| Author | Message | ||
     Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 435 Registered: 09-2006 |
Two hearty films: "I [Heart] Huckabees," and "Wild at Heart."...watched the former film for the second time and the latter one for about the 826th time... | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 187 Registered: 07-2006 |
huckabees is ace! "she said fuckabees...." | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 446 Registered: 09-2006 |
Battlestar Galactica Season One Just started today and am already six hours in, which says something. Good stuff... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 447 Registered: 09-2006 |
Actually all it probably says is that I'm a pathetic couch potato when I find a good series... | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 269 Registered: 11-2004 |
Balls Of Steel (yes, I know - I know) | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 448 Registered: 09-2006 |
Finished the BSG set...better than good stuff: damn good stuff. They even managed to pull off one of the most perfectly orchestrated season-enders ever. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1939 Registered: 03-2006 |
"Jindabyne" - basically good, but a little boring and patchy in places. Perhaps that's due to my already knowing the basic story - it seemed to take forever to get to the point. "Breaking and Entering" - actually fairly bad, but just this side of watchable. Juliette Binoche is always a treat to watch, no matter the quality of the movie. Sopranos - I don't what you call the place beyond the place where the wheels have come off, but that seems to be where Tony is...Possibly and even more disturbing ep than last week's, as it featured performing an example of the fine art of "curbing". | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 608 Registered: 01-2005 |
"The Good Shepard" - The Matt Damon character losses his soul in the process of becoming a top CIA man. Tony no longer trusts or listens to the people who use to give him counsel, or has lost the ones that used to do so. Phil will probably end up whacking him. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1942 Registered: 03-2006 |
Curious, Michael. Did you like "Good Shepard"? I wanted to, but just wasn't too moved by it. Maybe it was cuz it was too long... I wonder if David Chase is setting us up for a curveball. He's done so much foreshadowing with the Phil thing (if I were Tone, I woulda whacked him a long time ago - he's trouble, anyone could tell. Just look at that hateful mug), maybe he feels it would be more shocking and subversive to let T get away scot free. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 640 Registered: 08-2004 |
Haven't seen this weeks Soprano's yet. But I was interested in the act of "curbing". It's more violent than dirty, I'm led to believe. Thanks urban dictionary. My Name Is Earl season closer. Poor old Earl ends up doing a 2 year stretch for his blonde nightmare ex-wife. Tragic! | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1516 Registered: 05-2005 |
A friend Mike keeps referring me to Earl! Is this good as I have never seen it? I watched The last king of Scotland last night. It was really good. A nice mixture of fact and fiction working well together. Nicely shot, nice to see an unknown lead actor too. Forest Whittaker was pretty incredible. All in great film, had some gory bits, not for the sqirmish! | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 56 Registered: 10-2006 |
Just caught a film called Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Rob Downey and Val Kilmer... best ridiculous fun I've had with a film for ages, and the best Ooops-there's-a-dead-body-in-my-bathroom discovery scene I've ever watched... fell of the sofa laughing. And Kilmer! Finally a film where you don't want to tap him sharply on the head with a soup spoon every two minutes! And Downey is, at last, wonderful. And there is a terribly, terribly attractive young lady too...hang on, let me google her...Michelle Monoghan, yes, jolly nice. Also found the plot key words:Loss Of Sister / Robber / Film Noir / Dead Woman / Electrocution... Excellent beer & pizza evening fun. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 260 Registered: 04-2005 |
Watching? A beautiful blue sky, with swallows doing their acrobatic courting rituals: do they ever collide in mid-air? Our television blew up. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1523 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andrew, good question, I think they are so highy skilled at what they do. Flying. That, they are able to pass one another within a gnat's eyebrow, and the faintist sound of "swoosh"! They probably have more manners than us beings too, especially when it comes to passing each other in motor cars, I think you'd hear more than 'swoosh" if you drove within a gnat's eyebrow of me! Our television blew up, what more can you say. i'd like to use that as a title for a song please? Hee hee! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 261 Registered: 04-2005 |
You may laugh spence (Hee hee), but my 8 year old daughter (who recently got a 12 DVD set of 'Heidi') was crying as the smoke poured out of the set. I am beginning to think that damp medieval stone houses are not ideal locations for electrical consumer goods. We even have a 'source' (a small well) in the downstairs of ours. Still, it stays nice and cool in the summer. As long as I receive credit and royalties you can do what you like with any of my sentences. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1531 Registered: 05-2005 |
Andrew, I'd cry if there was no way I could access the Heidi box set too!! It was agrand show that. The voicedubs were spectacular! Acyually, now you describe your home, its exactly what I think of in my mind when you mentionyour place, funny that. I see, a similar dwelling to whwre De Niro gets fixed in Ronin after being shot,know the place? The old man who paints samurai toy solduers? I'll make sure you are credited dear fellow! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1590 Registered: 05-2005 |
Tonight I will be mostly watching Jools Holland. For once there is more than one act I want to watch on this programme - Wilco, LCD Soundsystem, and the criminally underrated Richard Swift, whose album Dressed Up For The Letdown is one of the best albums I have heard all year. Bloc Party are also on, their first album was listenable, but from what I have heard of the new album it just screams "stadium rock" | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 87 Registered: 01-2007 |
Don't forget Wilco as well,Sky box set to record | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 613 Registered: 01-2005 |
LK, I tried to like "Good Shepard" as well, but it didn't move me except for the parts with the girlfriend with the hearing problem. I am hoping that "The Good German" will be a lot better. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1956 Registered: 03-2006 |
Have you heard they're making a combined sequel to both of them? It's going to be called "The Good German Shepard"...rim shot! Actually, I just watched "The Good German" last night and can tell you that it's excellent. Very clever, kind of post-modern, noir twist on old classic WWII films like "Casablanca" (actually, at points it alludes rather directly to the old classic) and others. It looks, on the surface, just like one of wonderful, old black and white films, but doesn't indulge in their romanticism, and doesn't gloss over any of the unpretty, nitty gritty details of life in Europe right after WWII. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 453 Registered: 09-2006 |
Twin Peaks second season box...as has been said, the extras are ridiculously sparse, but the shows look like a million bucks, and that's all that really matters. I've been through the entire thing a number of times, but the murder of Maddy remains as disturbing (and intuitively edited) as ever. And the Major relating his dream vision to Bobby is one of the most genuinely moving things I've ever seen. Fie on all those who said this show was just for smug hipsters. Fie, fie I say...!  | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1591 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jools Holland - Wilco were ok, easily the best musicians on the show, but I would take them to task over the songs they played. You Are My Face (first song)sits ok on the album but I would have rather heard them play Side With The Seeds or Shake It Off. The 2nd song was Sky Blue Sky(nice song, but Wilco by numbers?), if it was a gentle song they wanted to play I would have preferred What Light or Leave Me. Still, thats me just being picky. And how the f*ck did that washed up old so and so Joan Armatrading get 3(or was it 4, I was fast forwarding past her stuff)songs, compared to Wilcos 2 and LCD Soundsystems 2? I guess this just shows (along with the fact that you cant buy Sky Blue Sky in the Supermarkets) that Wilcos stock has never been lower in the UK. Christ, even Bloc Party got 3 songs!!. LCD were not as good as I thought they would be, Murphy tended to be a bit OTT with his vocals I thought, again maybe I'm being picky, it was good to see them on TV. Finally, Richard Swift gave a good performance, although it was just him sat at a piano, would have been much better if he had had his backing band with him, still i guess he was just happy to get the exposure. Next week, Judy Tzuke gets to play 6 songs while The Hold Steady and The National get 1 song each!! | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 642 Registered: 08-2004 |
