Movies and TV shows (general recommendation thread)

[Xerxes]

11 hours ago, Blugolds11 said:

 

As a kid I watched Last Crusade more times than I can count, as well as Raiders of the Lost Ark...Indiana Jones was my chosen career field as a kid...some kids wanted to be pro athletes, astronauts...I wanted to be Indiana Jones, running through the woods with a Fedora I got at Goodwill and a cheap plastic whip that I got from the local county fair...

 

Temple of Doom scared me too much, pulling beating hearts out of chests etc...

 

The Crystal Skull IMO was garbage, and this one looks like they are wringing the washcloth again, milking the franchise for one more time before Indy is in a wheelchair in the old folks home, kind of a shame. 

 

I would rather have them revitalize the franchise with a new Indy and better writing, less special effects, but maybe that just me. 

I watched Dooms (along with the first SW movie and Empire Strikes Back) in piecemeal format. Saw various scenes in different order on TV in the 90s. Overtime I collected most of the pieces and got a final picture on it.
 

Yet when I saw Doom in one shot again later on in late 90s I was surprised to see that the first scene which is actually in Shanghai, I had never seen before. Same for SW, when I saw the whole movie in one shot, I realized that there was a scene before Tatoinne scene where Tentative IV is captured by Darth Vader ship. And I had not seen it. 
 

Last Crusade. I saw it like a normal human being in one shot. 
 

Raiders of Lost Arc. Saw it first on dvd in the 2000. I was not impressed. 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Xerxes

[Spekulatius]

6 minutes ago, Xerxes said:

I watched Dooms (along with the first SW movie and Empire Strikes Back) in piecemeal format. Saw various scenes in different order on TV in the 90s. Overtime I collected most of the pieces and got a final picture on it.
 

Yet when I saw Doom in one shot again later on in late 90s I was surprised to see that the first scene which is actually in Shanghai, I had never seen before. Same for SW, when I saw the whole movie in one shot, I realized that there was a scene before Tatoinne scene where Tentative IV is captured by Darth Vader ship. And I had not seen it. 
 

Last Crusade. I saw it like a normal human being in one shot. 
 

Raiders of Lost Arc. Saw it first on dvd in the 2000. I was not impressed. 

 

I saw "The last Crusade" in a movie theatre. Great experience. I actually enjoyed the "Crystal skull". it felt a bit like a James Bond movie, but nothing wrong with that either. Cate Blanchet was pretty good in her role.

 

"Temple of Doom" is by far my least favorite.

[Parsad]

1 hour ago, Spekulatius said:

I saw "The last Crusade" in a movie theatre. Great experience. I actually enjoyed the "Crystal skull". it felt a bit like a James Bond movie, but nothing wrong with that either. Cate Blanchet was pretty good in her role.

 

"Temple of Doom" is by far my least favorite.

 

Thought the ending in Crystal Skull was way over the top.  My favorite of the four is by far The Last Crusade with Sean Connery in it.  Could watch that movie over and over!  Cheers!

[StevieV]

56 minutes ago, Parsad said:

My favorite of the four is by far The Last Crusade with Sean Connery in it. 

 

My favorite of the 4 and one of my favorite movies of all time.

 

I think the Crystal Skull wasn't just meh, but outright terrible.  I hope this new one will be a good sendoff.

[Longnose]

Watched Avatar 2: Way of the Water over the weekend. 

 

Absolutely visually stunning. Worth seeing in IMAX 3D.  

[Xerxes]

Some ancedote to share. Like everybody else i flip through different media offerings. 

I went back on Netflix in Nov and cancelled Disney+ after finish "Andor", which I really liked.

 

Really enjoyed "crown".

 

But I must say everything else that I tagged to watch (Better Call Saul, Ozark, Sandman, Peaky Blinders) is sooo difficult to watch. It feels like work. It is like planning to go to run outside when it is -10 degree, which I do as workout.

 

I dont feel the same way when I am watching stuff on Disney+, HBO, Paramount+ or Prime.

 

Part of the problem is that the options are soo many on Netflix that if there are truely gems, I could not make the time investment to ever find those.

 

Sometimes less is more.

[Parsad]

4 hours ago, Xerxes said:

Some ancedote to share. Like everybody else i flip through different media offerings. 

I went back on Netflix in Nov and cancelled Disney+ after finish "Andor", which I really liked.

 

Really enjoyed "crown".

 

But I must say everything else that I tagged to watch (Better Call Saul, Ozark, Sandman, Peaky Blinders) is sooo difficult to watch. It feels like work. It is like planning to go to run outside when it is -10 degree, which I do as workout.

 

I dont feel the same way when I am watching stuff on Disney+, HBO, Paramount+ or Prime.

 

Part of the problem is that the options are soo many on Netflix that if there are truely gems, I could not make the time investment to ever find those.

 

Sometimes less is more.

 

Yeah!  One thing streaming did is to create a ton of mediocrity.  Unless you know what is worth watching on Netflix, you end up wasting plenty of time on garbage to find that hidden gem.  Cheers!

[Xerxes]

5 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Yeah!  One thing streaming did is to create a ton of mediocrity.  Unless you know what is worth watching on Netflix, you end up wasting plenty of time on garbage to find that hidden gem.  Cheers!

not only that. 
I meant what was of as known quantity on Netflix ((Better Call Saul, Ozark, Sandman, Peaky Blinders) is of highly questionable quality.
 

