Movie/TV recommendations

[ThunderPeel2001]

Wow. I just remembered another reason why I dislike that show: It's not funny.

[Roderick]

Kinda reminds you of the Garfield strips without Garfield. Wow, Leonard is really unlikeable.

Back to movies, I've been watching the strangely international (by which I mean these movies are spoken in three different languages at the same time) Largo Winch flicks. Based on the French comic (which is pretty great). These movies rock! They're half boardroom thriller, half James Bond action film, but it all comes together surprisingly well. Usually I get massively bored with action films (especially the action scenes themselves), but Largo Winch manages to circumvent that by letting the action flow from a logical espionage/thriller plotline. Despite it all being highly glossy and glamorous, it's easy to buy into.

Easily digested, but surprisingly fun.

[Gwardinen]

I think this comment sums it up best:

"Suddenly, the show becomes a drama depicting the everyday life of a man struggling with high functioning autism."

Yeah, though I actually think it makes it funnier too. I'm often just about to chuckle at something in the Big Bang Theory when the laugh track sparks up and it kind of derails my own humour response. It can be rather grating until I watch enough that it fades into the background.

[Ben X]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/5933828/remix-two-and-a-half-men-groan-track

My cineweekend:

Another Earth - very good, nice little drama. The sci-fi conceit is almost completely background metaphor, though - you could almost take it out completely and not affect the film, which felt a little wasteful.

Holmes 2 - much better than the first one. Lots more of the stuff that makes Holmes good - ie him actually being a detective - plus Moriarty is done really well. It still has a lot of the same problems, though - the 'bickering couple' dynamic and Holmes' clownish/bitchy persona, plus Ritchie's 'throw every trick in the book at it' directing style which scuppers some nicely designed action scenes. Still not quite as good as Shanghai Knights, but closer!

Hugo 3D - It's quite slow (and is less of a fantastic adventure than the trailers might lead you to believe), but the 3D is used perfectly and overall it's a wonderful ode to early cinema.

50/50 - funny and touching. Not hilarious or heartwrenching, but definitely recommended. Gordon-Levitt is brilliant as always.

A Very Harold & Kumar Xmas - surprisingly brilliant. The first one was great though uneven and the second one was okay. This one amps everything up, uses the 3D gimmick perfectly, and stays funny, inventive and energetic all the way through. Would watch a fourth.

[Orv]

Please tell me one of you has a time machine.

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(~:58 to 1:15 is why I love Peter Jackson. Chilling.)

[elmuerte]

Too much orange and teal

But at least there's some green in there once in a while.

However, still looking forward to it. But "next december", they mean 2012? ffs

[ThunderPeel2001]

I was just about to post this myself. I've watched it about five times already. Seems they've gone for the tone of LotR, which is surprisingly given they said they were going lighter. Still, I imagine the film itself will be lighter.

[Nachimir]

New Batman trailer too:

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It gives me goosebumps to see a childhood landmark as Wayne Manor.

[Roderick]

After The Dark Knight I couldn't envision the sequel at all. After this teaser, I still can't. I'm sure there's a story there, but after Joker -who is still alive- a villain such as Bane? How could it be relevant?

In a way, it's also exciting, because it means Nolan has the opportunity to surprise me again.

[Twig]

I liked the musics in that trailer.

[Nappi]

Based on the trailer, the new Batman seems about as bland as the first part of the trilogy. I still hope it will surprise me pleasantly.

I was just about to post this myself. I've watched it about five times already. Seems they've gone for the tone of LotR, which is surprisingly given they said they were going lighter. Still, I imagine the film itself will be lighter.

I read The Hobbit a long time ago so I may have forgotten something, but I think the level of dark foreboding about the journey was a lot lower than in this trailer. Makes sense, I guess, since the ring did not carry that much significance in the book. I can see why they chose this approach, though.

Somehow I have a feeling that the film won't be much lighter than Lord of the Rings. Nothing I have seen or heard so far seems to indicate a change of direction (except for their own words apparently).

[Orv]

Well, to be perfectly honest, I think the Hobbit trailer is intentionally making it darker. There are plenty of more lighthearted moments in the Hobbit, but it is by no means a childrens book.

