Movies / TV Shows - I Have Watched / Plan To Watch

[JujuFish]

8 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

The Wheel of Time tv show is very much hit or miss.

I haven't checked out this season yet, but I think I like the TV show more than most fans of the books. Looking forward to bingeing the season when it's all released.

[steveoat87]

I enjoyed Reacher Seasons 1 & 2, but wasn't crazy about Season 3.  By not having a larger supporting casting, it highlights the limitation of the actor playing reacher (he's no Tom Cruise).

Started watching the Amanda Seyfried limited series on Peacock, Long Bright River.  Watched 3 episodes and have been generally enjoying it.

Watched Paradise on Hulu.  It is similar to Silo in premise but not as good.

[steveoat87]

24 minutes ago, steveoat87 said:

I enjoyed Reacher Seasons 1 & 2, but wasn't crazy about Season 3.  By not having a larger supporting casting, it highlights the limitation of the actor playing reacher (he's no Tom Cruise).

Started watching the Amanda Seyfried limited series on Peacock, Long Bright River.  Watched 3 episodes and have been generally enjoying it.

Watched Paradise on Hulu.  It is similar to Silo in premise but not as good.

I miss the great action series on HBO like Strike Back and Banshee.  Also miss programs like The Americans and Justified.

Enjoyed the first two seasons of Perry Mason on HBO.  Has anyone heard anything about a third season?

[inkman]

44 minutes ago, steveoat87 said:

I enjoyed Reacher Seasons 1 & 2, but wasn't crazy about Season 3.  By not having a larger supporting casting, it highlights the limitation of the actor playing reacher (he's no Tom Cruise).

Is Tom Cruise known for his acting chops? He’s certainly not known for his large size, quite the opposite.  I think Ritchson is trying to portray the large stoic nature of Reacher.  He certainly has more range than what the character allows for.  
 

I’ve been watching Yellowjackets since it’s premiered.  Gotta say I was dismayed at Ella Pernell’s short lived screen time. They are finally getting to the rescue episode almost 3 full seasons in. I guess when your premise is a high school girls soccer team getting stranded in the North American wilderness, jumping right to the rescue scene would have been a little too network TV friendly for me.  I like that it’s been on the back burner the whole time. Having the two separate time lines allows for the scene to be a long anticipation event. 

[steveoat87]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

Is Tom Cruise known for his acting chops? He’s certainly not known for his large size, quite the opposite.  I think Ritchson is trying to portray the large stoic nature of Reacher.  He certainly has more range than what the character allows for.  
 

I’ve been watching Yellowjackets since it’s premiered.  Gotta say I was dismayed at Ella Pernell’s short lived screen time. They are finally getting to the rescue episode almost 3 full seasons in. I guess when your premise is a high school girls soccer team getting stranded in the North American wilderness, jumping right to the rescue scene would have been a little too network TV friendly for me.  I like that it’s been on the back burner the whole time. Having the two separate time lines allows for the scene to be a long anticipation event. 

I think Tom Cruise is a very good actor.  My wife and I always discuss the importance of distinguishing between Tom Cruise the actor (Born on the 4th of July, Risky Business, Mission Impossible 1, Rain Man, The Color of Money, The Firm) and Tom Cruise the person (who appears to be a jerk).

Edited Monday at 04:58 PM by steveoat87

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, steveoat87 said:

I enjoyed Reacher Seasons 1 & 2, but wasn't crazy about Season 3.  By not having a larger supporting casting, it highlights the limitation of the actor playing reacher (he's no Tom Cruise).

Started watching the Amanda Seyfried limited series on Peacock, Long Bright River.  Watched 3 episodes and have been generally enjoying it.

Watched Paradise on Hulu.  It is similar to Silo in premise but not as good.

I actually think the opposite on Reacher. Season 1 was good to me, Season 2 not so much. I think the larger cast made it worse. Season 3 so far I think is as good as season one, maybe better.

[shrader]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Is Tom Cruise known for his acting chops? He’s certainly not known for his large size, quite the opposite.  I think Ritchson is trying to portray the large stoic nature of Reacher.  He certainly has more range than what the character allows for. 

The only way those Reacher movies could have been accurate to the character was if the rest of the cast was played by the lollypop guild.  Those movies are the perfect example of the ego of Cruise.  Apparently Ritchson was originally worried that he was too small for the role.

