Media Discussion

[Malaphax]

• House of the Dragon Season 2 - This started off slower than I expected, and I think it's a short season (8 episodes), I feel like Covid + writers strike hit this production hard and they're not going to push the story forward fast enough this season.  It's still a decent show but I'm a bit surprised that they finished off the last season with what was clearly the start to a civil war and they've spent the last 2 episodes slow walking everything.  
• The Boys Season 4 - This also feels like wheels are spinning but we're not moving anywhere.  I'm really not enjoying some of the B and C plots.  I'm fine with the mainline plot and some of the ripped from reality stuff they're doing in this season, I just wish there was a bit more of it.  I feel like this show is just being milked way to hard for the story they have.  
• Acolyte - This is poorly written, poorly directed and just one of the many shitty starwars shows that creates divisive discourse because it's crap enough for people to shit on it and some rabid fans feel obligated to defend this to the death.  This only leads to a race to the bottom on both sides.  I'll click through the show but it's doing absolutely nothing for me.  
• Presumed Innocent - Solid crime / lawyer procedural.  Feels very much like Gone Girl, replete with shitty main characters being awful people.  
• Clarkson's Farm - I decided randomly to pick this up as a easy to watch show, and it's exactly that.  It definitely has some of the Top Gear / Grand Tour shine, with very solid cinematography and a somewhat formulaic "Everything's gone wrong, I'm sure it will get better - cut to - It's gotten worse" with just enough small successes to feel like it's not entirely doom and gloom.  I also appreciate that even though Clarkson is a buffoon, he does seem to highlight: government over-regulation, small town governance being weaponized against people, the disaster of brexit, how difficult farming is, and portrays the local farmers in his area as unsung heroes.  Surprisingly wholesome and enjoyable show, I think it's been successful on Amazon and probably will continue for a few more seasons.  

Looking forward to the Bear Season 3.  Hoping that will continue the high quality.  

[kuhla]

I have watched a lot of movies the last few weeks. In no order of any kind.

1. Mad Max Furiosa
   • Fun but I think I liked Mad Max Fury Road more.
2. Arrival
   • Rewatch. Just as good as I remembered.
3. Ronin
   • Rewatch. Just as good as I remembered.
4. Oppenheimer
   • I was kind of surprised by how intensely it was focused just on the man.I knew the bomb was a focus of the film but I expect the bomb to be the entire film.
5. Past Lives
   • Romance drama is not my usual thing but I saw a lot of praise for this so I wanted to see it. It was good but I think it has a few layers and the strength of the movie is in the combination but each layer as opposed to each individually.
6. Napoleon
   • It was ok but the editing felt weird. We would just sort of lurch into the next setting moving through time and space. Felt like it was robbed of some intensity that should have been there.
7. Hunger Games 1
   • Fast forwarded through plenty. Wanted the cultural references. Was mostly flat and boring.
8. The Creator
   • Visually cool. Story was pretty meh.
9. Civil War
   • This could have been a movie set anywhere making the USA part of it feel kind of cheap. It was a movie about war photographers period.
10. The Lighthouse
    • Horror drama indie what the fuck was this. I still don't know what I'm supposed to say about this. Was it good? Was it bad?

[kuhla]

11. The Firm

• Older Tom Cruise movie. Was ok. Nothing special.

[kuhla]

12. Moneyball.

• This was on my "to do" list for a long time. I enjoyed this quite a bit. Felt like it took a lot of artistic license but it was fun. Definitely been in some discussions that felt reminiscent of stuff from this movie.

[kuhla]

13. Lost in Translation

• I went into this with pretty high expectations since I see a lot of praise for this and it has a high rating. I was very disappointed. It was not a bad movie but it felt like a whole lot of navel-gazing to me. Two people bond over being lonely, bored and questioning their current lot in life while stuck in a foreign country that is very alien to them. I just summed up the whole movie. What did I miss? Maybe I'm being overly harsh.

