What are you watching and enjoying?

[Venneh]

Cristoph Waltz on SNL is a thing of beauty. EDIT: Oh sweet Jesus, they just did a parody of Django and Inglorious Basters called Djesus Uncrossed. Look it up. I can't breathe.

[Venneh]

The Quiet Man: Cute little movie, Wayne and O'Hara are great as always together, the Irish setting is a great bonus, and the ending brawl is perfect. One of the better romantic comedies I've seen.

O Brother, Where Art Thou: George Clooney is nigh on unrecognizable in this. Great soundtrack, awesome retelling of the Odyssey, and is probably just behind The Big Lebowski for my favorite of the Coen brothers films.

No Country for Old Men: I'm maybe halfway done with this as I'm writing this, and holy shit Javier Bardem is absolutely terrifying in this. This may be one of the best movies the Coen Brothers have made.

[slothian]

V for Vendetta: Flickchart has made me reassess what I think of the film. It was as slick as I remember it being, but I'd forgotten how powerful the Valerie subplot was. It remains a cracking film, albeit with more Wachowski style than Moore substance.

Weekend At Bernie's: Ten years on since the last time I saw the film, I'm in two minds about the film. The ludicrous concept is a lot of fun, but on the other hand, the script is a bit wonky, particularly when Larry appears to be psychopathic in the way he plans to exploit his employer's cadaver, not to mention his other comedy character stylings.I can see why this is a cult film, but on its own merit, it's pretty mediocre.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army: I really like the original Hellboy film for setting down the tropes of the BRPD and Ron Perlman defining the title character. This sequel is not only the perfect platform to allow the universe to expand, but it finds a way to include John Hurt whilst really building up Abe Sapien and giving Liz Sherman an extra, assertive dimension which wasn't on display in the original film. Also, Seth MacFarlane voice this universe's version of Alpha from thhe Power Rangers.

[Gareth]

V for Vendetta: Flickchart has made me reassess what I think of the film.

[slothian]

V for Vendetta: Flickchart has made me reassess what I think of the film.

Flickchart is most definitely the devil, if not a SNL personality I don't recognise dressed as a camp Satan.

I've been binging on movies/DVDs of late:

Burke & Hare: As played by Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis respectively as grave robbers based in Edinburgh during the 1820s. I didn't dislike anything about it, but I came away thinking it should have been better, without being able to put my finger on what or how. It is a humorous, dark, sometimes grotesque film with a damn impressive cast, but it didn't fully click for me for whatever reason.

Night at the Museum: I'm a massive museum nerd, so I loved this. Ben Stiller isn't quite at his most endearing, but he acquits himself well at reacting to the events surrounding him. It's family friendly, puts over the joy some people get out of history/museums and boasts a great cast, with the exception of Ricky Gervais. I particularly liked Carla Gugino as the tour guide/academic who seems a world away from other roles she had around the time (I'm thinking Sin City). And the end credits show Dick van Dyke dancing with a mop.

Topsy-Turvy: My Dad is a massive Gilbert & Sullivan afficianado (sp?) so I've acquired a liking for a few of their works - mainly The Mikado, which is central to this film. At 2 and a half hours, it's too long and features more characters than I can keep up with. But it makes for an interesting interpretation of the collaborative process between two very different people, with Jim Broadbent standing out particularly as the uptight Gilbert.

Lincoln: Another very long film with more characters than I could take in. That said, it was an engrossing film to watch, particularly from a non-American perspective. I've studied some American History, but not anything around Lincoln's era so I didn't neccessarily know exactly how everything was going to pan out.....apart from the fact that the amendment did pass and he was assassinated watching a play - that's a spoiler called "history".

[SuaveStar]

Frankenweenie: The first half is pretty bland, but once it turns in to a monster film, it's great. The ending is kind of a letdown, but still, something I'd recommend watching if you like stop motion, and it looks great on Blu-Ray.

Frankenweenie (The original): This was the original short film that Tim Burton directed in the 80's, and it's live action, and has Jason Hervey and Daniel Stern from the Wonder Years in it. Take what I said about the animated films first half, and make it this full feature, just dull, something about it just seems rushed, and at the same time, boring. It's interesting watching this after the animated film, to see what changes were made for the better of the overall films between the two, such as how Sparky dies, for example. Not worth seeking out, but if you're watching the feature film, worth a look, at least.

