Current Watching

[Hot Pepsi]

Yes, I'm 4 episodes into the first series and I'm very much drawn to the bits which have throw backs to the original trilogy, and there are plenty. My favourite episode so far is episode 2 as it has Jawas in it. It's a good enough programme but what's most interesting for me is that it's the first Star Wars thing that my son has truly got into himself. He's had years of me showing him all of the films (in the correct order, obviously), he's watched some of the cartoons and read the comics I've given him to read but this series seems to be his seminal Star Wars moment. Which is OK as there are plenty of worse options out there.

There are thousands of civilized planets in the Star Wars galaxy, and yet they keep going back to Tatooine. They need to mix that up a bit going forward. We've had enough of Mos Eisley, the Tusken Raiders and the Jawas.

[Tratorello]

There are thousands of civilized planets in the Star Wars galaxy, and yet they keep going back to Tatooine. They need to mix that up a bit going forward. We've had enough of Mos Eisley, the Tusken Raiders and the Jawas.

I get your point about desert planets being overdone in the Star Wars universe but The Mandalorian isn't set on Tatooine.

[Hot Pepsi]

Much of it is. The first episode of this season was on Tatooine as were some of the first season. The Tuskens and Jawas are on Tatooine.

https://screenrant.com/mandalorian-t...boba-fett-why/

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Tatooine

[danielmak]

I posted earlier that I watched the Showtime documentary mini-series about the Comedy Store in LA. That was only 5 episodes and pretty good. That was clearly part of Showtime's focus on the Comedy Store more generally with the fiction series, I'm Dying Up Here. Season 1 of I'm Dying Up Here, which may or may not have been discussed upthread, is pretty good as well. I'm two or three episodes into Season 2 and not feeling it. I might just treat Season 1 as a short series and call it a day, but who know. I subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Prime, and have multiple movie channels on my satellite and spent the last two nights surfing for 30 minutes before saying fuck it and going back to an EPL match from the past weekend that I had not watched.

[Patrick Thistle]

I get your point about desert planets being overdone in the Star Wars universe but The Mandalorian isn't set on Tatooine.

The Gunslinger episode in series 1 was on Tatooine, and as HP said the first two episodes featured Tatooine. I agree, though, we need to see more planets. We've yet to see Sallust in any canon output to my knowledge.

[Patrick Thistle]

I watched The Sum of All Fears on Netflix tonight. I know it's pretty old but I'd never actually watched it before.

[danielmak]

Maybe I solved the problem I complained about above. I'm two episodes into a new series on Prime called Wayne, which I found because one of my favorite hardcore bands, Torso, has a song in episode 1. The show has a Wild at Heart and True Romance vibe. I thought it was a new show but I guess it has been out for a while.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I thought this piece on the Queen's Gambit was interesting.

Make no mistake about it: The Queen’s Gambit is one of the shows of 2020 for its acting, costumes, and intricate chess choreography (step forward Gary Kasparov), but it stays with the viewer long after the last episode for its neat sidestepping of long-established dramatic tropes, especially those between men and women. (Warning: spoilers ahead.)

Just as last year’s surprise hit, Lisa Hanawalt’s animated comedy Tuca and Bertie, was revelatory for depicting realistic relationships of friendships between thirtysomething women, The Queen’s Gambit brings to light the platonic relationships that so many men and women enjoy.

[Ginger Yellow]

Not sure I'd call Tuca & Bertie a surprise hit. It sadly didn't do well enough to get renewed (though it has been picked up by Adult Swim, ironically enough), and its quality, style and tone wouldn't be a surprise to anyone familiar with Hanawalt and her work on Bojack.

[Levin]

I've watched Stephen Chow's two Journey to the West films over the last couple of nights. They are fun, maybe not very good. Shu Qi is brilliant as always.

It's made me want to watch Kung Fu hustle again, that's probably aided by Chow using the same musical themes in that and these more recent films.

The lighting and CGI look odd in places. I don't know if thats due to budget constraints, a lack of care, a stylistic choice or simply that the things portrayed are so unreal that you're never going to achieve verisimilitude.

They are worth watching at least.

[Lang Spoon]

A year late, but finished Succession last night. Fuck me, that was intense.

[S. aureus]

I've watched Stephen Chow's two Journey to the West films over the last couple of nights. They are fun, maybe not very good. Shu Qi is brilliant as always.

It's made me want to watch Kung Fu hustle again, that's probably aided by Chow using the same musical themes in that and these more recent films.

The lighting and CGI look odd in places. I don't know if thats due to budget constraints, a lack of care, a stylistic choice or simply that the things portrayed are so unreal that you're never going to achieve verisimilitude.