Why am I still numbering. I don't know.

[kuhla]

• Fargo 1996

I put the year on there to make it clear. I saw this many years ago and partially forgot about it. There were multiple series shows in the meantime which I did generally enjoy. Decided to revisit the original. I think the shows in some ways were actually better (well some of them). Still a fun movie though.

[Malaphax]

• Bad Monkey - This is a solid 6/10 show with some mystery elements and a comedic bent.  The comedy doesn't land very often for me, and there's been some obvious ADR to try and tighten up some bits.  It's very much lowest common denominator entertainment.  Skip it unless you like the premise.
• Only Murders in the Building - My parents watched this and liked it, I find it hit or miss.  I've absolutely laughed out loud at some of the jokes/bits and other times I've been bored and reaching for the skip button or just annoyed.  I'll keep watching as long as it keeps me laughing.  

Looking forward to several upcoming/returning shows: Slow Horses (Season 4), Terminator Zero.  
I don't know if I even want to hate watch season 2 of Rings of Power, I'm seeing negative reviews already.  

[kuhla]

On 8/29/2024 at 10:40 AM, Malaphax said:

season 2 of Rings of Power

I'm not planning to waste my time on it.

[kuhla]

• Being John Malkovich https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/

This is supposed to be a comedy? What? Yeah it had some moments that made me laugh but this is horror drama. I guess the imdb rating is fair.

• Crimes of the Future https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14549466/

Lots of blood. Lots of literal guts. Everybody having sex. This was a really strange movie. I don't recommend it.

[kuhla]

• Big Trouble in Little China https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090728/ -

I have seen posts about this many times. "This film is a wild ride and impossible to categorize!" and things like that. It's a silly 80s fantasy action comedy. I'm not sure why it has the following that it does. It just kind of felt like a mess to me and I didn't enjoy it.

 

[kuhla]

• Robin Hood 2010 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0955308/

This was on an old old backlog for me. I heard it was bad but I still wanted to judge for myself. For the first half I was thinking it's a bit overly serious (and a little too much 'Gladiator') but they are trying something a little different with Robin Hood so okay I want to see where this goes. Then in the second half it goes off the rails. Robin gives the Braveheart speech about freedom to a large crowd including the king to his face. There is a d-day beach landing by the French, and I'm not even exaggerating here, complete with archers on the cliff tops, people drowning in the water as arrows fly by and did I mention the landing ships complete with drop ramps? Robin's wife shows up in battle (from where?!) and participates in a cavalry charge (lady are you nuts?). At this point I was actually laughing so hard I was enjoying myself. Then to cap it all off the ending throws away just about everything accomplished by the characters earlier in the movie. I think it could have been "ok" with some changes but as is it's just bad.

[kuhla]

• Franklyn 2008 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0893402/

"Dystopian Sci-Fi" "Steampunk" "Sci-Fi". See those tags? Did you read the synopsis? None of that is true. Literally none of it. The movie follows 4 people going through some mental distress but all of it is happening in the real world setting. Everything in the "dark city" that features very prominently in the trailer is just one character's delusional imagination and even then it's just mirroring things happening in the real world setting. Just bad. I do not understand how this even has the 6.0 rating that it does. And no the story in the real world setting is not anything special.

[kuhla]

Midsommar - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772262/

I'm not going to write a long thing for this and I'm afraid it's going to sound like I am trying to create the opposite reaction. I regret seeing this movie. I wouldn't recommend this movie. It was too fucked up for me. I deleted it after watching it because I don't want this in my archive.

