TODAY I WATCHED (TV-series, Movies, Cinema Playlists) 2013

Two from the Redbox that left me totally unsatisfied...

'Ted', finally saw it, and you know, I did know pretty much what to expect but I didn't expect that it was going to be so average. Ted is likeable, predictably shocking, but he doesn't really bring as many laughs as I think must have been expected from McFarlane and co. I can handle some gutter humor when it's fittingly amazing, but there's nothing here as brilliant as say the "cum scene" from 'This Is The End', and overall it just kind of feels like they didn't know where to go a lot of times with this film. On the plus side, a small plus, this is one of the only times I've thought Mila Kunis was suitably attractive rather than annoying.

'Dark Skies'....I really need to learn my lesson about "thrillers" nowadays. This is a 'Poltergeist' tribute that borrows everything but the pacing and quality. I was doubly disappointed because of how deep I am in the subject matter, but as a small positive, it was never turned into a parody of UFOlogy, they at least seemed respectful. Overall......Yawn...not enough patience to go into everything that was otherwise totally average and irritating about this one..

Dark Skies was a snoozer, I barely made it until the ending.

"Action Jackson" (1988)



Carl "Apollo Creed" Weathers stars in this funky '80s actioner as a Detroit cop tangling with a psychotic motor-company magnate(Craig T. Nelson) who's murdering his competitors. Female lead and R&B singer Vanity can't act worth a lick but she looks good, as does a pre-famous Sharon Stone, who plays the ultimately-doomed trophy wife of Nelson's character.

Not a classic for the ages by any means, but a fun watch in a goofy, retro sort of way.

S.D. wrote:

It's a miracle that Ted works as well as it does.  There was about a 5% chance that an idea like that could be turned into a successful film, everyone thought it was going to bomb before it was released.  An R-rated comedy about a talking teddy bear?  Surely not!  

$50 million budget, $587 million at the box office.  

It does get drawn out a little bit with the kidnapping and the aftermath of that, but overall the film works so well and Ted is so believable as a character that I can easily forgive it.

It was on cable the other night, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm biased against anything Seth McFarlane is attached to, so it was going to be a challenge. I stuck with it for about a half-hour before I switched channels. Not my thing.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Action Jackson" (1988)



Carl "Apollo Creed" Weathers stars in this funky '80s actioner as a Detroit cop tangling with a psychotic motor-company magnate(Craig T. Nelson) who's murdering his competitors. Female lead and R&B singer Vanity can't act worth a lick but she looks good, as does a pre-famous Sharon Stone, who plays the ultimately-doomed trophy wife of Nelson's character.

Not a classic for the ages by any means, but a fun watch in a goofy, retro sort of way.

Action Jackson? Good grief, Charlie Brown. Why do you keep doing this? Are you punishing yourself for past sins or something?  

'Europa Report'. Didn't have any idea what this was and saw it based on the basic plot description, glad for that because lo and behold, all the stuffy eyelids online are bleakly moaning about how this is the greatest science fiction since '2001', 'Moon', and on and on. Let's nevermind the fact that this nor that film progresses anything or anywhere from the masterwork that is '2001' and does nothing but pay tribute....(isn't that, ironically, what the hipster scene is all about, though?), anyway................... 'Europa Report' is a 'found footage' story concerning the first manned/womanned mission to the moon of Europa and what ensued when they got there. There were so many good elements and ideas in this film, but, unfortunately what it came down to was somebody didn't put enough thought into the *fiction* side of this science fiction. There were a few other flaws like odd or unfinished character development for a lot of the crew members, but the main thing that disappointed me was how anti-climactic the film was after being so promising. Can't say why without spoilers, but it just struck me that all the effort was put into the realism of the flight...which is great stuff, but not a lot of effort was saved for the final act of the film when the 'fiction' part has the spotlight. Goes out with a sputter and feels like a lost opportunity. Oh well.......In the words of one of the gushing reviews, I guess I should "just go watch Transmorphers".  

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Action Jackson? Good grief, Charlie Brown. Why do you keep doing this? Are you punishing yourself for past sins or something?  

It turned up unexpectedly in the "Free On Demand" list on my cable and since I hadn't seen it in dog years, I figured "Hey, Sharon Stone when she was still hot, what the hell." I got a kick out of its awesome '80s badness.

