TODAY I WATCHED (Movies, TV series) 2014

Cars 2. Not sure why the press poo poo'd all over this one, although it certainly is the weakest Pixar film I've seen (haven't seen Brave yet). But that's not to say it's bad, I loved it (especially being a fan of all things with an engine). Some of the animation is spectacular and the plot has some real zing even if it is pretty Saturday-morning. The problems are numerous--Giacchino once again delivers a mediocre score; the film's tone is fairly loud and busy compared to the pensive atmosphere of the first; and whereas the first films was about trying to establish a truly believable world, the contrivances go too deep here (i.e. Mater's chameleon abilities), jerking you out of the immersion. Plus, some of the dialogue gets rather clumsy compared to the first. All-in-all (get it?), almost direct-to-video material except for the rather stunning aesthetics.

Cars 2 was a fun movie - press jumped on it because it's what the mass media does when a person or company becomes too successful or popular. I liked it, my kids loved it. Brave was a good flick too. Pixar has yet to let me down. The Incredibles is my favorite Pixar flick.

Last Night: Continuum - the show seems to get better every season. The third season is by far the best so far.

thejokeriv wrote:

Cars 2 was a fun movie - press jumped on it because it's what the mass media does when a person or company becomes too successful or popular.

That's what I'm thinking as well. Like how all of the sudden Pixar is criticized for being and "all-boys-club." Which was absurd because it was started by a pool of men and women have always been involved in the creative process.

With Cars 2, yeah there are obvious problems with it that kept it at a lesser quality than the other movies--even Lasseter admitted this--but it wasn't near the total wreck that critics claimed it was. Quite the opposite, it was pretty awesome.

Watched the Yankess beat the Twins.

Watched the Cards beat the Giants.

Star Wars - Clone Wars

Escape from Tomorrow

In an entirely unprecedented move by an art standard, a first-time director makes an adult movie in Disneyland and Disney World--without their knowledge or consent. It makes for some fascinating viewing. The film comes off as sincere filmmaking even though one would expect something much more gonzo. The droll story--a family trip to Disneyland and the father's blurred reality as he progressively loses his mind--is pretty thin and esoteric, almost as if the narrative was made up on the fly and the movie was made purely for the Disneyland slant. Either way, it's a fascinating ambition, and shocking how Disney's lawyers never touched it (even more shocking is how they went as far as endorsing the film on their D23 website for a time). How they pulled this off is nothing short of amazing--having to prestage and block scenes in their hotel room, planning for the position of the sun to rely on natural lighting, hidden microphones, and most bizarre, filming a shouting match between the family in front of a merch kiosk and ending on the awkward glance of an unsuspecting cast member. If you're a Disneyland fanboy like myself, you'll want to check this one out. Streaming on Netflix.

Criminal Minds

corplhicks wrote:

Cars 2. Not sure why the press poo poo'd all over this one, although it certainly is the weakest Pixar film I've seen (haven't seen Brave yet). But that's not to say it's bad, I loved it (especially being a fan of all things with an engine). Some of the animation is spectacular and the plot has some real zing even if it is pretty Saturday-morning. The problems are numerous--Giacchino once again delivers a mediocre score; the film's tone is fairly loud and busy compared to the pensive atmosphere of the first; and whereas the first films was about trying to establish a truly believable world, the contrivances go too deep here (i.e. Mater's chameleon abilities), jerking you out of the immersion. Plus, some of the dialogue gets rather clumsy compared to the first. All-in-all (get it?), almost direct-to-video material except for the rather stunning aesthetics.

My 3 year old son loves it and personally I find it very entertaining, which is a good thing because I must have seen it 900000 times

^^Yeah we're on viewing 55 right now lol...

I saw A Million Ways to Die in the West on Friday; funny movie!

Law & Order: SVU
Bar Rescue

Latest episode of Cosmos.

Pirates vs Dodgers. Nice to see the Bucs take 3 out of 4 against the Dodgers, a team I like to see them beat. Not that I hate them, but I feel they're one of the elite and a victory against the best always feels exceptionally well.

Watched "Lord's Of Salem"

Bizarre movie about revenge on a modern day descendant of dude who burned witches in Salem back in the 1600's.

Fawlty Towers - Pilot

Law & Order: CI
Red Dwarf

Royals vs Cards

C'mon Redbirds, this is the time to shake off this funk before we go on the road to play Toronto who are going to blast the ball all over the place.

Watched The Amazing Spider-Man yesterday. It was okay, not great. Better than most Marvel films though.

Dinosaur Planet

Another Discovery Channel doc in the vein of Walking With Dinosaurs but with nowhere near the exquisite CGI of that series.  Still interesting though and narrated by Christian Slater (first John Goodman now Christian Slater?  How they decide who narrates these things is beyond me.)

Red Dwarf

The Devil's Curse

Pirates vs Padres. How do you one hit a team and lose 3-2? Mindboggling

Dual Survival

Apollo 18
a friend recommended this to me and I thought this was a documentary for the first half of it!

many others hate it, and say it is boring, but I was hooked.