TV/Movies Megathread

[Savonarola]

Ladri di Biciclette (usually translated as "The Bicycle Thief", but more accurately "Bicycle Thieves") (1948)

A man's bicycle is stolen and he goes through extraordinary lengths to get it back.  This leads to bitter disappointment as he learns that the Alamo has no basement.   



Just kidding, this tale of a stolen bicycle is Vittorio De Sica's neo-Realist masterpiece.  It's made with an entirely non-professional cast and shot mostly outdoors in Rome.  That works surprisingly well as the male lead (Lamberto Maggiorani) experienced a lot of anxiety trying to follow De Sica's direction; which comes across as anxiety about his family and missing bicycle.  The film owes a lot to Charlie Chaplin; especially the adult-child interplay (similar to "The Kid") and the famous final shot (taken from The Tramp walking off into the sunset in almost every movie.)  The film also seems to draw inspiration from the works of Franz Kafka as the protagonist is trapped by an absurd and indifferent bureaucracy.  Overall this makes for a bleak, yet occasionally funny film.

[Josephus]

Ladri di Biciclette (usually translated as "The Bicycle Thief", but more accurately "Bicycle Thieves") (1948)

A man's bicycle is stolen and he goes through extraordinary lengths to get it back.  This leads to bitter disappointment as he learns that the Alamo has no basement.   



Just kidding, this tale of a stolen bicycle is Vittorio De Sica's neo-Realist masterpiece.  It's made with an entirely non-professional cast and shot mostly outdoors in Rome.  That works surprisingly well as the male lead (Lamberto Maggiorani) experienced a lot of anxiety trying to follow De Sica's direction; which comes across as anxiety about his family and missing bicycle.  The film owes a lot to Charlie Chaplin; especially the adult-child interplay (similar to "The Kid") and the famous final shot (taken from The Tramp walking off into the sunset in almost every movie.)  The film also seems to draw inspiration from the works of Franz Kafka as the protagonist is trapped by an absurd and indifferent bureaucracy.  Overall this makes for a bleak, yet occasionally funny film.

One of my favourite films.

[crazy canuck]

1917 was pretty incredible. I had a Wow face on damn near the whole movie.

Good to hear, I am going to try to see it this weekend

[Savonarola]

Ladri di Biciclette (usually translated as "The Bicycle Thief", but more accurately "Bicycle Thieves") (1948)

A man's bicycle is stolen and he goes through extraordinary lengths to get it back.  This leads to bitter disappointment as he learns that the Alamo has no basement.   



Just kidding, this tale of a stolen bicycle is Vittorio De Sica's neo-Realist masterpiece.  It's made with an entirely non-professional cast and shot mostly outdoors in Rome.  That works surprisingly well as the male lead (Lamberto Maggiorani) experienced a lot of anxiety trying to follow De Sica's direction; which comes across as anxiety about his family and missing bicycle.  The film owes a lot to Charlie Chaplin; especially the adult-child interplay (similar to "The Kid") and the famous final shot (taken from The Tramp walking off into the sunset in almost every movie.)  The film also seems to draw inspiration from the works of Franz Kafka as the protagonist is trapped by an absurd and indifferent bureaucracy.  Overall this makes for a bleak, yet occasionally funny film.

One of my favourite films.

This was another one that I had watched when I was studying Italian (which is now (Yikes!) about 20 years ago.)  The film was a lot bleaker than I remembered; but I did get more of the Chaplin references. 

[Savonarola]

I watched a few episodes of Netflix's "Civilizations."  It's supposed to similar to the 60s era BBC documentary "Civilisation" narrated by Kenneth Clark; but rather than the story of the development of western art, it's more of a general introduction to art.  So they introduce a general topic (God, nature, the body) and show how it's interpreted in art across different cultures and end with a couple contemporary examples.  Clark's approach allowed him to go much more in depth (though only in Western art - and Western art that was outside the Iron Curtain for that matter); this version is more of a cross-culture "Greatest Hits."

[crazy canuck]

I watched a few episodes of Netflix's "Civilizations."  It's supposed to similar to the 60s era BBC documentary "Civilisation" narrated by Kenneth Clark; but rather than the story of the development of western art, it's more of a general introduction to art.  So they introduce a general topic (God, nature, the body) and show how it's interpreted in art across different cultures and end with a couple contemporary examples.  Clark's approach allowed him to go much more in depth (though only in Western art - and Western art that was outside the Iron Curtain for that matter); this version is more of a cross-culture "Greatest Hits."

The BBC version is very good.  For some reason the producers felt the need to significantly edit the series (Mary Beard was quite vocal about it on twitter - her parts were largely removed in the US version). As a result the US version is significantly dumbed down. I suspect it is the US version being shown on Netflix.

I remember Clark's series fondly.  My junior high socials teacher showed it in class.  It was my first brush with a life long love of history and art. 

[Eddie Teach]

Joker. I liked it, but definitely a different take. This joker seems too dim to be Batman's nemesis.

[Admiral Yi]

This new Dracula certainly has its own way of going about things, but it's not completely without merit.  There are times during the intermittent dialogues that I feel like saying shut the fuck up and suck some blood or something, but then there's usually something clever that brings me back.  The reveals in episode 2 were well done.  Still, would it have killed you guys to throw in a nipple or two?

[viper37]

Still, would it have killed you guys to throw in a nipple or two?

If you want to see beautiful British nipples, check out the Witcher series on Netflix.

[The Brain]

Dracula, second episode. [spoiler]The Mr. Bean reference at the end[/spoiler] felt a bit unnecessary.

[Admiral Yi]

Dracula E3 is a bit of a mess.

[Sheilbh]

Sex Education s2.

Only a couple of episodes in but still very good and very fun.

I love Gillian Anderson and when she's playing Maggie in the Crown she will sexually confuse, perplex and anger a nation.

[Admiral Yi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjOBWK6WkL4

2017 BBC radio discussion with Iannucci about Death of Stalin.

[The Brain]

Dracula, third episode. [spoiler]I prefer my Dracula stuff in the 1800s[/spoiler] but it's OK.

[Josquius]

Pokemon detective pikachu
Best kids film I've seen in a long time. Though saw the explanation coming a mile off.