I saw Action Jackson when it came out. Coach played a good bad guy. Typical '80's popcorn flick. Funny stuff. I used to think it was badass.  

That 70's Show

Fugitive

Drive. Finally got around to seeing it, and enjoyed it. Quiality acting, quality direction, amazing atmosphere. Winding Refn has a way of making the ordinary (driving along a highway) look beautiful. Albert Brooks has never been scarier, and I'd swear the song used in it was written back in 1985!

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

'Europa Report'. Didn't have any idea what this was and saw it based on the basic plot description, glad for that because lo and behold, all the stuffy eyelids online are bleakly moaning about how this is the greatest science fiction since '2001', 'Moon', and on and on. Let's nevermind the fact that this nor that film progresses anything or anywhere from the masterwork that is '2001' and does nothing but pay tribute....(isn't that, ironically, what the hipster scene is all about, though?), anyway................... 'Europa Report' is a 'found footage' story concerning the first manned/womanned mission to the moon of Europa and what ensued when they got there. There were so many good elements and ideas in this film, but, unfortunately what it came down to was somebody didn't put enough thought into the *fiction* side of this science fiction. There were a few other flaws like odd or unfinished character development for a lot of the crew members, but the main thing that disappointed me was how anti-climactic the film was after being so promising. Can't say why without spoilers, but it just struck me that all the effort was put into the realism of the flight...which is great stuff, but not a lot of effort was saved for the final act of the film when the 'fiction' part has the spotlight. Goes out with a sputter and feels like a lost opportunity. Oh well.......In the words of one of the gushing reviews, I guess I should "just go watch Transmorphers".  

Thank you for this. I've been fascinated by the trailers and premise (yeah, I never bought the whole 2001 comparison) and the fact that NASA was a part of the project. But I was afraid it was going to come to this. Sounds a little like how Mission to Mars came out (argh). Still going to watch this, but with low expectations.

At least we have a believable sci-fi movie after a bucketload of sci-fi films with utterly bad science and nonsense concepts. Not that those are bad, but I like my science hard as wurtzite boron nitride, baby.

I enjoyed Europa Report, it's definitely above average for a found footage film. It actually has more in common with 2010, similar plot about searching for life on Europa. As OCI pointed out it isn't perfect, but it's consistently interesting and has some nice set pieces.

Real Steel
The Thing: Beginning

Rise of the Planet Apes

"976-EVIL" (1988)



Godawful silly '80s terror trash about a nerdy teen (Stephen Geoffreys, aka "Evil Ed" of "Fright Night" fame) whose calls to a "Horror-scope"  fortune telling phone line eventually connect him to Satan himself and transform him into a demonic, homicidal something-or-other who gets even with his high school tormentors. Cheap looking nonsense directed by Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, who should've known better.

Prog Rock Britannia




Well, this starts off promising, and totally drops the ball. The focus here is really on 3 bands; King Crimson, Genesis, ELP. Yes and, surprisingly, Egg, get some screen time, as does Jethro Tull, but it almost doesn't even matter. There is a small detour into talking about the Canterbury scene, but it goes nowhere, just ends up pointless and uninformative. One member from the Wilde Flowers speaks and that's supposed to be satisfactory. The impact of 'Dark Side Of The Moon' is literally ignored, as much as I'm sick of hearing about it, and Camel is nowhere in sight, Van Der Graf Generator is absent, no Gentle Giant, no Nektar, no major details about instruments (the Mellotron, the Moog, bass pedals etc).....it's pretty bare bones. It's great hearing from many of the musicians in the interviews but as an educational resource or even something for somebody being introduced to prog.....major letdown. I'd recommend it for some of the footage and interview clips, but if you're already into British prog, you aren't gonna learn anything new...you'll just be wondering why you can string together something better with little effort.

Mountain Men

Breaking Bad, bitches. Show is the shit, yo.

A couple more episodes of The Newsroom, season 2.

Whose Line Is It Anyway

Pawn Stars

I watched most of that Prog doc posted on here. Pretty much sums up my thoughts on 70's prog, it started off great before descending into intellectual and artistic maturbation. Felt like cheering when the Sex Pistols came on.  

Collateral
Apollo 18
Horrible Bosses