Burt Gummer’s Rec Room
A gathering place for paranoid survivalists and those who worship at the Church of Chang
August 2015: Dryer than a bone, and hotter than the surface of the sun- yup, it’s summertime in Perfection and El Blanco is on the prowl.
Disclaimer: This is the part of the Church that is the most no holds barred. None of it is intended with malice, and although it can on occasion seem a little bit fraught, it is banter rather than venom. So, be warned that this is like taking a naked swim in a piranha tank and not recommended for the faint of heart.
Werewolves On The Moon 
*Lost World Uhhh, I still don’t think it’s well put together as a plot. And the whole ship there being munched by a T Rex who can’t get into halls etc. is bullshit. It works as a sequel but it’s certainly not as good. It”s watchable.
*Jaws. Who doesn’t love this? Holy shit I really just can sit and watch that Indianapolis scene any number of times. Schieder, Shaw and Dreyfuss are so good in this. Genius filming at times.
*Twilight Zonathon, years 1 and 3. There’s an early episode with Jack Warden ‘on an asteroid’ (Death Valley), they line him up with a Fembot-Jean Marsh, ep has John Dehner in it too. It’s not bad. However, I NEVER noticed-one of the Dehner’s Go-fers is none other then Ted Knight(!). Never ever would have picked that up. But, once you know it, YEAH, that’s him bitching about staying there too long or whatever. Wow. Who knew?
Droid have you ever been to Tasmania or know anything about it? I’m watching a show called The Gloaming, basically Tasmania’s version of Top Of The Lake but with supernatural elements and no white trash.
The reason I’m asking is that it looks really pretty and should i visit it when i get down under?
I haven’t been to Tassie. I plan on going at some stage soon. It is beautiful. If you’re into camping, hiking, fishing and the outdoors in general then you should enjoy yourself. It’s also small (in relation to the rest of Australia) so you could go for a few days or do a lot of it it pretty comfortably and leisurely in under a week.
I have The Gloaming. Will watch at some stage.
Thanks for the info Droid I appreciate it.
the gloaming is an odd duck.
If anybody has suggestions for little-seen movies or tv shows, I am all ears. The winter blues are going extra-hard this year, and i’m running out of shit to hit play on. Finally watched Russian Doll. Other than a couple absurdly minor quibbles (36, really? And, sketched out by ketamine, really?) I thought it was great. Glad to have saved it, sorry it went so fast.
Try some of those Quinn Martin Productions(TM)–I’ve been watching Mannix the first couple years and it’s a hoot. You have the Little House on the Prairie guys-Doctor, preacher, store-keeper–showing up as baddies or victims a couple times each season. Or Harry Dean Stanton. Or cameos by Superstar Neil Diamond in concert very very early on. Kinda fun. Plus at least Mannix gets run shot or run over or falls from a Copter or whatever–he
DOES go to the hospital or have a cast on etc. It’s forgotten the next scene but hey they do better than the A Team on that bit.
And you get those big boat cars.
I will most definitely be seeking out the Harry Dean Stanton and Neil Diamond eps. Fingers crossed youtube will come through on that. Love them both.
Some of the other guest stars-hrmmm Sarah Kellermann, original Hot Lips on Mash(movie) and in Back to School, Red West (Elvis Memphis mafia guy who had a decent run as a thug in TV into 90s), in the Dean Stanton ep he’s playing a record producer and the act he’s recording is a forgotten ‘Sunshine Pop’ group called Peppermint Trolley(!), all duded up ala Sgt Pepper unis etc. I never heard of them, but typical Bubblegum stuff of late 60’s. And the usual familiar TV faces you know.
Peppermint Trolley! I found one track on a comp credited to that band, BUT there is also The Peppermint Trolley Co. Neither to be confused with Peppermint Rainbow. Love the psych/nuggets flavor+object naming convention a la Strawberry Alarm Clock. Puts a smile on my face.
If you haven’t seen it, and can find it, watch Rake. Brilliant show, especially the first 3 seasons.
Also, I recommend What We Do in the Shadows. Very funny. If you enjoyed the movie, you should enjoy the show.
Rake was an australian show? I was vaguely aware of the greg kinnear version but had no idea. The australian version is on netflix. Global empire is, uh, troubling? Hah. But, silver lining, tv shows in english on 3 continents!
Thanks for the reminder re What We Do in the Shadows. I’ve had that marked in hulu for awhile, but apparently prefer to pay hulu monthly without actually watching anything. Had completely forgotten about it.
Just started season 2 of Rake. That Cleave is so goddamn charming. Rakishly so, even.
Roxburgh is great. Cleaver could have easily been a shit, smarmy, unlikeable character but Roxburgh gives him some depth and pathos. Good acting and writing.
I am going to second the Rake recommendation the show is excellent.
Thirded. Well worth a watch
Further, I’d recommend Toast of London. If you like Matt Berry, it’s legitimately hilarious. The Gay Porn one in particular.
FUCK YOU CLEM FANDANGO
Netflix’s algorithm has also been recommending Toast of London. Will give it a look!
here’s a suggestion Blitz and bear with me for a moment because it will sound weird at first but its a solid suggestion.
on 1 January Netflix dropped a show called Spinning Out, about a former up and coming female figure skater that had suffered a major head wound a year earlier in a match(not sure what to call figure skating things) the story is a typical sports story about her come back as a pair skater. The sports story was surprisingly interesting and I didn’t figure it would be, however what hooked me hard was how it subverted expectations in a good way, Spinning Out wasn’t truly a sports story it was the vehicle to tell a story about living with and dealing with mental illness and how it affects friends, family. work and the people that have it. January Jones from Mad Men was spectacular in it and so was the lead actress who i didn’t know. it a very good fair look at mental illness both the good and that bad that comes with it.
Thanks Xi, watched and enjoyed. Curious if there’s gonna be a season 2 since I didnt want the main gal’s friend Jen’s story to go out like that! And as a closeted-competitive type, it sort of kills me that the final results are unknown. So not the point of the show, I know….
Agree that January Jones was 100% believable in her role.
you’re welcome Blitz. That show was sneaky good. it subverted expectations everywhere like the pretty blond wife not being a bitch or Betty Draper getting her shit together, I really liked it.
