Messages

46

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 07 March, 2022, 09:17:47 AM »

Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City
This was actually okay.  I'd say it comes out ahead of the previous run of live action films.  It's got some nice compositional choices that I appreciated.  Easy to follow and pretty predictable.  Very light on substance, mainly because of the large cast of characters and a lack of anything to actually say.  The zombie make-up was interesting.
I think it was pulling heavily from the first two games.  That's my best guess as I haven't played either of them, but know of them through references.  I get the feeling that game-fans might not appreciate the film, but I don't care because it was a fine watch.
Oh, there is sequel baiting as well.  Which I don't like.  Boo to that.

47

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 05 March, 2022, 11:03:16 AM »

Sin City A Dame To Kill For

Meh.

48

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 25 February, 2022, 09:36:39 AM »

Commando

A lot of fun, incredibly dumb.  The pacing in this film is really good and it's very clear what is going on and why it's going on.  Sort of.  I mean, rescuing someone by firing a rocket at them isn't what I'd call smart.  It has a lot of problems.  But it's still fun watching Arnold assault, kidnap, murder, rob, and massacre his way to his goal.

49

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 25 February, 2022, 09:26:04 AM »

Finished the first season of The Expanse and started the second.  The first flows very nicely into the second.  It's still very engaging.  There are mysteries set up, most get resolved but some don't and I think it hit the right balance for that.  The world is introduced in a compelling but not overly expository way and I find the array of characters interesting.  I don't know why I like Miller, he's an arsehole, but I do.  The quality is pretty high.  Well paced episodes in a well paced season.

50

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 21 February, 2022, 10:16:18 AM »

Tenet

I find Nolan a bit hit and miss.  I found this film a bit hit and miss.  I liked the concept and the cast, but I don't think either were utilised to their potential.  It was hard to get especially invested in what was going on.  The mix of rich-people abusive relationship power dynamic and high concept science fiction didn't work for me.  My biggest complaint is that obnoxious and invasive fucking soundtrack.  It's awful and rarely shuts up.  You know what I like to do?  Hear dialogue.  It was relentlessly pounding into my skull.  I don't think it set the tone right for the scenes as it was largely the same thing throughout with varying degrees of loudness.  It didn't add to the story and punctuate the narrative, it just droned on and on and on and on.  I will go so far to say that it's implementation in this film was incompetent.  For me it turned what could have been an okay movie into an average/below average movie.  It's a shame because the ideas in the film are really good.

51

Books & Comics / Re: Whats everyone reading?

« on: 20 February, 2022, 09:35:16 AM »

The Hobbit

This is so much easier to read than The Silmarillion.  This time reading The Hobbit I noticed that the style of writing somewhat changed through the course of the book.  At the start it came across a lot more as a parent telling a story to kids with a bit of humour thrown in to amuse themselves.  As the book goes on a lot of the conversational language disappeared along with the initial humour and came across more as a writer telling a story in a book.  I kind of like it.  It happens alongside Bilbo's growth as character and the escalation of the stakes.  I don't like how many situations are resolved through luck and/or happenstance.  Nevertheless, it didn't really make a difference to my enjoyment of the book.

Next up I'm going to try and read The Lord of the Rings again.  I may fail in getting through the entire thing.

52

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 14 February, 2022, 06:10:19 PM »

I think I'm generally okay with number of episodes.  I only watch an hour at most (usually 40 minutes) of a show per day with very rare exceptions.  I find it easier to digest a show doing it this way than when I'd binge.  It's also nice not to think about what I'd like to watch for a long time.  When I get near to the end of a series I usually know what I fancy watching next.  Plus I've got my rotation of shows I rewatch.

53

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 14 February, 2022, 03:51:36 PM »

That all sounds good.  I do like watching a series after it has been finished.  I have lost interest in so many TV shows due to having to wait for the next season.  The Expanse being one of these.  I only considered giving it a second go because of comments about the show made here

54

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 14 February, 2022, 01:33:41 PM »

I finished Adventure Time, including the finale for the first time.  Really punched me hard in the feels.  Absolutely loved how it wrapped up and I love the show as a whole.  There is a reason it is in my rotation, after all.

I'm now going to start on The Expanse from the beginning.  I only got as far as Season Two, so I've a lot of catching up.  Have they concluded the series yet?

55

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 14 February, 2022, 10:03:05 AM »

Venom Let There Be Carnage

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Venom film.  Not an especially good film, but I found it immensely entertaining largely off the back of Tom Hardy's dual performance.
The second film lacks some of that energy as the characters are already established.  Nevertheless I'd say this film is tighter in places the first was not.  Mainly in the story.  Also the journey of Brock and Venom's relationship from toxic to something more loving (of which the gay element is almost overt and all the better for it) is very endearing and the solid backbone of the film.

