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

Pelican - Live In Chicago and Hirax - Thrash And Destroy

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Age of Dinosaurs" (2013)



In this zero-budget "Jurassic Park" variant from those wacky guys at The Asylum, a geneticist (Ronny Cox of "RoboCop") has developed a way to clone dinosaurs ... but of course, something goes horribly wrong at the creatures' big unveiling to the public and media, and soon giant lizards are rampaging through Los Angeles. Treat Williams is an L.A. firefighter who just wants to keep his daughter safe from the chaos.

As usual with Asylum flicks, things start out promising (the CGI on the dinosaurs looks almost competent for a while!) but quickly descend into utter silliness.

I didn't see that movie, or watch the preview, but the dinosaur effects have got to be better than 1997's Future War.

S.D. wrote:

Westworld (1973)



Michael Crichton's 1973 "robots run amok" thriller is basically a direct blueprint for Jurassic Park (posh resort for the rich operated by technicians in a computer center, the robots (dinosaurs) escape control, mayhem ensues).  Crichton obviously has fun with the western elements and Yul Brynner created one of the most memorable movie villains in film history.  

The production elements are pretty dated and it's obvious the original budget was low.  Crichton is a fantastic writer but honestly not the best director, the execution is a little clunky throughout.  Still, the premise holds up and Yul Brynner is so wonderfully menacing as the gunslinger that it's quite entertaining despite the flaws.  

J.J. Abrams is currently producing a pilot for a Westworld TV series for HBO.  

I think it was in an old MAD Magazine parody where someone asked "How come if they're robots, they programmed one to sound like Yul Brenner from 'The King & I'?"

It took me 20 years to get that joke.  

Anyone else think that a young James Brolin looks like Christian Bale in that trailer?

I tried to watch the doc 'P*ssy Riot' the other night. I had a different idea of what I thought it would be. And no, not in a Russ Meyer flick kind-of-way.

First off, the entire thing is in Russian with subtitles. While not horrible, I found it to be distracting. I feel like if I'm reading, I'm missing out on some visuals. I'm not a big fan of subtitles through an entire movie.

Secondly, I thought it was going to be a documentary about a girl punk band that performs in clubs and such but gets persecuted by the Russian government. Not quite. It's less about a "band" and more about some "performance artists" that create huge spectacles in public forums, like in the middle of church services. Well duh. No sh*t they are going to get arrested. Speaking out against your government and religious leaders is one thing, but there are right ways and wrong ways of doing it.

Try going into the local supermarket with 3 or 4 friends in ski masks, screaming about Obama and firing a fire extinguisher at people while one guy beats on a guitar. Time how long before you're beaten down by the local athorities. And then ask yourself "Am they going to be sympathetic to our issues or am I going to get whaled on by an old lady with canned beets while they load us into the paddy wagon"?

I ended up bailing after about 40 minutes.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Westworld (1973)



Michael Crichton's 1973 "robots run amok" thriller is basically a direct blueprint for Jurassic Park (posh resort for the rich operated by technicians in a computer center, the robots (dinosaurs) escape control, mayhem ensues).  Crichton obviously has fun with the western elements and Yul Brynner created one of the most memorable movie villains in film history.  

The production elements are pretty dated and it's obvious the original budget was low.  Crichton is a fantastic writer but honestly not the best director, the execution is a little clunky throughout.  Still, the premise holds up and Yul Brynner is so wonderfully menacing as the gunslinger that it's quite entertaining despite the flaws.  

J.J. Abrams is currently producing a pilot for a Westworld TV series for HBO.  

I think it was in an old MAD Magazine parody where someone asked "How come if they're robots, they programmed one to sound like Yul Brenner from 'The King & I'?"

It took me 20 years to get that joke.  

Anyone else think that a young James Brolin looks like Christian Bale in that trailer?

Westworld is one of my favorite movies from that era. The dated aesthetic only makes it that much creepier. Used to scare the hell out of me as a kid. But there are parts that just goofy too--the saloon brawl, the whole ordeal over in medieval world (except I enjoy the death), Brolin running through the basement with endless corridors. Also quite a few plot holes and inconsistencies. Gotta love the sparse electronic score, one big drone with those trademark flutters. Gives me chills.

The sequel, Futureworld, was a big dumb movie and even more dated than the original, if that's possible!

I haven't seen -- or geez, even thought about - "Westworld" since I was a kid. Now you all have got me interested in re-visiting it again!!

The good aspects of Westworld far outweigh the bad, it's still a very entertaining movie.

Quote :

J.J. Abrams is currently producing a pilot for a Westworld TV series for HBO.

They tried turning "Westworld" into a weekly TV series in 1980 ("Beyond Westworld")... according to Wikipedia, it was cancelled after three episodes.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

J.J. Abrams is currently producing a pilot for a Westworld TV series for HBO.

