Movie/TV recommendations

[Reyturner]

B movie cheese and low budgets are not schlock! I feel very strongly about this! I will say They Live kind of sucks. The pacing is goddamn atrocious. The Thing though? Fucking masterpiece.

What!?

I'll fight you for 9 minutes over this!

[BusbyBerkeley]

The alley fight is glorious, as is the general conceit. Most of the movie is not infiltrating the secret base though, and that's a bummer. If the first hour was condensed to like 30 or 40 minutes it would be so much better.

[itsamoose]

I watched A most wanted man last night. There were some great performances in it, particularly by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright. It was pretty standard most of the way through, but I absolutely loved the ending. If you liked Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and similar low key Spy movies, I think you'll enjoy it.

[Patrick R]

I think The Guest was less inspired by John Carpenter than the direct-to-video thriller/action/horror movies of the 80's. Especially the DTV Terminator rip-offs. It felt way more Cannon than anything else. I think it's just the pulsing electronic score throwing people off, because it really doesn't resemble any Carpenter movie. It's too low-rent for that.

[marblize]

on the spy movie note, I watched Mission: Impossible for the first time in probably a decade last night. Was pretty struck by how simple but well constructed the sequences are. I feel like I somehow missed a lot as a 16 year old, which is odd given how goofily straightforward it is sometimes.

[Coods]

Dope was a series of super interesting and exciting ideas executed in the weirdest most sporadic ways. Liked it a lot.

[twmac]

I think The Guest was less inspired by John Carpenter than the direct-to-video thriller/action/horror movies of the 80's. Especially the DTV Terminator rip-offs. It felt way more Cannon than anything else. I think it's just the pulsing electronic score throwing people off, because it really doesn't resemble any Carpenter movie. It's too low-rent for that.

 

Yeah, maybe the bad Carpenter stuff like Prince of Darkness comes close to what The Guest is emulating but really I see more influences in stuff like all the Prom Night sequels (the setting at the end of the film oozes 80s horror film) and all those bad Rutget Hauer films (like Blind Fury released in 1990). 

 

The Guest has none of the inventiveness of John Carpenter's 80s stuff and is deeply steeped in the real schlock. The plot seems deliberately bad in the way that it is barely conceivable that everyone would take this stranger into their house without so much as an eyebrow being raised.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I'm halfway through the third season of Orange is the New Black and...

 

Hoo boy. It certainly is meandering with no purpose right now. It's really reminding me of Weeds when it started to flounder and just throw things at the plot in the hope that something would work without any concern for a consistent arc or consistency.

[Zeusthecat]

I'm halfway through the third season of Orange is the New Black and...

 

Hoo boy. It certainly is meandering with no purpose right now. It's really reminding me of Weeds when it started to flounder and just throw things at the plot in the hope that something would work without any concern for a consistent arc or consistency.

 

This is 100% exactly the same issue I had with Weeds and the issue I've had whenever I've tried to watch Orange is the New Black. My wife is even more bothered by it than I am but she keeps watching in the hopes that it will get better. I think both shows started out really strong and were super compelling but after a little while I feel like they both devolved into a convoluted mess with these super overly dramatic plotlines that just seem way too contrived. It's hard to put my finger on exactly what bothers me about these two shows but it seems like they both reached a point where the drama got turned up to 11 for every damn thing and it just became overwhelmingly cheesy. 

 

I loved that first season of Weeds though. It struck such a good balance and had interesting characters with equal bits of drama and comedy. But by the time I stopped watching, Nancy was pregnant with that Mexican politician/drug lord's baby and being surveiled by gangsters because she betrayed him to the FBI but they won't kill her cause she's pregnant with his baby. And then there was that disgusting scene where the drug lord guy basically rapes her while she's pregnant but she is depicted as being totally into it. I shudder to think of where the show went from there.

[marblize]

oitnb, not really any spoilers but:

I feel kind of the opposite about OitNB. I'm ecstatic that Piper's story has become increasingly less prominent. I love that we're getting episodes largely centered on characters who have been bit players or even villains in previous seasons. the meandering feels somehow fresh to me. it respectfully shouts "yes, all of these characters deserve screen time," and it works for me. I love caputo's increasing depth and Birbiglia's doofy character. I love how healy is becoming ~slightly~ less of a gross snidely whiplash caricature. I realize I just specifically mentioned three white men but those are more passing instances of things that are slightly refreshing. I'm mainly talking about the inmates... also the finale's final sequence was beautiful.

[SuperBiasedMan]

Orange is the New Black

 

I'm glad she has a bit less screentime, but I feel like Piper still has too much and for such useless plotlines without any direction. I definitely like the exploration of other characters as an idea, but I still feel like the meandering is going to make the show fizzle in the long run. I'm still watching and not planning to stop this season.

 

Also I couldn't disagree more about Healy. He's a shitty MRA dude even if he means well and I'm suspicious of him being redeemed without it being because he actually rejects his toxic identity. This IS a dude that literally has a book about how lesbian feminists have a malevolent plan.

[marblize]

oitnb

true, I'm just kind of waiting to see where it goes. I don't think there's much value in completely over the top villains in a show like this. Vee was a bit too much at times but the race complications made things confusing in a positive way for me. I think there were inklings of healy realizing/being confused by people's reactions to his toxic nature this season, which I think lent some depth and was nice to see. I'm not saying he should be wholly redeemed or legitimately sympathized with at all. there were definitely still some bummer angles the show took with him, but I thought there was some good stuff too. I'm not sure exactly where you are so I won't mention specifics. also I might be not making sense, might be being successfully manipulated by the show, or might be just wrong.

