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

S.D. wrote:

As I said, I found it a fascinating film all around.

Fascinating, yes. But I found it hard to work-up any sympathy for her. I'm kinda dickish that way.  

MetalGuy71 wrote:

S.D. wrote:

As I said, I found it a fascinating film all around.

Fascinating, yes. But I found it hard to work-up any sympathy for her. I'm kinda dickish that way.  

I've noticed that seems to be a pattern with how you react to movie characters suffering from mental or emotional problems (this one and Silver Linings Playbook for example).

What about the lead character in "Young Adult"? She was one of the most damaged I've seen in recent memory, of course she's supposed to be unlikable so gathering sympathy for her isn't required.

I've seen Young Adult, but I don't remember forming a strong opinion of it either way honestly. I'd probably have to see it again.

I suppose since I'm mentally/emotionally stable myself (in my opionon of course), but have been exposed to friends with mental issues, from a movie perspective, I tend to focus on the folks around the loonies (non-scientific term) and how they have to deal with their breakdowns and clean-up their messes.

I've been fortunate that the problems my friends have encountered haven't had a direct effect on me or my family (except for comic relief), so it's easy for me to seperate myself from their maladies. If or when that ever changes, perhaps I'll be more sympathetic. Maybe.

Fat Freddy wrote:

I Need That Record! (2008)



A documentary about the endangered species known as the independent record store, which as we all know, is disappearing from the American landscape at an alarming rate.

According to the comments from high powered indie rock types like Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Mike Watt (the Minutemen) and Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) the loss of the corner record store isn't just a symptom of the problems in the music business, but with the corporate, big-box homogenization of American culture in general.

(In other words: Music = good. Big Business = bad. Mmmm-kay?)

Thanks for the warning. I did have a vague interest in seeing the film.  

yeah Toho it was "Wrong Turn"

James B. wrote:

yeah Toho it was "Wrong Turn"

Based on your description I figured that's the franchise you watched.

I think the first 2 are great; after that, not so much.

Parkland
Lovelace
Boy Meets World S1
smurf 1&2

tohostudios wrote:

James B. wrote:

yeah Toho it was "Wrong Turn"

Based on your description I figured that's the franchise you watched.

I think the first 2 are great; after that, not so much.

Those sequels had some truly f*cked-up gore. And I've seen a lot of gorefests.

The Twisted Christmas film fest continues with...

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)



In this oddball holiday fantasy/adventure flick (with just a teeny hint of horror) from Finland, a mining expedition atop a Finnish mountain has uncovered the long lost burial site of the original Santa Claus... who, as it turns out, isn't quite as jolly, or as dead, as expected. Now it's up to a group of local yokels and one brave kid to save Christmas, and the world.

If you can imagine John Carpenter's 'The Thing' re-imagined as a holiday special, you're almost in the ballpark of this totally weird, yet totally enjoyable, flick.

tohostudios wrote:

James B. wrote:

yeah Toho it was "Wrong Turn"

Based on your description I figured that's the franchise you watched.

I think the first 2 are great; after that, not so much.

I've only seen the first two "Wrong Turn" flicks, both were nastier 'n' hell though. (My fave was "2" because Henry Rollins was freakin' hysterical in it.)

I've also heard that the quality takes a severe dive after those two, though.

Criminal Minds

Fat Freddy wrote:

The Twisted Christmas film fest continues with...

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)



In this oddball holiday fantasy/adventure flick (with just a teeny hint of horror) from Finland, a mining expedition atop a Finnish mountain has uncovered the long lost burial site of the original Santa Claus... who, as it turns out, isn't quite as jolly, or as dead, as expected. Now it's up to a group of local yokels and one brave kid to save Christmas, and the world.

If you can imagine John Carpenter's 'The Thing' re-imagined as a holiday special, you're almost in the ballpark of this totally weird, yet totally enjoyable, flick.'

It still pisses me off that you never actually get to see the giant 'Santa monster'.  As I've said before, I think the shorts that the movie is based on are more interesting and funnier than the actual movie.  They're included as extras on the DVD.

Supernatural

Chuck - Season 1
The Originals

Started Saw V today.

Good lord, if you watch this without ever having seen the previous entries in the series, you'll be completely lost.

Critics like to label these Saw movies as "torture porn" but I beg to differ.  There's a big difference between the Saw movies and something like Hostel.  The twists and turns and flashbacks and non-linear storytelling in the Saw series requires a viewer with a brain.  The Saw films are really hard to follow if you've never seen previous entries or have seen them and don't remember little, subtle details.  That's why I decided to watch them all back to back; to see how well or if the overall story arc hangs together across the entire series.  So far it does but it's really convoluted and does stretch believability.

I believe I only have seen the first 2 of the Saw series (or maybe 3?) . I kinda lost interest in them but I still thoroughly enjoy the first one.

007 wrote:

I believe I only have seen the first 2 of the Saw series (or maybe 3?) . I kinda lost interest in them but I still thoroughly enjoy the first one.

