I can absolutely see why... ...

We're about to watch that rather funny new Anna Faris comedy, Mom...We love it!...

Getting ready to re-watch the IT Crowd again!

Fair dues, loved that series...

*Sighs*...Katherine Parkinson... ...

Anyways...Watched Castle last night...

Bloody hells that's such a good series...

*Sighs*...Stana Katic... ...

...

Worst part of BSG is that they create an atmosphere that pulls you in and makes you love it as well as the characters within, and then they completely negate all of that love that has been cultivated in the last two episodes. It was a very entertaining show (my favorite Sci Fi series) that had a terrible ending.

In between waiting for Wolverine and the X-Men discs to come in the mail last week, I had an X-Men Evolution marathon (thank you Hulu.com for free episodes, even if with ads and only online). I watched all four seasons, and I loved every minute. It was much better than the previous animated X-Men show from the 90s, especially when it came to the writing. The characters feel much more alive and real.

Having a sharper focus on a select group of people helps, where the 90s show tended to go more over the place. In Evolution they keep their real attention on the X-Men, The Brotherhood (not of Evil anymore), Magneto, Mystique, and just a few others. What I really loved was the rivalry between the X-men and the Brotherhood. We saw how it started, one person at a time. We also see a really sharp contrast between the two teams. The X-men are constantly training, while the Brotherhood is just lazy. No surprise who tends to lose...

But OTOH, they are not always openly at odds with one another either. They are all going to high school together for starters. Avalanche is trying to date Shadowcat, which adds a neat layer to things. Avalanche even joins the X-Men at one point. The way they are on again off again enemies make the show more interesting, because they can have actual relationships beyond "Let's get 'em!" At least sometimes. Even Toad, who was a rather loathsome and throwaway character in the comics, really comes alive. Partly because he is great comic relief, but also because he is useful. He's basically the Brotherhood's equivalent to Nightcrawler. He has a neat episode where he teams up with Nightcrawler in fact, to rescue his lady love: The Scarlet Witch.

Cyclops, who I usually find a rather dull character, turned out to be pretty cool. He was not quite such a stick-in-the-mud when he was a teen. Though you can still see the maturity there beyond everyone else. And of course I still love Rogue - my absolute favorite X-Man - who is a weird green goth. Nightcrawler just looks incredibly cute, and he and Shadowcat make a fun duo. Even the New Mutants make appearances, especially in the later seasons. Magma especially gave Rogue some serious competition for my heart.

My favorite episodes tended to be the ones that focused on one mutant dealing with their powers. For example, there was one where Jean's powers got stronger, and she couldn't cope with them, especially her telepathy. She would hear everyone's thoughts at once and freak out, would have nightmares and wake up floating above the bed, etc... These stories were good because they showed why the Xavier Institute exists in the first place: to help mutants learn to control their abilities. That is something that often gets lost in the shuffle between saving the world every other week.

Now whenever I think of the X-men and Brotherhood, I always remember how they started out as teens. It makes it a little weird now that I am back to watching Wolverine and the X-Men, because I see Avalanche and all I can think of is to wonder if he is still pining for Shadowcat?

I used to enjoy catching the odd episode when the kids were watching it...It was more fun because I'd not long been watching Gundam Wing and Dragonball-Z, and the same voices that were in X-Men had been dubbing those...Kirby Morrow, who was Scott was one of the Gundam pilots and Goku...And Nightcrawler was another of the pilots and Goku's son, Gohan...So I really enjoyed X-Men for that...(That and it being funny...)...

Ooooh, wasn't Chris Judge from Stargate SG-1 in it?...Wasn't he Magneto?...



We watched Person of Interest last night...*Sighs*...I love that series...Completely barmy stuff...Love it!...

Chris Judge was Magneto. Which was really weird, because I kept picturing Tealc whenever Magneto said something!

I went to see Noah last night. It was awful. There were about ten minutes worth of neat effects but most of it was eye-rolling nonsense or just plain boring. I would have much preferred to hang out in the lobby and talk with our friends rather than sit through the movie.

There were some moments of unintentional comedy, however. Like when Russell Crow states to another character that he is going to sing. That produced fits of giggling and elbow nudges throughout the audience and more than one whispered rendition of his songs from Les Miserables. NOW prisoner two-four-SIX-oh-one…your time is UP and your paROLE’S begun… Same guy, wrong boat, different beard!

Yeah...McWife read the Wikipedia entry for it out to us this morning...Not that it was really something we were really wanting to see...But...Yeeesh...It sounds a tad...Depressing... ...

Aaaamywho...

On the other end of the scale is Captain America 2!!...Awesome film!!...