Could be institutionalised racism in reverse, Kevin. Maybe payola is alive & well in the modern age, you've got to grease the wheels, so to speak. Asda, Sainsbury's & Tesco have already killed the majority of independant record shops, as well as a few high street chains. It's good that some cultish bands will slip through the net. No-one can compete with supermarket dominance. It's good for prices now, which seem to be permanently going down. But it won't be long before there's only the big 3 competing with each other. The cheapest tax-haven based on-line retailers can't afford to take losses, whereas all-in-do-everything-specialise-in-nothi ng-retailers are happy to take a loss just to get punters in through the door. Anyhoo, saw the film Derailed this week. No-one does demented like Vincent Cassell. I've got to love Sky's new all day password protected "grown up" films. Now Sky are a fine company who aren't owned by a megalomaniac with notions of ruining football, the entertainment industry & media with every step they make. I must apologise in advance. Big Brother 8 starts this week & wifey will make sure I spend too much time on the computer as a result, kids are off school etc. My editing of random thoughts/bollocks is going to be at breaking point. With your help I'll beat the pre-summer blues. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1199 Registered: 03-2005 |
Damnation! Outbid on Microdisney's "Everybody's Fantastic." | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1538 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kev. I don't think Wilco would be worrying too much about what songs got played. The album is their best seller to date. Any track would do for me. Funnily enough people who I have told about Wilco and never heard or seen them reported back to me on Saturday saying how much theyloved Wilco. So, I think these people would be in for a treat if they start to explore their back catalogue. Re Joan Armatrading, I thought it was nice to see such an innoffensive artist, show off her talent and new direction. i was most impressed by her new direction. I thyink that's what is sjmetimes great about the Holland show, that you showcasse people from the dead sometimes, and they still have someting to give. Tho, have never been a fan of Joan like I never bought her albums, I wil probably go and buy this now. LCD reminded me of The Fall, pavemenet and a hundered indie groups from 1987. They actually looked like John Cooper Clarke's backing band from '78. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 455 Registered: 09-2006 |
Miyazaki marathon: "Howl's Moving Castle," "My Neighbor Totoro," (one of my top five films ever), and "Porco Rosso." | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 456 Registered: 09-2006 |
Also, Nirvana's "Live! Tonight!! Sold Out!!!" A great, great, great fucking band. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 620 Registered: 08-2006 |
Did you like "Spirited Away," Allen? I really enjoyed that film. I haven't seen "Howl's" yet, for no good reason. I finally got into the American take on "The Office" this weekend. I resisted watching it for so long because I thought the British original was one of the best TV shows evah and Americans have a nack for eviserating adaptations (see: "Cracker"). A lot of the first season, essentially a carbon copy of a lot of the story lines in the British version, left me cold. But I went fishing with a friend this weekend and he brought along the second season of the show to watch in the evenings - and I stand corrected. They've actually managed to do something fresh with the show without losing the essence that makes Gervais's version so classic. As long as they've got the guts not to let the simmering romance between Jim and Pam string along for six seasons, the American version might be remembered as a great show in its own right. Quite a feat. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1963 Registered: 03-2006 |
No arguments here, AB. I'm a huge fan, but I've never seen that. I'll have to check it out. Over the weekend, I rented two great ones comprising Clint Eastwood's masterful diptych about the momentous events that occurred 60 years on a stinky little piece of rock in the Pacific - "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima". Highly recommended. I don't know how Clint does it, but he just seems to crank out one stone masterpiece after another these days... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1601 Registered: 05-2005 |
Cinderella Man. Was loathe to watch this given that I dont like boxing but was bored and gave it a shot. Thoroughly enjoyed it, heatwarming true story about a boxer in the depression era,played by Russell Crowe, who against the odds got his career back on track to save his family from starving and losing their home. The little guy who was in Sideways was also excellent as his trainer | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 462 Registered: 09-2006 |
I'm waiting on those two Eastwoods from the library LK...am especially eager to see the "Letters" one. That Nirvana thing is a nicely ragged bunch of live stuff/interviews with fine performances and powerful sound...an onstage parody of "The Rose" (gut-bustingly funny and chilling as hell at the same time) is almost worth the price by itself. Rob, I love "Spirited Away"...my second favorite after Totoro. And I'm also waiting on that Office box. Glad to hear another encouraging report, as my qualms were very similar to yours. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 473 Registered: 09-2006 |
Hey LK...went to the library today and waiting there for me was not one, not two, but three seasons of "The Wire" on DVD, so finally, after all I've heard I'm about to dive in. Which reminds me, I have to practice my pre-immersion breathing and deep-knee bends... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2002 Registered: 03-2006 |
Alright, Allen! Hell to the yeah, as Whitney Houston sez. Kiss all normal human interaction with family and friends goodbye for at least 36 hours, as you prepare to be immersed in the ultimate TV cops and robbers, or er, crack dealers, world...Better get in a couple of those liter bottles of Absolut and one of those big-ass, industrial strength tins of popcorn, if your viewing habits are anything like mine... I'll be expecting full reports as well as who you deem your favorite characters. I think mine are Wee-Bay (sp?) and Proposition Joe. I am a little envious of you, experiencing it for the first time... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1501 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw Zodiac in the cinema on Friday before going to see the Sloan gig. What a movie, really brilliant. Anyone else here see it? Do so if you haven't. Watched Talladega Nights on DVD last night. Pretty funny. Fell asleep a few times though. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1506 Registered: 05-2005 |
I watched a 1973 film called Badlands last night. Have any of you ever seen it? I've had it for a couple of years but had never watched it and just came across it by chance last night. It's brilliant, such spare and sparse writing. Martin Sheen is a serial killer and Sissy Spacek is his 15-year-old girlfriend (her father is the first person he kills!). It tells the whole story in 90 minutes. All the subsequent films that copied it (Natural Born Killers, Kalifornia, True Romance etc) took much longer to tell basically the same tale. I bought it on video for $1 from a rental shop getting rid of their old stock. It was in perfect nick. I doubt it was rented more than a dozen times in however long they had it (at least 20 years I reckon). | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 474 Registered: 09-2006 |
Haven't seen "Badlands" for years and years but was very impressed with it when I did, and the film has a great rep. It was the first by semi-recluse Terence Malick, who went on to make several other poetic, visually stunning pics like "Days of Heaven" (a favorite of mine) and the "The Thin Red Line." "Badlands" itself was based on the real-life story of Charles Starkweather, which also inspired Oliver Stone's movie, among many others, as well as, more explicitly, Springsteen's song "Nebraska." More info at the link below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sta rkweather | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 475 Registered: 09-2006 |
Just finished up "The Wire," season one by rewatching the first episode with commentary by the creator. The word "novelistic" came to my mind even before hearing him describe the show that way, though I admit I might also have read that in a review or two and half-forgotten it. But it's true, it's got that taking-its-time-for-details-but-at-the -same-time-pulling-you-along-reassuring- you-you'll-be -fulfilled-by-the-end that the best novels have. The episode that finally committed me good was at the very midpoint of the season. Can't explain exactly why, but three things stand out: One of th e more realistic depictions of a 12-step meeting I've ever seen (complete with a somewhat self-conscious but very heartfelt acting performance by Steve Earle), a scene in which a number of cop characters we've come to know and like start beating on a mouthy suspect that's handled very well...and an incredibly well-written conversation between two longtime cop partners that had me laughing for at least five minutes straight. LK, just going by the first season I only know the characters you mention as secondary - each had their moments, but not enough that I can develop much feeling for them. I'm guessing their characters expand in what's to follow. At the moment I think my favorite is Bunk Moreland. Subtly written, amazingly well-played. He delivers the punchline to the aforementioned scene ("I knew it was your first time." I'm giving nothing away by revealing it) with such perfection it is to marvel. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 653 Registered: 01-2005 |
