THE DARK AGES presented by the History Channel. Followed by CRACKING THE MAYAN CODE, from the PBS Nova series. Fun stuff!

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I actually heard from a friend to skip the American movie version, so I can't compare directly, but the BBC version of State of Play is indeed excellent.

Without being able to compare it to the series yet I can't tell you which is better. I though Crowe was excellent as the aggressive, seasoned reporter with a penchant for whiskey, junk food, and his friends wife. Helen Mirran was foul mouthed and fun to watch as the editor that spars with Crowe. Jason Bateman as the scummy PR guy who digs BDSM and pills, and Rachel McAdams, looking cute as she learns to defend her turf from editors and reporters both, were also well developed characters. Even Affleck was well positioned as the slick politician that gets caught seemingly with his pants down.

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Originally posted by heavyboots:
I actually heard from a friend to skip the American movie version, so I can't compare directly, but the BBC version of State of Play is indeed excellent.

The problem with seeing the BBC series after the US movie is the ending is the same; you already know 'whodunnit'.

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Originally posted by ArkanGL:

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Diary Of The Dead
I expected something better. Too many explanations, too many stereotypes.

It just occurred to me that Zombieland follows a very similar storyline.
But it's a better movie.
(of course you're going to hate it, and call me a 'traitre', but hey...)

- I have this feeling that at least Zombieland will be funnier.
- I'll call you a gorram traitor anyway.

Equilibrium. Comical value of Christian Bale's NeoKeanu performance notwithstanding, this Matrix-1984-Brazil mismatch is nothing more than bullet-time-analog porn. You can see the plot twists coming a mile away.

Burn After Reading. Just about to stumble off the Coen absurdism cliff IMO, still it's an enjoyable take on the spook genre.

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Originally posted by fuldog:
Equilibrium. Comical value of Christian Bale's NeoKeanu performance notwithstanding, this Matrix-1984-Brazil mismatch is nothing more than bullet-time-analog porn. You can see the plot twists coming a mile away.

Burn After Reading. Just about to stumble off the Coen absurdism cliff IMO, still it's an enjoyable take on the spook genre.

The only reason I watched Equilibrium was because of Sean Bean. Only to find out he's only in the first 10 minutes of the movie! I did like the "gun-fu" though, it was so ridiculous it was awesome.

Just have to weigh in on Equilibrium (groan)

A friend of mine let me borrow that a while back.
I had to call him in the middle of watching it, while laughing hysterically;
"THEY SHOT THE PUPPIES! THE BAD GUYS ACTUALLY SHOT THE PUPPIES!!! THAT'S F@%KING GOLD!!!"
Quite possibly the funniest action movie I've ever seen.

ANGEL DUST dir Sogo Ishii. This movie has nothing to do with PCP, but you might suspect you took some after watching it.

DR WHO: THE ARK IN SPACE - Testing out using Netflix Instant Viewing on Firefox. It works! And the 4th Doctor was the one I remember seeing the most on PBS as a kid....

"V" (2009) S01E01



Skiffy. I fell victem to the hype. Rarely, do I watch a new series until its got several eppys behind it. However, the Hulu marketing was very effective. Note I still did not watch the show on broadcast TV. (I have not fallen that far.)

We've seen this story before, although a long time ago.

Action is fast-paced and professionally polished. Characters are not deep, but we've seen them all before, and viewers step into line: rebellious teenager, doubting cleric, warrior woman, aniouxous bard, etc.. Production values are likewise very good, CGI for the pilot was movie quality. Sets were also very good, but a bit too clean. (Watching American broadcast TV you'd think all homes have a Target(tm) minimum standard of decor.) Violence was American TV mature (edged-weapon usage, large caliber firearms at close range, physical bludgeoning). Good quality fake blood. No sex or nudity. (America must be a very violent, but chaste society.)

Acting was very good. I was disappointed that Tudyk died in the first eppy. I've liked him since Firefly, and he was the best part of Dollhouse S01. Most of the other actors appear to have come from other TV skiffy. They're all better than good.

The show isn't bad. Its just not really good. The first episode is already starting to show its bones. The actual show (sans commericals) is very short, just more than 33-min. This is barelly enough time to lapse into formulaic drivel: show some kuhl skiffy inspired CGI, shoot somebody, run, jump, hide, and sell a couple of boxes of cereal along the way.

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Becoming Human Part I on Nova, PBS

AWESOME!!!!!!!
It's all clear to me now. Or at least more clear than before.

Needed some comfort viewing (aka things I don't have to think about) last night. So i watched Conan the Barbarian, which I love. It dawned on me how little Arnold speaks in this role and how well that works. Conan is supposed to be quiet and deadly. Thankfully this movie wasn't made further along in his career or Conan would have had cheesy one-liners after he sliced someone. "Time to... split."

I then watched Pineapple Express again and loved it. Some of that stuff is clearly improved and it's hilarious.

The Conan movies are cool that way, def. A little less conversation, a little more action.

Very good movie.

The Answer Man - Jeff Daniels plays opposite some of my favorite recent actresses (Kat Dennings and Olivia Thirbly plus Gilmore mom Lauren Graham). Your basic romantic comedy. Predictable plot but well enough acted that it is fun watching them get there.

The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)



Crime. I love these old Brit movies. They were big-budget in their day. They show both a different time and how film making has changed.

Props are all first rate. You quickly notice the film is in Technicolor. (That's always a treat.) Its hard not to contrast today's 'hyper-realism' with what was possible 50 years ago. You can see the film is sped-up during action sequences for effect. Blows never connect. The actors make obvious statements in the dialog, so its clear to all how the plot develops.

The film is also terribly un-correct. Anglos being made-up as Asians. (There were no Asian stars.) Good guys smoke on screen. (It was acceptable.) Racy here is a bare female back and the threat of a good whipping (cat of 9-tails).

By current standards the acting couldn't be called good. They did not have 'the method' then. It is classic. However seeing Christopher Lee (Star Wars & Lord of the Rings) as Fu Manchu is very cool.

Worth watching if you're interested in Brit film.

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quote:

Originally posted by Black Jacque:
Good quality fake blood.

All the info one may need in a review!

I watched a couple of episodes (the first 4) of Eureka and I liked. Nothing special, me thinks, but quite interesting. Hope it gets better on the way.

DR WHO: THE PYRAMIDS OF MARS - Pretty much going back and watching all the Dr Who stuff available instantly on Netflix. Got a new roommate who had never seen any of the Doctors, and I haven't seen much of the old stuff (or can't recall watching entire stories day to day off PBS), so yeah. Fun stuff!

The Haye - Valuev fight. I have no idea why, I hate boxing really.. but, jesus, Valuev is HUGE.

Run Fatboy Run - enjoyed it a lot. Good story, and Thandie Newton is lovely to look at as always. Pegg is great, and Dylan Moran is awesome. Hank Azaria does a great job in the role too. The biggest laughs were in the more slapstick bits - the blister and the fight - but the whole thing worked well.

Pineapple Express - enjoyed it, and it made sense to me, but perhaps didn't like it as much as I'd expected, or as much as some here...

Jeeves and Wooster - fantastic. Laurie and Fry are perfect in the roles, and the shows are well written and capture Wodehouse' spirit if not all the joy of his language.