[Gareth]

Last night I watched the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was fun enough but I found the writing to be very weak, especially when it comes to the dialogue. The dialogue makes Buffy seem like an unlikable smart ass. She always had some silly quip that sounded like she had thought of it ahead of time. It's not just Buffy either, all the dialogue seemed very contrived, it wasn't at all how kids talk. I understand they were trying to make Buffy different from your average female protagonist but every one of her lines was some smart ass comment and I found her character very off putting.

I'll probably watch at least a few more episodes so I can hear Preston and Hannah's thoughts on Big Damn Heroes, and I'll respond later if my opinions change.

[Venneh]

Season One is honestly one of the harder seasons to get through. (On the other hand, if you can get through all 12 eps, you have an excellent season in S2.)

[JackFetch]

I just finished Here Comes the Boom. It was exactly the movie I thought it was. I loved Henry Winkler as the music teacher. Salma Hyak was way too hot to be a school nurse. If my nurse looked like her I'd have been hurting myself every day just to see her. If you are a UFC fan, you should definitely see it since it's a huge commercial for them and has actual UFC guys in it.

[Stavros]

Watching The Descendants. Matthew Lilliard looks like he's turning into John Lithgow.

[Professor]

Mighty Ducks - Has been forever since I have watched this. What struck me this time was how much this was about Bombay. I remembered it being 60/40 focused on the coach, but it is 80/20. That is really odd for a kids sports movie. Half the team is completely forgettable. Technically the best of the three, but not as much fun.

Mighty Ducks 2 - This is my favorite. Got rid of the useless kids and added better ones. The kids are also older which instantly makes them less annoying. Still, the first half of this film feels like it is missing 20 minutes of story (or not playing hockey). However, this has one of the all time Disney villain; Wolf 'The Dentist' Stanson. He is a Bond villain coaching junior hockey. Just awesome.

Mighty Ducks 3 - Less sporty and more kid hijinksy. Also, focused on one of the kids, which is new. Coach face turn makes no sense, weak bullies and a random death just because. Meh.

[slothian]

I spent the weekend reliving the childhood classics of people about ten years older than me, mainly because it's been about 15 years since the last time I watched the original Star Wars trilogy:

Star Wars/A New Hope: Of the original trilogy, I think this is the most complete instalment of the three, and not just because it's essentially a one-and-done story. You have a slighty prissy, underdog protagonist teaming with a badass Harrison Ford, the awesome Alec Guinness, a wacky alien mammal and a pair of comedy robots going up against a villain who looks like evil incarnate to rescue a princess. It's a straightforward story set in space and its appeal is unquestionable. I have no idea which version I was watching (Greedo shoots at the same time as Han, so a later version), but even without the Lucas tampering, it still isn't a flawless film. As a piece of entertainment though, it deserves all the praise it gets.

The Empire Strikes Back: It's very possible that I was in the wrong frame of mind when watching the film (drinking/up late), but I wasn't blown away until the last half hour or so. The Hoth attack was engaging, the Yoda scenes were fun enough, but I'm struggling to remember the other scenes that led up to Han's capture. Everything after that was very entertaining and impressively downbeat. I can understand why people call this the best film, but it isn't the film I'm likely to rewatch the most at the same time.

Return of the Jedi: Whilst the Ewoks were one toy idea too far, I generally have a lot of time for this film. particularly because the Emperor gets to show off in all his glory, which makes for a fun climax. The melodrama between Leia and Luke/Han is annoying and the stakes of the new Death Star being operational don't feel nearly as significant, but I liked the film overall.

The Goonies: I see the appeal, and Richard Donner did a good job of downplaying the innate annoying aspects of child actors leading the film - particularly given that Short Round is in this movie. As an adult, I largely prefer the villainous turns of The Fratellis, but Josh Brolin as the older brother and the two actresses helped round out the group enough so that the focus wasn't always on an asthmatic Sean Astin and smart-mouthed Corey Feldman. I'd be interested to know if people who watched this as kids have shown it to their own kids (if applicable) to see if it holds up, or if it's solely of its time.