[Malaphax]

• Only Murders in the Building - This is still a hit or miss for me, some jokes really land and others don't.  I enjoy some of the characters, and the mystery elements don't try to go Agatha Christie on you where you can find out if you watch carefully they just lean into some of the absurdities of it all.  But I've absolutely had to skip through some of the slower scenes that aren't doing it for me, in fact most of the drama or character moments fall incredibly flat for me.  
• Bad Monkey - Still mediocre but entertaining, I'll finish it but I would most likely tell people to skip it unless you really enjoy Vince Vaughn.  
• Slow Horses Season 4 - This show is so good, I know each season is basically a stretched out film, but the characters are great, the storylines are solid and the acting (not just Gary Oldman) is very well done.  I think there's 8 books in the series, and I'd be happy if they do all 8.  
• Terminator Zero - I've seen a few episodes and the animation is decent, but I feel the need to mention the show's default language is English - the japanese audio and subtitles can at best be described as "dub-titles" and should probably be avoided.  

Upcoming: The Penguin, Agatha All Along (it's probably going to be trash), Legend of Vox Machina Season 3
Upcoming Anime: Re Zero Season 3, Bleach, Dandadan

[kuhla]

The French Connection 1971 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067116/

Definitely one of the oldest movies I have watched in recent history but it didn't feel that old. This felt very noir without being the checklist steroetype of the genre (no PI, no girl, etc.). I think I enjoyed it for the most part. It isn't a terribly deep philosophical story. The main character is a cop that is hard charging to the point of hurting himself and others.

[kuhla]

Rain Man (1988) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095953/

Decided to check this out because of the high rating. I didn't enjoy it but it was easy to watch. Tom Cruise spends 75% of the movie being kind of a dick with his brother Dustin Hoffman who is disabled (severe autism). It's supposed to be a heart warming movie as they grow closer together but I just couldn't get over it. Maybe it's modern sensibilities. I read some commentary that for its time it was pushing boundaries for the disabled. The trailer is pretty accurate.

 

[Malaphax]

The Diplomat - I was way behind on this, in fact the second season is coming out in a month - but I heard good things. 
I do think the writing is solid, acting was good, and the general tone of the story was interesting without it jumping the shark.  It's also very modern in terms of referencing the war in Ukraine, and Iranian nonsense.  This reminds me of the early seasons of house of cards.  I'd say this lived up to the hype around the show.  

[kuhla]

The Fall (2006) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/

Quote

In 1920s Los Angeles, a bedridden patient in a hospital captivates a young girl with a fantastic tale of heroes, myths, and villains on a desert island.

This is sort of a silly fantastical story and the main character is a small child but it's visually fun. The director and writer is the same as The Cell and you can really see it. Even though the main character is a small child this is not a movie for kids with just a bit too much blood and death. Easy to watch.

On 9/30/2024 at 4:50 PM, Malaphax said:

The Diplomat - I was way behind on this, in fact the second season is coming out in a month - but I heard good things. 
I do think the writing is solid, acting was good, and the general tone of the story was interesting without it jumping the shark.  It's also very modern in terms of referencing the war in Ukraine, and Iranian nonsense.  This reminds me of the early seasons of house of cards.  I'd say this lived up to the hype around the show.  

I watched the series a while back and I did sort of casually enjoy it. I will watch the second season.

[Malaphax]

On 10/5/2024 at 6:14 PM, kuhla said:

The Fall (2006) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/

This is one of my all time favorites, but I also really liked "The Cell" as well - mostly for the visual flair and some of the underlying ideas.  I believe they're rereleasing this in 4k and in theaters and I should re-grab it when that happens.  Also one of the first times Lee Pace showed up, I think he's great in just about everything I've seen him in.  
Sidenote: I think Paprika, or Inception does a better job with the idea of sharing dreams - but in the words of Tom Hardy's character "Don't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling".  I think the cell understood the brief and is fantastic.  

 

Slow Horses Season 4 - Just finished this, it's fantastic.  Apple clearly thinks so because they've greenlit up to season 6.  They also film back to back seasons so they normally have a release every year.  I also think this is one of the few shows that seems to understand what filming an extra long movie / short series should look like.  The books this is based on are up to 8, and the author seems serious about writing more so this show could go for a while.  

