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Embarrassed to admit I've never seen it before...
 
Now watching Ken Burns's The Vietnam War. Fascinating walkthrough of the American view of the Vietnam War, but quite fair and balanced with calling out the atrocities on all sides. Just a focus on America's side in terms of the home front, etc.
 
Went to see Mission: Impossible - Fallout today with wifey. And... you know, I like it when I go to the movie theatre already knowing it's gonna be good and it indeed is. The MI series has actually never managed to disappoint me so far (even the kinda-weird 2 and the kinda-bland 3, both of which still tower above many other action movies in me book) and this one was no exception. An excellent and clever action movie, in fact, possibly the best action movie I've seen since... well, for some time at least. The tempo in Paris is unbelievable. At times I was somewhat afraid whether they won't overdo it with the "darkness" and "epicness" (it seemed as if The Dark Knight was an inspiration at least a bit), but in the end it felt rather epic and there was a place for humour - the part with Benji navigating was bloody hilarious.

Also, all due respect to Cruise who's approaching 60 and still plays the part believably (and while I haven't read about the making of the movie so far, if previous movies are any indication, the shooting must have been demanding) and to

Sean Harris who plays such a chilly villain while being more or less a second grade actor in general (I don't know whether I'm not being unfair to him, maybe he does fierce work off-screen, but I mostly remember him as Thomas in that cheesy 1999 Jesus miniseries and that redheaded scientist in Prometheus... and of course Rogue Nation)

I went home completely happy and satisfied.

I love how every installment has its own unique feel and despite the fact they keep doing the same all over again, they find new ways to drag you in and to elevate the movie to awesome heights.

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Also, about two weeks ago we caved in and got Netflix. It certainly seems like a very clever ploy to get you to never do anything substantial in your life ever again (the amount of content there is deadly and the way it offers you to skip intros and closing credits and the next episode begins immediately afterwards is really unfair, innit?)

Thanks to Netflix, we saw The Autopsy of Jane Doe last week. I remember liking it at the time, it certainly had some interesting moments, but after such a short time I almost forgot the movie altogether! I know what you're about to say, but I was not ossified, not really. In the end, it was possibly a bit too bland to really get among the classics. Olwen Kelly's a ride, even when she's playing the (not-really-)dead body with defects and creepy eyes, though the teeth are weird; it's that kind that got Vanessa Paradis famous (well, apart from shagging Johnny Depp). Don't know why that's so popular with models nowadays.
Nevermind, it's just a good horror movie that you're probably about to forget very soon; unless the rather realistic depictions of bodies in morgue creeps you out of yer trousers.
(we also had friends over who wanted to see a horror movie, so we put on the first Sinister - you know, after seeing it four times it's already outlived its usefulness three times over, but on a big TV with good sound it's still really something. The soundtrack's something straight from hell, especially during the Family BBQ, the burning of the tapes and the end/the credits. Much more effective than the Autopsy, that's for sure)

Also seen Hot Girls Wanted, a documentary on the world of amateur porn stars. Kinda felt like taking a shower afterwards. Especially since because age restrictions, even when there were "examples" the document cropped the picture to show only "safe" parts of the shot, or only audio played ... which in the whole Latina Abuse section made me really uneasy. I mean really uneasy.

But enough about movies (and documents), let's talk about what we really got the 'Flix for - the series.

I've already talked about Black Mirror - I hope the quality won't be going down anytime soon, but so far it's been really fierce. Some of the episodes I'd actually wouldn't mind seeing as full-fledged movies in their own right. Though despite my bleak and dark nature ( :D ) I still loved Hang the DJ the most. And while White Bear was certainly interesting, it got a bit too absurd and a bit illogical for me to appreciate as much as the rest. Though I got the message and it felt really chilly.

Three episodes in Stranger Things and I certainly understand why people talked about It (2017) being a "rip-off" of that one, though to be fair, the King book is from 1986. Then again, in the original novel the parts with the children were set in the 50's, not 80's, so you might say the movie producers did somewhat ape ST, at least in that regard. Anyway, it's good - the chemistry between the actors works (and the child actors are marvelous indeed) the atmosphere is very believable and in general it feels very carefully put together. The insanity of Winona Ryder kinda gets on my nerves already (and why did they have to do it to her especially?), but we're really enjoying it alright. Still waiting how the development's gonna go with that one.