I'm not without criticism.  Woody Harrelson is fine as carnage but I thought back to his performance in Natural Born Killers a number of times and couldn't help be a little disappointed.  Not too much though, I don't exactly want him trying to replicate a previous role from a completely different film.
Also, the film is front heavy.  It kind of rushes to it's conclusion because it spent so much time setting up the conflict between Brock and Venom.  Still, not especially bothered by this because the set up is good even if does mess with the pacing.

Overall I enjoyed this film, but for different reasons to why I enjoyed the first.

The Running Man
Cheesy Schwarzenegger violent sci-fi action from the 80's.  I find it a fun romp and have a lot of affection for it.  That said, there is something that has never sat right for me.  Richard's is violent towards Mendez, tying her up, holding her captive and threatening further violence to coerce her into doing what she wants.  It makes the kiss at the end really creepy.
I do like Maria Conchita Alonso's character despite that.  I like her agency and charisma and it's a fun performance.

56

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 13 February, 2022, 10:26:20 AM »

Matrix Resurrections. Actually kind of amazing.

I was somewhat surprised how much I enjoyed this film and had much the same sentiments as you.  It is a contender for my favourite Matrix film and it was definitely the one I had the best time with on a first viewing.

57

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 07 February, 2022, 02:12:18 PM »

Thir13en Ghosts

A jumbled mess in many ways.  Not a good film.  Although the set design and make-up work is very impressive.  The worst thing about the film is the editing.  Horrendous cutting throughout.  This film is certainly less than the sum of it's parts.  A wealth of missed potential.  It reeks of a film that was pulled in too many different directions by too many people that any clear vision was lost.

58

Books & Comics / Re: Whats everyone reading?

« on: 05 February, 2022, 11:02:54 AM »

The Silmarillion

I don't think it bodes well for a piece of fiction that it feels like an accomplishment having got through it all.  This book is tedious.  By magnitudes more-so than Lord of the Rings.  I really understand why so many give up on it.  Nevertheless, I found parts interesting and there was one legitimately good chapter, that being Beren and Lúthien.

It is clear that this was not written as a narrative that was meant to read but a collection of edited notes on the lore of created world.  Things are glossed over, dialogue is dreadful and stilted and there are plenty of interminable lists of similar sounding names.  The latter making it hard to keep track of things, especially as it bounces a little back and forth in the timeline.

My big take-aways from the book is that almost everyone is a dick.  Especially the Elves.  I think it's meant to be a tragedy, but it's hard to feel sympathy for a people that lack redeeming qualities.  There are some nice characters in the book, but they are few and far between.  Then the Númenóreans show up and compete to be bigger dicks than the Elves are.  But they only got one chapter in the book.

In the end I found it all amusing in a macabre way.  There were some interesting things.  Like werewolves and vampires briefly appearing.  In the end, much of lore doesn't matter because it has no relevance to The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.  The few bits that are relevant are also interesting, but they are few and mostly at the end of the book.

59

Film & TV / Re: Last movie watched...

« on: 05 February, 2022, 10:43:48 AM »

From Dusk Till Dawn

A lot of fun.

From Dusk Till Dawn 2:  Texas Blood Money

Boring and not well made.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Watched it because it is supposed to be cannon in the Double Eff You.  It doesn't fit into that film series at all.  The character of Han from FF and from this film are quite different and although I accept that characters can change off screen I couldn't reconcile the two.  The film is largely about a group of Asian-American rich kids playing gangster and getting pissed off at a somewhat richer kid.  And killing him.  The narrative isn't exactly tight, the kids are all arseholes with little charisma and it's pretty creepy in places... especially the end.  Nevertheless, it's fine.  Just okay as a film.  Justin Lin uses some themes in from this film in Tokyo Drift and I think he finally laid to rest the demon of creepy unrequited love he had with that film.  It's not a Fast and the Furious film and it's not really worth watching for the expanded universe.  It is it's own thing and probably fairs better being taken as such.

60

Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction

« on: 29 January, 2022, 04:57:30 PM »

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Was surprised how much I enjoyed this.  I got tired of comedy shows a while ago because of how mean-spirited they mostly seemed to be.  This one is actually a lot more sweet and adorable.  I like most of the characters, I didn't get bored and I actually laughed.  Out loud.  More than once.  I think it resolves its conflicts in the right amount of time and the series as whole wrapped up nicely.  It even acknowledges the systemic and institutional problems of the police force without tired apologist nonsense about bad apples and isolated cases.  It's not a great social commentary, but it was a breath of fresh air that it got as much right as it did.  Really glad I watched it, it's going to go into the pool of TV shows I rewatch.  My favourite character is Rosa.

Adventure Time

Love this cartoon.  Maybe this time around I'll finally watch the final episode.  I like how it builds upon itself to create a rich world and story.  My favourite character is Marceline the Vampire Queen.