The Penguin - This has greatly exceeded my expectations.  I am really enjoying this.  I wish we could do more spinoffs like this with a decent budget and lower stakes but set in a familiar setting.  Sadly most of the marvel content that's trying to do this has fallen flat on it's face.

Agatha All Along - It's mid.  Easy skip.  The few things keeping me interested are Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza - mostly because I really enjoy watching her play unhinged characters.  

Legend of Vox Machina Season 3 - At this point I only know the vague plot outlines and so I'm going in mostly blind.  They're doing some tie-ins with some of their other campaigns, which I'm ok with - I just hope they don't go full avengers.  The show is still well animated and has turned down the overly wacky humor that showed up in the first season.  

Anime

Dandadan - This is probably going to be anime of the year, or at least in the running for it.  The animation is great, especially their use of creative use of colors.  The show is nearly impossible to pin into a single category, but it excels in style and seems to avoid the more annoying tropes in the genre.  

Gundam: Requiem for Vengence - This isn't technically anime (3d animation) and my exposure to Gundam is spotty but I might be interested in this.  

Re: Zero & Bleach are both running.  Re: Zero is still a unique twist on isekai with some really dark/gritty elements that show up to shock you once in a while.  Bleach is bleach - it's trash but it's nostalgic trash, it's also still well animated and has been edited from the original manga ending to tidy up some of the underwhelming elements.  

[kuhla]

1 hour ago, Malaphax said:

The Penguin - This has greatly exceeded my expectations.  I am really enjoying this.  I wish we could do more spinoffs like this with a decent budget and lower stakes but set in a familiar setting.  Sadly most of the marvel content that's trying to do this has fallen flat on it's face.

It gets a little silly at times but yes I have also been enjoying this. Colin Farrell is impossible to recognize. I worry they try too hard to make him likeable but they have not gone too too far yet.

[kuhla]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1870479/

The Newsroom

    TV Series
    2012–2014
    TV-MA
    1h

This was recommended to me a long time ago but I recently stumbled across a youtube clip and decided to finally check it out. I'm only two episodes in and it's mostly been alright so far. I have a few complaints but I'm going to save them until I'm a little farther into the series to see where they go with some of the plot. It has a high rating.

[Malaphax]

On 10/17/2024 at 10:02 AM, Malaphax said:

The Penguin - This has greatly exceeded my expectations.  I am really enjoying this.  I wish we could do more spinoffs like this with a decent budget and lower stakes but set in a familiar setting.  Sadly most of the marvel content that's trying to do this has fallen flat on it's face.

Agatha All Along - It's mid.  Easy skip.  The few things keeping me interested are Kathryn Hahn and Aubrey Plaza - mostly because I really enjoy watching her play unhinged characters.  

The Penguin - Really great.  I don't know why they decided to give Sofia Falcone some ye-ye ass haircut but that's one of the only things I didn't like about the show.  This is going to be a weird show because it's being lauded but it's tied to the newest batman movie, which is most likely going to be retconned shortly by James Gunn's new DC stuff.  It still stands on it's own and is a great show.  

Agatha All Along - My opinion of this change drastically towards the end.  There still some goofy superhero crap that I eye-rolled at.  But they also did some very clever stuff with the writing.  

The Diplomat Season 2 - Solid little season, but it's starting to approach "jumping the shark" territory.  I'm getting flashbacks of latter seasons House of Cards.  

Arcane Season 2 - First 3 episodes dropped.  It's fantastic, no notes.  

Upcoming

Dune Prophecy - I'm hoping this is good, it's based off the spinoff books from Frank Herbert's son - which are... not as good.  But I suspect they're doing some heavy adaptation and if you throw a decent budget on this you could get a nice space opera setting with some palace intrigue/drama.  
I'm fairly certain people are going to call this game of thrones in space - I really hate reductive takes like that, but because HBO owns both properties it's an inevitable comparison.  

