Movie/TV recommendations

[n0wak]

That sounds pretty good. When did it air and what channel did it air on? I'm surprised I've never heard of it, as I try to keep up on the Canadian shows. (Still pissed they cancelled This is Wonderland...)

It's a TMN series, but Showcase has reruns. On Christmas day, they ran a marathon of it -- season 1 and 2 straight through. One season was plenty for one sitting.

[Roderick]

Love Farscape, although season 3 dipped very sharply in story writing early on -- the whole "we're trapped in a game!" plot of one particular episode was so ball-achingly generic, even Farscape's usual charms couldn't save it. But what a superb "We Don't Give a F*ck!" ending! Especially the special Peacekeeper Wars mini-series.

I don't know exactly when it is, but I believe when the series is nearing its end, during season 4, it gets so wonderfully epic. Never a dull moment, with major story arcs thrown at you with reckless abandon; mini-movies all around. Major battles, epic confrontations, good stuff. I'm sort of sad it has ended, but the material that's been made is so good, and all in all we have almost 90 terrific episodes and the Peacekeeper Wars miniseries. More than enough to make a great show.

[nsps]

The US Office originally felt lik a lame retread of the original—they basically just remade old episodes in the first season. But it's really become quite brilliant.

My Name is Earl is quite good, but not as consistent as The Office.

As for people who don't like Brick and/or Me and You and Everyone We Know -- You have no soul.

Recent or coming soon movies (depending on where you are): Pan's Labyrinth and Children of Men. See them asap.

[Mel]

Blood Diamond

This movie is not for the faint of heart or stomach. It involves a diamond smuggler, Danny Archer (Leo DiCaprio), a fisherman, Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) and his family, and an American Reporter, Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) and of course diamonds. Set in Sierra Leone primarily (with a romp down to South Africa), it deals with not only the mining and trade of conflict diamonds but the bloody wars that take place between rebel groups and the government. This movie was incredibly violent but it wasn't violence just for the sake of it. It really brought home just how tragic living in certain places in Africa can be and it was very sad. I thought DiCaprio's performance was outstanding and Hounsou was absolutely remarkable as well. It was a visually stunning film and I loved the shots of Africa that showcased not only it's beauty but it's horror as well (the war, the refugee camps and the poverty). At times the film became a bit cliche and it took me out of it just for a moment but then it picked up again so it certainly didn't detract from the film for me. It took me a while to get into Jennifer Connelly's character. It seemed like she overacted it at first and then seemed to settle down.

Definitely worth seeing.

[brkl]

Oh man, I need to see Children of Men. Pan's Labyrinth was great, btw, go see it!

[Git Force Gemini]

Charlie Brooker's Christmas Special posted on YouTube by some benevolent soul. A supremo grouch picks apart the carcass of xmas telly like the proverbial turkey that it is.

Harry Hill's TV Burp does the same thing, but in a cherrier way.

[Wrestlevania]

Harry Hill's TV Burp does the same thing, but in a cherrier way.

Harry Hill will likely end up making me incontenant well before time.

[Wrestlevania]

Changing tack slightly, has anyone else tried out any of the following?

• Tape It Off The Internet
• The Venice Project
• Zudeo

Of the three, I've given Zudeo a fair run now and quite like it. It's simple but attractive and very easy to "get". I think once the BBC's offerings (Red Dwarf, Black Adder and Monty Python, amongst others) come online, it'll really take off, as it's kind of hamstrung by its lack of credible/recognised content right now. (Lots of good stuff all the same, especially independents.)

TIOTI I'm not at all convinced by just yet because there seem to be so few seeders out there for the majority of shows I'm interested in. Some shows don't even have any registered seeds, but you're still able to subscribe to them all the same.

The Venice Project looks altogether more involved and time-consuming to get into than either of the others, hence I've spent next-to-no-time with it to date--far too busy with Christmas and New Year just like everyone else. It does, however, seem to have the most promise so I've installed the latest client in an effort to try it out properly sometime this week.

How about anyone else?

[Moosferatu]

I'm thinking of trying some Doctor Who, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of episodes. Any recommendations on a couple good episodes to wet one's feet with?

[David]

Oh man, I need to see Children of Men. Pan's Labyrinth was great, btw, go see it!

:tup: I just got back from Children of Men and it was very very good. Haven't seen Pan's Labyrinth yet, as it's playing a few towns away and will take slightly more effort to see. I will try to get to it soon though.

[Wrestlevania]

I'm thinking of trying some Doctor Who, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of episodes. Any recommendations on a couple good episodes to wet one's feet with?

To be honest, you could do worse than the first couple of episodes of New Doctor Who, with Chris Eccleston.

[Wrestlevania]

I watched the UK television premier of Kill Bill (Vol. I) last night -- first time I've ever seen it. What a truly pointless film.

