farerb wrote:^Will you wait with Over the Moon till next month or will you watch it this Friday?
I'm also excited about The Crown. It's one of the few shows I watch nowadays. I'm not that invested in TV shows anymore.
Ahh, I forgot about Over the Moon! I don’t know— if it gets rave reviews here I may check it out sooner, otherwise I think I can wait.
Also forgot I already watched Rocky Horror Picture Show! I hate when people say it’s a bad movie or it’s “so bad it’s good.” It’s actually a well made movie/piece that knows exactly what it is. I admit when I was a kid and watched it for the first time before Glee’s tribute episode, I was bewildered by it all. But as the years go by and I get older I think I “get it” more and more and it seems almost, dare I say it, normal? I feel that it, like Hocus Pocus, will be getting another spin before Halloween.
blackcauldron85 wrote:I know about Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir but haven't seen it. Is it on Netflix I wonder...
I saw it on Netflix a week or so ago when I was flipping through other things. I didn't realize how many episodes it has.
Listening to most often lately:
Ariana Grande ~ "we can't be friends (wait for your love)"
Ariana Grande ~ "imperfect for you"
Kacey Musgraves ~ "The Architect"
We just watched Love and Monsters (downloaded on Amazon). It was really good. I had never heard of it; it was recommended for my husband by Amazon. It kept our attention the whole time, it was pretty exciting. I recommend it!
I haven't been watching a whole lot lately, and when I have, it's been more comfort food-like stuff. Right around Halloween, I watched some appropriate Flintstones and Scooby-Doo episodes via HBO Max, and pulled out some of my Courage the Cowardly Dog DVDs (I could only bring a handful of DVDs with me on my movie, and those made it in). All of those were a good time, as always. I do wish that Ed, Edd n' Eddy was added to HBO Max already, so I could have also watched its Halloween special. I did bring the first 2 seasons with me, but those are the only ones available for DVD.
But on Halloween night, I decided to sign up for CBS All Access, since it's been adding more Nickelodeon shows, and I had a thirst for Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. Unfortunately, the former seems to be missing a lot of episodes, as it only has up to season 4, and only a handful from each of those seasons. Nick seems to be pretty bad at preserving their shows, so this unfortunately adds up.
Still, I had a good time with the AYAOTD? episodes that I did watch. The camera work and editing can be pretty shoddy, just as the acting can be weak, even from Melissa Joan Hart in her episode (she doesn't compare to Clarissa here- which is another set I wish I brought with me- the first season has a classic Halloween episode that would've been perfect). But I like that they still went all out for going spooky in a kid's show, and found a good middle ground between genuine, gruesome horror and farce. Reading the Slimed book. which was an oral history about this era of Nickelodeon, it seemed like the executives at the time didn't realize that they could effectively make kid friendly horror, that it could only be gory or silly. But there's genuine effort done in most of these stories. Even the Midnight Society wraparounds have decent writing and help to establish a community you could be a part of. Good stuff!
And Real Monsters is another fun one. This has never been my favorite Nicktoon- give me Rocko's Modern Life any day- but I like the cast, and I think Ickis is the most adorable thing. Again, not the wittiest show, but it has a solid sense of humor and an aesthetic I can get behind. It's a series I can come back to every so often, but I can't say that I'd binge it like I did Rocko or Hey Arnold!
Hell yes Rocko's Modern Life and Are You Afraid of the Dark?! I plan to watch every Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode from a bootleg I have, and I own the official complete series of Rocko because it's my favorite show ever! I think Are You Afraid of the Dark? has great supernatural scares!
