| Author | Message | ||
     Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 73 Registered: 09-2006 |
Done before, surely, but maybe not for a little while: what films/tv shows/etc. have passed through your video playback mechanism of choice recently? To begin: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: a bit too convinced that its hyperselfconscious tone is something brand new instead of something that's already become a genre all its own, and it has a curious habit of continually scolding its lead female character, but as an example of its genre it's pretty fun. Late Spring: third viewing. Words fail me. Yasujiro Ozu is a (perhaps THE) god of composition and storytelling. The Dick Cavett Show, John Lennon and Yoko Ono collection: J & Y are themselves, always wonderful to see more of them, even during the militant phase that did less than nothing for their music. What surprized me was watching Cavett...had never seen him at this point in his career - a more complex fellow than he first appears. Up next: Fallen Angel (Gram Parsons doc) The Double Life of Veronique (fourth viewing, I think...brand new edition coming out, and I can't wait) Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season Five | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1091 Registered: 03-2006 |
The Wire, season 3 on DVD, and season 4 on HBO. Simply put, it's the best TV show ever, anywhere, that I've seen in my life. It is the, if you will, Go-Betweens of TV: incredibly smart, sly and just incredibly moving. Lost, season 2 on DVD, and season 3 on network. Also damn good. Not #1, but I'd still place it in my top 10 TV shows. Hope they don't f it up - I hope it goes someplace meaningful.... Reds - the great historical drama about John Reed, the only American buried in the Kremlin, made by that famous Hollywood lefty, Warren Beatty. I can't recommend it highly enough. It is an amazing film. And Allen, you're in for a great time with Fallen Angel. Searing, sad, but deeply beautiful. It, honestly, haunted me for days. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 74 Registered: 09-2006 |
Great to hear...definitely looking forward to it. As to the Wire, it's one of those I've been meaning to get to but kept telling myself that too much time and too many episodes had gone by to start, but really, that's just waffling. Am definitely going to start in on that one very soon. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 793 Registered: 05-2005 |
Sopranos. Curb. And I loved Little Miss Sunshine. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 916 Registered: 05-2005 |
Postman Pat, new series started this morning at 7.30am! Grrreat! | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 53 Registered: 05-2005 |
Season 7 of Seinfeld is comiiing on dvd this month... Do you know that a lot of episodes of TV series like the Sopranos or Lost were directed by Anna Domino's brother, Alan Taylor? | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 303 Registered: 07-2005 |
Watched the Paul Weller restrospective on BBC2 last night, warm endearing. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 478 Registered: 08-2004 |
My Name Is Earl season 2 The Simpsons Bo' In The USA Hilarious. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 75 Registered: 09-2006 |
Definitely agreed with you there on Fallen Angel, LK...I'd read his bio a few years back but had forgotten a number of the particulars. Damn, what a story. Damn, what a cast of characters... I feel only the slightest bit ashamed for saying it, but I bought Reservoir Dogs for the fourth time today...first came the videotape back in '93, then the first bare-bones DVD in the late 90s, then the 10th anniversary, extras-laden edition five years ago, and now the 15 year, even-more-extras-laden edition. Yes, I do hate when they keep doing shit like this, but if they keep getting better, my complaining will stay at a minimum. Packaging's cute, too...the outer container is a little metal gas can. You lift off the top and pull out a giant book of matches which has the DVDs inside. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 822 Registered: 05-2005 |
What a gimmick! (Says he who has bought the first six Go-Betweens albums over and over!). | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1103 Registered: 03-2006 |
How f-ing cool is it that Gram's Dad was called "Coon Dog"? Glad you enjoyed, AB. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 52 Registered: 10-2006 |
This belongs here German football last night, pretty awful.... Oh, Allen, I love The Double Life of Veronique, sounds good with the new edition, I will keep an eye out for that. If you like that one, do you also know The Hairdresser's husband? It's my favourite movie along with Cinema Paradiso. LK, Reds was on TV here last week, you are absolutely right, its a great movie. Have you read the book as well? Last but not least, I finally found the courage to watch the That Striped Sunlight Sound DVD on Monday. It's beautiful, all three parts of it..... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1106 Registered: 03-2006 |
No, I've not read "10 Days That Shook the World", JB, though I should - it is widely regarded as a classic. Though I wonder if I'd enjoy it as much without the sexed up, glamorous Hollywood versions of the characters...it probably just focuses on that boring history stuff. Yucko! | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 87 Registered: 08-2006 |
LK, "10 Days..." is a good read but you're right, it's nothing like the movie. I read it in college during a Russian history jag I was on (I know, GEEK), and liked it a lot. Would I read it now? I dunno. You might enjoy it, even if you're forewarned that Diane Keaton does not make an appearance. | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 18 Registered: 09-2006 |
Any Northern Exposure fans out there? If that's far too cold I would recommend Stacy Peralta's Riding Giants about the history of surf culture (great soundtrack, too). If you like Fallen Angel try also Be Here To Love Me about Townes van Zandt and be shure to have some Kleenex at hand... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1108 Registered: 03-2006 |
Anymore Rob, I only have the attention span to read sordid little potboilers, mysteries, true crime, etc. If somebody doesn't get killed or scre.wed in the first 50 pages, I throw it across the room! Diane Keaton was really something, back in the day, wasn't she? Wolfgang, seconding your big up for Riding Giants - amazing stuff - one can't but watch in slack jawed wonder.. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 925 Registered: 05-2005 |
Panorama on BBC1 had some very sad sad news, that this Government is allowing, rapist murderers and paedophiles to roam our towns and cities, thinking they have laws and procedures in place to stop them re-offending and allowing them to integrate back into society. As a father, I say BOLLOCKS. Incompetency and corruption rule this poxy Government, its quite unbelievebale and believable. Tonight, after watching this programme, I want to move to the isle of Egg in Scotland or somewhere, away from all this insanity. Then I switched over and Bush was on the telly 'proclaiming "why all the glum faces?" - I smiled, and am now off to bed, (best place to hide). Night all. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 78 Registered: 09-2006 |
John, have not seen The Hairdresser's Husband, but have heard many good things about it. The new Veronique is from Criterion, makers of the finest DVDs in the world, so it's almost sure to be killer. Just watched "Firesign Theatre: Weirdly Cool," a 2001 live performance interspersed with some vintage TV commercials and testimonials by famous fans like George Carlin and (who knew?) John Goodman. I was ready to make allowances, as the guys are getting up there in age and they were doing all old material for an audience that (like me) knows it all by heart, but I was very pleasantly surprized...they haven't lost a single step, new funny lines are interspersed seamlessly into the material, bringing it up to date (though it was never dated), and they do it all with an almost bare stage and some props. The old commercials are hysterical, too ("Here's that number again: 5.") | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 309 Registered: 07-2005 |
Wolfgang I love(d) Northern Exposure,it is one of my all time faves probably as they had great charaters and always good music. The DJ Chris, would always put on some northurn punk or alternative music, great. Not seen it for ages they did do a rerun on ITV3 or something but didn't manage to catch it. Still have a few old vidoe recordings. | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 19 Registered: 09-2006 |