[brkl]

Well, to be perfectly honest, I think the Hobbit trailer is intentionally making it darker. There are plenty of more lighthearted moments in the Hobbit, but it is by no means a childrens book.

Eh? A children's book is exactly what The Hobbit is.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I concur, enjoyable as it is.

[Roderick]

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. You know, maybe M:I just isn't for this time anymore, or maybe director Brad Bird should've been a little more creative (he usually is), but when

three big action pieces revolve around someone needing to infiltrate a server room to hack into a computer, well... lacklustre is what it is. I had fun with this movie, don't misunderstand. It's very entertaining. But it's 100% cliché with a cackling scientist villain who wants to start nuclear war between the US and Russia in the name of evolution. Sigh...

[ThunderPeel2001]

Is it me or did my pants suddenly get tighter?

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[Roderick]

ThunderPeel2001 and I are sharing the same pants.

[Nappi]

Explains why they suddenly got tighter.

[Gwardinen]

Organic pod things, Ridley Scott involvement. Is it something to do with the Alien franchise? I don't really have as much affection for that as most, but it looks to have some decent actors in so I'm cautiously optimistic.

On the other hand, how many times are we going to have people run in a straight line away from a giant rolling object?

[DanJW]

Organic pod things, Ridley Scott involvement. Is it something to do with the Alien franchise? I don't really have as much affection for that as most, but it looks to have some decent actors in so I'm cautiously optimistic.

It started life as the prequel to Alien. However, during pre-production Ridley Scott decided that it had "become its own thing" and dropped the alien franchise part. It is probably set in the same 'universe' though. Will we see a xenomorph in it? No-one knows, although it is likely that it is about the 'navigator' race, the fossil of which was seen in Alien. Looks good either way.

[ThunderPeel2001]

There's actually a LOT of Alien universe stuff on that trailer alone -- The big ship is, of course, the one they find at the beginning of Alien. The space jockey is seen in the trailer, too. The vehicles are the same design as those in Aliens. And the title appears exactly the same way the title appears at the beginning of Alien.

A surprising amount of Alien stuff, actually.

[brkl]

Stinks of rehash a bit. Ridley Scott hasn't been his best for a couple of decades. That is, ever since he stopped doing sci-fi... So maybe this one is good after all, we'll see.

[elmuerte]

looks neat... and did I spot other colors than teal and orange?

[Gwardinen]

Just watched the Ides of March, based on the recommendation that followed my post about Drive. Good film, I greatly enjoyed it. Reminded me somewhat of the good old days when I was watching the West Wing start to finish.

However, it did make me wonder a little at the praise that so many people (including myself, to an extent) seem to be giving Ryan Gosling at the moment. Undoubtedly, both Drive and the Ides of March impressed me, and he was the protagonist and therefore most important character to enjoy, and enjoy I did.

However, they didn't feel particularly different. I like the whole softly spoken with a clever, strong side that comes into play when necessary bit. Ryan Gosling seems very good at it, and very good at keeping his face and voice calm and level during intense scenes before letting just a little emotion leak out of them at other times. But uh... that's all he does. In both films. The whole time. I began to wonder how much of the characters I was projecting myself, because there was a comparatively blank slate there.

I don't really remember the Notebook well enough to contrast his performance there, unfortunately, and this consideration is likely tainted by simply having watched two strangely similar films (in terms of the way the main character is used) in quick succession. I still think it's possible Ryan Gosling might be a great actor, but watching these two films so close together made me wonder how much of it is just that he's seemingly so well suited to playing these kinds of characters.

[miffy495]

Have you seen Blue Valentine? It's a really good movie about a relationship disintegrating due to no particular reason aside from getting married too young and growing into different people. It's really refreshing, as Hollywood normally portrays relationships ending because of some specific event rather than people being people. No one is at fault here, both characters are really well done, and Ryan Gosling is fucking great as the husband. Some good emotional moments there too, not just little bits leaking out now and then. It's what sold me on Ryan Gosling. I'd recommend checking it out if you want to be impressed with him.