TV/Movies Megathread

[Ed Anger]

I'm not going to see The Shape of Water aka Grinding Nemo.

[Valmy]

I'm not going to see The Shape of Water aka Grinding Nemo.

Anyway I already saw Splash and it sucked.

Hey it also won an Oscar now that I think about it. Hollywood loves that interspecies erotica.

[Savonarola]

Game Night (2018)

When we were first married CB and I were playing Scrabble.  I was playing off an O

CB:  If you love me you you won't play that word.
Savonarola:  Then I don't love you, dear.  "Oxen" for 27.
CB:  We're never playing Scrabble again.   

(CB then tried to rat me out to my parents:
CB:  ...and he was way up and he wouldn't let me play on the letter I wanted.  He said he had this word he needed to play.
Savonarola's Mother:  Well, what was the word?
Savonarola:  "Oxen" with a triple letter on the x.
Savonarola's Father:  Oh yeah, I could see that.
Savonarola's Mother;  Yeah, that's a good word.
CB:   )

If you take your boardgames a little too seriously (and especially if your SO does as well) you'll like this.  Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams play a couple whose week revolves around a game night party.  Jason's over-achieving brother comes into town and kicks game night up a notch by hosting a kidnapping mystery; but not everything is as it seems and not everyone is who they say they are (dunh, dunh, dunh.)

There are some colossal plot holes and the climax requires an extraordinary amount of suspension of disbelief.  Even so this is a great deal of fun.  Despite the film being a comedy, there are a lot laughs.  McAdams and Bateman play off of each other very well.

[frunk]

Despite the film being a comedy, there are a lot laughs.

Probably an accident.

[garbon]

The only person who made me at all interested in that film is Sharon Horgan.

[Habbaku]

Concur with Sav. Game Night was pretty good. Discount Matt Damon continues to do a great job in all his roles.

[frunk]

Batman (1989) - I think i was too young when I saw this the first time to appreciate how memorable the supporting cast is.  Tracey Walters, Jack Palance, Robert Wuhl, Billy Dee Williams, Pat Hingle.  Michael Gough is still Alfred to me, even if Michael Caine did a great job in the Nolan trilogy.

[celedhring]

Shape of Water. Not perfect, but a very well made film. Del Toro has been smart enough to include several homages to Hollywood's golden age in order to sweeten the deal for Oscar voters, and I'm glad it worked out for him. Hollywood loves to vote for itself.

Sally Hawkins does a great job, Michael Shannon gets loaded with a pretty ridiculous moustache-twirling villain and manages to salvage it. Directing is very classic, probably Del Toro's best work on that regard. If the concept does nothing for you, you won't enjoy the film (and it's a bit too whimsical in parts), but the craftmanship is great on all parts involved.

[katmai]

Fucking Mexicans coming here and taking all our jobs and their Oscar wins.

[Oexmelin]

Sally Hawkins does a great job, Michael Shannon gets loaded with a pretty ridiculous moustache-twirling villain and manages to salvage it. Directing is very classic, probably Del Toro's best work on that regard. If the concept does nothing for you, you won't enjoy the film (and it's a bit too whimsical in parts), but the craftmanship is great on all parts involved.

Agree on all points. Remarkable craftsmanship. Also, I love Sally Hawkins ever since Happy-go-lucky.

[Malthus]

Shape of Water. Not perfect, but a very well made film. Del Toro has been smart enough to include several homages to Hollywood's golden age in order to sweeten the deal for Oscar voters, and I'm glad it worked out for him. Hollywood loves to vote for itself.

Sally Hawkins does a great job, Michael Shannon gets loaded with a pretty ridiculous moustache-twirling villain and manages to salvage it. Directing is very classic, probably Del Toro's best work on that regard. If the concept does nothing for you, you won't enjoy the film (and it's a bit too whimsical in parts), but the craftmanship is great on all parts involved.

Where I thought it fell down was in the romance. It's billed as a touching romance, but we aren't really shown much of it - the characters go straight from 'basic recognition of each other's sentience' to 'let's fuck'.

[celedhring]

Shape of Water. Not perfect, but a very well made film. Del Toro has been smart enough to include several homages to Hollywood's golden age in order to sweeten the deal for Oscar voters, and I'm glad it worked out for him. Hollywood loves to vote for itself.

Sally Hawkins does a great job, Michael Shannon gets loaded with a pretty ridiculous moustache-twirling villain and manages to salvage it. Directing is very classic, probably Del Toro's best work on that regard. If the concept does nothing for you, you won't enjoy the film (and it's a bit too whimsical in parts), but the craftmanship is great on all parts involved.

Where I thought it fell down was in the romance. It's billed as a touching romance, but we aren't really shown much of it - the characters go straight from 'basic recognition of each other's sentience' to 'let's fuck'.

Yeah, the fish-fucking came a bit too quick and too casually.

My only other "but" is that the research institute they work in has really shitty security, given this project is such a big deal.

[Ed Anger]

Batman (1989) - I think i was too young when I saw this the first time to appreciate how memorable the supporting cast is.  Tracey Walters, Jack Palance, Robert Wuhl, Billy Dee Williams, Pat Hingle.  Michael Gough is still Alfred to me, even if Michael Caine did a great job in the Nolan trilogy.

Never rub another man's rhubarb.

[Oexmelin]

Yeah, the fish-fucking came a bit too quick and too casually.

I thought that too initially... but then again, I also appreciated that Elisa was shown as having a libido; in need of acceptance, yes, but one that came with physical desires too, shown from the beginning. Considering that such a situation is usually depicted in Hollywood as either comedic relief, character assassination, or as a misstep towards proper romance, I thought it was a welcome change (and a political point).

My only other "but" is that the research institute they work in has really shitty security, given this project is such a big deal.

And here again, I thought it great as a counterpoint: the "research institute" is shown as a workplace appropriate to the Hollywood golden age - it is our own time that is obsessed with the depiction of security.

[Valmy]

I thought it was a welcome change (and a political point).

The joys of being an American. One half of the world thinks we are disgusting and degenerate perverts. The other half thinks we are so against fucking that having a hook-up in a film is considered a bold political statement to break up our puritanical values.