The final episode of The Sopranos. It was not one of the better episodes this season and certainly leaves open the possibility of a movie down the road in a few years. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2005 Registered: 03-2006 |
Michael, I may be perverse, but I enjoyed the un-finale of the Sopranos. You have to hand it to David Chase for, once again, confounding our expectations. I wonder if anybody, across the country, won their betting pool? And, at the very least, we got to see that jagoff, Phil Leotardo, get his, and what a fiendishly clever send-off that was. Allen, it sounds like the Wire is working its magic. I agree about the fascination and resonance of the scenes you mention. And, how about the other scene (though this may be the one you refer to as "well-written"), where Bunk and Jimmy haave a 5 minute conversation completely comprised of the f-word, given various intonations to convey a whole world of different meanings, as they walk through a murder scene. Genius. Ah, now on to Season 2 - about corruption in the longshoreman industry in Baltimore and also excellent. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 658 Registered: 08-2006 |
I was thinking about you last night, LK, what with all the hype the last few days about the finale. I had several friends who were padlocked in their homes awaiting its airing. Not having cable, I've never seen an episode of the show, but I plan to get ahold of season one ASAP. I'm kind of retrograde when it comes to television; I almost always get into shows after they've completed their run. The upside of that is the instant gratification of DVDs. The downside is the excitement about the show is long passed so I miss out on the group "water cooler" discussions. While you guys were getting your Sopranos on I was watching a disappointing Game 2 of the NBA Finals. I'm not a huge Cleveland fan but I am a fan of competition. Last night it looked like this might be a four-and-out. Damn. Oh, and while recovering from a volleyball-related foot injury yesterday morning I watched the Nadal/Federer final at the French Open. Was kind of hoping Federer would get his first French, just for posterity. Ah, well. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 654 Registered: 01-2005 |
Currently watching season 2 of "The X-Files". LK, While the finale did provide tension and kept you guessing as to who beyond Phil might get clipped, I was expecting more, as I've seen better season enders from "The Sopranos". I'm betting there will be a Sopranos movie in the theater in 2010. Rob, Season one is great, one of my favorite seasons of the Sopranos. I rented individual dvd discs from the nearby video store for the first few seasons before I ended up getting the season sets. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2007 Registered: 03-2006 |
Michael, I might be one of the few who found anything to like about it. Apparently, based on a sampling of posts on the Interweb about it, people across the country are PISSED. There might even be mass HBO cancellations, imagine that. And, I'm not sure I found it very satisfying - it's more that I have to grudgingly admire Chase's cleverness at completely evading expectations and leaving everything up in the air. He truly seems to not care what people think, I quality I wish I had... Rob, David Chase, the creator (who wrote this one), pulled a simultaneously jerky and clever trick: after building up almost unbearable tension, he blacked out the screen completely for the final moments of the show. I understand many people thought their cable had gone out. Pretty funny, in a way... And Michael's right - Season 1 is magnificent, and it stays pretty danged good through Season 3, which features the hilarious and remarkable "Pine Barrens" episode, a perennial fan favorite. They're all worth seeing, but there was some drifting in Seasons 4 and 5, and the first part of Season 6 was actually kind of bad, I thought. However, Chase got it back together in a big way for this second half, which has come on like, well, gangbusters. And, even if you have to except the final ep from high level of achievement, this half season has been just epic and relentlessly thrilling. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2012 Registered: 03-2006 |
Also, I never, in a zillion years, would've guessed that a show known for its great use of great music would close with Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 477 Registered: 09-2006 |
LK, I agree, the f-word scene you mention is great. I like how it was based on one of their police consultant's joke that homicide detectives are evolving to a point where they won't need to use any word other than that one to carry out their entire job. The well-written scene I was referring to is a conversation in a bar, ith McNulty enumerating the many things he's thankful to Moreland for helping him with as a young cop. The payoff takes the whole homo-erotic/-phobic obsession of males working in macho occupations to a wonderful level. I'm taking a palate-cleansing break before dipping into season two...updates as they occur. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2014 Registered: 03-2006 |
I don't know if they've gotten into this yet, AB, but the two have a whole repertoire of pickup routines that they use in bars and refer to by numbers, just like con men. "Let's try #29 on this hottie", etc... I only vaguely remember the scene you refer to, so I'll have to go back and watch that. I know, in general, the show does a fantastic of portraying that cop/partner bond, supposedly one of the strongest there is, barring only possibly the bond between certain lads that played in a band from Brisbane. Season 2 kinda puts the doings of Avon Barksdale and crew on the backburner, but it's important to watch the seasons in sequence, if you can. Btw, I was kidding about Wee-Bay, just because it was fun to type the name. My fave characters are very definitely McNulty and Bunk, though the show is rich with great characters... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 478 Registered: 09-2006 |
Episode 7, about midpoint, I think... | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 259 Registered: 01-2006 |
Padraig and Allen, Badlands is a superb film and the soundtrack or song with the xylophone is incredible. I've seen this film about three times and really enjoy it each time. One of Sheen's better films. I'm not watching any TV these days which is great, it gets dark at about 10.30pm here in Dublin at the moment so plenty of time to flex those green fingers and tend my herb garden... | ||
| Matthias Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 226 Registered: 05-2005 |
LK, I second that motion! I laughed when the Sopranos faded to black. Chase is a genious. Would I be any more satisified if Tony's family was blown away? Would I feel vindicated if he was humiliatingly arrested in the diner in front of his family? Would Carmela leave him and Meadow hate him if they found out about Christopher, Jackie Jr. or Adriana? He keep us guessing. The trouble with most American movies is they tie up so neatly and provide all the answers. The same thing happens in the end of the Fountainhead by Rand. It's almost insulting to be told all of what the author meant or what you are to think. I thought the ending of the series was great. Chase comments about psychiatry and sociopaths. Melfi fires her client. As much as I loathe Anthony Jr. the do-nothing son, I have to laugh at the ineptitude of Tony and Carmela as parents. Tony never sees his role in his son's waywardness. He's a terrible father to his son and constantly belittled him throughout the series. Tone visits Junior one last time. Phil gets run over by a Ford SUV in the episode titled "Made in America." Double entendre? Too bad Paulie never got it. He was always so weasely. Petty, self-absorbed like so many of the wise guys. They never really cared about each other. It was always about the money. The sit down in the last episode with New York was just another example. Tony wanted monetary support for Janice because Bobby was his brother in law. New York weren't gonna tell Tone where Phil was but agreed to let it happen and that there would be no retribution. It all comes down to money. And Michael, there will be no movie. They're can't be Chase killed off so many people, there's no one left but Paulie and Patsy on his crew. He cannot even go back in time because you would know he doesn't die at the end of the movie and the kids would be too old unless they re-cast. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2019 Registered: 03-2006 |
Yeah, I would agree, Matt. Chase is a genius. I re-watched the episode last night, thanks to HBO on Demand, and, you know, it's really a fantastic episode, riveting, involving, full of great character details and wonderful dialog. Great irony with AJ, who, once he decides to do something at least nominally noble with his life, is immediately talked out of it by Tone and Carm. And yeah, that was a great scene with Phil meeting his extremely squishy and well-deserved end. I can't think of a guy more deserving of having his head run over by an American made SUV. That his twin grandkids were riding in the backseat was just lagniappe. I even thought that, although Journey is not my idea of good music, that is probably exactly what Tony would have chosen. Probably not a Go-Betweens fan. Holsten's, btw, is supposedly a classic New Jersey joint. If you have the on demand feature, it really does repay a second viewing. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 657 Registered: 01-2005 |
