The "I just saw" thread

[Condottiere 40K]

He never seems to work well alone; and that was in the middle of his divorce.

New tricks - British series about a bunch of old codger cops being led by a middle aged woman.

No empathy and the actors half the time play their characters very loud and over the top, and the other half like a bunch of robots. I actually felt tired watching it, and suspect may have aged a couple years in addition.

NC-65 & older.

[Kyriakos]

The first episode of Legends (Sean Bean) was ok. Not sure how the others are/will be, but the pilot did not break the series. Depends on just how important the cast already shown will be- i hope not that much (and yeah, Sean Bean must not die).

[DaVinci]

"Fair Game"
USA 2010; Director: Doug Liman; Main Actors: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts

Highly recommended. Based on biographies.

One of the (merely few) american quality films with hot political background, here: CIA agents - G.W. Bush Admin/White House - Iraq war,
in the good tradition of "Syriana" or also the old "All the President's Men".

Fair Game shows especially, that 'CIA = CIA' or 'CIA = consists solely of corrupt secret service agents' is not always true, as the story is actually based on biographies of such real existing persons.
And real life shows the exceptions ie. with Edward Snowden.
Fair Game also shows (once again), that the USA declared war to the Iraq based on a huge lie and that the Bush Admin was fully aware of it.

[DaVinci]

"The Assassination of Richard Nixon"
USA 2004; Director: Niels Mueller; Main Actors: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts

Samuel J. Bicke (shows a real person), what a super-grand looser ... what a great Sean Penn.

A film about the real story of the would-be Nixon assassin, Samuel Byck ... a total fool (i have no other express), during the story, he went more and more crazy by the so-called american dream (behind the story sticks a bit of serious social critic).
Hmm ... besides that Sean Penn played his role in a grandious way, camera etc. very good as well, i found the story of the man partly a bit too slap-sticky for my taste, nearly unbelievable, such a fool. Still worth to watch, the movie catches you somehow.

[Condottiere 40K]

The Knick - Steven Soderbergh series about a turn of the century somewhat rundown New York hospital.

Outside the medieval medical practices, it tries to reflect contemporary American society, portrayed by some very excellent acting though in some stark settings and rather obscure lighting and faded colour palette.

It didn't really become absorbing until this week's episode, where a corrupt Irish ambulance attendant spoke with a backstreet abortionist nun over the grave of a botched self attemptee.

And then there's the progressive Negro doctor attempting to breakthrough the racist social and professional glass ceiling, but couldn't care less.

Watchable, possibly well worthwhile as the story progresses.


Kill La Kill - Episode 25 came out, though you have to wonder if the last big fight really was necessary, or just a way to allow fans to bid adieu a second time.

The previous ending showed Satsuki embracing her feminine side, and a closer relationship with her sister Ryuuko, though this episode does show the bridge between her demonstrable totalitarian style of governance and giving up control.

The series is well worth watching, even with a story telling mania, insane plotting, and art style that screams Gainax.

[Lord of the Drunk Penguin]

In Fear 2013

What makes the Irish countryside more appealing than it already is?

A drive through the woods at night, searching for a hotel that just doesn't seem to be there, at all.
The ending looks a bit similar to The Loved Ones 2009 but still, in a nutshell, it's a fun ride.

Enjoy it.


A Hole in my Heart 2004


Three losers decide to make a porno. One of them is a girl.
Not much left to say, I just got curious.
Sure you can say it's postmodern critique of the real TV phenomena.
I call it rubbish.
Avoid it, if you can. You don't need to see the abuse or the crude surgery images.

[Condottiere 40K]

A Million Ways to Die in the West - It's pretty much Seth being transplanted in a Wild West setting, probably could have done it as a Family Guy Star Wars type special, but Seth now has enough pull to make movies. The sarcasm and irony wouldn't have worked with a rather magnificent supporting cast that managed mostly to say their lines with mostly straight faces.

The situations are derived from what we tend to think are to iconic moments in Westerns. Probably could have doubled the length of the film, but it feels that it managed to hit most of it's targets without rambling along.

Well worth watching, especially with Liam Neeson, Charlize Theron (who seems over giggly), Sarah Silverman, Neil Patrick Harris and a cameo by Christopher Lloyd.

[Condottiere 40K]

Girls und Panzer - The OVA is out, and deals with the quarterfinal match, against Anzio. Anzio School was started by someone who was heavily influenced by Italian culture, which tends to indicate the other schools are just academies with different foreign influences, rather than actual gaijin. With the possible exception of the Americans.

Despite having absolutely no chance (being Italian), the show manages to be still entertaining poking fun at Anzio, and allowing some of the other tank teams to come to the forefront, though Momo remains a terrible shot and badly tempered.

Well worth waiting for for fans.

[Kyriakos]

A history of violence.

6,5/10. Overall i did not like it, but Ed Harris was great in his role.

[Your Lame Sister]

Not as relevant today, and I'm not even sure if this fits the thread, and maybe some of you have already seen it a gazillion times - but this just turned me into an even bigger Whedonite than I was, which I really didn't think possible, so I though I'd share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TiXUF9xbTo

[Lord of the Drunk Penguin]

Borgman 2013

Someone said this was about the banality of evil. I find it a hard nut to crack, cryptic and nonsensical at times.
In the end, I do not really know what this is about.
It could either be about loss, about abandon, about killing or about dying,or the futility of death.
The act of killing in itself is trivialized and it almost comes off as decorative in its strict rigid occurrences.
Marina wants Borgman but Borgman doesn't want Marina and all in all, his murderous friends join in, readily turning this into a very strange and difficult to crack film.