Unrelated to this theme, I also watched Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, a biopic of Ian Dury, frontman of The Blockheads. First of all, Andy Serkis is an inspired casting choice in the title role and the film as a whole is very well acted. But I thought the story that was sub-par in that what it chose to focus upon wasn't very interesting. The Blockheads are largely ignored, not enough time is spent on Dury's early days, which is a waste of Toby Jones and Ray Winstone in their cameo roles, and the father/son dynamic, which is seemingly the crux of the film, is not structured well enough for me to give a damn about Baxter Dury. It's worth watching solely on the performances of Andy Serkis and Naomi Harris as Dury's girlfriend, and that the film opens with a rendition of 'Billericay Dickie', but overall, it's a disappointing film.

[Venneh]

Currently about halfway through season 3 of Sons of Anarchy. Preston was not kidding about calling it Motorcycle Shakespeare. Addicting, too. At the rate I'm going, will probably caught up to everything on Netflix by mid week.

[Professor]

30 for 30: War Eagle / Roll Tide - A total surface level documentary that is entirely boring. Easily the worst 30 for 30 I have seen so far.

Searching For Sugar Man - A movie I learned about thru Colt Cabana of all people. Fascinating story of musician Rodriguez and his random popularity in South Africa. This is something that could never happen today. A PSY song randomly gets popular in the US, poof, wikipedia page of ridiculous length. (Seriously, the Gangnam Style wiki is longer than some novels. Scary.) At any rate, this is a great little documentary that I highly suggest. Trailer

for those interested.

[JasonC]

I will second the recommendation for Searching For Sugar Man. It's brilliant.

Wow. You really weren't kidding about the Gangnam Style wiki page. The Apocalypse is pretty seriously nigh.

[Professor]

Dredd - This grew on me as I was watching it. Little (or very) light on plot, but this didn't need to be plot driven. Was not a fan of the slow motion, but it wasn't overused and had a point. Enjoyable, but I feel it will be forgettable after awhile.

Seven Psychopaths - It was a movie. Nothing like the trailer, which made me want to watch this movie. Amusing at times, but overall just boring.

[SuaveStar]

Dredd - This grew on me as I was watching it. Little (or very) light on plot, but this didn't need to be plot driven. Was not a fan of the slow motion, but it wasn't overused and had a point. Enjoyable, but I feel it will be forgettable after awhile.

Dredd was one of the only times I'm glad to have went to the cinema, to actually see it, in 3D, as watching it later, it was really made for those big screen effects, and the slow motion stuff works really well in 3D, which is really the only time I can ever say 3D was just annoying crap.

[Missy]

I fully agree.

[slothian]

Cradle 2 Grave: One of those films that I remember being on cable TV a lot, with a rotating cast of Jet Li, DMX, Anthony Anderson, Tom Arnold and Steven Segal. Minus Segal, this film has a team of jewel thieves team up with a Hong Kong cop to find DMX's kidnapped daughter. Enjoyable B-movie with some nice moments here and there, but nothing mind-blowing.

Soldier of Orange: One of Paul Verhoeven's earlier films, looking at how different Dutch students' lives are affected by WW2. The two main stars are Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe, who's better known as General Koskov in The Living Daylights, and the film is very engaging, particularly when war films are rarely told the POV of people from Holland. It's a fairly long film and there is not a lot of action, but I really enjoyed it.

Dark City: A film I've only seen once or twice before. Even though the film kinda happens around him/to him, I always wonder why Rufus Sewell hasn't been in more films besides this and A Knight's Tale. There's also the joy of watching Jack Bauer as a snivelling scientist who is constantly menaced by the host of The Crystal Dome and his faux-Cenobite bretheren, who are undoubtedly creepy. Melissa George shows up just to strip off, and I always like seeing Jennifer Connelly in films. All in all, I should re-watch this more often!

Carry On Cleo: One of the best entries of the Carry On franchise, re-telling 'Anthony & Cleopatra' with some frankly outstanding puns - most famously Kenneth Williams' Julius Caesar exclaiming "Infamy, infamy - they've all got it in for me!"

A Few Good Men: First time I've watched this, and as much as I struggle to watch a modern Tom Cruise film, or for that matter one with Demi Moore, I can see why both had such big careers in the early 90s. I knew Jack Nicholson was in the film because his speech at the end of the film is one of the most quoted lines of dialogue out there, but I was surprised to see Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon and Cuba Gooding Jr in supporting roles. It's an absorbing film and I want to see some more trial-based films.