*Applauds heartily*...

There's so much about that film that I loved...

I was a big fan of the first one too...They just feel slightly grittier, somehow, than the other Marvel films...Which is ironic, given the All-American-Hero™ kinda thing...

Yes, gone in very high in the Marvel-Film-Rankings list... ...

Though, despite the tagline of The Winter Soldier™...He's hardly in it...*Shrug*...Good film, definitely so...

Cobie Smulders!!!... ...Agent 13!!!... ...Jenny Agutter kicking arse!!!...*Sighs*... ...Oh, and that Johanssen wench too...*Sniffs*...Y'know?... ...

Captain America 2 opened already across the pond? You Brits have it so good. I have been looking forward to seeing it too. The first Captain A was definitely my favorite of the recent crop of non-X-men, Marvel movies.

I was thinking that Winter Soldier might not refer to just the new Bucky, but in a way to Cap himself.

The term came from a group of Vietnam Veterans who spoke out against the war, and gave testimonies about war crimes they had committed. They wanted to show that massacres like at Mai Lai were not rare, one-time occurrences, but a predictable and even inevitable result of the policies coming from the military high command, and the White House itself. They even revealed that the government was conducting a secret war in Laos, which no one knew about at the time (and was technically illegal, as was the secret war in Cambodia).

As John Kerry said in the hearings:
"We call this investigation the “Winter Soldier Investigation.” The term “Winter Soldier” is a play on words of Thomas Paine in 1776 when he spoke of the Sunshine Patriot and summertime soldiers who deserted at Valley Forge because the going was rough.

We who have come here to Washington have come here because we feel we have to be winter soldiers now. We could come back to this country; we could be quiet; we could hold our silence; we could not tell what went on in Vietnam, but we feel because of what threatens this country, the fact that the crimes threaten it, not reds, and not redcoats but the crimes which we are committing that threaten it, that we have to speak out."

Obviously I have not seem the movie yet, but the impression I get from the trailers is that Shield has gone too far, and turned into tyrants, and that Cap and Co. are fighting to stop them. That would make him a Winter Soldier as well, for he too would be challenging the morality and validity of what the government was doing.

Well, firstly...Spoilers sweetie... ... ...

Secondly, I did not know all that Winter Soldier stuff...There's so many levels of awesome to what you put, it's untrue...(the thing itself, that you knew about all that in the first place etc...The sheer Geek level that you posess...*Shakes head in wonder and sighs*... ...)...

*Coughs*...

Um...Without spoilers it's hard to go into detail...Not that it'd actually make a difference to the enjoyment of the film...It really is a brilliant piece of filmmaking...So looking forward to the next one...And there'll have to be... ...

But, yeah...It did provoke some head scratching as to the future direction of a little tv series that's going on at the moment, that's for sure...

Btw...Falcon is just pure awesomness in it...Even more than Rhodey in Iron Man...And that's saying something.. ...

Hey, bow ties are still cool...

I am looking forward to seeing it. Falcon looked really neat in one of the trailers, and he was always one of my favs from the Captain America comic, so he's one of the reasons I want to see the movie. Aside of Chris Evans of course, and naturally Scarlett Johannson. I think Cap, Falcon, and Widow make a great team. Just wish we had some more female superheros in this new Marvel lineup of films...

Yes, yes they are...



Yes, yes they are... ...Them and*Sound of gunfire...Robert dives away from computer*...



*Nods vigorously*...Completely agree... ...Have you seen Zoe Saldana in Guardians of The Galaxy?...Karen Gillan's arse kicking?...Oh, and Scarlet Witch is going to be fun...

Oh, addendum to the btw...There's a mid-credits scene and a post-threemillionyearlong-credits scene...Which is all of twenty seconds long, but the girlies thought it worth the sitting there for...

So as to not derail the thread...Tonight we're watching more Magnum, I think we're on the last two of season (!) 6...And the NCIS that we recorded last night...

Ahhh, Bishop (*Sighs* )...

Watched Fast Five last night. Wasn't bad I suppose, though I definitely prefer the first three fast and furious films.

And I've no idea why they decided to go all Ocean's 11 in this one, I kept expecting George Clooney to wander in to tell them what to do

And I've thrashed my way through Battlestar Galactica. It started well, and the first three seasons were great, but after that I feel it went downhill. Some things were dragged out far longer than necessary, others were dealt with too quickly, and I found all the "acts of god" that popped up annoying. The religious side had been there from the start, but after four seasons of it without anything really coming from it, suddenly seeing it used to handwave acts of god through to support the plot just pissed me off.

I'm about to watch this week's episode of Vikings.

