Octopus Overlords

Finally dug all my optical discs out over the last week, and dove back into James Bond. I had left off after OHMSS, so I picked up with Diamonds are Forever. I did like the Vegas setting for the film, as I spent the 80s there. It was interesting to see the ~1970 Vegas. I recognized The Whyte House building instantly when I saw it, and the older version of McCarran In'tl Airport and Circus Circus were a treat.

Isgrimnur wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:John Wick was much better than anticipated. There were times I was giggling.

Did I mention that it has the Mayhem dude and Theon Greyjoy in it?

John Wick doesn't seem to have it's own thread so I'll drop this here.

Watched it last night. Had higher hopes for it. It's one of those movies where everything checks all the right boxes, but just doesn't quite make it. It's like it was one step below where it needed to be to be taken seriously. Instead everything was like "oh, so close to being good".

Did you know that I once saw John Wick kill 3 men in a bar with a pencil. A PENCIL!

I lol'd. I don't think that's the audience reaction they were going for.

To me, it had just the right over-the-top quality for me to laugh out loud at the brutal violence. And I think they were definitely going for that sort of reaction. I mean, you don't get the guy from the Mayhem commercials if you're not a t least partially tongue-in-cheek.

I guess we'll find out in the sequel.

Isgrimnur wrote:To me, it had just the right over-the-top quality for me to laugh out loud at the brutal violence. And I think they were definitely going for that sort of reaction. I mean, you don't get the guy from the Mayhem commercials if you're not a t least partially tongue-in-cheek.

I guess we'll find out in the sequel.

That's interesting. I didn't get that vibe at all. My pencil example I felt they were really trying to impress me with his pencil-kata, but it just came out ridiculous. Perhaps I was expecting something else.

The choreography was a bit sloppy, everything just felt off. Like, everything.

The female assassin was awful. One of the points in the movie where I actually took it seriously was when her membership was revoked. It was more of a B+ effort than an A, but it was still good enough. Perhaps because I thought she was terribly acted and just wanted something bad to happen to her.

After finishing up the first season of Arrow, I've moved on to trying to finish up Season 3 of Star Trek ToS.

I expected The Tholian Web to be better than it was. I have no recollection of seeing it previously. Plato's Stepchildren was entertaining. Wink of an Eye was ok, I suppose. Certainly better than watching Kathryn Hays try to silently emote for half an hour in The Empath. Elaan of Troyius was decent, even without the ham-handed Helen of Troy reference, which I didn't really see the connection to.

I was really digging to get to Whom Gods Destroy, since it bears on the character of Garth of Izar and the current Axanar kerfuffle. I thought it was a decent episode. Since the Axanar events are pre-WGD, it would have factored in to prequel territory.

I've also started watching Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place as a short palate cleanser. Nothing like a young Ryan Reynolds.

Just finished watching Green Room. I'm pretty sure we had a thread about it, but it may have been an OOtage casualty...?

I had forgotten that Anton Yelchin was the lead, only remembering that I ordered it (six months ago, ouch) because of Patrick Stewart.

It was a decent film. Not normally my cup of tea, but I enjoyed the ride. I can't say I was on the edge of my seat, though.

I'm doing a "31 horror movies in October" challenge of my own devise. The attempt this year was to do 31 I had never seen before. So far I've watched:

1. CLOWN (Eli Roth) - This one was a little hit or miss with me. Guy dons a clown costume he finds, but realizes he can't take it off. The first half was rather absurd, but it came close to redeeming itself by the end. At least the premise was more unique than the typical killer clown film.

2. GERALD'S GAME - Pretty good Stephen King adaptation. I found the gimmick of her talking to herself rather annoying, but understandable given the constraints of adapting this to film. Some really creepy scenes and good performances salvaged this one for me.

3. LITTLE EVIL - Horror/comedy Netflix original. Guy finds himself playing stepdad to the Antichrist. While I found it amusing given its numerous horror movie references, the movie seemed to think it was funnier than it actually was. A by-the-numbers plot did little to help. Still I found it entertaining enough not to be a waste of time.

4. A DARK SONG - I like slow burn horror when it's done well, and this one's done well. A woman hires a man to assist her in performing a dark magic ritual to communicate with her dead son, and things just get steadily creepier from there. Coupled with one of the most nerve-jangling soundtracks since THE WITCH, this one was a treat.

5. RAW - This one was heavily hyped and high on my list. It didn't disappoint. A staunch vegetarian finds herself craving meat after a hazing ritual at her veterinarian school. Don't watch this one while eating.

6. EXTRAORDINARY TALES - Beautifully animated anthology of classic Edgar Allan Poe tales. Even if the subject matter doesn't completely interest you, the varied animation art styles are well worth your time. Some really unique methods I had never seen before.

