What are you watching?

[KevinStriker]

Well, I didn't watch this movie tonight, but I did see it (twice) recently: 1977's SORCERER, about four tough-as-nails men in the oil fields of Central America who are given an opportunity to make enough money to get out... if they can drive two trucks of leaking dynamite 200 miles through the jungle.
A loose remake of the classic French film The Wages of Fear, to talk about the making of this film is to talk about one of the least-known and most troubled productions of all time (sometimes equated to being William Friedkin's very own Apocalypse Now), but the end result is a masterpiece of suspense from the twilight years of New Hollywood.

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[KennedyKiller]

I dunno, I thought it was a rather cute high school romantic comedy. d:

Spoiler

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You're a funny man XD

 

[KManX89]

I just watched the Snyder Cut... holy cow. I'm here to tell you, this movie was worth all the hype and WB bending over backwards to let Snyder show HIS vision, it was f*cking amazing. The reshot scenes from Josstice League (meaning Snyder's original footage) have much more context and meaning, Stepphenwolf actually comes across as a menacing villain to give a sh!t about with motivations that are actually developed this time around, the JL members come together much better and are much more fleshed-out and even the leftover action scenes are better in this like the hostage scene with WW (it's almost like reshooting and adding/cutting content matters). The added bits with Darkseid (a live-action iteration of him was long overdue) were a nice bonus as well, it's too bad we'll probably never get to see a sequel.

Oh and the cherry on top: they fixed Henry Cavill's horrendous mug.

 

[Turo602]

I just watched the Snyder Cut... holy cow. I'm here to tell you, this movie was worth all the hype and WB bending over backwards to let Snyder show HIS vision, it was f*cking amazing. The reshot scenes from Josstice League (meaning Snyder's original footage) have much more context and meaning, Stepphenwolf actually comes across as a menacing villain to give a sh!t about with motivations that are actually developed this time around, the JL members come together much better and are much more fleshed-out and even the leftover action scenes are better in this like the hostage scene with WW (it's almost like reshooting and adding/cutting content matters). The added bits with Darkseid (a live-action iteration of him was long overdue) were a nice bonus as well, it's too bad we'll probably never get to see a sequel.

Oh and the cherry on top: they fixed Henry Cavill's horrendous mug.

I'm about to watch it myself. But technically, they didn't fix anything. Cavill's CGI lip was the result of Whedon's reshoots. This is all Snyder's original footage before they chopped it down, reshot, and Frankensteined the whole thing. He just got to finish post-production and shot a couple of new scenes with Jared Leto and Ben Affleck.

 

[Turo602]

Saw Zack Snyder's Justice League last night and holy sh*t. What a film. Literally everything about this movie was superior to the theatrical release which was enjoyable by Saturday morning cartoon standards. Even in all its Frankensteined mess, you could still tell they had assembled a great cast with chemistry because the action alone and the characters ultimately salvaged an otherwise generic and "safe" film and yet, it's done infinitely better here.

Characters actually have motives and backgrounds, action is paced incredibly well and hits so much harder here with proper build up, a stronger score, and much cleaner choreography. It's just a much richer, consistent, visually stunning, and overall better film. I honestly question why they reshot a goddamn thing. They could have chopped it down to just a bare bones version of what it is and still had a better product than the theatrical release.

Not one thing from any of the reshoots stands out as better or necessary than what was already shot that it just confirms how overreactionary WB was for getting Joss Whedon involved at all. Regardless, the 4 hour run time was definitely a necessity and I'm glad Zack Snyder didn't back down from that because Warner Bros. is foolish to want to rush a Justice League together after 1 solo Superman film, a solo Wonder Woman film, and a vs movie that introduced Batman.

It's a testament to Zack Snyder's ability that he managed to handle such strict guidelines as well as he did and even give us something as interconnected and coherent with his 3 films and still come out on top with a satisfying ensemble film with characters you care about and want to see more of.

Cyborg, Aquaman, and The Flash are by far the most improved characters in Zack Snyder's Justice League over the theatrical release. Aquaman went from comedic relief to a genuine hero with a genuine conflict, but most of all, he acted like someone who could one day be a king. The way he went from distrusting Cyborg for possibly working with the bad guys to real concern for his well being made him feel more human than he ever did.