[Oath]

I watched the UK television premier of Kill Bill (Vol. I) last night -- first time I've ever seen it. What a truly pointless film.

As if most movies have a significant point to make. Kill Bill does what it sets out to do, entertain through looking cool and funny, with lots of throwbacks.

Children of Men is probably the best film I've seen in the last two or three years, I was completely immersed and it was really an emotionally draining film for me. It really hit home in a significant way, without ever making me think it was being overly dramatic. Superbly done both technically and aesthetically. Two big green thumbs, way, way up. :tup:

[Wrestlevania]

As if most movies have a significant point to make. Kill Bill does what it sets out to do, entertain through looking cool and funny, with lots of throwbacks.

...but it's a Tarantino, that's what threw me. Compared to something like Pulp Fiction it is a pointless movie. It did nothing different, it was stuffed with bland clichés* and even the wire work was rubbish.

* I'm aware that was the whole point, but they were used in such a benign and pedestrian way as to not say anything at all. Which was disappointing.

[Marek]

Yes.

Kill Bill 2 is better.

[Oath]

Yes.

Kill Bill 2 is better.

That is also true.

[Wrestlevania]

Just watched the high-definition Transformers trailer and I'm not massively impressed. Sure the CG is fantastic, and the music and audio production hints at something great, but the robots themselves are incredibly fussy in detail and have lost their unique look in my opinion. They appear to be a strange mix between Patlabor, Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion mechs, with lots of extra plates and cables thrown in for good measure--which I think entirely misses the point of the sophisticated and minimalist styles of those robots. Moreover I couldn't recognise a single one, other than Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee--and that was purely because of their unique colours. Scorponok, for example, looks absolutely nothing like the original...

Original:

Bay's version:

Not that I'm against change and progression and blah-blah-blah, but it somehow feels strange that one of our favourite toys doesn't look - for the most part - anything like how we remember it.

Update: Good call on the Zudeo linkage, Ys

[ysbreker]

OMG. I just saw the trailer for the grind house. I can't wait!

Btw, the image links to zudeo, a rather nifty extension of bittorrent if you ask me. I've seen some interesting HD trailers and content thanks to that site/program hybrid. Worth browsing around in.

[DanJW]

Isn't that trailer merely a trailer that appears for a fictional movie inside the real movie? At least that's what I heard. If you get me ¬¬

[Marek]

It could be a trailer for one of the movies inside the movie or it could be a trailer for one of the trailers of a fictional movie inside the movie, since Grindhouse is two movies with fake trailers in between. Did I just BLOW YOUR MIND??

I'll go check it out now.

Also it's worth mentioning that one of the fake trailers will be directed by Edgar Wright.

[lobotomy42]

I'm thinking of trying some Doctor Who, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of episodes. Any recommendations on a couple good episodes to wet one's feet with?

I prefer the older ones to the newer ones, but I'm in the minority. "The City of Death" is pretty good, and "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" also. If you've ever read Hitchhiker's Guide, you might like "The Pirate Planet" which was written by Douglas Adams.

[qdqwdd]

Last weekend I watched Marie Antoinette, I really don't understand the bad reviews it got, I liked it a lot, the story is in the line of the 2 previous Sofia Coppola films: Lonely young women in a strange place. Her 3 films almost seem like a trilogy to me. And as always AWESOME song selection and art direction... :tup:

Also I watched Code 46, a really good film, it was a surprise to me, almost at the same level as Gattaca (one of my favorite Sci-fi films)

[miffy495]

Pan's Labyrinth opened in Calgary on Friday and I just got a chance to see it. Just... damn. Really good. Maybe not quite as good as all the hype's been saying, but definitely worth a viewing. Tomorrow, I'm going to check out Last King of Scotland (finally!) as it opened on the same day but I haven't had a chance to go yet.

[Wrestlevania]

I watched Children of Men on Saturday night. It's a good film, but not particularly special beyond being very nicely shot. Clive Owen is faultless throughout, Michael Caine is superb, but the rest of the cast is completely forgettable. An entertaining film in its own right, but one of those unusual films where you don't have to put in any effort to enjoy it, but won't feel guilty about that at the end either. (I hope that makes sense.)

United 93 had its UK television premiere last night. I think it's a difficult film to be critical of because it's still a sensitive subject, but I'd say it was remarkably restrained in the majority, focussing on plausible assumptions as to what happened on board. It didn't seem to have the impact (for me) on the small screen as many critics had raved about, when it was originally released in cinemas. It's certainly enlightening and frightening though.

[Roderick]

I also really like how Children of Men was shot. However, I had expected something more of it. I dunno. Maybe because I was reminded of the Y: The Last Man comic books. I somehow felt that the premise could have called for something more epic, though instead it was a very personal, intimate movie. I'm not criticising it for it, because it was very good. It just wasn't what I was expecting.