Me too Jerry, maybe 30 episodues on fading video-tapes and I watch them over and over again... dating Maggie O'Connell in Holling Vincoeur's café, reasoning with Ed about Eraserhead and lying in Marilyn Whirlwinds arms if you have a flu - it was a comedy with that certain friend-factor, very similar in my eyes and ears to the music of the Go Betweens. I was not aware of the fact that there is a "Miss Northwest Passage", too... | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 314 Registered: 04-2006 |
scorcese's 'no direction home bob dylan' | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 933 Registered: 05-2005 |
Syriana The film with Mr Clooney in. Very good. Beautiful space and atmosphere, the music is very considered. This has to be right for me nowadays to 'make' a film. Moving and sad. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 83 Registered: 09-2006 |
I'm in the midst of immersing in a John Cassavetes box set: five films plus tons of amazing extras. Will probably post more in-depth reactions later, but for now: Wow. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 860 Registered: 04-2005 |
Just started watching yet another HBO series on DVD: Rome. Lotsa blood, betrayal, and full-frontal nudity. Whoo-hoo! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 89 Registered: 09-2006 |
"NewOrderStory" Didn't know it was out on DVD until I strolled into Tower Records (and for those who haven't heard and have one in their vicinity...head on down now, as they're all going out of business) and snapped it up for 8 bucks. What I especially like is that they folded in most of the videos from the "Substance" collection (missing and missed: "Blue Monday '88"). | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 742 Registered: 03-2005 |
I almost never watch TV. A cloud of dust poofs up from it when I turn it on. I just watched the first half of "Prime Suspect 7" with Helen Mirren. Intense and superb. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 223 Registered: 11-2004 |
Just sat down and watched Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut for the first time. I can't believe how he managed to shoot the entire film in England while making it seem like New York. A great, great film - wished I wasn't so stubborn at the time and watched it at the cinema at the time. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 743 Registered: 03-2005 |
"Oh, I've got posters on my wall. It looks just like a wall in London. I was so disappointed, I wanted it like a New York one. I want to feel like I'm part of the city." | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 14 Registered: 07-2006 |
i can't get any reception at my new place, so i'm restricted to the dvd format. luckily, i've taken out a subscription to receive a monthly instalment of 32 episodes prisoner cell block h. so in short, i'm in paradise. the sopranos is on mortifyingly late here, but looking forward to the season six box set being released sometime soon. arrested development's last season is out in a couple of weeks i think. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 877 Registered: 05-2005 |
I just tape Sopranos and watch it on Tuesday night at my leisure Joe. I assume you are in Australia then? I bet channel 9 won't show the final series though. It would be pointless paying what they pay and putting it all on after midnight again. Maybe ABC will pick it up as they did with West Wing. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 16 Registered: 07-2006 |
oh absolutely.....it's simply impossible to keep up with given the timeslot and forever changing airings. could be a somewhat controversial statement - but i actually think the good tv of the moment is actually a thousand times better on uninterrupted dvd release. plus i live under the melbourne cbd reception cloud so i don't get tv at the moment anyhow =) | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 889 Registered: 04-2005 |
No disagreement on your "controversial" statement, Joe. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that the better TV programs on these days (HBO series especially) are stronger than 90% of the new movies coming out. The HBO serials are like longform movies doled out in manageable chunks, which gives the creators a lot more freedom to develop storylines and characters. The days of film being an inherently superior art form to television may have ended. Technology has allowed people to have a comparable experience of a movie theater (minus the obnoxious crowds) at home. I hardly ever go to movies anymore. Except Borat. Everyone should go see Borat. I'm surprised there's no thread about it yet, actually. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1160 Registered: 03-2006 |
Excellent observation, Kurt, and not just because I had the same thought. You beat me to the punch, though, so you get "board credit"...but seriously, movies have to be so reduced to the lowest common denominator to get a lot of asses in seats, that virtually all intelligence, nuance of character, plots that couldn't be guessed by a kindergartener,etc., have to be surgically removed...the real action, the real shit, is all mainly on HBO, with a few entries from maybe Showtime and, even a few from the networks (Lost, the gone but not forgotten Arrested Development)...this stuff beats the shit out of any movie I've seen at a theater in a long time. With the exception of Borat...ps - I meant to give big ups to Rome when you mentioned it above. I loved it. Of course my fave TV show of all time is still the Wire. I've been faithfully watching the new season on HBO and come away just floored by its greatness after every episode... | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 20 Registered: 07-2006 |
it's all true. movies are so so bad right now. even the ones i'm supposed to like i more often than not don't. arrested development was the closest thing i had to a religion these past couple of years before the took it from me. thank christ for curb! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1142 Registered: 05-2005 |
Curb.. is the best thing on TV by a country mile. The latest one on UK TV on Sunday was fantastic, the episode where Larry and Jeff play eenie meenie to decide who should donate a kidney to Richard Lewis. Cringeworthy and hilarious in equal measures. Now just imagine Larry David and Ricky Gervais got together, how gross(but hysterical) would that be? | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 21 Registered: 07-2006 |
my mum decided to spend some quality time with me and watched the one where larre hires the pro to take the car pool lane and ends up taking her to his father's place to get baked. she didn't say a word...nor did she leave the room. i think it's one of those programs that just has to be seen for the sheer spectacle of itself. brilliant! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1189 Registered: 03-2006 |
Old James Bond movies, on DVD...Sean Connery was so much better a Bond than the next best thing (Roger Moore?) it's not even funny...I think "Goldfinger" is the best, though I'm not sure what was up with that baby blue terry cloth...er, jumper(?), I don't know what the hell to call it, can they have really thought that looked good, even back in the 60's?..."The Spy Who Loved Me" is just silly, though watching Barbara Bach in the titular role was no hardship... Haven't seen the new one, but I'm looking forward to it! Having it become less special effects driven and more on a human scale can't hurt... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 925 Registered: 04-2005 |
One of my coworkers saw the new one this weekend and said it's great. Low on gadgets and camp, strong on plot and the new, darker Bond. Her favorite line is when New Bond orders a martini and the bartender says "shaken or stirred?" Bond replies something like,"Do I look like I give a damn?" | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 926 Registered: 04-2005 |
Has anyone seen "For Your Consideration" yet? (the new Christopher Guest movie) I'm wondering how Ricky Gervais will fit into the usual Guest ensemble. Kevin, Larry David and Ricky together would definitely be worth seeing! They, along with Baron Cohen, are the masters of the Comedy of Embarrassment. But Gervais's Simpsons episode was a disappointment--I don't think that's the right format for his humor. Sorry, humour. Lazy American! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 90 Registered: 09-2006 |
Regarding the new Bond, I was pleasantly surprized to learn that they were including the carpet-beater scene from the book, a bit which, even though because of its time didn't go into great detail, still had my early-teen self wincing pretty deeply when I read it. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 131 Registered: 08-2006 |