The Flash's introduction I found to be a little weak. I don't think it was ever established who Iris is and whether he knew her or not, so the whole scene where he saves her felt a bit much for what was ultimately a meaningless rescue scene, unless we were already meant to have had a follow up on that scene in the constantly delayed Flash movie with Iris being a journalist who writes about the speedster who saved her which could be a way to connect the 2 characters, but as it stands here, it feels really weird and out of place.

Barry's interactions with his father on the other hand really brought much needed character to what is essentially just comic relief, especially during the epic payoff when he turns back time and has that inner monologue about himself and his father. You really feel like what he's going through is very personal which was much needed depth that they have failed to explore thus far.

Cyborg on the other hand was really given the short end of the stick in the theatrical release. He's so much more prominent and integral to the narrative and undergoes the biggest character development in the film. He really is the heart of the movie because his story is by far the most emotional and oddly enough, I thought he looked better here than he did in the theatrical release. I remember him looking really skinny and I didn't really see that too much here.

Wonder Woman was much more consistent with her prior outings here than she is in WW84 and thank f*ck because she was a complete badass. Batman, while an improvement from the theatrical cut, was still very much playing the same role and in all honesty, felt like a step back from how menacing he was in BvS. I get the nature of the story pretty much strips him away from his element, but we barely spent anytime with the other Batman that his role here does feel like a step back.

Superman's return felt so much more earned and impactful. Music really makes a world of difference and having the Man of Steel theme play along with his fathers' voice overs was so much more worth it than trying to shoehorn in the classic John Williams Superman theme. My only gripes in regards to Superman is something that actually bothered me about Whedon's version. Wasn't Superman like not dead at the end of BvS? The dirt on his grave moved like it does when he's about to fly and yet he's actually dead and needs to be resurrected? WTF? The black suit is also really out of place. It's never explained it's a healing suit, and the cape always bothered me because it's not even part of the healing suit. It's literally just a black Superman suit for absolutely no reason and I could have done without it.

The biggest redemption for me though are definitely the villains. Steppenwolf is so much more intimidating with his vastly superior design and booming voice, yet they still managed to humanize him and give him a proper motivation. Darkseid, for what little we saw of him makes Thanos look friendly by comparison. He's f*cking ruthless and he looks amazing. They have to continue this, they just have to or they're f*cking idiots.

Jared Leto's Joker was even redeemed here. It's not the best performance, but it's an interpretation I can live with in this grander universe that ultimately isn't fixated on Joker. It's a definite improvement over Suicide Squad though, that's for f*cking sure. And his chemistry with Ben Affleck's Batman was spot on. It was so satisfying seeing Batman react to Joker the way he did here because it felt so much more real and personal than it ever has on film.

This was just such a genuinely good movie. Snyder's films can be really divisive, and for as much as I genuinely like Man of Steel, I think between this and Watchmen, big ensemble pieces are more Snyder's forte because he does them better than most. I would definitely love to see him take a crack at X-Men, but more than anything else, I want to see his vision realized because Zack Snyder's Justice League was just simply incredible. F*ck Warner Bros.

 

[Jen]

I've started watching The Crown on Netflix and have really got into it. It's interesting to learn things that (loosely) happened before my time and the cast is great.

 

[UniqTeas]

My (almost) wife and I watched the first two Seasons of The Crown together, but she loved it a little too much and finished the series without me. I really loved it too. Now I will never know where Elizabeths story goes and that really pains me! haha

 

[Rain611]

My (almost) wife and I watched the first two Seasons of The Crown together, but she loved it a little too much and finished the series without me. I really loved it too. Now I will never know where Elizabeths story goes and that really pains me! haha

I do that with 90 Day Fiance. Its such a trash show but it really reminds me how lucky I am to be married to my husband lol. So we basically just watch it as a WTF kind of thing, but I always watch it without him on my lunch breaks and stuff so he sees like every 4th episode or something. Lol

 

[UniqTeas]

She did it once to me when we accidentally got hooked on Nashville and I was actually upset about it. I had to go for a drive to calm my pain. She still makes fun of me for that all the time. haha

 

[KManX89]

I just watched Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max. Earlier today, I was conflicted on seeing this on HBO Max or waiting for the theatrical release, but after looking up the Regal opening schedule and seeing mine doesn't reopen until May 14th, my decision was easy. In any case, great movie, easily the best film in the MonsterVerse. Great (and plentiful) action and visuals that just have to be seen on the big screen if one happens to be open in your neck of the woods, the fights with Godzilla and Kong were amazing as was the end fight scene that I'm not gonna spoil here, but if you've seen all the trailers (in particular the latest China trailer), then you know who it is.

