What are you watching?

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
Last weekend we watched Edge of Darkness (1985), a short BBC series I saw recommended as fodder for Delta Green. There's no Mythos elements in it but it would be a doddle imagine some. Primarily it's great for its depiction of various 'intelligence' factions operating simultaneusly in cooperation and competition... and the eccentric character of those capable of being involved in such nonsense and confusion.
It's a bit bleak but not entirely grimdark. Despite not being an overt comedy, translated to Delta Green it would certainly add some humour.

1637726888384.png



ALSO, I continue watching Blake's 7 and my love of it grows with each episode. The low-budget effects just add to the fun and atmosphere. I love the way 'space' looks in exterior shots. Also, the abundant use of white, which used to be associated more with future tech than grey and black. I appreciate that the main characters are just a bit reticent to use violence to resolve situations (one of them flat out cannot)... not gunning down opponents as freely as on some scifi shows, they also have multiple colorful costumes which helps set their demeanor apart from their milataristic enemies. Also, the way the female characters are depicted as being VERY capable... without anyone having to draw attention to it.
Despite the recent thimble-hurricane over 40K, this show seems like it (among many other things) must have been on the minds of the original writers of Rogue Trader (digital weapons!) and could certainly exist in the original take on the setting. Embracing its 'robin hood in space' notions again might be the balm for those tired of 40K's excessive grimdark military wank (yes, I know about how the show ends... don't matter).

1637726737267.png
 
Last edited:
Séadna said:
There's also subjects where it really is excellent. Like if anybody ever wants to learn Ancient Egyptian history whatever community wrote that whole area of the encyclopedia are amazing. It's like hundreds of books and articles cross referenced and digested into readable form. And free.

In my experience it just varies so much because it's really a collection of communities devoted to specific topics, so how good a given topic is depends on the make up of that community.
Click to expand...

I found a number of Wikipedia entries are plagiarized directly from Britannica and other sources without credit.
 
I just watched the first season of a BBC police procedural called Paranoid. It was quite good. I thought the characters had a lot more interesting depth than you see in your average procedural. It's got Robert Glenister in one of the main roles and he's excellent, although not as excellent as his brother Philip Glenister was as Gene Hunt in Life on Mars.
 
Rewatched Lawrence of Arabia because somehow my wife has never seen it. In case you didn't know, it's pretty, pretty good.




Two things I'll note after this viewing: this is a much more politically and psychologically sophisticated film than a lot of people give it credit for and it is supremely well paced for such a long film.
 
Last edited:
Voros said:
Rewatched Lawrence of Arabia because somehow my wife has never seen it. In case you didn't know, it's pretty, pretty good.




Two things I'll note after this viewing: this is a much more politically and psychologically sophisticated film than a lot of people give it credit and it is supremely well paced for such a long film.
Click to expand...

Single-handedly my favorite movie. It's definitely one of the best. My only complaint is that it's based off of his autobiography, which has been suspected of being exaggerated, as apposed to the historical events.
 
Simlasa said:
Last weekend we watched Edge of Darkness (1985), a short BBC series I saw recommended as fodder for Delta Green. There's no Mythos elements in it but it would be a doddle imagine some. Primarily it's great for its depiction of various 'intelligence' factions operating simultaneusly in cooperation and competition... and the eccentric character of those capable of being involved in such nonsense and confusion.

View attachment 38486
Click to expand...

Edge of Darkness was a huge favourite in roleplaying circles when I was at uni, in about '86. Very much the zeitgeist of those times. I'm glad to hear that it's available again.

I just watched Red Notice, a silly but fun action-caper comedy on Netflix, which stars Ryan Reynolds (who is evidently unafraid of being type-cast), Dwayne Johnson, Gal Godot, and Ritu Arya. It does contain some complete nonsense, but has glamour, colour & movement, great locations, and sustains a cracking pace. There might be some material for that sort of RPG adventure. Watch with alcohol and cheesy snacks.
 
Agemegos said:
I just watched Red Notice, a silly but fun action-caper comedy on Netflix, which stars Ryan Reynolds (who is evidently unafraid of being type-cast), Dwayne Johnson, Gal Godot, and Ritu Arya. It does contain some complete nonsense, but has glamour, colour & movement, great locations, and sustains a cracking pace. There might be some material for that sort of RPG adventure. Watch with alcohol and cheesy snacks.
Click to expand...

Pretty much my take on it as well. As long as you don't think about it too much, and don't have an aversion to multiple Xanatos gambits, then it's a fun popcorn action-heist film. Reynolds and Johnson have great chemistry, and Gadot clearly enjoyed her role.
 
Watched a few episodes of Hotel Del Luna, a Korean series on Netflix. It's about a quasi-immortal woman who runs a hotel for ghosts on their way to the afterlife and a new human manager she manipulates into working for her. Basil Fawlty reimagined as a tsundere meets Sixth Sense. Not bad so far.

Yeo Jin Gu's (the male lead) plastic surgery is lacking in subtlety, even by Korean standards.
Neither is the product placement *cough*Jaguar*cough*.
 
