreshing to see a new set of characters. The one down-side (and it's been mostly true of the Marvel films for a while) is that the villains are poorly served: Karen Gillan as Nevula looks the part, but has little to do but glower, Lee Pace as Ronin is one-note (and could easily be interchanged with Chris Eccleston in Thor 2) and there's a general lack of menace throughout.

Also, it was the Hannibal Season 2 finale this week, and wow. It was always a great show, but this series has established it as quite brilliant. There's nothing like it visually or tonally on TV, and if you've been holding off because of Hannibal fatigue (understandable after the mess that was Hannibal Rising) then you should reconsider that position.

[Lego Solo]

Saw Guardians last night as well. Quick review: Most fun I've had in a cinema with my clothes on in years [emoji6] In fact I liked it that much I'm going to see it again next week in IMAX.

[kappisun]

Watched snowpiercer last night. Mixed bag really. Good concept & enjoyed most of it but found some elements really jarring and was left with a bit of a meh feeling at the end

[Todinho]

Well im back on the Korra train after the last 2 episodes!Everything is going in the direction I wanted it to go so yeah im feeling that season 1 excitement again .

Spoiler: show

Gonna be honest I didnt care much for Lin Bei Fong family drama or Tenzi's for that matter but episode 8&9 really brought me back!And Zaheer really is what I expected him to be a Amon 2.0 in a political sense im also really glad they made him a straight up anarquist I hope he can live up to his potential!