TODAY I WATCHED... (Movies, TV) 2019

The Simpson's
Bob's Burgers
Family Guy

"Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018)

Last year's box office smash retells the story of Queen's ascent to rock royalty and the effect that stardom had on their brilliant but troubled front man, Freddie Mercury.
I've never been much more than a casual Queen fan but this was an entertaining, absorbing flick, worth seeing just for Rami Malek's excellent performance as Freddie. Good stuff.

Iron Man (2008)



The one that started the MCU, and what a start it is, with Robert Downey Jr. brilliantly cast as the billionaire industrialist turned armored superhero. A good origin story updated to modern times with a twist that anyone who reads comics will see coming but that is not that big of a deal. Good movie.

Finished Mad Max - Fury Road

Man, I hope this film won some kind of visuals or cinematography award because it's simply visually stunning.  Not bad in any other category either.  I put off watching it for so long because I'm such a fan of the original but now I'm hoping they do a sequel.  I enjoyed the hell out of this film. 

My only quibble is that about halfway thru I had to turn on the English subtitles because between the Australian accents, various masks/prosthetics characters wear and the overall "noise" of the flick, I couldn't understand half of the dialogue.  Next time I watch it (and there WILL be a next time) I'm turning the subs on for the whole thing.

Great flick.

Getting back into Game of Thrones season 2.

I'm still not blown away by this show like the rest of the internet but it is holding my interest and I can see why all the recognition. Plus, dragons, so yeah.

The Incredible Hulk (2008)



Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is trying to find a cure to the gamma radiation exposure that has turned him into the Hulk, while being on the run from the government who wants to weaponize him. The Hulk will soon have to deal with an enemy borne from his own blood, the Abomination. This one seems to get a lot of hate but I like it. Yeah, I suppose it could have been better in places (too bad Ruffalo wasn't cast from the start) but the climactic battle in the streets of New York is pretty cool and worth the watch. Recommended if you like these types of films.

corplhicks wrote:

Getting back into Game of Thrones season 2.

I'm still not blown away by this show like the rest of the internet but it is holding my interest and I can see why all the recognition. Plus, dragons, so yeah.

You haven't reached the best seasons yet.

My ranking of the seasons:

Season 3
Season 4
Season 1
Season 6
Season 2
Season 5
Season 7
Season 8

Be aware that they ran out of George RR Martin's source materials part way through season 5. There's a direct correlation between that and the declining quality of the show. Season 6 is high in the rankings because they relied on a lot of spectacle to fill in the holes and it works. Characters really start behaving illogically in seasons 7 and 8 and the plot/dialogue is really dumbed down. It's still enjoyable but it's no longer clever.

tohostudios wrote:

Finished Mad Max - Fury Road

Man, I hope this film won some kind of visuals or cinematography award because it's simply visually stunning.  Not bad in any other category either.  I put off watching it for so long because I'm such a fan of the original but now I'm hoping they do a sequel.  I enjoyed the hell out of this film. 

My only quibble is that about halfway thru I had to turn on the English subtitles because between the Australian accents, various masks/prosthetics characters wear and the overall "noise" of the flick, I couldn't understand half of the dialogue.  Next time I watch it (and there WILL be a next time) I'm turning the subs on for the whole thing.

Great flick.

Great movie. Watch the Black and Chrome version if you get the chance. It's very cool in black and white.

Ring of Honor

I've been working at home today, cuz a guy from the gas company had to come change the gas meter on my house. So I set up my lap top in the living room so I could have a little Euro Spy Double Feature while I took care of business...

"Operation Kid Brother" (aka "OK Connery," 1967)

A certain world-famous secret agent (who is never mentioned by name, of course) is unavailable when the criminal organization THANATOS begins a plot to take over the world... so his lookalike younger brother is pressed into service and becomes a reluctant spy.
This silly Italian James Bond knock-off is mostly remembered for its ballsy stunt casting, as it stars Sean Connery's younger brother Neil, who had never acted before he made this film. Several other cast members also have 007 connections, like Lois "Miss Moneypenny" Maxwell, Bernard "M" Lee, and Daniela "From Russia With Love" Bianchi.
The story is a mess and the dubbing is awful (Neil Connery didn't even dub his own dialogue for the English language version!), but there are lotsa pretty girls and plenty of gorgeous European scenery, so if you're curious about the Eurospy genre, you could do a lot worse than this flick.

"Secret Agent Fireball" (1965)

Richard Harrison is Agent Bob Fleming, aka "077," who travels from Paris and Hamburg and finallly to Beirut as he tries to recover a stolen microfilm from Russian spies. Nothing special, just your basic cheap cloak-and-dagger stuff from Italy.

Witchfinder wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Getting back into Game of Thrones season 2.

I'm still not blown away by this show like the rest of the internet but it is holding my interest and I can see why all the recognition. Plus, dragons, so yeah.

You haven't reached the best seasons yet.

My ranking of the seasons:

Season 3
Season 4
Season 1
Season 6
Season 2
Season 5
Season 7
Season 8

Be aware that they ran out of George RR Martin's source materials part way through season 5.  There's a direct correlation between that and the declining quality of the show. Season 6 is high in the rankings because they relied on a lot of spectacle to fill in the holes and it works. Characters really start behaving illogically in seasons 7 and 8 and the plot/dialogue is really dumbed down.  It's still enjoyable but it's no longer clever.

