Someone did mention that recently just how the Jedis are celebrating after they blew up the moon the battlestation, killing thousands of people in the process

I saw a few movies lately. Non Stop was alright. But nothing spectacular. The same for Three Days to Kill. Actually that one was less good. It tried too hard to be a comedy, which just did not work for me.

Rush was the best of the trio. I am not a race car nut, but it was still a good story, with an excellent portrayal of the two lead characters. Both of whom are complete a-holes, but in different ways. In spite of that I was drawn into the story. Chris Hemsworth was especially good.

World Cup

Still watching movies. Yesterday I saw The Next Three Days. It was a really good drama (not action movie) about a man busting his wife out of county jail. It was long, but well worth the watch.

Today I watched the new Robocop. It was ok, but nothing really special either. The guy playing Robo was pretty bland, I don't know why people give him jobs. He's not as grind your teeth I want to punch this guy Hayden Christensen, but he's about as interesting to watch at paint dry. And that was before he turned into a monotone robot. On the bright side it really was filmed in Detroit, at least in part. Except for the Onmicorop building - which seems to be in Hart Plaza - the rest of the city is the real thing. Though it was funny that there were only a few brief glimpses of the Ren Cen. Most of the time that is all you see when Detroit is in a movie. Well that and burned out buildings. Jackie Earle Haley was also good. I would like to see more of him in movies. He would have been great as the bad guy in Elysuim, or District 9.

All in all the original was better. It had attitude, and I loved the little subplot of the young exec locking horns with the vice president over the robocop/ed209 programs. It was also funny, like with the tv commercial with the dinosaur. The funniest part of the new one was when Jackie Earle throws out a "No one would buy that for a dollar." homage.

Added a couple more to our usual rotation of police shows and similar crime dramas....

Single-Handed- which is a quite good series about an Irish Garda going back to his old home to take over for his retired police sergeant father. It is a dark view of the corruption and other problems of Ireland that began to come to light in the 80's and 90's

Just watched first episode of "Salamander"- which looks to be very interesting. Set in Belgium- it starts with an unusual bank robbery...

I have Salamander in my Instant Queue. But with everything else I am watching, it will probably be a while before I get to it.

I am still working my way through Veronica Mars. I am almost at the end of Season Two. It has been great seeing Alyson Hannigan and Charisma Carpenter again!

I also decided to do a Harry Potter marathon. A few days ago I started on the first movie. Yesterday I watched Chamber of Secrets, and today it is Prisoner of Azkaban. I think the first two will always be my favorites. The actors were kids then, and the movies have an innocent charm that the later, more grown-up films lack.

Just finished watching something I found on Netflix Instant - Fluckt ("Escape").

It's a Norwegian film set in the mid-14th century and is quite grim.

But the scenery is straight out of Skyrim, as are the characters! The lead character, Signy, in spite of being a human, could easily be my Dunmer character in her younger days. When I think about it, it explains a lot about Alise!

I watched that a few days ago too. It was ok, though not the best movie. I loved the scenery as well. Norway has such a wonderfully brooding atmosphere. It is a land of giants and dark gods.

I finally finished with the last season of Veronica Mars. It was an excellent show, with a smart, brassy protagonist who is easy to cheer for. I especially love the dialogue. The banter between Veronica and Daddy Mars was just outstanding. The plots were nice and twisted. Nothing is ever simple, every case leads Veronica going this way and that to find that to get to the truth. But in the end, our heroine triumphs.

But the third season definitely left me feeling let down. The first two seasons followed the rather standard format cemented by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Introduce a Meta Story Arc that lasts the entire season, with a Big Bad - or in this case Big Mystery - which we see a little more of with every episode. Then in the finale it all comes to a head.

But the Third Season broke the mold, and instead gave us several smaller arcs spread throughout the season. It didn't feel as interesting. Especially the final episode, which left many unanswered questions, not the least of which who won the election, or what was going to happen with the whole Kendall Casablancas/Fitzpatricks subplot.

I still have the movie left to go. Maybe that will tie up a few things.

I also tried watching Hex a few nights ago. I am in the middle of the 3rd episode, but it really is not grabbing me. I am not sure exactly what it is. So I think I am done with it too. I might try Witches of East End soon, and see how that is.

