TV/Movies Megathread

[Josquius]

Watched the first episode of "Rivals" on Disney. Because David tenant.

A drama about local TV in the 80s.

This... Is weird. It's an adaptation of a random no name 80s romance book. And seems confused whether it's a straight adaptation or a pastisch.
I will leave this one for my gf to watch in her own time.

But Ludwig though. It's very formulaic of detective shows. But still good.

[garbon]

Watched the first episode of "Rivals" on Disney. Because David tenant.

A drama about local TV in the 80s.

This... Is weird. It's an adaptation of a random no name 80s romance book. And seems confused whether it's a straight adaptation or a pastisch.
I will leave this one for my gf to watch in her own time.

But Ludwig though. It's very formulaic of detective shows. But still good.

Even I know Dame Jilly Cooper is no slouch in the UK.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah Jilly Cooper's Rivals was massive - like the romance equivalent of John Grisham.

[Savonarola]

The Last of Sheila (1973)

A year ago Sheila was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident.  Now, exactly a year later, her widower invites a group of people who, coincidentally, were all at the party on his mansion the night his wife died, to a party aboard a yacht.  He plans to make a movie about her life, but first he plays a "Secrets" game with them.  Then the host dies, but who is the real killer?

This is the sort of movie where, as you might expect, there are a number of unexpected plot twists and, just as you would think, the killer isn't who you think it is.  It was written by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim; so it is a good deal of campy fun (weirdly Sondheim didn't write the soundtrack.)  Raquel Welch is in it; in what is by far one of her most challenging roles: playing Raquel Welch.  Fortunately most of her other parts didn't demand that much out of her.  James Mason in it; his secret is that he's child molester.  I just knew there was something going on between him and Sue Lyon in that one film they were both in. 

[Sheilbh]

So decided to go to a Hallowwen do as the guy from Late Night With The Devil (which I really enjoyed):


Most of the costume has arrived and, trying it on, I realise I mainly resemble Sir Terry Wogan. So I can only hope there's no-one under 40 or from overseas who I have to explain that to

[Josephus]

Watched a couple old TCM movies

Eyes Without a Face.1960 French Film. (Les Yeux sans visage).

Dr. Frankenstein kind of thing. When a doctor's daughter was disfigured in a car accident he decides to try a new experimental face graft to get her a new face. But to do that he needs unwilling female victims. It was released, edited, in America as the Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus, even though there is no Dr. Faustus in the movie.
Very influential film, even though it got critically panned at the time.

Bad Seed (1956)
Also a controversial film. Are criminals a product of their environment or are their traits heriditary?
Eight year old Rhoda is your perfect daughter, pigtails, pinafores and good manners. But is she? When a school mate who competed and beat her in a penmanship contest dies at a school picnic, well her mother starts to wonder.
Director was forced to add on a "nice" ending just to keep the critics happy.

[Sheilbh]

Eyes Without a Face is fantastic - and came out in the same year as Peeping Tom (over the Channel) which also got critically panned and destroyed people's careers, but is now hugely admired and influential.

They're interestingly similar in some ways too.

[Josephus]

Eyes Without a Face is fantastic - and came out in the same year as Peeping Tom (over the Channel) which also got critically panned and destroyed people's careers, but is now hugely admired and influential.

They're interestingly similar in some ways too.

Must see that one

[Savonarola]

Ana y Los Lobos (1973)

No, not the band, this is an allegorical (and satirical) story of Francoist Spain (and was made during the Francoist period, that surprised me.)  Anna (Geraldine Chaplin) is a British nanny who has come to look after three young children in Spain.  She's quickly confronted by the odd inhabitants of the big house; the aging and decrepit mother and her three sons which are caricatures of the church, military and family.  Hilarity ensues as she makes their world topsy-turvy.

It does resemble 100 Years of Solitude in a lot of ways: the big house standing for the country with a multi-generational family; brothers meant to emphasize different character types; and there's even levitation thrown in for good measure.