Unfortunately Blitz I read yesterday that Netflix pulled the plug on Spinning Out so there will not be a second season.
Well, I hadn’t ever seen Cool Runnings, with John Candy and the Jamaican Bobsledding team from 93. Pretty good. Was funny, a bit on the caricature side at times, but whatevers–hits the Rocky Formula at all the requisite stops along the way. And one of Candy’s last films. He’s okay in it, played the part surly not Jovial John, but always nice to see him. I enjoyed.
Hahahhh I saw that in the theater. Hard to imagine it holds up though I remember it being sort of innocently good-natured. RIP John Candy. Forever.
Just started watching Knightfall, 3rd episode in…liking it so far. Templars, holy grail, and all that.
That show didn’t work for me. For me there was something off about it that I could never figure out.
We will see how it progresses, but the setup is fine.
Saw Two Popes last night, It’s pretty okay, dry, well acted, two guys in Pope Suits(TM) talking, with flashbacks for our Argentinian Friend. I liked the performances of both Hannibal Lector and the Infiniti guy. Well done. Some leaps am guessing by the writers but it rings pretty true, and I learned stuffs about the current Pope that I didn’t know. I think if you give it a shot on Netflix you will like it. Again the car chases(lack of) leave something to be desired sadly.
So, anyone apart from me like the Discworld novels? Well, the set pictures from the BBC America adaption of the Watch have been published and OH MY GOD. White hot shit. I have no idea what it is, but it ain’t Discworld.
Is that anything like the Riverworld books?
No. Gentle satire for the most part.
Did see 1917 today. Was quite a watch. I liked it. There’s a bit of a video game feel to the guys’ journey after awhile-here’s no man’s land, here’s a dogfight, here’s a blasted out farm, here’s a blasted out town, here’s a white water river part(!), here’s wide open peaceful fields, etc etc.
But all That besides–it’s well acted, great F/X, it’s scary, it’s moving, it rings true esp the first half hour as they go over no man’s land. I’d def. recommend it.
Blitz the last Bojack Horseman episodes air tomorrow.
I could hardly wait all week and now that it’s here I can’t bring myself to hit play! Prob tonight. Such an absurdly good show.
I’m in the same boat. it seems like a millennia since the first half of the season aired. Now that the final episodes are here i don’t want to watch them because that’s it there will be no more. And I agree Bojack is absurdly good. Devastatingly so at times.
Damn those went by fast
I thought the show ended in the best way possible.The writing and voice acting was top notch.
Fully agree. Also, diane’s antidepressant ep was hilarious. And I liked Todd’s additions to the Bad Bojack list. I was legit angry with Bojack for not bailing Todd out of jail.
The Diane episodes was hilarious. the best part was that she didn’t write her autobiography but wrote a YA novel instead and didn’t even realize it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Bojack this past week or so. They really did a beautiful, soulful and accurate show about mental illness and addiction. It truly was a remarkable run.
I was thinking about rewatching it (again!) if i can manage to drag myself away from all the musicals I’ve been self-medicating with in hopes of staving off the heart attack my job is trying to give me. Def THE series of decade.
I’m still not over the one about his mom’s dementia. And the one that ends with him as a child sneaking a drink and then curling up with his mom. Amazing that such a hilarious cartoon can be so devastating.
Did you watch the rotoscoped show he did for Amazon? The name escapes me at the moment. It was good, but I had mixed feelings about it.
The Amazon one is called Undone. I’ve only watched a few eps. It’s alright.
Did you give up on it? Or are you currently watching? The rotoscoping is pretty amazing and the way it’s integrated into what the show is doing is beautiful. A couple other things about it just kind of didn’t sit right with me for what may be entirely personal reasons that wouldn’t hold up to critical scrutiny.
Continuing from above and to balance out the ferociously sad Bojack eps mentioned, special shout out to Princess Caroline’s Jellicle ringtone and to the abortion ep. I often think of one or the other and cackle softly to myself.
Recent viewings:
*Something’s Gotta Give–2003, Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton, Starsky, Amanda Peete. Another go at ‘As Good as it Gets’ for Jaack, just this time the GF is in his same age group. Very well off NYC entertainment figures-him a Record Company Exec, her a Broadway playwright, hit it off despite Jaack’s penchant for only the under-30 something women. He goes thru a string of them apparently. Anyways–he’s dating Diane’s Daughter(Peete), has a cardiac while they’re staying at Diane’s McMansion in the Hamptons, hi-jinks ensue, they wind up doing falling for each other despite everything. They’ll also always have Paris. It’s pretty good for the Rom Com set, I remember it now as the movie where 56 year old Keaton runs around in her underware a couple times (As does Jaack). It’s a formula movie but hits the stations of the cross just fine. Stay away if you don’t like that kinda thing.
*Fury–2014. Brad Pitt, Shia, the Punisher and a Sherman Tank in Germany April of 1945. Standard WW2 war movie stuff, couple somewhat contrived sections, but I still liked it, holds up about the same as it did 6 years ago. Worth seeing. Pitt’s pretty okay in this one.
*Monuments Men-2014. George Clooney, Bill Murray, Matt Damon, etc. You remember this one–they send a special team into Europe late in the war to save all these priceless artworks Nazis stole. I like it fine,, but I think they never figured out just what tone they wanted here-another caper flick ala Ocean’s 11, or something a bit more serious? more of a spoof maybe? And the odd twist at the finale with the Russkis seen as the baddies-sure I get it-but still, this was vs. the Nazis after all. It still works-just–doesn’t add up as well as it should.
Oh a couple more while I’m doing this…
*Twilight Zone, Second year–it’s the one with the 3 armed Martian and 3 eyed Venusian in the bus top, the half dozen video-taped ones, Art Carney as Santa, the flying saucer invading the old lady(Agnes Moorehead)’s home, Shatner and the penny fortune machine, etc. Good stuff mostly. My fave is the bus station one.
*Battle of LA-2010. Pretty good. Holds up. Kinda dated with the shambly look to the Aliens tech ala Cowboys and Aliens or Section 9, but it’s fine. Aaron Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez etc do their things. It has a bit of a Transformers vibe to it too. I like it.