LK, I watched it again last night and while I don't think it's one of the top 10 episodes, it's decent enough. Matthias, You could be right about no movie due to not enough characters left in T's crew. I was kind of surprized that Artie and Hesch never made it into the final episode, but that's Chase in a nutshell just like never going back to the Russian left wondering the Pine Barrens. I sure hope that the "X-Files" movie being shot this year doesn't suffer from the lack of characers left, but then Chris Carter never had a problem with dream sequences of dead characters or going back in time. | ||
| Matthias Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 227 Registered: 05-2005 |
I will watch it again this week. I also will probably buy the boxed DVD set when it comes out just to go back and watch the early seasons. Michael, I think Chase did a fine job at tying up Heche and Artie. He used this whole 2nd half of season 6 to do his tie-ups. Heche was tied up after the lending money episode. Artie who hasn't been seen much in many seasons made an appearance last week when Carm and Tone were talking about him "quitting" therapy. Artie's wife was real crappy to the Sopranos as the two of them tried to one up each other about the kids. I find it funny that Tone and Carm are disappointed with Mead not becoming a doctor when she (especially when compared to her brother) has been very successful despite their lack of parenting skills. Interesting how Chase shows two different outcomes with the kids. Pretty true to life. Different personalities, genders, birth order, cultural influences, a variety of reasons. Very plausible outcome. The one thing that would have been hilarious is if the Russian had come back in the end to take out Paulie and maybe even Tone! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 485 Registered: 09-2006 |
"The Wire," season two, first couple of episodes. Damn, this is some densely packed shit - packed with a hell of a lot of skill and artistry. Meaty character and plot bits for nearly every major character plus skillfully introduces a whole new set of folks who provide this season's central plotline. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2026 Registered: 03-2006 |
Glad you're enjoying, AB. All of the seasons, you'll be glad to know, are of roughly comparable quality. I really liked that season for the entry into the interesting world of longshoremen (though they call them something else in Baltimore, that escapes me), which, as is the case with the world of cops, I'd otherwise have no access to... Good observations, Matt. I read, btw, that the (disturbingly furry) guy who played the FBI special agent said that Chase actually shot footage of the menacing looking guy in the Members Only jacket approaching their table, so maybe his original intent was to leave things a little less ambiguous, and imply more strongly that the lovable lug got got, as they say on the Wire. I still prefer to think that they all went on happily eating onion rings in perpetuity. | ||
| Matthias Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 230 Registered: 05-2005 |
LK, Disturbingly Furry - Very Funny I like how Chase showed how the DF FBI guy was in a hotel room with a co-worker calling Tone. As if to say, even the good guys have crappy marriages and are sleeping around (perhaps because they are tailing these mobsters and terrorists.) The whole "become a monster and kill the monster" thing. Some of the best lines come from Junior even in the "home." They were trying to get the inmates to make hand turkeys and he says, "Turkeys!?! It's Christmas you f^&*ing idiot!" Him and Tone's Ma were the most hate-filled characters on the whole show. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2029 Registered: 03-2006 |
Uncle Ju has had some great lines over the course of the show. I read some place that that actor, more than any of the others, really cracked up his fellow cast members. It's interesting, and apparently fairly reality-based, that such a pivotal, central character was female. The matriarch typically plays a huge role in the family, or so I've read. On that subject, supposedly the titular character in "The Godfather" was actually based on Mario Puzo's mother. So yeah, Tony's Ma was definitely full of hate and kind of set the tone (forgive the pun) for the whole series. I guess it really tends to f___ a guy up when his mother tells his uncle to whack him. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 488 Registered: 09-2006 |
LK, the word stevedores is mentioned several times...is that the term you're thinking of? Just past midpoint in season two. A few off-the-cuff notes: Stringer Bell's going straight to hell...I don't know if Tony S. himself pulled off anything so cold and calculated as what Stringer did to poor old D... I'm glad that for the opening credits they traded in the Blind Boys of Alabama's cover of "Down in the Hole" for the Tom Waits original. I like the BB's version, but with its heavy-on-the-honking-harmonica postmodern-blues-remix musical backing it gives off a few too many echoes of the "Sopranos" opening credit song. The Waits version, which is mostly just that twitchy sax and Tom howling away, is far more effective in giving the show its own identity. The show's so good it's taken til now for me to find anything of much note to complain about, but here it is: two of the major cop characters get saddled with that crusty old plotline where, in consideration for their loved ones, they step out of the action (one to a desk job, one off the force entirely). Suspense-wise it's a big nothing, because we know how it's going to turn out (I remember the first time I ran across this ploy, while reading Marvel Comics as a kid. It didn't take long before realizing that the hero was always going to step back into the saddle, because they weren't going to change the name of the comic to "Peter Parker, Regular Guy Who Walks Around and Does Stuff."), so the only novelty is in how they accomplish the turnaround, and so far there ain't been much new. In keeping with this, the spouses of the two cops are two of the few one-dimensional characters on the show. They basically roll their eyes a lot and sigh world-wearily... But again, if that's all I've found to bitch about after 20 episodes... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2035 Registered: 03-2006 |
That is, indeed, a good batting average, AB. Good average for characters, too. There are what? 20-30 sharply delineated, discrete characters in it? Two one-dimensional harpies is not too shabby... I'm with you. I prefer to hear Tom Waits sing the theme song, but then I prefer to hear him sing everything. Still and all, it should be noted that the Blind Boys have some pretty angelic voices. It's part of the design of the show to switch out the artist performing it: in the 3rd season, the Nevilles do it, and in the 4th, some local artist from Baltimore does it, pretty spectacularly, I might add, with a little hip-hop thrown in, for some verite flava... Stringer Bell is going straight to fictional character hell. What Tony did was worse, but Tony has redeeming qualities. Stringer had none, just pretty much a cold, calculating snake. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1650 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just wondering if any of you guys have watched Brothers and Sisters? Is it any good? Its getting a big build up here and starts next week, press are saying it could be in the same league as The Sopranos. Started watching a programme on the Artsworld channel called "Miles Davis Different Kind Of Blue" which has Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana and Joni Mitchell talking about the man, interespersed with some cracking live footage. Decided to record it and watch it later, after I have blasted out some tunes and am suitably refreshed after a quiet night in with gallons of beer - no work till Tuesday for me after 7 days hard graft!! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 489 Registered: 09-2006 |
I've been hearing good things about "Brothers and Sisters," Kevin, but since I don't have network access I'll have to wait for the box...quite a cast, especially Rachel Griffiths, who I've really liked ever since her very complex work on "Six Feet Under." LK, a brilliant series of scenes, as suspenseful as any police/felon interaction: McNulty and the supernice redhead cop from the docks start making eyes at each other (at that point I actually started saying, "No, no no..." at the television), he takes her out for a beer (Noooooooo) and then they're back at her place (Dear God, noooooo!). But then, in a subtly handled moment of wisdom and clarity he realizes that drawing her into his pathetic personal life would be a horrendous mistake, and he hightails it to the door. Good stuff. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2038 Registered: 03-2006 |
That was great, and for a cop show, subtle. That supanice redhead plays a role later (in season 4), though I'll be a pal and not spoil it... The second season features, does it not, McNulty's great bender. I've had some good drunks in my day, but Lordy, that was epic. I particularly enjoy how he, after missing a curve and running into the guardrail, gets out of the car and tries to "sight" it with his hands...all the while, something cool and tasty is playing on his car stereo: something by the Pogues, I think... Kevin, I've never seen Bros. and Sisters, because it was on Showtime, which I cancelled, to save money and avoid watching TV every waking moment. But, it got excellent reviews over here, if that's any help... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 491 Registered: 09-2006 |
Actually LK, you might be thinking of "Band of Brothers," the war thing. "Brothers and Sisters" is on one of the networks, I believe. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 492 Registered: 09-2006 |
