What DVD's are we Watching?

[wolf]

Doctor Who - Spearhead from Space

First Pertwee.

[Happy Monkey]

I, Claudius. Always wonderful.

[infinite monkey]

3 more from Odd Lots Moviepalooza:

Love, Actually--I'd passed it by a few times, thinking I really didn't want the typical old romantic comedy. I'd heard good things though. It was really great. Maybe i was in the right mood but I laughed! I cried! I spent 3 bucks! What a cast. Against my will I remembered how damn charming Hugh Grant can be...he sort of plays the same guy but he is a charmer. I was struck by how strikingly differently beautiful Keira Knightley is (once again), how sensationally not-even-trying sexy Liam Neeson is, how classic Emma Thompson is. Oh, and Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Rowan Atkinson...and the kid who played the little boy was darling.

Then I watched An Education, with Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan. Emma Thompson was also in this one (all three I watched today had ties.) It was pretty good, but I've always like Peter Sarsgaard. About an Oxford-bound 16 year old who meets Peter's character and sort of changes plans.

Last I watched Kinsey, which was of course about Alfred Kinsey. Very good movie. It starred Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, and Sarsgaard was also in it, along with Chris O'Donnell, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt, and Tim Curry.

Quite a fruitful movie foray today, I must say.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by infinite monkey

3 more from Odd Lots Moviepalooza:

Love, Actually--I'd passed it by a few times, thinking I really didn't want the typical old romantic comedy. I'd heard good things though. It was really great. Maybe i was in the right mood but I laughed! I cried! I spent 3 bucks! What a cast. Against my will I remembered how damn charming Hugh Grant can be...he sort of plays the same guy but he is a charmer. I was struck by how strikingly differently beautiful Keira Knightley is (once again), how sensationally not-even-trying sexy Liam Neeson is, how classic Emma Thompson is. Oh, and Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Rowan Atkinson...and the kid who played the little boy was darling.

.

That matches my experience of Love, Actually. Avoided it for years then finally watched it because it came on tv and I was just in that mood...and really enjoyed it. I too had forgotten how charming Grant can be.

@ Wolf: what did you think of that? I found the Pertwee era a little difficult to get to grips with. Much as I love the actor, I didn't much like the feel of that era of Who. But I know a fair few Whovians who rate it very highly.

[wolf]

Pertwee is my second favorite Doctor, with Tom Baker being number one.

I actually enjoy the great acting (a lot of the guest stars were Royal Shakespeare Company, IIRC), paired with often moderately bad scripts, and laughingly bad special effects, rickety scenery, and all.

And I took special joy in identifying Who set and prop pieces in Blakes 7. Loved Blakes 7, as well. I hear there's talk of bringing it back?

[DanaC]

Yeah, I heard some rumours to that effect.

You know there's a range of Blake's Seven audios by Big Finish.


I always liked Pertwee himself. And there are some excellent co-stars in that era. I just find it visually so off putting. Can't quite put my finger on why. And didn't like the earthbound nature of his early season either. I like the look of the show either side of Pertwee, and I like some of his later episodes.

[wolf]

Party Monster - I will never regard McCauley Culkin in quite the same way ever again. Or Seth Green, but he never held his hands to the sides of his face and screamed.

Radio Bikini - Documentary on the a-bomb tests at Bikini Atoll that I had seen before but didn't realize it until the final scene. Unless that guy has been in similar documentaries as a cautionary tale.

A batch of holiday themed shorts from the makers of Madagascar, Shrek, and How to Train your Dragon. I love those penguins.

Blood: The Last Vampire - Live action version of the anime series

Blood+ - The anime series

[Gravdigr]

Just checked out "In Time" the other night. I really liked it.

Watched "Warrior" last night. Completely predictable, but, it was a lot better than I thought it would be. The story isn't spelled out for you, you kinda have to get into the characters' heads a little too much for my tastes. I don't want to think too much to enjoy a movie, I watch more so I can take a break from thinking.

Also recently saw "Carjacked" (w/Maria Bello), and again, it was better than I could have hoped.

[wolf]

Oh, coolness.

Kung Fu Hustle was on G4 last night (and tonight).

[infinite monkey]

I just watched Crash for the third time. What a great movie. The acting is amazing. Thandie Newton and Terence Howard blow me away. I'm not the biggest Sandra Bullock fan but she is really acting her ass off in this one. Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Pena...the whole cast is wonderful.

It's a look at racism, and it looks at it from so many angles. This is probably one of the best movies of last decade and the more you watch it the more you are mesmerized. Well, by you I mean me.

[wolf]

Lots of netflixin' today.

Watched a British Docudrama from the 1950s, The War Game, which was a simulation of a nuclear attack on a small community that hadn't expected being hit by an a-bomb, but of course, those things don't always fall where you want them. Surprisingly realistic.

Finished out the Father Brown Mysteries, I'm nearly finished the last book in the set as well.

And now I've settled in for a long run of Hikaru No Go. It's an anime about a kid that gets possessed by the spirit of an ancient Go master.

Makes me want to play go, but I don't know how to play, neither do any of my friends, although we keep talking about wanting to learn. There aren't any local go clubs that are still active, so I'm having a hard time breaking into the game. Yes, I know I could just get on the internet go server, but even reading about the game I'm not getting the sense of rhythm about it that I would like to have. And so, I watch Japanese Cartoons instead. There's a Go lesson at the end of every episode.

[BigV]

I play Go.

The single hardest concept for me to grasp, the thing that was the most different from all other games (and I've played many, many games) is that Go is not about the pieces on the board, but about the empty space surrounded by the pieces on the board.

Pente, Reversi, Checkers, these games are played on boards that are similar to a Go board. They have pieces that are similar to Go stones. The first three, the game is happening with the pieces. The score, the strategy, the action, it has mostly to do with the pieces. There is some aspect of the game that has to do with empty space, can you land on an empty square if you want to jump a checker, if I close a gap with my reversi piece I'll connect a block of pieces, there's something to space with these games. But with Go, the whole idea is about space. That was a fundamental difference. When I grasped that, I could see a Go board in an entirely different way.

[wolf]

Atlas Shrugged, Part I is now on Netflix instant.

[BigV]

The Vanishing

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

The Grifters

[wolf]

Not a DVD ... it was actually broadcast on Lifetime tonight ... Gia.

I haven't seen this since it ran on HBO in 1998.

Really weird coincidence that I turned on the TV tonight and there it was.