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

[WildCard]

On 8/2/2019 at 10:48 PM, nfreeman said:

The Sopranos was great and IMHO clearly better than Breaking Bad.

I think it's better so far, but you can't deny that Breaking Bad is one of the very, very few shows where the ending was absolutely perfect. Sopranos, Seinfeld, Game of Thrones...great shows tend to have utterly terrible endings, Breaking Bad did not

[Drunkard]

46 minutes ago, WildCard said:

I think it's better so far, but you can't deny that Breaking Bad is one of the very, very few shows where the ending was absolutely perfect. Sopranos, Seinfeld, Game of Thrones...great shows tend to have utterly terrible endings, Breaking Bad did not

I agree with this. The only show I can think of that had a better ending than Breaking Bad was Six Feet Under. Ash Vs Evil Dead ended awesomely as well, but I'm not counting it because the creators originally planned to do 5 seasons but they got cancelled after just 3.

[nfreeman]

1 hour ago, WildCard said:

I think it's better so far, but you can't deny that Breaking Bad is one of the very, very few shows where the ending was absolutely perfect. Sopranos, Seinfeld, Game of Thrones...great shows tend to have utterly terrible endings, Breaking Bad did not

This is fair.

[ubkev]

Just watched the 2nd Fantastic Beasts movie. Holy cow, that movie was freaking terrible! The only thing in the Harry Potter universe that was worse than that pile of garbage was the flaming pile of garbage that was the last book. I don't even remember what it was called.

[josie]

12 hours ago, ubkev said:

Just watched the 2nd Fantastic Beasts movie. Holy cow, that movie was freaking terrible! The only thing in the Harry Potter universe that was worse than that pile of garbage was the flaming pile of garbage that was the last book. I don't even remember what it was called.

Cursed Child or something? Didn't read it. Also didn't see the 2nd Fantastic Beasts movie. I read a synopsis, saw what they did to a kind, adorable character (alison sudol's role) and said NOPE nope nope. Also didn't think I could stomach more wACkY johnny depp. 

I also ignore Rowling's stupid "elucidating" commentary on the world and leave the universe where I loved it as a kid, and enjoying the first Fantastic Beasts movie. 

[darksabre]

6 minutes ago, josie said:

Cursed Child or something? Didn't read it. Also didn't see the 2nd Fantastic Beasts movie. I read a synopsis, saw what they did to a kind, adorable character (alison sudol's role) and said NOPE nope nope. Also didn't think I could stomach more wACkY johnny depp. 

I also ignore Rowling's stupid "elucidating" commentary on the world and leave the universe where I loved it as a kid, and enjoying the first Fantastic Beasts movie. 

Rowling is basically George Lucas 2.0 at this point, trying to maintain control over something that no longer really belongs to them.

[shrader]

21 minutes ago, josie said:

 Also didn't think I could stomach more wACkY johnny depp.

And yet he continues to get these same roles over and over.  I bet he's got well over 20 movies playing the same exact character, granted that number is inflated a bit from the Pirates movies.

[ubkev]

2 hours ago, josie said:

Cursed Child or something? Didn't read it. Also didn't see the 2nd Fantastic Beasts movie. I read a synopsis, saw what they did to a kind, adorable character (alison sudol's role) and said NOPE nope nope. Also didn't think I could stomach more wACkY johnny depp. 

I also ignore Rowling's stupid "elucidating" commentary on the world and leave the universe where I loved it as a kid, and enjoying the first Fantastic Beasts movie. 

Yeah, that's the book. Bought it, got halfway through it, put it down, will never touch it again. It's a play in book form. That's not a bad thing necessarily, and it's not why the book is horrible. It just is.

This fantastic beats movie is a 2 hour set up where nothing happens except for not so vague references to the Rowling interview where she said Dumbledore was gay. Which they have no intention of ever saying on screen, btw. Holy crap, it sucked.

[josie]

3 hours ago, shrader said:

And yet he continues to get these same roles over and over.  I bet he's got well over 20 movies playing the same exact character, granted that number is inflated a bit from the Pirates movies.

Typecast, easy money. I don't remember the publication, but there was one fairly recently about how he really has no money, and it really painted him as a bit of a *****. Dark and I were watching Living and Loathing in Las Vegas the other day and while he's still wacky in that flick, I miss that Depp. Loved him growing up, Don Juan diMarco, Benny & Joon, Crybaby... I think that whole Alice in Wonderland bs was really the end for me. God I hated that take on the mad hatter.

