TV/Movies Megathread

[Sheilbh]

New It. Though I'm always annoyed at the big bad's real nature, this is a pretty solid film and gets the fact that this is basically a coming of age film with horror right.

But as someone who was horrified at the age of 8 by accidentally watching Tim Curry's version, I wasn't a massive fan of this Pennywise.

[Savonarola]

Superbad (2007)

High school is ending!  Desperate virgins Michael Cera and Jonah Hill have one last chance to get with the girls they like before summer at the big blowout party Emma Stone is hosting.  Their nerdy friend, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, is getting a fake ID in order to buy booze for the party.  Hilarity ensues.

While, yes, this does share the same plot with many of the worst of teenage movies; it does have its moment.  George Michael Bluth's goofy charm serves him well as he gets into ever more awkward scrapes: his rendition of "These Eyes" to the attendees of a cocaine party has to be one of the funniest moments in a boner film.  I also enjoyed Bill Hader's and Seth Rogen's takes on thoroughly irresponsible authority figures.

[Tonitrus]

Been binge watching some classic Dragnet. 

Man, they recycled secondary actors so much you'd think it was using an ensemble cast.

The girl's performance in the first part might be my favorite by a one-shot character...especially how she manhandles Friday's partner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps-MCog3eCE

"WHEELS!"

[Berkut]

Saw Ad Astra yesterday.

I commend them for what they were trying to accomplish.

?
That means it feels incomplete?  The plot is twisted and convoluted with no end on sight?  Or it's so shallow you see it from a thousand miles away?

Please expand.

No, the plot isn't twisted. It is almost boringly linear in fact. Almost weirdly so given that the framework of the story is a son going to track down his fathers failed mission. [spoiler]You expect there to be some interesting ploy constructs as he learns WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, and it seems to be setting that up, with a mysterious figure who dies leaving a cryptic warning and everything.

But then the movie kind of is about his trip out there. He goes to the moon! Shooty shooty time! Whew, he made it!

On to Mars! OH NOES THERE IS A PROBLEM ON THE TRIP! But our hero fixes it! (Neither of these things that come up have *anything* to do with the story, btw).

OK, he made it to Mars! Whew! Now he must talk to dad! They shall send a message! (Why didn't they send a message before? Why did he have to go to Mars to record the message to be sent to Neptune? STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!).

Message sent! Is the problemsolved? Of course not! But the Vaguely Evil Sorta Military won't let him go! So he shall go anyway! hijiks ensue! And of course he makes it to Neptune and only goes a little bit crazy on the way?

No matter, here is dear old dad!

Why did the mission fail? Oh, thats why...ok. Boring.

etc., etc., etc.
[/spoiler]
Its trying very hard to be this serious character study of a character who isn't that interesting, with a dad that isn't that interesting, and they give you a story to carry that character study that is really, really, really not that interesting, and with gigantic plot holes and irrelevant diversion all over the place.

[viper37]

Ah.  I predict an Oscar for best scenario then!

Thank you, I wanted to see this, now I'll skip it for now

[Josephus]

OK. I watched Borat in The Spy. He was pretty good. Show was excellent.
The only thing I didn't get is how easy the Israelis were able to place him in South America as a very successful textile factory owner. I didn't get how that worked. Wouldn't the Syrians in Argentina wonder how they'd never heard of this successful entrepreneur before, and all of a sudden he's all over the place. Wouldn't that Syrian security guy who was suspicious from the get-go have done a better background check.

Once I got past that, though, it was very intense. I like the Osama Bin Laden cameo

[Berkut]

Ah.  I predict an Oscar for best scenario then!

Thank you, I wanted to see this, now I'll skip it for now

probably worth watching when it comes out on some streaming service.

[mongers]

Have been watching the original series of James Burke's 'Connections' - thoroughly enjoying it, some of the featured modern technology is outdated, but content, humour and ideas have aged very well. 

Helps that it's a very decent transfer to DVD, much better than watching on youtube.

[crazy canuck]

OK. I watched Borat in The Spy. He was pretty good. Show was excellent.
The only thing I didn't get is how easy the Israelis were able to place him in South America as a very successful textile factory owner. I didn't get how that worked. Wouldn't the Syrians in Argentina wonder how they'd never heard of this successful entrepreneur before, and all of a sudden he's all over the place. Wouldn't that Syrian security guy who was suspicious from the get-go have done a better background check.

Once I got past that, though, it was very intense. I like the Osama Bin Laden cameo

Business based in Switzerland as import export.  They did devote a couple of scenes to his story getting checked out.  But I agree that could have been better developed.  The real story of how they pulled it off would be a great read.

[Josquius]

OK. I watched Borat in The Spy. He was pretty good. Show was excellent.
The only thing I didn't get is how easy the Israelis were able to place him in South America as a very successful textile factory owner. I didn't get how that worked. Wouldn't the Syrians in Argentina wonder how they'd never heard of this successful entrepreneur before, and all of a sudden he's all over the place. Wouldn't that Syrian security guy who was suspicious from the get-go have done a better background check.

Once I got past that, though, it was very intense. I like the Osama Bin Laden cameo

Watching Carnival Row I had a similar brief 'huh?' moment in one part where a character illegally breaks into a museum...but of course it's set in a world with 19th century technology so there's no CCTV or cameras or anything.
In the mid 20th century it wasn't beyond belief that there could be a successful person in another town in your own country that you hadn't heard of and it would be difficult to check up on them. Pre-internet that shit was hard.

[Josephus]

OK. I watched Borat in The Spy. He was pretty good. Show was excellent.
The only thing I didn't get is how easy the Israelis were able to place him in South America as a very successful textile factory owner. I didn't get how that worked. Wouldn't the Syrians in Argentina wonder how they'd never heard of this successful entrepreneur before, and all of a sudden he's all over the place. Wouldn't that Syrian security guy who was suspicious from the get-go have done a better background check.

Once I got past that, though, it was very intense. I like the Osama Bin Laden cameo

Watching Carnival Row I had a similar brief 'huh?' moment in one part where a character illegally breaks into a museum...but of course it's set in a world with 19th century technology so there's no CCTV or cameras or anything.
In the mid 20th century it wasn't beyond belief that there could be a successful person in another town in your own country that you hadn't heard of and it would be difficult to check up on them. Pre-internet that shit was hard.

Not so sure. I mean it wouldn't be that hard to figure out that no one heard of this very successful businessman before.

[Sheilbh]

Decided to watch some more horror to get in the mood for Halloween.

Watch the 70s classics first, I thought. They won't be as actually scary as modern horror, I thought.

And yet here I am in a flat. On my own with all the lights on.

Don't Look Now and Halloween were the latest instalments

[Valmy]

I like to have Christopher Lee reading Edgar Allen Poe on loop during October

[Malthus]

Some of my favorite Halloween viewing:

1. The Changeling. A classic haunted house ghost story.

2. Over the Garden Wall. A mini-series, basically movie length. Ostensibly for children, but really well done modern animation and genuinely creepy without being at all gory.

3. The Nightmare Before Christmas. Silly fun. 

[Admiral Yi]

The flick with Naomi Watts and that girl crawling out of the  well is pretty creepy if that's what you're going for.