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I've been making another attempt at watching Gerry Anderson's UFO series from 1970. I see where two of my favorites, X-Com and Neon Genesis Evangelion, draw inspiration from it...but I'm also boggled by how it slews back and forth from compelling to boring with whiplash speed.

It's mainly just making me pine for a modern-day X-Com TV series that doesn't and will never exist.
Give it time. Corporate entertainment will churn out movies or TV shows of every video game that was successful enough to produce at least one sequel within the next ten years or so.
 
I've been making another attempt at watching Gerry Anderson's UFO series from 1970. I see where two of my favorites, X-Com and Neon Genesis Evangelion, draw inspiration from it...but I'm also boggled by how it slews back and forth from compelling to boring with whiplash speed.

It's mainly just making me pine for a modern-day X-Com TV series that doesn't and will never exist.

I will occasionally rewatch UFO episodes when the are a on TV. The drama bits can hard to watch, the acting and direction are lacking, but the kid in my still get's excited when I see the Interceptors raise out from the moon craters or Skydiver preparing to launch. I don't claim to be objective, but I find the sfx stack up rather well all things considered.
 
I love UFO, as it was a real TV high-point for me as a kid. Gerry Anderson stuff!? And real people!? Including Arthur off of Minder?! WAAAAAAAGH!
 
The drama bits can hard to watch, the acting and direction are lacking,
I specifically bounced off the Episode "A Question of Priorities".

Straker has to choose between saving his son's life and securing a possible alien defector. Then, after 45 minutes of stress and scowling and an alien just hanging out in some random blind lady's house, the aliens kill the defector and Straker's son dies. So all that drama, and the plot doesn't advance beyond we get to see that Straker is a hard man who has to make big sacrifices that give him a big sad?

I mean, if the kid died, but SHADO got an alien to interrogate to advance the story some, fine! Maybe they lose the defector but Straker's kid lives, and we see him alone in his office struggling with the question if he's maybe doomed the Earth to save his own son, fine! But that was just and excruciatingly boring sequence of events to watch Straker get shit upon for no narrative gain!

I mean, it's just shy of an hour I'll never get back. And it's a shame, because some of the prior episodes had hinted at slowly revealing the mystery of what the aliens are and what they're doing.

I just really didn't like that episode.
 
I will occasionally rewatch UFO episodes when the are a on TV. The drama bits can hard to watch, the acting and direction are lacking, but the kid in my still get's excited when I see the Interceptors raise out from the moon craters or Skydiver preparing to launch. I don't claim to be objective, but I find the sfx stack up rather well all things considered.
Shows like UFO make for good background while I am working. I can bask in the nostalgia without getting too distracted.
 
We just finished watching the restored version of War and Peace (1966). Seven hours of AMAZING visuals... huge parties, the Russian countryside, decadent nobles, and vast battle sequences (thousands of costumed Soviet troops, horses, cannons)... all done in a somewhat artsy style that seems fitting for Tolstoy's narrative.
Probably the most beautiful looking movie I've ever seen... but it had me pausing at points to read up on the real history of certain incidents that it seemed to assume the viewer would be familiar with (and I've never read the book).
Great stuff.
 
Recently my wife and I have been watching Blandings, a comedy series based loosely on some P.G. Wodehouse stories about Blandings castle and its highly eccentric inhabitants. It's light and hilarious. The cast is top-notch, particularly in series one: Timothy Spall as Clarence, lord Emsworth (kindly idiot and lord of the manor), Jennifer Saunders as his sister Connie (acerbic and constantly in a huff), Mark Williams as their unflappable butler Beach, and Jack Farthing as Freddie Threepwood (Emsworth's ne'er-do-well son and a complete nitwit). I think I'd only seen Farthing play the villainous George Warleggan in Poldark, so I was surprised at how well he did comedy. Though the series is set in England, it was actually filmed at Crom Castle on Lough Erne in Northern Ireland.

