TV/Movies Megathread

[Admiral Yi]

I don't get the love for Chinatown.  Aside from the nose snipping scene I thought it was a bore.

[Ideologue]

It probably gets more kudos as a screenplay, some artsy mucks think it is as perfectly structured as a screenplay as it can get.

Aye, at film school they'd hammer us with it. I love the film, though. Not sure where it ranks on besteverness, but it's a great film.

Currently watching The Raid. So far it is cool, but hot damn, I don't understand a single word of Indonesian yet I can tell those are some really awful thespians.

I dunno.  I liked Uwais and Alamsyah (Rama and Andi).

I don't get the love for Chinatown.  Aside from the nose snipping scene I thought it was a bore.

[Ideologue]

It probably gets more kudos as a screenplay, some artsy mucks think it is as perfectly structured as a screenplay as it can get.

Aye, at film school they'd hammer us with it. I love the film, though. Not sure where it ranks on besteverness, but it's a great film.

It's funny, watching it again, I had remembered it as having a much longer running time than it really does, since so much is packed into the story and each scene works so well.

DKR is the perfectly structured screenplay?

[Ed Anger]

I'm sorta with Yi. Chinatown bores me.

[Ideologue]

It's like The Maltese Falcon with more incest.

[Eddie Teach]

And less Bogey.

[Ideologue]

And more Nicholson.  That's about even.

[Eddie Teach]

Only if you're counting the incest.

[Syt]

I liked Bane's voice.

He reminded me of the old Marlon Brando.

[Ideologue]

I thought there was a little Jimmy Stewart in there.

[viper37]

Shield isn't very good. Though, it has gone from "disappointing" to "average" quality wise. Arrow is the superior Super-Hero Show.

I feel the last couple of episodes and the one coming have upped the quality of the show by a little.  Maybe next year it will be above average, but still far away from shows such as Dracula or Hannibal.

[viper37]

The CW takes lots of interesting ideas and turns them into shows for teenage girls. It's their stock in trade.

I started watching The 100 on CW.  It has potential, it has interesting ideas, there's something to be exploited, but they're not there yet.  It might be interesting to see how it turns out, though.  It's far beyond stuff like Vampire Diaries, but still below average.

[Eddie Teach]

Agents of Shield is bearable if you're someone like me with too much time on your hands. Lately it's even been overtaken in the "Why the heck am I watching this crap?" sweepstakes by Believe. It had been first place since I quit watching The Blacklist.

[Viking]

Shield isn't very good. Though, it has gone from "disappointing" to "average" quality wise. Arrow is the superior Super-Hero Show.

I feel the last couple of episodes and the one coming have upped the quality of the show by a little.  Maybe next year it will be above average, but still far away from shows such as Dracula or Hannibal.

I think Agents had the problem of having to fit into Marvel's movie schedule. The Clairvoyant reveal had to fit with the release of Winter Soldier. Agents doesn't have plots that challenge the audience, it doesn't have believable character decisions and the characters are straight out of a focus group at central casting. I'm still a bit confused if I'm supposed to be pissed that before winter soldier nobody on agents of shield behaved like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or if I'm supposed to be happy that they now are formally Agents of not S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agents of Shield is bearable if you're someone like me with too much time on your hands. Lately it's even been overtaken in the "Why the heck am I watching this crap?" sweepstakes by Believe. It had been first place since I quit watching The Blacklist.

That first episode of Believe was awesome. Since then it's been like an A-Team rip off with a sane murdoch, a charmless face, a stern hannibal and a T less Mr-T.

The CW takes lots of interesting ideas and turns them into shows for teenage girls. It's their stock in trade.

I started watching The 100 on CW.  It has potential, it has interesting ideas, there's something to be exploited, but they're not there yet.  It might be interesting to see how it turns out, though.  It's far beyond stuff like Vampire Diaries, but still below average.

The premise is fantastic. The CW does The Lord of Flies. At least the science in it works. Though I'm starting to get pissed off about the slimy guy who keeps trying to exterminate humanity.

[celedhring]

The Raid: Holy Fuck

I struggle to recall 100 minutes of such unbridled balls-to-the-wall violence, that film makes the 80s action classics look like girly PG films. It's actually quite well shot (aka, no shaky cams or 100 cutaways per second), and the film gives you totally zero respite. It's a hell of a blood-soaked trip.

That said, it has barely a story and almost zero character development, so it can end up being a bit jading (the awful performances across the board don't help you care much about anybody involved). I much prefer Dredd which actually manages to insert a very well done "rookie-seasoned veteran" buddy story in the proceedings, while still having some great action.