Last edited:
Still making my way through Almost Human. Took a short break to dive back into FBI. I wanted to catch up on that, as there is an episode that crosses over with Most Wanted, so I can't continue that until I see the FBI episode first. Also still watching Occupation: Rainfall.
 
Watched Titane, the Palme d'Or-winning horror film from the director of the terrific cannibalistic Raw.

Imagine J.G. Ballard's Crash meets Cronenberg and Joanna Russ. Very bizarre, grotesque and sexy. You won't be able to predict where this surreal fable is going for its first 30-40 minutes and the ending is another surprise and shift in tone.

 
Finished Occupation: Rainfall. Given it ends with a cliffhanger, I was a bit ticked. I'm not a big fan of movies that end in the middle of a story. It also tries so hard to be the next Independence Day, but fails. Which bums me out as the original Occupation was a better film, even if it was Red Dawn with aliens.

During my mini-binge of FBI, there was a great episode involving a teenage member of a gang who helps the agents arrest the other members of her gang for killing her teacher (who was trying to help her get out). There's a good courtroom scene where the main character pleads with a judge to not deport the girl, as it's a certain death sentence for her. It reminded me of a Law & Order episode more thanks to that. It was probably my favorite episode of the series so far.

I should be finishing up Almost Human this week, and am likely going to dive into Super Crooks soon, as I was a fan of the comic mini-series
 
Finished Hotel Del Luna - my first foray into Korean dramas. These tend not to be soaps in the strictest sense - they have a defined story with a beginning and ending and seem to mostly run for just a single season. Perhaps a bit closer in format to Telenovellas than (say) Coro Street.

Written by the Hong Sisters (Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran), Hotel Del Luna is a sort of redemption story about a woman cursed to run a hotel for ghosts waiting to be able to let go their grudges or dramas before they pass into the afterlife. There's a fair amount of it - 16x90 minute episodes and multiple story arcs - so it's a substantial time commitment to binge. Although I'd never heard of them (maybe because I've never watched Korean TV before) the Hong sisters are, according to the interwebs, a big name in Korean romcoms.

The leads have beautifully sculpted faces in the way that only Korea, with its national obsession with plastic surgery, can really pull off - to the point that I find that Yeo Jin-goo (the male lead) has a sort of uncanny valley quality. The product placement is ... not subtle; apparently everybody in Seoul drives Jaguars these days, including the Grim Reaper.

Going a bit further down the rabbit hole, one of the supporting characters (a ghost of a schoolgirl possessing her murderer's body) was played by a former k-pop star who killed herself not long after. Apparently she had been quite vocal about mental health and cyber-bullying and released an album about dissociative identity disorder.

Hotel Del Luna is fairly good and IMO worth watching; I'd rate it about a B+. Korean dramas are well regarded in Asia and are popular in a lot of Asian countries. There's quite a bit of Korean content (of which Mrs Nobby-W Nobby-W is something of a fan) on Netflix, so it's also fairly accessible.
 
Last edited:
Upthread I griped a bit about the way that in New Tricks the detectives always seem able to solve decades-old cold cases. Since then my wife and I have watched more of the series and have seen several episodes where they couldn't precisely solve the case--usually they were sure of the answer, but couldn't come up with proof so long after the fact. So there's that.
 
In related news, Netflix is now recommending Korean soaps and fantasy series to me.
 
Been revisiting Alien Nation the film and the series (haven't seen either since I was in 7th grade I think). I always had fond memories of the show and it is interesting going back to something from that era after having not seen it in so long. One of the surprises is most of the science fiction elements hold up well (at least for me) and most of the dated parts of the show are more around things like having a corny photojournalist recurring character or certain types of humor in the series. Opinions will probably vary a lot though.

Did some discussions on the movie the episodes I have seen:





 
Some people will say that Penelope Cruz can't act, but sangre Dios, with the right script and somebody like Almodóvar at the helm, boy does she prove them wrong.
So yesterday I watched Madres Paralelas in theatre. No fx, no explosions or car chases. Just a simple human story.
 
I've never heard anyone claim that about Cruz if they've actually seen her Spanish films, particularly the ones with Almodovar as you say. Same with Antonio Banderas.
 
Watched the new South Park movie. Very funny seeing the boys in their late 40s and more than a few piss-takes of SciFi and Futuristic writing. There's a great extended joke with Kyle and Cartman that I won't spoil. If you like the show but maybe haven't watched it in a few years I'd recommend it.
 
Voros said:
I've never heard anyone claim that about Cruz if they've actually seen her Spanish films, particularly the ones with Almodovar as you say. Same with Antonio Banderas.
Click to expand...
...I wouldn't have said that about her even before watching any of her movies with Almodovar.
Guess some people have exalted criteria I can't understand.
 
Voros said:
Watched Wolf Walkers on Apple TV+. Very beautifully animated and by the same folks behind The Song of the Seas.
Click to expand...
Kilkenny around that time is really interesting. Large Dutch and Jewish quarters, large female owned businesses, witch trials, etc. I'd like to see more stuff set then.
 
