What Are You Watching?, Films and TV Options

[Novander]

Saw The Book of Eli today. Another post-apocalypse setting, this time Denzel Washington kicking ass in the name of the lord as he defends the last copy of the bible. It's nowhere near as spirit-crushing as The Road. A lot more fun. Sometimes it takes itself a little too serious and there were a few bits I'm not so sure of that I can't discuss here because Massive Spoilers. But in general, a lot of fun and I'd definitely recommend it.

[Daria]

I watched Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs the other day, and it is one of the best films I have seen recently. Not least because Steve the monkey is like my cat Parsnip. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you do.

[Mata]

I've heard a few people say good things about that film. I suspect was mostly put off it by the abysmal sounding title.

I'm off to see Avatar on Friday. I've heard enormously varied reports about it and the trailers really didn't excite me at all, so my expectations are suitably adjusted downwards and I'm hoping to be pleasently surprised.

[Yannick]

I saw Avatar last weekend after a failed attempt to see Youth In Revolt. I'd recommend it, not really because of the great story line or anything, but because Pandora is just freaking cool. We didn't see it in 3D or IMax, but I really want to.

[Hobbes]

I'm off to see Avatar on Friday. I've heard enormously varied reports about it and the trailers really didn't excite me at all, so my expectations are suitably adjusted downwards and I'm hoping to be pleasently surprised.

I'm off to see it on Saturday, and I have the same low expectations of it. On Sunday, I think I'll be back at the cinema again, watching Sherlock Holmes.

[Hobbes]

Avatar was so much better than I was allowing myself to expect.

I'm ever-so-slightly sitting on the fence regarding 3D though... I'm not really sure it should catch on permanently. But it probably will. I don't feel like the effect provided me with any thing I really needed, and it proved to be more of a distraction than an immersion. But maybe that's just me, and it being "new".

But, regardless, I found Avatar to be quite enjoyable on the whole. Not the must-see, grand epic that some have made out, perhaps, but overall worthy of my time and money

I also saw Sherlock Holmes this weekend, and I enjoyed that a lot more. It is wide open for the sequel, so I look forward to it.

[Mata]

I hear Holmes is a far more enjoyable film overall, so I'll see that at some point.

Avatar was incredible technically, but the plot and characters left me cold. The whole story was kind of sweet, but so utterly by-the-numbers that I really didn't feel in the least bit excited. Considering that there were aerial battles darting between flying moutains, huge explosions, and mech robots, I consider it an incredibly bad sign that it just wasn't very exciting. As I said on my Facebook thing about it, it felt like it wanted to be several films: a documentary about the planet and wildlife, a romance, and some guff with space marines. None of them were particularly stellar, I felt. As a technical achievement it's astonishing - utterly, utterly incredible technology, but as a film it really wasn't very memorable.

I think they made the 3D more subtle than some other 3D films to prevent the usual depth popping. In comparison to the only other 3D film I've seen (The Final Destination) the 3D was much better. The cinematic style had clearly been adjusted to suit the medium. I do wonder whether it will seem a little slow and bland in 2D? Maybe that's the reason that the action sequences weren't really very exciting? The snap cuts and fast pans had to be removed to make the 3D work, and the slower and steadier action just wasn't as dynamic...

Which I guess means it probably would have been a better film (in terms of dynamism) if it had been made in 2D. Ouch. If I'd spent all that money on making it in 3D then that would be quite a painful thought. On the plus side, I'm sure that a lot of the tech they've used and created for the film will be patented and make a huge amount of revenue over the next 30+ years.

I'm glad I've seen it, purely because it is a technological landmark, it's just such a shame that it really wasn't a coherent film and was full of stereotypical characters.

[Tarantio]

Just finished watching the finale of Dollhouse. I wont lie, I was in tears. I hesitate to /shakefist at Joss Whedon for constantly breaking my heart, since it seems Jed and his wife actually do a lot of his writing now, and do a bloody good job of it as well.

