Movies/Shows you're watching.

[satur8]

provided I can understand a thing.

Perhaps it is age, but at this point I won't watch anything without closed captioning. I never have to worry about accents or mumblers again! Besides...the accent in this area isn't THAT bad. lol

The series was good. It's a detective story with enough surprises to stay interesting. Sometimes these shows rely too much on red herrings, twists, or painfully obvious outcomes. This one found balance enough to make it work until the very end.

[Wolkenkrabber]

Well now that y'all know Anya Taylor-Joy, I'm going to recommend Thoroughbreds again (I mentioned it here back in 2018).
It's better than the audience score, maybe even as good as the critic's score. And Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One/Sound Of Metal) is also in it.

(full disclosure: I haven't seen The Queens Gambit)

[Enjoyed]

Well now that y'all know Anya Taylor-Joy, I'm going to recommend Thoroughbreds again (I mentioned it here back in 2018).
It's better than the audience score, maybe even as good as the critic's score. And Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One/Sound Of Metal) is also in it.

(full disclosure: I haven't seen The Queens Gambit)

Will actually give this a go. Anya was fantastic in The VVitch, and TQG was just wonderful TV. I like Olivia Cooke a lot too. Thanks for bumping the recommendation.

[Wolkenkrabber]

(full disclosure: I haven't seen The Queens Gambit)

Update: I have now. All of it.

I liked the acting, the wardrobe(!) and the overall look of the thing.

Fun fact: the guy who wrote the book also wrote The Hustler & The Color of Money (both famous Paul Newman films). And thinking about it, there are some similarities between The Hustler and TQG. Both productions/books are about uniquely talented but flawed individuals. Both involve performative sports/games.
The reason I looked up the writer of TQG was because I had some thoughts on what he/she might be like (see under spoiler tags for more).

Spoiler

The addiction angle in particular caught my eye. First we get the sedatives and then the booze.
For me this felt like overkill; the pills would have been enough. But Beth's adoptive mother likes to indulge in both, and soon Beth has added booze to her own addictive tastes.
There's a scene in one of the later episodes where Beth meets an old classmate with her baby in a department store. Under the pram we see a bag from the liquor store, then we see Beth's own bag from the liquor store.

I thought: this writer has grown up in an environment where people are either self-medicating with booze, or they're full-on alcoholics.

Well it turns out the writer himself was the alcoholic. His name was Walter Tevis. From his Wikipedia page:

Tevis was a frequent smoker, gambler and alcoholic, and his works often included these vices as central themes.[19]
Tevis took some of the money he earned from the movie rights to The Hustler and moved his family to Mexico, where he later claimed that he "stayed drunk for eight months."[19]
When Tevis was drinking, he couldn't write.[19] According to his son Will, "[Walter Tevis] is the [anti-]hero of all his own books."[20]
Having a heart condition, Tevis was given phenobarbital at a young age. This is considered part of the inspiration for the character Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit,
and according to Tevis, part of the reason for his later alcoholism.

Speaking of the adoptive, boozy mother, I was saddened when she was killed off. Beth losing one mother was tragic, but losing a second one felt like too much. I wanted the mother to keep Beth on the straight and narrow, rather than turn her onto booze. It reminded me of Amy Winehouse who once said she wasn't disciplined enough by her parents. And look how things turned out for Amy.
So for me, overkill on the addictions and overkill on the...dead mothers.

What I would have liked more of was actually 9 year old Beth and Mr Shaibel. I liked their grumpy-yet-respectful relationship. And I would have liked Beth to have stayed in touch with
him after she left the Orphanage. He might have been the responsible father figure she needed in her life (although he too had a penchant for the booze!).
Come to think of it, I would have liked more Jolene too; a sort of big-sister figure. Surely an orphan would want to stay in contact with whatever "family" they have managed to acquire?
Why did Jolene have to come looking for Beth in the final episode? (rhetorical question).

Anyway, these are aspects I might not have got stuck into if the show hadn't got "stuck into" me. It gets under your skin...and then it's all over.

[gpro2005]

Watched Fast 9 today, in the theater as well.

Very loud, but a decent movie. Heard the Breathe remix, saw some guys drive into a satellite in space. Also, they're bringing Paul Walker's character back??? No Rock, but a post-credits scene had Statham. Vin only says "family" once, but he still said it.

6/10

[Bosco]

Watched Fast 9 today, in the theater as well.

Very loud, but a decent movie. Heard the Breathe remix, saw some guys drive into a satellite in space. Also, they're bringing Paul Walker's character back??? No Rock, but a post-credits scene had Statham. Vin only says "family" once, but he still said it.

