What Did You Watch? April 25th (Saturday)
David Johnston
On W, some stupid Pierce Brosnan thing where he plays this divorce
lawyer and there's another divorce lawyer and neither of them can even
spell professional ethics. But they fall in love and honestly I don't
care. I didn't even watch it all.
But after that there was a very appealing movie called "Stranger Than
Fiction" with Will Ferrell as the guy who hears an author narrating
his life. I don't think much of his career after leaving SNL, but
Stranger Than Fiction is a real exception. I enjoyed that movie more
than pretty much anything I've watched in the last year or so.
Murdoch Mysteries: The biggest anachronism yet as they introduce the
Bulgarian umbrella trick about 50 or 60 years ahead of schedule. This
episode marks the return of Murdoch's greatest frustration, the Evil
Canadian Spook Who Is Untouchable By The Law. That Murdoch's Canada
even has spies is of course a bit of an anachronism in itself but I
last saw him when he was a concocting a Men From Mars hoax to cover
his war-dirigible experiments. Man's an idiot, but a well-connected
idiot. We got to meet his arch-enemy, the insidious Prussian red
herring...I mean spy. And the relationship with Dr. Ogden is now well
and truly down the tubes. Should really have kept her trap shut.
Instead he's fallen into bland infatuation with a rather less
interesting woman.
I also took in Spikes new show about trying to simulate combat between
various warrior cultures who never met. I got a kick out of one thing
in the Viking versus Samurai tests. First they showed that a katana
really is dramatically good at cleaving people (or at least pig
carcasses). Then they dressed a pig carcass in Viking chainmail and
showed how it would have rendered the katana pretty much ineffective.
But of course the samurai also had longbows and these anti-armour
clubs which would have done a number on any armour anyone ever built.
The Samurai wins, which really is as it should be, considering that
they were using centuries more advanced technology. The trash talk
got a little annoying, though.
What did you watch?
Steve Newport
Dawnie
wrote:
>But after that there was a very appealing movie called "Stranger Than
>Fiction" with Will Ferrell as the guy who hears an author narrating
>his life. I don't think much of his career after leaving SNL, but
>Stranger Than Fiction is a real exception. I enjoyed that movie more
>than pretty much anything I've watched in the last year or so.
I watched it on the big screen for Emma Thompson and was pleasantly
surprised by Will Ferrell. Like you, I didn't think much of him then.
Oh, and I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance too.
>What did you watch?
CRIMINAL MINDS, which I thought was pretty weak because I could tell
in the first few minutes that it was the little boy who did it.
They're profilers, for goodness' sake, I expect them to notice these
things eg. the boy looking uncomfortable on TV, and on the couch when
the parents were first interviewed. You'd think they'd be able to tell
the difference between grief and the inability to feel remorse.
Audie Murphy's Ghost
> But after that there was a very appealing movie called "Stranger Than
> Fiction" with Will Ferrell as the guy who hears an author narrating
> his life. I don't think much of his career after leaving SNL, but
> Stranger Than Fiction is a real exception. I enjoyed that movie more
> than pretty much anything I've watched in the last year or so.
I saw this a year or two ago and was surprised by how much I liked it.
I can't stand Will Ferrell, but I liked him here, which says more about
Will Ferrell's career choices than my taste, I think. I thought the
ending was a bit of a cheat, but never mind.
> What did you watch?
A sci-fi movie I'd never heard of called Code 46, which was on MGM HD.
Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton. Tim's an investigator, Morton's a
document thief. The movie's set toward the end of the 21st century, I
think (this is not made clear) and what struck me most about it was the
depiction of the future world in backgrounds and interior shots. All
the genetic stuff was fine, but the way the world was made to look was
striking.
Arthur Lipscomb
"Dawnie" <siok...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:9l18v4dhv37jc18gg...@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:25:46 GMT, David Johnston <da...@block.net>
> wrote:
>
>>But after that there was a very appealing movie called "Stranger Than
>>Fiction" with Will Ferrell as the guy who hears an author narrating
>>his life. I don't think much of his career after leaving SNL, but
>>Stranger Than Fiction is a real exception. I enjoyed that movie more
>>than pretty much anything I've watched in the last year or so.
>
> I watched it on the big screen for Emma Thompson and was pleasantly
> surprised by Will Ferrell. Like you, I didn't think much of him then.
> Oh, and I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance too.
I've been sitting on Stranger Than Fiction for several months now. I need
to get around to watching it (mainly for the commentary); maybe I will
today.
>
>>What did you watch?
>
> CRIMINAL MINDS, which I thought was pretty weak because I could tell
> in the first few minutes that it was the little boy who did it.
> They're profilers, for goodness' sake, I expect them to notice these
> things eg. the boy looking uncomfortable on TV, and on the couch when
> the parents were first interviewed. You'd think they'd be able to tell
> the difference between grief and the inability to feel remorse.
I initially suspected the boy (asking to go play was really suspicious) but
I completely forgot about the boy in favor of the cop's obvious involvement.
So what else did I watch? I didn't watch much broadcast TV. Other than
Criminal Minds, I watched my DVR of Grey's Anatomy. This was a pretty
forgettable episode. Faking the medical emergencies was dumb beyond belief.