I'm also currently enjoying series two of Being Human. Loved the first series and was pretty excited for this one, and it's yet to disappoint.

[Novander]

I watched Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs the other day, and it is one of the best films I have seen recently. Not least because Steve the monkey is like my cat Parsnip. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you do.

You know Steve the monkey was voiced by none other than NPH? Funniest film of the year.

Last night I saw Youth In Revolt which I very much enjoyed. Michael Cera plays his usual character, which he does very well, but fortunately this time also plays a supplementary personality who is actually something other than a charmingly nervous teen. It's great; you should watch it.

[CrazyFooIAintGet...]

Saw Ponyo (Studio Ghibli) yesterday. Very enjoyable

It's the classic fairy tale: magic fish runs away from abusive father, tastes ham, decides to become human, and falls in love, inadvertently causing a hole in the fabric of space in the process.

[Hobbes]

At the cinema last night, I saw "The Crazies". It wasn't my personal choice to see, as I'm not particularly into zombie (or zombie-esque) films, but it was actually lots better than I expected. Quite amusing in parts, particularly the ending. But I still never quite manage to be entirely happy with how these maniacs behave. The contrast between bumbling, brainless idiot, and a homocidal persistently inventive killer is sometimes a bit too much.

Still, not all bad.

Tonight I am going to see 'Lovely Bones'.

[Novander]

I'm quite looking forward to The Crazies. Everything I've heard about it says "actually a little better than I expected." I'm watching it tomorrow along with From Paris With Love, the latest film from the director of Taken. I've heard good things about it. Not quite as good as Taken, but still good.

The rest of this post concerns The Lovely Bones and doesn't really contain any spoilers, but maybe you might not want to read it if you're planning on watching the film.

I know a lot of people who really liked The Lovely Bones, but it just made me angry at how badly it was handled. The acting is excellent, particularly from Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci, but some of the direction and scripting is really bad. It's got these weird HD close ups thrown in at random points that jar with the rest of the film and break the immersion, but mostly it suffers from the same problems that made me hate My Sister's Keeper:

1. Narration works well in books but it translates into films as voice-over, which is rarely handled well and often seems lazy. Don't just tell me someone feels sad, show it to me and let me work it out for myself.

2. Soft focus does not heighten emotion, it just makes things look blurry.

3. A young girl saying "I am going to die" is sad but it is not the saddest thing ever. If you do this at the very start of the film then I am not emotionally connected to the character and thus I don't really care that much, especially as I already knew this was the plot of the film. You still have to work at making me feel something. And I know it's not because I'm dead inside; I cried twice during Everybody's Fine earlier today and that wasn't even that great a film.

There's a few other things about this film I'd like to rant about but I'd definitely be veering into Spoiler territory there. If you absolutely love it let me know and I'll private message you why you're wrong. :P

[Novander]

The Crazies is actually a little better than I expected.

Fromn Paris With Love is the best film so far this year. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.

[Novander]

Three posts in a row. Sorry. This is once again becoming the Novander Watches Films thread.

Right, so we've had a bunch of good films this year, but I was just saying earlier that we haven't had that breakthrough Awesome film yet, like 2009 had Moon and Up and 2008 had Wall-E, The Dark Knight and In Bruges. Well, turns out I was wrong because Kick-Ass really is that good.

[Industrial Kybos...]

As anyone who has befriended me on Facebook will know, I'm all over my shiny new Twin Peaks box set. Most of the way through the baffling second series now. The owls, I am given to understand, are not what they seem...

Other than that, I saw Kick-Ass last week (again, the Facebook crowd will know this, and will probably be tired of me harping on about how AWESOME it is), and have a horror film all-dayer planned for this Saturday. Multiple zombie warning!

