Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Slow Horses - Gary Oldman-led AppleTV+ series. held off on watching it until i knew s2 was happening. since s2 is currently airing, we started watching it a couple days ago and just finished s1 last night. it went by VERY quickly. this is a fantastic, fast-paced show about MI5 rejects and/or agents that have been figuratively "sent to siberia" to serve under disgraced leader Oldman. the writing is top notch (Will Smith - no, the other one - who also wrote things like Avenue 5 & Veep), particularly for Olman's character. he is so low key which is a great "straight man" to the high action/tension show, and his absolute loathing of people he works with (in a loving way) results in many, many LOL quips that i'll be quoting for a long time. toss in a couple GoT actors and i highly recommend this show, and now very anxious for s2 to wrap so i can watch it.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Bullet Train - this movie is WAY more fun than i thought it would be. And WAY bloodier. That final act, holy shit there are some great deaths. Wow. I found this movie highly entertaining. Yeah, some parts felt a little forced in the “clever” department, but it mostly works. With Leitch’s CV containing John Wick and Deadpool 2, I guess I should have known this would at least be violent. That it certainly is. Great cast, too - I’m not a big Joey King fan, but literally everyone else was pretty great. Seeing Michael Shannon was a very pleasant surprise. Anyway, don’t discount this film as some throw-away thing or dumb action film - it may be those things, but it’s highly enjoyable.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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The Thing About Pam - Renée Zellweger-led NBC/Peacock limited series based on the real story of local Pam Hupp who clearly murdered several people. when i saw the trailer for this, i wasn't sure what the hell it was supposed to be. Dateline already did several episodes on the Pam Hupp story, and Zellweger in a fat suit? what is this? but, someone told me it was worth watching so i checked it out. whoever marketed this did not do it any favors. it is actually a low-key dark comedy based on the real facts. it's not just a long-form re-enactment, it's an almost surreal version of what happened from Pam's POV (mostly) so you have an unreliable narrator here, and the real comedy comes from the tongue-in-cheek narration of legend Keith Morrison. it's pretty great and amusing as hell. should we be laughing about this? i don't know, that's a valid point, but this does bring attention to the still-ongoing saga of Pam. if, like me, you weren't sure what the hell this was so skipped it, it's worth watching.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist

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TC wrote: 16/08/21, 07:47:26 White Lotus - i don't really know how to best describe this show. rich assholes go on vacation? but it's overall a great cast and i quite enjoyed watching it. lots of hateable people, some comedy, some drama, and a tight six episodes. i'd recommend checking it out.
wrapped s2 of White Lotus last night. i enjoyed it more than s1, really. granted, i don't really recall a lot of s1, but this was a very enjoyable and engaging watch. i dreaded the idea of Coolidge's character returning, as i've had more than enough of the zany wanna-be milf role, but she was much more well-written and well-used this season and far more tolerable (after s2e1). the trick this show has up its sleeve is that, because of the many different story lines, it's actually several genres rolled into one. each of the story lines has a decidedly different tone and hits a different genre note. it's really quite an impressive feat, keeping them all rolling and engaging. as usual, the show ends with many questions unresolved, allowing the viewer to decide what happened in some cases, which is kind of the point - to get folks discussing amongst themselves the whys/whats/whens/etc. really loved the dark comedy of the finale and how that all happened. quite the payoff all around. extremely well-executed and well-written season. recommended.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies - nice wordplay in the title of this. anyway, this is a heartbreaking three-episode doc driven entirely by interviews with Casey. this is a broken girl. the makers went out of their way to put video and pics of Caylee in front of Casey as much as possible, i assume so everyone could see how she reacts, to the point that she would have to be a world-class psychopath to not snap IF she had indeed killed Caylee. she's not that person. i don't know what happened, pretty sure we never will, but her fucking father exhibited some extremely weird behavior. personally, i believe he is responsible. i believe everything Casey said about him. i've known girls that were victims of childhood abuse that behave in the same way as her. everything rings true. the biggest travesty of the whole thing, besides Caylee's death, is that the investigators never even considered anyone other than Casey, so there's no evidence to be analyzed today that could shed any light on exactly what happened. they found an ex-cop buddy in her father, and she didn't do herself any favors by lying about so many seemingly innocuous things (that she does explain by the end of this, in a believable way - see previous comment), so in their minds, they had their perp. like i said, just a heartbreaking story of how one event can ruin so many lives. frankly, the way the media falsely portrayed her and her actions in the 31 days after "the incident" is solely responsible for everyone's perception of her and the death threats her, her family, her defense team, etc., received then and since. fuck you geraldo, nancy grace, and the rest of the fucking media. you clearly haven't learned anything since, as you behave exactly the same way today. hope you all burn in hell.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Don’t Pick Up The Phone (or, the original title: Pervert: Hunting The Strip Search Caller) - this is probably the most i’ve had to pause to yell at the TV since i can remember. It’s absolutely baffling that anyone - ANYONE - would do this based on an unverifiable phone call. I know what you’re thinking - obviously the manager was in on it, just wanted to see the employee naked. No - it’s shortly revealed that this “hoax” went on for 10 FUCKING YEARS, hitting around 80 different “restaurants” around the country. If you thought that people in general were stupid, watch this goddamn show. You will be certain you underestimated the percentage. Some of these calls went on for 3 GODDAMN HOURS. I feel like i’ve said this a lot recently, but this is the most baffling shit i’ve ever heard. I’m absolutely blown away that this happened, repeatedly. It’s gotta be the most insane crime story ever. There’s no discernible benefit for the perp. He can’t see what’s happening, only hear. I guess it’s a control thing? Worst/most infuriating thing about this whole story is that the guy just walked away. The only person to do any time for any of these crimes was the fiance of one of the managers that took one of the 80 calls - because he ended up spanking the employee (for 20 goddamn minutes) and somehow the “cop” caller convinced them both that she needed to blow him to prove she didn’t steal a purse? I’m telling you, this is completely fucking insane. This is one of those things where you tell someone it happened and they 100% do not believe that it’s real.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Connect - new Takashi Miike series on Hulu here in the states. i was extremely curious how this would be, how much Miike would "go for it" as he usually does. the answer is this is prototypical Miike. it's over-the-top bonkers with surprisingly great effects for how low-budget it seems overall. the story is insane, the effects are insane, this is a fantastic show! only disappointing thing is that it's only six episodes. so much happens in the last episode to set up the next season that we can only hope he gets it! you should absolutely watch this show. it's great! apparently there is an english dub version, i didn't watch that so can't speak to how the voice acting is there - i watched the original Korean language version with subs. i guess this is based on a "webtoon" of the same name? i don't know, not familiar with the source material, but what was presented here was great. also, it's xmas-related - watch it!

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Fatman - Really, a great premise becomes one of those things where the trailer looks better than the movie actually is.  That being said, Gibson is once again fantastic in this.  Parts of this feel like Dragged Across Snowdrifts, which is the best part. Not sure what it is about this that made it less than it should have been. Felt like the trailer hinted at some all-out assault on Santa’s place with some kind of army and reindeer battling. That wasn’t really what this was. Again, Gibson was fantastic, I’d recommend this just to see him take this on completely straight. Doesn’t go for the humor like Violent Night does at all.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Three Pines - Amazon series starring Alfred Molina. I saw him then read the premise that makes this sound very Peaks-y so figured I’d check it out. Big mistake. Nothing Peaks-y about this. It’s a Lifetime cop drama leaning very into indigenous peoples of the north. It’s told in four two-part sections. I didn’t bother looking, but I assume the creative team is different on each of the four parts, as some are better than others, but overall this is a wildly uneven show. The first five minutes are some of the most woke, pandering, simultaneously anti- and pro-cop nonsense I’ve ever seen. Then nothing even remotely close to that ever comes up again for the rest of the show, most of which follows around Molina who is both the world’s smartest and most naïve homicide detective. It really is mostly dumb as fuck, but that last episode is amusing for it’s complete lack of giving a shit about the viewer. Nothing is attempted to be resolved and it just ends on a scene that feels like it should have had some actual “ending” but they lost the last five minutes of footage. So, I suspect this won’t get picked up for a second season, and anyone who actually liked this show will be left with one of the worst endings ever. Which, I guess, is punishment for sticking through this dumb as fuck series. It’s not even self-aware enough to really lean into this fact - if it were, it could have been funny as hell, ala La Brea. Oh well. Point is, don’t be deceived by the description - this show is shit.

