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

Currently watching the Cowboys game......

Not sure where to put this, but went to see my college football team (Old Dominion University) play yesterday (at Maryland) - was very cool, especially since we didn't have a football team when I attended (team started play in 2009 and FCS, now in a transition year to FBS.) Got our butts kicked - big difference between FBS (went 10 - 1 last year) and FCS.

Looker (1981)



Michael Crichton shoved in everything but the kitchen sink for this technological thriller, a film that I hadn't seen since the early 80s.  It's basically a mess, but ends up being entertaining regardless.  A good cast including Albert Finney, Susan Dey (lovely), Leigh Taylor-Young and James Coburn help smooth over the plot holes.

I watched the original RoboCop again tonight. A classic!

Required Fields wrote:

I watched the original RoboCop again tonight. A classic!

 My favorite movie EVER.  

Last night's viewing for me:
"You Only Live Twice" (1967)



Sean Connery's fifth go-round as James Bond sends 007 to Japan, where a crooked industrialist working for SPECTRE is stealing U.S. and Russian space capsules right out of the sky, in the hopes of starting a war between both superpowers.

This one features ninjas, mini-copters, lotsa stuff blowin' up, tons of hot Japanese babes, and one of the coolest "villain's lairs" (a rocket launch base hidden inside a dormant volcano) of the entire Bond series.

Connery intended this to be his last Bond film; he was replaced by the ill fated George Lazenby in the next installment, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," but then was briefly lured back to the role (by a huge paycheck) for 1971's "Diamonds Are Forever."

Fat Freddy wrote:

Required Fields wrote:

I watched the original RoboCop again tonight. A classic!

 My favorite movie EVER.  

Last night's viewing for me:
"You Only Live Twice" (1967)



Sean Connery's fifth go-round as James Bond sends 007 to Japan, where a crooked industrialist working for SPECTRE is stealing U.S. and Russian space capsules right out of the sky, in the hopes of starting a war between both superpowers.

This one features ninjas, mini-copters, lotsa stuff blowin' up, tons of hot Japanese babes, and one of the coolest "villain's lairs" (a rocket launch base hidden inside a dormant volcano) of the entire Bond series.

Connery intended this to be his last Bond film; he was replaced by the ill fated George Lazenby in the next installment, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," but then was briefly lured back to the role (by a huge paycheck) for 1971's "Diamonds Are Forever."

Not as good as the earlier Bond flicks, better than much of what was released afterwards and still a fun flick. Space ships, evil guy with a cat and the often copied volcanic lair!!!!

......but still no sharks with freakin' laser beams

Quote :

Space ships, evil guy with a cat and the often copied volcanic lair!!!!

......but still no sharks with freakin' laser beams

He did have a pool full of piranhas, though.. and they were definitely ill tempered.

Seriously, the whole time I was watching this, I kept thinking about the "Austin Powers" movies. This one in particular must've been Mike Myers' favorite Bond film, cuz he borrowed SO much from it.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Space ships, evil guy with a cat and the often copied volcanic lair!!!!

......but still no sharks with freakin' laser beams

He did have a pool full of piranhas, though.. and they were definitely ill tempered.

Seriously, the whole time I was watching this, I kept thinking about the "Austin Powers" movies. This one in particular must've been Mike Myers' favorite Bond film, cuz he borrowed SO much from it.

Yes, they did have ill tempered piranhas!

I agree with you - I bet this must have been the very first Bond flick that Meyers saw

I've been watching Fraiser for a few months now. Just started an episode where he meets Roz's cousin. A striking blonde babe with very beautiful and amazing blue eyes. Took a few seconds for me to realize it was none other than:



ZOOEY!!!!!!!

Ever since the Austin Powers movies, I have a hard time watching any of the Bond movies anymore. I'm expecting a punch-line. And I used to love watching those old Bond movies with my dad.

thejokeriv wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

Space ships, evil guy with a cat and the often copied volcanic lair!!!!

......but still no sharks with freakin' laser beams

He did have a pool full of piranhas, though.. and they were definitely ill tempered.

Seriously, the whole time I was watching this, I kept thinking about the "Austin Powers" movies. This one in particular must've been Mike Myers' favorite Bond film, cuz he borrowed SO much from it.

Yes, they did have ill tempered piranhas!

