I started watching Slevin last night. But it seems to be just a bunch of random stuff. First people being assassinated during the opening credits. Then some guy in an airport gets told a story by John McClain, who then kills him. Then Josh Hartnett has a broken nose. I gave up at that point. There does not seem to be any point to it.

So instead I am watching Skyscraper. Yes, I know, a masterpiece of storytelling. But so far it is exactly what I expected (which granted, is not much). The Rock is fun as always. I like that his character is disabled, it actually gives him some vulnerability. That is not something easily accomplished. Being the Rock and all.

And there is a Chinese (well Tiawanese) femme fatale in it who just melted my heart. Hannah Quinlivan. Rawr! She is going to end up on the Crow Fic for sure.

Tried Lucky Number Slevin again. It came together eventually. It was ok. But nothing really noteworthy to me. It felt like it was trying too hard.

Just watched a decent short feature at YouTube titled:

Civil War 1864: A Virtual Reality Experience

Found it interesting. Then I read its comment section. Turns that, instead of being a video of someone else's RV experience, we can left-click the view window and drag our mice to turn the camera any direction! Nifty feature for a YT vid! I wonder how many more videos of this type I've watched without realizing they offered 'pannable' cameras?

This is really cool. There is a chime that sounds and a white line showing you where a new thing of interest pops up if it is off the screen. So when you hear that chime, follow the line.

I am watching In The Mouth Of Madness once more. Since I have gone through all of HP Lovecraft's work now, I can see a lot more of his influence in it than before. I remember when I first saw it back in the 90s I was thinking that Sutter Cane was basically an evil version of Stephen King. Now I can see it as the (ordinary?) version of HPL.

At one point Sutter Cane says that for years he thought he was making it all up, but they were telling him what to write. There are some people in the real world who want to be believe the same about Lovecraft, that he is a prophet, and his Mythos stories are real. The movie takes it to eleven in a fun way, in how the fiction becomes reality.

Now that it is on disc, I just finished watching Rise of Skywalker again. I liked it much better this time around. I would say that as a trilogy ender, it was definitely better than Return of the Jedi. Even in the Endor system, there were no Ewoks. Well, except for a few seconds at the very end.

Since I can now pause, I noticed some things. The Ghost appears at the end. After the final battle when everyone is celebrating back at the Resistance Jungle base, there is a shot of lots of ships landing. You can see the Ghost's front end with its characteristic cockpit bubble settling down in the background.

Through the use of subtitles and sitting through the ends credits, I was able to figure out who all the Jedi who speak to Rey in the final fight were. Of course I recognized Qui-Gon, Mace, and Yoda, but there was the Ewan McGregor Obi-Wan, and the Alec Guiness Obi-Wan. The Hayden Anakin (I was kind of hoping for a Matt Lanter Anakin), Ahsoka, Luminara, Aayla Secura (Jennifer Hale), and even Adi Gallia and Kanan Jarrus.

I also spied me a Colonel Aftab Ackbar? I googled him, and he is the Admiral's son. He was a B-Wing pilot in the big final battle.

And I really did like seeing the gold lightsaber at the end.

Khajiit finished watching The Mandalorian last night. Fun show. Looking forward to more. Was surprised to see that Rise of Skywalker wasn’t available on Disney+ yet. Hopefully soon.

I watched Rogue One today. Damn that movie was piles of awesome. Best of the new crop of Star Wars movies without a doubt.

The Mandalorian was good. Very fun show. I actually love the one off "monster of the week" episodes in it. It even has Stormtroopers who can actually shoot straight. OTOH, the protagonist literally has plot armor that makes him invulnerable. So it does not matter how many times people shoot him. That really brings it down for me.

I also dusted off my Kolchak dvds. The Haiti season from the Revolutions podcast got me interested in the Zombie episode. It was a Haitian Zombie, not a Romero one. I have kept watching since. Kolchak is a fun character. But you can see why the show did not last. Like with the short-lived Lone Gunmen show, its protagonist is not a tough guy who beats people up and always gets the girl to show his virility. Instead he's a wise-cracking troublemaker, who speaks the unpleasant truths to power. He never gets the girl. He never beats anyone up. He never displays dominance over others. He could not look cool if his life depended on it. But he's the one guy who both recognizes the danger, and somehow figures out a way to defeat it, or at least survive it. Because while the police/military tough guys are being thrown around by the monster, and the authority figure is busy denying it all happened, he's actually gathering information, thinking, and planning.

Speaking of Haitian zombies, I’ve wanted to watch the Wes Craven film The Serpent and The Rainbow for a while now but it’s not on Netflix or free on Amazon Prime Video.