Blandings-Interior.jpg
 
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I started watching the new season of Law & Order. I had not seen some of the later seasons (last one I saw had Anthony Anderson and Jeremy Sisto as the detectives). Anderson is back, teamed with Jeffrey Donovan of Burn Notice fame. They make an interesting pair. I'm not digging the ADA who tries cases though. The rest of the cast is good though. Also still making my way through NCIS.

Also, finally saw Morbius last night, as I really needed to get out of the house. It was ok, but I can see why it's the lowest rated Marvel film. The end credits were my favorite parts, since one ties into No Way Home, and the second continues from the first scene, and seems to be setting up a possible team in the Venom-verse (as Morbius appears to take place in the same world). There was a nod to the 70's Hulk tv show with a line similar to the old "You wouldn't like me when I get angry" line. The line about him claiming to be Venom (which was in all the trailers) is sort of there, though it makes no sense (since Venom is never named in his films outside of the few who know him; the FBI in Morbius just refer to "that incident in San Francisco")

This is also the second Marvel property to cast a former Doctor Who as the bad guy. I don't regret seeing it, since Sony & Regal had a special, and I'll be getting free digital copies of this, No Way Home and Let there Be Carnage (so it was worth seeing for that alone).

I'm debating seeing Everything Everywhere All at Once today. Depends on how I feel
 
Watched two b-westerns on TCM: Along the Great Divide and Roughshod.

Although technically 'b' westerns both are well written, tightly plotted and acted by distinguished casts. Like a number of 50s Westerns both are more cynical and hardbitten than one may expect although ultimately optimistic and even sentimental. Lots of fun.



 
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Also, finally saw Morbius last night, as I really needed to get out of the house. It was ok, but I can see why it's the lowest rated Marvel film. The end credits were my favorite parts, since one ties into No Way Home, and the second continues from the first scene, and seems to be setting up a possible team in the Venom-verse (as Morbius appears to take place in the same world). There was a nod to the 70's Hulk tv show with a line similar to the old "You wouldn't like me when I get angry" line. The line about him claiming to be Venom (which was in all the trailers) is sort of there, though it makes no sense (since Venom is never named in his films outside of the few who know him; the FBI in Morbius just refer to "that incident in San Francisco")
I liked the movie- didn't think the end credits were worth the wait.
I'm debating seeing Everything Everywhere All at Once today. Depends on how I feel
This movie is a mind bender in every way! It's also long.
 
I recently re-watched Flashback, a goofy feel-good movie with a young Kiefer as a gentler Jack Bauer, and Hopper as an inept Lazy Rider.
I liked it.

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"Now, sing Mammy..."
 
Was in a weird mood yesterday, so I ended up watching the Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson rom-com Marry Me on Paramount +. It wasn't bad, though kind of typical famous person falls for average joe. I did enjoy how they poke fun at how celebrities can't do anything without their assistants, etc. Today I mini-binged 4 episodes each of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International
 
Over the last couple of weeks, I've seen season 1 of Avenue 5, a recent space sit-com from HBO, created by the guy behind the series Veep (which I've not seen). I'd never heard of Avenue 5 but stumbled on it in the local library because I was searching for videos starring Hugh Laurie. It's a very dark comedy, in the modern vein of shows where no character is very sympathetic. Laurie's hapless captain, and Billie, the engineer who does most of the real work, come closer than most. Josh Gad's character, an incredibly rich man-child who owns the spaceliner company, is initially somewhat amusing but becomes tiresome, and a perpetually warring young couple stuck on the ship are just obnoxious from the get-go. Although there are some funny sequences in the show, my overall reaction was 'meh,' and my wife found it tiresome enough that she eventually just stopped watching. For some reason, the show includes not just scenes on the ship, but some back in mission control. These ultimately don't add much and hardly seem worth the screen time (and money, since they have a fairly extensive cast).