[Lord of the Drunk Penguin]

The Maid's Room 2013

Don't know what this movie is about.
It could be about class struggle, social inequities and all that bull.
Or it could be about a Colombian maid strangled by her master.
The end.

[Condottiere 40K]

Scorpion - New TV series about a bunch of asocial geniuses, presumably spending half their time straightening out large scale problems that the CIA/NSA/FBI couldn't. Going by the pilot, not only do the geniuses have relating to the world, the writers have a problem relating to the viewers, and it comes across as lazy writing that can't make us really like any of the characters nor did they put much effort in trying to overcome our sense of disbelief.

Skippable.


Age of Extinction - While it's fun to belittle Michael Bey movies, this one made me appreciate how much effort he takes to produce a spectacle that is at least digestible. While it has a rather lame beginning, due to the fact that the writers don't seem to know what to do with the initial four human characters, who seem to be more in the way of the story; the boyfriend who seems to have the same personality and utility as a vibrator; Mark Wahlberg, who seems to give the impression that he's angry at getting cast into this movie and wants the viewer to know it.

The human villains, semi- and charming, seem a lot more comfortable with their roles, including the mandatory Chinese contingent. While sometimes the Chinese content in movies seems incongruous, Bey embraces it and makes it gel with the story, combined with some beautiful cinematography.

For the next installment, the producers should consider ditching the current human cast, or adding a brilliant script writer to make them more interesting and closer entwined into the plot.

Well worth watching.

[Halie Satanus]

The Signal.

Enjoyed this one a lot. Very low budget but a good example of what can be done with a little cash, a fair bit of imagination and a dollop of technical know how. Much of the movie has shots that feel like music videos, lots tight close ups and slow motion. There are a few obvious nods to classic Sci-Fi (there's a definite nods to Akira and District 9). There are a couple of cheesy effect scenes that I put down to 'did it because we could.' But they didn't spoil movie..

Also nice to see Larry Fishburne in a movie with such a low budget. Can only imagine he did because he liked the project.

[Condottiere 40K]

Watched ten minutes and it was enough; probably one of the worst reboots ever, turning SpaceJam characters into a fourth rate Justice League. Or is it Legion of Superheroes?

[Pinarius]

P'tit Quinquin — very strange crime-miniseries

[saxdude]

Anybody watching Bojack Horseman? Started out as a pretty amusing cartoon sitcom and in the span of 3 episodes transformed into a brutal character study.

Its actually very good, reminds me of Californication, but where the character isn't infallible... and is also half horse.

[Condottiere 40K]

Starship Troopers Franchise - thought it was time to watch the first again and see if criticism of the other three was justified so I reserved some time for a marathon,

One - is a classic of scifi, and despite the director's original intent to make it a satire of militarism, his excellent handling of the film allowed to it flow with very subtle touches of that theme, and can be viewed by itself as a very entertaining us versus them shoot them up.

Two - This one is crap; not only crap, but very cheap crap. In fact there must have been a horror script circulating, and someone must have decided to place it in the ST universe for brand recognition, Terrible script, terrible acting. Verdict: burn it it, burn them all.

Three - Caspar makes a cameo, To call it a parody would parodize the concept of parody. It tries to further develop the theme of the dangers of militarism and the loss of liberty, but I suspect that the script underwent so many treatments, that neither the director nor the editor rescue it, though it probably didn't help that while the movie was better than number two, and this time the sets seemed to have some resemblance to the original, cheap as they were, the script, the acting, the editing, was still rather bad. Verdict: missable. Seriously, a singing Sky Marshal?

Four - The Japanese took a shot at it (again, though the first one is ancient and obscure, and if I recall correctly, forgettable). Computer graphics recreates the ambiance, but twitching avatars made me nervous. Didn't bother recruiting the original three stars as the voices, since I assume Dougie Howser's asking price has gone up in the meantime, and Carl really didn't look or act like Carl. Verdict: it's watchable, but barely.


The problem may be that the First movie pretty much says it all. It's a pity that's it's too young for a reboot.

For the last three films, once you get beyond the inherent flaws of cheap production values and bad acting and directing, they seem to lack any cohesive story structure that makes the tales interesting, not permits any empathy with any of the characters. It's like the producers wanted to make money by pimping out a recognized franchise, but no concept of recreating the elements that made the first one work.

[Kyriakos]

The first one also had rather lousy plot, but yeah, after 3 min in the second one i just erased it and never again thought about that series
I also recall that it did look very obviously cheap, which is rare for franchise movies these (and even those) days.

[Condottiere 40K]

TLR The only one worth watching is the original Starship Troopers.


Scrotal Recall - British drama, that seems to have have ripped off Four Weddings and a Funeral, but still funny. At the moment, it likes like Two Weddings And a Sexually Transmitted Disease. And the main character has the unpleasant duty to inform his previous sexual partners, so that's the part where the reminisces come in.

Worth watching, though not family fare. At least one pair of naked buttocks


Red Band Society - On the other end of the spectrum, this TV show is about a bunch of adolescent patients suffering from cancer and awaiting transplants at a rather nice hospital. You have to watch the first episode, because I started at the second and discovered I couldn't care less, whereas with the first one, you get the necessary introductions to their respective background stories, which suddenly makes the characters far more sympathetic.

While it's possible that the targetted demographic is limited to very young and rather young adults, the rather lavish sets, snappy dialogue, and smooth flow of the story makes it a painless experience for anyone older.

Nothing really exciting, but an okay watch for the entire family as they sort of sneak in insights and life messages.