*The Fighting 69th–Cagney, Pat O’brien, George Brent, etc. WW1 Oirish US brigade doing the bootcamp/Western Front routine, Cagney as belligerent coward proves his worth at end in combat, dies heroically etc. You’ve seen it all before. Not bad considering. Some of the GI’s-Alan Hale Sr and Frank McHugh are rounder than Curly Howard though….
Battle LA is a criminally undervalued movie.
Watched Battle LA again a couple of days ago. Good film, can always get into it.
Wolf! How goes it Pally?
Yeh, I’m all right, Xi, cheers. Just finished kicking my broadband hub up and down the hall. I’ll find something that works one day.
All good with you? Square eyes from all that TV watching or what?
I’m OK Wolf thanks.
naw no square eyes, most of the things I “watch” i really don’t. its just on for noise while I do other things.
Monuments Men is an insulting badly made movie about the exact wrong group of MEN in the wrong place doing amazing things in the name of art, literature and architecture. Clooney decided to honor these MEN by making a shitty reboot of Oceans 13. Fuck Clooney and this garbage.
Mannix–Yr 6, AKA the one where the show peaked at 7 in the ratings for the year. First disc and a half in—baddie in opening ep–boys that looks like Anthony Zerbe..but it isn’t…Oh–it’s Rip Torn! Next ep–there’s Zerbe! You then get Baltar (Colicos), Robert Mandan and Michael Constantine etc. doing their things. These guys-Charles Cioffi-lived on these shows. Pretty fun stuff despite itself. Remember, it’s a Quinn Martin Production(TM).
I finished the 2 seasons of Knightfall. Season 1 was I would call it more realistic, per se, in characters’ actions. Not a grand story, straightforward. Season 2 made the villains more cartoonish, more stark in good vs evil I would say. Is it a great series? No, but binging it, it’s fine. I think the battle scenes are fine and Landry is a good enough lead.
The King – netflix original. This movie was bizarre for me, very choppy storytelling. Joel Egerton mumbled his way through this giving “guidance”. Did not work for me. I will say the ending of a particular character was very sudden, liked that part. Still, found myself not caring for any character.
*Zodicac-2007 with Jake Gyllenhall, Iron Man, the Hulk, etc. It Never fails–this film just kinda gets under my skin whenever I watch it and keeps me riveted despite being rather long and not having much (if any) action after first 45 minutes or so. I really like this thing. Right thru the Ace Hardware ‘confrontation’ and the Toronto Airport picture IDing. Pretty neato case they put together even if they were wrong? Excellent all around movie.
*X Files 2008 flick–with Scully and Moulder, Billy Connally and lotsa snow. This one works-OK, Connally is a disgraced child molesting Priest/Psychic, there’s Russki’s running around grabbing women for Frankenstein purposes, Scully and Moulder come in from the Civvie world and try to solve things. I don’t think it’s Great but it’s a passable time filler. Not nearly as good as the better episodes though.
You’ve come a long way since never having watched it, Bando. Bless you.
Hulu has adapted High Fidelity and you know what? It doesn’t completely suck, which surprised me because I figured it was going to blow and I was wrong about that. Sure they moved it to hipster Brooklyn NYC instead of Chicago or London. They gender swapped Rob and the fat black lady they got to replace fat Jack Black(his best role outside of School of RocK)isn’t very good but overall its a solid adaptation.
Zoe Kravitz makes a for a good Rob.They stuck with the conceit of Rob talking to the camera which works. They dropped the immediate girlfriend leaving(in this case a boy friend) crisis for something that happened a year ago. They also kept all the top 5 stuff from the book which was smart since as I remember that was like more then half the novel.
All in all I would recommended this adaptation it has entertainment value and the music is great. My only real complaint is that its another dick suck show for NYC. Let’s all agree its time is over and move on to somewhere else. i get it that writers all do the NYC LA shuffle but there are other interesting places in the States to set shows and movies. Or do an English version you know like the books. If you haven’t read the book I remember liking it a lot back in the day. I read in college for some sort of English paper so I don’t know how I would like so many decades later.
RIP NYC!
What i would give to visit it the way it was when i first went, so many years ago. Ah well…..
Everything I love is over. But it’s ok. I guess.
I remember NYC in the later 70’s when me and my Mom wandered in. It was totally nuts. The new Disney/rich people play ground is quite boring.
I’m so mad I wasnt a teenager/young adult in the 70s. It’s lame to think like that, but still, if only.
I was like 8 or 9 when we went to NYC. It was a mind blowing experience.
The Disneyfied NYC doesn’t really lend itself to gritty film making any more.
What a fantastic experience at that age. Your mom did you a solid with that little adventure. A lost world.
I can’t even imagine Daredevil, Power Man, Iron Fist, Punisher, and Moon Knight in modern NYC. Why even keep making movies & shows set there?
Ford vs Ferrari – I enjoyed this film, Bale and Damon were good together. I think they moved the story along well enough, spending enough time on the building/testing of the cars, the political backdrop of the whole process, and the race itself. It seemed relatively accurate, but I did not read in depth on the whole backstory.
The Expanse – more than halfway through season 2, I like this show a lot. Maybe it’s because i haven’t watched a semi scifi show in forever, but i am liking the conflicts between factions, the ugliness of space travel, living, etc. I did not expect to get hooked on this.
The Expanse is great! Funny that the worst thing about it is the main dude. But the other characters more than make up for his shortcomings.
While I agree on the lead, he is filling a morale compass role for the other actors to react off of. At least that is how I look at it.
Just you wait lol Holden becomes annoying as fuck as it goes along. But you will have some very badass new characters on the way too.
Thomas Jane was great..a shame.
Really really enjoyed Thomas Jane. Classic type character with a nice idiosyncratic style. Very well done.
I had actually forgotten when I referred to Holden as “the main dude” that when I first started watching, i prob would have thought of Thomas Jane as the lead.
Must tread carefully and not spoil anything! I still need to watch the latest season.
I agree with Blitz The Expanse is an excellent watch.