The show has a bizarre relationship with Newtonian physics. For fairly obvious practical reasons, the ship has artificial gravity, but at the series' beginning this has a glitch, which suddenly slams everyone against one of the ship's walls. The impact of the people and furniture against the ship is supposed to then have set it off-course, the main plot point for the rest of the series. I guess once you have artificial gravity you can do what you like, but my very rusty high school physics makes me think that otherwise this is nonsense. There are other similar issues, not that scientific realism is what a show like this is about.

Avenue 5.jpg
 
The Gentlemen, Onward and Free Guy were entertaining, but I wouldn't call any of them Great.

The Gentlemen did not reach the level of convoluted mayhem of Snatch. And my distant cousin only had three lines (but in scenes with Matthew).
Onward was not quite the self-aware parody/homage/loveletter to the genre like Galaxy Quest or Tremors or Incredibles were for their genres. I was just expecting more varied and outlandish D&D references.
And Free Guy... maybe I'm suffering from Reynolds fatigue.
 
Blandings is a very fun series, it has made want to seek out the older Jeeves & Wooster, although I have yet to do so.

If you enjoyed Blandings you may also enjoy the three part series Decline & Fall. Not quite so light hearted, but still fun.
I'll have to look for Decline and Fall.
If you mean the one with Fry and Laurie, it's great. I highly recommend the stories as well. The narration you aren't getting is as funny as the dialogue.

It is very good. My wife and I actually watched all four seasons of that before moving on to Blandings. We liked Jeeves & Wooster so much that I bought old DVD copies when I could get them at less than exorbitant prices. My wife has been working through the Jeeves and Wooster stories and occasionally will read the funniest bits aloud to me.
 
Over the last couple of weeks, I've seen season 1 of Avenue 5, a recent space sit-com from HBO, created by the guy behind the series Veep (which I've not seen). I'd never heard of Avenue 5 but stumbled on it in the local library because I was searching for videos starring Hugh Laurie. It's a very dark comedy, in the modern vein of shows where no character is very sympathetic. Laurie's hapless captain, and Billie, the engineer who does most of the real work, come closer than most. Josh Gad's character, an incredibly rich man-child who owns the spaceliner company, is initially somewhat amusing but becomes tiresome, and a perpetually warring young couple stuck on the ship are just obnoxious from the get-go. Although there are some funny sequences in the show, my overall reaction was 'meh,' and my wife found it tiresome enough that she eventually just stopped watching. For some reason, the show includes not just scenes on the ship, but some back in mission control. These ultimately don't add much and hardly seem worth the screen time (and money, since they have a fairly extensive cast).

The show has a bizarre relationship with Newtonian physics. For fairly obvious practical reasons, the ship has artificial gravity, but at the series' beginning this has a glitch, which suddenly slams everyone against one of the ship's walls. The impact of the people and furniture against the ship is supposed to then have set it off-course, the main plot point for the rest of the series. I guess once you have artificial gravity you can do what you like, but my very rusty high school physics makes me think that otherwise this is nonsense. There are other similar issues, not that scientific realism is what a show like this is about.

View attachment 45143

Avenue 5 is hit or miss but Veep is one of the best comedies for TV ever I think. First season is quite good but it really takes off in the second and gets better and better. Honestly first season may be just as good as the later ones but it is one of those series that as you get to know the characters it deepens and increases the comedy (Larry Sanders Show is the same).

The showrunner also did the Brit TV series In the Loop which is supposed to be great and similar to Veep (political satire) and directed the absolutely brilliant Death of Stalin, easily my favourite comedy feature of the last decade at least.

It does a great job of blackly satirizing and ripping into its subject matter while also acknowledging just how horrible and terrifying it all really was. And as a fan of Russian history although it obviously isn't a documentary I was impressed how close it stuck to the historical facts.

 
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Watched a few more episodes of That Dirty Black Bag. Overall I enjoy the show, but for me it has a bit of a problem of being an ensemble-cast piece that spends too much time on the members of the ensemble that I don't care about or find interesting.

