What Are You Watching?, Films and TV Options

[snooodlysnoosnoo...]

Eugh, I hated Being Human. It's.. I dunno. A vampire who doesn't want to drink blood (cliche, anyone?) who can go out in daylight and just doesn't like bright sunlight, a ghost who can be seen plain as anything by normal people and make (but not drink) tea... and the werewolf who feels violated by his wolf-ness?
I think it could have been really good but I was so disappointed I stopped watching after ep 3.

I'm not really sure how I feel about Dollhouse, it kind of feels like it's all building up to something, maybe?

[leopold]

I don't think the ghost can be seen by normal people, snoo. Or at least she couldn't in the episode I watched. And although the vampire thing has been done before, perhaps it's the quandary that anyone bitten, but not killed, by a vampire faces - to kill or not to kill? And here's me talking about it like it actually happens

I've been watching the new series of Shameless. It's a show I've been gradually falling out of love with (the humour seems to have evaporated since David Threlfall got more involved) but yet I still find myself watching it. This season's theme appears to be about Patrick MacGuire's shady past catching up with him. This woman, whose daughter died from heroin abuse, discovered that Paddy was the dealer who supplied her. So she's kidnapped him, tied him to a bed and left him there for a good while before explaining about her daughter. And then proceeds to forcibly inject heroin into him until he becomes an addict himself. If you don't have E4 or haven't seen the episode, turn away now...... We see a hazy shot of Paddy booting some unconscious bloke on the floor and telling him to "get the feck up", when the guy rolls over - and it's Paddy, with a shaved head, completely out of it. And then the scene changes and he's lying in St. Peter's Square in Manchester, just as we'd seen him on the floor in the previous shot, completely unaware of what's going on.

Yes, all very heavy stuff. And more than a little disturbing, in much the same way as "A Clockwork Orange" was. Not pleasant. So now hopefully we'll get to see Paddy the Bastard at some point - he's gone way too soft.

[Novander]

The very best part of my job is getting to watch films on the big screen before everyone else.

Guys, I have seen Star Trek. It is pretty damn good. I am not a trekkie and I liked it. Some people I saw it with live and breathe Star Trek and they liked it. Some people I saw it with can't tell the difference between a Klingon and a Wookie and they liked it. There is a little bit too much Dutch Angle and a lot too much lens flare, but the acting is great, Simon Pegg is great, the pacing keeps the plot gripping all the way through, the comic relief is actually comical and most importantly Simon Pegg is great.

On the same day I also saw Wolverine, but that was only half an hour before the general public could watch it, and it wasn't nearly as good. Better than X Men: The Last Stand, but not as good as the first two. Depending on who you ask, it needed either more Deadpool or more Gambit. They both stole every scene they were in.

Also, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel is interesting. Worth a watch maybe for what it's trying to do, but it would be a stretch to call it good.

And finally Seth Rogen's latest, Observe & Report is absolutely terrible. Such a let down for such a good comic actor. It's not Judd Apatow, so it wasn't going to be as good as Rogen's better known stuff, but this was just dire.

[Yannick]

Wipeout, another one of those awesome obstacle course shows.

[craziness]

addicted to dollhouse. i watched it all season with a group of friends every weekend.

[leopold]

Watched "Terminator Salvation" last night. It wasn't too bad - at least there wasn't a ridiculously long and drawn out car chase like in "Rise..." Arnie makes the gratuitous nude appearance, but this time it's all CGI'ed. The immortal line was spoken, but not by Arnie (who I don't think was even cast in it). There's a few effects that look like they may also appear in "Transformers". And there's a dude who's been turned into a machine, which isn't a squillion miles from "Wolverine".

It takes place after "Rise...", which is also sort of before the original "Terminator". It's been left wide open for another sequel, just in case the Governator needs a few bob in his retirement.

And I still can't get my noodle round the whole 'John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to save his mum, and Kyle ends up being his dad' thing. How can John send Kyle back to become his dad? He wouldn't have existed in the first place, surely? Or is this some holding pattern thing, where the machines realise they are going to be decommissioned if there's no humans left to kill, so they keep these humans alive somehow so they don't end up with nothing to do?