Last but certainly not least - I know I'm rediscovering 'Murica once again, but I finally got around to watching Sherlock. And man, did I love it. Again, only three episodes so far, but I was hooked from the very beginning. I almost even get the Badminton Cobblesnatch fandom (it's still the voice, mostly, really). But the way it's been built-up, the stories, the script, everything just screams "binge-watch me!" in me face. In the first episode there were even times when I was reminded of Fantastic Mr Fox (long story, but that's one of my favourite movies, I'll probably get to that one some time in the future, but belive me - I'm not talking out of me arse) - right, when Shers called Watsie back to his apartment and kept lying on the couch, you know what I mean. I was kinda worryin' how I'm gonna take Badbalrog Cucumbersnatch in this one, but I didn't need to, really. I know it's mostly the voice (again!) and the fact he's playing a well-scripted character, but I'm starting to really like Bandana Cuckoldhatch very much.
I managed to hold myself and not use Bedridden Cumswap. But also - that one's been taken, please use others.


Also, since I've mentioned some horror stuff above, I'm currently waiting for the excuse to go re-watch Rec 1 and 2 (the Spanish ones, I believe there was an American remake?). Those two really made an impression. I remember the time when I first started learning Spanish and I had this cultural explosion (I usually need to surround and drench myself with products of the culture to make any progress in the language whatsoever... though it really didn't work with the Spanish) and we watched some really good horror movies therefrom - apart from the Recs, also Julia's Eyes and The Orphanage - don't confuse with The Orphan. Those really made an impression.


P.S.: Also, on Wednesday and Thursday my wife found me on the couch after falling asleep during Tales of the Irish Castles and World War II in Colour respectively, to which her reaction was “are you a fuckin’ septuagenarian??” :bigsmile:
 
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JudasMyGuide said:
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
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Fun fact about this one: here in Brazil, the official translated title literally understood "Jane Doe" as the girl's name. It was beyond stupid, and I was just... speechless when I found out the national title. The movie had posters around featuring the not-so-well-translated title (A Autópsia de Jane Doe) until some time near the film's official release, when someone finally officially recognized the idiotic mistake and thus reduced the title simply to A Autópsia (The Autopsy). I still can't fathom how something this simple made it past the entire crew involved in the movie's release process almost completely unnoticed.

Loved the movie BTW, couldn't sleep after I saw it (though that was partially because, that very night, my cat had decided to play with a then-new toy I had just gotten her that had a little rattle inside; I swear, I think I was never that scared in my entire life).
 
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Number 6 said:
Loved the movie BTW, couldn't sleep after I saw it (though that was partially because, that very night, my cat had decided to play with a then-new toy I had just gotten her that had a little rattle inside; I swear, I think I was never that scared in my entire life).
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Yeah, having cats automatically lowers your sensitivity to horror movies in the long run. I mean, the floorboards always creak, there are often other inhuman sounds and in our case, a white face with dark eyes, almost skull-like, if you’re still half asleep and squinting in the darkened room, appears from the shadows. :D
 
So, I re-watched In Bruges today once again, because our parish priest wanted to see it. And I really love it so much. (He obviously liked it too, by the way)

In fact, I'd say it's not only among my top 10 movies, but also one of the movies I'd recommend to someone as "my" film, a film where I actively search for people who love it as much as I do - I don't know what it says about me, really, apart from the fact it's so obviously Catholic, just like Calvary and Three Billboards, yet it's also just as well not as obvious, because I completely understand that some people just don't see it at all.

Above all, I'd say it's also one of the most poetic movies I've seen - and yes, a movie can be "poetic" despite all the blown heads and crushed bodies.
I have to write a more thorough review one day.
 
What did you think of Three Billboards, Judas? I think everything it did, it did really well. I thought it was a damn fine piece of work. A lot of it felt perfectly pitched; scenes/characters felt just right. I'll probably never watch it again, but I can see why it was/is so highly thought of.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
So, I re-watched In Bruges today once again, because our parish priest wanted to see it. And I really love it so much. (He obviously liked it too, by the way)

In fact, I'd say it's not only among my top 10 movies, but also one of the movies I'd recommend to someone as "my" film, a film where I actively search for people who love it as much as I do - I don't know what it says about me, really, apart from the fact it's so obviously Catholic, just like Calvary and Three Billboards, yet it's also just as well not as obvious, because I completely understand that some people just don't see it at all.

Above all, I'd say it's also one of the most poetic movies I've seen - and yes, a movie can be "poetic" despite all the blown heads and crushed bodies.
I have to write a more thorough review one day.
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In Bruges is one of my top films of all time. The writing, directing, cast, and humour is just so perfect. I love that movie. It’s actually in my top 3 along with Jurassic Park and Aliens, but not everyone gets it.

Personally, I found Three Billboards to be lacking in the subtlety that In Bruges excelled at.
 
Saapanael said:
Never played/watched anything Castlevania but demonic creatures and castles are just my thing, I should check it out.
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I think it's very loosely based on one of the early NES games, the third one if I remember rightly. I've only played the first two games (and some of the later ones on the DS but that's unrelated) but I still enjoyed this series. Be warned - it's short. Four episodes at about 25-30 minutes apiece, well worth the watch though.
 
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