Baseball games notwithstanding, I don't really do "background TV." If I'm going to watch I something, I typically want to give it my more-or-less undivided attention. But yesterday I picked up a Blu Ray that's a compilation of '70s horror trailers so I can have it on in the background while I exercise. Haven't gotten to it yet.
 
In a few hours I'm going to watch Downton Abbey 2 in the theater.

Can someone give me a quick recap of everything I should know, because I never watched the series. All I know is that Gabriel from Supernatural likes it, and it gets name dropped in other movies and shows.

Yes, I got invited by a girl.
 
Downton Abbey is a rouge nuclear submarine under the command of a descendant of Captain Nemo, called Bob Nemo. The crew of the Abbey fall through a dimensional anomally which leaves them stranded on Sesame Street. The Street itself has seen better having been invaded by Scotland. It is now ruled by the tyranical William "Braveheart" Wallace and his jet-pack powered Flying Highlanders. Can Bob Nemo lead a ragged bunch of Muppets to freedom?

That's all you need to know really.
 
Last episode of Moon Knight drops at 3am tonight for me... yeaaaah I'm just staying up to watch it live. It's honestly so good.

I plan on binging that soon, possibly over the weekend.

I spent most of yesterday alternating between FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International and NCIS. Most Wanted was the one I watched the most of, as the lead actor was leaving, and I waned to see who was taking his place. Took awhile to get to his last episode, then there was 2 more before the new character showed up. Still not sure about the new lead, but the actor (Dylan McDermott) is someone whose work I like, so I'm remaining open-minded.
 
In a few hours I'm going to watch Downton Abbey 2 in the theater.

Can someone give me a quick recap of everything I should know, because I never watched the series. All I know is that Gabriel from Supernatural likes it, and it gets name dropped in other movies and shows.

Yes, I got invited by a girl.

All I know really about Downtown Abbey is it was intially supposed to be based on Robert Altman's Gosford Park but they couldn't get the rights so they reskinned it.

Altman's film is a terrific ensemble comedy-drama contrasting the lives of the wealthy Brit upperclass and the lives of their working class servants. It takes place before the war and is about the huge social changes on the horizon.

The series is considerably more soapy and less political than the film.
 
So a mix of 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and 'You Rang M'Lord' with the cast from 'Evil Under the Sun'.

Meanwhile, on the commuter train, I inadvertently watched Heston fight ants. I thought I had uploaded 'Secret of the Inca's' but it was 'The Naked Jungle'. Same year, same continent, different hat.

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And if SotI was the inspiration for Indiana Jones, then tNJ was certainly in the DNA of Crystal Skull. :happy:
 
So a mix of 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and 'You Rang M'Lord' with the cast from 'Evil Under the Sun'.

Meanwhile, on the commuter train, I inadvertently watched Heston fight ants. I thought I had uploaded 'Secret of the Inca's' but it was 'The Naked Jungle'. Same year, same continent, different hat.

View attachment 45177
And if SotI was the inspiration for Indiana Jones, then tNJ was certainly in the DNA of Crystal Skull. :happy:

Marabunta! I happened to watch that one recently, no idea why. It was a pretty dreadful melodrama, but somehow mesmerising.
 
Saw Magnificent Chivalry with Jimmy Wang Yu. Was pretty standard but a twist in the second half elevated it above standard fair. One of the greatest gets an incredible introduction but then fades into the background. The villain's chemistry with the hero is quite enjoyable and the final fight scene is great. Had a discussion about it yesterday: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-dfm23-121a1c1
 
The showrunner also did the Brit TV series In the Loop which is supposed to be great and similar to Veep (political satire) and directed the absolutely brilliant Death of Stalin, easily my favourite comedy feature of the last decade at least.

It does a great job of blackly satirizing and ripping into its subject matter while also acknowledging just how horrible and terrifying it all really was. And as a fan of Russian history although it obviously isn't a documentary I was impressed how close it stuck to the historical facts.


The Death of Stalin is definitely on my 'to see when I can' list.
 
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