What Have You Watched Recently?

[Old Man]

3 hours ago, Bazza said:

Sadism? 

 

Masochism actually.

[Bazza]

Close. 

[Old Man]

Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut).  This cut makes for a completely different movie, and not merely because it adds 45 minutes to a 135 minute film.  There are some extremely critical new plot points that go a long, long way toward explaining the behavior of the characters in the theatrical release.  What's puzzling is why they chose to cut what they cut, as these critical plot points add mere seconds, perhaps a handful of minutes to the runtime.  The rest of the additional footage is nice to have and helps flesh out some other things but isn't nearly as necessary as the subplots around Sybilla's son and the attendant succession issues.  As much as I love to watch epic siege warfare sequences and loving slo-mo footage of charging cavalry and pennants billowing in the wind, I'd have sacrificed some of that in favor of releasing a film that, like, made sense.

 

The director's cut is a much better film than we all saw in the theater.  Ridley Scott is still terrible at conveying the passage of time even with the additional minutes, so KoH still has a bit of a highlight-reel feel to it, but the aforementioned epic battles have much more impact when there is actual character motivation involved.  It should be regarded as the apogee of epic filmmaking before CGI completely took over, not as the epic box office failure that it became.

[slikmar]

Anyone braved a theater to see the new Beetlejuice? just curious.

[Starlord]

3 hours ago, Old Man said:

Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut).  This cut makes for a completely different movie, and not merely because it adds 45 minutes to a 135 minute film.  There are some extremely critical new plot points that go a long, long way toward explaining the behavior of the characters in the theatrical release.  What's puzzling is why they chose to cut what they cut, as these critical plot points add mere seconds, perhaps a handful of minutes to the runtime.  The rest of the additional footage is nice to have and helps flesh out some other things but isn't nearly as necessary as the subplots around Sybilla's son and the attendant succession issues.  As much as I love to watch epic siege warfare sequences and loving slo-mo footage of charging cavalry and pennants billowing in the wind, I'd have sacrificed some of that in favor of releasing a film that, like, made sense.

 

The director's cut is a much better film than we all saw in the theater.  Ridley Scott is still terrible at conveying the passage of time even with the additional minutes, so KoH still has a bit of a highlight-reel feel to it, but the aforementioned epic battles have much more impact when there is actual character motivation involved.  It should be regarded as the apogee of epic filmmaking before CGI completely took over, not as the epic box office failure that it became.

 

Either way...it's a great show

[csyphrett]

another disc down for the Justice League. The Atom is back to stop an alien invasion. A trio of nerds summons a spirit that turns Solomon Grundy into a rage monster. Chronos makes his debut forcing the League to join forces with Jonah Hex, Pow Wow Smith, the western El Diablo, Bat Lash, and Terry McGinnis. Black Canary tries to get Wildcat to stop cage fighting for Roulette. When the League refuses to help Mister Miracle with a mission on Apocalypse, the Flash jumps in and shows the world's greatest escape artist what a little speed can do. Professor Milo lets Doomsday loose forcing Cadmus to shoot a nuclear kryptonite missile at Superman. The Suicide Squad infiltrate the watchtower to steal Ares's automaton, but then loose it to Felix Faust's ghost who invades Tartaras with it. Huntress and The Question take on Green Arrow and Black Canary over a mobster Huntress wants to kill.

 

Things about this that stand out is Hex letting Batman know he has time traveled in the past. Smith uses his Indian name, but the villain calls him Pow Wow. El Diablo was a comatose bank teller brought back to life. I never thought of him with a Spanish/Mexican accent. Roulette is from the Johns JSA and is supposed to be Terry Sloan's granddaughter. It is a retcon to match up with Infinity INC, but she is a villain. Professor Milo has a horrible fate in this just like he does in the later Brave and Bold. Plastique faces Captain Atom who in the comics becomes her husband. Tala and Hugo Strange is helping Cadmus. Monica Baccarin is Black Canary, and Adam Baldwin is Rick Flagg. Eiling, the military contact for Cadmus, is Captain Atom's superior in his revival comic after Crisis.  This version of the Question is one step ahead of everyone who constantly underestimates him. Ditko's Starman, Aztek the Detroit League except for Vixen, are in the background but no speaking lines yet. 

 

Main thing that kills me is Batman being a hypocrite. I don't know if they thought about it when they did it, but it sticks out when you watch the episodes back to back. Batman is mad at the League for exiling Doomsday to the Phantom Zone which is a harmless punishment, but he traps Chronos and his wife in a time loop forever.

CES              

[Ternaugh]

Inside Out 2: Sometimes, the sequel is better than the original. Riley's going through some changes, and that includes getting some new emotions. It's a very good watch. (4K UHD Blu-ray)

 

Beetlejuice: A recently-departed couple try to deal with an infestation of the living in their house, and get some unusual assistance. It's still a good watch. (4K UHD Blu-ray)

 

[Pariah]

Well, I just finished watching the 4th and final season of Enterprise. It was better than I remember, overall, although that series finale still sucks eggs.

 

What to watch next? I haven't seen the fifth season of Discovery yet. I also haven't seen the second season of Prodigy. Of course, now that school is in session, I don't have as much uncommitted time as I did. These two series might both have to wait a while.

 

Of course, I could watch something that isn't Star Trek. Hypothetically, of course.

[DShomshak]

Star Trek: Prodigy, Season 1. Not bad. Good enough to keep me watching despite the animation style, which I dislike. (Characters look like plastic dolls. I s this style derived from video games?)

 

The characters mostly hew to standard tropes, such as the brash rogue who must learn responsibility, and the seeming hulking monster who turns out to be sensitive and intelligent. I would like to have seen more alien-ness from Zero the Medusan -- one of his best lines came when he marveled at the truly amazing way they were all about to die. As an incorporeal energy being, he didn't take physical danger seriously. Characterization and dialogue were adequate for television, though, with no "talking down" for a supposed younger audience.

 

Most of the stories are pretty decent Trek. The best aspect is the situation that drives the story arc: Starfleet set events in motion that led to a planet's ruin. Nobody in Starfleet did anything *wrong,* but the results were horrible, and the primary antagonist means to do something about it; I won't say more to avoid spoilers.  ut he's also doing horrible things in response. This is heavier stuff than I expect for Star Trek -- and the climax of the story arc is one of the more tragic and heroic that I've seen from the franchise.

 

All in all, good TV and better-than-average Trek. I hope the library gets Season 2 before too long.

 

Dean Shomshak

[mattingly]

I love the Janeway hologram.