Yeah, Allen, the new Bond is supposed to be at least a little more faithful to the books, which I loved. I read them as a teen, too, and remember watching the movies of the same names going, "what the f**k?". You don't need to be a genius to make a Bond film henceforth; there are, what, a dozen books, all of which have been ill-treated on-screen. Take Daniel Craig, or whatever his name is, and start over. Do it right, and comparisons with the originals will be irrelevant. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1190 Registered: 03-2006 |
I'm re-reading Casino Royale, Allen, and you know, it's not badly written...which doesn't jibe with my memory of all of them as being kind of pulpy (I, too, read 'em as a wee punk)...I read recently that Fleming envisioned Bond not as a hero, but rather as a "blunt instrument", a tool (in the useful implement sense, not the Ben Affleck sense) of government, and that's certainly what's conveyed in the book, and also apparently, the movie... Hmmm, may have to re-read 'em all...but only the ones written my Fleming. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 132 Registered: 08-2006 |
LK, I don't think they're badly written at all; I kind of put them in the category of the Patrick O'Brian novels - quality escapist fiction for people who actually read. They may not be up to the level of the O'Brian books, but there's still a lot in there. I think there's a tendency to dismiss series novels featuring recurring characters. In general, it's warranted, but there are exceptions. I'd put Bond up there. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1192 Registered: 03-2006 |
Well you know Rob, I may have to go revisit them. It's a pity, cuz I used to have those old vintage paperback copies (that probably cost 75 cents), inherited from my Dad. But, I don't know what happened to them - probably sold at a garage sale. Now, they've been reissued with even more studiedly vintage (but not as cool) covers and cost something like $14. My brother's a big fan of the O'Brien novels, but I could never get into 'em, couldn't get past the nautical jargon. Did really like the movie they made from them, with that neanderthal slug from Australia. As for what I've been watching, I finally saw the Cohen biodoc/concert film, "I'm Your Man". It is excellent - I can't recommend it highly enough. Though it has some great live footage of his songs being performed by a cast of quite worthy artists in their own right, people like Nick Cave and Beth Orton, the most compelling passages are the interviews with the great man himself. Fascinating and inspiring stuff. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 895 Registered: 05-2005 |
LK, "that neanderthal slug from Australia" is actually from New Zealand. Except when he wins Oscars, then he's from Australia. Australia claims a lot of the best Kiwi artists (see also the Finn brothers) just like Britain claims Irish people (see from Oscar Wilde to My Bloody Valentine. I'm happy for them to claim Boyzone or Westlife though). | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 138 Registered: 01-2006 |
Wanderly Wagon, albeit a bit drunk.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderly_Wa gon | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 906 Registered: 05-2005 |
Is there a follow up DVD of Wanderly Wagon out? I'll be home in a few weeks and will get it then if there is. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 139 Registered: 01-2006 |
I don't think so Padraig, it's the one that was released a year or so ago. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 38 Registered: 07-2006 |
i saw little miss sunshine the other night and thought it was absolutely brilliant. think happiness (one of my favourites), but a lot more palatable and with genuinely sympathetic characters. i also so borat last night...it had it's moments. wait for video. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1220 Registered: 03-2006 |
Finally got around to the new "Casino Royale". My loyalty ultimately lies with Sean Connery, but Daniel Craig was superb in it, easily the best Bond since Connery. And the film itself was just nonstop, jaw droppingly good entertainment. It brought 007 squarely back to what was originally intended by Fleming - a badass, slightly cruel, but ultimately good character and all the action was on a much more human, believable scale. If you like Bond, I can't recommend it highly enough. Btw, Eva Green sets a new standard for Bond girls, too. She is almost blindingly beautiful and more than held her own... | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 143 Registered: 08-2006 |
I haven't seen the new Bond yet, LK, but your review is consistent with everything I've heard from friends and the media. Can't wait to see it. I really hope they can keep it up past this installment. Hollywood has a "bigger = better" mentality that wouldn't seem to tolerate a leaner, meaner Bond forever. But I give 'em credit for the reexamination "Casino Royale" seems to be. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 103 Registered: 09-2006 |
I flipflop between three favorite Bond adaptations..."Goldfinger" is certainly the most fun, the one that at the time had even artsy folks like Antonioni cheering it on (Though I'm sure it wasn't, it's the kind of movie that could have inspired the phrase "pop cocktail") but it's also the one that pointed the way toward the future of the series: Q and his gadgets, the exaggerated set-pieces, the tongue-in-cheek tone...it all began there. Which is why I usually prefer it's somewhat less fun but more faithful immediate predecessor "From Russia With Love" (which also has two of the best, most distinctive villains: Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw). My third favorite is "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" - lame George Lazenby as Bond, too many gadgets, but for the most part quite faithful to what I thought was the best of the Bond books. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1235 Registered: 03-2006 |
I would agree with you, Allen, but would add "Thunderball" in there somewhere, certainly ahead of "On Her Majesty's". I am a Connery purist, though I agree that was a better than average one. Certainly different, too. I, not really remembering them, am not really a purist about faithfulness to the books. However, I did think they, as they continued to be made with lesser lights like Brosnan, just got sillier and sillier and this had a lot to do with their departing so much from Fleming's spirit... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 113 Registered: 09-2006 |
I think I was writing a little clumsily in that last post, as I, like you, intended faithful to mean closer to the spirit...although I do think staying closer to the book overlaps with that to a fair extent. | ||
| Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 51 Registered: 03-2006 |
Arrested Development was, and still is, absolute genius. Wonderful, wonderful show. Just finished watching season three and will probably start from the beginning again. It gets better with every viewing. Just got season 7 of Seinfeld on DVD too. Probably the best season, if only for "The Soup Nazi". Also - the second season of "Extras". Bleak fun. oh, and the new Battlestar Galactica. Smart, compelling TV. | ||
| TROU Member Username: Trou Post Number: 62 Registered: 05-2005 |
Regarding Seinfeld (my preferate serie), I'll need some time to digest Kramer's last performance... | ||
| Lawrence Mikkelsen Member Username: Simplythrilledhoney Post Number: 52 Registered: 03-2006 |
yeah, I must say, Michael Richard's most recent performance has certainly left a sour taste in my mouth. But if you're gonna stop watching/listening to people just because they're arseholes, chances are you'll have to check out a fair amount of your record collection. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 34 Registered: 10-2006 |
Good to see so many Ian Fleming fans on the board, I loved the Bond books as I hit puberty and was overwhelmed by Tiffany and Honeychile and Vesper... I'm also a big admirer of the Quiller series by Adam Hall, where the gritty hero gets up to all sorts of Bond-like stuff but with a gritty cerebral style that makes it all powerfully plausible... ridiculous that the series is so hard to find now, like Bond it should be permanently in print... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1252 Registered: 03-2006 |
Unlike Michael Richards, Bill Hicks could sure handle a heckler. Be forewarned, this clip contains "language" and should be viewed with extreme caution, if at work: http://www.break.com/index/bill_hicks_un loads_on_heckler.html | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 157 Registered: 08-2006 |