The plot? Same old same old: Human resistance to Terminators, lots of special effects, big killing machines and the Humans prevail despite the onslaught.

[Novander]

Last night I saw the new Transformers film, Revenge of the Fallen.

If you measure the merit of a film by the number of explosions it contains, you will love this film. By any other rating system it fails quite miserably. That's not to say I didn't enjoy parts of it but the whole thing is far too long and instead of contained set pieces we could have watched and gone "man, this is amazing!" the action just constantly shifts from place to place and you soon get bored of it.

Plus, the plot makes no sense at all, so they throw in these drawn out exposition scenes which are the only break from the exploding of things, but now we're bored of listening to people talk too.

Looks good, but is a great disappointment.

[Star_of_Lei]

^I'm sorry to hear that, I bought the first one the other day because I felt like rewatching it again and enjoyed it again. Not as muchas the first time when the friend I went with sat through it all with comments about the typical American reaction of blowing things up. Actually, come to think of it, that sounds a lot like your description of the second one. Glad to see they're keeping in theme.


In other news, I'm up so late (2am) because after realising that the summer holidays are a terrible time to keep up to date with my favourite programs, I have decided to watch the rest of House Season Five online. Is it just me or are the illnesses getting more and more dramatic?

Also, indulging my love of dance films I watched Save The Last Dance, Step Up and Step Up 2. I have such a weakness for them.

[I_am_the_best]

Just watched Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants. WHAT a phenomenal ending. Just, wow.

[Yannick]

Man, I've watched a lot of movies this week. ..More in four days than I usually do in like three months.
Monsters Inc. in German is way more entertaining than in English.
Seven Years in Tibet is pretty good, but Brad Pitt would have been a lot hotter without the Austrian accent.. Not sure how much I learned about Buddhism..
The Gladiator is AWESOME. Started off kind of slow, but today we actually stayed after class to finish it. Get to watch the ending again tomorrow because some kids left. Seriously cool movie. ...Now I have to write an essay on it. ;D
The new Star Trek movie is way better than I anticipated. We had this movie night thing going on at school, and even though we actually voted for the Wolverine movie, we ended up watching Star Trek. I went into it with the "...This is going to be so geeky..." mentality, but was totally bummed when I had to leave ten minutes before it ended to catch my bus. Not as good as Gladiator, but still really good. ...Star Wars is better.

[Hobbes]

I just got back from seeing "Paranormal Activity" and, as with the Blair Witch Project (which is shares stylistic similarities with), I cannot get certain images from the film out of my mind. I went to see it, with the desire to be scared, so I was in the right frame of mind to watch it - whereas I can understand that, with a different attitude, I may not have 'enjoyed' it as much.

Ultimately, it had a similar effect on me as Blair Witch did: I didn't jump, or scream, or throw popcorn in the air, or hide behind my hands. It made me shiver, and hold my breath in anticipation during certain moments.

Radio 1's film critic, James King, said something like this in his review: "This is a must-see film, 5 out of 5 stars, but I never want to see it again."

And I get what he means. I have owned Blair Witch on DVD for a few years, but not yet opened it. Perhaps seeing it that first time on TV was enough for me.

With films like this, where the "terror" is either invisible, or off-screen, I spend the rest of the day/evening/night remembering certain images, or moments, from the film - and it makes me uncomfortable.

Still enjoyed it though

[Mata]

Watch Drag Me To Hell: it's hilarious! It's Sam Raimi returning to the scray-comedy that he pioneered with the Evil Dead series, except now he has a far bigger budget.

I think I'm one of a tiny freakish goup of people who think that Gladiator is incredibly dull, utterly unemotive, and totally uninvolving.

[Mata]

Ooo! Ink! It's brilliant! It's about a girl who is stolen by a dream-demon and her father has to go and rescue her. Sounds trite? It's not. It's like a Neil Gaiman story crossed with Donnie Darko, made on the budget of Blair Witch Project. Watch it! Even better, buy it and support the Indie film makers who put it all together... It's available on Amazon!

[CrazyFooIAintGet...]

So the other night I saw The Room. It's been described as "the Citizen Kane of bad movies" and has drawn a cult following. The audience participation is amazing - after practically every line people insert "because you're a woman!" (the film is hilariously sexist) and everyone lobs plastic spoons whenever these bizarre framed cutlery photos are visible.

