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

[R6GYY]

Big Sky

Season 3 kicked off last night on Disney+

Looking forward to Jack Ryan season 3 - which is now available on Amazon Prime I believe.

I have finally been catching up with the remaining Reacher episodes, and have the finale to watch tonight. Overall I am very pleased with this adaptation.

Season 2 has started filming I think, and is based on book 11 "Bad Luck And Trouble".

[Matt2112]

TOTP 1990 Christmas Day Special on BBC Four

I think by this time I'd given up putting time aside on Christmas Day to watch what was effectively the TOTP review of the year - the worm was definitely turning.  Still, some of these songs do powerfully evoke plenty of memories from that time - I was a sixth-former, having so much fun that I couldn't be arsed completing my A-levels, and I basically became a dole-dosser for a few months.

Fortunately I soon realised that was an untenable life choice, so enrolled for a BTEC in Business Administration and earned some beer tokens working at a local Chinese takeaway - now run by the children of the chap who took me on.

Here's a fun Christmas song fact: since Cliff Richard's (utterly appalling) Saviour's Day was Christmas no. 1 in 1990, there has not been an original Christmas-themed song that has reached No. 1 in the same year of its release since.

Make of that what you will...

[David L]

Nice stat! I think it proves that the 70s were inarguably the best era for pop and rock music...by a fair margin. All the  Xmas bangers, bar for a couple of exceptions, come from that glorious decade. Oh, to be a boomer!

[Matt2112]

Hell Or High Water

This had been on the to-watch list since it was nominated for multiple Oscars way back in 2017 - and the wait was rewarded.

It's a modern "neo-Western noir" about two brothers turning to bank robbery to pay off large debts, with a state trooper on their trail, played superbly by Jeff Bridges in surely one of the best performances of his career.

Director David Mackenzie orchestrates the story brilliantly, capturing the remote Texan and Deep South locations that drip with Americana to perfection despite being British himself.

So this is undoubtedly a quality film, which I have no hesitation recommending.

However - this is one of those films, at 1 hour 40 minutes, that is actually too short.  Though I can see the dilemma here: while making it longer would allow what are already very good scenes to "breathe" more and have a more lasting impact, this would of course slow the pace of the story. The result for the final cut is that there's no real resolution between these trade-offs, which holds the film back from bona fide greatness.

I would love to see a director's cut of this with at least 20 minutes added, but I would still warmly recommend this in its current form.

Rating: ***

[David L]

Watched Whiplash again last night. Great movie

[dom]

The Quiet Girl - An Cailín Ciúin

Simple, touching, moving, beautiful.

Not an awful lot happens but it keeps your attention throughout. Rapt.

Tears flowed at the end.

[The Picnic Wasp]

It's A Wonderful Life - Colourised version

Great film, fantastic technology. Incredible to think this is 76 years old and even more frightening to consider that some much watched movies will be 100 in the not too distant future. A bit like B-52 bombers. Quite ancient but still in use.

[R6GYY]

Now: Die Hard

Earlier today: Holiday Inn

[dom]

Another 2022 Irish film. The Banshees of Inisheren.

Although it had some funny moments the primary emotion it created was melancholy, if not depression. Colm Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were both excellent

[R6GYY]

Now: Die Hard

Earlier today: Holiday Inn

And now Die Hard 2 

[Slim]

For some reason an old episode of Star Trek came to mind a week or two ago. The only thing I could remember was that it was something about an overpopulated planet, and a bizarre scene where a bunch of ghostly heads appear on the viewscreen.

I googled it and watched it earlier. It's a third series episode called The Mark Of Gideon. Terrible episode. Really dumb story idea, a script that doesn't make sense and appears to have been shot on a shoescreen budget - no outdoor locations or sets based outside the Enterprise except for one room on another planet.

[Slim]

But later, I watched The Detectorists; a feature-length special. I'd never seen it before and didn't intend to watch it last night. Only inertia kept me in front of the telly after University Challenge.

It was brilliant. Very clever. Funny without being a sitcom, beautifully directed and photographed and very pleasantly slow-paced. Loved it.

[R6GYY]

But later, I watched The Detectorists; a feature-length special. I'd never seen it before and didn't intend to watch it last night. Only inertia kept me in front of the telly after University Challenge.

It was brilliant. Very clever. Funny without being a sitcom, beautifully directed and photographed and very pleasantly slow-paced. Loved it.

Something I keep meaning to watch.

[The Picnic Wasp]

But later, I watched The Detectorists; a feature-length special. I'd never seen it before and didn't intend to watch it last night. Only inertia kept me in front of the telly after University Challenge.

It was brilliant. Very clever. Funny without being a sitcom, beautifully directed and photographed and very pleasantly slow-paced. Loved it.

Something I keep meaning to watch.

I intended to watch that last night, but when I visited the iPlayer I discovered they had made three series. I'd missed all of the earlier episodes so decided to watch series 1 episode 1 instead. I'm glad I did. It provided a bit of context to the characters, albeit simple, which I hadn't known before. I'm looking forward to running through the rest now.

[Nick]

I was a latecomer to The Detectorists as well, one of the best series made I think, the soft soundtrack, genteel humour and the nature shots make it a perfect watch.