Movie/TV recommendations

[tegan]

Finished it! I had the ending spoiled for me years ago, but the last fifteen minutes or so are still easily the best part of the movie.

[Twig]

Guys, I know Stargate isn't like the pinnacle of television or anything but goddamn if it isn't one of my favorite series ever. It embraces the cheese. It is CHEESE INCARNATE.

 

Also I am slayed every time Teal'c recognizes or makes a movie reference.

 

I am currently watching an episode where SG-1 is mistaken as rebels in a hostage situation on an alien planet in a museum. I have laughed out loud multiple times. I'm so happy right now.

 

Oh god Vala just activated a Goa'uld naquida bomb to intimidate a museum security guard and can't deactivate it. GIBBERISH SCI-FI ALIEN WORDS!!

[SecretAsianMan]

That episode has one of the best Daniel moments, the part where he snaps at a few of the hostages because they won't shut up.  I'm also a Stargate dork and was upset they canceled the series just as it was starting to get interesting again.  I hated the Goa'uld but I loved the Ori.  I thought Atlantis was ok, but they should have just called it what it really was: the Shepard and McKay show.  Seriously, those guys did everything.  They didn't even need a team.

[Twig]

Yeah, that moment is just... amazing. Oh man, Daniel is great. Teal'c is great. Vala is great. I giggle incessantly at those three so often.

 

I liked Atlantis a lot more the first time around. That said, it's still fun. Inferior to SG-1, but fun. I do really love the Shepard-McKay dynamic, though. The one thing that always disappointed me with Atlantis, though, was the treatment of Ford. I know in the beginning he was Just Another Soldier, but I feel like the whole enzyme thing fell super flat. They could've done so much more with that. One of my favorite non-human characters is Todd. I recently read about some plans they had for Todd in an Atlantis next-season-turned-movie that never happened, where Shepard and Todd were going to do some buddy-buddy things to save Atlantis from blowing up (how many goddamn times does Atlantis almost blow up, good lord). Could've been great! For the most part, though, the Wraith are just kind of uninteresting, nameless evil dudes. Michael isn't bad, either.

 

Universe was a weird thing. Trying to be a super serious Battlestar Galactica style show, but failing in so many ways. Then renewed for one season, immediately cancelled after that second season started, and of course THEN it starts getting really good. I really didn't like the first season, but the second was so good I forgave the first season almost entirely. I wonder if I'll like the first season more when I rewatch it

[SecretAsianMan]

I like the Shepard-McKay dynamic too, but almost every episode was about one or both of them. I didn't really care for the rest of the team because they never did anything. Ford was disappointing because they turned him into a steroid addict so quickly. And I never liked Carson. All he did was complain. Teyla and Ronon were almost background characters by the end. I thought Weir was good but whatever. And you're right, Todd is the best. The Wraith as a whole I thought was dumb but he was great.

I also really love Mitchell in SG-1. I'm a fan of Ben Browder in general. I miss Farscape.

[Twig]

Farscape was so good. U:

 

I like Carson! My favorite non-core character, though, is Radick.

 

I'm one episode from finishing SG-1. Still have the movies, but damnit. D:

 

It's interesting how incredibly rushed I recognize Ba'al's death as being, this time around (though they could always just fall back on CLONES yet again - and they might even still do that... I forget most of what happens from here on out). When I was watching it as it aired, it didn't stand out so much. I feel like Ba'al was really interesting, but because most of his prime time was around the Ori invasion, he doesn't live up to his potential, I guess.

[SecretAsianMan]

Zelenka is great too.  I like how David Nykl (the actor who plays Zelenka) is Czech and can actually speak it, so they just made that part of his character.  Whenever he speaks Czech on the show, the script has the stuff in English and he just translates it himself.

 

As for Ba'al, just wait.  He's an important part of the second movie (which I feel is the better of the two).

[TheLastBaron]

I watch a few episodes of Stargate a week when I eat dinner, much in the way I think people have a glass of wine only I find this to be much more stress relieving.

[Argobot]

I'm rewatching Aliens vs. Predators (yes, REwatching) and I can't believe how similar this movie is to Prometheus. The overall plot, even some of the sets, are shared between both films. Of course, Prometheus has a bigger budget and better actors, but I'm amazed at how much it reminds me of this knock off Alien franchise movie.

 

It could just be a coincidence, but I have so little respect for Lindelof at this point that I wouldn't be surprised if some the similarities are there on purpose.

[Max Ernst]

To catch up with an old episode of How Did this Get Made?, I watched The Love Guru. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. This movie is so bad. It's racist, homophobic, sexist and fails elicit one laugh. Most of the jokes are high-school public domain jokes put to film. He runs several shitty concepts to the ground. It feels like he just mugs to the camera to make up for the lack of actual comedy.There is nothing at stake and it asks you to invest heavily in it. There is so much great talent wasted here. 

 

I knew it was bad going in but holy shit.