[Tarantio]

Recently watched the first series of Burn Notice, mostly because I heard Bruce Campbell was in it. It was rather enjoyable indeed. Also, thanks to Inky, I've been watching clips from Knightmare on youtube; a lost piece of my childhood every bit as awesome as I remember

[Industrial Kybos...]

It amazes me how endlessly rewatchable a kid in a helmet wandering through a crude CG dungeon is. It grips me as much now as it did when I was a wee nipper. God bless Knightmare...

[Pikasyuu]

softcore porn on adult swim.

[Industrial Kybos...]

Glorious whisky-fuelled horror day for me and the missus! Oh blessed day of wonder! This was comprised of the following:

Paranormal Activity
Colin
Deadgirl
Doghouse
Dead Snow

Occasional breaks were taken to fetch more Coke, order pizza, be disappointed by Doctor Who, and talk a big load of pretentious bollocks about spheres of action within the zombie genre. There was also a conversation about breasts that I barely remember.

Typical night in at the Kybosh household.

[Daria]

Recently:
Shutter Island
Tim And Eric's Awesome Show. Good Job!
House
more Tim And Eric...

All are pretty good, TAEASGD! being the highlight.

[Pikasyuu]

just discovered Ugly Betty upon Froggy's recommendation (she has surprisingly good taste..), and loving it. on episode three now. :)

[Mata]

InKy:

Paranormal Activity - I saw this a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. I really didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be good fun. Not perhaps the scariest thing I've ever seen, but still a damn good film.

Colin - I've not got around to that one, despite liking the sound of it. Is it worth watching?

Deadgirl
Doghouse
Dead Snow - I've never heard of these three, but I do enjoy a good horror film. Are they worth seeing?

I watched '9' a few weeks ago. It's... Okay. The CG is clearly a bit dated in the rendering style, the story is simpler than it looks like it's going to be, then doesn't go anywhere particularly amazing, and in the end you're left with a feeling of 'oh, okay then' about the whole thing. I'd only suggest it if there's nothing else you fancy. It's not a bad film by any means, it's just not particularly special either.

[Industrial Kybos...]

Paranormal Activity is great, and exponentially scarier if you watch it at home, at night. We watched it during the day, which softened the blow somewhat, but it still gave us some good scares. If you've got or can get hold of the DVD, there's some great extras - especially the entrants for the 'make your own Paranormal Activity' competition. This one is one of the best.

Colin is a very interesting zombie film, made on a budget of tuppence and mostly from the perspective of a recently-turned zombie. It's not perfect, by any means - could do with some editing, and there's too much shouting in some scenes (low budget horror makers take note - lots of people shouting all at once does not create tension, just headaches) - but it's got enough nice touches to make it a worthwhile punt. It feels like a series of short stories on the theme of zombie, linked together by Colin's own story, and that works rather well.

Deadgirl and Doghouse were my wife's picks, which might give people an idea of how untypical she is as a woman, given that the first is a tale of two teenage boys who find an undead woman shackled to a bed, and decide to keep her as their sex slave, and the second is about a collection of lad stereotypes who find themselves the target of a village full of female zombies.

Deadgirl is morally grey, and none of the characters are especially 'good' people, and the ending could be construed as sweet or creepy depending on your opinion of the lead teen. Some my see it as somewhat mysoginist, but wifey loves it. Go figure.

Doghouse is just gloriously stupid, hitting a note between Sean Of The Dead and Braindead. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then I can't recommend it enough. Features Emily Booth as a scissor-wielding zombie hairdresser too, which is no bad thing.

Dead Snow is a Norwegian Nazi zombie gorefest that's a little bit by-the-book, but still entertaining if that's your sort of thing. Better undead goosesteppers can be found in Outpost, but this'll do, especially if you're as full of whiskey as we were at that point.

[I_am_the_best]

Louis Theroux's Medicated America.

God that man is good.
His intellect/sneakiness is a little bit sexy. But only a little bit.

[Yannick]

The Invention of Lying. Such an awesome movie.