Ford v Ferrari I really like that movie. It was the second movie I saw saw last year, the first being Once Upon a Time In Hollywood. Both were excellent period pieces with great writing and acting.
F v F was like the kind of quality entertainment you used to get from Hollywood from the 1960s up until the early 2000s. I could totally imagine a late 60s/early 70s version starring Paul Newman or Steve McQueen and Terrance Stamp.
Hey Conti how are you doing?
yeah i agree F v F was like OUATIH are throw backs to the days when Hollywood made good movies.
Haven’t seen once upon a time…
Pillow you are well acquainted with my feelings about Cokey so I can say this with zero bias, OUATINH is an Excellent wel made movie and except for the trolling with the feet there is very little to almost no of the normal Cokey movie making shittyness.
A late 60s Terence Stamp omg, if only. May have to put on Modesty Blaise tonight and bask in that psychotic beauty for a bit.
Did you bask?
Well–I Did get Simon and Simon Season 2 (having had just 10 eps from it before) for what it’s worth….
*Welcome to Marwen-2018. Okay THAT was a strange one. Steve Carrell, Diane Kruger, Leslie Mann etc. This was directed by BOB ZEMECKIS–who’s blonde bombshell wife is cast as a porn actress in here. I donno where to begin with this movie. Carrell is a famous artist in ‘Upstate NY’ who gets almost beat to death by some skinhead types in a bar for wearing high heels. He can’t remember anything afterwards, takes up photography. He lives in a trailer and has a real active fantasy life involving WW2 in Belgium, a quintet of gun toting Barbies(all based on women he knows), and a bunch of cartoony evil Nazi dolls. The CGI and etc from all THAT–well it works fine. It’s like they crossed Small Soldiers with whatever that Snyder flick was with the killer chicks and then tried to staple Charlie onto it. Does that make any sense?! Anyways, he finds love, he has to struggle into court and face the guys who almost killed him, and he has to get off the meds which are holding him back(Spoiler!).
THe cast tries hard and is likable, but–it’s a Really schizo flick. I can see why it tanked. I kinda liked it–but wow. This was a mess. You might enjoy it but be ready for some real jarring changes in tone etc. along the way.
Bought a new TV just after New Year. It’s one of those new-fangled 4k things. Can’t decide whether I like it or not. The picture’s gonna take some getting used to; it doesn’t look cinematic, d’yer know what I mean? Films look like television, dunno how else to describe it. There’s a weird ‘motion blur’ effect going on too, never had that on the plasma telly. Messed about in ‘settings’ but I can’t smooth it out. Apparently it’s a common LED thing? Too distracting, man.
Only got a handful of 4k movies so far; I can see the jump in picture quality but can’t say I’ve been totally blown away. It’s the two older films I got that proper impressed me; ‘Black Hawk Down’ is astonishing. I only had the DVD and the 4k came with a standard blu-ray so I was able to do a step-up comparison. The image improvement over blu-ray is very impressive. A lot of film grain though, can see that bugging some folk.
Older still, the 4k picture for ‘2001 Space Odyssey’… I gather they used the 70mm print for the transfer and it looks phenomenal, proper ‘wow’ moment. Have yet to watch this in full. Maybe 4k has arrived to deliver me from my current cinema apathy! They’re gonna need to drop the price of discs though…
Ooooh that is extremely annoying. What kind of tv is it? They sometimes hide the appropriate settings to tweak behind weird and/or counterintuitive names and/or modes. Is there a BFI mode? The effect you’re describing is the visual equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me. Don’t give up, keep tweaking!
Have always wanted to see 2001 in 70 mm.
The Blitz!
Yeh, it’s a Panasonic, 65-inch. Not an up-to-date model, sale item and I gather already superseded by newer sets but I couldn’t stretch the budget to bells and whistles. Reviews didn’t highlight any issues; solid TV by all accounts. There was no in-depth manual with it so no explanation of settings. Youtube has a lot of individual videos for best TV set-ups but there isn’t one for mine so I’ve been mixing and matching settings, but no joy. There’s something called ‘motion optimiser’ on the telly, this was set to ‘medium’ out of the box. Googling doesn’t give me an answer on what this is, tried it on ‘high’ and ‘low’ but can’t see any difference; no idea what this setting does. I’m presuming it’s to do with what I’m on about but the home cinema sites use different phrases around the word ‘motion’, weird that ‘motion optimiser’ never comes up. I’m gonna set it to ‘low’ for now.
Then my sister and her fella come round and they’re going ‘wow, what a great picture’ and I reply with ‘yeh, except for the motion blur’… Their response? ‘Oh, didn’t notice it.’ Wha-aaaat!
65 inch! Wow that’s practically a movie screen. Hope your eyes adjust quickly to any remaining blur and you get many hours of viewing pleasure from your new set.
Cheers! I didn’t target a 65. The main reason for getting a new telly was the lecky bill; the plasma is a lecky guzzler and an LED would save on power. The plasma is a 50, but with quite a wide frame. So looking at 55’s, they didn’t seem much bigger than what I’d got. Looked at 60’s and there was nothing in the price range I was tilting at. So there’s this 65, I had a measure up and thought ‘too big’, pretty much discounted it. Then the price on it came down again which had the knock-on effect of freeing up funds for a basic 4k player. It was a no-brainer.
Look you all hoity toity with the big time TV set wolf.
To be fair it was long overdue, had the plasma for eons. When the new one came even the delivery blokes were taking the piss – ‘oh, SCART sockets, how quaint…’ The cheeky twats.
aaaaahhh bunch of pissant utes!
Wolf, your tv doesn’t have any of these?
Intelligent Frame Creation, Black Frame Insertion, Clear Motion…maybe those are only on the newer versions.
From what I read, yeah, keeping it on low is your best option.
Hey, Pillows. Doesn’t look like I’ve got any of those. Been through an online manual as well – doesn’t even mention the ‘motion optimiser’ doohickey!
I’ve turned the sharpness right down, turned off ‘dynamic contrast’… ‘optimiser’ is now on ‘low’, noise reduction down to ‘low’. Can’t say it’s made a great deal of difference.
