ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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Wrestlevania: Do give Heroes a try. I bet you and the missus V will like it very much.

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Speaking of upcoming movies: I think this movie is going to kick all kinds of ass!

I mean killer zombie sheep? Awesome!

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I enjoyed watching Heroes. I thought the first 2/3 or so of the show was very well done, but around the time of that month long break I think the show lost its way. I think they had too many characters to keep track of with too many different powers and as a result they keep on introducing more and more inconsistencies, gaps in logic, and plot holes. For example:

So why exactly did what's-his-face spend so much time trying to get Claire away and whipping his memory when all the company had to do was ask Molly where Claire was?

About the ending...

Can someone please tell me how exactly Peter's "love" saved the world? Besides saving Claire, I don't think Peter actually did anything the entire season other than change the way he combs his hair. It was Nathan who "saved the world", not Peter. I think they should have actually have had Peter explode in the city. Probably would have made for a more interesting second season. If you're going to rip off part of Watchmen, might as well go all the way.

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The way I see it

Molly's powers were dormant becuase of her virus thingy. A clumsy way to do it.

and the main plot hole for me

why couldn't Peter fly into the air himself without Nathan's help?

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Ok, it's neither Movie or TV but it totally is legitimate theatre

Just saw EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL

:campbell:

and it was about as awesome as it sounds. It's a mostly faithful adaptation of the film. There's a decent amount of blood and guts (Yes, there was a "SPLATTER ZONE"). Pretty hilarious at times and it has a bunch of catchy numbers like "Do the Necronomicon" and "What the fuck was that?"

If it ever makes it to your part of the (cabin in the) woods, definitely check it out. :tup: :tup:

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Meant to add in here that I finally got around to watching Collateral on Monday night this week. Really disappointed with the end result.

Beautifully directed by Michael Mann (it's always a treat to watch his films), the acting is really crappy across the board. Cruise is two-dimensional and weedy as supposedly-hardboiled professional killer Vincent, and Fox is faltering and inconsistent as day-dreaming washup Max. The writing is also weak throughout, with this seemingly being a vehicle to prove that Cruise is "down with a brother". And yes, I'm surpressing a gag reflex just typing that--it's even worse when watching the actual film.

On an entirely more positive note, another film I watched at long last was Sexy Beast. Ray Winstone plays "retired" mob heavy Gal, who has emigrated to Spain with his ex-hardcore pornstar wife Deedee (Amanda Redman). Gal has not long finished a 9-year prison sentence, the result of his last job for crime boss Teddy (Ian McShane) going wrong--and Gal taking the fall for it.

The story kicks off proper when Gal and Deedee learn that Teddy has despatched his right-hand psychopath, Don (Ben Kingsley), to recruit Gal for a new job back in the UK. They both know Don won't take "no" for an answer and life rapidly unravels from that point onwards.

Sexy Beast is dark, grim and about the best of British mainstream cinema. There's a dissapointingly thin amount of backstory proffered for each of the key characters, but you get the impression that this has been done to encourage the viewers imagination more than anything else, whilst cleanly - and deliberately - dodging the cinematically-beaten-to-death flashback clichés. Even so, the story is excellent and really sucks you in.

The cinematography is equally absorbing; you can feel the pavement-splitting heat of the Spanish sun during the opening scenes, and the freezing British night later on in the film. The acting throughout is superb, too. McShane is evil, devious and utterly corrupt, whilst Kingsley is frighteningly unstable and malicious. Winstone also plays his character with convincing fragility, desperate to leave the couple's torrid history firmly back in England, and in the past.

One of my most favourite aspects of Sexy Beast, though, is the soundtrack. The bespoke (and most outstanding) stuff was written and performed as a collaboration between DJ Shadow-era UNKLE and South. It's crisp, crackling and full of menace. It also fits the few scenes where it's actually used brilliantly, adding extra depth and texture.

So if you've still not seen it yet, rent Sexy Beast.

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Ray Winstone is always class - and he is soon to be the voice of Beowulf! Can't get much more rock hard than that.

Hmm, having just played too much God of War II, I now have utterly convincing visions of a

Beowulf game made with the same engine. Hot Damn!

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Somehow envisioning Angelina Jolie as the animalistic, hairy, grief-ridden Grendel's mother made me burst into laughter.

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I decided to have a British horror movie video weekend and watched both The Descent and Creep.