 

1 hour ago, ubkev said:

Yeah, that's the book. Bought it, got halfway through it, put it down, will never touch it again. It's a play in book form. That's not a bad thing necessarily, and it's not why the book is horrible. It just is.

This fantastic beats movie is a 2 hour set up where nothing happens except for not so vague references to the Rowling interview where she said Dumbledore was gay. Which they have no intention of ever saying on screen, btw. Holy crap, it sucked.

Wow, super glad I didn't waste my hours on earth on it then hahaha  

[French Collection]

Just finished Bohemian Rhapsody, loved it.

I've always liked their music, I will probably focus on it for the next while.

[JujuFish]

While we're on the topic of Depp, my favorite movie of his is What's Eating Gilbert Grape. 

[ubkev]

Hobbs & Shaw was dumb as hell! Loved it! Lots of fun.

[Thorner]

17 hours ago, josie said:

Cursed Child or something? Didn't read it. Also didn't see the 2nd Fantastic Beasts movie. I read a synopsis, saw what they did to a kind, adorable character (alison sudol's role) and said NOPE nope nope. Also didn't think I could stomach more wACkY johnny depp. 

I also ignore Rowling's stupid "elucidating" commentary on the world and leave the universe where I loved it as a kid, and enjoying the first Fantastic Beasts movie. 

Don't like the commentary itself or the fact that she's making it? Because the latter would be ridiculous. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Thorny

[Thorner]

17 hours ago, darksabre said:

Rowling is basically George Lucas 2.0 at this point, trying to maintain control over something that no longer really belongs to them.

The author always has a right to imagine their own characters the way they want them to, as much as anyone. That some expect an author to "shut up", or however one wants to phrase it, about their own views of the characters they created is ridiculous at it's face. She's a talented, successful, free-willed author and human being, she has the right to do whatever she wants regarding, and say whatever she wants about, her own creation, which she is actively still creating as the screenwriter of the Fantastic Beasts series.

Besides, Lucas literally went back and changed, added to, and edited his original creations. The original 7 HP books and 8 movies remain completely unchanged. I have my own issues with CoG, and if one doesn't like the new stuff, or think it's any good, by all means avoid it, or see/read it and dislike it, whatever. But framing her desire in itself to expand the world as "stupid" or somehow "wrong" (as was the implication by the Lucas comparison) is a misfire. 

The fandom screamed for a decade for any little tidbit of info from Rowling they could get. Rowling comes out with some things that the fans don't like and now it's like, "mY cHiLdHoOd!!!"

95% of the supposed info coming from Rowling nowadays anyways is bastardized and morphed into a click bait headline by whatever outlet, bearing little resemblance to what Rowling even said in each case. People have started noticing this and calling them on it, but it's still the reason Rowling hasn't tweeted in forever. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Thorny

[josie]

7 hours ago, Thorny said:

Don't like the commentary itself or the fact that she's making it? Because the latter would be ridiculous. 

While you're not wrong about people overreacting to it, I take offense to shoehorning diversity in. As someone who fully supports diversity, I find purposefully/loudly including it to be more harmful than good- it actually enhances the "otherness" rather than giving valuable context (it also feeds the trolls but who cares what those ***** think). Take the whole "Nagini is a trapped asian woman" thing... not necessary. Genuinely rather creepy, from an exotification standpoint. 

Some of her statements I'm fully on board with. Dumbledore being gay, sure- it makes a ton of sense- it's alluded to in the originals. But then she keeps it out of the newer films. You can't stand up and say that, as the creator, and then not follow through. That's where I believe a lot of the fan's displeasure comes from. 

For someone who claims to be so fully in tune with the open minded ideology, she doesn't back it up. Casting and standing by Johnny Depp, who at the time of casting and arguably now, was a controversial/problematic figure during the metoo movement, goes against many of her other claims. I have no issue again, with stuff like "oh Malfoy is actually a werewolf" because cool, I like those little "behind the scenes" nuggets you're dropping later on to further enrich the tapestry you've woven- nuggets that you can see pretty plainly in the text if you look. But a lot of it doesn't feel planned, it feels like forced relevance (when it doesn't need to be forced at all!). I take no issue with people of color playing the main trio either (Many adaptations have Hermione black and Harry as ethnically Indian), that's super cool. I do think people misunderstood her condoning this for plays/art/etc. as "rewriting"- which is where some of the misplaced anger lies. That's on the fans. Do your thing (in before black ariel rage). 