Hey thanks for this, it helps and now I'm really curious about seasons 2 and 3. I'm on ep 6 now and it's still holding my interest. Tyrion adds a great balance to the show.

corplhicks wrote:

Witchfinder wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Getting back into Game of Thrones season 2.

I'm still not blown away by this show like the rest of the internet but it is holding my interest and I can see why all the recognition. Plus, dragons, so yeah.

You haven't reached the best seasons yet.

My ranking of the seasons:

Season 3
Season 4
Season 1
Season 6
Season 2
Season 5
Season 7
Season 8

Be aware that they ran out of George RR Martin's source materials part way through season 5.  There's a direct correlation between that and the declining quality of the show. Season 6 is high in the rankings because they relied on a lot of spectacle to fill in the holes and it works. Characters really start behaving illogically in seasons 7 and 8 and the plot/dialogue is really dumbed down.  It's still enjoyable but it's no longer clever.

Hey thanks for this, it helps and now I'm really curious about seasons 2 and 3. I'm on ep 6 now and it's still holding my interest. Tyrion adds a great balance to the show.

Tyrion is the man!

tohostudios wrote:

Finished Mad Max - Fury Road

Man, I hope this film won some kind of visuals or cinematography award because it's simply visually stunning.  Not bad in any other category either.  I put off watching it for so long because I'm such a fan of the original but now I'm hoping they do a sequel.  I enjoyed the hell out of this film. 

My only quibble is that about halfway thru I had to turn on the English subtitles because between the Australian accents, various masks/prosthetics characters wear and the overall "noise" of the flick, I couldn't understand half of the dialogue.  Next time I watch it (and there WILL be a next time) I'm turning the subs on for the whole thing.

Great flick.

Yes, I was pleasantly pleased with this version. Stayed true to the spirit of the original with better movie magic. And I blankety-blanking LOVE the metal playing military band.

Avengers: End Game

Watch Out:

Lazy Saturday Double Feature:

"Operation Lady Chaplin" (aka "Special Mission Lady Chaplin," 1967)

Third and final film in the series of Spanish/Italian 007 knock offs starring Ken Clark as CIA Agent 077 (groan!), who travels across Europe on the trail of nuclear missiles stolen from a sunken U.S. submarine. The "Lady Chaplin" of the title is a femme fatale fashion designer/arms dealer (!) played by Italian hottie Daniela ("From Russia With Love") Bianchi. One of the better "Eurospy" entries of the 60's.

"Bury Me An Angel" (1971)

A shotgun toting biker chick hits the road with two goofy male sidekicks to track down the rival gang member who killed her brother. The posters and trailer promise something way sleazier than what we get, which is basically "Easy Rider" with better cleavage. Watchable nonsense with a rockin' soundtrack, but not a must-see.

A Quiet Place

The Cards lost to the Cubs (again!) this afternoon and there was nothing interesting on TV so I decided to try my Amazon Prime movie viewing on my laptop.  Watched "A Quiet Place".

This was an entertaining and original flick.  It's similar to "The Descent" in that it feature creatures who hunt by sound but after that this is way different.  I can't really say much more than that without ruining it but I was pleasantly surprised by "A Quiet Place".  I wasn't expecting much but the performances and the creature FX (what little of them you see) were pretty impressive.  Unfortunately it's a PG-13 movie so I would have liked more gore but definitely worth a look.

And if you are one of those people who need to have everything in a movie explained then I'd suggest giving this one a pass. Where these creatures came from or how they came to basically control the human population is not explained at all. And that doesn't bother me because I can take the flick for what it is. But I have a friend who goes nuts over unexplained stuff in movies and this one would drive him up the wall.

Just a warning. Other than that I'd say give "A Quite Place" a shot.

Wild River

The Nest (1988)


A New England island fishing community is besieged by mutated voracious cockroaches, the result of experimentation by the standard evil corporation, with typical results. Par for the course for this type of movie.


The Clairvoyant (1982)

The handcuffed body of a woman is discovered floating in the Hudson River. Soon 2 men are murdered, also wearing handcuffs. An artist sees visions of the murders and draws them. She goes to the police and soon becomes a potential victim herself. A decent enough movie that could have easily been a giallo. AKA The Killing Hour (The title it's under on Amazon Prime)

Took my 14th literary journey to Middle Earth, so I watched the movies as well.

The Fellowship of the Rings
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

They still hold up pretty well. I'm not a huge fan of how they handled the Elves, and I HATE. EVERY. SCENE. with Arwen.

I don't know why some things were altered for the movies. I know why some things were left out; time constraints, doesn't really drive the plot, etc...but why certain things are altered bother me.

BUT, all in all the movies are still very good.

"Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween" (2018)

It's Halloween and the evil dummy "Slappy" is back for another round of family-friendly spooky stuff, bringing lots of his monstrous friends with him. Faster paced and more entertaining than the first "Goosebumps" flick, this is silly fun for kids and relatively painless for their parents.

The Simpsons
Bob's Burgers
Family Guy

Charro! (Elvis)

Game of Thrones

Witchfinder wrote:

I watched that Saturday night. It was just ok. Zac played a pretty good Ted though. James Hetfield's 23 seconds of screen time was outstanding.