Right? I expected some deeper Cylon plot points hidden in there some place and not just "God did it, the end".

Overall I found the show to be very enjoyable but some things don't make any sense.

Yeah, using the religious thing they had going to gloss over plotholes as acts of god just reeks of bad writing and desperation.

I agree, I think the trial was probably the best part of the show for me. Despite glaring character flaws, I always felt that Baltar got shafted costantly throughout the series.

Even with the annoying ending, I still felt that BSG was a good way to waste 70 hours of my life. Excluding a few plot holes and the terrie ending, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yeah, they never really established why no-one in a position of authority trusted him. I mean sure, he was a narcissist, and seemed a little crazy at times, but from the moment he arrived they disliked him. I think the only person who liked him from the beginning way Gaeta, and look what they did with him.

Movie of the day: The wolf of Wall Street.

First, I'll say this. It is extremely similar to Goodfellas, the main characters are almost cut-n-paste alike. THe only difference: one is played by Ray Liotta and the other by Leonardo DiCaprio.

This was a very controversial film, and not without reason. There are drugs, sex, and swearing everywhere (this film is now in the top spot for most uses of the F-word ever on a movie). And that's the point. These are not good people, and what they are doing is not going to end well. The movie makes this damn clear. You are supposed to not like these people; Jordan Belmont is both the protagonist and the antagonist of this film. He is his own worst enemy.

And I have to say, it had me laughing. The sheer ridiculousness of what was going on just makes it happen. Whether it's public blow-jobs or Leo trying to strangle his partner while wrapped head-to-toe in a phone wire, unable to walk or speak coherently from being so high. There is some really good black humor in this film.

And seriously, it is not for the faint of heart, it is really vulgar. I do recommend it, but know what you are getting into. Jordan Belfort is the playboy from hell.

I watched The Wolf of Wall Street yesterday. It is responsible for a resurgence of internet searches about a street drug popular in the 80's (quaaludes) because the movie portrays pretty much every drug known to man as awesome with no real downsides. It was entertaining but definitely not something to allow any minors to watch.

I just finished watching Gravity. Excellent movie. I was surprised at how much action was in it. I was expecting something more along the lines of Apollo 13. Not that I am disappointed. It was an excellent way to spend 90 minutes.

Well, since Sunday it's been a tv spleurgh...

Magnum P.I...The one where Rick is on that Wheel of Fortune thing, wins a million and then gets ripped off by that girl and her chums...

Pretty good episode made better by the surprise appearance of UK legend Sir Bruce Forsyth!...A Bruce bonus indeed!!...It was nice to see him, to see him *Claps* NICE!!!...

*Cough*...

The Musketeers...Finale time!!...It has been a blast of a series...One of my faves for a long time...The design was excellent...All the actors were fantastic...Peter Capaldi is going to be missed, and I'll be honest, I think I'd rather see him carry on being Richelieu than him being the Doctor...But hey-ho, we'll see...

Hawaii Five-O...Christmas episode ahoy!!...Complete with serial killer, reminders of the Japanese tsunami and the FBI...Hmmm...*Thinks*...*Shrugs*...It was okay...If we were going to stop with a series, it'd be this one...But we have consistently failed to do so...So it must be good enough...Y'know?...

NCIS:LA...Kensi goes to Afghanistan...Daniella Ruah goes on maternity leave...Just after the resolution of the "Will they/won't they" with Deeks that they've kept up for 4 years...*Sigh*...Predictable...But well done...When Republic of Doyle isn't on, this is my fave series on tele at the moment...I think...Probably...Without evidence I cannot possibly comment...Um...

The Walking Dead...Finale time!!...Fun, lighthearted romp through the Georgia countryside...It isn't...Another excellent series...Really enjoyed the second half of this season...Much character episodes, rather than attack of the zombie hordes x infinity...Looking forward to the next season, definitely...

Mom...Anna Faris...*Sigh*... ...It's funny, clever and intelligent at the same time...Will likely get cancelled then...Without looking, I can't remember who plays her mother in it...But...*Fans self*...Hot...Love her... ...

No, I have no life beyond work, the family and tv... ...



EDIT!!!...Several. Hours. Later....


I also watched, this morning, the first of the Tennant Cybermen episodes...The one with the late, great Roger Lloyd Pack doing his best Davros impression in his motorised wheelchair...(He'd broken his leg prior to filming...)...Worked for his character though...

I enjoyed it a surprising amount actually...I haven't seen it for years... ...

I’m watching the second season of House of Cards. It’s about a bunch of truly awful and utterly fascinating people. Somehow the writers have twisted me into wanting these scumbags to succeed. When I’ve watched the series once I’ll go back and watch it again just to try to see how they did that!