I still have the 28 inch 99 buck Toshiba that shuts off after 4 hours despite my having shut off every ‘power saving option’ repeatedly. It works otherwise pretty nice. The GF has a Real big more modern one. It was funny watching the Munsters on that–was the ep with the Standells guesting.
Ah, those Toshibas always were a bit twitchy…
Watched a load of films over the last few weeks coz of ‘new telly syndrome’. ‘Avengers Endgame’ completed a pre-Christmas Marvel catch-up including a couple of ‘Thors’ and a ‘Civil War’, not to mention ‘Guardians 2’. I haven’t seen all the spin-offs though, can’t be arsed. The film was ok, but I preferred ‘Infinity War’. I thought the beginning of ‘Endgame’ was notable, taking the time to show the impact of the previous film. Finally free of Marvel, I had a go at ‘Alita Battle Angel’. Have to admit my expectations were low, dunno why I was so pre-prejudiced against coz I knew nothing about it, but in the end no worries, thought it was fine. Was disappointed with sequel-baiting finale, would rather have had a self-contained story.
I chucked another viewing of ‘Battle Los Angeles’ in there which is a blast, love it. Then I had ‘13 Hours: Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi’; ex-military turned security lads defending a US compound in Libya. I’m a bag of nerves just watching it, fuck knows what it was like being there. Well played Mr. Bay, it’s a cracker… followed by ‘Black Hawk Down’ (4k). As noted in a previous post the 4k upgrade is very, very good, though some of the bright images are ‘blown-out’ (deliberate?) plus there’s a lot of film grain swarming around (doesn’t bother me, can imagine it will some). My ears were ringing after that little lot.
More to come…
Yeah, agree on Battle Angel. I was pleasantly surprised on that one, but it did fizzle on the ending. Still, had more heart than the previews led me to believe.
Thought the ‘big eyes’ would be too distracting but forgot all about them after about 20 minutes coz I got wrapped up in the story. Didn’t think the lad was a strong enough character; maybe not ‘bad boy’ enough, I dunno. I’ve not seen the anime so I don’t know how all that plays.
Black Hawk Down just works for me. Has a killer cast. It must have been great on your personal Drive-in Screen.
Oh, aye, it’s impressive. They’ve beefed up the audio as well, so there was ordnance going off all over the room! I highly recommend ’13 Hours’ if you’ve not seen it.
13 Hours is an excellent movie.
Still working my way through The Expanse, on season 3. This show is so enthralling for me, glad I discovered this one.
Starting the newest season tonight!
Just watched the first episode of season 4.. love how they so quickly set things up for our characters. Beautiful scene for Naomi on new terra. This show is straight up awesome. Added bonuses now with TJ recurring appearances.
That was hands down my fave Naomi scene of the series so far.
The characters are so insanely well done….they’ve done a fantastic job of fleshing out the universe they live in and how they live in and relate to that universe and to each other. I am especially attached to Drummer, Amos, Bobbie and Averasala (sp?) Oh! And Klaes.
I need to slow down and savor it more…already on ep 5!
Watching Flags of our Fathers-has that real washed out camerawork of the era. Hadn’t seen it before, though oddly HAD watched Letters Home or whatever the Japanese side of it was called. It’s not bad. They shot it in Iceland I remember, the Iwo parts at least.
So, continuing the ‘new telly’ watch… ‘The Old Dark House’, 1932, great blu-ray transfer, wonderful film. ‘First Man’ (4k), Gosling good, picture didn’t grab in 4k until they got to the moon and then there was a moment when I actually drew in a sharp breath; the image was so immersive I thought I was on the lunar surface meself! ‘Wonder Woman’ (4k)… had heard good things about this… Entertaining but didn’t hook me (maybe I’m just superhero’d out now), overhyped I’d say but will watch the next one.
‘Exorcist III’, one of the most underrated horror films ever. Top blu-ray spruce-up, watched the theatrical cut but there’s also a Director’s Cut on the disc. Not seen this since the 1990’s so wasn’t sure how I’d respond; needn’t have worried. It takes George C. Scott and Ed Flanders approx 20 minutes to knit a convincing relationship that affects and ultimately impacts the viewer; some films can’t manage that over 3 bastard movies (looking at you ‘Disney Star Wars’).
‘Ad Astra’ (4k)… I mean, on the one hand, fuckin moon pirates and fuckin space monkeys; I’m in. I like Pitt’s character arc, his studied calm beginning to fray as the movie progresses. It’s so very nearly a great flick but… I expected more from the last act. Again, superb HD transfer. Finally, ‘The Void’, Lovecraftian-type low budget horror with a throwback to practical FX and a definite nod to ‘The Thing’. Some dodgy script/acting but generally nothing to moan about, watchable.
What are the differences between the theatrical and director’s cut?? Exorcist III is fabulous.
I’ve not watched the DC yet, Blitz. I watched a documentary awhile back that gave an idea of what to expect. I gather the main changes involve re-inserted original footage (untouched) of Brad Dourif in place of the Jason Miller scenes. There’s also no exorcism at the end and therefore no Father Morning. I’m wondering if there will be an explanation as to why Father Dyer is in hospital in it, just seems to come out of nowhere in the theatrical cut.
It’ll be interesting to see the original footage but I think they made the correct choices for the released version. We’ll see…
Gonna have to track down this doc! And the director’s cut. Very intrigued.
*Watching Happy Days Yr 4, 76-77 when it peaked. It’s fun. It’s a cartoon. It flies right by show to show. I remember most of them. I appreciate Tom Bosley more as I get into the same age-group.
I need to watch The Big Short again, while i try to figure out how i should be shorting AMC to try and make up for the little bit of money I’ve already lost on that foolishness.
One part of my brain understands perfectly well. The other part is spitting out gibberish. I mean, the market’s gonna crash for real very soon, interest rate cuts be damned, right? What is even left to cut?
If my very frugal and financially responsible mother gets coronavirus and dies cuz she still has to work at a hospital despite being over 60 due to the utter scam that is the 401k, I’ll……hmmm, what will I do? Be extremely and powerlessly upset, I guess? Bahhhhhh. Like, damn lady, did you think you’d have a secure retirement just cuz you worked your ass off for decades, taking care of sick people? Silly woman, you didn’t know you should have been transforming yourself into a financial (lucky gambler) genius when you got home from your 12.5 hour hospital shifts?