Séadna said:
Kilkenny around that time is really interesting. Large Dutch and Jewish quarters, large female owned businesses, witch trials, etc. I'd like to see more stuff set then.
Click to expand...
So it’s set in the early 1300s? I presume you’re alluding to the Alice Kyteler trials (c. 1324).
 
Séadna said:
Kilkenny around that time is really interesting. Large Dutch and Jewish quarters, large female owned businesses, witch trials, etc. I'd like to see more stuff set then.
Click to expand...

Yes, the historical setting was interesting to me as I know very little about it. It has a surprisingly upfront Monotheist vs. Heathen conflict as well.

Do you have any books you recommend for pre-modern Irish history?

I've only read about Ireland in the 20th century.
 
Voros said:
Do you have any books you recommend for pre-modern Irish history?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately it's hard to think of one.

Most pre-modern books are ultra focused academic works that are dry as dust. I can't think of anything like Mary Beard's SPQR for Rome or that sort, i.e. accurate, readable and covers the major points. Most non-academic books don't even mention the Bards for example, despite being the major cultural force on the island for over a thousand years.

The closest was the old "Gill History of Ireland" series from the 70s, but it's a bit inaccurate in light of modern scholarship. Unfortunately there's a very good book in Irish, but the author will never let it be translated. Maybe one day somebody will fill the market.
 
Séadna said:
He feels English translations of Irish stuff don't work very well without extreme effort and he doesn't feel bothered to put in the months himself to do it. As he put it "a combination of perfectionism and laziness"
Click to expand...
Couldn't you tempt him to authorize a French translation instead:devil:?
 
As an introduction to Irish history (though it’s the whole scope, not just pre-modern) I’m fond of Sean Duffy’s Concise History of Ireland. Duffy is a professor of Medieval History at Trinity College, and so his survey does not privilege the modern era in the way that most books on the subject do. It’s also very well illustrated with maps, diagrams, etc. that actually add to the text rather than just being pretty additions; I’ve digitized some of the maps for teaching. Duffy’s book is aging a bit (I think the last edition was 2005) but it still holds up, I think.
 
Lofgeornost said:
As an introduction to Irish history (though it’s the whole scope, not just pre-modern) I’m fond of Sean Duffy’s Concise History of Ireland. Duffy is a professor of Medieval History at Trinity College, and so his survey does not privilege the modern era in the way that most books on the subject do. It’s also very well illustrated with maps, diagrams, etc. that actually add to the text rather than just being pretty additions; I’ve digitized some of the maps for teaching. Duffy’s book is aging a bit (I think the last edition was 2005) but it still holds up, I think.
Click to expand...
For me personally I still find too much of the flavour of Medieval and Early Modern society is left out of the book. Given its scope and the major themes he's going for one might say that has to happen, but I just found too many elements of the society are missing. It's not that these books are inaccurate, but there's just important gaps in what they cover. There's no analogue of say Donald Gregory's "Wales before 1066" or similar.

Actually on a personal note my office was facing Duffy's across a courtyard when I was in Trinity.

I do know David Stifter in Maynooth might write an intro history at some point. He really knows the Medieval and Early Modern society very well.
 
Last edited:
So I finished the Netflix Cowboy Bebop tonight. It didn't suck, but it didn't grab me either. It you start from the statement that it's not going to be the same as the anime it's OK in its own right. I think it has room for improvement, and if it gets a second season it may well improve.
 
After watching bits and pieces of it over many months, I finally gave up on finishing Wolf Warrior 2. I picked it up in a discount sales because it’s been years since I watched a Chinese-language movie, but sadly it’s all over the place.



I give it credit, that the combat sequences in Africa are good, in both cinematography and not holding back punches kind of way. The opening fight isn’t my cup of tea, but it is novel. And I love the fact the protagonists never learn that someone who is apparently being an asshole to them is actually about to die to protect one of them. Also, after hearing about the film being full of politics I think perhaps 20 seconds of the film fall into that category.



But, as I said, it’s all over the place. There’s a Gilligan Cut to avoid showing an important fight scene. There’s a kid sidekick whose idea of funny is sneaking up on the protagonist and sticking a gun in his back. There are multiple instance of text to inform the viewer of things that are too small to read. There’s a concerted effort to have the protagonist being a shirtless alpha male and partying, which seems like failed character building.



I finally bailed when the film introduced a female, sexy scientist. She lies about who she is, and when the bad guy’s subordinate points this out the bad guy…kills his subordinate for saving him from falling for her ruse. I stopped the film as another dude died so Female Love Interest could survive to meet the protagonist.



I’m a little sad I didn’t make it to the part where the protagonist jump kicks a tank.
 
Rewatched Ferrara's Ms. 45 on Shudder, starring Zoe Lund (so memorable in Ferrara's later Bad Lieutenant).

This art exploitation classic is such a major step up from Ferrara's Driller Killer it is hard to believe it is from the same director.

He manages to use his miniscule budget to his advantage to craft a surprisingly subtle, minimalist but visually striking film, still one of the best rape/revenge films ever made.

 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top