To give you an idea of some of my favorite Nick shows, this is what I have on DVD:
-Clarissa Explains It All Season 1
-Rugrats Seasons 1-4
-The Ren & Stimpy Show Seasons 1 & 2
-The Adventures of Pete & Pete Seasons 1 & 2
-Rocko's Modern Life Complete Series
-The Secret World of Alex Mack Complete Series
-Hey Arnold! Complete Series
-Invader Zim Complete Series
And just for the hell of it, the Cartoon Network series I own:
-Dexter's Laboratory Season 1
-Johnny Bravo Season 1
-The Powerpuff Girls Complete Series
-Ed, Edd n' Eddy Seasons 1 & 2
-Courage the Cowardly Dog Complete Series
-Samurai Jack Complete Series
-Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends Season 1
-Over the Garden Wall
I did used to own the first seasons of both Billy & Mandy and Steven Universe, but sold them both off- the former a long time ago when it became apparent that the rest of the show wasn't coming out, and I don't care as much for the earliest episodes, and the latter when I decided that I'd be just fine with watching the show on HBO Max if I ever felt the need to. I regret selling Billy & Mandy in hindsight, since that's kind of a collector's item now, and I do like some of those episodes (I do own the movie though...). I may also sell off the Foster's set, since I haven't had much of a taste for the show in a while, and it's also all on HBO Max.
Clarissa, Pete & Pete, and Alex Mack were SO GOOD!!! Rugrats, too, of course. The first 5 CN shows you mentioned are great, too (I also have a soft spot for Courage), but I haven't seen the other 3, or the other shows you mentioned.
I love Pete & Pete, it was such a haunting and well-written show! I love Ren and Stimpy! It's crazy! And I like Clarissa all right. I was introduced to the complete series of Over the Garden Wall just about a year or so ago and that is an amazing series, I love it! It's so melancholy and haunting.
We just watched In This Corner of the World (2016). I got confused at some parts, but overall it was really good, & less sad than Grave of the Fireflies.
I binged The Crown Season 4 today. I loved it. I am *not* a monarchist, but I am always fascinated to learn about the British Royal Family. I’ve been disappointed with the show thus far, in that I think they have a tendency to over-dramatize events. Elizabeth II has had a relatively quiet and peaceful— a pretty boring one. But with the entrance of Diana and the beginning of the 1980’s, things start to get interesting.
Firstly, I want to talk about the Queen herself. I think Olivia Colman really eased herself into the role of Elizabeth II this season. Her Elizabeth is a little dotty, a little clueless. She is incapable of introspection and she is avoidant of any issues that require addressing emotions. But the hammer comes down when the concept of “duty” comes into play and Colman’s Elizabeth becomes ruthless and merciless with her own family— just as she has had to be herself. With her portrayal of the Queen this season, I think Colman completely redeems her uneven Season 3 performance.
The other star of the show is Princess Margaret— played her by Helena Bonham Carter. I always thought Helena Bonham Carter was a weird choice— she isn’t a great “mimic” actor. I never watch her and feel like I’m seeing the real Princess Margaret (similarly, when she played Elizabeth Taylor, I was never fooled then either). That said, Helena Bonham Carter invites the audience to sympathize with this crustiest of royals in a way I never thought imaginable. In real life, Margaret was famously a snob and I’ve been waiting the whole series to hate her— but to watch Bonham Carter’s character flail about, to have no real “role” in the Royal Family but remain dutifully loyal to her sister is to witness a great tragedy.
Gillian Anderson’s Margaret Thatcher is very good, if a bit overwrought. Sometimes the actress looks like she’s in physical pain delivering her lines. As much as I have read about the Queen, I have never learned much about her relationship with Thatcher, although I had heard the rumors it was an uneasy one. I did not know that the Queen actually went to the papers to air her grievances with the Prime Minister!
The great discovery of this season is Emma Corrin as Diana. It is eerie. She looks like Diana, she sounds like Diana, she moves like Diana. I have heard the stories about her bulimia or her rowes with Charles, but Corrin’s performance was so convincing I really felt I was watching the real thing. I felt like I was seeing the real Diana’s private moments. She was sensational. My only regret is we will only see one season of Corrin’s Diana.
