Current Watching

[Sits]

I really liked About Time.

I’m sorry HP, I’m far too jaded about a few irrational things. My wife and daughter love it and I can see from the reviews that so do many, many people.

[Hot Pepsi]

It spoke to me as somebody who thinks way too much about how I should have done something differently in the past. All of the movies or Twilight Zone episodes like that stick with me. For example, I have lots of thoughts on It’s a Wonderful Life.

I also really like Bill Nighy and Rachel MacAdams.

And it didn’t seem to be quite so smug and posh as other Curtis films.

[Hot Pepsi]

I started Sound of Metal on Prime. Been watching about 20-30 minutes the past few nights. I'm up late, there is an irony in that this film is about loss of hearing and the radiator heat in my living is so loud that the only way to hear the TV is to blast it. Yet, everyone else is asleep so I can't blast the TV. I expect to finish this film by Sunday at this pace. Of course, I could start earlier but football has been keeping me busy and I don't worry as much about sound.

It’s a slow movie. I guess the ending is kind of predictable but it’s not too neat and tidy nor is there any unearned catharsis as there is in a lot of “young guy faces new physical limitation” story.

****spoiler****
He gets a cochlear implant and struggles to adapt to it. Everything is a cacophony so he tries going without it. Silence. Fini.

[Benjm]

I really liked About Time.

You're a better informed and more considered judge of films than I am, HP. There's just something about that one I find really irritating.

I like The Magnetic Fields a lot but my wife finds them fantastically annoying. These things happen. No one is at fault.

[Hot Pepsi]

I can see how it would be irritating.

I think I feel the same way about the Magnetic Fields, though I don’t know them well.

[Tony C]

IIRC, Netflix is one of the services that lets you clean those up and delete things you know you will not finish. That bugged me for a while.

Thanks, I'll do that.

[Sits]

We’re continuing with The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix (up to Ep. 4). Because of my eyesight, and the whole thing being so dark, I miss a whole lot of spooky stuff going on in mirrors and in the background. So I’m basically watching it as a drama with a few strange creepy things going on. I’m engaged by the plot and characters so that’s OK.

[Lang Spoon]

We watched Family as some kind soul stuck all 4 eps up on YouTube. It's easily the best thing Roddy Doyle ever did, redeems any of the twee hackneyed bollocks and clontarf flood wall NIMBYism he's reduced to these days. Devastating stuff.

still hope his fucking gaff gets washed away tho.

[Ginger Yellow]

Got a free trial for Disney+ so I'm watching The Mandalorian. It's quite impressive/amusing how they double down on the dumbness of Star Wars. Bringing up parsecs again, and getting it wrong in a different way. Taking the idea of a throwaway character who you don't even see without a helmet and turning it into a ethos about never taking off your helmet. Armour that is unbelievably valuable but doesn't work as well as a shitty combat droid's carapace. It's prestige TV, but really, really stupid prestige TV. Or someone at Disney is just taking the piss.

[Patrick Thistle]

You should share some of this wisdom on the Mandalorian thread

[Hot Pepsi]

The parsecs thing is explained in Solo.

[danielmak]

I’m sorry HP, I’m far too jaded about a few irrational things. My wife and daughter love it and I can see from the reviews that so do many, many people.

The guy who made that is a master at the Bromcom (Notting Hill was also made by him). I liked About Time but did find it to be a bit too sweet. Maybe it's just me but if I could go back in time at will, I know for certain that a lot of things I would do would be things I shouldn't do. I would not be worried about money at all because lotto numbers/stock choices/roulette would always work in my favor, and there would be a lot of people who miss out on football games that I want to see because I would be sitting in their seat. Chrissie Hynde's life would also have been very different.

[danielmak]

It’s a slow movie. I guess the ending is kind of predictable but it’s not too neat and tidy nor is there any unearned catharsis as there is in a lot of “young guy faces new physical limitation” story.

Yeah, it begins quite intensely and then slows down. I finished the show tonight. It was slow but I liked it. I think the writing of his character makes it feel like something is always about to implode even though people seem to like him a lot. So, I was constantly left with a feeling of: will he figure out this new life or is he going to come undone. Definitely a small film; everyday life kind of film.

[Femme Folle]

I am bingeing The Expanse from the beginning. It's stopping me from watching political talk shows on msnbc every night. I do tend to get stuck in because of the way Amazon only waits 3 seconds before starting the next episode, though, and I have to remember to pause to feed the pets and take Peter outside. I finished season two tonight. I don't normally watch anything more than once, especially multi-season shows, but it's just so good. I'm enjoying it as much as I did the first go round.