The first "Saw" is classic in the same sense that the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is; you think it's the goriest thing you've ever seen but outside of a few quick scenes, most of the "gore" is implied and not really shown on screen. That goes out the window big time in subsequent Saw films but the original isn't really all that gory IMO.

The first Saw was impressive, definitely above-average for that style film. Because of that I decided to never watch any of the sequels because I wanted to keep my good impression intact.

The Saw franchise gets incredibly complex after the original.  Lots of flashbacks and twists and people who end up being Jigsaw's protoges or accomplices.  The overall story arc is completely unbelievable but it's still kinda neat to see how each entry incorporates a "twist" at the end that the next entry has to explain and/or build on.

End later entries do try to explain some plotholes from earlier entries. Like how Jigsaw could like completely motionless playing dead on the floor of that filthy bathroom the whole time the other two guys were in there.

tohostudios wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

The Twisted Christmas film fest continues with...

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)



In this oddball holiday fantasy/adventure flick (with just a teeny hint of horror) from Finland, a mining expedition atop a Finnish mountain has uncovered the long lost burial site of the original Santa Claus... who, as it turns out, isn't quite as jolly, or as dead, as expected. Now it's up to a group of local yokels and one brave kid to save Christmas, and the world.

If you can imagine John Carpenter's 'The Thing' re-imagined as a holiday special, you're almost in the ballpark of this totally weird, yet totally enjoyable, flick.'

It still pisses me off that you never actually get to see the giant 'Santa monster'.  As I've said before, I think the shorts that the movie is based on are more interesting and funnier than the actual movie.  They're included as extras on the DVD.

Yeah, that *was* a bit of a bummer. Still, I enjoyed it for its utterly weird vibe.

Netflix also has "Saint Nick" (aka "Sint" in the original Dutch) so I'm probably gonna check that one out next.

Fat Freddy wrote:

tohostudios wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

The Twisted Christmas film fest continues with...

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)



In this oddball holiday fantasy/adventure flick (with just a teeny hint of horror) from Finland, a mining expedition atop a Finnish mountain has uncovered the long lost burial site of the original Santa Claus... who, as it turns out, isn't quite as jolly, or as dead, as expected. Now it's up to a group of local yokels and one brave kid to save Christmas, and the world.

If you can imagine John Carpenter's 'The Thing' re-imagined as a holiday special, you're almost in the ballpark of this totally weird, yet totally enjoyable, flick.'

It still pisses me off that you never actually get to see the giant 'Santa monster'.  As I've said before, I think the shorts that the movie is based on are more interesting and funnier than the actual movie.  They're included as extras on the DVD.

Yeah, that *was* a bit of a bummer. Still, I enjoyed it for its utterly weird vibe.

Netflix also has "Saint Nick" (aka "Sint" in the original Dutch) so I'm probably gonna check that one out next.

I have that one too. I enjoyed it more than Rare Exports.

Arrow

Uncommon Valor
Underfire
MLB San Diego Vs St.Louis Apr 3 2011

tohostudios wrote:

The Saw franchise gets incredibly complex after the original.  Lots of flashbacks and twists and people who end up being Jigsaw's protoges or accomplices.  The overall story arc is completely unbelievable but it's still kinda neat to see how each entry incorporates a "twist" at the end that the next entry has to explain and/or build on.

End later entries do try to explain some plotholes from earlier entries.  Like how Jigsaw could like completely motionless playing dead on the floor of that filthy bathroom the whole time the other two guys were in there.

The first Saw was a near-classic; my only beef with it was the MTV style editing (when will directors learn that this does nothing to, as they say, "disorient the viewer for tension's sake?"). Otherwise, it was great storytelling and a twist I never saw coming--and I almost always see twists coming.

The second Saw was pathetic, but only because of the throwaway characters. Annoying, dull, and stupid (including Marky Mark's bro), but the story progressed well.

Then the third Saw--holy shit. I didn't expect that level of gore. And suddenly our killer gets complex.

The fourth Saw was the last one I saw, and I enjoyed it as much. Incidentally it was also the first date I enjoyed with the girlfriend I now call my wife.

I need to catch up with the rest of the series soon. But I agree Toho--to call these torture porn is absurd.

Shameless (U.S) Season 2

It's taken me a while to get into this as I'm a big fan of the U.K version and for the first season they just tried to use the U.K script and it didn't really work due to the many cultural differences (A council estate in Manchester isn't somewhere that many people would be able to relate to)

However they seem to have thrown away the old scripts for the second season and are developing the characters in a way that works for the U.S and I like it a lot more although it still makes me smile how they have glammed it up for you guys (you very rarely see Brazilian supermodel types in Manchester!  ) My only real gripe is that they have given Frank and Monica ready made excuses for the way that they are (abusive mother and Bi-polar disorder) whereas in the original they are just incredibly selfish, childish people, yet bizarrely the U.K characters are a lot more likeable!  

Overall though I enjoyed it and am starting season 3 now.