P.S. All of these are currently streaming on Netflix.

Although I was a huge Breaking Bad fan, I put off watching Better Call Saul. I thought Saul was easily the least interesting character in BB, and didn't think Odenkirk could carry a show on his own.

Boy, was I wrong. 5 episodes in, and it's absolutely fantastic.

The wife and I have been joyfully watching "The Good Place."

We're just about to finish the first season - it's much better than I thought it was going to be.

Skinypupy wrote:I thought Saul was easily the least interesting character in BB, and didn't think Odenkirk could carry a show on his own.

If it was just him carrying the show, it probably would have failed. I'm jealous - you have the ability to blast through what the rest of us had to painfully wait for over 3 years. It might actually be better than Breaking Bad at this point. Tremendous f-ing show!

geezer wrote:The wife and I have been joyfully watching "The Good Place."

This show is amazing.

Malificent wrote:

geezer wrote:The wife and I have been joyfully watching "The Good Place."

This show is amazing.

Episode 2 of season 2 had me in stitches.

Have any of you guys watched Showtime's I'm Dying Up Here? Reminds me of walking back to Octocon after eating at the buffet... one of the funnest moments of my life.
The comedic timing portrayed by the character's banter back and forth is genius.
Based in 1970's, based off a book by William Knoedelseder, based off of Los Angeles's stand-up scene at The Comedy Store (Goldie's).

Casting about for a half-hour comedy to replace Wrecked -- a show that started out loosely as a Lost parody, then quickly devolved into inanity -- I was intrigued by a promo for the second season of People of Earth. It took several episodes to get our bearings, and I still don't know if I'd recommend it, but I'm starting to enjoy it.

tjg_marantz wrote:

Malificent wrote:

geezer wrote:The wife and I have been joyfully watching "The Good Place."

This show is amazing.

Episode 2 of season 2 had me in stitches.

Glad we're not the only ones.

Kraken wrote:Casting about for a half-hour comedy to replace Wrecked -- a show that started out loosely as a Lost parody, then quickly devolved into inanity -- I was intrigued by a promo for the second season of People of Earth. It took several episodes to get our bearings, and I still don't know if I'd recommend it, but I'm starting to enjoy it.

The good place. Seriously funny.

May I ask about season 2? We watched season 1 and liked it. I dig that type of humour. Is season more of season 1 or did it change tonally?

geezer wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:

Malificent wrote:

geezer wrote:The wife and I have been joyfully watching "The Good Place."

This show is amazing.

Episode 2 of season 2 had me in stitches.

Glad we're not the only ones.

Hell no. And I meant episode 3, doh! Groundhog day episode.

tjg_marantz wrote:

Kraken wrote:Casting about for a half-hour comedy to replace Wrecked -- a show that started out loosely as a Lost parody, then quickly devolved into inanity -- I was intrigued by a promo for the second season of People of Earth. It took several episodes to get our bearings, and I still don't know if I'd recommend it, but I'm starting to enjoy it.

The good place. Seriously funny.

May I ask about season 2? We watched season 1 and liked it. I dig that type of humour. Is season more of season 1 or did it change tonally?

I'm not sure which show you're asking about, or even if you're asking me. But I didn't see S1 of People of Earth, if that's it.

Is The Good Place on normal TV or one of those not-TV streaming services?

Kraken wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:

Kraken wrote:Casting about for a half-hour comedy to replace Wrecked -- a show that started out loosely as a Lost parody, then quickly devolved into inanity -- I was intrigued by a promo for the second season of People of Earth. It took several episodes to get our bearings, and I still don't know if I'd recommend it, but I'm starting to enjoy it.

The good place. Seriously funny.

May I ask about season 2? We watched season 1 and liked it. I dig that type of humour. Is season more of season 1 or did it change tonally?

I'm not sure which show you're asking about, or even if you're asking me. But I didn't see S1 of People of Earth, if that's it.

Is The Good Place on normal TV or one of those not-TV streaming services?

Sorry. Yes you. About wrecked season 2. Sorry about that hehe.

I believe season 1 of Good place is on Netflix. At least it is here in Canada, which I know is not necessarily indicative.
Season 2 is currently playing on "normal" TV.

tjg_marantz wrote:

Kraken wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:

Kraken wrote:Casting about for a half-hour comedy to replace Wrecked -- a show that started out loosely as a Lost parody, then quickly devolved into inanity -- I was intrigued by a promo for the second season of People of Earth. It took several episodes to get our bearings, and I still don't know if I'd recommend it, but I'm starting to enjoy it.

The good place. Seriously funny.