The rest of the cast was wonderful, as usual. Tobias Menzies’ Philip is powerful and sometimes a little scary. Princess Anne is still delightful if relegated to the second string as her position in the line of succession is further reduced. Side note, but I can’t believe they left out one of the most incredible Royal stories— in the 1970s, an assailant attempted to kidnap Princess Anne with a gun. But she refused to be kidnapped!
I liked Josh O’Connor very much last season as the Prince of Wales, and he acquitted himself very well this season, too. I thought he was let down by the make-up department, though. O’Connor was still too “hunky” and images of the Royal Family in the 1980’s are still very fresh in people’s memories. In real life, by this point Charles had well settled into his “young old man” phase. They should have made him look older.
All in all, just a fabulous season full of interesting stories and well-drawn characters. Loved it very much!
I finally watched Someone Has to Die. Lots of family intrigue and thrills, I found it difficult to entirely enjoy because of some disturbing scenes depicting the torture of gay people in Francoist Spain. That was very hard to watch and makes it a difficult thing for me to recommend to my friends. I think it was a well done piece, but it was very bleak and wasn’t quite what I had expected.
Edit: Watched Happiest Season tonight, the Hulu lesbian Christmas movie with Kristen Stewart. It was okay. A lesbian friend of mine described the relationship between Stewart and her girlfriend as abusive and she’s wasn’t totally wrong. It was painful to watch Kristen Stewart be repeatedly left “in the cold” by her closeted girlfriend in front of her family. Also the family in this movie was terrible but Mary Steenburgen was funny. I don’t know, for something that billed itself as a feel good movie it wasn’t very feel good. Probably not destined to be a Christmas tradition for me.
Romancing the Stone is a very fun and cool ride, and I loved seeing a young, cute and pretty Kathleen Turner who wasn't "bad" in some way ("I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.")
Gone With the Wind is a really, really good movie. I think Citizen Kane and Titanic are better than it, but it really is a towering achievement. Scarlet O'Hara is an awesome character and the cinematography was freakin' out of this world amazing! I found it really weird when the words talked about missing the old South's time "of slave and master". And I didn't like how they treated the young Black servant. Oh well, at least movies aren't like that now. I really like farerb's idea of Ashley representing the old South! That's very smart!
Highlander is a bad, cheesy film. But it's awesome. And I really love Queen's soundtrack for it. "Who Wants to Live Forever" is a fantastic song only Queen could do.
Gone With The Wind is my favorite film of all time. It's a perfect film and I never get bored watching it thanks to the colors, casting, music, costumes and of course the brilliant Vivien Leigh who lights up the screen. Scarlet does so many awful things but it's very hard to hate her.
Yes, I agree Redadoodles! But I forgot to say, one thing that irks me about the film is Ashley would have solved Scarlet's relationship problems if he just told her he loved Melanie the first time Scarlet told him she loved him! Why didn't he say he loved Melanie? That was the whole reason in the end why Scarlet gave up on him, when he finally said that!
I also love Gone With the Wind. I’m not sure anyone’s ever topped, or could ever top, Vivien Leigh’s performance as Scarlett O’Hara. It’s just splendiferous.
I binged The Undoing on HBO Max last night. I definitely recommend it— a murder mystery starring Nicole Kidman (who is doing marvelous work on TV nowadays) and Hugh Grant (who is fantastic in this). There are some intensely graphic depictions and images of a murder— I can’t handle that kind of stuff and have to close my eyes. Anyway, if you can get past that it’s a wild ride of a series and I recommend it.
Disney Duster wrote:Yes, I agree Redadoodles! But I forgot to say, one thing that irks me about the film is Ashley would have solved Scarlet's relationship problems if he just told her he loved Melanie the first time Scarlet told him she loved him! Why didn't he say he loved Melanie? That was the whole reason in the end why Scarlet gave up on him, when he finally said that!
It's more explicit in the book. Ashley did love Melanie but he lusted for Scarlet. When the film was made there was no way to communicate that clearly.
