Whatcha Watchin'?

Dang teasers. It was revenge best served viewed cold.

2 Likes

Itā€™s been too long since I read the books. I thought they were okay, but a bit dry for my taste. So I donā€™t mind some of the digressions, like some of the Twelve being femaleā€¦ but Babcock as a literal seductive vamp isnā€™t playing out as well as Iā€™d initially hoped. Itā€™s pretty cliche.

I agree with you on Saniyya Sidney-- she is terrific, and the interactions between her and Gosselar are the main reason I keep tuning in. Though that might not be much longer, because the showā€™s not keeping my interest that well.

2 Likes

Yes, for clarityā€™s sake, I applaud the striving for diversity, but changing Babcock feels just sooo wrong.

ETA for spoiler explanation: Babcock before his transformation was a male rapist/killer who was rather subhuman. This is why the choice seems so bad.

1 Like

Just finished Luther season 5.
Am exhausted, emotionally.

3 Likes

Currently watching Rent ā€œLiveā€ which isnā€™t.

Donā€™t.

4 Likes

Annihilation.
(prime video)
weird movie. well made.the end credits are pretty. not sure it means anything.

2 Likes

That sums it up.

Pretty and pointless

4 Likes

The book is better. Borrows heavily from movies like Solaris and Stalker.

3 Likes

Can You Ever Forgive Me?, based on the memoirs of Lee israel.

Good movie, but probably better saved for a matinee. Melissa McCarthy does very good work, drawing from her darker side.

2 Likes

Oooh, thank you for reminding me. (Itā€™s been, what, five years or so since I read the first two novels, I think.)

Which makes last nightā€™s backstory for Babcock a huge swerve in narrative. They seem to be working really hard to give us sympathy for the devils, so to speak. The third book did pause the action to describe Fanning in the time Before, so itā€™s not completely unprecedented. But, IIRC, originally the only sympathetic one out of the Twelve was Carter, the wrongly convicted one. Are they trying to create doubt which side Babcock will fall on? And why, since her actions as a Viral show sheā€™s Team Fanning all the way?

2 Likes

I think a lot of that would have sorted itself out if they had simply followed the timeline/time jumps of the novels, and left Babcock a mystery to unfold as it was written.

I thought about how neatly each novel would fit into a season of shows, and I think it would have worked well.

2 Likes

Just saw it. Nice one. Good to see a movie without shoot em ups or jumps and thrills. More low key. Great performances, I thought.

3 Likes

Itā€™s very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale. Itā€™s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope itā€™s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. Itā€™s more Batman in his detective mode than weā€™ve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. Heā€™s supposed to be the worldā€™s greatest detective, and thatā€™s not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. Iā€™d love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, itā€™s going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.

ā€¦ This is the exactly the Batman movie Iā€™ve been wanting ever since the Dark Knight trilogy wrapped.

Iā€™ve been largely staying away from the DC movies since hearing how badly they screwed up (especially the characterization of Superman) in Man of Steel/Batman v Superman/Justice League, but with the good things Iā€™ve heard about Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and now Shazam and The Batman coming up, it sounds like theyā€™re finally turning a corner.

1 Like

Excellent soundtrack to boot!

I :heart: Blossom Dearie.

1 Like

I actually liked Man of Steel for its pro-immigrant theme, and for its new take on some aspects of the character. Iā€™m hardly a purist though.

Wonder Woman was the strongest thus far IMHO. Aquaman is a good excuse to eat popcorn, but had this oblivious side I wasnā€™t sure about. Things like showing the cliche of the lighthouse keeper securing a loose storm shutter, except itā€™s not a ā€œstorm shutterā€ but one of those purely decorative ones that doesnā€™t even cover the window.

4 Likes

The more I learn, the more it seems that pretty much everything in a movie is just that bad, but people only notice the stuff theyā€™re familiar with. If I didnā€™t turn that voice in my head off, I wouldnā€™t be able to watch any movie or TV show that used a computer. See also: Because Scienceā€™s Youtube videos about superhero movies, or LegalEagleā€™s videos about Liar Liar or Suits or How to Get Away With Murder, orā€¦

Iā€™ve seen the occasional TV show or movie where it seemed like the creators actually knew what they were talking about (The Wire comes to mind), but more often, I watch something like NCIS, where the show writers think that you can hack a computer faster if two people are typing on the same keyboard.

4 Likes

The computer stuff one generally just has to hold oneā€™s nose and think of the plot, yeah.

For me, thereā€™s stuff for verisimilitude and stuff for fantasy and spectacle. Superman shown being able to hover in mid-air through force of will (apparently) even though he needs a take-off jump to fly ā€“ whatever, looks cool (munches popcorn). Ditto Aquaman being able to push a nuclear sub to the oceanā€™s surface, but not beat his not-as-strong brother in hand-to-hand combat on the first try.

But stuff thatā€™s supposed to be banal and recognisable to draw me into the story, but instead it does the opposite because itā€™s the wrong thingā€¦ havenā€™t learned to do those.

On the other hand, when those things are done right itā€™s another reason to really get into a film.

[Edit: autocorrect]

3 Likes

Yeah, when Iā€™m actually watching the movie, most of that stuff doesnā€™t bug me so much; itā€™s just in retrospect that I go, ā€œHey, wait a minuteā€ (like the superhero landing that Tony does at the start of Iron Man 2, where he hits the ground fast enough that it should have shattered nearly every bone in his body, armour or no armour).

When Iā€™m watching movies, unless the movie takes a really nonsensical turn, itā€™s almost always character stuff that takes me out of it, especially when they try to base a characterā€™s decisions on emotional relationships that they tell us about rather than show us.

3 Likes

Just started Godless (watched the first episode last night)ā€¦ so far, so great. Jeff Daniels is killing it and I didnā€™t realize that Scoot McNairy was in it, so I like that. And Michelle Dockery!

Also have seen the first 2 episodes of the last half of the last season of Kimmy Schmidt! So far, so funnyā€¦

kimmy-schmidt-titus-hopeful

5 Likes