I need to make peace with mortality. And the fact that all of life is a scam. Doomsday cometh!
Which is why a good hobby like making your own alcohol (I chose wine) is the answer.
The cause and solution to all of life’s problems: alcohol.
That’ll be good for bartering when the economy collapses lol there was a thriving economy of homemade wine when i lived in philly, made from discarded juice scavenged from the odwalla factory!
Seriously though, it is friggin nuts right now market-wise. Trading “circuit-breakers” being triggered? Wtf?! I’m just sort of watching it with detached and fascinated horror. Naturally I didnt follow my gut instinct (which if followed would have made, for me, a considerable amount of money). I’m too broke to have the confidence to fool around like that for real.
I’m enjoying this BS panic induced market down turn. I’ve been on a buying spree and will continue for however long this current downturn last.
Annoyed with myself for not playing puts when my gut said PUTS NOW! Cuz i can’t even tell if it’s worth it now between the insane IV and the psychotic bid-ask spreads. My awareness of how little I actually know about this shit has been holding me back bigtime.
Selectively and conservatively buying the dip though. Prob too conservatively, all considered.
Also the question of how to time calls, and at what strike, for when it comes back up. Damnit! So much to consider. Damn my indecisiveness.
And maybe gold. 😉
Gold is up 6% the last week lmao
My several month musical watching spree is hitting its terminal phase, it seems. Falling asleep to this every night!
I wish they would announce when The Last Kingdom is releasing the final season. May need to rewatch season 3 beforehand.
Palpatine is a clone? Rey is the daughter of a shit Palpatine clone? I’m sorry, Disney/Lucasfilm, what? You want the audience, who paid to watch your film, to go out and buy a book of the film to explain what happened in the film? Your abject failure to deliver a competent movie is complete.
These people have clearly, in fact literally, lost the plot. So, old Palp-face squirts his force energy into a Palp-face clone? This clone degenerates rapidly because it can’t contain the power of his evilness to the point he has to drag a life support machine around with him? You do know Vader-suits have been invented, mate, don’t you?
The Emperor was never meant to be in this trilogy, was he, Disney/Lucasfilm. You had no sensible explanation for his, frankly, startling re-appearance. And now you’re gonna pass it off in a book no cunt outside of dribbling, needy nerds is ever gonna read. In the words of noted sage Immortan Joe, “Mediocre…”
And now you’ve fucked up your own flick. If the Emperor ‘foresaw’ Vader’s treachery in the original trilogy presumably he also foresaw Kylo fuckin Ren and has once again sent his lifeforce halfway across the cosmos to another secret moon. ‘Star Wars X: The Chuckling Clone Returns. Again And Again.’ You talentless wankers.
I shall now look forward to yet another ‘Return Of The Jedi’ tweaked Especially Special Edition. So when the Palpathetic falls down that shaft and is ripped asunder… silent pause… (added distant voice) “I’m not dead…” Then the Death Star explodes… silent pause… (added distant voice) “I’m still not quite dead…”
I have got no time for new Star Wars. None! Have not been able to bring myself to take the plunge on that.
you really aren’t missing anything. I only saw it to close out 43 year run of SW. I’m done now.
Don’t do it blitz.
they keep tweaking the movie several months after its release because they suck at their jobs.
Where is Xi? I need to know if the new Zodiac show on hulu is cracking you up as much as it is me. This Gary dude is something else…
Call upon Shaitan and he shall appear…
Is that show out now? i didn’t know that. i’ll have to find it.
You are gonna have a ball with this
Dude has more then a few issues with his old man. He also has more then a few issues with what constitutes evidence.
Did you watch the whole thing? 2nd bit on the cipher had me in stitches. Also, his Son of Zodiac book tour makeover. Good grief.
No I’ve only seen the first ep. Dude is the very definition of milquetoast.
Alright, so I fished all 4 seasons of the Expanse, overall great show. That said, I thought season 4 was the weakest. Really I thought the writing suffered the most. Replacing every 4th word with full k doesn’t make what they are saying more impactful. For the most part, Chrisjen was the most guilty of this and really she was sidelined the most, didn’t like what they did with her character. The new world bit just didn’t work for me either, spending all that time in the machine. Even Bobby’s story, though I know it will lead to something bigger, so I should give it somewhat of a pass, I dunno.
I think it really boils down to I really liked season 3 and 4 just couldn’t match up to it.
I just finished it. I enjoyed it but it def did not hold up to the sheer magnificence of season 3. The whole season felt like a weird mixture of transition and exposition…if they were operating at season 3 quality, the entirety of what we got would have unfolded in half the number of eps, and would have been setting the stage for something with greater breadth.
Chrisjen seemed underserved by her storyline. Bobbie was kept way out on the margins (I also find it difficult to believe she woulda joined that crew rather than either try to meet up with Alex or go with Chrisjen or something). Almost no Drummer (I really love Drummer). And they fucking killed Klaes way too easily (RIP Klaes). The stuff on the new planet required them to seem dumber than they are in order for things to get all fixed up (deus ex holden’s meds & med cloner machina). Alex and Naomi sidelined on the ship also (wasnt invested in the tether thing).
Basically everybody scattered and all happenings a bit underwhelming. When you think of how much changed between the end of season 2 and the end of season 3, it is immense. Aside from Gao getting elected (last ep), the cliffhanger set up for season 5 (last ep, naturally), and the general malaise re the spirit of mars…it didnt seem like the overall story moved that much.
Regarding Bobbie, I get she was still clinging to the being the best Martian, but then she disgards it so fast to run with that less than cool crew. I didn’t see her running back to Holden and company though, pride and whatnot. Klaes buying it was disappointing so that particular storyline better fucking pay off.
We’ll see….! I havent built up much interest in Naomi’s kid and relationship issues. And really, Klaes basically just LET himself be killed by them. Bah. It was cool he sang the song. It’d be cooler if he wasn’t dead though.
