TV/Movies Megathread

[Barrister]

Yeah. As much as I love Star Wars, it was always hard to watch the two armies charging at and smash into each other in Attack of the Clones, or the "beach landing" in Revenge of the Sith, where both sides are still charging at each other and clash in the middle.

I always appreciated the battles in Legend of the Galactic Heroes (the old show, haven't seen the remake yet) which were basically Napoleonic battles in space and at least had strategic plans and tactical maneuvers, with sides trying to outwit each other (and instead of, say 40,000 men on each side, they'd have 40,000 ships ).

Just to bring it up again, yet another reason why I love Master and Commander - it showed a reasonably accurate 1 on 1 naval battle complete with different tactics being used.

And in the climactic final battle where they just rush at each other - that's what happened in naval warfare also.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Master and Commandcer was great. The opening of Gladiator seemed good too.

Attack of the Clones was kind of lame. A bunch of slave-soldiers firing at the hype in open ground walking towards robots. Blekth.

[grumbler]

The best part in the Napoleon comedy was when Scott has the French dragoons just haplessly circling the British square until they get shot down.  Scott seems to think that Napoleonic cavalry attacked infantry like the Plains Indians attacked the wagon train in the old TV shows (only without actually trying to hurt the guys in the square). That's the kind of weird history you get from Brits doing Napoleonic stuff.

[Threviel]

Well, having them backing their horses onto British bayonets would seem a bit more unrealistic to modern audiences.

[Tamas]

That cavalry vs square thing looked like reenactors doing pretend fight for some live audience on a field or something. Napoleon just behind the formless brawl was also splendid.

[Threviel]

The square breaking (or if it didn't have time to form up) at Quatre Bras (IIRC) would make excellent modern horror movie and fit with a general brawl theme.

[crazy canuck]

Given how compelling the actual battle of Waterloo is, I wonder why Scott felt compelled to make something else up.

[Jacob]

The best part in the Napoleon comedy was when Scott has the French dragoons just haplessly circling the British square until they get shot down.  Scott seems to think that Napoleonic cavalry attacked infantry like the Plains Indians attacked the wagon train in the old TV shows (only without actually trying to hurt the guys in the square). That's the kind of weird history you get from Brits doing Napoleonic stuff.

Indeed.

Your disapproval of the depiction of battle gives me satisfaction, because I share it.

[Josquius]

The best part in the Napoleon comedy was when Scott has the French dragoons just haplessly circling the British square until they get shot down.  Scott seems to think that Napoleonic cavalry attacked infantry like the Plains Indians attacked the wagon train in the old TV shows (only without actually trying to hurt the guys in the square). That's the kind of weird history you get from Brits doing Napoleonic stuff.

You need to watch Sharpe.
Yes there's only 30 men in the French army.
But it's great dammit.

[Admiral Yi]

Yi, late to the party as always.  Just started watching Succession, loving it.

Who won the voting for least asshole-ish?  Of the bunch I like Shiv and Kendall.

[FunkMonk]

Yi, late to the party as always.  Just started watching Succession, loving it.

Who won the voting for least asshole-ish?  Of the bunch I like Shiv and Kendall.

Oh you have no idea what you're in for 

[Syt]

I'm still in S2, really should continue the series.

I've talked to colleagues, but they said the show is "boring." Meanwhile I've dealt with characters like those in the show and more often than not think, "Yeah, that checks out."

[celedhring]

So, I've been babysitting my nephew once a week for the past month, which I have used as an excuse to revisit some childhood classics 

- Three Caballeros: a 1940s cartoon featuring Donald Duck, made for the Latin American market. I loved this this obsessively as a kid, but now it carries one of those "this thing is actually racist" disclaimers upfront Didn't think it was that bad, just a folkloric view of LatAm countries. I still enjoyed the very trippy visuals and - as an adult - how horny Donald is in this, chasing latinas throughout the film

- Fantasia: not particularly obscure, still think it's great. As an adult, though, I find myself enjoying the "boring" sequences more than I did as a kid (the pastoral scene, for example). Still dig the Devil sequence the most.

- Bedknobs & Broomsticks: Another obsessive childhood favorite. This time around I found it pretty boring until the animated scenes start - then it's a ride until the end. You can tell Disney was getting into its shitty period though, the movie feels a lot like trying to do Mary Poppins again, but it's worse - the dance numbers, the sfx, cinematography, etc... only all the zany animated parts hold up well. Also, this is the first time I was exposed to the "Dad's Army" kind of thing, which led me to believe throughout my childhood that all young British men died in WWII. 

[HVC]

Loved Three Caballeros Asa little kid. Still enjoy some of the songs. Os Quindins de Yaya song by Carmen Miranda's sister is still a favorite. Cartoon cactuses scared the crap out of me though.

[celedhring]

Loved Three Caballeros Asa little kid. Still enjoy some of the songs. Os Quindins de Yaya song by Carmen Miranda's sister is still a favorite. Cartoon cactuses scared the crap out of me though.

The last third of the movie was always "the boring part" to me as a kid. This is when Donald starts lusting after Mexican women in increasingly trippy sequences, and now it's the one I enjoyed the most.   

The short about the penguin migrating to the Galápagos is still one of my favorites, though.