Just Watched

[Arshes Nei]

Watched about 6 episodes of the anime "Is this a Zombie?" and laughing my ass off. Oh Japan...you....

[Velocity Kendall]

Man! "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" is such a cool story too. Can no one do a decent Phillip K. Dick adaptation? Maybe since it's a short story that particular work would be more suited to the scale of one of the better "Twilight Zone" episodes? Now that I think about it, a radio dramatization would be very cool.

I thought Looper was very Dickian, and well worth a watch.

Id like to see a movie of the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, that book scares the fuck out of me.

Oh and the Zap Gun.

[Cory Hinman]

I thought Looper was very Dickian, and well worth a watch.

Id like to see a movie of the Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, that book scares the fuck out of me.

Oh and the Zap Gun.

Don't know "Looper". " 'Eldritch" is a great book. Ever see the screenplay treatment Dick himself developed for "Ubik"?

[Velocity Kendall]

[Cory Hinman]

Wow, I see what you mean about "Looper"'s central conceit! Sounds very Dickian. By the way, I realized I haven't read "Eldritch" yet. A long time ago I read and really liked "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer". I think "Eldritch" and "Archer" are considered two parts of a trilogy, aren't they?
And what's with Willis and meeting his younger self? Wasn't there a Disney movie?

[Velocity Kendall]

Wow, I see what you mean about "Looper"'s central conceit! Sounds very Dickian. By the way, I realized I haven't read "Eldritch" yet. A long time ago I read and really liked "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer". I think "Eldritch" and "Archer" are considered two parts of a trilogy, aren't they?

Yeah if that movie had had a crazy drug that you can never escape once you take it to add to its mundane time travel and psi powers themes then it wouldve had the Dickian holy trinity.

I did not know those books were part of a set, Ive not read your one. Eeeeexcellent.

I think my favourite PKD stories are the short ones; Upon the Dull Earth and Psyman Heal my Child in particular stand out in my memory as being really amazing.

[Cory Hinman]

Oops, my mistake!
http://www.goodreads.com/series/54576-valis-trilogy

[Velocity Kendall]

Oo! As with Cordwainer Smith, Im trying to ration my PKD intake, i dont want to cane it all cos when its gone theres no more!

[dpaint]

Just watched the finale to Battle Star Galactica Blood and Chrome. It was okay, one thing about the art direction though, its so busy; just throw more layers of crap in their because we can. The space and hanger scenes are really annoying with everything stacked on top of everything else and appearing to be inches apart. In real life people would be getting limbs ripped off and decapitated every couple of minutes.

[JDSart]

Boardwalk empire is awesome, just finished season 2.

Even when it is predictable is done so well. And Buscemi nails it, such a great performance.

[Psychotime]

Watched about 6 episodes of the anime "Is this a Zombie?" and laughing my ass off. Oh Japan...you....

I thought I'd try that out today.

I turned it off after 10 minutes.

[Psychotime]

Manpower (1941), which is essentially a remake of the Howard Hawks film Tiger Shark (1932), just with a different setting.

Just from 5 minutes in after seeing Ward Bond and Alan Hale Sr. play as support, I was so excited for this movie. I yapped about it being from Raoul Walsh, the same director as The Strawberry Blonde. It's certainly not as good, but it's ok.

Goofy Edward G. Robinson and smooth George Raft play linemen for an electric company.

There are alot of things that happen, but the GENERAL plot is about how Robinson falls in love with a cynical Marlene Dietrich who has a jail record, and Raft doesn't trust her (he was the one who helped her get parole and had known her a bit first), but eventually Raft admits how he misjudged her.

Robinson eventually marries her (though she admits from the get go that she doesn't love him, but he's ok with that), and it's later revealed that she's really in love with Raft! Da-nuh!

In the end a good bit of misunderstandings makes Robinson try to kill Raft in a jealous rage and ends up dying by accident.

I have to say, the final scene was kinda bullshit. At least based on the implications I got from it. It's not 100% clear.

And if you're wondering why I'm not complaining about this movie being about a love triangle plot that could have been (and was) used in a completely different setting despite the fact that it's supposedly about an electric company and has a pun for a title; unlike Taxi! (which sucks), THIS movie makes use of it's setting!

There's one main plot, but there are other significant things that go on at the job. The fact that they're linemen HAS A POINT, and it's not some throwaway thing they just slap onto the beginning and forget for the rest of the film, which I can't say about Taxi!

There's LOTS of comic relief here, but in general I found a couple of the supporting characters grating after a while, particularly Alan Hale's dirty old man routine. He was much better in The Strawberry Blonde.