I bought Serpent and the Rainbow on blu ray a while ago, and watched it again a few weeks ago too. It was a good horror story. There are parts based on reality. Wade Davis really did go to Haiti and brought back some poisons. He believes that Haitian zombies are caused by a combination of pufferfish venom to originally simulate death. Then by repeated doses of Datura, which renders the victims essentially without a will of their own.

Ooo sounds like Subbie recommends! I may have to pay a few bucks and stream it from Amazon Prime Video.

Yes, it was a good horror movie. Wes Craven did it I think. He and John Carpenter are pretty much the godfathers of horror.

I haven't seen that movie in years! The undead bride used to scare me so bad as a kid! It is definitely a really good horror movie.

Normally I don’t watch zombie movies, buuuut . . .

I got suckered into The Kingdom by the Korean court intrigue - by the time I realized “Oh, this is a ZOMBIE series!” I was too invested and kept watching. The second season just came out and I had to watch the first one all over again to refresh my memory. Well worth watching, zombies or no.

That looked interesting. I should check that out.

Kingdom is on Netflix. Maybe I'll check that out.

I saw The Last Train To Busan a few years ago. That was a good Korean zombie movie.

I’ve really been in a Star Wars mood lately. I’m thinking I’ll start the final season of Clone Wars and then go right into Rebels. I’ve already seen season 1 of Rebels but I need to start over to remember what went on.

I finished watching A New Hope again. This time on 4k. Wow, it still looks good even after all these years. That scene of the fighters rounding Yavin is still my favorite shot in all the SW films.

If I lived in the Star Wars galaxy, I would go in the floor polish manufacturing business. The Death Star alone must have used a billion gallons of the stuff, add in every Star Destroyer, Imperial base, and the like, and that would have to be an ocean of the stuff. I'd be richer than all those posers at Canto Bight.

Having just finished watching the final trilogy of Star Wars last night, I have to agree on the floor polish! Geez, you think that's why they have so many little droids running around underfoot in those places??

I was pleasantly surprised at how well done these final three movies were. Compared to the second trilogy (Episodes I - III) it was far beyond sublime in quality of storytelling and characterization. So much was conveyed in so little. I adored Rey's character, especially when she healed that tunnel snake, and in her treatment of the droids and aliens she encountered. In fact, overall I noticed how much kinder the characters were towards non-human characters (except for the Imperials, of course). And I also noticed the variety of "animal" life in these three movies. The crystal foxes on the red salt world were especially striking.

I am considering purchasing the full set (yes, including Ep I - III, which I honestly can do without), or just buying the later six. It comes out to about the same price either way.

I found quite a few things to like about the new movies, though some disappointments and head-scratches too. But all in all I enjoy them. I loved how they did the whole "Dyad in the Force" idea between Rey and Ben/Kylo. I loved the scenes of them interacting across vast distances, and being physically present at both sides at the same time. I too, really liked Rey, and the fact that she chose to heal what was in effect just a big wild animal, than seeing it as a monster that had to be killed. I think it revealed a lot of her character, that she did not just see things to destroy. I also liked that her story is about the value of found family, and that you are not defined by the circumstances of your birth. The final scene on Tatooine really cements that.

Being nice to wildlife is an idea they started working with in the Rebels tv show. In it the main character Ezra's really unique talent is that he can form connections in the Force. He uses that to make friends with all sorts of creatures that would otherwise be seen as monsters. It is something really greatly overdue in the Star Wars universe. The Jedi were supposed to be guides and guardians, not killing machines wiping out all the wildlife they come across.

I am now watching Jaws 4. Yep, been sitting at home for weeks now...

I’m remembering why I lost track of Rebels. There are entirely too many children in this show!

I just finished watching Underwater. It was really good, a combination of disaster and horror movies. It also had Jessica Henwick in it, which was a wonderful surprise. She even got to use her actual (English) accent in it.

I watched the old movie Hardware, from 1990 or so. It was not all that good. One thing about watching TV and films from back then and earlier, is that I notice just how perviness toward women was not only prevalent, but just expected as a fact of life, like gravity or time is.

But the wasteland scavenger from the very beginning and end did give me the germ of an idea for a post-apocalyptic character and setting. I don't know that I will ever actually write anything. But I am going to get my thoughts down on pixels so I don't forget them.

I also watched the first episode of Home Before Dark. It was good. The main character is an extremely precocious 9 year old. She is a would-be reporter and sleuth, in the mold of Nancy Drew. Except with the reporting part added on. I enjoyed it a lot. I'll probably watch the rest of the season.

I am finishing up watching the Ice Worlds episode of The Planets, which is a series on Amazon Prime. I have always been really intrigued by the planets it covers - Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, the worlds farthest from the Sun. Pluto is really incredible. A vast plain of frozen nitrogen 900 miles across, and next to it a mountain range made of ice the height of the Rockies. The ice that covers the planet might be 180 kilometers thick, with an ocean of liquid water beneath that might be another 100km deep, and a solid core beneath that which appears to include radioactive metal, since something down there is creating the heat needed to create a dynamic surface.