Re: Recent movie playlist

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TC wrote: 08/11/21, 07:47:03
TC wrote: 11/02/21, 07:44:52 The Head - this danish show has real deep 'The Thing' vibes. it takes place at an antarctic research station. they even watch 'The Thing' in the first episode. and someone isn't what they say they are. but there's not a lot of gore or practical effects, or horror for that matter. in fact, some people get shot with very little blood, even. it's maddening at times (like, how the fuck is it taking 48h for him to get the entire fucking story?!?!?), and asks a lot of the viewer to believe at times (it didn't occur to anyone shooting it that you should be able to see everyone's breath, pretty much at all times outside?), but it was enjoyable and i hope they do more than the six episodes we got (although, it's pretty self-contained, don't know how you'd continue the story. would have to be a prequel of polaris 5 maybe?). good sort of "what happened here" mystery. sort of 'the thing' mixed with an hercule poirot story. definitely more mystery than horror. it's only six hours, you should check it out if you have hbo.
looks like we're getting a season 2:
Variety wrote: ‘The Head’ Season 2 in Pre-Production at The Mediapro Studio

Madrid-based The Mediapro Studio, the high-end drama production-distrubution arm of media giant Mediapro, has kicked off pre-production on Season 2 of “The Head,” whose first season was a massive global hit for the company which has already released in 90 countries.

Continuing with the show’s key themes of isolation and the struggle between good and evil, often highlighting the grey areas in between, Season 2 will relocate from the South Pole to an ocean freighter on a scientific mission.

Set at a remote polar research station in the dark of winter, “The Head” Season 1 utilized tricks of time and perspective to slowly uncover the details of a grizzly series of murders, started by a decapitation, at one of earth’s most isolated human habitats, an Antarctic research station over the winter months. When the summer staff flies off to leave a skeleton crew behind all is well, but after an unexpected radio silence, tensions are high as the helicopter returns in spring only to discover a grizzly scene.

International by nature, the series starred well-known actors from several countries, including BAFTA nominee John Lynch (“The Fall”), Álvaro Morte (“Money Heist”), Katharine O’Donnelly (“Mary Queen of Scotts”), Tomohisa Yamashita (“Code Blue the Movie”) and Mónica López (“En la ciudad”).

Season 1 was directed by Jorge Dorado (“The Department of Time”), who returns to take the reigns for Season 2. Genre TV specialist and Season 1 executive producer Mariano Baselga (“The Boarding School”) and playwright Jordi Galcerán (“The Grönholm Method,” “Burundanga”) have stepped in as co-screenwriters for the new season.

Former Keshet executive and “Homeland” producer Ran Tellem, now director of international content development at The Mediapro Studio, will lead storyline development for series, having co-created and executive produced Season 1. Also returning are executive producers Laura Fernández Espeso, Javier Mendez and Bernat Elias. The Mediapro Studio Distribution will continue to handle global distribution of the series.

“With this second season, ‘The Head’ becomes one of the Studio’s greatest franchises and we are immensely satisfied, not only with the commercial success of the series, which has been sold to more than 25 clients and is present in 90 countries; but it has also proved an enormous hit with audiences. All these factors contributed to making possible for us to announce the production of its second season,” said Fernández Espeso, CEO at The Mediapro Studio.

For his part, Tellem added: “Since we announced the project ‘The Head’ has been an amazing adventure, a challenging journey, whose achievements, having been on screens in more than 90 countries, receiving great response worldwide from the U.S. to Japan to Scandinavia to France. The millions of viewers worldwide have shown us what we are capable of doing when talent and means go together hand in hand. Continuing this story is a challenge and a true passion for us as creators.”