The world exists- some people are gonna love the new headcanon stuff, some are gonna stick to the original work as it was written. Again, I'm all for seeing diversity (lots of creatives I follow are craving more "regularly" female characters, we've gotten the extreme badass heroes now which is amazing but... can we also be something besides a trope/a genuine character?), but I also believe if Rowling truly feels this way about many of these issues (which I hope she does, and is not simply going with the "woke trend" some have accused her of), she can use her talents to write new stories, additions, sequels, to further enrich and verify her world moving forward. Have those characters tell these stories, not just her on twitter and then not actually doing anything with it.

I don't want you to think I'm over here rolling my eyes at diversity - rather I'm rolling my eyes at poorly implemented diversity - afterthought diversity for somewhat inexplicable reasons which seem more for publicity/novelty rather than deeply held belief of actual equality, which cheapen the whole idea of it. 

 

well that turned into a book- sorry man- but it touches on a couple things that have kinda been floating around the zeitgeist for a couple years here. She's not as bad as Lucas- but then I feel my opinions on Star Wars and what's happened with it recently are kinda unpopular. 

[darksabre]

7 hours ago, Thorny said:

The author always has a right to imagine their own characters the way they want them to, as much as anyone. That some expect an author to "shut up", or however one wants to phrase it, about their own views of the characters they created is ridiculous at it's face. She's a talented, successful, free-willed author and human being, she has the right to do whatever she wants regarding, and say whatever she wants about, her own creation, which she is actively still creating as the screenwriter of the Fantastic Beasts series.

Besides, Lucas literally went back and changed, added to, and edited his original creations. The original 7 HP books and 8 movies remain completely unchanged. I have my own issues with CoG, and if one doesn't like the new stuff, or think it's any good, by all means avoid it, or see/read it and dislike it, whatever. But framing her desire in itself to expand the world as "stupid" or somehow "wrong" (as was the implication by the Lucas comparison) is a misfire. 

The fandom screamed for a decade for any little tidbit of info from Rowling they could get. Rowling comes out with some things that the fans don't like and now it's like, "mY cHiLdHoOd!!!"

95% of the supposed info coming from Rowling nowadays anyways is bastardized and morphed into a click bait headline by whatever outlet, bearing little resemblance to what Rowling even said in each case. People have started noticing this and calling them on it, but it's still the reason Rowling hasn't tweeted in forever. 

It's the same thing as with Lucas though. Harry Potter is bigger than its creator now. It's Frankenstein's monster. The fans, like with Star Wars, are the franchise now.

The same thing befalls lots of musical groups which is why they tend to call it quits instead of giving in to what their fans want from them. Metallica tried to do what it wanted and their fans revolted, so Metallica gave up and decided giving the fans what they want and taking their money made more sense.

Rowling can say and do whatever she wants to try to control the Harry Potter product, but it belongs to the fans now, and the fans spend the money and the fans get what they want. That's just how this stuff goes.

[Randall Flagg]

I loved and still love Harry Potter. 

I can't wait for all my friends to discover other books tho 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Randall Flagg

[WildCard]

23 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I loved and still love Harry Potter. 

I can't wait for all my fans to discover other books tho 

Malazan

[Randall Flagg]

14 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Malazan

Never heard of it

and that was supposed to say friends, but I was thinking of them as Potter fans so that's why i said that on accident

[WildCard]

2 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Never heard of it

and that was supposed to say friends, but I was thinking of them as Potter fans so that's why i said that on accident

I got @LGR4GM on the series awhile back. It's basically Lord of the Rings but on steroids, and much better written. Can't recommend them enough

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, josie said:

While you're not wrong about people overreacting to it, I take offense to shoehorning diversity in. As someone who fully supports diversity, I find purposefully/loudly including it to be more harmful than good- it actually enhances the "otherness" rather than giving valuable context (it also feeds the trolls but who cares what those ***** think). Take the whole "Nagini is a trapped asian woman" thing... not necessary. Genuinely rather creepy, from an exotification standpoint. 

Some of her statements I'm fully on board with. Dumbledore being gay, sure- it makes a ton of sense- it's alluded to in the originals. But then she keeps it out of the newer films. You can't stand up and say that, as the creator, and then not follow through. That's where I believe a lot of the fan's displeasure comes from. 