Holy crap! I'm self-employed, work out of my home, by myself, and was STILL looking over my shoulder while that clip was playing. I think one of my dogs might be hiding under the desk, trembling. That's from Chicago? I don't remember any noticable seismic activity here back in 1987... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1261 Registered: 03-2006 |
Pretty shocking, huh? That poor woman he had ejected probably never heckled again, I'm guessing... Never saw Hicks live - he must have really been something to see, in concert. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 994 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Sopranos. Only show I always watch. Not a TV kinda guy. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 42 Registered: 07-2006 |
are channel nine still screening the sixth series? and when can we expect it on dvd? carmella is the italian mother i always kinda begrudged my own mother for not being. she likes the show too =)) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 997 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes Joe. Still showing it from midnight. And I'm still taping it, watching it the next night and skipping over the ads. So no benefit to Ch 9. Thanks Eddie for not "boning" it! (That's a contemporary Aussie joke folks). | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 47 Registered: 07-2006 |
heh! he said bone... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1005 Registered: 05-2005 |
Season 3 of Arrested Development. Got it yesterday in JBs for $33. Love that show. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1272 Registered: 03-2006 |
Not that you particularly care, but most of Arrested Development is shot around OC where I live, in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, and unlike, say the scenery shown in "the OC", it really looks like it was actually filmed here...And it is an excellent show - I think one of the best comedies ever, btw. Which gives me an excellent segue into the Sopranos: when Tony is lying in a coma, the dream sequence he's having is also set in Costa Mesa, though it doesn't really look like anything I've seen - it's probably a backlot in Hollywood or Jersey or wherever they shoot it. How are you liking it, Padraig? I was, honestly, kind of disappointed in the last season - it just kind of went nowhere and didn't offer any of the big dramatic payoffs I'd been hoping for...I'm hoping they redeem themselves with the final lot of eps due next year. | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 61 Registered: 07-2006 |
i'm waiting for my AD season three to arrive via ezydvd's "express" service at more than what you casually picked up at jb yesterday. scandal! i know i have a lack of years and all, but it's the funniest tv i've ever seen. and ridiculously re-watchable. you're still laughing and you've already missed the next joke. and might i add "marry me!" | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1010 Registered: 05-2005 |
I care a lot, LK, I care a lot. Agree with you on season 6 of Sopranos. The episode from the other night had two particularly grizzly murders and was also really funny. Great episode. But the two before it were a bit boring. I'm sure compared to other programs they were fine; but Sopranos set the bar so high for itself. Only that it redeemed itself the other night I was thinking this might be the first series I don't get on DVD. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1034 Registered: 04-2005 |
Just finished season one of another sublime HBO series, Rome. That scene in the next-to-last episode, with Pullo battling for his life and the honor of the 13th in the arena--wow. I'm reminded of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "'Tis but a scratch..." | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1279 Registered: 03-2006 |
Pullo is a serious badass. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1036 Registered: 04-2005 |
Someday, I'm going to go back and rewatch the series to count how many people he killed, despite his "I am not a murderer!" protests. And of course we saw very little of him in actual combat, so his total death toll would be much, much higher. The most endearing killing machine you could ever hope to meet. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 498 Registered: 08-2004 |
I think The Sopranos is set for a grandstand conclusion. There's an awful lot of loose ends there. I'm curious as to the relevance of the pair (oo-er) hanging around the Bada-Bing & other establishments. Is it true filming has been delayed by James Gandolfini's knee injury? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1281 Registered: 03-2006 |
The Sopranos really has me scared, Jerry - I'm worried that they're really going to blow their previous sterling rep, that all those loose ends will be left flapping in the wind, that the ultimate reaction is going to be "wtf?"... They had kept the quality up so well, until...last season. A major disappointment. Basically, nothing happened in it, and took what seemed like forever to do so... I did read that Gandolfini's injury delayed filming. In a way, it's a shame the series is ending (though it, of course, needs to), because JG is so great in it. As great an actor as he is, though, he hasn't really clicked in anything else. The lack of quality was even more apparent when contrasted with the 3rd season of "Deadwood", which was incredibly great. D'you guys get it in the UK? Yep Kurt, anybody who goes right back into battle having just gone through a little old fashioned trepanning is pretty danged tough, in my book. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 500 Registered: 08-2004 |
I don't know LK. I don't demand a great deal from TV. David Chase has always added a lot of reality in his work. A healthy mix of the mundane with the sensational, life's loose ends aren't always nicely tied up. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1284 Registered: 03-2006 |
If you're enjoying it, more power to you, Jerry. Far be it from me to poop on your fun! And, the worst Sopranos ep is still pretty friggin' entertaining! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1296 Registered: 03-2006 |
Anybody see the Wire finale last night? Holy crap! Easily the greatest, most epic hour and a half of TV I've ever seen. I don't see how it can be topped. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 118 Registered: 09-2006 |
A Marx Brothers box set. Every movie is just about the same yet it never fails to put me on the floor. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 123 Registered: 09-2006 |
A combination Whatcha listening/watching/drinking post: Went down to Tower one more time, since there's just four days to go...picked up a copy of Kid Creole & the Coconuts' "Doppelganger" and played it incessantly all day - god I miss them. And for two bucks I bought "The Fury." I'm a pathetically big DePalma fan, have always had mixed feelings about this one, but I started in on it with some microbrews and had the time of my life. Gloriously ridiculous, Amy Irving acts her ass off, and then there's the ending: critic Armond White calls it the greatest ending in cinema history, which is of course absurd...it's only in the top three  | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1097 Registered: 05-2005 |
Allen Marx box eh? Sounds fun! I watched Siouxe and the Banshees from '80, Rock Goes to College a repeat from way back, John McGeogh was playing guitar, that man had the licks, quite original and clever. Added deep atmosphere to their tribal esque sounds. I rememebr being stuck in the back of my brother in law's Austin 1100 when I was a kid, listening to Happy House, thinkin this is great man!!!! It was V. Weird!!!! http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm? akaado16f.htm | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1260 Registered: 05-2005 |
Celtic against Rangers on Setanta Sports. The game ended 1-1 which means Celtic stay 16 points ahead of Rangers in the race for this years championship. Couldnt make the game today as I was working, but the bhoys did me proud anyway. just about to watch the last(double)episode of series 6(?) of Curb Your Enthusiasm - apparently Larry dies but series 7(?) is in production!! How does that work, not another Dallas scenario surely? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1065 Registered: 05-2005 |
He survives Kevin! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1098 Registered: 05-2005 |
Can larry swim like a fish though!? | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 78 Registered: 07-2006 |