May I ask about season 2? We watched season 1 and liked it. I dig that type of humour. Is season more of season 1 or did it change tonally?

I'm not sure which show you're asking about, or even if you're asking me. But I didn't see S1 of People of Earth, if that's it.

Is The Good Place on normal TV or one of those not-TV streaming services?

Sorry. Yes you. About wrecked season 2. Sorry about that hehe.

I believe season 1 of Good place is on Netflix. At least it is here in Canada, which I know is not necessarily indicative.

Well, we bailed out of Wrecked so I can't answer that. They lost us with a terminally silly story arc about pirates, but they'd been wobbling for some time before that. Wrecked makes Gilligans Island look sophisticated.

Last Man On Earth is another one that's been on probation for a long time. Every time I'm ready to delete it from the schedule, they have an episode that just barely redeems it and it gets a reprieve.

Just got back from seeing The Osiris Child in the theater. Apparently, its available on iTunes currently. It’s subtitled Science Fiction Volume One, so its very much set up for a sequel.

Apparently it’s Australian, was released last year, and was written and directed by Shane Abbess. I haven’t seen anything else in his resume.

The film was a decent sci-if film with elements of colonization, your standard forced prison labor, evil military general, etc.

Probably won’t win any awards, but the special effects were decent. Fight scenes are a little jumpy, so be forewarned on that if you are sensitive to it.

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Jul 11, 2016 4:14 pm The Lobster may be one of the most bizarre, unique, fascinating, frightening, funny and (ultimately) original films I've seen in years. It's like a Kafka novel ghost written by Louis C.K.. I'd advise going in blind if you bow to the whims of the numerous critics putting this on their "best of" lists already.

So that was ... a thing.

I can't say that it hits the right buttons with me.

Finished up the Star Trek Animated Series and moved on to the movies. The Motion Picture has been viewed. Five more, and I can graduate to to Next Gen.

I've watched every Rick & Morty available free on Adult Swim, and now I'm combing YouTube for what's available there.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Sat Oct 21, 2017 9:14 pm Finished up the Star Trek Animated Series and moved on to the movies. The Motion Picture has been viewed. Five more, and I can graduate to to Next Gen.

Wrath of Khan has been completed. Man, it's been forever since I've seen that film. I 'remembered' that the Genesis device was in the same container as Spock. Not a huge difference, but certainly a key thing to miss.

Swiss Army Man 5/8



It had an interesting concept, but didn't really thrun the corner to an excellent film. Certainly less disturbing than The Lobster, another A24 production.

Finished up S2 of Agent Carter, then watched The Witch off of Amazon Prime.

Agent Carter was good.

The Witch was executed quite well. The story left something to be desired.

Watched this with the wife on Saturday. It's a fun, interesting story.

It also has James Urbaniak, who you might know from a cartoon series.

Farscape’s “Revenging Angel” (the cartoon episode) might be the most gleefully insane episode of any show, ever.

The sheer WTF factor is off the damn charts.

LOCK UP THE WOMEN AND HIDE THE FRIED CHICKEN!

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:25 am Farscape’s “Revenging Angel” (the cartoon episode) might be the most gleefully insane episode of any show, ever.

The sheer WTF factor is off the damn charts.

What in THE F!? I do not remember that AT ALL. It was my favorite show...I know I HAD to have watched that but nothing is ringing a bell to me. So weird. Says it aired late 2001. Has it been THAT long since Farscape?? God.

I dont watch anything...nothing. Yet Ive watched 3 or 4 random ep of Hercules The Legendary Journeys in the last few days. I loved this show in the 90s in a huge way but didn't think it would be rewatchable. Yet it still rocks. Makes me feel happy when Im watching.

D'Argo's "Ummm....no" in the first clip cracks me up.

The Baywatch one was great.

Hahahahaha Lock up da women and hiiiiide the fried chicken! Why do I not remember this one. You'd think it of all of them would stand out.

You'd think.

I don't remember it, either. I wonder if it didn't make it onto the DVDs. It should stand out in memory, like the musical episode of Buffy does.

Farscape has apparently been pulled from all streaming and digital download services. I have the first 3 seasons on iTunes, and went to buy Season 4 tonight. It’s gone from iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu (apparently, I don’t have that).

The only way to get it is on DVD. WTF?!?

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:24 pm Farscape has apparently been pulled from all streaming and digital download services. I have the first 3 seasons on iTunes, and went to buy Season 4 tonight. It’s gone from iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu (apparently, I don’t have that).

The only way to get it is on DVD. WTF?!?

Vudu, $14.99

Thanks. Never even heard of Vudu before.

It belongs to Walmart, and their stuff is Ultraviolet compliant, so it’s portable.