They are worth watching at least.

I've only seen the first one, but your review seems about right and I definitely enjoyed it.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I thought this piece on the Queen's Gambit was interesting.

It is a really engaging series, though — plot-wise — it's really a gender flipped Rocky, particularly the concluding episode. It was good to see that it that avoided the usual cliches [spoilers follow in white text.] She's in an orphanage, but not abused, in fact she's treated rather decently. Then she's adopted by a childless couple and not molested by her new father. Anya Taylor-Joy has a face you cannot stop looking at, which is fortunate as a the show spends a disproportionate amount making you do just that. Visually she has a touch of the Louise Brooks, for me never a bad thing.

[Sean of the Shed]

There are thousands of civilized planets in the Star Wars galaxy, and yet they keep going back to Tatooine. They need to mix that up a bit going forward. We've had enough of Mos Eisley, the Tusken Raiders and the Jawas.

I'd imagine the main reason that they keep returning to Tatooine is that it saves a good wedge of the budget that would go on setbuilding.

[WOM]

It is a really engaging series, though — plot-wise — it's really a gender flipped Rocky, particularly the concluding episode. It was good to see that it that avoided the usual cliches [spoilers follow in white text.] She's in an orphanage, but not abused, in fact she's treated rather decently. Then she's adopted by a childless couple and not molested by her new father. Anya Taylor-Joy has a face you cannot stop looking at, which is fortunate as a the show spends a disproportionate amount making you do just that. Visually she has a touch of the Louise Brooks, for me never a bad thing.

My beef is not a fatal one; but we sort of fell in love with the 'orphanage Beth', who was very much in the serious/determined camp like Eleven in Stranger Things. Then suddenly she became this sort of snotty, petulant adoptee (played by Taylor-Joy) and the tone change was jarring. It didn't help at all that Taylor-Joy looks so dramatically different that it's like we were meeting a whole new character. We grew to like her, of course.

[Amor de Cosmos]

[Damn! the white spoiler text shows up in the quote, sorry!]

I didn't find that shift particularly jarring, Taylor Joy played her in the later orphanage scenes and I just put her snottiness down to the onset of adolescence. BTW, I loved Jolene, both as a character and an actor.

[WOM]

Same here.

[Tratorello]

The Gunslinger episode in series 1 was on Tatooine, and as HP said the first two episodes featured Tatooine. I agree, though, we need to see more planets. We've yet to see Sallust in any canon output to my knowledge.

Nope, the first two episodes are set on a planet called Arvala-7 which features Jawas and is pretty much Tatooine in all but name but yes, Mando does visit Mos Eisley in Episode 5 to get repairs and then spends the rest of the episode on Tatooine.

[Tratorello]

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Arvala-7

[Hot Pepsi]

I'd imagine the main reason that they keep returning to Tatooine is that it saves a good wedge of the budget that would go on setbuilding.

Most of the sets are all digitally created on the new Volume system. It's amazing.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/20/ho...tv-production/

[Patrick Thistle]

Nope, the first two episodes are set on a planet called Arvala-7 which features Jawas and is pretty much Tatooine in all but name but yes, Mando does visit Mos Eisley in Episode 5 to get repairs and then spends the rest of the episode on Tatooine.

First 2 episodes of series 2 - my bad should have specified

[Patrick Thistle]

I watched Atomic Blonde tonight. More style that substance but I liked it.

[Jon]

Anya Taylor-Joy has a face you cannot stop looking at, which is fortunate as a the show spends a disproportionate amount making you do just that. Visually she has a touch of the Louise Brooks, for me never a bad thing.

She has had quite the impact on a friend of mine, who now wants to watch The New Mutants as she's in it. (I'm very fond of the 80s Claremont/Sienciewicz comic of the 80s so I saw it. It's an enjoyable film, despite the poor reviews). Another friend of mine's son is a big fan of her role in the Playmobil Movie.

[Hot Pepsi]

I watched Atomic Blonde tonight. More style that substance but I liked it.

I loved that and look forward to the sequel.

[danielmak]

I watched Atomic Blonde tonight. More style that substance but I liked it.

A lot of style in that one. But I really liked it as well. James Bond films were always the gold standard for espionage action films but now most of the Bond films are basically the same as any other action film: things blowing up every 5 minutes. The Bourne films seemed to take the place of what Bond films did: chases, fights, some intrigue about whose funding the band guys. Then the Bourne films became very repetitive. Atomic Blonde is not on par with Tinker Tailor or A Most Wanted Man in terms of storytelling but I thought there were enough twists in the plot and enough interesting fight scenes that it was a solid film.