i just saw little miss sunshine for the second time. technically it was on the premise of catching up with my sisters, but i enjoyed it every bit as much as the first time. as an australian (grumble grumble...) toni collette brings me such relief. the same feeling i get from the go-b's, albeit maybe not quite as overwhelming =) | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 511 Registered: 08-2004 |
Recently watched series 2 of Auf Wiedersehen Pet on Men & Motors. Last week watched The Godfather, for the first time in widescreen with an unfuzzy picture. What a film. This Saturday, QPR v Barnsley, the most glamorous tie in the Champions league this week. Sorry, Championship. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1071 Registered: 05-2005 |
Watched Swingers on DVD on Sunday night. I'd forgotten about how many great lines it has. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1068 Registered: 04-2005 |
I'm not proud, but "Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." Worth it for the occasional cheap laughs, Amy Adams, and Baron Cohen's ridiculous "French" accent. Also, a totally gratuitous cameo by Elvis Costello. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1332 Registered: 03-2006 |
What? Why wasn't I told? I didn't realize that Costello was in that. I have people I pay to keep me informed of things like that - someone's head's gonna roll... My best friend, who lives in Birmingham, AL, actually goes to Talladega every year... | ||
| Andy Member Username: I_am_andy Post Number: 10 Registered: 08-2006 |
"The Aristocrats" (and we had it playing quite loud, so I don't know what our new neighours would have thought if they heard it) and "A Weekend in the Country" doco about the Meredith Music Festival. Both highly recommended, but don't watch the Aristocrats with either your kids or your parents ... or yourself if easily offended. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1141 Registered: 05-2005 |
Take That live reunion gig, wicked!! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 141 Registered: 09-2006 |
Revisited a movie I haven't seen for 10 years, and it not only held up but was even better than I remembered, always a nice thing: "Kicking and Screaming" (no relation to the Will Ferrell flick)(though I did see the "Talladega Nights" recently too, and had just about the same take as you, Kurt), the story of four young upstate New Yorkers, freshly graduated from college, filled with more intelligence and wit than they know what to do with but only the first dawning bits of wisdom to balance it out, so paralyzed by the enormity of what's just happened to them that they're making a personal crusade out of doing nothing (hence the title). It could be insufferable, but writer-director Noah Baumbach simultaneously shows them compassion and nails their bullshit with pinpoint accuracy. Even more importantly, it's very funny...there were times when the good lines were coming so thick and fast I had to stop and go back. And I haven't mentioned the mid-90s soundtrack, heavy on Freedy Johnston, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and the Pixies. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 522 Registered: 08-2004 |
That sounds good, Allen, don't think I've ever heard of that one. Saw A History Of Violence on Saturday, not bad, but I was expecting more from Cronenberg. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 360 Registered: 01-2005 |
LK, I agree with you on he last season of The Sopranos. The writing did tail off. I have the other seasons on DVD, but have not been compeled to go out and get the last season. However bad though it may be, it's nowhere near as bad as those last 4 years of The X-Files. However, the first 5 years of The X-Files were brillant. Season 2 of Twin Peaks will be available on DVD in April in the US! I already pre-ordered it on amazon. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1097 Registered: 04-2005 |
I've been watching season two of the British comedy show Little Britain. Any fans of the show here? The two guys are great comic actors, though repeating the same characters over and over can get tiresome. But I never get tired of Andy (wheelchair guy) and his buddy/helper Lou. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1352 Registered: 03-2006 |
Michael, I think the diminishment of quality in that last season was shocking...to the point where I don't even really care about the upcoming final season...chances are, it's gonna suck! Several buddies who were rabid fans have been like you - not particularly moved to go out and get the last season on DVD. I've transferred my loyalty to the Wire, which over 4 seasons, has only gotten greater. It is the most mind-blowingly entertaining and profound thing I've ever seen on television. And just a notch below it, I'd put Deadwood, which I enjoyed the hell out of...part of it, I think, is knowing when to cut things off and wrap them up. Deadwood only has a couple of two hour movies to go, and supposedly, there's going to be just one more season of the Wire. The Sopranos, I believe, has gone on, what, two seasons longer than originally promised... Kurt, I've seen Little Britain, and agree with your take. Best watched in small doses.... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1355 Registered: 03-2006 |
Also, saw "Pan's Labyrinth" last night. It was just brilliant. A very deep, dark and violent adult fairy tale, of sorts, that was incredibly moving and powerful. Highly recommended - it's one of those films that still resonates the next day. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 143 Registered: 09-2006 |
Definitely anticipating "Pan's Labyrinth"...I hope not too much, as I don't want my expectations to exceed even what it can deliver. Michael, I can't believe the long "Twin Peaks" wait is almost over...finally I can discard my old blurry EP videotapes...in related news I just got my tickets for the Northwest premiere of Mr. Lynch's latest, "Inland Empire" (or, as I guess he prefers it, "INLAND EMPIRE."). DL himself will be there at the showing, so as you can imagine, the fanboy in me is absolutely drooling. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1359 Registered: 03-2006 |
INLAND EMPIRE sounds promising...if for no other reason, its deeply sardonic, sarcastic title. People here in OC, that is the rich, snobby people who live closest to the coast, look down on the people who live farther away, inland, and consider them as their own version of "bridge and tunnel" people. So, "Inland Empire", what that area is called, became one of those names that was originally intended to glorify, but actually ended up being somewhat mocking...With Lynch, who knows what is meant by it... I can pretty much guarantee you'll love PL, Al, just don't take any children under, say, 13. It is shockingly violent and brutal and they'll be f-ed up for life! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 145 Registered: 09-2006 |
Apparently Lynch got the title from Laura Dern, who was talking about an area of Southern California...though obivoulsy from what you say that's not the only area with that name. The movie was shot in LA and Poland, and apparently the two locales begin to blur as the movie goes along. From all reports, trying to piece the story together like a puzzle is even more of a waste of time than it is with his other ones...the experience is what it's about. Glenn Kenny (one of the better film critics around, IMO) does a good job of putting it in perspective in his review on premiere.com. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 146 Registered: 09-2006 |
Oh wait a minute, you are talking about the place in California...I had it in my head that you lived in the South. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1363 Registered: 03-2006 |
You more or less had it right, man. I lived in the South...Yeah, with Lynch it seems to work best to shut off all rational thought processes and just drift... | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1155 Registered: 05-2005 |
Loud QUIET Loud - Pixies DVD. Its wonderful. More and more I have come to love the DVD format and everything it brings, esp rock docu soaps. Like The Pixies, this DVD is really exceptional. I love the way its filmed, very stylish for fly stuff, and the lovely backing music courtsey of Lanois. There's some really touching bits in it, like when Frank talks about his wife being pregnant to the Deals and that, and the way the band embrace heavy personal issues, some bonus stuff when they go to Sigur Ros studio, i dunno its just heart warming. All I can say is its worth it, you gotta be there! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1309 Registered: 05-2005 |
