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I have watched seven episodes of The Sandman on Netflix this week.
I may slow down now, but by this time next week I will have done the whole season (ten episodes).
Looks pretty cool to me, no doubt it will be renewed for at least another season.

I'll have it finished tonight. :smile: It really raises the bar on what is possible for a TV show.

I remember a lot of people said that it would be impossible to film hell. I think they did a great job. I'd definitely say it will be renewed for a season 2!
 


Interesting- a guy is actually pulling off moves that you are not supposed to do in sword fighting in competition.
 
The Popcorn Frights film festival started yesterday, with the online version starting today. I bought a full festival pass, because buying ala cart would have cost me more in the long run. I just started the first feature film, A Malibu Horror Story.


I'll follow up with a shorts block, which is all I'm interested in today. Tomorrow though, is 3 movies and a shorts block, one of which is an Argentine movie called Pussycake, which has a lot of obvious Evil Dead influences (which is fine with me!)
 
Finished Alice in Borderland, it got better as it went along, and I quite enjoyed it at the ed.

Just finished Season 2 of Locke and Key, and just starting Season 3. It is good, teen adventurer stuff.

If Sandman is available for the whole Season, I might watch that next, as I can't go back to watching an episode a week, but I have never read the comics so have no preconceived ideas about it.
 
Since it's way too warm again we needed something very stupid to binge over the weekend. We decided on Indian Matchmaking on Netflix.

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While making my way through the shorts block from yesterday, I recognized one of the actresses in a short called "Wild Bitch" as Rhonda from GLOW. Turns out the other female lead played Dawn Rivecca on GLOW as well.
 
Oh, we've also been watching School Tales The Series, a series of Thai ghost tales all situated around a high school, directed by well-known Thai horror directors.
 
I also watched the latest Resident Evil Series.

Interesting concept. Buuuut I found all the main actors all had that "too stupid to live syndrome". I was often scratching my head going wtf are you doing?

The story wasn't very cohesive either and it didn't feel very Resi Evil to me. But at least it was trying to do something new. Some cool locations and visuals.

I'd say it's worth a watch but don't expect anything great. The stand out for me was Dr. Whesker - Lance Reddick is a great actor! I remember him from Oz.
 
Seeking inspiration for Carcosa I watched Apocalypto. Bunny lost interest after I told her it there were no dinosaurs in this flick. Welp, I struck inspirational gold and thoroughly enjoyed the film even though there wasn't a single dinosaur.
 
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Now just imagine Carcosa with dinosaurs! How cool would that be.

I watched Elvis on the big screen this week. Beautifully shot. I'm not sure about Colonel Parker's accent in real life, which here sounded more South African to me (and I have some experience with dutchmen massacring the English language).
I enjoyed it and it never felt too long. But after 50+ years exposure to the King in different media, no matter how talented Austin is and how passionate he played him, I kept thinking "That's not him."
 
Visited some friends of mine with closely shared values and persuaded them to try Mrs America. They were happy I did.


Yeah I was surprised how well done this was. I studied the history of the US feminist movement in the 70s in school and thought this did a very good job of portraying it (and the counter-reaction).

I've been watching The Rehearsal on HBO, the new Nathan Fielder series that parodies reality shows.

He got his start with really good bits on the Canadian show This Hour has 22 Minutes which was followed by his hilarious Nathan for You series on Comedy Central.

The new show clearly has a much bigger budget and he uses it to push things into the realm of metasurrealism. Overall I'd say the humour is actually a little less cringey than Nathan for You and pumps up the self-criticism/parody of his own awkwardness and loneliness.

 
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Today's double feature has been The Third Saturday in October Part V (set in the 1990's), followed by the "original" The Third Saturday in October (set in the 70's). Both films are homages to the slasher film franchises of old, with Part V living up to as the franchises continue with endless sequels that are worse than the ones before. They're both fun as the bad stuff is always intentional (with a wink and a nod to the audience).
 
So I just went and watched 'Beast'. It's a grand visual experience with the wide vistas of the South African Savannah and Veld and Steppe and Bush and other wildlife habitat. The story is straightforward, an American father goes to Africa with his daughters to show where he met their mother (Disney: she dead) and hopes to restore their broken relationship. Then we come in a cross between Jaws, Jurassic Park and Cujo, with an angry lion who takes no prisoners. 90 minutes is just about right for this kind of story.
Worth a watch, even at home if you have a good screen for the night scenes, but sometimes predictable. I managed to spot a lot of the Chekov guns shown in the first part.
 
