TV/Movies Megathread

[Sheilbh]

Started watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with the boy the other day. We made it about halfway through before we stopped.

I don't think the film holds up - giving the "Star Wars comical/ exotic aliens" treatment to Indians and Chinese falls rather flat - it plays at the same range as Breakfast at Tiffany's + some shallow mysticism. The female lead being annoying-selfish-and-two-dimensional-played-for-laughs succeeds only at being tedious and annoying. I know it's supposed to be pulp, but even so Indiana Jones does not come across as a compelling archeologist.

I wanted to make it to the iconic "swirling swords display and anti-climatic shooting" scene, but we just couldn't care enough about anything that happened. It probably doesn't help that action-adventure pacing in the 2020s is faster than it was in the 1980s.

On this - yeah. I think I must have missed this one as a kid and then tried to watch it as an adult ages ago and couldn't get through it.

The other two hold up better I think (or I watched them as a kid and have sufficient nostalgia).

Also totally agree on Shogun. I read a lot of Clavell books when I was younger and that looks good (no idea how Hulu shows work in the UK I think FX shows are on Disney+ here but could be wrong )...

[The Brain]

FWIW in Sweden the new Shogun is on Disney+.

[Barrister]

If being universal is a hallmark of good comedy then I dread to think.
It usually tends to be absolute trash comedy, sub big bang theory level stuff, that does well overseas where more intelligent comedies are those that tend to be pretty obscure to those from radically different cultures.

What's wrong with universal comedy?  I mean we're all human.

I mean yes you can have pretty low-brow humour that can be pretty universal. I mean - think about fart jokes or the like.  And it's not like farts will never not be funny either - but again I don't think that's going to go on the list of "best" comedy.  Because again, like making a ton of topical references, it's just so easy.

But I do think humour and comedy is pretty basic and universal at its core.

[Jacob]

Yeah I absolutely had a Clavell phase in late high school: Shogun first, then Noble House, Tai Pan, King Rat... couldn't get into Whirlwind.

[Barrister]

Yeah I absolutely had a Clavell phase in late high school: Shogun first, then Noble House, Tai Pan, King Rat... couldn't get into Whirlwind.

I don't think I ever read any of his books, but I definitely remember they were a thing.

How do they hold up?

[crazy canuck]

FWIW in Sweden the new Shogun is on Disney+.

Same in Canada - dammit we are going to have to resubscribe.  But I also get to see the last season of Bad Batch.

[Jacob]

I don't think I ever read any of his books, but I definitely remember they were a thing.

How do they hold up?

I don't know, I haven't read them since then - but Gups seemed to imply he's enjoying Shogun. I think it's worth giving them a spin if you're looking for something to read.

[crazy canuck]

I don't think I ever read any of his books, but I definitely remember they were a thing.

How do they hold up?

I don't know, I haven't read them since then - but Gups seemed to imply he's enjoying Shogun. I think it's worth giving them a spin if you're looking for something to read.

I loved all his books when I read them in the 80s.  I also enjoyed the TV series. Although his book set in Iran may not have aged very well.

 

[Josephus]

While I think the Python tv series can be dated; I think their movies, in particular Holy Grail and Life of Brian hold up very well

Thing with Python, though, is that they never had mass appeal. They had a very strong cult devotion.  People either loved them or couldn't stand them, even back then.

Thing is: how much money were they making even in their prime, I wonder?

[Gups]

Yeah I absolutely had a Clavell phase in late high school: Shogun first, then Noble House, Tai Pan, King Rat... couldn't get into Whirlwind.

I don't think I ever read any of his books, but I definitely remember they were a thing.

How do they hold up?

Shogun is superb in every sense - plot, writing, characterisation, subject matter. I read 50 or 60 books a year and it's in my all time top 20.

It's 1,100 pages though so won't be for everyone. The only other one of his I've read is Tai Pai set in Hong Kong in the 60s. Very good but not at the level of Shogun.

[Josquius]

I've finished series 1 of Time.
Sean Bean is a pretty normal guy who ends up going to prison, where Stephen Graham is a warden who has a son in another prison.
Hilarity ensues.
Its a really good short 3 episode drama.
My image of prison is heavily slanted by the American media so its quite a change to see what I imagine is a realistic portrayal of the UK system- the only other option  is Porridge.

I've started on series 2 which completely scratches everything except for one supporting character and has Dr Who, Ellie from the Last of Us, and another woman, all going into a ladies prison which looks more like a POW camp than anything I'd imagine a prison being like. 1 episode in and I can see a theme. Again quite good. Seems to be taking lots of shots at the screwed up system beyond prisons; Loachian.

[Josephus]

While I think the Python tv series can be dated; I think their movies, in particular Holy Grail and Life of Brian hold up very well

Thing with Python, though, is that they never had mass appeal. They had a very strong cult devotion.  People either loved them or couldn't stand them, even back then.

Thing is: how much money were they making even in their prime, I wonder?

Funny, as if he read this, John Cleese just posted on Twitter

Several of my Twits have expressed concerned about my finances

In 2024, I have

The FT stage show

The Life of Brian stage show

The Wanda musical

An original Hollywood comedy 'Lookalikes'

An adaptation of Georges Feydeau farce 'Bang Bang'

The US version of FT

Three 2024 stage tours

A one-hour TY sketch show

A Canadian film  'Cut the Painter'

And a 90 minute TV documentary about FT

So...not to worry

BTW, Camillla Cleese is involved in seven of these

[crazy canuck]

Cleese has made a lot of money.  One indication of that is in his last divorce he paid a lump sum of about 16 million and continues to pay annual support payments of about 1 million.

He was probably the most successful of the python troop.

[Josquius]

If being universal is a hallmark of good comedy then I dread to think.
It usually tends to be absolute trash comedy, sub big bang theory level stuff, that does well overseas where more intelligent comedies are those that tend to be pretty obscure to those from radically different cultures.

What's wrong with universal comedy?  I mean we're all human.

I mean yes you can have pretty low-brow humour that can be pretty universal. I mean - think about fart jokes or the like.  And it's not like farts will never not be funny either - but again I don't think that's going to go on the list of "best" comedy.  Because again, like making a ton of topical references, it's just so easy.

But I do think humour and comedy is pretty basic and universal at its core.

Its fundamentally awful stuff. Just laugh tracks to indicate where to laugh and jokes that barely warrant a smile at best.
Its not like its always crap that appeals widely. Friends for instance is good.
But 2 Broke Girls I hear is very popular in China. And its just....terrible.

[Sheilbh]

What's wrong with universal comedy?  I mean we're all human.

I mean yes you can have pretty low-brow humour that can be pretty universal. I mean - think about fart jokes or the like.  And it's not like farts will never not be funny either - but again I don't think that's going to go on the list of "best" comedy.  Because again, like making a ton of topical references, it's just so easy.

But I do think humour and comedy is pretty basic and universal at its core.

Interesting. I more or less totally disagree I think comedy is one of the most culture (and language) specific things - which is why Hollywood is making less of them because they play less well internationally. It's really really difficult to make a global hit comedy film/series (which is why they're pretty rare).

There's some bit that can be fairly universal - physical comedy works everywhere, toilet humour does too. But I think as soon as you get into verbal humour, gags either rely on the words or on the situation which can be very, very difficult to translate.

It's not impossible - and I think as English speakers we've got US comedies which creates a base layer that we probably all share. I imagine there's probably similar in Spanish speaking countries or beteween, say, France and Quebec. But there are still differences - the big one is I think is that British and Australian audiences seem to enjoy discomfort a bit more as part of the comedy.