Movie/TV recommendations

[James]

Yeah, there sadly was a second one. It had a completely disgusting sub-plot where an Alien-Predator was looking for pregnant women to plant its chest(/belly)bursters in. This sub-plot went absolutely nowhere, and seemed really tasteless in a bad and unjustified way and generally awful and lazy and stupid and bizarre. That's my main memory of the film. Other than that, it was basically a collage of scenes from other films, particularly those in its two ancestral series.

[Patters]

Yeah, there sadly was a second one. It had a completely disgusting sub-plot where an Alien-Predator was looking for pregnant women to plant its chest(/belly)bursters in. This sub-plot went absolutely nowhere, and seemed really tasteless in a bad and unjustified way and generally awful and lazy and stupid and bizarre. That's my main memory of the film. Other than that, it was basically a collage of scenes from other films, particularly those in its two ancestral series.

[SignorSuperdouche]

I've recently been totally addicted to a super old British show called 'Allo 'Allo if anyone's ever heard of it. It's totally side-splittingly funny.

I've never been a fan of the double entendre, but I adore the farcical aspect of the show. Allo Allo would make an excellent Telltale series.

[Chris]

There is no way of knowing if they will mature out of their shitty tastes until you are sure it is too late.

This is so unfortunately true

[Horticulture Tycoon]

To be fair, it doesn't necessarily sound like these kids were talking about how badass the AvP movies are. Just that there were precursors that they weren't aware of.

I mean hey, when I was young I didn't know that The Fly and The Thing were remakes, for example. Or even that there were actors who had portrayed James Bond prior to Timothy Dalton. Or that Rocky IV wasn't the best movie in the series.

I'm sure if I was ever overheard talking about movies back then, there was some adult nearby quietly cursing my ignorance. All kids are stupid, and all of them eventually mature. The only uncertainty is to what degree.

[Thyroid]

Teenagers are dumb little fucks. There is no way of knowing if they will mature out of their shitty tastes until you are sure it is too late.

Heh. I started watching foreign, indie, classic, actually good big budget cinema when I was sixteen. I know a small handful of others who do the same.

Then again, I was the only person out of 30 who played Monkey Island instead of Halo, so maybe my tastes are those of a minority's.

Edited November 10, 2009 by Kroms

[miffy495]

I think this forum attracts those people who started early in exposing themselves to better cinema, in a way. Or at least, got a bunch and attracts more through it. Not to be patting ourselves on the back, as I realize that can sound like a pretty self-congratulatory statement. The sort of games we talk about (in addition to the big-budget ones, of course) are those that are slower and more intellectually focused, and we grew out of an adventure game community originally. Those same people are often very interested in movies that play around with formulas and try to push boundaries. At the very least, among people who watch those films and people who play games, I'm sure the overlap from the graphic adventure genre is pretty heavy.

For my part, I got my first not-just-a-crappy-summer-job job working at a two-screen art house theater when I was 16, and now 6 years later am a projectionist at a small, one-screen restoration cinema. I got the job at the first place originally because my friend worked there. His dad knew the owner or something. I haven't talked to that guy in about 3 years, but art and classic films have kinda taken over my life. It exposed me to a lot of stuff I otherwise wouldn't have known existed. Seems like 16 is a good age to start getting into stuff like that. I know my girlfriend started a bit earlier (going so far as to dress as Veronica Lake for halloween when she was 13...) but among most people I talk to, 16 is about when you develop a taste for the kinds of films you'll be getting into as an adult. The more 16 year olds I can show good films to, the better I feel about movies in general.

[Nachimir]

Yeah, there sadly was a second one. It had a completely disgusting sub-plot where an Alien-Predator was looking for pregnant women to plant its chest(/belly)bursters in. This sub-plot went absolutely nowhere, and seemed really tasteless in a bad and unjustified way and generally awful and lazy and stupid and bizarre. That's my main memory of the film. Other than that, it was basically a collage of scenes from other films, particularly those in its two ancestral series.

Ugh, worse than I thought

I remember the trailer showing a *lot* people meeting grisly ends, wondering just how many characters it would get through, and thinking that if schlocky bits were the best ones they could put in the trailer it was probably going to be even worse than the first AvP :/

[James]

To be fair, it doesn't necessarily sound like these kids were talking about how badass the AvP movies are. Just that there were precursors that they weren't aware of.

Like I said, there's no real reason why they should have known about them, but it was shocking to me. Perhaps it made me feel old, but Alien was probably one of the most famous films I was aware of in my childhood, and it was made some time before I was born, let alone before I was old enough to watch it. It seemed like a pretty culturally significant thing. But yeah, I'm no film buff. There are condemnable holes in my viewing history. I'm just feeling alienated by the youth of kids. I mean, I'm still pretty young, but there's a disparity between my actual age and my subconscious assumption that I'm still in my late teens.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Teenagers are dumb little fucks. There is no way of knowing if they will mature out of their shitty tastes until you are sure it is too late.

