What's in/on Your DVD/VCR/PVR etc

[Matt2112]

Babylon

Damien Chazelle's 3-hour epic following the fortunes of those at either side of the camera as silent movies give way to "talkies".

Margot Robbie was deservedly Oscar-nominated starring alongside Brad Pitt and Diego Calva, who are also both very good indeed in their co-leading roles.

Yes it's bombastic and bloated, which is probably the point, as are the graphic depictions of debauchery that are not for the weak of stomach.  There's a Pulp Fiction-esque mischievousness in some of the set pieces, though the tone here is darker than anything Tarantino has done.

This had mixed reviews at the time of release, though it's worth seeing if you have a few spare hours.

Rating: ***

[David L]

Miriam: Death of a Reality Star. Second episode of a three-part series.

Documentary about what was possibly the most irresponsible reality show ever. Made by Endemol (Big Brother), the premise for the show (There's Something About Miriam) was to gather half a dozen young alpha males in an Ibizan villa to compete for the affections of a model. The winner gets to spend a holiday with her and £10,000. She, honestly it seems, believes she will find love.
You've possibly guessed already, and at least one competitor had his suspicions, the thing about Miriam is...........she's a bloke. Produced in the early 2000s, I was not aware this existed or I can't remember it (which is hard to believe). What a dumbass idea from the get-go. Deceive a lot of testosterone-fuelled guys into flirting, snogging and falling in love with a transvestite from Mexico that's desperate for fame, has silicone tits and is still package intactica.
Miriam whittled the field down to two guys who, by this time, could barely keep their hands off her as they tried to win her over. Tonight they showed the reveal, by which time Endemol had had the sense to employ a psychiatrist to deal with the inevitable fallout.
As it is now 2024, a lot of the sympathy is directed towards Miriam and the effect on her for being rejected by the 'winner', even though she was fully complicit in duping the guys. I guess she was initially duped by the production company into thinking the show was going to result in a TV entertainment high-water mark.
Anyway, Miriam found herself dead at 38. Only two of the guys participated in this documentary. What happened to the rest? One more episode to watch tomorrow night so we may find out. We'll definitely find out how Miriam met her end.
Absolutely jaw-droppingly stupid concept that some of those who were involved (mostly female) still don't seem to understand why. They're obviously not imbued with an understanding for the male psyche, unlike my wife who watched a lot of it through the gaps between her fingers.

[pxr5]

^ I've got the last episode to watch tonight. I do recall the incident but not so much the detail that this documentary is showing us. Gripping for sure and very well done.

[Fishy]

Up to ep5 on Fallout

[pxr5]

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver  Part One wasn't that long ago but the impact it had on me must have been miniscule as I had little recall as to what had actually happened. Luckily these movies as so shallow the story makes little difference. This part 2 is like a Magnificent Seven in space where the heroes band together to protect the poor farmers. The gist of it is: the galactic empire places massive importance on some grain from a sad little village on a distant planet. So much so they decide to launch a large scale attack on the villagers. And erm that's about it. The first half is dull as we build up to the battle. The actual fighting scenes are quite spectacular but nothing we haven't seen before. 4/10 I've forgotten it already - what was I talking about again?

[David L]

World snooker final. Kyren Wilson vs Jak Jones. Jones finished the first session 7-1 down but managed to hang on to eventually lose 18-14. Loads of errors but very dramatic. Great entertainment!

[Fishy]

More fallout.. 2 eps to go.. quite enjoying it..

[R6GYY]

Clarkson's Farm, series 1.

Regardless of what you think of esteemed / hated Mr. Clarkson, I am amazed what I am learning about what is involved with farming & land management.

It really begs the question (to me at least!) - why on earth would anyone do it?

p.s. Kaleb is the real star of the show.

[Fishy]

Started on The Resonder series 2.. god its bleak...

[Fishy]

More fallout.. 2 eps to go.. quite enjoying it..

And finished..season 2 has been announced I believe..

[Matt2112]

TOTP 1996 on BBC Four x 2

The first one of these was actually rather annoying, as it was presented by Alan Davies, who to this day I've never found particularly clever or funny.  And, frankly, he comes across as a proper irritating bell3end in this - instead of disarmingly linking the performing acts with a professional presenter's patter, with the odd amusing bon mot, here he basically tries to cram in "edgy", pseudo-intellectual piss-takes of the performers and the programme, as if it is all beneath his towering wit.

It's tiresome, tedious and back-fires spectacularly - unsurprisingly, this was his first and last show.

Compare this with Lulu, who presents the following show (which also features one of my favourite bands, The Saw Doctors) - infectiously vivacious, bigging up every band she introduces and beaming throughout; in other words, showing a damn sight more taste, class and judgement than Davies.

As for the music: the usual combination of some songs that - rightly or wrongly - became established classics, some deeper cuts that deserved to be established classics and plenty of utter bilge that should never have been heard by any human ears in the first place.

Marvellous.

[David L]

TOTP 1996 on BBC Four x 2

The first one of these was actually rather annoying, as it was presented by Alan Davies, who to this day I've never found particularly clever or funny.  And, frankly, he comes across as a proper irritating bell3end in this - instead of disarmingly linking the performing acts with a professional presenter's patter, with the odd amusing bon mot, here he basically tries to cram in "edgy", pseudo-intellectual piss-takes of the performers and the programme, as if it is all beneath his towering wit.

It's tiresome, tedious and back-fires spectacularly - unsurprisingly, this was his first and last show.

Compare this with Lulu, who presents the following show (which also features one of my favourite bands, The Saw Doctors) - infectiously vivacious, bigging up every band she introduces and beaming throughout; in other words, showing a damn sight more taste, class and judgement than Davies.

As for the music: the usual combination of some songs that - rightly or wrongly - became established classics, some deeper cuts that deserved to be established classics and plenty of utter bilge that should never have been heard by any human ears in the first place.

Marvellous.

Gary Davies (?)

[pxr5]

I think Matt really did mean Alan Davies

[Matt2112]

Gary Davies (?)

He presented the show 114 times from 1983-1991, third only to Tony Blackburn (147) and erm, someone who presented it 261 times.

[pxr5]

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire  Wow, how could they mess up such a solid movie franchise? Well they did - massively. Extremely disappointing all round. The old guard were there, but mostly unused and the new team were insipid and dull. Awful really 3/10