The whole time I kept thinking, that is where Cthulhu lives. R'lyeh is not in the Pacific, but in the heart of Pluto. Of course, he does have a region on Pluto named after him.

The idea that something like Cthulhu will someday awaken in the depths of Pluto is terrible and awesome!

Someday? What makes you think he has not already?

Muhahahahahahahaha!

True!

Geez, been on a mega-binge this month.

Finished, for the first time ever, Breaking Bad. Followed up with the movie El Camino, and now I'm watching the prequel Better Call Saul.

I also finished Ozark season 3.

Very good shows! Both Breaking Bad and Ozark are about good people dealt crappy cards in life who become more or less involved in a lucrative business but end up turning into the absolute worst version of themselves.

Ozark had plenty of "Woah, oh my God!" moments. Plenty of twists.

Holes!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0u4M6vppCI

Watched 1917 last night. Fine film. Glad I decided to bite-the-bullet and order it on DVD. I watched it via my PC's DVD drive, despite my living-room A/V receiver having quite decent built-in 1080p upscaling.

Had this movie been released for home viewing pre C-19 I'd have bought it at our local Barnes & Noble, paying via Gift Card. Yeah, the Barnes & Noble that was totaled during a tornado last month. Wonder if they'll re-open? They were, after all, the area's only book store. I'd normally say yes, but with C-19 going strong, who knows?

I have discovered some episodes of the old TV show The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.

I started with Sharks, which I think was the first episode in the entire show. It is still a good documentary. The only troubling thing I found about it was that they tagged a bunch of sharks. Then at the end they went fishing for sharks to recover the tags, and find out where the sharks had traveled by comparing where they had been tagged versus where they had been caught.

They don't show it, but I think they killed all the sharks in the process. In the 1960s there were still plenty of sharks in the ocean. But today they are being killed at a rate of roughly 100 million a year, and will be extinct if this does not stop. Since they are a keystone species, that will be devastating to the rest of the oceans, and our planet.

I also watched The Legend Of Lake Titicaca (yes, I giggled at the name too, since mentally I am still five).

Now I am watching The Lagoon of Lost Ships. This one is set in Truk Lagoon, and the crew are investigating the wrecks of the Japanese ships sunk there in WW2.

The video is old, low resolution, and kind of blurry. But it is still a good show. Some of these are even narrated by Rod Serling! There is also narration by Cousteau himself, which is a real treat to hear. His thoughts come across as deeply genuine mixture of compassion and love for the natural world.

I also forgot how much man-flesh is in this show! It is packed with all these swol dudes, who seem to really, really dislike wearing clothing. They are all walking around wearing bikini shorts and soaking up the sun in every episode.

I just finished watching Quigley Down Under for the first time in a million years. As often happens when going back and watching movies that are now old, I recognized someone. The teenage bad guy is none other than Ben Mendelsohn. Yes, Director Krennic himself. What a difference in how he looks!

I just finished watching a 4 part series of Cousteau episodes about their expedition to Antarctica. Watching them dive not just under, but through icebergs was both breathaking, and eerie, as the bergs crack and creak around them, and seal call out from the inky darkness below.

To cope with the freezing water, they wore dry suits that they could pump up with air to form a heat barrier. At one point they really pumped them up, which made them look like Hutts!. It was hilarious.

"The Hunt For Red October" = for probably the 100th time, lol.

I finished watching Harriet. It is about Harriet Tubman, and is really, really good. The acting is phenomenal in all parts. The story is very strong. It does not shirk from the horrors and evils of slavery. But it does not allow itself to become bogged down in them either. There always remains a ray of hope, centered on Harriet herself. Or radiated from Harriet herself. She is a symbol for how we have the power to change our lives, and the world, for the better.

I am watching The Con Shelf Adventure, the very first episode of The Undersea World Of Jacques Cousteau. It is an experiment of six divers living and working at 330 feet below the surface of the sea for an extended period in a small undersea base. They are at 11x the normal pressure at sea level, so are breathing a helium-oxygen mix. Trying to breathe normal air would kill them. So they all sound like Donald Duck.

What really caught my attention though is that they reheat their meals with a microwave. This was in 1965 or so. I had no ideas there were microwaves back then! It must have been like science fiction. So now I am looking them up on the Wiki. It says that the first microwave oven was invented in 1946, using radar technology. But it looks like they were too big and too expensive for regular home use until the late 70s, which is about how I remember. So it really was cutting edge technology for those Con Shelf guys.