KIDS TODAY!!!!!111

[James]

Well kids are pretty shit. But so are adults.

[Scrobbs]

I remember 'Allo 'Allo being staple sunday evening viewing, but as I got a bit older (~13?) I started finding it a little cringeworthy. I got a bit tired of the extreme overuse of catchphrases too - but I still have fond memories of it. I think I fancied Yvette. Looking at the Wikipedia entry, as a youngster I was dimly aware of a general arc, but tended to watch each episode as it's own episode. Maybe I should get the DVDs.

I think I found It Ain't Half Hot Mum funnier.

[Roderick]

'Allo 'Allo WOULD be a great Telltale series yeah, haha =) Couple years back I met with the actors behind Herr Flick and Helga as they were attending a comic convention. They were wearing their outfits and everything. Superb.

I actually don't know if my taste in movies is good. I mean, of course it's good because I like what I see. I generally tend to enjoy lyrical, dramatic sci-fi/fantasy. Stuff that's epic, as far as that cliche goes. I abhor vapid action movies with plotholes and am absolutely disgusted by the plots of recent Hollywood blockbusters. Terminator, Star Trek, Transformers, they all had shitty plotlines (even if they might have been enjoyable emotionally). Come on, Hollywood, you can do better than this!

[Scrobbs]

Not sure Hollywood can... A sweeping statement, sure, but I think there is the same level of homogenisation existant in AAA game titles to some extent - these things cost so much to produce, studios want to go with the 'safe bet'. Vapid action movies with massive plotholes perhaps gross the most, which is naturally of most interest companies with shareholders.

I was listening to something on R4 this am and the presenter said something that resonates with this perhaps - society as a whole generally recognises success by the size of your pay-cheque. An obvious statement perhaps (and I am taking it out of context, I think they were talking about education, polymaths, cross-over expertise), but is easy to see why the majority of Hollywood output could be (snobbishly? not sure) disdained, while we rely on smaller studios or game outfits to provide the more interesting projects. This does in fact happen - so Hollywood does not have to produce more thought provoking items. It is there if you want to find it.

[MrHoatzin]

I think this forum attracts those people who started early in exposing themselves to better cinema, in a way. Or at least, got a bunch and attracts more through it. Not to be patting ourselves on the back, as I realize that can sound like a pretty self-congratulatory statement. The sort of games we talk about (in addition to the big-budget ones, of course) are those that are slower and more intellectually focused, and we grew out of an adventure game community originally. Those same people are often very interested in movies that play around with formulas and try to push boundaries. At the very least, among people who watch those films and people who play games, I'm sure the overlap from the graphic adventure genre is pretty heavy.

Might be a bit of an overlap, but I am not sure I really agree in the meaningfulness of the test sample. The ancient race of Thumbites that spilled over here in the early days from Mixnmojo and Adventure Gamers ARE those who are interested in games and genres OTHER than LEC and adventure games, the ones who are more genre-promiscuous.

There is a lot of people who stayed behind, tho; who stayed behind because they didn't care to change what they're familiar with, and I doubt these people are all that into weird new film stuffs in general.

And nowadays we have a lot of Shackers, Goons, neogaffers and the like trickling in who are not necessarily from the same Spaff-Maximar audience pool.

KIDS TODAY!!!!!111

Aw, c'mon, that is not what I meant. I was looking back at myself and my pool of friends and acquaintances when I was a dumb teenage fuck with questionable tastes.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Aw, c'mon, that is not what I meant. I was looking back at myself and my pool of friends and acquaintances when I was a dumb teenage fuck with questionable tastes.

Speak for yourself... I've always had impeccable taste

[syntheticgerbil]

Came out of the womb wearing a monocle and holding a martini glass, eh?

[elmuerte]

I see a martini, but no monocle. He does have a fez though

[ThunderPeel2001]

Hehe. How is wearing a monocle considered having good taste?

[Patters]

I just started watching bones, and it's pretty cool.

[Nachimir]

Hehe. How is wearing a monocle considered having good taste?

In the same way as smoking a pipe when you're under 40, of course

[Wrestlevania]

Well kids are pretty shit.

I grossly object to this statement through cherished, on-going experience, as well as overly-sentimental personal reasons!

But so are adults.

That's bang on though, the cunts.

[James]

In case anyone was in any doubt, Flash Forward is turning out to be quite crap. I'm only up to episode three, but any promise the premise might have had is being thoroughly squandered.

Can one thoroughly squander?

[Wrestlevania]

With absolute impunity.

[ysbreker]

At least fringe is still fun to watch.

[edit]Oh and the discussion about kids these days reminded me of this XKCD comic: http://xkcd.com/647/

[edit part II]

I also watched the taking of Pelham 123. What a generic, by the numbers movie that was.The acting was ok. But the script was more than boring.

I have to confess that I saw Transformers 2 as well. I knew it was bad. But didn't expect it to be this bad.