[toblix]

So I've watched the three first episodes of Utopia, and they've made me very uncomfortable, especially the third one, in which there is a long scene of multiple executions of teachers and children in a school, a scene in which a care worker and a girl's mother are executed in front of her, and a scene in which a man is threatened with having his wife violently raped. It's a beautifully shot show, with some fantastic music and acting and – so far – an interesting plot, but it has this cruel streak that disconcerts me in the same way Kick-Ass did, only to a stronger degree. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I think it makes me uncomfortable if a film or show uses (what feels to me like) extreme stuff like violence and torture (especially involving children) seemingly just to be edgy or extreme, without "earning" the right somehow by balancing it with some great reason for having that stuff in there. I don't react that way to all extreme stuff, either. I have no problem with crazy bullshit like horror torture porn movies or whatever – it's when I find something otherwise great and amazing, and then seemingly for no reason people's hands are shot off or something and it's portrayed with glee or indifference, I feel ... sort of betrayed by the film, I guess. I wonder what's wrong with me!!!

 

Anyway, I'll probably watch the last three episodes of Utopia, but I'm sort of not looking forward to it.

 

Oh, and I watched World War Z. Didn't really enjoy it much, except for the wordless standoff with the gaunt Dr. zombie in that chamber towards the end.

[brkl]

Huh, I'll definitely not see it then. Cheers.

[Roderick]

Farscape was so good. U:

That's something I can stand behind. Farscape is an amazing sci-fi show. Four great seasons plus a generally OK miniseries!

[tegan]

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec is so great. It's got this awesome Euro Indiana Jones thing going on that I love.

[SecretAsianMan]

I recently watched the latest series finale for Futurama.  I thought it was a good episode overall, but lacking as a series finisher.  I suspect that they may be expecting another resurrection at some point so they stopped short of giving it a real ending.

[Nappi]

Just watched Hellboy 2 for the first time. Surprisingly awesome! Reminded me of MIB.

 

The first one was OK too.

[Frenetic Pony]

World War Z is fine! Ok, the middle, I.E. Israel and Korea, are just plain pointless, but at least they were slightly entertaining in a mindless way. But the beginning and ending are solid enough to enjoy, even though you should be compelled to be vastly disappointed that it wasn't rated R with the India scene from the book in it.

 

Also Hellboy 1 is average and Hellboy 2 is lame. At least to me, I'm surprised to see Hellboy 2 score a bit better on IMDB. It was pure cheesy pulp without embracing cheese or pulp, often quite self serious despite how silly it felt. Not to mention the whole "us magical creatures that actually exist but are hidden from humans are oppressed, help I'm being repressed!" Talk about a lame cliche story point that didn't do anything at all to advance itself beyond being a lame cliche story point.

 

Also, Clue is still hilarious, "Yep. Two corpses, everything's fine." Tim Curry's frantic zipping back and forth at the end really sells the whole thing though.

[Roderick]

I loved Hellboy 2. I thought the first one was fun, but in retrospect it's getting duller and duller. 2 was colorful, funny, tonally highly magical. I'm not surprised it scored better.

I had never heard of the Clue film, looked up the trailer and discovered two things:

1. I'm going to see Clue the Movie.

2. The tagline is "It's not just a game anymore..."

[Argobot]

I had never heard of the Clue film, looked up the trailer and discovered two things:

1. I'm going to see Clue the Movie.

2. The tagline is "It's not just a game anymore..."

 

Clue is a criminally underrated film. Buzzfeed did an article recently that goes into the movie's history -- initially a big flop, but now a cult classic.

 

When I was in middle school, this was the movie I would always rent for sleepovers at my house. There was a span from ages 11-13 where I must have watched it a few times a year. Then I didn't watch again until a few months ago. Still hilarious.

[SecretAsianMan]

I love Clue.  I wish I could have seen it in the theatre when it was new and then try to discuss it with other people who saw a different ending than I did.  I always loved that idea, but I don't think you could pull it off today because things like Twitter exist.  And Tim Curry is fantastic.  I love his reaction when he looks at Mr. Green's file when he preemptively reveals his secret.

[syntheticgerbil]

Also Hellboy 1 is average and Hellboy 2 is lame. At least to me, I'm surprised to see Hellboy 2 score a bit better on IMDB. It was pure cheesy pulp without embracing cheese or pulp, often quite self serious despite how silly it felt. Not to mention the whole "us magical creatures that actually exist but are hidden from humans are oppressed, help I'm being repressed!" Talk about a lame cliche story point that didn't do anything at all to advance itself beyond being a lame cliche story point.

I don't know, I liked Hellboy II because it felt overall much closer to the fantasy stories in the comic. It was a bit more comedic and had less elements of horror, but it seemed pretty on par. Hellboy 1 mostly felt all glossy like a Matrix movie and seemed very wrong for the character. The strapping young man who was the main character sure didn't help, and I'm pretty sure he was a studio insertion.

[Roderick]

Yeah, he's an incredible distraction and the weakest thing in the film. I didn't mind the religious overtones of the film, but it does get pretty dour and heavy at times. Hellboy II is such a wonderful fantasy romp, with lots of end-of-level bosses and heartfelt moments.

[TheLastBaron]

I just watched clue a month ago or so and it's still so good!

[Nappi]

I watched Clue yesterday, based on all the recommendations. I liked it a lot. I would probably never had thought it worth watching if it wasn't for your praise, so thank!

[Twig]

I remember watching that movie a lot as a kid. I don't remember anything about it.

 

I've added it to my queue and will watch it probably this weekend. I'm so excited!