I tried House of Cards but never got past the first episode. I am not sure just what it was. I love Kevin Spacey, so I will usually watch anything that he is in. Like you said about him being slime, that was true, but did not bother me either. He'd been given a knife in the back by the new President, so who can blame him for wanting revenge? I think I just felt sorry for the reporter. I can see that she is just going to be used and thrown aside, most likely with her career as a journalist forever destroyed. I still have it in my instant queue, but I don't think I will be watching it again. Not with everything else in there too.

I finished watching Wolverine and X-Men today. I was very pleased with it. They took several of the old stories from the comics and wove them all together in a new and interesting way. Plus, the first time Jean Grey spoke I did the fangirl "Hey, I know who that is!" Jennifer Hale. Goddess, she has an incredible voice.

So now I suppose I am back to alternating between Forever Knight and The Great Queen Seondeok again. Not that either are bad. But there is always a letdown after watching a series that was really good.

On The Great Queen Seondoek has Bidam made his appearance yet?

Not to spoil things, but he certainly spices things up.

He turned up four or five episodes ago. He is really off the wall, which is nice, given how sober and serious everyone else is. He kind of reminds me of Kikuchiyo from Seven Samurai.

I remember reading an interview the actor gave about how he approached the role of Bidam. It's such a standout, like you said, given how serious everyone else is. But he isn't the comic relief, but rather a new source of tension. Kim Nam Gil, the actor, told how he decided to approach the role as if it was an anime character, which really plays up the contrast between Bidam and the other characters, especially Kim Yushin and Kim Alcheon. Yes, Bidam comes off clownish at times, but he is one deadly fighter. The dichotomy that you see in the character is quite chilling. Bidam is easily by far my favorite character in the series just because he would have been a fun character to write.

Right now I´m getting ready for my rare cart by watching the Action 52 and Cheetahmen videos with the Angry Video Game Nerd.

-Great stuff there, mr Rolfe...

Vikings...

Liked episode one, interested to see where it will go

Dungeons and Dragons

Damn I love this film.

Oh yes, it is definitely clear that Bidam is an Ace. I also got the anime vibe from him as well. But then I tend to get that from a lot of live action Asian films and shows. Whenever Asians have action scenes, they tend to be those over-the-top anime style of things, and only rarely a more realistic portrayal of people who are bound by gravity and other laws of physics!

Oh yes, but that's what makes these sageuk films so much fun to watch! All that seriousness, then an explosion of anime/Matrix/MondayNightFootballSuperSloMo effects in the next fight!

Watched the last episode of Magnum's season 6...Awesome...

And tonight we watched Avengers Assemble again...Simply because watching Captain America last weekend has set me off on the wanting to watch them all again...

McWife agrees and shares her happiness with this idea... ...McKids, however, are less enthusiastic... ...

I do love the Avengers film...So many shades of awesome in one place...Absolutely one of my all time faves mate!...

I know what you mean. Same thing happened when I watched Thor The Dark World. Avengers Assemble is just an awesome film.

They ruined my fav. Avenger's look though.

Hawkeye is so boring looking Where's the purple

Do you guys mean the Avengers Assemble tv show? Or the Avengers movie that Joss Whedon did?

Movie, it's known as Avengers Assemble in the UK/Ireland because of the crappy movie with Sean Connery in a bear costume.

Personally, I'm glad he doesn't have that big hat with the H on it though...I do think they should have had some purple in there though...

Yeah, they had to change the title over here because of the 60s/70s TV series "The Avengers" with Patrick "Imperial Leader" McNee in...

Game Of Thrones season 4 premiere. Quite enjoyable seeing things progress since the last season had the main protagonists brutally slain.

Me too!! I liked the final scene with Ayra and the Hound, just as I remembered it from the books!

I loved it. The Hound has always been my favorite characters. The final scene was just pure gold. Little Arya is basically like a sponge. Any child who's lost their family and siblings to war is bound to have some long-lasting mental issues, especially when all that they have for a protector is a renowned killer. The fact that The Hound and her now have a relationship that's skirting towards father and daughter, I expect her to get worse. All Sandor has done is kill people. Hanging around him, Arya pretty much is turning into a twelve year old murderer. The way she killed the Lannister soldier was great, and how she used Needle to exact her revenge on Polliver.

The only thing I.expected was to see Sandor Clegane mortally wounded. But I guess the producers have different plans for him. Who knows? Maybe he ends up getting gangrene. Tough to say. They changed some things from the book.

Game of Thrones is one of the few shows I watch live. I just can’t wait until later.