I'd heard heard good things about Creep, but I really didn't rate it. I found it really uninteresting; boring villain (I was hoping that it would turn out to be a rat king, but it didn't) and completely unlikeable heroine. I really wanted her to die, but instead I just had to watch as she completely failed to intervene in the deaths of the much more likeable supporting cast.

The Descent was much more enjoyable, and I recommend it to everyone. From the same writer/director as Dog soldiers, but a very different movie to that one. The all-female cast is incredibly refreshing and well written and the spelunking depicted really does make you feel claustrophobic. Then the scary stuff starts... My only advice is to watch it on a decent display since there were parts in the dark where I had trouble telling what was going on.

So: watch The Descent, don't bother with Creep.

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I was interested in The Descent because of Dog Soldiers, but didn't hear much good about it. I should probably check it out.

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We had The Descent for a really long time at my theater last summer/fall as we were the only place in the city that would bother to book it. It really was quite good but unfortunately for me it was ruined by a completely shit ending. From what I heard though, they changed the ending to make it more suitable for "North American Audiences" so your version may have been entirely different from mine. It's really a pity as I quite liked the film up until the last 5 or so minutes. Those little troglodyte guys were creepy motherfuckers.

So yeah, watch The Descent, but try to avoid the North American version. Haven't seen the original ending, but it's gotta be better than what I saw.

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Yup, I saw the original ending. What happens is

After her friend goes "boo" in the car, it cuts back to a repeat of her opening her eyes on the cave floor. Yup, the first time was a dream. This time there is no shaft of sunlight and no way out. She hullucinates her daughter sitting on the other side of the fire again and smiles to herself dementedly, as the camera pans out and the creatures gather round, watching her.

Not great, but better.

Apparently one interpretation of the film is that there are no monsters except in her own mind; she just went completely psycho and killed everyone herself.

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Damn, that's a whole lot better. I should try to find the original ending sometime.

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I haven't watched the last two Heroes, as the last two LOSTs were my top priority when I got back from Europe yesterday. However, even the people who were big fans of the show seem to be less than thrilled with the finale. My take on the show is that it's always been a bit over-hyped. I think it was OK but not great for its first six episodes or so, and got more interesting as it went on. Shortly before the hiatus, it really hit its stride and had a couple really fantastic episodes. But the episodes since (not counting the two I haven't seen, of course) weren't all that impressive. The writers' main source of surprising developments is habitually revealing that a character who was previously thought to not have a power…wait for it…has a power! Seriously, it happens at least every other episode.

LOST, however, is still fantastic despite those who suggest otherwise, and had a particularly great run for the second half (maybe two-thirds) of season 3. Even the Charlie episode was great. If you haven't been watching it, catch the fuck up. (I would prefer to wait until the thing is done and watch it all at once, but fear spoilers.)

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LOST, however, is still fantastic despite those who suggest otherwise, and had a particularly great run for the second half (maybe two-thirds) of season 3. Even the Charlie episode was great. If you haven't been watching it, catch the fuck up. (I would prefer to wait until the thing is done and watch it all at once, but fear spoilers.)

Damn straight!

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and the main plot hole for me

why couldn't Peter fly into the air himself without Nathan's help?

This bugged the shit out of me.

Also, the resolution in general was wholly unsatisfying. Quite simply, nothing that exciting happened, either from the perspective of the characters or in the plot. It was more or less what I expected. All that build up, all season long, for that? It was like they were trying to include every character, and forgot to have anything of impact happen to any of them. The "big" fight was clumsy, the stakes didn't feel high despite the fact the world being in danger and my overall reaction was, "eh, guess that's done."

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and the main plot hole for me

why couldn't Peter fly into the air himself without Nathan's help?

Well there is a possible reason for that, but it was never explicitly demonstrated

At no point have we seen Peter use two powers at the same time, so if he's losing control of the radioactivity, he can't do anything else

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Well there is a possible reason for that, but it was never explicitly demonstrated

At no point have we seen Peter use two powers at the same time, so if he's losing control of the radioactivity, he can't do anything else

What about his first fight with Sylar? Seemed to be a few things going on then. If that was the case, why not establish it if it's key to the plot?

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What about his first fight with Sylar? Seemed to be a few things going on then. If that was the case, why not establish it if it's key to the plot?

He never uses two powers simultaneously, only in sequence, so theoretically the radioactivity is overriding his ability to use anything else.

Also as I already said it's only a possible explanation and it's lame that they didn't make it explicit

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Reading this thread is a lot like reading a White House report on Iran or Iraq. REDACTED TO THE MAX.

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