The Wiki has a picture of a microwave oven on a Navy ship from 1961, and it is the size of a refrigerator!

Ok, it says Raytheon made a countertop microwave for home use in 1967. It was the equivalent of only $4,000 in modern dollars!

I watched Extraction yesterday. It was okay. But nothing special. Mostly just lots of gunfights. I found it to be really bleak, which made it hard to really invest in the characters. Chris Hemsworth does his best with his natural charisma, which he certainly has plenty of. But he alone is not enough to make it a truly good movie. Not that it is a bad one. It is just 2 hours of gun porn.

I watched the first episode of the new Ghost In The Shell series in Netflix today too. Again, I was not impressed, but for different reasons. First off, they are going to 3d animation this time, instead of the classic artwork style the older GITSs were. In this case, it is not an improvement. The animation looks really cheap. Like something that would have been done in the 90s. Seriously Final Fantasy: Spirits Within was better quality, and that is 20 years old.

I could forgive that, but the actual plot looks pretty meh. The show seems to take place after Standalone Complex. But the whole GITS continuity is just a mess. They seem to just be making things up as they go along, and gleefully ignoring everything they did in the past every time they put out something new. So who knows? Once upon a time it was a show about action that questioned the nature of humanity and the soul in a trans-human age. Now it just seems to be about shooting things. So basically 30 minute episodes of gun porn with poor animation.

I watched Saving Private Ryan again. The first time in a long time. It is a really emotionally resonant film, filled with lots of good characterizations. I noticed some glaring historical errors however, thanks to recently reading Max Hasting's book Das Reich. The German troops they face in the big battle at the end are said to be from the Das Reich division (2nd SS Panzer). The date on the tombstone for the Captain in the modern day scenes is June 13th. So we know the battle happened then.

Well, the Das Reich was not in Normandy on June 13th. Or anywhere near that date. They were busy massacring civilians in southern France. They would not show up in Normandy for at least another week. And then it would be at the opposite end of the line, against the British.

Furthermore the attacking Germans had Tiger tanks. The Das Reich did not have Tigers. They turned them all in when they left the Eastern Front months before and were moved to France. Once in France they were re-equipped with brand new Panthers, Mark IVs, and Stug IIIs.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of poor research.

Today I watched The Half Of It. It was a nice, enjoyable retelling of the old Cyrano de Bergerac tale. It follows the traditional beats until the end. Where it changes things up by not tying everything together into a nice little bow. Which you know, every romance always does. Love is messy is pretty much the theme of the story. That and bold strokes. I liked it a lot.

I also found another future character for the Stormcrow fic in Leah Lewis. She is exactly what I have been looking for for some time now.

Earlier today (and again now) I watched a shortish YT video of a train ride in Britain, a type of video I watch with some frequency. Which in and of itself wouldn't necessarily make it post-worthy. However, while watching I happened to hover my mouse cursor over the view window, bringing up the 'info' at video bottom. There I noticed something I've never seen before. The time-bar is segmented. Every time red advances into a new segment, a short text description appears just to the right of the time watched / total time numeric indicators. Has anyone seen these bar-segments-with-text before? Does anyone know how it is accomplished?

(YouTube Video) Cromer to Sheringham and Holt - Hastings DEMU cab ride - 23 July 2016 (YouTube Video)

They released Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ so I’ll probably try to watch that tonight while sitting around at work.

Watching this show on HISTORY called “Eating History”. These two guys get their hands on sealed up food from the past, open them, and if they don’t see or smell any obvious reasons not to, they eat it! It’s sooo stupid but also somewhat fascinating!

A long time ago they had a show called American Eats. It did a deep dive into some form of American food, and talked all about its history. Things like Chef Boyardee, potato chips, pop (or soda), barbecue, and so on. I really miss that show. It was really cool.

I remember that show. It was interesting!

I’m watching this now too! I think it’s really well done. The mix of horror, drama, action, and comedy is perfect! One minute I’m chuckling at the reactions of some of the more expressive characters, another minute I’m cringing at the evil plots of some of the nastier characters, and then I’m in suspense as a flood of undead threaten to overwhelm the heroes fighting valiantly to stop them. Good show. Definitely recommend, especially if you like history and/or epic Asian action films (Red Cliff and Seven Samurai came to mind).

I have been watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Just finished the second one. Every time they said Kraken, I kept hearing "Butt-Kraken"... As if a giant plumber was going to come and sink their ship.

What is your overall opinion of those movies?

The first 3 were fun. Lots of excitement, lots of adventure. I especially enjoyed that all the main characters had their own agendas, and were often quite willing to stab the others in the back to fulfill said agendas. Fun movies.

The latter two were pretty much just cash grabs by Johnny Depp and Disney. Nothing really special to be honest.