 

They tried turning "Westworld" into a weekly TV series in 1980 ("Beyond Westworld")... according to Wikipedia, it was cancelled after three episodes.

Yes, I vaguely remember that. However, that was over 30 years ago and television production has changed immeasurably since then. Producing a modern series for HBO gives you much more creative control (and budget) than people had to play with in 1980.

With J.J. producing and Jonah Nolan writing I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.

The first couple of UFO episodes and one of the few Gerry Anderson productions I haven't seen.
I can't seem to get enough of his shows.

Finished this one today:


I have to agree with most reviews, it's entertaining enough but way too long if you're not going to show any character development.  It did satisfy by general taste for blood though.  And Daniel Day-Lewis steals the show in this one.

tohostudios wrote:

Finished this one today:


I have to agree with most reviews, it's entertaining enough but way too long if you're not going to show any character development.  It did satisfy by general taste for blood though.  And Daniel Day-Lewis steals the show in this one.

That movie is one of my greatest disappointments. Absolutely, and shockingly, hate it.

corplhicks wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Finished this one today:


I have to agree with most reviews, it's entertaining enough but way too long if you're not going to show any character development.  It did satisfy by general taste for blood though.  And Daniel Day-Lewis steals the show in this one.

That movie is one of my greatest disappointments. Absolutely, and shockingly, hate it.

I can understand that.

The sets are typical Scorsese, grandiose and sweeping. The problem for me is that over the course of almost 3 hours, there is zero character development. This film is a basic revenge flick so the running time could be cut by at least an hour. It moves along well enough but in the end not a whole lot actually happened over almost 3 hours.

"Gangs of New York" is one of those movies that's good if you only watch it once. If you try for repeated viewings you'll just end up picking apart everything that's wrong with it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

"Gangs of New York" is one of those movies that's good if you only watch it once. If you try for repeated viewings you'll just end up picking apart everything that's wrong with it.

This is another one of my "Fox 2 movies".

I have a ton of movies like this. I get done watching the Cardinals have a Sunday day game and the NFL season hasn't started yet so I switch over to my local Fox station for my local news about 30 minutes before it starts and they're showing some movie I've never heard of. I'll watch what's left and if it catches my interest I'll check out Amazon to see how much the movie is. Usually it's about 1 cent (like this one was) plus shipping. I figure if 30 minutes intrigued me, it's worth $4.

I think I've bought at least a dozen movies this way...

Doctor Who - Series 1

The Dark Knight Rises

Started on season 9 of the Office today.

Anyone remember Hard Time on Planet Earth from the late 80's? Tripping down memory lane with a few eps tonight.



All episodes up on youtube.

Wurthless wrote:

Started on season 9 of the Office today.

I think that it's a real tragedy that there is a series 9 of the U.S version of the Office. I like the U.S version okay, but the U.K version was just fine and went on for the perfect amount of time to be a classic comedy.

Been watching a lot of wrestling like WWE, GWF and USWA.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I haven't seen -- or geez, even thought about - "Westworld" since I was a kid. Now you all have got me interested in re-visiting it again!!

I looked up "Westworld" on my local library system's web site last night and it's available from them on DVD, so I "ordered" it. They have to ship it in from a library in a different town so it'll be a few days till I get it but it'll be fun seeing that oldie again!

Pirates vs Brewers. Great to see the Pirates win guaranteeing them a non-losing season for the first time in 20 years (!). And on top of that, they have a 2 game lead in their division now. Very satisfying since I was a young man the last time they had this type of lead so late in the season.

Boris2008 wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

Started on season 9 of the Office today.

I think that it's a real tragedy that there is a series 9 of the U.S version of the Office. I like the U.S version okay, but the U.K version was just fine and went on for the perfect amount of time to be a classic comedy.

The average series in the UK seems to be between 6 and 9 episodes per "series" (season). Here the average TV show season is 22 episodes. So not only are there more seasons overall but more than 3 times the number of episodes per season.

S.D. wrote:

Boris2008 wrote:

Wurthless wrote:

Started on season 9 of the Office today.

I think that it's a real tragedy that there is a series 9 of the U.S version of the Office. I like the U.S version okay, but the U.K version was just fine and went on for the perfect amount of time to be a classic comedy.

The average series in the UK seems to be between 6 and 9 episodes per "series" (season).  Here the average TV show season is 22 episodes.  So not only are there more seasons overall but more than 3 times the number of episodes per season.  

Yeah, the Office was a phenomenon over here and was the making of Ricky Gervais and his decision to end it after 12 eps & 3 specials was inspired as it's become one of those classic 'leave em wanting more' shows like Fawlty Towers.