With Bobbie it’s tough, cuz going back to the roci, or to chrisjen, would have been out of character, but then so was what she ended up doing. And it ends up with her deciding, chrisjen it is. It was good to see what was up with Mars. Really I just want more. Dont feel like we got a full season’s worth! But like you said, season 3 set the bar very, very high.
My job emailed us to inform that somebody in the office just got back from overseas and has been coughing everywhere. Management then immediately turned around and scheduled an All-hands, on-site meeting, 100% attendance required. The person who scheduled it is a heavy smoking trump-lover in her 60s with only a few months til retirement. Lmfao.
Ahahah meeting agenda confirmed. They want everybody to physically jam into a conference room to discuss corona virus readiness.
We just had a quick corona meeting wherein we were told NOT to move away from people who are coughing because it might hurt their feelings, we should assume it is allergies, and the administration has this under control.
LMFAO
You should definitely get infected to spare the feelings of the carrier that should’ve stayed home. Good lord the world has gone full stupid.
Gobsmackingly stupid. Never fails. Per usual, they also worked in some policy info that is 100% wrong, i.e. the exact opposite of what they said is what is actually correct.
If only I had trusted my gut the other week, i could quit with my put-gambling wins. Sadly, I am a coward and shall work unto death.
As for up here–they’ve sent the students home early for spring break, not letting them come back until halfways thru Spring Term(if they do at all), and trying to get everyone who can work from home to do just that. Myself my job isn’t one that I can really do that, the processing stuff sure but the physical part of it–no. So there’s that. The shelves all round here were the same–soup and tuna and lysol and toilet paper all gone. So strange. But hey! we have repeats of Big Bang Theory to hold us all til this is over, so there’s that.
Yup, same crap here, empty shelves. And yet I have to go to freaking Cleveland for work (driving, not flying) tomorrow for a “business critical ” meeting. Others got to Skype in, wish I could do so as well…ugh.
Holy shit that’s stupid….start fake coughing and maybe they’ll let you skype?
And there’s a few guys who need to fly in. Beyond stupid.
Schools closed. Crazy.
Had to go out for a run.
My mom has wisely decided she will not be going to work until they find something for her to do aside from direct patient care (she’s an ICU nurse, in her 60s, with asthma).
I might need to take up running just to get some time to myself. My mom and my brother form this feedback loop of stress that is tightening around me. Her outbursts feed his and his feed hers. But his end in literal schizoid psychotic breakdowns that take awhile to resolve down to a base level that is….not great and kinda scary to begin with. But she isnt used to dealing with it daily whereas i have been dealing with it 24-7 for so long i cant quite remember how long anymore. She likes shit to be black or white (and schizo type stuff is not that!) I cant get her to show the necessary amount of self control. I cant even get her to cover her mouth while she coughs.
All the responsibility (financial, emotional, practical) for other adults but no authority and a strict mandate to keep everything bottled is a frustrating combo. Nobody is nice to me lol. Lucky for them i fetishize endurance and have a deeply ingrained urge to earn love someway somehow. Maybe tomorrow.
Thank god for being able to periodically spill guts here. Seriously.
hang out here Blitz we’re nice to you except for Jarv he’s a misanthrope to the nth degree.
If you have not run in a long time might i suggest starting with walks. Then build up to running distance. if you need to burn off energy try wind sprints.
I hope your situation gets better soon. You’re strong you will make it through just fine.
Yeah no running recently. Last time i took it up, I had so much energy that sitting around all day for my job became physically unbearable (this was in the days before I switched to pretty much total telework, I dont physically go to work unless forced and it is rare that they can force me to do anything). My only exercise comes from following along with merce cunningham technique classes, tai chi and tap dancing. And whatever isometric benefits(?) result from clenching all the muscles due to stress. But tap is most likely out for the foreseeable future due to current conditions in the house.
How are things looking down in NC?
They closed schools here and the stores have been ransacked. Shelves are bare. Fresh veg and meat dont seem to be as much an issue, but frozen food, bread, milk, pasta, rice, junk food are gone. My car isnt driveable due to the gas line being severed (again!) but i was able to get some corned beef and cabbage and random veg delivered.
I was chatting with a friend up in Cambridge while he was out trying to get basic stuff friday night and it was the opposite there….all the produce and meat was gone except for avocados, but ample bread and junk.
People here were filling up MULTIPLE carts to the brim, like 3 carts overflowing. Strange times. And my bro has been having an episode that involves him taking random groceries and appliances (and musical instruments and electronics and omfg) and putting then in the yard/on the street/in the trash. Really need the overall hysteria level to come down a notch or two.
Anybody else stoked West World is back? Really pinning my hopes to this season. They better not fuck it up like last time. Off to a strong start at least.
They cancelled the spring semester in a way–all remote classes now, and they kicked out all the public from the library where I work, gonna have everyone work from home that can etc while the rest of us minions do scanning shit. So there’s that.
Does the school have dorms? I am questioning the wisdom of all these schools that booted everybody out of their dorms to take their profligate 20-something ways back to their communities where they will surely wreak havoc (the lucky ones that aren’t just completely fucked from being booted out on short notice with nowhere to go that is).
Maryland’s like a step away from lockdown. They are gonna let liquor stores and bars stay open for carry out. Restaurants are carry out or delivery only. Malls and theaters and gyms are closed. They are counting people going into the grocery store. I broke a filling and had to venture out to a dentist today. Not being able to drive my car is driving me fricking crazy. Need to locate a scrap 95 saturn with an intact gas line asap.
Oh yeah there’s dorms galore here. Basically everyone is being sent home save for a skeleton crew, I’m one of the lucky ones they asked to come in and do stuff with the other half dozen people next couple weeks. The building I work in is really big but empty now it’s like one of those walking dead or plague movies. Eerie.
So of course I’m watching the first Mummy, after watching both Zorro flix. I think Cono is next.
War of the Worlds series…watched first 3 episodes on Amazon Prime…still not sure if I really like it or not. It has atmosphere just not sure on the aliens.
Yesterday – really good movie, pleasantly surprised by this one. And you don’t need to like the Beetles to like this.
The Aeronaunts- solid movie, great freaking cinematography.