Watching them is like “work”.
It does not pull me in. 

[DooDiligence]

I spend an occasional evening just watching trailers and adding things to a watchlist. The trailers are frequently more entertaining than the movies and most of the time you can tell which will be worth watching.

 

Amazon has a "Free with Ads", tab that includes a lot of shows which aren't promoted on the home screen. The ads range from 15 seconds to 2 minutes and are infrequent.

[Xerxes]

Anyone knows what the hell is ITVX

Looks like a fasinating astory

 

“A Spy Among Friends” dramatises the treachery of Kim Philby | The Economist

[Spekulatius]

Wednesday (Adams Family spin-off) on Netflix is fantastic:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13443470/

[Ulti]

35 minutes ago, Spekulatius said:

Wednesday (Adams Family spin-off) on Netflix is fantastic:

Yep Tim Burton hasn't lost a step

[Xerxes]

Complete a 2022 milestone of watching Dance with Wolves.

The 3 hour version. Came to realize there is also a 4 hour version !

 

 

Unrelated, the SAS Rogues show on Prime is interesting.

Starts of in the deserts of North Africa, with the Desert Fox's laying seige to the town of Tobruk.

[LC]

Grave of the fireflies - should be required viewing material for everyone at least once in their life

[Longnose]

On 12/26/2022 at 2:06 PM, LC said:

Grave of the fireflies - should be required viewing material for everyone at least once in their life

 

Shit man... that show left me epic depressed. 

[LC]

As it should! War is terrible. The people of Ukraine are experiencing something very similar to that right now sadly.

[formthirteen]

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) was better than I expected:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016150/

 

Great anti-war ”propaganda”. Probably not a movie warmongers would enjoy.

[Parsad]

Over the weekend, I binge watched the 2020-2021 seasons of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm".  They were just awesome! 

 

I've watched all of the other seasons and they were great, but the hilarity, wit and maniacal level of comedy in these two seasons reminded me of "Fawlty Towers" spectacular single season. 

 

Amazing, how David remains so annoying and entertaining at 75!  And he continues to attack society's norms fearlessly.  Cheers!

 

 

[Xerxes]

14 hours ago, Parsad said:

Over the weekend, I binge watched the 2020-2021 seasons of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm".  They were just awesome! 

 

I've watched all of the other seasons and they were great, but the hilarity, wit and maniacal level of comedy in these two seasons reminded me of "Fawlty Towers" spectacular single season. 

 

Amazing, how David remains so annoying and entertaining at 75!  And he continues to attack society's norms fearlessly.  Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Did you watch this episode >

 

 

[Spekulatius]

I liked "Where the Crawdads sing" against the odds:

Streams on Netflix.

[Pelagic]

Kaleidoscope on Netflix is excellent. Not entirely convinced the randomized episode order that was hyped so much is anything more than a gimmick though. 

[Luke]

On 12/19/2022 at 4:21 AM, Longnose said:

Watched Avatar 2: Way of the Water over the weekend. 

 

Absolutely visually stunning. Worth seeing in IMAX 3D.  

Visually very well but with the rest i agree with this review: 

 

[Xerxes]

I started watching Treason "so called Limited show" on Netflix (not exactly like Limited edition scotch, is it ?)

 

It is a drag to watch this so-called thriller like most other stuff on Netflix. There is no lack of great actors, budgets. It is all there. What really sucks is the script and the directorship.

 

If you show me bunch of shows/movies and not tell me the production/distribution platform (HBO vs Netflix), 9 out of 10 i can tell you which ones are from Netflix. 

 

With Netflix, it is almost about creating shows for the sake of creating shows. A show or a movie, needs to start with a good script and good story, and then into production (bottom up). Not other way around, with Netflix algorithm computing people's interest on a Thriller and then issuing purchase orders to the production companies to conjure up one out of thin air.

[rkbabang]

4 hours ago, Xerxes said:

I started watching Treason "so called Limited show" on Netflix (not exactly like Limited edition scotch, is it ?)

 

It is a drag to watch this so-called thriller like most other stuff on Netflix. There is no lack of great actors, budgets. It is all there. What really sucks is the script and the directorship.

 

If you show me bunch of shows/movies and not tell me the production/distribution platform (HBO vs Netflix), 9 out of 10 i can tell you which ones are from Netflix. 

 

With Netflix, it is almost about creating shows for the sake of creating shows. A show or a movie, needs to start with a good script and good story, and then into production (bottom up). Not other way around, with Netflix algorithm computing people's interest on a Thriller and then issuing purchase orders to the production companies to conjure up one out of thin air.

 

 

I agree with this lately.  Treason wasn't bad, but it was just mediocre at best.   The other series I watched lately was "The Recruit".  It was probably better than Treason, but not great either, because it wasn't believable.  It was almost a cartoonish idea of how the CIA operates.  I don't know if they were trying to be funny or what, but it ended up just being somewhat dumb.

 

[Gregmal]

4 minutes ago, rkbabang said:

 

 

I agree with this lately.  Treason wasn't bad, but it was just mediocre at best.   The other series I watched lately was "The Recruit".  It was probably better than Treason, but not great either, because it wasn't believable.  It was almost a cartoonish idea of how the CIA operates.  I don't know if they were trying to be funny or what, but it ended up just being somewhat dumb.

 

Netflix is geared towards Americans. So lazy, thoughtless, stupid…all work.