[steveoat87]

14 minutes ago, shrader said:

The only way those Reacher movies could have been accurate to the character was if the rest of the cast was played by the lollypop guild.  Those movies are the perfect example of the ego of Cruise.  Apparently Ritchson was originally worried that he was too small for the role.

I never read any of the Reacher books but Alan Ritchson seems to be too "neanderthal" to be such a super-sleuth.  He seems more like the incredible hulk than someone who has the high intelligence of a super MP.

[inkman]

51 minutes ago, steveoat87 said:

I never read any of the Reacher books but Alan Ritchson seems to be too "neanderthal" to be such a super-sleuth.  He seems more like the incredible hulk than someone who has the high intelligence of a super MP.

He’s got some depth 

 

[Weave]

3 hours ago, shrader said:

The only way those Reacher movies could have been accurate to the character was if the rest of the cast was played by the lollypop guild.  Those movies are the perfect example of the ego of Cruise.  Apparently Ritchson was originally worried that he was too small for the role.

Obviously everyone has a unique mental image when they read a book.  In my head the Reacher character wasn’t a Conan the Barbarian build.  Ritchson, to me, is too bulky for the role.

And Cruise was just plain wrong for it.

Edited Monday at 10:20 PM by Weave

[shrader]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

Obviously everyone has a unique mental image when they read a book.  In my head the Reacher character wasn’t a Conan the Barbarian build.  Ritchson, to me, is too bulky for the role.

And Cruise was just plain wrong for it.

I’ve never read them. But it sure does say a lot when Tom Cruise sees a guy described as 6’5” and muscular and immediately says “hey, I should play that guy”. 
 

So you’ve read them. The stuff mentioned online always says that he is specifically described as being that size. Is that not the case?

[Weave]

31 minutes ago, shrader said:

I’ve never read them. But it sure does say a lot when Tom Cruise sees a guy described as 6’5” and muscular and immediately says “hey, I should play that guy”. 
 

So you’ve read them. The stuff mentioned online always says that he is specifically described as being that size. Is that not the case?

Like I said, everyone develops their own mental image of what they are reading.  For all I know, my take is a minority opinion.  But the n my head he wasn’t hulking, but he was intimidating.  He was also portrayed as athletic, and fast.  More tight end than old school middle linebacker.  Gronk was more like what I pictured, not Brian Bosworth.

Edited yesterday at 12:25 AM by Weave

[shrader]

25 minutes ago, Weave said:

Like I said, everyone develops their own mental image of what they are reading.  For all I know, my take is a minority opinion.  But the n my head he wasn’t hulking, but he was intimidating.  He was also portrayed as athletic, and fast.  More tight end than old school middle linebacker.  Gronk was more like what I pictured, not Brian Bosworth.

That kind of misses the point though. If the author actually paints a certain picture but then you see something else, that’s probably on you… or the author sucks. 
 

But strangely enough, I just heard a random radio discussion of the best Tom Cruise movies. That’s a vomit inducing conversation for me. No mention of Reacher though😆

[SwampD]

On 3/23/2025 at 12:53 PM, DarthEbriate said:

The Wheel of Time tv show is very much hit or miss.

The latest episode (season 3, episode #4) covers one of the passages of "peak fantasy".   * I'll try to define what I mean below.

Basically, one character gets to see critical moments in the history of his people through the eyes of his various ancestors (dad, great granddad, great x40 granddad, etc.) all the way back to the unleashing of evil into the world. Simultaneously, another character gets to see thousands and thousands of possible variations of the future of her life so she plan out how best to help save the world.

And the tv show -- I won't say it was flawless, but it worked really well. They did it! And I'm happy for that.

 

* I'll define a Peak Fantasy passage as "this is what fantasy can be" or "Aha! Only in fantasy can this happen". It's not a single moment or heroics.
For Tolkien for example, it would be (spoilers!) the balrog entering, chasing, closing, thou-shall-not-passing, and falling, and lassoing. Or Bilbo/Gollum meeting, riddling, and then Bilbo putting the ring on and realizing he's invisible and then escaping.

What service don’t I have that Wheel of Time is on?

[DarthEbriate]

4 hours ago, SwampD said:

What service don’t I have that Wheel of Time is on?

That one's on Amazon.