What have you watched lately?

[Scots Taffer]

Few things here and there:

The Company Men - A solid cast (Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Ben Affleck) turn in reasonable performances about three co-workers caught up in the GFC at the same company, but they can't elevate the source material and the script doesn't really go anywhere you aren't expecting, there are probably one too many clichés for my liking too, but an inoffensive flick overall. C+

Morning Glory - Dame's choice. Harrison Ford saves the day here as sour foil to brittle yet chipper Diane Keaton as two anchors of a morning show news program thrust together, however the story isn't about them so much as it's about how young up-and-comer Rachel McAdams achieves success through their pairing (and also finds love in Patrick Wilson's crotch, apparently). Yet it's in the early going of the "fish out of water" segment with Ford where all the energy in this movie comes from, his whisky and cigar five am growl will make your eyes water and he actually gets a couple of good lines to play with, but every second it's away from that sharp dynamic and the movie loses its way big time. The schmaltzy ending is as you would expect from a movie of this sort, but by that stage I was pretty tanked on margaritas and it felt half-way earned. C

Tron Legacy - What the fuck is going on with Bridges in this movie? The comments like maaan and my zen were utterly distracting, as if the script-writers thought that a good way to make this movie connect is to take some of the Lebowski vibe and stick it into another movie. Even on TV with a downloaded copy the movie is lush and gorgeous, despite the fairly restricted palette it really painted a unique landscape and character designs. However, not knowing the "legacy" of the movie leading into it, I got lost. Isos? Tron turned bad? Flynn as Neo? Daft Punk just keep rocking the beats while dudes are tearing up the club? ... Actually that last part was cool, I just hope they got out before it blew up. It was visually arresting and I already loved the soundtrack, but yeah, what the fuck story. C+

Oh, and Lethal Weapon again. Mel's butt and shaggy mullet had the ladies and at least one male in the room swooning.

[Thirith]

I watched Restrepo last weekend. Definitely a very strong film, although it's got the problem that all films/books have that depict something that has long, boring stretches - the depiction of these becomes somewhat boring itself. Which makes it all the more effective when things are happening, though.

Tim Hetherington also did last year that makes for difficult watching, especially if you consider his recent death. It's contemplative and definitely not good viewing for people with little patience, but well worth checking out IMO.

[henke]

Well I've watched 7 episodes of Arrested Development now. Enough to make an informed judgement of it. It sucks. Just a bunch of unlikeable characters going through the motions of familiar sitcom-stories we've seen a hundred times before.

I also watched the first season of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. It's a bit rough around the edges but the characters are wonderful. The scene in the episode "Charlie got molested" where Charlie has to point out on the doll where the bad man touched him had me roaring with laughter.

[Scots Taffer]

[Renzatic]

Henke. No. Henke. Oh God. No.

[Muzman]

Seen a million times before? Where? Finnish comedies must rock.
(They're definitely unlikeable, but that's kinda the point. Except May-Bea. She's awesome.)

[henke]

The hilaaarious mix-up when the mentally challenged fellow bids on the wrong Lucille? When the vain chick pretends to care about nature but then is grossed out when she comes face to face with it? Then she climbs up into a tree and someone removes the ladder so she get stuck there! Then she thinks that all the inmates at the prison will go crazy when she goes there but when she gets there they pay her no mind! Then the scriptwriters drag on that joke for 3 scenes more than it deserves! Then [insert character here] wants [something] but get's more than he/she bargained for!

Ok ok there are a few chuckle worthy moments in the episodes I saw. The retarded guy has a rapewhistle. Heh. The magician's answer to every problem is to throw it into the ocean. Heh. David Cross' character is a non-nude. Hehe.

But mostly it's just too broad and forced to be anything but annoying. Which is perplexing as hell because you guys as well as other people I know who usually have good tastes LIKES this show for some reason. Would you guys please link to a youtube clip of a scene from the show that you think is funny so I know we're talking about the same thing here, please?

P.S. Also I have a sneaking suspicion the entire show is Objectivist propaganda in disguise. I mean the tale of one productive man who works hard for his dreams while everyone around him leaches off him? That's Atlas Shrugged right there. And about as funny too!

[Sulphur]

Atlas Shrugged is pretty effin' hilarious when read in the proper frame of mind though. Laugh a goddamn minute.

[demagogue]

So I read an article that they're seriously thinking about not making the remaining parts because ticket sales were so dismal. The only thing sadder I could think of than a failing Objectivist movie series is an *unfinished* failing Objectivist series that doesn't even have the balls to put out a finished product. They may not have much of a choice, though. So much for the triumph of the Übermenschen over the mediocre masses.

Lol, even Capitalism is telling Objectivism it's stupid.

[Scots Taffer]

But mostly it's just too broad and forced to be anything but annoying. Which is perplexing as hell because you guys as well as other people I know who usually have good tastes LIKES this show for some reason. Would you guys please link to a youtube clip of a scene from the show that you think is funny so I know we're talking about the same thing here, please?