[Jon]

The guy who made that is a master at the Bromcom (Notting Hill was also made by him). I liked About Time but did find it to be a bit too sweet. Maybe it's just me but if I could go back in time at will, I know for certain that a lot of things I would do would be things I shouldn't do. I would not be worried about money at all because lotto numbers/stock choices/roulette would always work in my favor, and there would be a lot of people who miss out on football games that I want to see because I would be sitting in their seat. Chrissie Hynde's life would also have been very different.

Yes. A work colleague lent me About Time on dvd a couple of years ago as she knows I'm quite fond of Richard Curtis. When I returned it, all I said was yeah, it's pretty good but why on earth did he not sleep with Margot Robbie when he went back in time?

[pebblethefish]

I'm currently watching The Wilds on Amazon. Basically the writer has watched Lost, and then thought - I know, I'll replace all the characters with teenage girls. Despite initially laughing myself silly at the contrived-ness of the plot, I've managed to get hooked. I've come to care for the characters, who surprisingly don't have perfect hair and make-up despite being on a desert island, and there's a sinister reason why they are there, and, well, I think it's worth recommending.

[MsD]

I liked The Bonfire of Destiny. Getting back into my French, innit.

What else - loved Mank. I watched all of The Crown (Series 1-4) in the end, and enjoyed most of the social history.

[Hot Pepsi]

I'm currently watching The Wilds on Amazon. Basically the writer has watched Lost, and then thought - I know, I'll replace all the characters with teenage girls. Despite initially laughing myself silly at the contrived-ness of the plot, I've managed to get hooked. I've come to care for the characters, who surprisingly don't have perfect hair and make-up despite being on a desert island, and there's a sinister reason why they are there, and, well, I think it's worth recommending.

I gave up on that quickly. The dialog felt so forced and overcooked that I couldn’t imagine a whole series like that.

[Hot Pepsi]

Wolfwalkers, an animated film by the Irish* people that did Song of the Sea etc, is a beautiful example of the artform and shows how technology can be employed to make “2D” animation more alive and dynamic than most contemporary CGI.

But it has a lot of violence and peril, so I don’t think it would be good for small kids, and I don’t know who will actually watch this.

Also, is on Apple+, at least in the US, so it might be harder to find, but well worth it for anyone who appreciates illustration and a
good yarn.

*The story is very Irish. It’s set in the 1690s, as I recall, and the villain is an English Protestant magistrate hell bent on “taming” the forest and wiping out local paganism.

[Femme Folle]

Tried to watch Death to 2020 this morning while having breakfast. Lasted about 15 minutes. Death to Death to 2020.

[Posty Webber]

Wolfwalkers, an animated film by the Irish* people that did Song of the Sea etc, is a beautiful example of the artform and shows how technology can be employed to make “2D” animation more alive and dynamic than most contemporary CGI.

But it has a lot of violence and peril, so I don’t think it would be good for small kids, and I don’t know who will actually watch this.

Also, is on Apple+, at least in the US, so it might be harder to find, but well worth it for anyone who appreciates illustration and a
good yarn.

*The story is very Irish. It’s set in the 1690s, as I recall, and the villain is an English Protestant magistrate hell bent on “taming” the forest and wiping out local paganism.

My 11 year old daughter and I loved it. She thought it was the best of their output (although I think Song of the Sea is better).

[JayGeeKay]

I found out that the Hallmark Channel is airing 40 - FORTY - new Christmas "movies" this year. They start in October.
I can't get my brain around all that. They are popular because of their cliches and anachronistic views on gender expectations, but this year, reportedly, tehre will be at least one featuring a same-gender couple.
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/...s-movies-2020/

They've been airing them Back to Back since Halloween (or at least it seems like it) with new ones premiering on weekends. Some are OK, but a lot have no character/plot depth and you switch off after 20 mins to avoid terminal boredom. They also ran a complete program of the poorer ones in July. The only reason I can think is to provide struggling actors with a few bucks in residuals.

[Hot Pepsi]

I think most of them are made in Canada because the snow is more reliable and it’s cheaper.

I understand that people like predictable tropes as a kind of comfort food, but 40 a year? That’s like having mac and cheese every dinner.

[Hot Pepsi]

My 11 year old daughter and I loved it. She thought it was the best of their output (although I think Song of the Sea is better).

Yeah, 11 seems about the right age to really dig it.

I hope it gets nominated for best animated feature. Soul will win, and that’s fine, but it deserves recognition.

[Amor de Cosmos]

I think most of them are made in Canada because the snow is more reliable and it’s cheaper.

I understand that people like predictable tropes as a kind of comfort food, but 40 a year? That’s like having mac and cheese every dinner.

A friend of mine (a long-time actor) has been in at least one of them. He reckons he's never been treated better. First class flights and accommodation, for himself and his wife. Plus stop over pay for a week either side of shooting.