There's a nice little reference to Little Caesar in the beginning (which is ironic in context, which makes it a little clever).

So, yeah, it was ok. Not sure if I'll see it again, but whatever. At least this version. I'll try to watch Tiger Shark. I was unaware of this being a remake before I watched it, let alone the original being a Howard Hawks movie. Robinson plays essentially the same character, just with a different job.

Anyway, onto The Roaring Twenties (1939)!

Didn't grab me from the get go as much as Manpower did, but I like the sytle and tone of it.

Certain bits of the film act as a sorta newsreel, with the end of certain story beats leading to a small montage with narration on top about the years that pass by. It's got a real charm to it.

James Cagney plays a WWI soldier who comes back to the states after the end of the war and stuggles to find a job (this sounds familiar). And after initially getting arrested for unknowingly delivering liquor, he becomes full part of his own bootlegging racket once he learns of the profits.

Eventually he makes a deal with Humphrey Bogart and right when he thinks he's on top of the world, the stock market crashes, prohibition ends, and he hits rock bottom. There's also a subplot involving Priscilla Lane that plays into the ending.

It's not a bad movie.

And it's good to see a movie where Cagney plays a taxi driver (even temporarily) and the movie DOESN'T suck.

Since it's been on my list for a while, I thought I'd rewatch Boyz n the Hood (1991). I saw it a couple times as a kid. It can certainly be a bit annoying how on the nose it wants to be about it's various messages, but hey, it was saying pretty new things when it came out.

It's a decent enough movie, but REALLY preachy, and the acting can be iffy at times.

Ricky's death still gets me. Not particularly the scene where he gets shot, the moment RIGHT where his family realizes what just happened.

This is the best scene of the movie, though.

( Click to show/hide )

Fun fact, he's using the ORIGINAL Japanese version of the NES Zapper, which was made to look like a revolver. No clue how he could have gotten it, but they DO live in California...

[Psychotime]

Black Legion (1937) Not bad, not bad.

An early Humphrey Bogart film, before he hit it big. This is a really interesting movie, and I only discovered it from pure luck.

Humphrey Bogart plays a factory worker who was prepared to get the promotion he thought he deserved from his years at the company, but it ends up going to a younger guy.

Frustrated and not thinking straight, his ears are piqued when he gets word of an underground group that basically amounts to: DEM IMMAGRINTS TOOK UR JERBS!! And they want to fight to get jobs back to "red-blooded Americans" and other bullshit.

Bogart sympathizes with the group and joins with them to terrorize immigrant workers. As their acts hit the news, his wife eventually realizes what's going on and leaves him. Bogart tries to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Bogart's best friend (who's father-in-law was attacked by the Legion) confronts him, and in Bogart's drunken stupor he rats out the Legion and he's forced to kill his best friend with his own hands. He's arrested for murder, and his "friends" at the Legion let him know that if he implicates the group, they'll kill his family. So they give him a "self defense" alibi to repeat verbatim.

Right when you think he's gonna spout the alibi that defames both his wife and his best friend, he manages to redeem himself when he finally breaks down, reveals everything, and identifies all the members he can.

Eventually all the members are arrested and the murder charge is thrown onto all of them, after the judge gives them a lecture on how ignorant, hypocritical, and malignant the Black Legion's ideals are.

One funny bit is the revelation that the group is also just a big pyramid scheme! The vandalism and violence against immigrant businesses is just a bonus for the three puppetmasters. It's not even a plot point! They reveal this before the halfway point and it doesn't even amount to anything!

Fun fact, the Black Legion was an actual group, which splintered off the KKK and occupied the Great Lakes, but didn't last long after the authorities managed to get a handful of them for murder. The ridiculous costumes they wear in the movie that make them look like Pac-Man ghosts is what they REALLY wore.

As far as I can tell the pyramid scheme aspect wasn't real, though.

Ok, I just HAVE to post this. I have to.







So I thought I'd have a go at a show I heard so much about, so i tried the first episode of Dexter.

Bleh. Not for me. It's so damn hokey. So Dexter is "empty inside", feigns emotion and empathy, and since he was a kid he always had some "urge" to kill that he keeps under control. Any more tired cliches you wanna toss in? It's hard to take anything seriously when I'm rolling my eyes at every flashback or narration.

I gave it another chance with another episode, and I still feel the same way. I can only see this execution of it's premise appealing to a teenager. If Dexter WASN'T the main character (or was rewritten into a BELIEVABLE character) it'd be a much more watchable show.