And that did sound like the Pogues on his stereo. I also like how after he wrecks once he gets back into the car and starts off again, as if quite sure that that couldn't possibly happen twice. When it does, just seconds later, the look on his face is priceless. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2039 Registered: 03-2006 |
Ah, a brain fart. Yeah, it was BROTHERHOOD, I was thinking of - sort of in the vein of the Sopranos, with stuff about crime, politics and family, hence my confusion. Geez, I hope Kev isn't contemplating watching that other nighttime soap opera! It'll spoil my image! Say it ain't so, Kev! The guy who plays McNulty is wonderful. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 493 Registered: 09-2006 |
One thing I like about the actor is how his Yank accent sounds more and more natural as the seasons pass...for awhile it was messing with my enjoyment of his performance, but now he's got it down... Herc and Carver run into Bodie at the multiplex: classic farking scene. When Bodie told them, "See you tomorrow" it immediately brought to mind the old Warner Bros. cartoons about the coyote and the sheepdog, clocking in and out at the end of their shift. Those were like this show in a nutshell: it's all just business. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 494 Registered: 09-2006 |
Finished "The Wire" season three yesterday in one six-episode rush, and a tasty wrapup it was indeed. My favorite of the three, I think, though as you say, competition is fierce. A million thanks for the glowing recommendation, LK...it was what finally urged me to take the step. I do like Prop Joe a lot now...also, though a fair percentage of what he does is repellent I've developed a fair liking for Omar...I loved the court scene where he tripped up that disgustingly smarmy lawyer for the Barksdales and left him stammering in mid-smirk. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1427 Registered: 04-2005 |
All this talk about "The Wire" begs one question: Why the hell is season four taking so long to come to DVD? For those of us without HBO, this wait has been interminable. And Allen, everyone I know who watches the show agrees Omar is their favorite character. What's not to like about a Robin Hood-style gay gangsta who walks around toting a sawed-off shotgun, somehow never getting offed or arrested? | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 125 Registered: 05-2005 |
'Crude Awakening'. It's the end of the world as we know it. And I don't feel fine. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2044 Registered: 03-2006 |
Lapsing into Wirespeak, Allen, I feel you. Glad you enjoyed it and that my recommendation panned out. It really is, for my money, the best show on TV, ever. And, that's coming from someone who worships at the altars of a lot of other shows, like the Sopranos and Deadwood. But this one depicts a world that seems more real, vivid, heroic, epic, etc. Sometimes watching it, I get a craving to live in its world, though there's a high likelihood one would get a cap popped in one's ass. The storytelling is so deftly done - lean and mean with out a lot of fat, though they still beautifully develop the characters. As opposed to, say, the Sopranos, where you might wait 3 or 4 eps for someting exciting to happen. As Omar would say, "indeed". Next to Bunk and McNulty, he really is my favorite character. As Kurt points out, what's not to like? Strange, how nobly his character comes off, given the fact, that he, you know, kills a lot of people. He is, mos def, the greatest shotgun-toting, gay gangsta Robin Hood character in all of fiction. Was that great scene, where he basically shuts down a neighborhood by walking through it, in the third season? He's sort of this specter, that everbody's afraid of, so as he's walking through, little kids are shouting out, "Omah comin'", their parents are grabbing them and locking their doors, storefronts are closed up, etc. I'm hard pressed to pick a favorite season, but 3 was awfully good. I think that, as was the case with the Go-Betweens, its arc is one of continual improvement. The 4th season, which focused on education in Baltimore, was really great, too, though incredibly tragic, as you might imagine. Hopefully, it'll come out on DVD soon. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2047 Registered: 03-2006 |
"Oceans 13" - maybe a little slick for some folks on this board's tastes, but Holy Crap, it was entertaining...Vegas has never looked so beguiling (at least not when I've been there) and good Lord, Ellen Barkin is one hot mamacita! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 665 Registered: 01-2005 |
Ellen was always hot, going all the way back to the 80's in "Diner", "Sea Of Love", "The Big Easy", "Switch" and into the 90's and on. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2049 Registered: 03-2006 |
True that, Michael. I don't think she's lost a step since those times... You know the line in the Stones' "Start Me Up" about the effect a certain lady would have on a dead man? That description totally applies to Ellen! | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1431 Registered: 04-2005 |
Easy there, LK--she's almost old enough to be your mom! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2050 Registered: 03-2006 |
More like a big sister. Since I'm from the South, I'd have no problem with that... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 496 Registered: 09-2006 |
LK, I hear wbhat you're saying about occasionally having the urge to jump into the world of the Wire, though I know for me I'm much rather experience it vicariously (like, say, "Blade Runner." Not that long ago I had the bad fortune to spend nine months living in a miniature version of Baltimore, a town about 25 miles from here called Tacoma. Tacoma, which in the 2004 survey you can read about below, was rated the most stressful place to live in the United States. It was work just walking around...there was an almost palpable aura of despair and anger that hung over everything, and more than the smallest of slights (or perceived slights) escalate quickly. http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20040211 _metrostress.htm | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1432 Registered: 04-2005 |
Allen, I never really understood why anybody lived in Tacoma in the first place. Just stop and smell it for a second, and most sane people would move on... But I had no idea it was so bad there. I've actually stopped in Tacoma (briefly) just twice in my six years of living in Seattle. I must have been in the good part of town... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2052 Registered: 03-2006 |
You guys must be working for the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce! It sounds pretty awful...The only things I know about the city are that Leonard Cohen has an instrumental called "Tacoma Trailer" on his great album, "The Future" and that it's the other half of the name in "Sea-Tac Airport". I have been to Baltimore, and though the touristy stuff, mostly centering around the big harbor development, is pretty nice, there are some pretty bad areas, though I didn't venture into anything like "Hamsterdam". Walking back to our hotel, a work pal and I had a bit of a scary experience in Baltimore, though. Out of the dark comes this voice, "I know you gentlemen got some money for me - you be walking from them strip clubs!" (okay, so we were - we were bored), and out pops this scary, junky-looking guy. I have the problem that, when I get drunk, I think I'm tougher than I am and hate to back down. Fortunately, my friend Steve (his real name) has no such illusions and also happens to be known for being famously cheap. We were sort of having a stand off, till he pulled a coin out of his pocket and said, "here's a quarter". I think the dude was too confused and amazed to do anything at that point. We quickly retreated to our hotel (just a block or two away) to the sound of the guy's extremely peeved and befuddled shouts of "A quartuh! A f-ing quartuh!"... Though there are bad areas in LA and NO, I've almost never felt unsafe in them...Also, my experiences in Seattle, which can't be too far from Tacoma, were nothing but pleasant... | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1436 Registered: 04-2005 |
Oh trust me, not all of Seattle is pleasant. I work in one of the areas (Pioneer Square) that gets more than a little scary at night, and even during the daytime, the crazies, junkies, and other bad scary people roam around frightening the bejesus out of tourists from Omaha and schoolchildren on field trips to the "underground city." Neko Case had a good song about Tacoma on Furnace Room Lullaby: "South Tacoma Way." | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 669 Registered: 01-2005 |
The "Fovever Changes" concert on DVD last night. I so wish I would have gotten to see Arthur Lee and Love before Lee and the other members passed. I'm glad that I got to see The Zombies last year. Anyone up for a Hollies reunion? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1671 Registered: 05-2005 |
Just saw Iggy and The Stooges perform live on The Jonathan Ross show. A fantastic version of Now I Wanna Be Your Dog, featuring Iggy going walkabout to the first few rows of the no doubt well heeled studio audience, most of them squirmed uncomfortably in their seats, Iggy was revelling in it. Earlier on Glastonbury, SFA were great as usual, Arcade Fire put on a bit of a spectacle and seemed destined for stadium greatness, if thats not an oxymoron. Thank god I had recorded the shows because at least I could then fast forward through all the faceless chart drivel like Winehouse, Kasabian, The Fratellis et al. Hopefully Hot Chip will be on later to save the day | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1597 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw Arcade Fire on Glasto too kev, they were pretty incredible. I had reservations about them, but now no longer. I think they are quite unique, in a trashy, Band of Holy Joy, Woodentops, Echo and The Bunnymen, Brechtilian type way. The Fratellis are hyped so much, they are the biggest bag of shit, gimme the Spice Girls anyday. The Fratrellis are the type of group who would have ben 10th on the bill on a Wonderstuff tour 20 years ago, that ultimately wanted to be The Wonderstuff, but without any of the style, they are a really pointless waste of time. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 497 Registered: 09-2006 |