6/10

As someone who has never watched a single Fast and Furious movie, is any single movie from that franchise better than Gone in 60 seconds [2000]? I'm not a car nut and Gone in 60 seconds is about all I need in terms of car porn. Plus, no actor can ham it up better than Nick Cage.

Points to Gone in 60 seconds soundtrack, too.

[gpro2005]

As someone who has never watched a single Fast and Furious movie, is any single movie from that franchise better than Gone in 60 seconds [2000]? I'm not a car nut and Gone in 60 seconds is about all I need in terms of car porn. Plus, no actor can ham it up better than Nick Cage.

Points to Gone in 60 seconds soundtrack, too.

To quote my brother, who has seen every F&F movie, but not GI60S:
"Probably, I don't know."

[Ben_j]

As someone who has never watched a single Fast and Furious movie, is any single movie from that franchise better than Gone in 60 seconds [2000]? I'm not a car nut and Gone in 60 seconds is about all I need in terms of car porn. Plus, no actor can ham it up better than Nick Cage.

Points to Gone in 60 seconds soundtrack, too.

Better, I don't know. They're quite different, and I like them both for different reason (nice cars being about the only common thing to the two).
Not all F&F movies are good btw. It spans from utter trash to good. The first Fast & Furious is basically Point Break with cars

[Enjoyed]

Not all F&F movies are good btw. It spans from utter trash to good. The first Fast & Furious is basically Point Break with cars

And an excellent score from BT.

There's a weird transition period where they still thought their audience was car nuts, before they started actually understanding their audience and making stupid fun car based action movies (FF 5 and onwards). No. 1 is still my favourite. It's VERY late 90s/early 00s but there's charm in that. 2 to 4 are forgetable. 5 is fun. 6 to 8 are kind of a blur in terms of what happens in each, but they also made the excellent decision to bring in The Rock, so that's worth some points.

Not a single one is anywhere near as good as Gone in 60 Seconds. Perfect movie. Perfect soundtrack (actually got into so many bands from that one). Perfect Cage.

[Born In Planet Dust]

Baby Driver > Bullitt > Death Proof > Cannonball Run 2 > all other car movies.  This discussion is mute. 

[Stefan]

Just finished Glow on Netflix and it is so sad the show got axed before its final season 

[ThePumisher]

Just finished Glow on Netflix and it is so sad the show got axed before its final season 

Haven't seen Season 3, but the first two are really enjoyable

[Stefan]

Then you will surely also enjoy the third season. It's just sad that it stops basically in the middle of the story, clearly it was intended to go on longer. Production had already started for season 4, but it was chancelled due to the Pandemic 

[Bosco]

I went back in time and watched 'Trees Lounge'. It's a meandering slice of life indie flick that both stars Steve Buscemi and features his writing and directorial debut. It's quite the gem, as I would find out.

It has a surprisingly good cast for a indie film. Namely a young and sassy girl next door, Chloe Sevigny, that easily intoxicates any bruised soul. Add in names like Danny Baldwin, Samuel L Jackson, Carol Kane, Mimi Rodgers, etc... and you find yourself with an excitable group of actors and actresses.

The movie projects "old-time" sense of community, something that has gone nearly extinct (for good or for worse) with modern socialization and technology. Apparently, this movie greatly influenced the Sopranos in that ideal. And apart from the mafia theme, I would say you could definitely feel some parallels in the two. I felt sad when the movie was over. The quirky characters and community had a lot of life for a relatively short film.

Finally, alcoholism is also an underlying theme here. It doesn't sugar coat it, but it doesn't drag you through a terrifying nightmare either. If you're like me, some of the scenes will resonate things I've experienced with people who battle this addiction. 

Great quote from the movie:

"Everybody's fucked up, but nobody wants anybody else to think they are. But everybody knows they are anyway"


can catch it on Amazon Prime, give it a try.

[sandelic]

Just though to leave this here as a tribute and hopefully someone will discover this amazing comedian who left us much too soon

[Bosco]

Damn, R.I.P. Michael K Williams

Played one of my favorite characters of all time on 'The Wire'. If you didn't already know, it's a must watch.

I also remember he was on Anthony Bourdain's final episode of 'No Reservations', which was a really cool touch at the time.

[ThePumisher]

If you didn't already know, it's a must watch.

Jean-Paul Belmondo also has passed away.

[ThePumisher]

https://thechoiceisyours.whatisthematrix.com/de/

[MIKL]

I've been watching these all night getting different snippets each time between the blue and red pill.

[Bosco]

what is left to be accomplished within the Matrix franchise? Neo transitioning?

I have no positive thoughts about another Matrix sequel. Sorry guys.