[Psychotime]

Why am I the only one posting on this thread right now?

Anyway, finally got Pulp Fiction out of the way. GREAT stuff. It'd probably be even better if I could catch every single reference, but that's impossible without a guide.

[tobbA]

I think you're posting for all of us.. ;P

I just watched the first couple of episodes of A Young Doctors Notebook. It's pretty fun so far.

[dpaint]

Just watched Lawless. Great acting and cinematography. Story line is sort of predictable but the acting is so good I didn't care.

[dpaint]

Watching Damages now, we just finished the second season. Great writing and acting for a TV series. Glenn Close is perfect as a sociopath lawyer who uses everyone and everything to get her way.

[JDSart]

Last Unicorn, i`ve know about it being a very well cherished nostalgic film but i never saw it until now. I really like a movie that balances it weaknesses like a low animation budget with a good style and art direction. i like the palettes, i like the designs, is all very pleasant.

The songs kinda suck though.

I also re-rewatched the first 2 godfather movies, years without seeing them. The second is the really good one imo. The first is ok, but as far as replay value goes, kinda meh.

[JDSart]

Last Unicorn, i`ve know about it being a very well cherished nostalgic film but i never saw it until now. I really like a movie that balances it weaknesses like a low animation budget with a good style and art direction. i like the palettes, i like the designs, is all very pleasant.

The songs kinda suck though.

I also re-rewatched the first 2 godfather movies, years without seeing them. The second is the really good one imo. The first is ok, but as far as replay value goes, kinda meh.

[Raoul Duke]

It's funny every time a new Bond film comes out I wind up seeing something else. It happened twice this week. At least these movies were good.

The Hobbit- I wasn't excited to see it, because of my low opinion of LOTR, but this was much, much better. The characters and their motives had more dimension. It still had it's pointless moments just for padding, but it's the kind of thing have to expect from Peter Jackson. It was like a Disney movie with graphic violence. The blood and guts makes it inappropriate for children and most adults will be turned off when they break into song.
Speaking of inappropriate I saw this in Imax 3d at a high frame rate and it ruined some of the cinematography and made it look like a daytime soap. But regardless it was amazing to see in 3d.

Django Unchained-If you have liked any of Tarentino's movies since pulp fiction, then this is worth your while. It's probably his best since back then. I think he finally started to learn from his mistakes.

[Raoul Duke]

It's funny every time a new Bond film comes out I wind up seeing something else. It happened twice this week. At least these movies were good.

The Hobbit- I wasn't excited to see it, because of my low opinion of LOTR, but this was much, much better. The characters and their motives had more dimension. It still had it's pointless moments just for padding, but it's the kind of thing have to expect from Peter Jackson. It was like a Disney movie with graphic violence. The blood and guts makes it inappropriate for children and most adults will be turned off when they break into song.
Speaking of inappropriate I saw this in Imax 3d at a high frame rate and it ruined some of the cinematography and made it look like a daytime soap. But regardless it was amazing to see in 3d.

Django Unchained-If you have liked any of Tarentino's movies since pulp fiction, then this is worth your while. It's probably his best since back then. I think he finally started to learn from his mistakes.

[JDSart]

well, in The Hobbit book they do sing a lot! , eat and sing and walk, repeat

I love the book, love Peter Jackson´s LoTR movies, love all the work Weta has been doing since the movie started production. I know theres things on the Hobbit that i will enjoy, so i´m going with a very optimistic mindset to just go to the theater and have a good time. I´ll probably watch it in the next few days, i kinda dislike crowded first couple of weeks and long lines to buy tickets, specially around this seson so no rush.

I was one of the people who didn´t mind being the book being split into 3 movies. In theory it makes total sense. Theres a lot of things going on in the book, lots of climaxes to build up, lots of characters to bring to life, theres also parts that even in the book felt underdeveloped like the death of smaug. I hope it does pay off and they are using the 3 movies to amke for a more epic story outside of just cashing in.

[JDSart]

well, in The Hobbit book they do sing a lot! , eat and sing and walk, repeat

I love the book, love Peter Jackson´s LoTR movies, love all the work Weta has been doing since the movie started production. I know theres things on the Hobbit that i will enjoy, so i´m going with a very optimistic mindset to just go to the theater and have a good time. I´ll probably watch it in the next few days, i kinda dislike crowded first couple of weeks and long lines to buy tickets, specially around this seson so no rush.