I'm watching Collateral.

Pretty good film.

The Veronica Mars movie was excellent! And unlike the series finale, it ends on a high note. Veronica is indeed the girl's answer to Magnum P.I.

I love that movie. Easily my favorite film starring Tom Cruise. He played an excellent Hitman, Vincent. Jamie Foxx also did a great job, too. My favorite scene would be the briefcase one. Every second amendment fan's wet dream.

I tried two new shows recently. The Witches of East End sounded promising, but the first two episodes just did not grab me. There is one episode left on the disc, and I think I will give that a go before I decide to give up on it entirely.

The other one is Atlantis. I watched the first episode yesterday, and found it delightful. It reminds me of the old Xena and Hercules shows, only not nearly as campy. I love the look of it, clearly influenced by Ancient Greece, which is a nice change from the faux Medieval look many fantasy shows go with.

I watched Dallas Buyers Club last night. It was good, though it started to drag near the end. Jared Leto was just fantastic as Rayon!

Today I watched The Upside of Anger over lunch. Mainly it was because it is set here in The D, and they used the studio of WRIF, a RL local radio station for some of the scenes. It was cool to see inside the place for once. And they even had Arthur Penhallow, or Arthur P as we know him here. Or knew him. He is a Detroit Radio legend. He finally retired, a few years ago, but only after being on the air for 40 years.

I just finished watching The Losers. It was a very fun movie, that does not take itself too seriously. It stars The Comedian from Watchmen, the New Uhura, the Captian from Prometheus, and Chris Evans (yeah, he's the only one whose name I know). It has the best use of a Journey song in a movie ever. His little monologue there about being a telekinetic was a nice nod to his character in the movie Push, who was indeed a telekenetic being pursued by a secret govt. organization.

Netflix finally coughed up the first season of China Beach. I have had a crush on Dana Delany for ages, so I have been looking forward to this for a long time. I was no disappointed. The very first episode had me hooked. It is the Vietnam War seen not through the normal macho eyes of men, but rather from the perspective of the women who served there as well. Dana Delany turns in a magnificent portrayal of a nurse who has seen too much, very slowly unraveling one onion peel after another to reveal her damaged interior. I would happily buy all four seasons on dvd if they were not asking $200 for it!

I decided to dig out a few of my favorite HP Lovecraft inspired shorts: Experiment 17, and Experiment 18. I love the documentary-style of the first one, and how the second one follows right where the first left off. Even though it sounds a lot like the Hammer of the Witches, I still love the name Hexenhammer for the Third Reich's wizards.

CHINA BEACH!! Oooh, it's on Netflix now?

I'm with you on Dana Delany - I found her a character I could really strongly empathize with. I also admire the actress for her life choices. Way to go, girl!

Now I've got to run and add that to my Instant List!

Unfortunately it is only the first season, which is just 8 episodes, and I think it is only on dvd. But hopefully they will add the other three seasons as well.

I gave up on True Blood a while ago, but now that they’re in the last season I’m watching it again. I was hoping that they’d kill off the annoying characters (which for me is most of them)(no spoilers), and so far it has been a bloodbath. I can’t wait to see who dies tonight!

Oh pooh on China Beach. I don't even use the DVD player anymore, and the XBox is just gathering dust now.

I have been on a British crime drama kick, starting with Inspector Lewis, then moving on to Luther, The Fall, Prime Suspect, A Touch of Frost, Endeavour and Inspector Morse.

But now I'm on a blast from the past with the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. I'm waiting for the kid to grow up and for Sean Patrick Flanery to move into the role - I really liked him back then and I want to see if his acting stands the test of time.

Excalibur.

Been in a little bit of an Arthurian mood lately, not that I need an excuse to watch this film. It's worth it just for the sight of Patrick Stewart going to town on some knights with a bloody great axe

Firefly

Was playing the boardgame on saturday (love that game, and I won!), and just had to dust off my Browncoat

I started watching Sharknado last night, now I am finishing up with the last hour. To quote Higgins: "Oh, My, God!" This movie is so bad.

I'm just starting The Walking Dead with my brother. I've heard good things about it.