I like how Sansa’s storyline is developing. I think her character actually comes across better in the show than in the books. In the books it’s easy to miss the little cues with all of the drama surrounding her, since much of her growth has to be inferred from what she doesn’t do and doesn’t say. In the show Sophie Turner can express all of that with one eyebrow.

DE, I too noticed the absence of Clegane's wound. I can't imagine the producers will diverge Ayra from her path too much. We'll just have to wait and see...

Grits, Sansa's is just one of the many wonderful stories in GoT/ASOIF. Sophie Turner plays what I would imagine to be a difficult role quite well.

Oh and how could I have forgotten?! Oberyn FTW!!

Wrestlemania, welp 21 years of histroy ended.

Grits, I sort of disliked Sansa in the first season. But as the series progressed, I began to truly sympathize with her and understand the situation she's in as her character grew. We also have to consider her age as well. I do see things getting better for her this season. I can't wait to see her in the Vale.

Ah, and speaking of character growth, I am glad to see Jaime Lannister back, and with a golden hand! He became one of my favorites in season 3 when we see that he's not all that "bad", per se. His relationship with Brienne has me laughing, and it will be very interesting in the future if you read the books.



Vital, Arya and the Hound's relationship seem to be growing stronger. I wonder if she will still have the Hound on her hitlist for killing the butcher's boy. Also, "what the [censored] is a Lommy?"

Oberyn is just that character that steals the moment as soon as he's introduced. Can't wait to see him battling The Mountain.

Next episode is the episode everyone wants to see. The Purple Wedding! I'm so excited. We know just how great colored weddings are in Game of Thrones.

Because Grits twisted my arm, I have been having a House of Cards marathon. I am nearly finished with the first season, and so far it has been interesting. Most of the characters are pretty unlikeable. We are talking about scummy politicos after all. Still Kevin Spacey is fun. His performance as Francis Underwood hearkens me back to the first time I ever saw him. It was on Wiseguy, where he played Mel Proffit, a bipolar, genius, crimelord. He was brilliant there, and he is brilliant again. Something about playing a power-hungry sociopath brings out the best in Spacey.

The other characters are well played, though less fun to watch. Robin Wright plays Mrs. Underwood well. But one thing about her still puzzles me. It is very clear that she is cut from the same cloth as her husband: power-hungry and sociopathic. But she runs an environmentalist group. I am having trouble figuring out why, since she doesn't seem to give a crap about the environment, or anything other than the acquisition of power. If it is just a means to an end, as it appears to be, I would think there would be better ones.

Zoe is becoming more likeable as the season goes on. She is getting more experienced and sure of herself. I can see that she is going to become very dangerous to Francis. Edit: I just started on season two. I guess Zoe is not going to be so dangerous after all!

Christina is probably the only truly likeable character in the cast. She is also a girlscout, the only one who doesn't have some underhanded agenda, or is using everyone around her.

I am also noticing product placement all over the place. There was a big Enterprise car sign in one of the earlier episode. No one can miss all the Apple logos on everyone laptop, phone, or Ipad. There was just a nice closeup of Francis' phone, so "T-Mobile" was crystal clear. Honey Bunches of O's also appears to be the popular breakfast food at Netflix. Francis plays God of War on his PS3. Is there any company that Netflix did not hooer themselves out to raise the money to make this show?

I can't remember if it's the fourth or fifth time, but I watched When the Last Sword is Drawn. I had not seen it for a couple of years, so I had forgotten how subtle the acting is in it. A lot is said in the silences, when all you have to go on are the actors' expressions and body languages. You can feel the regret and the sadness in parts of it. The death scene still makes me cry!

I finished House of Cards. Wow, Kevin Spacey was just masterful. The second season did not seem as tight as the first. But I think that is because it took a little longer to see where (or whom) Francis' sights were set upon. Once Claire put the President and First Lady in touch with a marriage counselor I knew it though. And damn, he pulled it off too. The only big surprise was Rachel. I was not expecting her to survive. I figured Stamper was going to kill her, and then kill himself. But that worked out neat. And leaves Season Three open for her and the hacker to act as threats to Francis.

One thing I really enjoyed was Netflix's approach to airing the show. Instead of the old fashioned one episode a week until it is done routine, they put it all up at once. Combined with no commercials, I loved that style of airing the show. This is already how I watch tv. I never watch shows while they are on. I wait for them to come out on dvd and either rent or buy them, then I can watch three or four episodes a day if I feel like, and just marathon it until I done watching the season (or even eight seasons like with Magnum P.I.!) I really hope this is the future of programming.

I am now watching The Beastmaster. It sure brings back memories. This movie is so bad it is good!