Movie/TV recommendations

[ThunderPeel2001]

Just as I'd uploaded it and was about to post it...!

[Ginger]

Saw eagle eyes <yawn mother fucking yawn> who the fuck decided shia lebouef (not going to justify his name with a web search to find out how to spell it) was an action hero, he's the most annoying cunt in the world and every film he is in is utterly dull and generic and he always plays the same geeky hero.

IF I wanted to watch a geeky hero I'd film myself triumphantly unblocking the toilet and watch that. I want passion and strength from my action heroes (like Crowe in gladiator) not some reluctant bumbling fool that manages to win despite being a mal-coordinated cocktard with as much courage as a Frenchman.

[vimes]

Being a Frenchman, I endorse this statement. (now, you're listening to me, ain't you ? )

Though, I think LaBeouf can be good in some of his roles (like in Indy IV, for instance), most of the time, both he and his directors are just too fucking lazy to pull out anything than subpar acting.

[Roderick]

Now you've done it.

Now you've made me remember there was a Transformers movie featuring that unlikeable piece of boeuf.

[Ginger]

Being a Frenchman, I endorse this statement. (now, you're listening to me, ain't you ? )

Though, I think LaBeouf can be good in some of his roles (like in Indy IV, for instance), most of the time, both he and his directors are just too fucking lazy to pull out anything than subpar acting.

Firstly I apologise for my racist comments, the anger of losing my Sunday evening to this pile of turd film put me back into a Napoleonic war mentality

I don't remember shia that well in in indy, I stopped watching it soon after he entered the film (due to the all round rape {thank you matt and trey} of the franchise.)

[vimes]

Firstly I apologise for my racist comments, the anger of losing my Sunday evening to this pile of turd film put me back into a Napoleonic war mentality

I didn't mean to sound offended because, well, I wasn't ... and who gives a fuck if I am anyway : it was funny.

[castorp]

shia lebouef (not going to justify his name with a web search to find out how to spell it)

hahahahaha, thank you

[Nachimir]

I thought someone in this thread had mentioned Simon Schama's new series "The American Future", but i must have seen it somewhere else. Anyway:

It's an interesting subject presented in a very dull way. Schama goes places, and looks at things. There's a lot of footage of him looking at things. Schama looks sad on a battlefield. Schama looks bemused in a cafe. Schama looks contemplative in a city. Et-fucking-cetera.

So much so I needed to make this:

Comments so far:

this video evidences the fact that Mr Hayward is not as ill as he claims, but is on the contrary alarmingly lucid.

that's a lot of brass corpse crotch at the beginning too.

Oh:

Saw eagle eyes <yawn mother fucking yawn>

I found this infinitely better due to being out for a friends birthday on Friday, all of us getting bored of bars, getting to the cinema a little bit drunk just after the box office closed, then sneaking in to see a random film anyway

The jokes started with "Shall we ask someone what the film's going to be?", but we would have been pissed off if we'd paid £6. The AI was too close to GLADos for us not to mock it, and the room it was in looked like Beyonce was going to turn up any minute.

[brkl]

That video is actually funny as hell I had to endure Simon Schama for a class about the history of England. He wasn't as grey and raisin-like then, but did look at things a lot.

[Wrestlevania]

I thought someone in this thread had mentioned Simon Schama's new series "The American Future", but i must have seen it somewhere else.

It was me, in the "Send us questions!" thread. But I've been meaning to retract that statement, as the second instalment of the TV serial was dull as fuck and I won't be bothering with it any more.

[DanJW]

OK, I'm slightly embarassed about this, but I'm quite enjoying BBC's Merlin.

They've decided to pull a 'Smallville', so all the main arthurian charcters are in their early teens, with some age differences tweaked and relationships changed so that fun can be had with foreshadowing and dramatic irony. The teen actors are supported by an excellent adult cast though - Richard Wilson, Anthony Head, John Hurt's voice and various guest stars. And Katie McGrath as one totally foxy Morgana Le Fey.

OK, so it's aimed at a younger audience, meaning that the levels of danger are normalized; not-very-dangerous things are made out to be quite dangerous indeed, whereas actual violence and peril is toned down so as not to scare the kiddies (may contain mild peril!)

A lot of things about it are very variable in quality. eg...

• The CGI: magical effects look good, but creature CGI is embarassing. Where's the Walking with Dinosaurs Dragons team when you need them?
  
• Camera Direction: I'm not a big fan of BBC camera direction these days. Everything tends to look rushed or like footage of a stageplay. I'm probably spoiled by excellent camerawork in US series like BSG. It has flickers of potential though.
  
• Dialogue: sometimes very awkward in that BBC children's drama way, but has occasional little gem's like "I can't sit by and watch him die" - "So don't look".
  

Plus there's the 'historical' and 'canonical' inaccuracies. But really what did I expect?

I find it watchable though and a pleasant way to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon.

[Wrestlevania]

Mrs V and I enjoyed the first couple of installments; it's harmless fun and not too pretentious or ridiculous. We've missed the rest, though, as El Beeb keep fucking about with the broadcast times. And it's almost always on now when we're bedding down the little Vanians for the night.

Away from Saturday night TV, I've just recently watched the original OVA release of Macross Plus for the first time. I watched the original Manga [sic] Video hack-job back in the day (mid 90s) but had wanted to see the original series, sub'd. Still very good in my opinion.

