TV/Movies Megathread

[Tonitrus]

Okay, finished the Man in the High Castle.  Major weakness is that three "main characters" who part of a love triangle are not very interesting, and the gal is particularly dimwitted.  The first half of the episodes drag a little bit, and a lot of the plot doesn't go anywhere.  It really picks up toward the end.

That pretty much agrees with my analysis...I thought the "villains" were the most interesting characters (and superior actors)...including Tagomi.  The "heroes" were pretty dull...and completely agree on the girl.

[jimmy olsen]

I thought of Sav as soon as I saw this. I wonder how many of these movies he's seen? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0lBnsnkE

[Pedrito]

The prequels are not as good as the original trilogy.  I think few will argue that point.  But in part that's because the original trilogy are really, really good.  And unfortunately a lot of modern action blockbusters are really, really bad.

Are the prequels better than, say, the Transformers movies?  I would say so.  Better than Jurassic World?  I think so.  Better than Man of Steel?  Yup.  And they're probably on par in terms of interesting visuals but nonsensical plotlines with the Star Trek reboot movies.

Deciding whether or not to watch the prequels will depend on your response to the original movies.  If you loved them then the notion of seeing some more of the same, though not as good, is still compelling.  If you were neutral on the originals then by all means skip them.

Disagree.

Episode One is fantastically bad, Ed Wood-like bad, "even the seven years olds don't like it" bad; there's nothing redeeming in it, from the performance of the actors to the bad CGI, to the totally uniniteresting plot.

L.

[celedhring]

The prequels are not as good as the original trilogy.  I think few will argue that point.  But in part that's because the original trilogy are really, really good.  And unfortunately a lot of modern action blockbusters are really, really bad.

Are the prequels better than, say, the Transformers movies?  I would say so.  Better than Jurassic World?  I think so.  Better than Man of Steel?  Yup.  And they're probably on par in terms of interesting visuals but nonsensical plotlines with the Star Trek reboot movies.

Deciding whether or not to watch the prequels will depend on your response to the original movies.  If you loved them then the notion of seeing some more of the same, though not as good, is still compelling.  If you were neutral on the originals then by all means skip them.

Disagree.

Episode One is fantastically bad, Ed Wood-like bad, "even the seven years olds don't like it" bad; there's nothing redeeming in it, from the performance of the actors to the bad CGI, to the totally uniniteresting plot.

L.

Actually it's probably the best least bad of the prequels. Mostly because the ambition of the plot matches the quality of the writing; it's pretty tragic to watch AOTC and ROTS and see the writers (Lucas wasn't alone) stumble like blind idiot monkeys when dealing with the more thematically ambitious parts of the prequel trilogy. They are choking full of ineptitude, a masterclass of how not to do cinema.

[celedhring]

Just seen the marketing campaign Amazon is pulling for Man in the High Castle:



Subway seats plastered with fascist imagery. That will create no controversy at all (which I guess is the point). 

[Syt]

Well, they also used this ad banner on their web page it seems:



Apparently some users didn't like it.

[MadImmortalMan]

Actually it's probably the best least bad of the prequels. Mostly because the ambition of the plot matches the quality of the writing; it's pretty tragic to watch AOTC and ROTS and see the writers (Lucas wasn't alone) stumble like blind idiot monkeys when dealing with the more thematically ambitious parts of the prequel trilogy. They are choking full of ineptitude, a masterclass of how not to do cinema.

Most of the movie consists of people sitting around talking.

[Josquius]

I do note they're going with the Eagle rather than a swatzika.  Cowards.

[Eddie Teach]

 Isn't it set in a Vichy-like America?

[Malthus]

Heh, apparently the Nazi-style salute was used in America prior to 1942 (the "Bellamy Salute"). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute

[Valmy]

Heh, apparently the Nazi-style salute was used in America prior to 1942 (the "Bellamy Salute"). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute

Yes. We had a nasty radical nationalist stage in the late 19th century until WWII. We don't like to talk about it.

[Savonarola]

I thought of Sav as soon as I saw this. I wonder how many of these movies he's seen? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1F0lBnsnkE

Only 17 (Animal Crackers, Summer Stock, The Little Princess, Easter Parade, Footlight Parade, The Pirate, The Gay Divorcée, A Day at the Races, Top Hat, Singin' in the Rain, Babes in Arms, 42nd Street, Til the Clouds roll By, Way Out West, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and That's Entertainment Part 2).

Those films are mostly too contemporary for me.

[Eddie Teach]

A Day at the Races, Anchors Aweigh, An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain, The Red Shoes... guess that's it, not sure about Animal Crackers.

I'm not very keen on the primary genre of the selections. 

[viper37]

Re: Badlands. It's some kind of post-apocalyptic setting. I'm willing to forgive the stupid premise that a ban on guns is enforceable by men with swords for the sake of the cool fight scenes. But I wasn't wowed by any of the story elements, either.

oh? there's a story?

[Razgovory]

Okay, finished the Man in the High Castle.  Major weakness is that three "main characters" who part of a love triangle are not very interesting, and the gal is particularly dimwitted.  The first half of the episodes drag a little bit, and a lot of the plot doesn't go anywhere.  It really picks up toward the end.

That pretty much agrees with my analysis...I thought the "villains" were the most interesting characters (and superior actors)...including Tagomi.  The "heroes" were pretty dull...and completely agree on the girl.

Most interesting character was Japanese secret police man.  On the rare occasions we see actual members of the resistance they are interesting.  Juliana is the least interesting, and least sympathetic character.  And this is a show with Hitler in it.