Yeah Kurt, and to be fair, Ms. Case does have some nice things to say about the place she grew up in. "Pan's Labyrinth," first by itself and then with the (very thoughtful and informative) director's commentary track. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1605 Registered: 05-2005 |
After watching 7 ages of rock, the grunge period, which was crap, but I enjotyed some of the interviews, couldn't get over how normal Krist Novaselic looked! I am sure he sold me life insurance last week! Must be the white shirt. The thing about Kurt loving REM etc. Today, I have been playing Reckoning, I couldn't get over the striking similaritites in Stipes and Cobain's voices, esp on the verses to Don't go back to Rockville. Anyone else see as imilarity between the two? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1675 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw that programme Spence. Concentrated on REM and Nirvana, but with snippets of The Pixies, Blag Flag, The Replacements and Husker Du. The word "tosser" was being discussed here recently, and entered my mind when Stipe was being interviewed, especially when he was using words like "projects" and "deadlines". At the end, when Novoselic and Grohl were talking about Cobain dying they seemed genuinely sad to be talking about their friends death. Stipe, who also claimed to be Cobains friend, trotted out the usual rock star cliches. Its sad to think REM have now been rubbish for longer than they were undisputably great | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1606 Registered: 05-2005 |
Totall true Kev, I wasn't focussing on that aspect, but you are totally right in waht you say. Didn't Stipe crash in on C love very soon, too soon, after Conbain's death!? Or was that media hype. All in all, Stipe is too big for his pants. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 705 Registered: 08-2006 |
I remember reading a fascinating Rolling Stone interview with Cobain years ago in which, among other things, he talked at length about how much he admired the way REM had conducted their career. At that point, it really struck me as true; REM seemed like they could go on making good-to-great records and deftly navigating that line between indie and mass culture forever. Alas... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 672 Registered: 01-2005 |
Spence, Kevin and Rob, Was it Stipe taking himself too seriously after the success of Out Of Time and AFTP then as well as getting too big for his pants? It seems to me the Mikey Mills has less of presence in the band then he used to, which equal to a lesser version of R.E.M. in my view. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 706 Registered: 08-2006 |
Michael, I don't know that I'd care how Stipe acts if he were still making good music. For me, the band dropped off precipitously after Bill Berry retired, and I think Stipe's schtick looks more like an unbecoming pose when his band is stinkin' it up. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1676 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael, I always got the impression that Buck was being edged out musically at the expense of Stipes and Mills growing influence on the bands direction. I guess we'll need to wait for the memoirs to come out to know for sure. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 1445 Registered: 04-2005 |
Stipe has definitely been going downhill since he got "extroverted." He was more interesting when he mumbled and shunned the spotlight on stage, like in the mid-'80s. Like many, the more political and confident he got, the more boringly earnest he became in his music, and his stage presence went all to hell--typical rock star nonsense. That said, I'd say on "Monster" at least, he was taking himself LESS seriously than ever before. And of course everyone ended up hating that record, so he went back to being a "serious artiste." Kev may be right that Buck was "edged out" in influence by Stipe and Mills, but I've always suspected he just got bored with R.E.M. and has been phoning it in for at least a decade. By all reports, he's far more lively playing with the Minus Five, Hitchcock, etc. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1609 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah wehen Bill fucked off that was the end. Although i think Monster was a bit shit. Kurt, too true man, I loved the mumbling, get me the morse code manual Stipe, much more interesting. Having sed that my wife played Green yesterday, it sounded great, it was refreshing. Jerry sent me Bingo Handjob bootleg and Get up sounded fucking awesome as an acoustic song, Berry's drumming is totally there, what a magician he was, he made the songs man!!!! | ||
| fsh Member Username: Fsh Post Number: 107 Registered: 05-2005 |
I thought the word 'fuck' would be filtered on this board but I was obviously fucking wrong again. Thanks Pat - do you know Freebird has moved? I not sure where it's fucking moved, but moved it has. Ah fuck, I just spilled my tea. Serves me fucking right it does ... fucking tea .. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 48 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ah for f**k's sake, that's attrocious f**king language Fsh! If you continue with this sort of filthy f**king messages, Jonathon will f**king filter it all and we'll be left with f**king *****!! (Too late - as I tried to post the above without the asterisks, an error message appeared!!!) | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 677 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kevin and Kurt, I did miss the gourgeous arpeggio jangle of Buck's Rickenbacker from the early albums as we got into the later 80's. But strong songs like Begin The Begin made up for some of the loss, and I loved most of Document. Kurt and Spence, I always considered Stipe's mumbling to be the fourth instrument in the band! I do miss those days. | ||
| Catherine Vaughan Member Username: Catherine Post Number: 50 Registered: 05-2005 |
Musicians who were formerly shy and retiring should not be allowed to become happy or out-going, it ruins their music!! And they should either choose music or politics, not both! (are you listening Mr Hewson/Geldof etc??) Definitely the gradual increase in Stipe's confidence-o-meter is directly linked to the increase in REM's Shite-o-meter! I saw Mark Eitzel in Whelans about 6 (more?) years ago - not half as good as I'd expected. A friend explained that it was because he was in a good mood. He'd seen him the year before, on the verge of tears almost, through the whole set, and it was blowaway, knock you down brilliant! | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 509 Registered: 09-2006 |
"Late Ozu," a box set I bought a week ago and stand in awe of. Five films by one of the greatest humanists AND IMO the greatest composer of visual images ever to work in celluloid. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1559 Registered: 05-2005 |
Fawlty Towers DVD box set. Perenially funny. The fact that some of the attitudes in it (eg useless Irish builder) are very dated and non-PC now make it even funnier to me. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 517 Registered: 09-2006 |
"49 Up" - the latest installment in the project that began in 1963, interviewing 12 British schoolchildren and then coming back every 7 years thereafter. The first one I (and probably many people outside of England) saw was "28 Up," and I've been a huge fan ever since. This is by far the most moving one to me - so many little moments in where the people's lives have gone, the things that have happened to them, the bits of wisdom they've acquired...I found myself getting choked up at regular intervals. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1693 Registered: 05-2005 |
Newsnight review last night had a review of Damon Albarns latest project (yawn), the panel were salivating over it. There was a featurette on MEShttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/ne wsnight/review/6255240.stm#film http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/ne wsnight/review/6255240.stm#film and The Fall, including interview and live footage, and the programme closed with Lou Reed playing Lady Day from the Belin tour. Here is a link to the website for the programme, including a link to enable you to watch the latest programme, however it wouldnt work for me!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/ne wsnight/review/6255240.stm#film | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1695 Registered: 05-2005 |
Also on BBC2 tonight, the Culture Show has a 30 min feature on Lou Reed talking about Berlin. I saw a 7 or 8 minute stripped down version on this programme a few weeks ago, Lou was a total pussycat!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/listings/pro gramme.shtml?day=today&service_id=4224&f ilename=20070630/20070630_2330_4224_1276 0_30 | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1696 Registered: 05-2005 |
Got the link for the "watch again" of the Newsnight review programme to work by selecting Real Player rather than Windows Media Player, its quite good visual quality. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1702 Registered: 05-2005 |