[Syt]

Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building has wrapped up. I still enjoy the show, even though it not near as good as S1, but I like this one better than S3. It's still quite meta, often absurd/nonsensical, and best not to pull on too many plot threads, though. But the chemistry of the cast is still good, Meryl Streep and Martin Short make a cute couple, and adding Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Levi was good. Maybe emblematic, but my favorite episode this season was the almost-non sequitur episode spent at Charles' sister's place (a good performance by Melissa McCarthy).

Also watched Mr McMahon on Netflix a while back. Great summary of the WWF/WWE business from the 80s till now, and esp. the titular character. They produced the series around the time when Vince McMahon resigned, this time for good(?), earlier this year; so they had a chance to interview Vinnie-Mac himself a fair bit up till then.

If you've followed the business's backstage drama in the past decades or are familiar with the biggest stories, maybe read dirt sheets in the past (like a friend and I did in the 90s ) or watched films like Beyond The Mat, or Wrestling With Shadows, not much new will be here, and some stories (like the suspicious death of Jimmy Snuka's girlfriend) are covered only very briefly, if at all. Hulk Hogan is one of the interviewees, and little mention is made of his role in some of the backstage politicking, and no mention of his disgrace after the sex tape leaked where he complained he doesn't want his daughter to date "n*****s"), though they mention steroids, of course. All in all a decent high level overview - if you have some interest in the business it's worth a watch.

[Sophie Scholl]

If you've followed the business's backstage drama in the past decades or are familiar with the biggest stories, maybe read dirt sheets in the past (like a friend and I did in the 90s ) or watched films like Beyond The Mat, or Wrestling With Shadows, not much new will be here, and some stories (like the suspicious death of Jimmy Snuka's girlfriend) are covered only very briefly, if at all. Hulk Hogan is one of the interviewees, and little mention is made of his role in some of the backstage politicking, and no mention of his disgrace after the sex tape leaked where he complained he doesn't want his daughter to date "n*****s"), though they mention steroids, of course. All in all a decent high level overview - if you have some interest in the business it's worth a watch.

That reminds me of the wrestling game type thing you used to post the stories from in the Gaming section years ago. I was always entertained by them. 

[Syt]

There's a new version out this year, but there's not many real world mods for it yet.

[celedhring]

Ana y Los Lobos (1973)

No, not the band, this is an allegorical (and satirical) story of Francoist Spain (and was made during the Francoist period, that surprised me.)  Anna (Geraldine Chaplin) is a British nanny who has come to look after three young children in Spain.  She's quickly confronted by the odd inhabitants of the big house; the aging and decrepit mother and her three sons which are caricatures of the church, military and family.  Hilarity ensues as she makes their world topsy-turvy.

It does resemble 100 Years of Solitude in a lot of ways: the big house standing for the country with a multi-generational family; brothers meant to emphasize different character types; and there's even levitation thrown in for good measure.

The thing with Spanish censors is that they were understaffed and overworked - particularly in the late period of the regime. They were more than happy to just rubberstamp stuff if it wasn't super-obvious. Carlos Saura was also pretty good at being just allegorical enough. His "La Caza" is another film that you would've thought wouldn't make it past censhorship (and if you liked "Ana y Los Lobos", you should definitely check that one).

[Josephus]

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

I started to watch this on Halloween night, and realized, despite my age, I've actually never seen this before. I think I saw some of its sequels, but not the original. At least it all seemed new to me.

Of note: the credits list "Introducing Johnny Depp." If I didn't see that, I would have thought it was Ralph Macchio.

[Savonarola]

Baba Yaga (1973)

Valentina (Isabelle de Fuenes) is a photographer living a Bohemian life in Milan.  Late one night she meets a woman who calls herself Baba Yaga (Carroll Baker) who seems offbeat.  Isabelle seems intrigued, but what if Baba Yaga is an evil lesbian witch who is luring Valentina into a depraved world of sadomasochism? 

Of course this fine film comes to us from Italy.  Carroll Baker (at a low point in her career) is an amusing miscast as she looks a lot more like a grandmother from a daytime soap opera than an evil lesbian witch.