TV and Movie Chat

Necron 99 · Post April 8th, 2020, 8:19 pm

Thanks, Ron. You too!

And yes, good flick, you should def check it out.

Necron 99 · Post May 1st, 2020, 9:43 pm

Ok, so a while back I posted a trailer for the movie Underwater, which had this serious Alien vibe, based on the trailer. Welp, I finally got around to watching it last night and I will say, it doesn't carry any feeling like that of any Alien franchise flick. What it does have, however, is a modern dose of some Lovecraft Mythos, which by the end of the flick, I had somewhat surmised on my own, picked up from what was going on.

Of my dislikes for the movie, the only thing I didn't really like was the early loss of the one character providing some comic relief, I wish he'd been around longer. I also thought they should have made the lead character, played by Kristen Stewart, less male looking. For some reason they gave her a buzz cut and dyed her hair blond (even though her eyebrows were still her natural dark color

) and it just didn't really serve any purpose that I could see. If they wanted her to have blond hair, then at least match the eyebrows, and I would have preferred if her hair would have been at least a bit longer too. It made me wonder why they even bothered casting a female for that role in the first place.

For anyone who plans on watching the film, I don't want to spoil anything so I won't put out any details. I will say that for a horror film, it wasn't really "scary"; there was one scene that got me, made me jump. On a scale of 1-5, I'd rate it around 3.5, Good enough to watch at least once, the plot was decent, the characters were alright, nothing to write home about. The effects were good, I didn't notice any major or glaring plot holes and the creature feature was pretty cool.

Ancalagon · Post May 1st, 2020, 10:59 pm

They got name recognition with Stewart... but from what I've seen of her acting it could've done more harm than good.

BTW - nothing good comes from 3.5 :wink:

Necron 99 · Post May 6th, 2020, 8:36 pm

Flash Gordon, the 80s movie, restored for 4k digital, available August 3rd. "AAHHH, AAAAAHHHHH!!"

I enjoyed this movie growing up.

Necron 99 · Post June 9th, 2020, 5:27 pm

I watched this animated film today, it came out over a decade ago but just now getting around to it. I liked it a lot, cool story, really excellent animation.

Necron 99 · Post June 9th, 2020, 9:22 pm

Also wanted to mention that I finally got around to watching IT Chapter 2. When it first hit theaters I wanted to check it out, like I had the first one, but some of the reviews made it seem less than the first movie. Comments about too much humor, not enough horror, plus other changes and such made it seem less than appealing. I never made it to the big screen and here it is many months later and I finally made time to watch it.

For me, as someone who reads books and then usually watches the movies, assuming I liked the book, I'm pretty damn critical when changes occur, especially really bad changes. Stephen King's The Mist is one that I absolutely abhor, because up until the last 15 minutes or so of the movie, it was everything and more that I had hoped it would be, in a film adaptation of that book, but unfortunately due to a stupid change in the ending, it completely ruined the movie for me. And of course, there is the Trilogy of Travesty, aka, The Hobbit, that Jackson put out there, I still haven't and have no plans to see the third movie in the series. Sitting through the first part and suffering through the second was enough for me.

So here we are with IT.

I really enjoyed the original miniseries from the 90s and thought it was well done, I was skeptical of another remake of the book, but the first movie I thought was really good and enjoyed watching at the theater. Overall, I liked IT Chapter 2 and thought it had some really good scenes and some that could have been better, and a few of the changes I thought were unnecessary, other than to pander to the usual agendas that plague the entertainment world today. I thought Pennywise was vicious in this one, there were some really cool monster variations even if they didn't really evoke fright. There was more humor in this one, some of it warranted, some of it not, but nothing that ruined the film for me. I enjoyed Chapter 2 enough that I will probably pick it up on DVD to sit next to the copy of the first movie I have.

I've definitely seen worse jobs done for book to film. If you haven't seen it, yet, I would recommend seeing Chapter 2 at least once, I didn't consider it a waste of time.

Necron 99 · Post July 7th, 2020, 4:01 pm

Not sure if anyone else is familiar with this British sci-fantasy drama, originally aired in 1976. There were only seven episodes to the series and I don't believe it was meant to be continuous, but it aired again on Nickelodeon in the early 80s. I'd never heard of it until this year, after catching a post in a FB group for 70s and 80s television and movies.

Spooky turns to sinister as science and the supernatural collide

All is not as it should be in Milbury, a sleepy English village surrounded by a megalithic stone circle. Astrophysicist Adam Brake (Gareth Thomas, Blake’s 7) and his teenage son, Matthew, arrive to research the standing stones, but end up delving into the past in ways they never expected. What are the secrets of the ancient stones? What power does the druid-inspired Rafael Hendrick (Iain Cuthbertson, Gorillas in the Mist) have over the village’s trancelike "happy ones"? And is it true that "nobody ever leaves the circle"?

An air of menace pervades this sci-fi thriller, enhanced by a haunting, chanted vocal score. Filmed on location at the Avebury stone circle--older than nearby Stonehenge--each episode builds relentlessly to a harrowing climax in what becomes, literally, a race against time.

Each episode is roughly 25-30 minutes, keep in mind this was made in the 70s so if you've watch TV from that era, you know it's not the best in terms of quality. I love old movies and shows, so I've watched the first three episodes and enjoying it for the mystery of what's going on. I could definitely see turning this into some sort of table-top adventure scenario.

If interested, you can watch the entire series on Youtube, the link HERE

sbaldrick · Post July 7th, 2020, 7:38 pm

I remember it. It was on Nickelodeon in the early to mid 80's.

rredmond · Post July 8th, 2020, 8:39 am

Sounds intriguing. Is it YA? Something I can watch with the girls?
Either way sounds like I need to check it out. Thanks.

Necron 99 · Post July 8th, 2020, 10:17 am

rredmond wrote: ↑July 8th, 2020, 8:39 am Sounds intriguing. Is it YA? Something I can watch with the girls?
Either way sounds like I need to check it out. Thanks.

Ron, I finished the series last night and it's definitely YA viewable. Matter of fact, some of the info I read about the show said it was actually intended for kids to watch when it aired. Cool premise, worth watching at least once, I'd say.