I don't remember everything I watched but I think it was mainly blu-rays. I
had rented "Doubt" from Netflix which I watched that morning. It was as
expected, an involving story with great acting. I'm not sure if the priest
did it or not. But I read a theory that the priest was innocent of the
charges but secretly gay. I actually think that theory makes a lot of
sense. Without anything else from Netflix I was able to tackle some items
in my personal collection. I decided make it a Sci Fi/Horror night with:
"The Arrival"
*Finally* a decent transfer topped off with 7.1 surround sound. This could
have made an interesting TV series, sort of like The Invaders.
"Hellraiser"
It never looked this good and the sound quality was great and really did
justice to the film's score. I *need* Hellraiser 2-4 on Blu-ray, now. I
had broken down and decided to watch 2 & 3 on DVD but then as I went to grab
my Hellraiser 2 DVD, I saw my Event Horizon blu-ray which I had also been
planning on watching...
"Event Horizon"
Another good transfer with an informative commentary track. I really don't
get what some of the complaints were about. It seemed like some people
didn't like the director and completely dismissed the movie without really
giving it a chance. Sure there were some cheesy moments but overall it was
a solid story. It was clear to me at least, the ship was trying to
communicate with the crew and it was not until Fishburne said he was going
to destroy the ship that the ship decided to kill the crew.
Me
"David Johnston" <da...@block.net> wrote in message
news:gsp7v49uprpludk2m...@4ax.com...
Patty Winter
"Ashes to Ashes"--The Season 1 finale, which didn't turn
out as Alex had expected. I wonder what her challenge will
be in Season 2 (it's now airing in the UK, right?) and
whether she'll make it home after that.
Branagh's "Henry V"--Just bits. I ran across it on Encore
(actually MoviePlex) as I was cueing up the tape to watch
AtoA. So I stopped playback of the latter a few times to
watch some of my favorite scenes from HV. I actually just
watched quite a bit of this a few weeks ago when I was
going through some tapes and DVDs for a project for the
Shakespeare reading group that I attend. I still think
it's Branagh's best film.
Patty
Ubiquitous
wrote:
>What did you watch?
AMC Underground: Partially watched a movie I didn't find interesting.
Married with Children: In addition to what aired on CW, TVland had a
marathon.
Huckabee: Charming guy. He had Howie Mandel as a guest. I've never
really liked him since I first saw him on Laugh Trax, but he did have a
funny clip of him tricking Michael Phelps popping out of a box dressed
up like a butterfly yelling "I am a butterfly!" in public. Howie also
recounted how he, a germaphobe, dealt with his little girl having to use
the bathroom and falling ito a ravene and getting covered with mud and
filth.
South Park:
Cartman as The Coon (heh) discovers another masked vigilante stealing
his thunder. Was it spoofing The Watchmen?
Another ep which lampooned Obama's recession.
Cheaters: Last night's had some WTF moments. Some guy's wife was
cheating on him with his brother and the confrontation occurred at a
yard party of some sort. Things got pretty ugly between the three and at
some point a fourth man in a bikini came out wielding a running
weed-whacker that the security crew wrestled to the ground. The other
case involved a gay couple with a confrontation at a dog park the
cheater was sneaking hook-ups with a third man.
--
It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
Audie Murphy's Ghost
> South Park:
> ... Another ep which lampooned Obama's recession.
Oh, I see. Science fiction!
Ubiquitous
No, those were the "global warming" eps.
Mason Barge
"Audie Murphy's Ghost" <takebac...@2008.com> wrote in message
news:270420090821260222%takebac...@2008.com...
Yeah. I try not to respond to political posts on r.a.t., but blaming Obama
for the recession is downright silly.
I imagine we'll have some wicked inflation at some point in the near future,
especially if gasoline runs up again. Anyone who wants to bash Obama just
needs to wait until he's been in office a few years, then you guys can point
fingers like wrestling referees.
Steve Newport
political posts on r.a.t., but blaming Obama for the recession is
downright silly.
It's usually done by the same short-sighted idiots who deny Global
Warming, and who think everything was fine until the Democrats took back
Congress.
Antonio E. Gonzalez
<takebac...@2008.com> wrote:
It's called projection; in this case, projecting Bush's f'ups on
Obama . . .
--
- ReFlex76
I pledge allegiance, to the flag,
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic, for which it stands,
one nation, indivisible,
wiht liberty and justice for all.
Ubiquitous
>>> South Park:
>>> ... Another ep which lampooned Obama's recession.
>>
>> Oh, I see. Science fiction!
>
>Yeah. I try not to respond to political posts on r.a.t., but blaming
>Obama for the recession is downright silly.
I stand corrected: Obama's depression.
But seriously, the economy started to tank around the time it became
clear that Obama, a man who is no fan of free enterprise and loves
big tax and spend gubberment, was going to win the election.
>I imagine we'll have some wicked inflation at some point in the near
>future, especially if gasoline runs up again.
Obama's policies will do that fine on their own. Hopefully the damage
will be limited by being a one-termer and alame duck after his second
year in office.
--
It's now time for healing, and for fixing the damage the Democrats did
to America.