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

[R6GYY]

Popmaster TV.

Possibly the cheapest TV show ever to produce, and featuring some very strange contestants, but it IS compulsive viewing.

[Slim]

Prompted by the appearance in my YouTube suggestions of a clip from a film called Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies, I sought out the first of what is apparently a quadrilogy of films from around the turn of the century, that I'd never heard of.

I was especially drawn by the performance of the guy who plays the jinn in human form. In the clip I saw he gives a gently sinister, understated and subtly dark-comedic performance that's very effective, though in truth I think his natural unsettling charisma carries it.

So I watched the first one. It's pretty trashy stuff, to be honest. It has the feel of a '70s TV movie in places. It's not wholly coherent or sensible. But it's enjoyable hokum and I did really like it.

I didn't emerge from it feeling disturbed. It has some impressively macabre and imaginatively grim scenes but by comparison (for example) the first Alien film is 20 times scarier and more suspenseful. Ironically, the human version of the jinn is more disquieting than its gruesome true appearance. 

But it's a lot of fun. Looking forward to watching the second one in the next couple of days.

[Slim]

But it's a lot of fun. Looking forward to watching the second one in the next couple of days.

This was a bit crappy, to be honest. I really liked the prison scenes, which were what had drawn me in fromYouTube. I loved the sinister charm of the jinn-in-human-form guy again. But on the whole, nah. There are inconsistencies with the premise of the first film. The plot, such as it is, is weak and the payoff is disappointing. There's a crucifixion scene that's just comically underdone.



But it leans further into dark comedy, and I liked that at least.

There are two more instalments. I'll give Wishmaster 3 a go, but I'm not expecting much since the human djinn guy from the first two (Andrew Divoff, pictured) isn't involved.

[pxr5]

The final series (nine appropriately) of Inside Number Nine. As brilliant as ever. I might watch them all again sometime.

[Matt2112]

The final series (nine appropriately) of Inside Number Nine. As brilliant as ever. I might watch them all again sometime.

This is high on my to-watch list as I've been told it's (forgive the pun) right up my street.

[dom]

Really enjoyed ep1 of season 9. Good cast too! Matthew Kelly is surprisingly excellent

[Matt2112]

The Social Network

Finally got round to seeing this, only 14 years after its release.

The considerable talent on board - director David Fincher, Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and, yes, even Justin Timberlake are all on superb form in this slickly woven story of the ages.

Aaron Sorkin's Oscar-winning screenplay of course uses all of his dramatic license to keep the story engaging, though at times the fixation with trying to render every other line a snarky slam-dunk can distract from the narrative.

However, this overall is a solid if not spectacular success, and still resonates given Facebook's seemingly immutable global influence.

Rating: ***

[Slim]

I watched the old Gregory Peck film Twelve O'Clock High about a US B-17 group based in England during the war. Definitely of its time, but it's aged well. Grittier than you might think for a film made in 1949. All the aerial combat scenes are actual combat footage.

[Thenop]

I figured I'd watch what everyone in Holland is watching: the nr. 1 on the current Netflix list. A movie called Atlas.
Premise: 28 years ago a sentient Ai started a war against humanity, killed 3 million people and then fled to another planet.
Within a minute I knew I made a bad choice. The star of the movie is Jennifer Lopez.. That plus the infantile script (she ends up in a large robotic suit with which she nerds to 'sync' overcoming a childhood trauma and then fight an Ai designed by her mother whom was killed by said Ai).

I sat boldly, watched the whole thing, did it for the rest of humanity so none of you have to watch this. You're welcome.

[Slim]

Wow, I can't imagine a worse idea for a film.

[pxr5]

I figured I'd watch what everyone in Holland is watching: the nr. 1 on the current Netflix list. A movie called Atlas.
Premise: 28 years ago a sentient Ai started a war against humanity, killed 3 million people and then fled to another planet.
Within a minute I knew I made a bad choice. The star of the movie is Jennifer Lopez.. That plus the infantile script (she ends up in a large robotic suit with which she nerds to 'sync' overcoming a childhood trauma and then fight an Ai designed by her mother whom was killed by said Ai).

I sat boldly, watched the whole thing, did it for the rest of humanity so none of you have to watch this. You're welcome.

It's on my 'to watch' list. It's off my 'to watch' list. 

[dom]

Ep1 of Eric with Benedict Cumberbatch. Promising

[Slim]

I've been watching some of the D-Day documentaries that have been shown as part of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

There was a huge national commemoration for the 40th anniversary in 1984 - the idea being that many of the veterans wouldn't be around for the 50th anniversary. So it's nice to see that a few of them are still with us another 40 years later.

I still have recordings that I made to VHS, later transferred to DVD, of some of the documentaries that were broadcast in 1984, and it's an eerie thought that the same amount of time has passed since then as had passed since the Battle of Normandy when they were shown. At the age of 24 I couldn't have had a sense of how long ago 1944 was; now I do have a sense of the passing of 40 years, and it doesn't seem as long as I thought.

[pxr5]

Sweet Tooth Season 3 (the last one). The first series was great, the second not so much. This final season is a return to form and seems to be heading to a satisfactory conclusion. 

[Fishy]

Meet the Richardsons