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And a cool dude. I remember him from Fringe. Now that was a series I enjoyed.

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Anna Torv recently returned in Mindhunter.
Addendum: Come to think of it, given that generally speaking I'm not much into blondes, Anna Torv may well be the only blond actress I approve of. :wink: She's on the same coolness level as Lance Reddick IMHO. Besides Fringe and Mindhunter I haven't seen any other movies or series she's in, though.
 
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Seeking inspiration for Carcosa I watched Apocalypto. Bunny lost interest after I told her it there were no dinosaurs in this flick. Welp, I struck inspirational gold and thoroughly enjoyed the film even though there wasn't a single dinosaur.
Given the amount of leeway / "artistic freedom" they took concerning what apparently is supposed to be Classic Maya society they might as well have put dinosaurs in that film. :hehe: I can see watching it seeking inspiration for something like your Carcosa game, though!
 
Watched the 2005 cops vs. bank robbers movie Chaos with Jason Statham and Ryan Phillipe.
I guessed the twist that Jason Statham is actually the bad guy at roughly the halfway mark
, but enjoyed it regardless. Decent story with good acting and some fun action/chase scenes, and some nice shots of Seattle.
 
Addendum: Come to think of it, given that generally speaking I'm not much into blondes, Anna Torv may well be the only blond actress I approve of. :wink: She's on the same coolness level as Lance Reddick IMHO. Besides Fringe and Mindhunter I haven't seen any other movies or series she's in, though.

I mainly know Reddick from his important role on The Wire. He is good in anything he does. He was in Bosch as well most recently.

Regarding Apocalyptico, funny enough it pops up in the latest episode of the The Rehearsal, the episode is even titled 'Apocalyptico.' I can imagine it is as bad as history as the laughably inaccurate Braveheart. But taken on its own terms as a feverish fantasy I think it is Gibson's best film as director (which may be daming it with faint praise considering his filmography as a director isn't exactly distinguished).
 
Today's double feature was Dayshift, the new Jaimie Fox Vampire hunting movie on Netflix. It was ok, but I liked how Vampires had different types, more like breeds than clans. Followed it up with Secret Headquarters on Paramount Plus. Fun superhero movie with some good action, and some fun comedy. Michael Pena is fun as always as the bad guy. Pretty cool superhero outfit too (the hero is kind of Iron Man by way of Green Lantern's power source). Tomorrow I'll be back checking out Popcorn Frights films
 
Watched another really good Boetticher and Randolph Scott western, Buchanan Rides Alone on TCM.

This one was a little shocking as the town Scott makes the mistake of riding into is ran and populated by particularly corrupt, bloodthirsty types making this feel closer to a Spagetthi Western than any other western of the 50s I can think of.

 
I mainly know Reddick from his important role on The Wire. He is good in anything he does. He was in Bosch as well most recently.

Regarding Apocalyptico, funny enough it pops up in the latest episode of the The Rehearsal, the episode is even titled 'Apocalyptico.' I can imagine it is as bad as history as the laughably inaccurate Braveheart. But taken on its own terms as a feverish fantasy I think it is Gibson's best film as director (which may be daming it with faint praise considering his filmography as a director isn't exactly distinguished).

I have a soft spot for Braveheart, not because I'm Scottish but because I watched some filming for it. I was backpacking/hiking through the Highlands with friends in summer 1994, and the village at the start was built in Glen Nevis (a lot of it was filmed in Ireland as well). Never saw MG though.

Bloody 20-mile hike out to catch a train, and not one of the production vans would hitch us a lift...!
 
Re-watched the second series of Bridgerton with the eldest daughter as she's back from uni. Re-subbing to Netflix (seemingly against the grain) means I have finished the He-Man reboot (before series 3 hits) and have finished the first part of Revelations too, gotta find the time to see the second through (tricky as it's just me who watches it).
 