Also, on eljay's esteemed recommendation, I just watched the first episode of HBO's Generation Kill series this lunch time. (N96 is working out to be something of a media powerhouse, given the right software.) So far, so fucking good! I struggle with anything non-fiction as a rule but, as seems to be the case with HBO, the writing, pacing and characterizations are all top notch. Can't wait to watch the next part!

Edited October 27, 2008 by Wrestlevania
Visit HBO's wappage.

[Scrobbs]

I saw Taken last night. It's blimmin good - if you like the Bourne Supremacy, then you'll be into this. Pacy, fulfills your desire to visit revenge on parties, classic 'expert in security matters' rambo-ing about. A few things bugged me about it though...

A few of the outcomes of clashes were a bit surprising - the directors ignored what would be the most likely outcome in some circumstances (i.e. this geezer cutting a swathe through Paris leading to no polic action) in order to progress the story, although they did attempt to take care of the poilce issue. The ending should be changed too...He's just killed a mage rich Arab!Surely the french would *not* let him back through customs? A more satisfying ending, such as Neeson being banged up for life saving his daughter to cater for the more twee ending (and no doubt studio pressure to make it 'happily ever after') of taking her to the pop-star from act 1 rankled a bit.

Otherwise really enjoyed it.

[Scrobbs]

...and this starts tonight...

Dead Set

big-brother-contestant-eating zombies, charlie brooker...what more do you need?

[DanJW]

...and this starts tonight...

Dead Set

big-brother-contestant-eating zombies, charlie brooker...what more do you need?

Someone at C4 has been watching Shaun of the Dead....

Also, the recent spat of reality-TV spoofs is too postmodern, it makes my head asplode.

[Wrestlevania]

Thanks for the tip-off. I'd heard Mr Brooker had been working away feverishly on something, but not any more than that. Will try to watch that later.

[ThunderPeel2001]

What IS this? Why is Kevin Eldon the only recognizable face? Is it all scripted or is it one of those "contestants think it's real/audience laughs" kind of a thing?

[brkl]

I like M. Night Shyamalan. I thought The Lady in the Water was a nice movie with heart and personality. Maybe The Village was a bit poor and Signs was bloody stupid towards the end, but Unbreakable is one of my favourite movies. So I like M. Night Shyamalan, he has vision. That said, The Happening was ass. Worthless from the beginning to the end. M. Night Shyamalan needs someone to slap him when he gets stupid ideas.

[Wrestlevania]

Unbreakable is one of my favourite movies. [...] That said, The Happening was ass. Worthless from the beginning to the end. M. Night Shyamalan needs someone to slap him when he gets stupid ideas.

Whole-heartedly agree; Unbreakable is suuuperb!

I reckon Marvel should've kidnapped Shyamalan, locked him in a bunker somewhere and made him write the screenplay for The Punisher--probably the Jigsaw storyline. I'm thinking this because the trailer for the C-grade sequel looks total arse.

"Hmm, what can we do to make these truly dull, recycled sets look different..? I know, a metric fuck-tonne of coloured gels in EVERY shot!"

[ThunderPeel2001]

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Quantum of Solace

Good movie! Very subtle in many ways (Bond's personal story is pretty much told in background detail and minor actions, for instance) which is nice. There isn't much in the way of "hooray, Bond is cool" in it, though, it's actually pretty dark (which is fine).

A bigger problem for me was the fact that they've started to reintroduce the shite aspects of Bond again (after successfully jettisoning them in Casino Royale), namely unrealistic technology and the idea that Bond can bed a woman, ANY woman, just by looking at her.

It's dark, intelligent and not quite as good as Casino Royale, but still recommended.

Now I just need to see Burn After Reading and W.

[Wrestlevania]

I thought Quantum of Solace was arse, personally.

It's like a dragging mega epilogue to Casino Royale that doesn't make much sense and robs eye-rolling set pieces from at least half a dozen earlier Bond films. It's total over-reliance on making reference to obscure or complex Casino Royale references, as though you'd just literally finished watching the former film right before seeing this one, was frustrating in its vagueness and intangibility.

Basically, to me, QoS smacks of filler and I'm very disappointed--as were the 3 other people I went to see it with (Mrs V, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend).

[Nachimir]

Daniel Craig is going to be remembered as the most commercial of all the James Bonds. Things like him in a suit waving a silenced sub-machine gun around, with "BARCLAYCARD" written underneath, have really undercut any enthusiasm I had to see this

[Wrestlevania]

Things like him in a suit waving a silenced sub-machine gun around

What really pissed me off about that promo shot is that it's not even a scene in the film.

[Nachimir]

Jesus

My favorite so far has been the full page free paper ad, on the front page of several in London last week. The picture is a full page of a Bond girl in a slinky minidress, with an inset of Daniel Craig beside and "ENTER THE WORLD OF BOND" written underneath with a badly photoshopped in barrel of Heinekin. That's what all women look like when you've drunk that much of it I suppose

I really wouldn't be happy if I was Daniel Craig and thinking about my career right now. If I didn't want to keep my ebay account, I'd put a listing up for his arse.

[ThunderPeel2001]

It's like a dragging mega epilogue to Casino Royale. It's total over-reliance on making reference to obscure or complex Casino Royale references, as though you'd just literally finished watching the former film right before seeing this one, was frustrating in its vagueness and intangibility.

Yeah, I agree. But if you're massive fan of the first one (like all the people I went to see it with), then it's pretty rewarding. Agree that it's mostly an epilogue, though.