The seven ages of rock - Brit Rock. What a load of crap - that is all. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1283 Registered: 03-2005 |
God, I love Fawlty Towers! I haven't seen any in years. Watching those, I was always caught between gasping laughter and the distinct feeling that I was going to have a heart attack. Basil Fawlty's crazy wound-up personality is sufficiently reminiscent of my own to start as feedback loop whenever I watch. I HAVE gone as apeshit on a car as he does in one of the episodes. (Was that the one where he had to pick up meals from a local restaurant?) Such a great show. "Don't mind him, he's from Barcelona" used to be a favorite comment when encountering somebody clueless. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1634 Registered: 05-2005 |
Funny that Pad/Randy, I got my Fawlty Towers DVD box set out only yesterday. It never ceases to amuse me. What a talent John Cleese had. Its probably the funniest show ever, I have nvere known anything as consistently funny, not even the office. I'mm off to get a Waldorf salad!! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1569 Registered: 05-2005 |
I watched the car thrashing episode the other night Randy! It's the episode where he organises a "gourmet night" at the hotel and advertises it with the phrase "No riff raff"! Love it. I once almost missed a flight because I was watching my sister's video box set of Fawlty Towers in London. I got to Stansted airport for the flight to Dublin 19 minutes before the plane left! And where it left from was nowhere near where you checked in. I had to clear customs/securtiy and then get one of those driverless trains to the terminal! I stepped on board with at least 7 seconds to spare before they shut the door. Needless to say this was all pre-9/11. No way you could do that now. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 1284 Registered: 03-2005 |
Yes, I remember anticipatory scolding of the "no riff raff" admonition! I remember another of the episodes in which Sibyll ("oh, I know!") seemed to get all the good lines calling Basil a "brilliantined stick insect" and a "benzedrine puff adder." Was that the one in which Basil was trying to catch the swinging rocker dude bringing in his illicit female companion? I who don't watch very much am current soaking up a borrowed DVD set of Granada's wonderful "Brideshead Revisited." I don't know if it's necessary to be an invert to appreciate this one but for my money it is the acme of television production and literary adaptation. Whatever one might think of Waugh's own life or his politics, the book (and this magical series) is the most subtle, multi-layered and balanced study on the intertwined subjects of love, sexuality, alcoholism, family dynamics, spiritualism (particularly Catholicism) and the shifting sands of existential struggle I have ever encountered. Who would have thought this comedic writer had it in him? And for this late 20th century American outsider with his face pressed against the glass it distilled and decanted the romance of another time and another place with such profundity as to have left an indelible mark on my impressionable young soul when I first watched it during one of those dreary years of law school. I wonder if it cast a similar spell on Grant and Robert--it seems SO them. | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 230 Registered: 05-2005 |
I just got a reciever that picks up digital station(yes, we are 10 years behind here...) ABC 2 and they have a lot of music programs from the UK. I've been trying to watch "London Live" but it seems like crap! All the bands I've seen so far (Zutons, On Offs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs etc) play O.K. but sing live CRAP!!! The sound mix is horrible too - all thin and weedy like John Porter's in charge! The announcer thinks he's the guy from Top of the Pops and is as dudy as him, seemingly deliberately!!! And what's with all of these programs, seemingly from Wales, that try to erase their Britishness?? Primaeval, Robin Hood(zero historical accuracy - an Indian female as part of the merry men...I think not) and Torchwood are some of the worst things I've EVER seen come out of the U.K. (I just missed a deadline and I'm in a grissly mood.) | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2087 Registered: 03-2006 |
Ah, at long last, a finale we can all live with: http://www.theonion.com/content/news/jam es_gandolfini_shot_by_closure | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 521 Registered: 09-2006 |
Sometimes their best news stories are the least convoluted in concept. I was looking through one of their paperback archives recently and two headlines that got me good were: (over a pic of Donald Trump) "Nation Delighted by Rich Ass Who Fires People." and "Me Decade Celebrates 35th Year." | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 528 Registered: 09-2006 |
"When the Levees Broke" A testament to resilience, yup sure. But call me a cynical bastard if you must, because what comes through even stronger for me is that old impotent rage at a system that, when it comes down to profits vs. lives (or even standard of living for more than the upper 1%) will go with the former every fucking time. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2111 Registered: 03-2006 |
Profits vs. lives? And, profits winning? Sounds like you're talking about Michael Moore's new "Sicko". Haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it inspires plenty of rage. I've seen a fair number of movies, lately, some of them even good: Breach - great, surprisingly suspenseful flick about the real-life FBI security breach that happened a few years ago, with an upper level agent selling shitloads of secrets to the Russkies...Chris Cooper is always fascinating to watch... Puccini for Beginners - I got a total kick out of this, found it really funny, though it was, at root, basically a Woody Allen movie with younger people and lesbians. Gretchen Mol makes a convincing object of desire, whether for men or women. Chumscrubber - not great, but diverting suburban satire. Bleak and dark - all of the kids are on drugs and doing terrible things to one another and their parents are even worse. Any HBO subscribers out there watching that fascinating new drama they've foisted on us, "John From Cincinnati"? It's great, and I am, sadly, already completely hooked. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 695 Registered: 01-2005 |
The HBO two hour special on the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1947-57, was captivating. It not only documented Jackie Robinson and the team, but also how much Brooklyn changed with the urban flight to Long Island and how Ebbets field was doomed with only 700 spaces for car parking. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1589 Registered: 05-2005 |
Entourage, series 3, part 1. For me it's up there with Fawlty Towers, The Office (both UK and US versions), Father Ted, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development as the best comedy series ever. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 533 Registered: 09-2006 |
"Le Cercle Rouge," a crackerjack old-style heist/underworld picture from 1970 by genre-master Jean-Pierre Melville. Visually entrancing... Something I always love seeing and miss a lot: that natural lighting they used in the 60s and 70s, especially in the night scenes. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 281 Registered: 01-2006 |
Wathched The Brave last night, a Johnny Depp film from 1997, had been tracking this down for the best part of 10 years. Iggy Pop did the acoustic soundtrack and Marlon Brando is in it...a very grim film. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2115 Registered: 03-2006 |
Padraig, heartily endorsing your big up of Entourage. I love it and think it belongs in the esteemed company you mention, though I'm not familiar with all of them (never seen Father Ted). I had wondered how some of the heavily American and Californi-centric cultural signifiers would travel, whether someone from the UK or Oz would necessarily enjoy them...But hey, everyone's seen movies and knows about Hollywood. Also, guys are probably the same the world over, too. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 534 Registered: 09-2006 |
XY, I didn't know that was available anywhere. Never saw, it, but I did read the original novel way back when, and I remember it affecting me for days. Sadly now, with multicolored simulated torture porn at the multiplex I wonder if it'd have the same effect. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 283 Registered: 01-2006 |
Allen, I got it about six months or so ago from play.com for about €7, it's still available there. I don't think it was even released in the US or Ireland/UK. Depp directed it and the first time I heard about it was seeing a press conference he was doing for it in '97 or so, pretty soon after Dead Man which is probably my favourite film. Despite the subject matter there's no torture porn in it, I won't spoil it for you but quite a distrurbing film without any violence, it concerns itself mostly wuth the relationship between Depp and his family. Iggy's soundtrack is quite good too and totally different than what you'd expect. And I was finally able to order my Region 2 copy of Inland Empire, 2 disc version. I wasn't able to catch it at the cinema when it passed through Dublin at the time.... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 535 Registered: 09-2006 |
Well, that's the thing...from what I heard it follows the novel pretty closely, and within the timeframe of the story there's no violence at all, just a very detailed description of a torture-murder scene that will probably (and does) end up occurring after the book's over (I'm guessing it's Brando who does that description scene in the film). That, and how the story plays out, were all that was needed to creep me the fuck out but good. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 536 Registered: 09-2006 |