That, perhaps, is the absolute beauty and genius of this show - it's irreducability to a single gag or punchline or youtube video. I could give you a link, or a dozen, but only those who have seen the length and breadth of the show will get the depth of most jokes. This isn't a pretentious "you don't get it" speech, it seems that this is simply not a style of comedy that plays to your tastes. This is a style of humour that builds on what has come before it, attention to small details. The fact that the characters are largely unlikeable is irrelevant, the stock situations are also irrelevant, it's how they play together as part of a family that can't help but tear itself apart and pull itself together again in hilariously inappropriate way.

LOOK MICHAEL, BANNER. FAMILY LOVE MICHEAL.

[fett]

ITT HENKE DEMANDS A LAUGH TRACK.

[Renzatic]

Bob Loblaw's Law Blog. No habla Espanol.

[Scots Taffer]

SEÑOR CORNBALLER

[Fingernail]

MICHAEL LOVE MARRY

[Scots Taffer]

More Community, including the bottle episode and stop-motion animation special, but also the anti-drug bit and the vote for Chang not for Rich weaker moments... though even when it's weak, it's still funny as hell, but I just hope they strive to achieve the more unique comedy as opposed to retreading old familiar ground. Weird tonal shifts in the last few episodes too, see how that pans out - hopefully not a worrying sign of thinning material.

[Koki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLO3iPWRvb0

It's... amazing

[Morte]

Went to see sucker punch with some friends. Any part that wasn't an action scene bored me or made me cringe.

I was even more bored by the action than the asylum/brothel stuff. It was all just a bunch of geek masturbatory fantasies without context, stakes, tension or excitement. Snyder just puts everything on hold so that a bunch of chicks in fetish gear can fight a bunch of steamwork zombies with katanas and mechs in WWI. Which sounds like it should manage to be entertaining on *some* level, but it's just boring as fuck.

Which isn't to say the asylum stuff wasn't bad as well, but at least you could see progress being made and the end getting mercifully closer.

I'd put good money on Sucker Punch being the worst movie I'll see released this year. I don't think even Transformers 3 will manage to sink this low. (Not that I'm planning on seeing it.)

[Queue]

Atlas Shrugged is pretty effin' hilarious when read in the proper frame of mind though. Laugh a goddamn minute.

I wonder if Ayn Rand shaved her cunt, to appear younger.

[Fafhrd]

More Community, including the bottle episode and stop-motion animation special, but also the anti-drug bit and the vote for Chang not for Rich weaker moments... though even when it's weak, it's still funny as hell, but I just hope they strive to achieve the more unique comedy as opposed to retreading old familiar ground. Weird tonal shifts in the last few episodes too, see how that pans out - hopefully not a worrying sign of thinning material.

The clip show coming up is a thing of absolute beauty. Community is hands down the best 'sitcom' on TV right now, and probably my second favourite of all time next to Spaced. The amount of detail they put into everything is insane (go back and look at the news ticker in the debate episode. Or all the stuff in Abed's Robocop vision in the 'bitches' episode).

[catbarf]

Compared to most American westerns, the Dollars trilogy has aged very well. They're certainly a lot more gritty and downright brutal than the John Wayne 'family-friendly' westerns. I was surprised to note that the cast for the first two movies (A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More) was almost identical, even though they're playing different characters- same main villain, same villain's henchmen, and of course Eastwood himself, this time supported by Lee van Cleef. I get the feeling that the casting was very deliberate in this respect- the third movie (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) casts van Cleef as a particularly mean antagonist, strongly contrasting his somewhat kindly role in the previous movie.

But I think the best part of the movies is the soundtrack. From what I've read, the scores for the movies were created before editing, so the editing fits the music rather than the other way around. Ennio Morricone did a fantastic job, the surest proof of which is that the theme from TGTBaTU is immediately recognizable to most people, even if they've never seen the film, due to its presence in popular culture.

[gunsmoke]

Let's not forget the great one; HIGH PLAIN FUCKING DRIFTER. God, he owns in that one. In the first 5 minutes he murders, buys a bottle of whiskey, and rapes a bitch in a barn. Then proceeds to drape the entire town in red paint and rename it Hell.

My girl HATES my western fetish. Anytime one comes on (which is everyday thank you Encore Westerns ) or a Rocky movie she runs like the wind. I get loud...

[Scots Taffer]

The clip show coming up is a thing of absolute beauty. Community is hands down the best 'sitcom' on TV right now, and probably my second favourite of all time next to Spaced. The amount of detail they put into everything is insane (go back and look at the news ticker in the debate episode. Or all the stuff in Abed's Robocop vision in the 'bitches' episode).

Not there yet, but the LOTR inspired D&D episode was aces!

Watched Deliverance again last week - great flick. Is Burt Reynolds not the man in that? On the raft? With the vest?

[gunsmoke]

I am gay for that movie...oops, Freudian slip? Anyway, yes that was awesome. Burt made me into the bow hunter I am today. In 8th grade I saw that flick and bought a 60lb. Bear the next day. Haven't shot any faggot hillbillies in the back yet, though. Yet.

[PigLick]

you squealed like a pig yet though?

[thefonz]

I watched the SGU Finale last night.
Yes I almost blubbed, its a shame this show was cancelled as its really come into its own in Season 2.

Now my 'regular' tv shows are just down to:

Community
Game of Thrones
Doctor Who

Not a bad list, but gone are the days I juggled 7 or 8 shows...why are execs increasingly cancelling these good programmes??