[kuhla]

On 11/11/2024 at 4:53 PM, Malaphax said:

Upcoming

Dune Prophecy - I'm hoping this is good, it's based off the spinoff books from Frank Herbert's son - which are... not as good.  But I suspect they're doing some heavy adaptation and if you throw a decent budget on this you could get a nice space opera setting with some palace intrigue/drama.  
I'm fairly certain people are going to call this game of thrones in space - I really hate reductive takes like that, but because HBO owns both properties it's an inevitable comparison.  

November 17. I'm keeping my expectations low.

I'm basically just watching The Newsroom right now.

[Malaphax]

On 11/11/2024 at 4:53 PM, Malaphax said:

Arcane Season 2 - It's fantastic, no notes.

Dune Prophecy - I'm hoping this is good,

Arcane Season 2 - Solid as hell, I know there's some mention of the second season having pacing issues.  I get that and I respectfully disagree.  I had a blast with season 2, it's still solid and fast paced with great character elements. 
From my very basic league knowledge they absolutely did some ret-conning which I"m mostly ok with.  I absolutely love their animation style which I think is wholly unique and I expect that Riot now owning a bit of Fortiche will push for more (please dear god make more).  I think the league universe is messy and deserves a bit of a pass on some of their main story lines.  We could see some cool stuff regarding noxus vs demacia or noxus vs ionia.  I feel like an old man because I remember when the first music vidoes regarding Vi and Jinx came out and how that made me more interested in the characters and the lore.  I'm biased because I think jinx is my most played champion but damn am I impressed with what they made this season.  Spoiler stuff to follow:

Spoiler

I wasn't aware of the time-bomb ship (jinx + ekko) but I was mostly ok with this.  In game they were both from Zuan and had inventor/scientist themes.  I think expansions on the lore like this were a good choice that I respect.  I understand it humanizes a flat out terrorist/psychopath but I still respect the ideas they came up with.  The Vi + Caitlyn stuff is straight out of the game and I'm ok with how they handled it. 

I think they could do some cool stuff with Yasuo + Yone or other Noxus/Demacia or Noxus/Ionia elements.  They've released plenty of cool short cinematics and music videos so I hope they push that stuff forward. 

Also weird that they chose to completely re-do viktor's visuals but keep his gameplay.  In the initial release he was more of a evolutionary / supremacist (think kahn from star trek) whereas his style based off of the show is slightly less abrasive but still based on the idea that he represents "peak" evolution for humanity/magic/hextech. 

Dune prophecy has been surprisingly good.  I heard some weirdly obnoxious reviews about how it looks "low budget" - (go fuck yourself) this show looks great and while the plot is basic I'm having fun.  It helps that they hired great talent for the main characters.  I'm interested in how they progress with references to some of the major factions in the books. 

[kuhla]

Arcane (Season 2)

The animation is pretty fantastic and is a good enough reason alone to watch this show but the story this season lost me a bit. I'm an outsider to League lore. Noxus? Ionia? These don't mean anything to me other than what the show tells me. What is that thing? Why is he doing/saying that? Is this supposed be a special location? When did we learn about this? I stopped asking questions after a bit.

Dune Prophecy

The show is fine but I almost feel like it hurts the show that it has the same name as the movies. This is a different story and comparison is almost unfair. It's not about a journey of the hero. It's about schemers long before the hero ever showed up. Acting is fine but I am having a little issue buying the character of the emperor. He seems so easily swayed by everyone.

Silo (Season 2)

It's plodding along fine. I'm pretty invested in this show and seeing how they finish it since I read the books. I'm pretty sure they changed a lot of things but the most important parts are there.

The Newsroom (all seasons)

Finished it. I enjoyed it but it definitely swings "soap opera" and gets pretty preachy sometimes. There is obviously a specific style to this (Sorkin) which you either like or don't.