It's the best cinema experience I've ever had. Highly recommended!

[Miss-Smiley]

Im watching waterloo road these days and sometimes my family on channal 4.

[Mata]

I'm working my way steadily through the final series of Battlestar Galactica. Yes, I know I'm a bit late, but I've only got seven episodes to go. It's all rather exciting!

[Hobbes]

After about a year sitting in my collection, unwatched, the DVD of 'A Scanner Darkly' made its way into my DVD player this evening, to accompany me as a I went through acres of old bills, post, etc.

I hadn't seen it before, and the only thing I knew about it was regarding the unusual visual style.

Having seen it... I'm still not COMPLETELY sure what it was about But I still enjoyed it.

[snooodlysnoosnoo...]

After about a year sitting in my collection, unwatched, the DVD of 'A Scanner Darkly' made its way into my DVD player this evening, to accompany me as a I went through acres of old bills, post, etc.

I hadn't seen it before, and the only thing I knew about it was regarding the unusual visual style.

Having seen it... I'm still not COMPLETELY sure what it was about But I still enjoyed it.

It is worth another watch, but give it a few months!

I saw it at the cinema and came out with a headache and no idea what had happened but bought the DVD last year and have watched it a few times since, it's a bit like Eternal Sunshine when the more you watch it the more it makes sense... kinda.

[mooooooooooopo]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (currently series 3).

>_>

That is all.

[Yannick]

Finished season 2 and most of season 3 of The Big Bang Theory this week.

Right now there's a Star Wars Marathon on Spike.

[snooodlysnoosnoo...]

Did anybody watch the BBC's new adaptation of Day of the Triffids?

I thought it was pretty well done and nicely updated.

[Novander]

I saw vampire thriller Daybreakers and post-apocalyptic survival story The Road on Monday.

Daybreakers has a pretty good cast yet fails miserably to be anywhere near good. Most of the population of the world have turned into vampires and while Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe trade clichés while searching for a cure, Sam Neill hams it up as the worst bad guy I've seen in a long time. Evil for evil's sake works in children's films, maybe, but here it just seems lazy. At the core of this film is a nice idea that was never developed, instead we just get predictable twists and tasteless gore.

The Road, in contrast, is an excellent film. Viggo Mortensen plays The Man, trying to safely get him and his son, Kodi Smit-McPhee south before winter sets in in post apocalypse America, struggling with cannibals, starvation and paranoia along the way. Great performances from everybody. Very bleak, very intense, very good.

[Daria]

Did anybody watch the BBC's new adaptation of Day of the Triffids?

I thought it was pretty well done and nicely updated.

Yes and yes. Although I found the portrayal of Josella in the new one to be a bit... pathetic. In the book, she was a Triffid-gun toting, saucy book writing woman who managed to make her own way to her cousin's without doing it just because Bill was already there. And Koker was more interesting in the book (and there was a whole commentary about the class system etc...). However, I still thought it was good. The Triffids were a little bit Dr Whoesque in their slime and slithering, though.


Recently I have been waking up feeling pretty ill- just the leftover bits of my cold, but it's still enough to make me want to curl up in a blanket on my armchair and watch the morning showing of The Gilmore Girls on E4. I think it's the only TV show I am actually considering buying on dvd.

[snooodlysnoosnoo...]

I saw vampire thriller Daybreakers and post-apocalyptic survival story The Road on Monday.

Daybreakers has a pretty good cast yet fails miserably to be anywhere near good. Most of the population of the world have turned into vampires and while Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe trade clichés while searching for a cure, Sam Neill hams it up as the worst bad guy I've seen in a long time. Evil for evil's sake works in children's films, maybe, but here it just seems lazy. At the core of this film is a nice idea that was never developed, instead we just get predictable twists and tasteless gore.

I've just seen Daybreakers and I actually really liked it. Ethan Hawke has a lovely nose.

Also, I love the Gilmore Girls and have all 7 seasons on DVD and they make me happy happy

[Mata]

BEWARE! The Gilmore Girls is actually a highly addictive form of crack-cocaine that only effects women.