In industry terms, “The Head” Season 1 was one of the biggest drama series productions at Mediapro, one of Europe’s largest independent TV-film groups. Produced by the company’s The Mediapro Studio with Hulu Japan and HBO Asia. Season 2 promises a similar level of ambition and international reach in both production and eventual sales.
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Season 2 was great! Really dug it. It picked up right where s1 left off. Bummer that it was only six episodes but man it was fun. A very good show. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should. Looking forward to hopefully another season. Feels like they could wrap up the whole thing with another season.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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The Fabelmans - Meh. For supposedly being the story of Spielberg's youth, not a whole lot happens for the first half an hour. The pacing is really strange. It's like there's too much early on with little story to tell, and then when there actually is something interesting it just zips through it all. The cameo at the end was great of course, and probably worth seeing the whole film for. But you might want to fast forward some of the rest of the film.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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The Banshees Of Inisherin - I didn't know what this movie was, but when I saw the two male leads I knew I had to watch it. Haven't seen Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson together since In Bruges. It did not disappoint! Such a great film ("It's a real film, Jack"). The story of two men in an isolated island community that, um, have a falling out, I guess? It's really exceptional. Stellar writing and outstanding acting all around. It snuck up on me as I hadn't heard about it at all and I went in very cold and was well-rewarded. Please watch this.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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There are filmmakers and recruits and McDonagh is a recruit (from the world of theatre, as was fashionable at the time - see also Sam Mendes, Stephen Daldry, etc). True to form then, this has all the visual flair of a Netflix show, just a procession of blandly-framed closeups and second unit GVs. And yet, and yet... To my bewilderment I actually enjoyed it a lot. Great script, great performances, laugh-out-loud funny at times. He should stick to this Irish backcountry milieu, it suits him much better than the poundshop Tarantino shtick. 3/5 overall then, and perhaps my favourite film of the year to date (!).

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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I assume you’re talking about Banshees. It’s certainly my favorite film of his so far. We started watching In Bruges immediately after as my wife didn’t remember it and on the high of Banshees we dove right in. But, it was late and she fell asleep after about 20 min so have to finish that up soon. But even based on just those first 20 min, I feel like I recall most of the film and while I did enjoy it quite a bit, Banshees was on a different level for me.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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The Pale Blue Eye - Christian Bale leads this Netflix adaptation of a Poe-adjacent book (which I never read). It’s a nice “whodunit” I suppose, but wish they would have leaned into the supernatural elements a bit more, since it was right there. Really didn’t see that ending tag (second ending?) coming. Doesn’t leave me thinking I need to ever watch it again, but it was enjoyable to watch once, if for nothing else than Gillian Anderson’s over the top turn of the century accent, and Poe’s inexplicable southern accent.

Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]

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Kaleidoscope - Netflix limited series (I assume) about a heist. It's an interesting experiment in that Netflix will present it in a random episode order, with the exception of the last episode which is the same for everyone (White). I wasn't sure how this would work initially but quickly bought into it and found it to be a largely entertaining series. There were some issues with it, chief for me of which was making Giancarlo Esposito fight. Haven't seen such old man fisticuffs since The Irishman. Thankfully that's only in one episode. It was good high-stakes heist caper with a pretty bleak outcome for everyone involved.

The Menu - Had heard a lot about this film and have been looking forward to seeing it. By "a lot", I mean that I had seen lots of talk about it but didn't read anything so I went in cold. I fucking loved this film. It was fantastic. Not sure how to classify this film - HBO says it's "horror", but while there are some horror elements, it's more very dark comedy/satire for me. If you haven't watched, do so ASAP. Really, really loved what they did with this film. Don't know the background of the writer, but I'm betting they worked in the service/restaurant industry for a while many years ago and have harbored resentment about it for a long time, with this being the outcome. Anyone that's into food shows, like Top Chef (which I am), should absolutely love this. It's amazing, and doesn't go where you think it will go. Can't wait to watch it again.