I watched the first two seasons of it, then gave up. It was too soap operaish for me. Everyone is sleeping with everyone else behind everyone's back, etc... And the idea that guns are almost impossible to find in rural America just had me rolling. If they had gone to my father's house, they would have had enough guns for an army. He had a health scare a few years ago, and my brother and I went through the house in case he died. We found over 40 guns. Most of them had legal paperwork. Most.

On the recommendation of a friend I picked up the first season of True Blood. Only on the second episode, but it's pretty good so far.

Meh. First season was great, second season was great. Third season onward the show went downhill. Big time. I stopped halfway on the fifth season. As much as I enjoy the supernatural predators we know as vampires and werewolves, the show just . . . did it wrong. It was too comical and over-the-top bloody. I love comedy, but there's a limit when you try to mix it with violence and too much foul language. I . . .feel . . . like cringing.

Well, I kinda binge-watched my way through season 1, and to be honest it's already wearing kinda thin. Vampires exploding into bloody messes(wtf?), gratuitous sex scenes, and the whole Sookie and Billy thing leaned way too heavily on Buffy and Angel.


Now I just have to decide whether to work my way through Buffy and then Angel, or just skip all the high school stuff and go straight to Angel.

Hmm...

I never saw True Blood, because my impression was that it was basically Twilight on t.v. Lots of teen/twenty something sex and ham-fisted 'romance'. Oh, and they're vampires too, isn't that cool! I wasn't expecting exploding vampires though, so maybe there is something to it after all!

I quit watching True Blood a while ago due to the danger posed by excessive eye-rolling, but I’ve been watching this season since it’s the last. Series finale next week. I was really hoping that they’d kill off a bunch of characters. So far not nearly enough.

Watching Captain America The Winter Soldier.

Good film, but the identity of the Winter Soldier is a bit blegh;



That said

I saw the Winter Soldier's identity coming a year before the movie came out. Events in the first Captain America movie strongly suggested that character was going to be used again.

But I also see Steve Rogers as a Winter Soldier as well. I posted about it before the movie came out here in the States

Well, we saw in Avengers Assemble that Cap was suspicious of Fury, but there's an extra element in play. Unfortunately I had that part indirectly spoiled for me, which took the edge off it.

But I don't really recall seeing anything in the film that suggested why the Winter Soldier was called that, when it does seem to fit Captain America better, based on what you posted.


On an entirely different note, I had to laugh when I saw they'd thrown in a reference to Pulp Fiction

The Winter Soldier is actually from the comics. I always figured it was a literal thing, given that in both the comics and the film that the character 'died' in any icy / winter situation.

That would only work if they knew who he was. And in the film at least, they didn't until long after he'd been given the name.

Frankly, there are a couple of plotholes you could fit a helicarrier through in the film.

They have witches too which are pretty ridiculous. They seriously butcher everything.

If vampires hadn't become such of a fad.... Stephanie Meyer. It is her fault. Bram Stoker is twitching in his grave right now.

I just started watching Low Winter Sun. This is Detroit through and through. Not just filmed here, but they did their homework on local life. One member of the Greektown crew of hoods remarks on how six months ago they were scrapping copper and getting hand jobs after the Dream Cruise. Only someone from Detroit would know about scavengers, or the Dream Cruise. Though I suspect people in other cities know about hand jobs...

Watched Underworld: Awakening.

Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

At least it's better than the others that followd the first Underworld film...

They are rebooting Underworld. It was confirmed a few days ago.

Doesn't a movie have to be a classic for it to be rebooted?

Underworld Awakening= Meh. Worst of the series. I think Rise of the Lycans was best but maybe its because I like the medieval settings.

Rebooting Underworld?

FFS

Personally, I can't decide which was worse; Evolution or Rise of the Lycans, but I'd be inclined to say Rise of the Lycans. At least evolution stuck to what was covered in the first film, the whole Corvinus thing. The events of RotL contradict Lucian's account of the start of the war in Underworld, which in my opinion ruined it.

Right now I'm watching The big gundown, staring Lee van Cleef and Tomas Millian. Yesterday I watched Il grande silenzio, I'm in a mood to watch wild-west movies lately.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Love that film

Just finished watching Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses. Like the first one, it was a lot of fun. Danny Trejo is pure awesome as ever. There was even an Expendables reference, which was perfect.