Blade II: I feel like I've re-watched Blade dozens of times despite received wisdom being that Blade II is a better film, which I'd only seen once or twice before this viewing. And it is, as it takes on larger issues with Blade's uneasy alliance with the vampire race in taking on Reaper vampires, introduces the Ron Perlman-led Bloodpack, and the action/effects are largely much better. This film is pretty much responsible for Hellboy getting made the way it did as well, through Perlman's partnership with Guillermo Del Toro. It's a shame that the Blade franchise didn't get any better with the next film, despite that genius idea of casting HHH with a poodle.

The 4th Man: Another Dutch film from Paul Verhoeven before he moved to America. Jeroen Krabbe plays an alcoholic writer who starts an affair with a woman whose previous husbands have all died in strange circumstances. It's a difficult film to follow due to the various visions and Catholic allegories employed, and nothing is really concluded at the end, but it's an interesting thriller. Apparently Verhoeven used it as a basis for Basic Instinct years later, so there's a reason to seek it out I guess (haven't seen Basic Instinct yet).

[Koete]

Dark City: There's also the joy of watching Jack Bauer as a snivelling scientist who is constantly menaced by the host of The Crystal Dome and his faux Cenobite Nosferatu bretheren, who are undoubtedly creepy.

A Few Good Men: First time I've watched this, and as much as I struggle to watch a modern Tom Cruise film, or for that matter one with Demi Moore, I can see why both had such big careers in the early 90s. I knew Jack Nicholson was in the film because his speech at the end of the film is one of the most quoted lines of dialogue out there, but I was surprised to see Kevin Pollak, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon and Cuba Gooding Jr in supporting roles. It's an absorbing film and I want to see some more trial-based films.

I recommend Anatomy of a Murder.

[slothian]

I've added it to my list.

[Professor]

30 for 30: The Real Rocky - The things I took from this. 1) Sitting at a table with old sport writers and listening to stories over drinks would be an incredible time. 2) How sports commentators can approve of boxing yet take issue with MMA is beyond me. People be crazy.

30 for 30: Charismatic - Well done, but I really do not care about the horses. Going to the track can be fun. Watching this was not.

30 for 30: The Dotted Line - A look at the world of sports agents. It was interesting enough, but too surface level. The history, the low level guy, the corruption, ect. All these issues are touched, but I feel there is a good documentary there and this did not get there.

[Professor]

The Spy Who Loved Me - I quite liked this. Best I've seen Moore, a Bond Girl worth a damn and a decent plot. I don't get the love for Jaws tho. He is too powerful and I is kinda painful to watch him move sometimes. Like most Bond movies, I feel this could have been tightened up in the editing room. Could easily shave 10-12 minutes and that would fix the parts that seem to drag. While the gun battle is good, it goes on too long and feels like a tangent, rather than a pivotal scene in the movie.

[slothian]

The Spy Who Loved Me - I quite liked this. Best I've seen Moore, a Bond Girl worth a damn and a decent plot. I don't get the love for Jaws tho. He is too powerful and I is kinda painful to watch him move sometimes. Like most Bond movies, I feel this could have been tightened up in the editing room. Could easily shave 10-12 minutes and that would fix the parts that seem to drag. While the gun battle is good, it goes on too long and feels like a tangent, rather than a pivotal scene in the movie.

Bear in mind that most people who have seen Jaws in TSWLM have also seen him in Moonraker, hence everyone's fond memories of him in this film. Yes, he's over-powering, but he's at least menacing and competent.

Definitely agree that the film could be better with some trimming, but easily one of Moore's best.

[Molly]

I finally finished Season 4 of Sons of Anarchy last night. I have not loved a show like this since the first two seasons of Dexter. Just Amazing. I eagerly await season five. The acting and direction (including fucking Peter "Robocop" Weller) is top notch. Season three lagged a bit in the middle, but the finale more than made up for it. I continue to recommend this show.

Ron Perlman and Katy Sagal both act their asses off. Perlman is incredible, going from loveable, but gruff to menacing in an instant. Clay Morrow is one of my favorite characters he's played. However, Ryan Hurst's Opie has got to be my favorite on the show. Maybe it's his roots in Ophelia and Laertes, maybe it's his "biker samurai" look, but everytime he comes on screen, I'm rooting for him. Since he's pretty clearly the children of Polonious, I expect a messy death for him, soon and given his actions at the end of the season, I fully expect Clay or Tig to be involved.

Love. This. Show.