[watching] What have you viewed recently? (II)

We watched the new Beverly Hills Cop film that was released exclusively to Netflix. It was a nostalgic and fun ride, with returning familiar faces, and all the tropes you'd expect from the franchise.

 
Guvnor said:

@Stronty Girl is I, Claudius worth a watch?
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Definitely (says he who has the complete box set on DVD). What others have said - Brian Blessed as Augustus, perhaps not the most historically accurate depiction, especially is a tour de force, playing him as the most powerful man in Rome, whose relatives run rings around him. As Nathan points out, the TV series shows a very different aspect from the books it is based on because it focuses on the individual characters. It's from the period in the 70s when the BBC Drama department had a commitment (and funds) to do a new series every six months or so. Grab the books for some holiday reading, and you are in for a treat. They are very different because they are more big-picture and told as personal histories by Claudius.
 
We watched Rebel Moon - Part 2: The Scargiver last night. I thought it was okay, but not great. I found the first half of the film to be little dull, but I enjoyed the second half a lot more. I'm of the opinion that the first film was better of the two, and they could have just wrapped it up in a single movie rather than split it into two. The concept is there, with some nice ideas. However, it's trying too hard to emulate Star Wars without being Star Wars. (I know it was originally intended as a Star Wars film).

I score the film 6 out of 10.
 
We watched the final episode of The Acolyte yesterday evening. A very enjoyable series overall, with some flaws. However, it's nowhere near as terrible as certain "fans" make out on social media. Episodes 5 and 8 stood out for me, and overall I would score the series 7 out of 10.

We saw two major cameos in the final episode: The first being Darth Plagueis skulking in the shadows, watching Osha and The Stranger (Quimir) leave the unknown planet. That marks his first live action appearance. The second being Yoda.

Episode 5 and 8 have some of the best lightsabre duels I've seen in all of Star Wars.
 
Thoroughly enjoyed The Lincoln Lawyer (crime series) on Netflix. Watched 2 seasons, delighted there will be a third.
Tried episode 1 of The Responder on iplayer, a police drama. Martin Freeman's performance is awesome, but I think this is just too depressing to watch any more.

Season 3 of Sweet Tooth on Netflix is not as good as seasons 1 & 2, but has its moments. It wraps up the story, so for once there is a series with a beginning, middle and end!
 
SavageSpiel said:
I've just got to the end of Judge Dee's Mystery and it was an absolute delight. Crime solving and martial arts in Tang Dynasty China.
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I've got half way through the series and I'm really enjoying it, but I've been distracted by Quintessential Quintuplets (also on Netflix). I can't really speak for the quality of QQ because it's basically an archetypical teen school harem anime, not even having super powers or high tech aliens to divert the attention.

But I can't stop watching it.
 
Been rewatching The Game, 1970s set spy saga on Iplayer. Really liked this when it first came out, but this time round perhaps too convoluted for its own good and the lead is a bit of a plank. Set design is great though and there's some decent supporting performances, including by the late great Paul Ritter. Would like to have seen a spin off featuring Rachael Stirling and Shaun Dooley's characters boozing, smoking, and swearing their way through Cold War Britain.
 
Last night watched Sorcerer (1977), William Friedkin’s ill fated remake of the Wages of Fear: Four disparate (and indeed desperate) characters are hired as truck drivers to transport six cases of unstable dynamite through the South American jungle to the site of a blazing oil well where the explosives will be used to extinguish the fire. Released round about the same time as Star Wars it fared badly at the box office and perhaps it’s not hard to see why: The film’s sparse dialogue and at times semi-documentary style isn’t particularly viewer friendly when compared to George Lucas’s epic storytelling approach. In addition the truck drivers aren’t a particularly likeable bunch comprising a terrorist, a professional killer, a fraudster and an armed robber. There’s no Han Solo style loveable rogues here.

That said, while watching I did find myself thinking of the film in sci-fi terms, specifically one of those old Traveller hex-crawl adventures like Across the Bright Face/Mission on Mithril. You’ve got a party (complete with individual introductory scenes, almost like a character generation session with previous careers). They’re employed by a patron to undertake hazardous employment for cash. Then you’ve got the journey itself with its perils, both environmental and human, necessitating various skill rolls plenty of Drive/Vehicle Ops, but also Demolitions/Explosives, Navigation, Mechanic maybe even some Broker, and other social skills for dealing with the odd characters you might meet on the way. There's even a scene with some gun combat although it doesn't end well.​

Never actually run a hex crawl adventure before as I always thought I’d struggle to make it interesting for the players what with it being quite procedural and lots of rolls. Sorceror though has given me a model on how to do it, so will probably give it a try in my current Hostile campaign. In the film the final leg of the trip goes through a region of strangely shaped rock formations that almost look as if they belong on an alien planet, so there’s some visual inspiration there as well.
 
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I finally got round to watching the 4th series of For All Mankind - I do like the way that despite Baldwin being 70-odd and every mission he goes on is a disaster they kept sending him anyway.
 
We enjoyed Renegade Nell on Disney+. Sprite-powered Nell battles prejudice, elitism, Jacobites and supernatural enemies.

I can't decide if I want a season 2 or not - I'd love to have more, but it's perfect as it is and more may spoil it.
 
Just watched Deadpool & Wolverine- I haven’t laughed so much in a long time!

You do want to be up to date on your Marvel and Fox supers to get all of the jokes, but even our friends who are not massive fans enjoyed it.
 
We also watched Deadpool and Wolverine over the weekend. Such a great film that had me in stitches. I loved all the cameos too! Such a nice way of seeing off the old 20th Century Fox franchise and bringing it into the MCU.

We have also been watching the new animated series Batman: The Caped Crusader on Prime. A great retelling of the Batman story, with the spirit of the 1990s animated series. I just love how its aesthetics place it in the 1940s.
 
Avoid The Angel of Auschwitz... they took a true story which should be harrowing and poignant and managed to make large chunks of the movie... boring.

Slow West with Michael Fassbender is excellent. Plot, characters and acting good. Visuals also awesome. The young naïve protagonist thinks the whole concept of the wild west is beautiful. So the director has filmed the landscapes the characters wander through to reflect that - saturated colours, wild flowers, gorgeous blue skies over lush prairies, etc.
 
The final season of The Umbrella Academy was simply brilliant and was a nice resolution to the ongoing story.

We're also currently rewatching Last Tango in Halifax.
 
ALIEN: Romulus
Grungy, low tech, dystopian, synthetics, horrible skittering things, big phallic scary monsters with too many mouths. Roller coaster, every single touch point you could want, great fun.
REALLY DON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS OF THE PLOT OR LOGIC.
A fun pastiche, top up your Alien batteries, 6/10
 
Deadpool & Wolverine
It's just a series of crude jokes, breaking the 4th wall and fan service.
Loved it 7/10
 
Guvnor said:
ALIEN: Romulus
Grungy, low tech, dystopian, synthetics, horrible skittering things, big phallic scary monsters with too many mouths. Roller coaster, every single touch point you could want, great fun.
REALLY DON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS OF THE PLOT OR LOGIC.
A fun pastiche, top up your Alien batteries, 6/10
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I'd go along with that.
The Engineer Baby at the end
was a bit duff though. Too much like
Alien Resurrection
which I don't think is particularly worthy of emulation.

Skins in space?
 
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