Little Britain "jumped the shark" after the first series. The 2 Xmas specials were rubbish. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 149 Registered: 09-2006 |
Watched an ABC News online report yesterday which began "It's called, "jumping the shark"..." and went on to cite several examples, as if it were some brand new phenomenon, which for them I guess it is... | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 193 Registered: 04-2005 |
A friend sent me the DVD of the Godard film 'One Plus One' (aka 'Sympathy for the Devil'). The Stones in the studio bits are great: the song starts off as something completely different (with Nicky Hopkins' gospel-like organ fills) and it is wonderfully filmed. Keith is God-like and the bloated Brian Jones does look as if he will die soon, absently mindly strumming an acoustic. As for the Jean-Luc sections...I think that the man himself may be an more interesting prospect than most of his output? Like Jack Kerouac for me. The DVD features the 2 versions if the film, although the one that Godard disowned is apparently only different right at the end where it doesn't feature the finished version of the song. But this was sufficient provocation for Godard to swing a punch at the producer on the stage of the National Film Theatre when the film was previewed! + interesting article here on the Pixies DVD http://alternativestovalium.blogspot.com /2006/12/loudquietloud-undersea-world-of -pixies.html | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 901 Registered: 03-2005 |
Wow, Andrew, I've never seen "One Plus One." It sounds great. Does Godard interject a bunch of monologues about socialism in the middle of the action? On a vastly lighter level, I went and saw "The Queen" over the weekend. Helen Mirren can do no wrong in my view but the whole film did seem a minor camp masterpiece, especially when QE II slogs through the wilds of Balmoral in her antiquated crash-box Land Rover, breaks a propshaft (driveshaft to we American types) and diagnoses the failure herself. Add to that the Queen Mum with a glass in hand on all occasions and Prince Phillip as a narrow-minded boob and Charles as a craven boob. The actor who played Tony Blair astonished me with his grasp of Blair's speech and facial patterns. This was not high art but it sure was fun. Perpective from our Emerald Isle denizens? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1317 Registered: 05-2005 |
On behalf of all my ancestors from the Emerald Isle I would like to say "Hangings too good for every rotten last one of them" | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 152 Registered: 01-2006 |
The Queen of where? oh England, right... And Prince Charles, or the Para Prince as some of us call him....(He is the head of the Parachute Regiment who murdered 13 civilians during a civil rights march in Derry in 1969, commonly referred to as the second Bloody Sunday)....who cares? It's good to be a citizen and not a subject... Funnily it was an Irishman that broke into Buckingham Palace in the 80s as Morrissey refers to in The Queen Is Dead.. So, I broke into the palace With a sponge and a rusty spanner She said : "Eh, I know you, and you cannot sing" I said : "That's nothing - you should hear me play piano" | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1394 Registered: 03-2006 |
Missed "The Illusionist" in theaters, but finally got to rent it. Can't believe I missed it first time round - it's great. Paul Giammati, as is typical, really shined in it. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 529 Registered: 08-2004 |
I hope you don't believe the English love HRH & all of her in-bred offspring, Randy. They exist purely for the tourist trade these days. A risible bunch of right wing poseurs. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 199 Registered: 04-2005 |
"One Plus One" has lots of Black Panthers swanning around by the River Thames brandishing machine guns and revolutionary rhetoric. No idea what it all means. I actually found a serious academic paper on the net that attempted to explain the film, but it gave me a head-ache. But the DVD has scene selection for the Stones bit, so you don't have to watch those sections! Apparently the film's backers were annoyed by Jean-Luc, cause (having got the money) he spent too much time back in Paris. It was May '68. And on the Royals. She has never been Elizabeth II to the Scots, cause we never had a first. I remember in 1977 (Queens Jubilee) thinking that I lived in a seperate universe from the one that was portrayed on the TV. According to the media the whole nation was united in its love for Her Maj and street parties everywhere. Strange I don't remember too many in Glasgow. Similar feeling for the death of Diana. The media when to town on the extent of the grief. 3 national TV channels filming her coffin arriving in the centre of London. What nonsense. On the morning of her funeral we attempted to go the library of the French Institute in Edinburgh, only to be told that it was shut as a mark of respect. 'But you cut the heads off your monarchy' we argued with the receptionist. Some of the newspapers the following week actually listed places/big shops that had not shut that day. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 905 Registered: 03-2005 |
I suppose I should not be surprised by all these funny entries. Now, I wonder if "The Queen" was made strictly for foreign release. On the subject of Diana, I never got the plot. One of my colleagues at work had this idea that all gay people just loooove Diana so when she died he asked if I was grieving. I wasn't, of course, and didn't give a crap. It turns out that HE was grieving for her and was very offended by my comments. But he was apparently right because when the funeral happened, which was at something like 4:00 a.m. Pacific Time, I heard the sound of the service coming at my house from every direction seemingly from every house around me. My neighborhood is lousy with other gay people and/or low level entertainment industry types. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 153 Registered: 01-2006 |
I'd certainly watch a film on Gráinne Ní Mháille, the Pirate Queen of Connacht, ripe for a Hollywood blockbuster... http://home.fiac.net/marshaw/mhaille.htm | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 17 Registered: 06-2005 |
I was thinking the same thing as I walked the little museum to her while on holidays in Louisburg during the Summer, she was one hell of a character..PJ Harvey for lead role?! I think there was a drama based on her life at one stage. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 154 Registered: 01-2006 |
Peter, I worked in Westport for 18 months about 9 years ago and it's one of my favourite spots in the West, although a Galwegian would say that I suppose. You didn't see the documnetary a month or so ago on RTE about the island in Clew Bay belonging to John Lennon and the hippy community that set up there in the late 60s/early 70s? I knew a guy there who claimed his dad still had Lennon's wellies. Most likely bullshit but a good story for the pub... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1320 Registered: 05-2005 |
XY - I take it you visited Castlebar during your time in Westport? According to family legend that is where my ancestors on my Dads side originate from. Have only visited the area once, in 1984, hows the place looking now? I have a picture of myself outside Wynne's (my surname) Newsagents, do you know if it is still there? | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 155 Registered: 01-2006 |
Kevin, i don't know Castlebar as well as Westport though I'm sure the shop is still there, these places tend to stay in the family. I'd say Castlebar is looking a lot better than it was in '84, booming like most regional capitals in Ireland. Locals from Westport call locals from Castlebar Fishheads due to the fact that during the Famine they ate the best part of the fish caught at sea and sent the fishheads inland to Castlebar, I jest you not. And to bring us back to the point about the British royals, last time I went through the town there was a big former green space being redeveloped into apartments called Spencer Park, due to the fact that Diana's (Spencer) family owned a lot of land around there and that park in particular.......sorry Kev, you Fishhead!!!!! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1321 Registered: 05-2005 |
cheers for the info XY -now I know why I am a big fan of seafood | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 157 Registered: 01-2006 |
heh heh, good one! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 154 Registered: 09-2006 |
"The Descent" - a well made horror pic is all it is, but that's hardly nothing. Gives you a good idea of what it might be like to be two miles under the ground, in very close quarters and miminal light, being stalked by things that want to eat you. | ||