[SuperBiasedMan]

OITNB Post Episode 5 spoiler

 

I just watched the episode where Healy and Red seem to almost have some thing, except then it's actually just Red trying to use him so it was all an act on here part I think.

 

I agree that Vee was too much, and I like giving Healy depth but I didn't like how Red defended him to his Russian wife. I get the idea that it's her feelings on the matter, she was reacting to her husband lieing to her. But it felt like the show sanctioned it as being a 'fair' portrayal. In general I've gotten bad vibes out of these 5 episodes so I'm not inclined to cut it slack right now. But we'll see if I reverse this feeling by the end of the season.

[twmac]

Some of the spoilers make me excited about Orange is the New Black. I watched the first series and stopped because of reasons discussed in the spoilers about Piper.

[Twig]

Huh, I guess I just don't recognize most of the pop culture references in Supernatural, because I can only really think of Dean actually making them regularly.

 

But man if you want pop culture references... Psych!

 

I kind of want to watch all of Psych again, actually. Which is saying something, because that's long, and I don't usually rewatch long shit.

[Ben X]

Huh, I guess I just don't recognize most of the pop culture references in Supernatural, because I can only really think of Dean actually making them regularly.

 

Heh, I just watched an episode and one (not really a spoiler but being careful)

super-powerful demon

referenced Monopoly and Little Shop Of Horrors!

[dartmonkey]

I went to see Terminator Genisys this afternoon. Obviously my expectations were super low after Salvation and everything I'd heard...but I really enjoyed it! The first two are masterpieces of their respective eras, which this isn't, but it's wonderfully enjoyable tosh. I really don't understand the vitriolic reviews. It reminded me of Wolverine Origins - I remember going into that with similarly low expectations and coming out thinking the critics must have seen a different film. I'm not saying Genisys is life-changing, but at no point did I wince at a terrible piece of dialogue or cringe at dodgy CG. I was worried Arnie would become a ridiculous figure but he really doesn't and he even has a couple of sweet moments. It cribs some choice bits of iconography and on the whole it made me smile a lot.

 

Just to be clear, I don't think it's 5-star fried gold. I've got a solid knowledge of the backstory and previous films, and perhaps without that it might get confusing. Matt Smith's character is pretty bland. Jai Courtney isn't awful but he's no Michael Biehn. Look up 'wirey' in Webster's and there's a picture of Biehn, I'm sure. Frankly, Courtney looks more like a Terminator.

The biggest plot WTF for me was when Sarah and Kyle jumped to 2017 and Kyle shielded her from a car which seemed to bounce off his back. I thought they were setting him up as actually being a Terminator or something!

That said, he does a serviceable job as stand-in audience-member for those 'WTF?' moments, and perhaps the plot required a blanker slate to bounce off, as opposed to the tortured complex Reese from the first film. I'd have liked to have seen Joe Morton back as Miles Dyson, but that's just my inner-geek wondering why he wasn't.

 

I hope the planned sequel still gets the green light. Looks like international takings might save it, and after Salvation I can understand people being weary. Still can't quite work out the 1-star reviews though.

[Azniac]

Huh, I guess I just don't recognize most of the pop culture references in Supernatural, because I can only really think of Dean actually making them regularly.

 

But man if you want pop culture references... Psych!

 

I kind of want to watch all of Psych again, actually. Which is saying something, because that's long, and I don't usually rewatch long shit.

 

I love Psych. I couldn't bring myself to watch the series finale, I just started watching it from the beginning again. It's such a fun show.

[Twig]

To be honest, the last season is not great. Maybe the last two seasons, even. They stop being as funny and start focusing way too much on the serious relationship problems and it's just kinda bleh. Btu there are still a few really good ones! 

 

Anyway yeah Psych is fantastic.

[Azniac]

I'd agree with that. I still enjoyed it, but there weren't as many memorable episodes. The Spanish soap opera one (second season?) is definitely one of my favorites. 

[marblize]

Man, I thought Dope was a joy. Kind of all over the place at times but very propulsive.

[elmuerte]

I'd agree with that. I still enjoyed it, but there weren't as many memorable episodes. The Spanish soap opera one (second season?) is definitely one of my favorites. 

What about the Twin Peaks one?

[malkav11]

Just popping in to note that The One I Love (which hopefully has already been recommended, but if so I second that recommendation) is a pretty fantastic little Twilight Zone-ish scenario in movie form. Small cast, little in the way of FX, just strong writing and acting, and lots of twists. None of which ultimately explain just what happened, which I appreciate in this sort of story. It is streaming on Netflix at present.

[Mawd]

This good news about Dope is keeping me keen.

The NZIFF is rolling out and while I usually just look through the movie guide whistfully Mum's said she'd pay for tickets for one or two.

So now I've got to sort through the ones that won't get wider releases and pick the winner.

Has anyone seen Wolfpack? It looks pretty interesting. It's about kids who were never let outside of a small New York apartment and built their entire view of the world from movies like Resovoir Dogs. I'm pretty sure they knew it was all fake they just learned what was cool to say, do, and look like from them.

[Patrick R]

I saw it. Fascinating story told haphazardly. It's one of those documentaries that immediately made me suspicious because the story of how the documentary came to be would be one of the major events and yet is never told.