And if you're one of the many people who didn't like the human element from the previous MV movies, fear not because they made the clever choice of having the humans follow the kaiju throughout much of the film's narrative. Yeah, they're there, and like the other films, they're not that interesting (though Brian Tyrie Henry does have a few funny scenes and the scenes with Millie Bobbie Brown touching and interacting with Kong are somewhat touching), but they're pretty much a backdrop for kaiju scenes throughout many chunks of the film. This movie does an excellent job spacing out all the kaiju and human stuff and it comes early and often.

It's too bad WB had to spoil the winner in just the second trailer because WB are f*cking idiots, but I still had a good, fun time all the same. 8.5/10.

 

[Jonipoon]

I just rewatched the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films for the first time in 10 years, and they're exactly the way I remember them.

The first one is still incredibly good and is undoubtedly the best pirate film every made. The story is simple yet cleverly told and uses the realistic pirate setting with a mild sense of fantasy on top of it. Although it uses fantasy elements to tell its story, it doesn't take front stage but is naturally woven into the film's other main themes which is traditional swashbuckling, romance, and adventure. Comedy is used in small portions and doesn't take away from the mostly serious tone. And while Johnny Depp's performance might be the highlight of the film, the performances of both Geoffrey Rush, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom are golden as well (Bloom is still the weakest out of the bunch, but he still does a good job). Lastly, Klaus Badelt's original score is epic and really captures that strong sense of adventure and mystery surrounding pirates.

2 and 3 were shot back-to-back and are problematic in so many ways, not just when it comes to the script and the incoherent plot but also how they can't seem to be making up their mind whether they're made for children or adults. The films clash between childish slapstick comedy and brutal murder in almost every scene, which leads to both feeling out of place. The story is not as interesting this time around, and the overruse of fantasy elements really made the PotC universe feel less connected to actual history and more like an alternate Earth. In the first film, pirates were portrayed pretty realistically as mysterious anti-heroes (such as Jack Sparrow) that were used as a mean to tell the actual story which is the romance between Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (two NON-pirates). Then in the sequels, pirates have their own personal purgatory and afterlife for some reason with their very own grim reaper (Davy Jones), secret islands like Shipwreck Cove with no sense of realism, etc. Now all of a sudden the pirates have direct connections with the supernatural, and have obligations to protect certain beings such as Calypso. When the credits roll after At World's End, you can't help but feel like the pirates are not really pirates but more like secret warriors who protect the secret supernatural things of the oceans. I mean, an ancient Aztek treasure cursed by ancient gods felt like something that worked perfectly in the first film, because it wasn't something that the pirates themselves had any direct connection with - it could've happened to anyone in history whether pirate or not. But in the second and third films, things blow out of proportions and turn to the extreme.

I think another problem with both sequels is that Jack Sparrow became too much of a popular character after the first film, and they focus way too much on him when they should've focused more on Will and Elizabeth. I still feel their tragic love story is the only thing that genuinely works at the end of the third film, even though the way they got there was messy as hell. Seeing Will kiss her goodbye at the beach before sailing off into the horizon as the new undead captain of the Dutchman really gave me the feels. I just wish 2 and 3 had more of THAT, and less childish nonsense and overruse of supernatural elements. If I could rewrite the sequels I would've turned Davy Jones into a cursed pirate rather than the actual grim reaper of the seas. The fountain of youth story from the fourth film should've been the main story of 2 and 3 instead, with both Davy Jones, Jack Sparrow's crew and the East India Trading Company searching for it. Davy Jones wants to use it to break his curse, the East India Trading company wants to use it to build an unstoppable army, and Jack Sparrow's crew (now consisting of Will and Elizabeth too) wants to stop both of them because now they're the good guys (although Jack can still be his usual character with unclear motives).