And lucky you...IE region 1 doesn't come out here until the end of next month. | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 284 Registered: 01-2006 |
Allen, that scene you refer to doesn't mention any actual violence itself but the 'bravery' of confronting the torture and death itself, tying up the title of the film and that he's a native american I suppose....still, very very chilling at the end as the film ends just as you described it does in the book, it's just him getting into a lift in the warehouse.. And when i said I ordered IE Allen, I should have added pre- to that, it's not released here in Europe till August I think.. Also played the Straight Story soundtrack tonight, what a score....does Badalamenti do the score for IE too? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 537 Registered: 09-2006 |
XY: Oh yes, Mr. Badalamenti does his thing for IE, and amazing as usual it is. i envy you the first experience. Just about half a minute before reading your post I was looking at the page below...which describes more in detail the two things that Depp left out of his adaptation, and what mortified me so much about the novel. Still sounds like a good piece of work on Depp's part, though. efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14581&r eviewer=416 | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1663 Registered: 05-2005 |
Donavan. bbc 3. fu8kin wonderful. th eguy i a genius. similear to dylan, but with an much frendlier exterior. Must pf been 1970. P{S I see whe Momus got his inspiration | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2130 Registered: 03-2006 |
Reno 911 Miami - okay, maybe not the highest brow humor evah, but truly truly funny. Fantastic Voyage - squarely in the "so bad it's almost good" category. It's the one where a crew of intrepid scientists gets shrunken down to sub-molecular size and travel, in a little submarine, through some dude's bloodstream, to break up a bloodclot in his brain. Raquel Welch is one of the scientists and though she doesn't look exactly, you know, smart, she still doesn't hurt the eyeballs...va va va voom. Cineaste that you are, do you know this one, Allen? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 553 Registered: 09-2006 |
That's one of those flicks I still have a strong memory of watching on TV as a kid, LK - it was right up my alley...wasn't there a scene where they're swimming around the bloodstream (or some other bodily system) and red blood cells or antibodies or something are clinging to Ms. Welch's form in a very suggestive way? Also starred Mr. Donald Pleasance as the scientist who ends up betraying everyone and getting devoured (along with the little ship) by a big globby white cell... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2131 Registered: 03-2006 |
Exactly! And who could blame the antibodies? As a kid, I thought it was the bee's knees, but really, it's full of fairly laughable absurdities - for instance, how could they breathe full-sized oxygen molecules. And, for some reason - let's call it plot convenience, they can only stay small for 60 minutes exactly, no more or no less. Having said that, if you can find it for rental, I heartily recommend it. It's a friggin' hoot. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 554 Registered: 09-2006 |
Oh now I don't know what you're implying there, LK...I'm sure there was a fully valid artistic reason to show those antibodies crawling all over her like that. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 1678 Registered: 05-2005 |
Nick Lowe, an acoustic show on BBC 4 or similar, atabout 3.30am this morning!! He's a great man and a great songwriter. I liked his talking head interview on the Whistle Test DVD's, where he talks abouut Brinsley as having had its pub gig day and how he could smell Punk around the corner. The song they played actually, Surrender to the rhythm, Christ, you can see how Weller ripped it off for his Stlye Council's Speak like a child, the organ, sound, chord structure, dynamics in the arrangement, dammit, everything! Sorry, and I was also watching Vic and Bob, BANG BANG DVD, very very surreal and funny, not as dated as some of their other stuff. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ezSX1gviUK Q&mode=related&search= | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 685 Registered: 08-2004 |
I saw a bit of the Nick Lowe show. It was a bit of a jazzy number so I moved on. Also Soul Brittania was quite good on Friday. Fonejacker is another stupidly funny programme on Channel 4 & I watched Julian Temple's The Filth & The Fury for the 1st time last week. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 558 Registered: 09-2006 |
Wish I could've seen the Lowe show, kevin...though I'm guessing that if I wait by YouTube for a little while it'll probably pop up. He also has an interview on NPR on the 24th. Best quote from the article about him in Entertainment Weekly, regarding being a first-time dad at age 58: "Oh yes, I change the nappies, the whole bit. Last Sunday I took tea with Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. They've got twins now, and Elvis was sitting and talking to me - he has no trouble filling your ear, Elvis does - with one on each shoulder. Back when we were recording 'Pump it Up," who would've thought that 30 years later we'd be sitting around talking about jazz, country and burping babies!" Adorable... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 559 Registered: 09-2006 |
And I'm sorry, I should have said spence, not kevin... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 713 Registered: 01-2005 |
Pickup On South Street - Criterion edition DVD. Cool 1953 film noir from ace director Sam Fuller, staring Richard Widmark as a pickpocket who picks the pocket of a red moll. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 2134 Registered: 03-2006 |
That sounds great, Michael. Those Criterion editions are hard to beat, ain't they? I've had to quit buyin' 'em, because it just gets too expensive, but man they're sweet. Having said that, I succumbed and bought their new edition of "Ace in the Hole", the Billy Wilder classic starring Kirk Douglas, who is completely at the top of his game as a cynical newspaper reporter, pretty much lacking in normal human emotions. It adds up to a scathing commentary on the media, that is, of course, every bit as relevant today as it was in the 50's, when the film was made. Highly recommended, MB, if you have an extra $30 in your pocket! Geez, they're expensive, but at least you know you're getting the Cadillac when you plunk down your cash for their product. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 798 Registered: 08-2006 |
Love the Criterion DVDs - hate the hit my budget takes when I buy them. I have a couple Kurosawa films from them, and maybe a few others, and they're like crack. I've been on a bit of Chaplin binge lately. I bought the two boxed sets that came out a couple years back (how could "City Lights" have been unavailable for so long?), and the recent edition of the Mutual comedies, and the re-released edition of the documentary "Unknown Chaplin" and I've been making my way through the whole mess over the past week. That guy was a true genius in his heyday. Even some his late talkies have their moments, but you watch those Mutual shorts and you realize where Bugs Bunny - and basically every comedic filmmaker - got all of their material. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 560 Registered: 09-2006 |
Oi, don't get me started on Criterions...Kurosawa, Ozu, Powell/Pressburger, Bergman, Renoir, on and on and on. I do have two advantages in that regard, one being the library system that I've mentioned far too many times, which has a huge number of them and lets me try before I buy...and also a great artsy/eclectic/cultmovieish video store in Seattle that often sells them for 10 bucks less than list. By coincidence I was watching one just yesterday: "Bob le Flambeur," another great existential gangster pic from Jean-Pierre Melville, a film that predated the French New Wave by five years and obviously influenced them a whole hell of a lot. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 714 Registered: 01-2005 |
I'm waiting for a Criterion DVD of My Life To Live. The FOX Lorber one is out of print, although I do have a copy. I try to keep my Criterion purchases to a minimum, but I usually end up getting one every month or so. There are so many good ones I don't have that I would love to own. On the other hand, I treasure the ones I do have. "Ace in the Hole" sounds great. | ||
| frank bascombe Member Username: Frankb Post Number: 111 Registered: 01-2007 |
Heroes, getting alot of preview over in the UK is it worth getting into, sunds a bit like The Incredibles in a good way | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 584 Registered: 09-2006 |
Battlestar Galactica, Season 2.0 F-k, it just keeps getting better. I gotta go with the general consensus on this one: if the sci-fi element isn't to your liking there's probably not much you can do, but in the area of characters and story it's as rich in its way as "The Wire" or "The Sopranos" are in their way. Call it sacrilege if you must... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 1622 Registered: 05-2005 |
I wish I was watching the Hawaii Five-0 DVDs but I don't think they're out in Aus yet. Well, I don't know that to be true as I only just read of their existence in the US in this very funny NYT piece. www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/opinion/03fri 3.html?th&emc=th |