For someone who claims to be so fully in tune with the open minded ideology, she doesn't back it up. Casting and standing by Johnny Depp, who at the time of casting and arguably now, was a controversial/problematic figure during the metoo movement, goes against many of her other claims. I have no issue again, with stuff like "oh Malfoy is actually a werewolf" because cool, I like those little "behind the scenes" nuggets you're dropping later on to further enrich the tapestry you've woven- nuggets that you can see pretty plainly in the text if you look. But a lot of it doesn't feel planned, it feels like forced relevance (when it doesn't need to be forced at all!). I take no issue with people of color playing the main trio either (Many adaptations have Hermione black and Harry as ethnically Indian), that's super cool. I do think people misunderstood her condoning this for plays/art/etc. as "rewriting"- which is where some of the misplaced anger lies. That's on the fans. Do your thing (in before black ariel rage). 

The world exists- some people are gonna love the new headcanon stuff, some are gonna stick to the original work as it was written. Again, I'm all for seeing diversity (lots of creatives I follow are craving more "regularly" female characters, we've gotten the extreme badass heroes now which is amazing but... can we also be something besides a trope/a genuine character?), but I also believe if Rowling truly feels this way about many of these issues (which I hope she does, and is not simply going with the "woke trend" some have accused her of), she can use her talents to write new stories, additions, sequels, to further enrich and verify her world moving forward. Have those characters tell these stories, not just her on twitter and then not actually doing anything with it.

I don't want you to think I'm over here rolling my eyes at diversity - rather I'm rolling my eyes at poorly implemented diversity - afterthought diversity for somewhat inexplicable reasons which seem more for publicity/novelty rather than deeply held belief of actual equality, which cheapen the whole idea of it. 

 

well that turned into a book- sorry man- but it touches on a couple things that have kinda been floating around the zeitgeist for a couple years here. She's not as bad as Lucas- but then I feel my opinions on Star Wars and what's happened with it recently are kinda unpopular. 

Lots of good points here, but I have to take issue with the bit on Dumbledore. Sure it’s only been heavily alluded to in the FB movies thus far and not specifically stated, but I’m choosing to give Rowling and the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt here as they’ve only just begun to explore the Dumbledore/Grindelwald relationship in what is a 5 film series: there are 3 more movies to go. 

As we get more in depth into the relationship in the next movie (s) I’m expecting his sexual status to be more specifically stated as it becomes more specifically relevant to the story. 

If the next few come and go and there’s made no mention of it outright, yes, it’s definitely a rather disappointing missed opportunity. 

And with regards to Johnny Depp, didn’t Amber Heard recently admit to fabricating her story against him? She tarnished his reputation and I’m not sure if I can blame Rowling for the casting not knowing how much information she was or was not privy to, and if I can blame her for not firing someone who was being unfairly targeted. But I may not be up on the full story. 

- - - 

What are you thoughts on the new Star Wars? 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Thorny

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, darksabre said:

It's the same thing as with Lucas though. Harry Potter is bigger than its creator now. It's Frankenstein's monster. The fans, like with Star Wars, are the franchise now.

The same thing befalls lots of musical groups which is why they tend to call it quits instead of giving in to what their fans want from them. Metallica tried to do what it wanted and their fans revolted, so Metallica gave up and decided giving the fans what they want and taking their money made more sense.

Rowling can say and do whatever she wants to try to control the Harry Potter product, but it belongs to the fans now, and the fans spend the money and the fans get what they want. That's just how this stuff goes.

I saw Cursed Child in London 2 years ago and it was an incredible experience. It’s a play, and seeing it as such makes a lot more sense out of why the Script Book is how it is. 

Sure, it can be read just like that, but it’s not it’s true form, and it’s not surprising to me that while the play has been extremely well received by theatre goers and fans, those only reading the script come away with a rather more negative view on average. It’s not even written by JKR, it’s just her story idea informing it. It’s nothing like reading the HP books, for those that just jump from one to the other. 

Just for my part. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by Thorny

[pastajoe]

Finished season 3 (the final season) of Jessica Jones on Netflix. No super villain this time, but a formidable non-powered opponent. And significant changes for many of the characters. The ending was a bit sad.

Also watched the final episodes of Legion. It was interesting seeing their universe’s version of David’s father Charles Xavier. But way too much psychedelic visuals that often left me thinking WTF is happening. The ending was a bit anti-climatic.

 

 

[Ogre]

I’m don’t watch much TV but I thoroughly enjoyed the History Channel’s “The Food that Built America”.

[Huckleberry]

Preacher, I kind of like it.  Into the third season now.