Which War of the Worlds? the BBC one out now or the 1988-90 Sci Fi Network one?
It’s on Epix right now. Maybe they will make the other ones on Prime too.
Hey just saying hi.
Anything exciting happen while I was gone?
Don’t know why it didn’t show my avatar.
Hello everybody. I hope you are all doing well.
Hey Xi. Hope you’re surviving.
I’m surviving just fine things in NC are pretty mellow. Hell A OTOH…
Yeah we’re basically all hiding out in our homes, marking our doors with lamb’s blood.
Watched 4th episode of war of worlds, it’s okay. Probably will continue to watch, but underwhelming.
Started watching Frontier with Aquaman, like this one better.
Howdy Conti Pops and co. Yeah it’s the usual everyone stay home routine up in lovely NH too. Go into the stores-actually plenty of stuff til you get to the bread aisle, the soup aisle, the tp and bounty aisle. There-WTF-it’s like how many shits do you idiots think you’re going to TAKE in a couple weeks’ time? FFS. Anyways. The highways are really quite empty, rush hour is like a mid-July Wednesday afternoon, the town I work in looks like someone turned on the Rapture machine and yanked out 95% of it. A college town without students is a real weird place. And working in the huge ass library that I do as one of 5 scanner types well same idea. I think they’re sending the lot of us home however next week we’ll see. At least there’s the new Roku set I got to enjoy woo hoo.
Speaking of War of the Worlds I saw the 2005 one w C Thomas Howell and Jake ‘Cameo Appearance’ Busey. Oh that sucked. Sure it’s low budget, sure the walkers are Armored Crabs instead of tripods, they set it in DC area-it was a direct to video release. Looks and feels like it too. Cast tries and they did follow the plot of the book some, but-don’t bother if you haven’t. They did a sequel too I heard.
Have you looked at PlutoTV on your Roku? I’ve been watching a lot of that. In the last 24 hours I’ve watched Neon Maniacs, Highway to Hell and The Dungeonmaster. Starcrash is on now. Fun stuff on PlutoTV.
Fountains of Wayne dude…..that really sucks. Used to listen to them a lot back in the 90s.
God, so 90s *sniffle*
Haven’t been that much into Pluto TV yet, but Filmrise has some good stuff-lotsa Unsolved Mysteries and My Favorite Martian(the TV show from 63-66). What’s fun about Unsolved Mysteries–theres an episode which had the local serial killer here featured–they never got him–and then a corrupt judge who had been embezzling people’s estates and vanished-he was found a suicide in a Vegas Hotel—I had to laugh.
Did see Creed 2 on Hulu. Pretty good! They trotted out Dolph Lundgren and for the most part it wasn’t bad. The guy he fought–Drago Jr-was HUGE. Hadda be a UFC fighter I’m guessing. Anyways you might like it if you liked the first Creed.
Hey everyone how are you doing?
just to make this shut down panic worse I’m going to come up with some new content. Not sure what its going to be yet but it will be something.
Making do…doing a lot of yardwork during the weekend since I am stuck on the computer all week.
Series I have been watching…
Frontier – finished it, uneven, had its moments.
Letter for the King – harmless meh.
Lost in Space remake – I like this so far, halfway through season 1.
And watched Onward with the kids, better than I expected.
Good to hear that everything is well a casa de Pillow talk.
Yep, just doing… Short walk up the estuary every couple days for exercise, tarting up the garden while the weather’s decent… Just grin and bear it, as long as it takes.
You good?
I’m lucky to not be under the thumb of a reactionary local government. I’m in a state with just a very few cases and not a lot of death so its, for the most part, just normal livening for me.
Nice one. See, had you down for the bloke on the roof, defending his corner with all manner of weaponry – Gummer-esque, if you will…
Everyone okay? We all still alive or what?
Stay safe; the ‘Captain Trips’ is taking no prisoners…
Interesting watched Cars 3 and Little Mermaid this morning-hey you have Disney plus you might as well use it-both were good. Cars 3 is Rocky 3 w a slight twist, better than Cars 2, Mermaid flies right along and is what we all know it is already. I hadn’t seen either. I liked LM, it’s fun and doesn’t try to do too much. Anyways
Well done, Bandito!
I’ll have to watch a few things. Music all the way for me at the moment; calms the savage breast and all that…
Hello folks.
Just checking in to make sure that everyone is safe during this beer and zombie – any one remember the Zuvembie? epidemic.
Wolfie! Your name still kills me!
Toadkiller
Yes! The dog who shalt killeth the toad!
Hidey Ho Wolverinos! Glad to see the group checking in. Looks like most everyone is behaving and pretty much ok.
Enjoying the free HBO while it lasts and rewatching Veep, Silicon Valley and my current favorite: Succession. The Little Foxes ain’t got nuttin’ on the Roy family.
Aw crap I don’t remember my Moonwolf password.
Stay well everybody. Barfy
Roy family FTW!
Yes! It’s a Barf!
Hello everybody!
Hello Blitz!!!
Yes! The Blitzerino!
Hello.
Toad’sdogkiller! und Barfy! Very cool. Yes am hanging in there like everyone else. Binging Robert Stack and Unsolved Mysteries and halfway thru the 12 year run. I’m thinking I’ll make it a bit more before hitting the wall on it. Place is still deserted round here in the streets.
I was thinking about all of you after i stumbled across a (new to me) Tremors flick. Burt up in the frozen north. I am sure there are others. I recall only watching the first and maybe the second. I hope everyone is well and enjoying the family or alone time.
Well, good, one or two Moonwolf survivors anyway. It’s not unlike World War Z here in Cumbria… particularly when Tesco restock the toilet roll shelf… with one packet of toilet roll.
I see an apocalyptic future where the world currency is bog roll.
I finally got around to seeing one of Jarv’s Review films-The Descent. I liked it mostly. Couldn’t tell most of the characters apart, and the booglers were awfully Gollumesque-but it works. I liked the dark and claustrophobic sets and mood. Guess the sequel stunk.
Yes, avoid the sequel since it should not have existed in the first place with that character.
Descent is decent. I didn’t bother with the sequel – sounded bad.