Movie/TV recommendations

[Ucantalas]

Okay, so, a little while back I mentioned liking Black Books and one of you (Rodi perhaps? I don't quite remember) recommended Spaced.

I started watching it back when the recommendation was made, but didn't really get into it.

But then yesterday, bored and browsing Netflix, I thought I would give the show another shot. And I am so glad I did. It is really funny and very unique. It feels like much more than your standard sitcom, with its one static shot of some apartment or another and the occasional shot somewhere else. This show feels dynamic, and has movement! (At least thats what my mind told me while I was riddled with NyQuil.) Made it about 8 episodes in yesterday, going to continue on with it today.

[clyde]

I liked the part in the first episode (I think) of Spaced when the landlord is talking about her ex. "I said it's me or that dog... He left the next morning, that bitch." I thought that was really funny.

[Ucantalas]

...and I finished Spaced today. I loved that show, but like so many before it, I am now sad that I will not be seeing more episodes anytime soon.

Time to search out more British comedies! (Sadly, the hunt usually takes just as long as the entire run of any one series...)
 

 

I liked the part in the first episode (I think) of Spaced when the landlord is talking about her ex. "I said it's me or that dog... He left the next morning, that bitch." I thought that was really funny.

Yes! I love jokes that are sort of almost hidden in the writing, ones that you need to actually be paying attention to notice. Too many shows seem like they need big blinking setups showing off every joke, but I like having to actually watch my television at times.

[clyde]

Yes! I love jokes that are sort of almost hidden in the writing, ones that you need to actually be paying attention to notice. Too many shows seem like they need big blinking setups showing off every joke, but I like having to actually watch my television at times.

I'm currently reading Pride and Prejudice and it is very much this. It's pages of banterous dialogue where they insult each other in clever ways while maintaining utmost ettiquette. Must be a british thing. I like it.

[Ben X]

Okay, so, a little while back I mentioned liking Black Books and one of you (Rodi perhaps? I don't quite remember) recommended Spaced.

 

That was meeee, I think.

 

I'm trying to think of Britcoms of a similar sensibility for you to enjoy... Obvious ones are Father Ted (all, in order), The IT Crowd (esp S2), Peep Show (S1&2 only), Look Around You (mainly S1). Once you've done all those, we can go for the Brass Eyes, Filthy Riches and Red Dwarves...

[Sno]

I just saw Pacific Rim.

Guillermo Del Toro has brought a super robot anime to life. What that implies is exactly what you get with no surprises. I also think it has a ton of structure and pacing problems, along with some particularly vacuous and uncharasmatic leads.

 

It's a real dumb movie, with the meaning being both perjorative and positive all at once.

Which is to say, i actually really, really enjoyed it, Del Toro's eye for visuals is in full effect here. This movie has some of the most incredible action i've ever seen on the big screen, and the degree to which i enjoyed myself is making the problems i had with the film so much more aggravating.

I'd recommend it, it's a really fun summer movie, and my issues with it stem largely from expecting more out of Del Toro.

[TheLastBaron]

I was expecting Pacific Rim to be a typical mediocre summer blockbuster and it was considerably worse than that. There were just so many problems with it that it became difficult to watch.

[tegan]

I still want to see it. If nothing else, I have a massive appreciation for Del Toro forgoing CG in favour of building the fucking robot.

 

[Lu]

 

I haven't seen it yet, but I will!

[Gormongous]

I liked it just fine, but thought it was fiercely dumb, which did take me by surprise.

[Nachimir]

I still haven't seen it, but I thought the bit in the trailer where a giant robot is using a ship like a baseball bat communicated very well that it was going to be a dumb film. I'm looking forward to it a lot, which took me by surprise.

[Frenetic Pony]

I just saw Pacific Rim.

Guillermo Del Toro has brought a super robot anime to life. What that implies is exactly what you get with no surprises. I also think it has a ton of structure and pacing problems, along with some particularly vacuous and uncharasmatic leads.

 

It's a real dumb movie, with the meaning being both perjorative and positive all at once.

Which is to say, i actually really, really enjoyed it, Del Toro's eye for visuals is in full effect here. This movie has some of the most incredible action i've ever seen on the big screen, and the degree to which i enjoyed myself is making the problems i had with the film so much more aggravating.

I'd recommend it, it's a really fun summer movie, and my issues with it stem largely from expecting more out of Del Toro.

 

I've never expected more out of Del Toro, in fact I expect less, Pan's Labyrinth seems a nigh fluke considering much of his other films. Still, glad to see it's exactly what I was hoping for. Independence Day except in giant anime robot form, though perhaps not with Jeff Goldblum and Bill Paxton.