| Matt Ellis Member Username: Matt_ellis Post Number: 146 Registered: 11-2004 |
Just watching on the BBC the James Brown 'Electric Proms' gig from October last year. Hard to believe that at the time of the gig he was 73. What a brilliant performance. RIP The Godfather of Soul. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 18 Registered: 06-2005 |
I missed that Lennon documenatary XY, can't imagine what the natives would have made of the new arrivals, did many stay? We stayed in Westport last weekend and had a blast, I imagine it was a good spot to live for a while. Sat by a roaring fire, sinking smooth creamy pints of Guinness in Blousers bar where they filmed that "Knowing what matters" Guinness ad where the tv is ceremoniously thrown into the Atlantic before marching back the street to Blousers for a session..thankfully the TV must have dried out and I watched my Gunners dump the pool from the FA cup, perfect evening. Morans was good too and Matt Molloy's(of Chieftans fame) bar too, though for all the trad music the best I heard was a guy play Tom Wait's 'Ol 55 just after closing time. Passed Castlebar Kevin, about twenty minutes away and it's probably unrecognisable since '84, a thriving shopping town whereas Westport is more a tourist town, don't recall a Wynnes though. Was it a newsagents come undertakers/bar/vet/hardware store, the type you'd find a lot of in rural Ireland at one time?! What I'm most lookin' forward to watchin' is the new seies of 24 which starts on Jan 21st over here, it's one of the very few shows I watch religously. The last series might not have been the best so far but it's still head and shoulders above most of that genre. I wonder has Evan Katz slid in another Go-Betweens reference after his McLennan-Forster arms company in the last series.."Dammit Chloe! I need a 16mm Lovers Lane assault weapon, now!" | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1323 Registered: 05-2005 |
Peter - no it was just a Newsagents, and a fairly modern one at that. In 1984 I did a fair bit of touring Ireland and saw a few places of the type you mention, these people sure knew how to multi task!! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1167 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jason Byrne DVD. Its Fab, Padraig you know him? http://www.jasonbyrne.net/ | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1095 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes I do Spence. He's pretty funny. I watched the Dara O'Briain DVD before leaving Ireland - which was a good thing seeing as it's in a bag that didn't make it back to Sydney. I thought it was great. I used to see him in the Comedy Cellar in the International Bar a decade ago. I didn't realise he was so young then. He doesn't look any older now, but I was very surprised to learn that he is only 34. He does a good gag about how people assume he is much older. I took my daughter to the Lambert Puppet Theatre in Monkstown on Sunday 7 January. It was fantastic. I loved it as much as she did. Eugene Lambert / O'Brien brought out Judge before the show and one of his sons did Mr Crowe. It was hilarious. The main show was a production of Sleeping Beauty which was also brilliant. (None of this is going to make any sense to the non-Irish board users!). The second Wanderly Wagon DVD is another on the missing bags list. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 158 Registered: 01-2006 |
Peter, thay lasted till the winter when all their crops died, doubt they knew how bad the winter weather in the west of Irelnad was before they set up. Of course the locals thought they all were drugged up paganists or something. I must bring my duaghter down to the the Monkstown Puppet theatre when she's a bit older though it'll really be for my benefit to see Judge and Mr. Crow. I haven't got the second volume of Wanderly Wagon yet. I've spent many nights in those Westport bars you mentioned Peter. Blousers is the local of a friend of mine who still lives there and he says the TV is never off! Mollys gets a bit too mush in nthe summer with all the toursits but it's a great pub when it's a bit quiter. One night we were drinking late in a bar called Morans across the road from Molloys, it has a shop in the front and a bar at the back. At the end of then night we bought rashers, sausages, eggs and brad for a big fry-up in the mnorning, classic!! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1407 Registered: 03-2006 |
It's been getting tons of rave critical press here, so I've finally hunkered down and started watching "Battlestar Galactica". And it is very good, though I don't know if it's the best TV show ever. That honor I still reserve for the Wire. Also, saw the 1st ep of the new season of "Rome" which was smashing, though it featured a twist at the end that was possibly too horrific, even for that show. Last night was also the premiere of the 2nd season of "Extras", just arriving on these shores. It was, of course, brilliant as expected. But, I'm starting to wonder: will Ricky Gervais let up with the non-stop humiliation of his character a tiny bit, and let him have a victory or two, as he did with his character in "The Office"? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1140 Registered: 04-2005 |
Just watched "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room." If it doesn't make you utterly afraid of Wall St., the U.S. economy, and capitalism in general, nothing will. Fascinating, disturbing documentary. "Extras" and "Battlestar Galactica" are in our Netflix queue, but they'll have to be exceptional to top "The Wire" in my book. Another one we just started watching is HBO's "Big Love." Not sure how I feel about it--it's creepy. Funny how it has the most explicit sex of any HBO show but the fewest four-letter words. Oh those crazy Mormon polygamists! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1408 Registered: 03-2006 |
I agree, Kurt - the Wire sets an awfully high standard, one that Extras, and BG don't quite reach. My verdict after seeing most of Big Love: so so...it all seems like a very elaborately constructed set up to let them show a guy gettin' it awn with three women (serially) and play into guy's fantasies of that. It does score points, though, for having Harry Dean Stanton in it, fascinating, oily character that he is... HBO has a pretty sterling success rate, but every now and then they have a misfire. Carnivale, anyone? | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1142 Registered: 04-2005 |
You're right; after two episodes, I can see that Stanton is the reason to keep watching. Pure evil. And how long before we see Chloe Sevigny in full undress? I mean, c'mon, this is the woman who did very graphic scenes in "Boys Don't Cry" and "Brown Bunny." I've heard "Carnivale" isn't up to their usual standards. What's wrong with it? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 155 Registered: 09-2006 |
Mike Judge's "Idiocracy," a one-joke idea carried off well, because it's a good joke and there's so many variations on it. I love how smug, sullen, aggressive contempt has become the universal attribute, and when Luke Wilson's character talks to them in a friendly, average-joe voice they keep telling him he sounds like a fag. Sorta reminds me of that 88 Rock Cliches thing in the other thread, where one of the reasons given that boy-girl duets suck is that "it emasculates the guy." Uh, yeah, I'm going to be over here where showing normal human emotions isn't considered unseemly, OK? Heading off to see INLAND EMPIRE tonight. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 156 Registered: 09-2006 |
Watched the first season of Carnivale maybe a year or so ago...had a number of good things going for it, especially the underrated Clancy Brown as the priest and Little Mike Anderson acquitting himself well as the leader of the band. Some good atmosphere and cinematography, too...but the story wasn't quite compelling enough to get me to come back for the second season - it seemed a little too manufactured, and strung out far too long. Sorry to hear "Big Love"'s not so hot...always liked Paxton a lot, and of course Harry Dean, the greatest character actor (and one of the greatest actors period) ever. I'm a semi-poor fella who has to make his entertainment spending choices wisely and I get 98% of my videos from my fine library system, so I'm behind on Sopranos...they've just acquired the Wire, though, and I'm chomping at the bit for it. Any "Six Feet Under" fans? IMO that one held up very well (for the most part) all the way to the finish line. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1419 Registered: 03-2006 |