I was one of the people who didn´t mind being the book being split into 3 movies. In theory it makes total sense. Theres a lot of things going on in the book, lots of climaxes to build up, lots of characters to bring to life, theres also parts that even in the book felt underdeveloped like the death of smaug. I hope it does pay off and they are using the 3 movies to amke for a more epic story outside of just cashing in.

[Aether Technician]

Well...I finally decided to watch Doctor Who. It's pretty good.
Unfortunately, the special effects are bad...but not quite bad enough to be charming.

[Psychotime]

Picture Snatcher (1933)

Another James Cagney movie. It's something, all right. I feel like I watched a 30's exploitation movie, which is very appropriate given the premise. I should mention it was before the Hays Code.

Cagney plays a fresh out of jail mobster (what else?) who decides to clean up his act, quits the mob, and starts working for a seedy exploitative newspaper. But I'll just leave it at that. You can't predict this movie, but I dare you to try.

I liked it.

[Raoul Duke]

I actually liked the songs and humor in the Hobbit. I'll say it's a high adventure road movie. LOTR was too, but it was so redundant and boring. I think Peter Jackson is up there with Jim Henson or Stan Winston but he lets showing off disrupt the plot too often. The hobbit still had it's pointless moments, but at least the theme of the movie is adventure for the sake of adventure.

[Psychotime]

G-Men (1935)

Finally Cagney plays a heroic character (a little bit of a douchebag, but still a hero)! Not bad at all.

But even then, Cagney's backstory still involves the mob. Some things never change...

Cagney starts off as a lawyer (who started as a gutter rat before getting help from a kind-hearted former mob boss who put him through school to keep him on the right side of the tracks) because of this he personally knows a good amount of mobsters.

When his friend from college (now a federal agent) gets murdered while trying to make an arrest, he decides to quit the lawyer business (he wasn't getting any business anyway, and was only attracting the scumbags he wanted no association with) and applies to the Department of Justice to avenge him.

Margaret Lindsay plays such a tsundere in this movie, I'm SO not kidding.

Very typical cops/robbers movie, not a bad sit at all.

[JDSart]

Paranorman was a surprise, some people are too negative about the fact that the plot and characters of the movie are not that original and miss out of all the cool stuff that does go on.

The kid is missunderstood, lives in a small town, his buddy is a comic relief chubby, theres a dumb bully, it has all the common tropes but is so well done and is so much fun! the concept was lovely, it has a very solid art direction. The character are lively and awesome, And the message is a good one.

This movie, have zombies that actually look dead, people die onscreen, it sneaks social comentary, it deals with family loss, it even includes a gay character, come on! Is a very modern, smart and visually beautiful take on the traditonal kids movie everyone of us is used to, it deserves credit and i really liked it.

[JDSart]

Paranorman was a surprise, some people are too negative about the fact that the plot and characters of the movie are not that original and miss out of all the cool stuff that does go on.

The kid is missunderstood, lives in a small town, his buddy is a comic relief chubby, theres a dumb bully, it has all the common tropes but is so well done and is so much fun! the concept was lovely, it has a very solid art direction. The character are lively and awesome, And the message is a good one.

This movie, have zombies that actually look dead, people die onscreen, it sneaks social comentary, it deals with family loss, it even includes a gay character (yes, that little line totally counts, people have gotten their panties in a bucnh with less) , come on! Is a very modern, smart and visually beautiful take on the traditonal kids movie everyone of us is used to, it deserves credit and i really liked it.

[Psychotime]

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) was decent, but really needed an epilogue of some kind. I mean, the ending was fine and was probably enough for most people, but I wanted more insight into Clitterhouse's head after the way it ended.

Edward G Robinson plays a wealthy, cool-headed, and softspoken doctor obsessed with the biological signatures of criminals, so much so that plans a string of "perfect" robberies and records his own biological signs before and after the act.

After a month of solo jewelry robberies he needs to get more research from other individuals, so he joins a group of thieves (which include Ward Bond and Maxie Rosenbloom), plans bigger robberies, and tests their blood pressure, ect, before, during, and after each robbery. However, Clitterhouse (going by "The Professor") taking charge of the jobs and impressing Claire Trevor starts to piss off Humphery Bogart, who's a jealous prick. Supposedly (according to Wikipedia) this was Bogart's least favorite role ever. I don't know about that, he basically plays the same character he played in The Roaring Twenties.

Anyway, not bad at all. Outside of the villain (naturally), the characters were actually likeable (especially Maxie Rosenbloom's dimwitted oaf Butch). The ending was clear, but I wasn't 100% satisfied by it.