 

Also, I saw Videodrome tonight. Man, Cronenberg definitely gets weird right. It was fun watching James Woods freak out though, and the FX work was mostly fantastic for the 80's.

[clyde]

I love Naked Lunch.

[Ben X]

I love naked lunch.

[clyde]

Has Cronenberg made anything that mixes attractive atmospheres with intriguing esoteria since Naked Lunch? Or is Naked Lunch a fluke. Existenz seemed like something a college student would make after taking a philosophy course for the first time.

[Patrick R]

Videodrome is the next closest thing to Naked Lunch. I think Naked Lunch was too specific and unique a vision to ever successfully duplicate. He started at the life and work of William S. Burroughs and it sort of spiraled out from there. I can't imagine another subject that would produce such a film.

[clyde]

I think I'd settle for fan-fiction I liked it so much.

Maybe Cronenberg should write a movie about the life of Kafka.

Btw, great question about dating sims on the podcast Patrick. I wanted to hear them talk about that. Also, I'm searching for similar stuff so I'll keep you posted if I see anything that does romance well.

[Gormongous]

I've never expected more out of Del Toro, in fact I expect less, Pan's Labyrinth seems a nigh fluke considering much of his other films. Still, glad to see it's exactly what I was hoping for. Independence Day except in giant anime robot form, though perhaps not with Jeff Goldblum and Bill Paxton.

 

I think you're underselling Del Toro a bit. If nothing else, both of the Hellboy movies show a lot of self-awareness and self-parody in what was at the time (and still is, really) a po-faced sub-genre. I guess I expected the same with Pacific Rim, but it was really just a very earnest love letter to Godzilla movies and mecha, with not much else to say.

 

Anyway, now that I'm sober, I can rephrase my post in a way that won't prompt Nachimir to make fun of it: I thought it was fiercely dumb, but liked it just fine, which did take me by surprise

[tegan]

I'd hardly call Pan's Labyrinth a fluke; there's a ridiculous amount of calculation involved in terms of using things like set design or scene transitions to tell the story. For example:

 

Everyone remembers the Pale Man. In the scene immediately before the Pale Man sequence, the Captain is hosting a banquet. A long, rectangular table sits along a long, rectangular hallway. A feast is laid out, and a (figurative) monster sits at the head of the table. In the Pale Man bit; a long, curved table sits along a long, curved hallway. A feast is laid out, and a (literal) monster sits at the head of the table. Our heroine retrieves a knife that will later become important. In the next scene, we see Mercedes cleaning the dishes from the previous banquet, and our heroine retrieves a knife that will later become important.

 

Hellboy 2 is full of the same kind of stuff; things that sound like they would be obvious when you hear them out loud but carry the story without saying a word.

 

...My only complaint about what I've seen of Del Toro's filmmaking is that he carried the baby metaphor stuff way too far. Fertility goddess statue in the opening! Cool! Tooth fairies very deliberately move under the wall in a fallopian tube pattern! Okay! Hellboy protects a baby! Alright! His gun is named the Big Baby! Enough already!

[Justin Leego]

That was meeee, I think.

 

I'm trying to think of Britcoms of a similar sensibility for you to enjoy... Obvious ones are Father Ted (all, in order), The IT Crowd (esp S2), Peep Show (S1&2 only), Look Around You (mainly S1). Once you've done all those, we can go for the Brass Eyes, Filthy Riches and Red Dwarves...

Would there be room for something like The Mighty Boosh (S1) and Snuff Box for people of a Spaced persuasion?

[tegan]

Oh man, so my friend went to see Pacific Rim and compared it to Speed Racer, which is the Citizen Kane of movies. I definitely have to see this now.

[Twig]

Speed Racer is fucking fantastic. Now I'm excited for Pacific Rim.

[TheLastBaron]

It's worth pointing out that I just re watched Undeclared a week or so ago so when watching Pacific Rim I was unable to accept that the main guy (I don't even remember what his name was in the movie) wasn't Loyd.

[gregbrown]

Pacific Rim is no Speed Racer, which I love. It's more even and consistent than Speed Racer, but the visuals aren't nearly as impressive. It's s competent summer blockbuster, but not much more than that; think the first JJ Abrams Star Trek film. Independence Day is still the reigning champ.

[tegan]

Pacific Rim is no Speed Racer, which I love. It's more even and consistent than Speed Racer, but the visuals aren't nearly as impressive. It's s competent summer blockbuster, but not much more than that; think the first JJ Abrams Star Trek film. Independence Day is still the reigning champ.

 

Specifically what my friend meant was how honest and unabashed its love for its inspirations is. Like she was really glad that there was absolutely no winking at the camera going on.