Yesterday I watched Final Summer, a summer camp based slasher flick set in the 1990's. Another Popcorn Frights entry, this one was the weakest of all the films I've seen so far. Watched most of a set of international short films, with just one (set in Bangladesh) left to watch. I also finished up a Russian film called Diggers on Tubi. The premise was good (people go down into the tunnels under moscow to find out what happened to their friends, who were part of an entire train that went missing a few days prior), but the film itself was so-so. One good thing is the film is divided between the people looking for their friends, as well as showing what happened to their friends and the others who were with them that fateful night. That part I actually liked.

Tomorrow is a documentary on Mike Mignola airing, which I'm really looking forward to.
 
The hits are still coming all over for DC.




A fake tweet of Marvel poking fun, but I lowkey wish this would happen:
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Watched the first 3 episodes of Sandman and fell asleep, so he knew what he was doing. Watched the next 2 and fell asleep again. Watched the one with Death and managed to stay awake. So far, I found it a bit dull and lifeless. maybe it's because I have never read the comic.
 
Saw Nope last night with one of my best friends. Massive fan of Jordan Peele. Was good, buut slightly disappointed as felt not as good as his first 2. But good ideas and some great visuals.

 
Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters is a fun documentary about the creator of Hellboy. As a casual fan, it's a fascinating look into his career, his relationship with Del Toro and the Hellboy movies, and a lot more. Lots of commentary from the likes of Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Del Toro, Neil Gaiman, artists and writers who've worked on books in the Hellboy universe, and more. I think this is definitely a must see.
 
By chance, the other night I ended up watching a new show on the CW: Leonardo, which unsurprisingly is about Leonardo da Vinci. I happened on it flipping the dial and watched most of it--it was better than I was expecting. As far as I can tell, it's a much 'straighter' treatment than, say, Da Vinci's Demons, though I'm sure it will take lots of historical liberties. The set up seems to be (I missed the beginning) that Leonardo is on trial in 1506 for poisoning one Caterina da Cremona. Most of the first episode--the parts I saw, anyway--was a flashback to Leonardo's first encounter with her when he was a young artist in Florence.

Needless to say, the trial is pure invention, and from what little I know, Caterina is too--there is something of a fringe historical theory that he knew a courtesan by that name, but very little evidence for it. That doesn't bother me particularly--this is a TV show, after all--but what is a little harder to swallow is that she is supposed to be the model for some of Leonardo's art works which, well, look nothing like the actress cast to play Caterina (Matilda de Angelis, who is certainly lovely).

The cast is pretty good--a number of British actors, including James D'arcy and Freddie Highmore, but mostly Italians. Leonardo himself is played by Aidan Turner (i.e. Poldark and Kili from The Hobbit). I gather the show aired last year in the U.K. but this is the first I've seen of it in America.
 
Finished Sandman. It was OK, nothing spectacular, as far as I could see, but I suppose I haven't read the comics so have missed a lot of context. I found it a bit dull in places, to be honest.

I started watching Bastard, an anime thingy about a civilisation 400 years after our own, with a big-boobed princess, a virgin-maiden daughter of a High Priest, and her snivelly friend who she turns into a super-hot, super-powerful wizard with a kiss, then turns him back to snivelly kid with another kiss. I found it full of shouty kids, so won't be watching any more.
 
Watched another Boetticher/Scott western, Westbound, which was different in dealing with Civil War politics more directly than usual for the genre and a sympathetic portrait of a disabled vet. Btw the copy on this poster has exactly zero to do with the actual plot of the film.

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Also saw White Sands, a 90s thriller that seemed to have a trailer on every VHS back then, starring Willem Dafoe in a rare lead role, Mickey Rourke as a mysterious arms dealer and Samuel Jackson as a corrupt FBI agent. Nothing spectacular but as you can see the cast kept me engaged.




And finally, Married to the Mob. A late 80s mob comedy by Demme with Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine and Dean Stockwell (Alec Baldwin as well in an important but small role).




This is the film that Demme followed his terrific Something Wild with and it is scrappier and lighter than that film but still has the funky charm of early Demme before he transformed himself into the consumate, if impersonal, studio man of his later years. Not sure where this falls on the spectrum of Pfeiffer's rise to stardom in the 80s but she proves herself a terrific comedic actor here, never playing the Italian American mannerisms too broadly and managing to be both funny and touching. A great actress who I think some underrate because of her obvious beauty.
 
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