A good comparison would be the Indiana Jones films. They use supernatural elements as means to tell the story, but the power behind them are ancient, mysterious and not something that the main characters of our modern world can explain or control. That's how the first PotC film is too, but unfortunately not the sequels.

 

[justliketheplant]

I feel like the 2nd and 3rd Pirates movies sort of got tainted by the whole Lord of the Rings thing, where studios started feeling like if they were going to be making a film series it had to be some sort of epic quest That Means Something. I like continuity and carry over, but I wanted them to just hang around Port Royal fighting off the Pirate of the Week or something.

My husband absolutely loves The Crown, but I haven't been able to get into it. I can't remember what happened exactly but I was like "I was not expecting this to be so heavy". I am glad that they've made the royals nervous though. I have no idea why I dislike the English monarchy so much given I'm an American, but am willing to blame in on some sort of genetic disposition inherited from my Irish ancestors LOL.

We're doing reruns of Bob's Burgers at the moment. We have to still watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier; we got through the first episode but I don't really feel into it and the hubs might have to continue on without me. I sort of feel like all I'm going to see is explosions and a complete lack of meaningful accountability "because they're the good guys" and it makes me feel tired.

 

[Turo602]

As a lifelong wrestling fan, I was disappointed that Netflix cancelled GLOW last year due to the pandemic since wrestling isn't really represented all that much in media. It was a solid period piece drama based on a real life women's wrestling promotion that actually gave some decent insight into the inner workings of running a wrestling show while also diving deep into the life of the average pro wrestler and the psychology behind the sport and their gimmicks.

But then Young Rock was announced and I honestly wasn't interested. I thought the concept was dumb and that they were just copying something like Young Sheldon but with The Rock. I've never been a fan of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon just seems like such a stupid spin-off and while I'm a big fan of The Rock, a comedy show about his life just didn't seem like it would work as well as something like Everybody Hates Chris, which at least had Chris Rock's comedy, Tichina Arnold, and Terry Crews going for it from the get-go.

I haven't really watched actual television in over a decade, so I definitely didn't plan on checking it out until I saw it was on Hulu and I was actually quite surprised. It's not much of a comedy at all even though they kinda marketed it that way. There's definitely humor in it, but it's not as full blown and over the top as Everybody Hates Chris was. It actually feels more like a biopic at times and the casting is pretty damn near flawless.

I also wasn't expecting The Rock to be in the show at all but they really leaned into the whole Rock running for President gag which is basically the premise of the entire show with him telling various stories from his youth during interviews and what not. I actually like how the show jumps around between three different periods in The Rock's life with three different actors each portraying him at significant ages.

After a certain number of episodes into a show, there's usually a point when you know you're hooked and for me that was this week with the Andre the Giant episode which really solidified this show for me as a wrestling fan and filled in that void that GLOW left. It's far more wrestling centric than I ever thought it would be and unlike GLOW, it's actually based around real wrestlers and stories from the past which makes it far more interesting. Always good to see The Rock remember where he came from despite how much he's blown up in Hollywood.

 

[KennedyKiller]

I just watched the Snyder Cut... holy cow. I'm here to tell you, this movie was worth all the hype and WB bending over backwards to let Snyder show HIS vision, it was f*cking amazing. The reshot scenes from Josstice League (meaning Snyder's original footage) have much more context and meaning, Stepphenwolf actually comes across as a menacing villain to give a sh!t about with motivations that are actually developed this time around, the JL members come together much better and are much more fleshed-out and even the leftover action scenes are better in this like the hostage scene with WW (it's almost like reshooting and adding/cutting content matters). The added bits with Darkseid (a live-action iteration of him was long overdue) were a nice bonus as well, it's too bad we'll probably never get to see a sequel.

Oh and the cherry on top: they fixed Henry Cavill's horrendous mug.

Let's not forget Cyborg was an ACTUAL F*cking character this time around. I give it a 9/10. Easily the best of the DCEU.