I agree with you - I bet this must have been the very first Bond flick that Meyers saw

Damn but those piranhas scared me as a kid.

Star Trek: First Contact

Eagles vs. Redskins

Made with a budget of $190,000,000 but unfortunately they went to the pub and spent $189,850,000 on beer and made the film with what was left.  

If a good story well made and well acted is your thing, you could do a lot worse. As an added bonus, it's got Bobby Beers in it!

Season premier of 'Boardwalk Empire'

Quote :

Looker (1981)

I loved that movie as a kid - but I honestly can't remember a thing about it.  Brainstorm is another like that.  Ah, HBO in the early 80's.  Someday I need to go back and watch all those again.

Crossfire Hurricane


Pretty good doc on the Rolling Stones.  I loved the current interviews being audio only instead of the typical talking head stuff.  Kept the focus on the great footage.  I also dug the arc of the movie being them being considered the most dangerous band to then the most accepted.

The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009)

and a couple episodes of The Newsroom.

Rock Prophecies - doc about rock photographer Robert Knight looking for the next "guitar prodigy". Not too bad, but the dude's kinda whiney and does the "whoa is me" bit too much. Worth a view though.

Breaking Bad. Tension really ratcheted up in this episode with the same cinematic flair the show is known for; my heart pounding away at the final sequence (I never get anxious during a TV show). Only complaint is a particular shootout which goes for the ludicrous and gives everyone the sharpshooting skills of a stormtrooper.

Otherwise I'm just impressed at the quality of writing this show has exhibited. Five seasons, not a single turkey, captivating throughout, and unexpected turns abound. Of course, the duality of the characters' moral plight, and the creators' total lack of judgment, is the strongest asset the show has to offer.

Duck Dynasty

Revisiting 'I Am Legend'......sort of a guilty pleasure. I mean, I know this is kind of a turd, and a remake of a remake, and that no matter how many times they do it, they don't do it right. But pretty much all the scenes involving the Dark Seekers are legitimately frightening. Even with the bad CGI. It's the creeping inevitable dread and the claustrophobia and it's just done so well. This has always been such a confusing film having best and worst everything. Will Smith is great as Will Smith Neville. Ruined landscapes...very good stuff. Oh...it was also the alternate ending version, which....again.......there's no reason the alternate ending shouldn't have been the actual ending, but there we are again with a story getting pulled every which way, so..

Restaurant Impossible

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

Revisiting 'I Am Legend'......sort of a guilty pleasure. I mean, I know this is kind of a turd, and a remake of a remake, and that no matter how many times they do it, they don't do it right. But pretty much all the scenes involving the Dark Seekers are legitimately frightening. Even with the bad CGI. It's the creeping inevitable dread and the claustrophobia and it's just done so well. This has always been such a confusing film having best and worst everything. Will Smith is great as Will Smith Neville. Ruined landscapes...very good stuff. Oh...it was also the alternate ending version, which....again.......there's no reason the alternate ending shouldn't have been the actual ending, but there we are again with a story getting pulled every which way, so..

I enjoyed it too for different reasons. Of course, they should have named it something else since it swayed way out of line with the short story, even more then Omega Man did. And I have to disagree, the CG was godawful (but then again most post-Terminator 2 CG is not my cup of tea). But I'm a sucker for post apocalyptic everything when there's a last-man-on-earth premise involved. The scenes with Will wandering NY and trying to deal with his isolation etc...that kind of thing has got to be the most though-provoking horror a man can conjure up. Seriously the kind of "what-if" that keeps me up at night since it's such a sandbox of variables. I agree that the alternate ending worked much better, but I just hated how such an observational film got bogged down by chaotic, CG-riddled action climaxes piled on top of each other.

I hope to God they do this type of film right someday. Geoff Murphey's The Quiet Earth was the best so far, where the first half had its only character go completely mad, but then they brought in a woman and F*ck the whole movie up.

Hey look it's the full movie. Again, you only need to watch the first 45 min of this or so, which is basically half of a great, and I mean great, movie; after that it's like they weren't even trying. Great cinematography though...



I think I'll enjoy this now.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Finished this one today:



I have all the IA movies and I think this is the weakest of the bunch.  The highlight of the whole thing is Skrat and "Skratlantis" at the very end.