I am almost done with China Beach, with just a few episodes left of the final season. It has been really good. But it started losing steam in the later half of Season Three. In Season Four they started jumping around with prequel and postquel episodes. On one hand they added more to the characters, showing is their first days in China Beach, and their last, and especially their lives after Vietnam. But on the other I find the jumping around through time to be disjointing.

The post-Vietnam episodes also bring a feeling of anti-climax. With any war story, there is a sense that the war is something you have to endure, and then afterward you get to go home, and the rest of life is going to be a breeze in comparison. Of course that was/is not the case for many veterans. Season Four really shows this. But speaking purely from a writing point of view, it is like there is no Act 3, no resolution to the story. So it just starts to feel like much of the Fourth Season is sitting and spinning, and going nowhere.

I also started a couple of other shows from Netflix. Rizzoli and Isles has been a lot of fun. Right from the first episode I was loving it. I especially like Moura Isles, for all of her bizarre science geekness. She and Rizolli make an great duo.

I have also been watching Body Of Proof, mainly because it has Dana Delany. This one took a while more for me to warm up to. But once they finally got into the protagonist's strained relationship with her daughter, and we stared seeing more of her and the other character's personal lives, I was hooked as well.

Been watching far too much tele of late...Again...

We finished Magnum ages ago...And McWife pretty much instantly started on the re-runs of Blue Bloods for her Selleck fix...I have not joined her in this as of yet...

Erm...

We're subscripted to this Amazon Prime Video thingy...So at the moment we're going through some BBC America thing called Copper...It's like Ripper Street, but set in New York...It's alright...I'm getting less into is as we go through it...But it's only got 23 episodes in all, so I'll likely stick it to the end...

Doctor Who Wednesdays has now reached the first of the Donna Noble series...

Erm...

Rewatching The Mighty Boosh and Red Dwarf from the start...

Tried to watch Stargate SG-1 on the Amazon thing...Started well but stalled again this morning...*Sigh*...Will try again soon...

Can't remember the rest...But that's another story... ...

We liked the first series of Body Of Proof btw...But the second went so far downhill that we completely avoided the third...But, that's just us... ...

We almost started Rizzoli and Isles ourselves, but it turned up while we were watching FAR too much...So it never got us...

I am watching Captain America: Winter Soldier. First time on blu-ray. Being able to pause and really look at things is nice. I figured out where the Shield Triskelion was. I recognized the Watergate Hotel across the street. So I brought it up on Google Earth. Shield is right across the Potomac from it, between two bridges. It is on Theodore Roosevelt Island. It takes up the entire island in fact, which looks to be all parkland (Not a D.C. resident, so I only know what I see from the satellite).

It is very neat how the filmmakers did that. They found an empty space right in the middle of a major city, and used it to put their headquarters in, without having to change anything around it. Very resourceful!

Just watched Rush...A film by Ron Howard that tells the story of the Formula One rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda...

It's not exactly true to life, but it's damned good entertainment... ...

Amazingly exciting film...Very well done...

Loved it...

Waiting for The Girl to get home so we can watch Doctor Who, and The Boy just left. We have a pact to watch it together.

No more plans on Saturday nights! What are they thinking?! Argh, teenagers!!

I actually don't watch very many movies anymore. I guess PC games have spoiled me to favor interacting with a story instead of simply watching it.

Anyway, I was captive on a big touring bus that I used to get to/from the Grand Canyon. On the several hour trip home yesterday, the bus showed a movie. One I'd never heard of (mind you, there are countless movies I've never heard of). Anyway, up comes the name Harrison Ford. Then the name Daniel Craig. Okay, I'm familiar with them and the opening stuff is set out in the desert southwest so maybe this won't be bad. At that point, before the movie did, Mrs Acadian informed me that the movie was called Cowboys and Aliens.

Well, I rather enjoyed it. Preposterous, anachronistic, tongue in cheek and quiet entertaining actually. It reminded me of another movie called A Knight's Tale (Jousting to Queens Reich music). Quite the hoot.