Well said, Allen. My one-liner, in the spirit of those concise reviews by the Dean, was going to be that Carnivale was poor man's David Lynch. Paxton is actually pretty good in BL, too, though the dang thing just doesn't somehow coalesce into anything interesting or compelling.. And Kurt, Chloe does get it awn with Paxton in a scene, but remains more or less fully clothed. She acts, in the series, pretty much against type - her character is quite frumpy and marmish and wears the worst kinds of clothing we associate with practitioners of polygamy... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 394 Registered: 01-2005 |
I loved Chloe Sevigny in Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco. I hope Whit releases his 4th movie this year. It's been way to long since TLDOD. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1421 Registered: 03-2006 |
She was also great in "Trees Lounge", I thought. Now there was a great and underappreciated flick. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 157 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, Michael...in the wake of "Kicking and Screaming" I recently rewatched "Metropolitan" (out in a lovely DVD edition with great commentary). Chris Eigeman really shoulda become some kinda star... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 158 Registered: 09-2006 |
"Trees Lounge" is one I really need to rewatch...I recall liking it a lot back when it came out...Buscemi, another character great. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1107 Registered: 05-2005 |
Trees Lounge is a great film alright LK. I have it on video and will, no doubt, get it on DVD some day. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1423 Registered: 03-2006 |
Padraig, do you have the soundtrack, with the great Hayden title song?... Yeah, I find Buscemi compulsively watchable, as I do Samuel L. Jackson. I find it difficult to turn off anything they're in. I even watched "Snakes On a Plane" the other night and enjoyed it thoroughly...if nothing else, it's worth watching to hear him utter the immortal line, "I can't take these motherf-in' snakes on this motherf-in' plane"... That makes me want to pull out Trees Lounge and watched it. Buscemi actually directed it, too - talented guy. He also directed my fave ep of the Sopranos: "The Pine Barrens". | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1110 Registered: 05-2005 |
No, I don't have the soundtrack. The soundtrack I really want but can't get anywhere is Awakenings. I think I've mentioned that here before. I have it on cassette but would love to have it on CD. Unfortunately it is long out of print. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 159 Registered: 09-2006 |
Oh my god, INLAND EMPIRE was completely FUCKED UP...I loved every last minute of it, but I'd only recommend it to die-hard Lynch fans - to anyone else I think it'd be something closer to an endurance test. What Laura Dern does in this movie is beyond any award they could possibly give her - she goes places I've rarely seen any actor go... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 395 Registered: 01-2005 |
Buscemi is a great actor. He is also in maybe my favorite mob movie of all time, Miller's Crossing, though in a small part. MC has so much more depth to it than Goodfellas or Godfather I or II. No Pacino, Brando or DeNiro, but Gabriel Byrne acts his ass off and you never know what side he will finally flip back to until the end. Plus J.E. Freeman's character is truely evil to the core. It's my favorite Joel and Ethan Coen movie as well, which is not to say I don't love Fargo, or The Big Lebowski. Albert Finney, John Turtorro, Marcia Gay Harden and Jon Polito all turn in great preformances as well. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1111 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael, we need a Coen Bros thread I think. Maybe I'll start it! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 161 Registered: 09-2006 |
More Dick Cavett Show...two box sets, one covering rock guests, another comedy, covering the years 1968-1974. The class, brains, and maybe soul of that era of talk show. Cavett was very sympathetic to the counterculture (unlike, say, Carson) and in agreement with them on a goodly number of issues, but as a born Midwesterner educated at Yale he wasn't of them, which made him perhaps the perfect person to help put them across to TV-land America - he was extremely considerate to every guest, but not shy about his own views, and welcomed a bit of debate. And the pacing! So laid-back and informal...unthinkable now, when everyone seems so terrified to risk boring an audience for even a second that I find them impossible to watch. Just finished with an episode in which the guests were Janis Joplin (volcanic, and not looking like she was going to drop dead anytime soon), Raquel Welch (trying to simultaneously maintain her sex-bomb image in a low cut top and a mini-skirt so short it had me wondering what Cavett could see from where he was sitting, and subvert it by, well, by being as intelligent as she obviously is), Douglas Fairbanks Jr, and Chet Huntley. All four sit around together and chat with an honest friendliness, even when they differ. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 287 Registered: 08-2006 |
I saw "Pan's Labyrinth" this weekend. I'm not an especially squeamish sort but, holy cow, the violence in the film is sadistic and disturbing. I don't recommend seeing it anywhere near meal time. A good flick, though - imaginative, well-shot and memorable. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1172 Registered: 04-2005 |
I watched the documentary on the Minutemen, "We Jam Econo." Really top-notch; I was surprised there was so much good live footage of the band, and it was interesting to hear and see all the fiftysomething friends and peers of the band talk about them. It would be hard to find a more beloved band, I think. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1143 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to see The Queen and thought it was great. It was as much about Tony Blair as the UK royal soap opera. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1477 Registered: 03-2006 |
Finally got around to seeing The Departed and was fairly blown away. Wa wa wee wa, what a movie! Has to be Scorsese's best since the mighty and immortal Goodfellas. One of those movies that haunts, that really sticks. You're immediately thinking, I have to get this on DVD, I have to experience this again. Great soundtrack, too. Believe it or not, it made me want to go out and buy a Dropkick Murphys album. I unqualifiedly recommend it to anybody who likes Scorsese or gangster movies. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1156 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hey LK, it almost made me want to buy a Dropkick Murphy's album too... but I reviewed and trashed one of their records about six years ago and am not willing to go there again. I might be tempted to go see them live sometime though. They've played Sydney a couple of times. Actually, I'd love to see them on St Patrick's Day in Boston. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1217 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw the Dropkicks twice, one with the Sex Pistols at Crystal Palace and then supporting The Pogues last year, thought they were bloody awful, though they sure stir up the passion by the sounds of it. I am gonna be watchin a real cool sounding show, its on BBC4, Friday 2 Feb, 9pm, its called Soul Brittania. It apparently features unsung heroes from black British music. In particular the group Cymande, I think I also saw a clip with Kev Rowland too, dunno, but it sounds like it'll be a good programme. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 961 Registered: 03-2005 |
That sounds like a great show Spence. I wonder if Jimmy James will be mentioned, or the Flirtations. I have a real soft spot for the British version of soul, including the white 60s stuff that most people slag off. In fact, back in the days of mix tapes I put together a good one on 60s British soul. No idea where it is now. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1219 Registered: 05-2005 |
Randy, shame you can't find the tape!! Yeah love the British soul too, my friends when I was about 8 or 9 mid to late 70's were mostly black and we would often be found in the lviing room listening to soul or reggae, it was the only thing you heard in their house, it also used to get blasted out on to the gardens with gigantic speakers hanging out of the windows! It was tremendous fun too, this big banging noise of reggae, and the soul, that for the most part was played by elder sisters or brothers. |