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Post by Kimby on Mar 21, 2022 23:22:20 GMT
The Kimbys watched JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH last night. We both had the sensation that we had seen it before, but perhaps we are thinking of another film or documentary that covered the same events. Martin Sheen was almost unrecognizable as FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who presided over an counter-intelligence operation run by, among other agents, Jesse Plemons, who played against type. The leads - Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield and Dominique Fishback, all turned in excellent performances. All in all a very good film, about events I lived during but had no recall of: the rise and fall of The Black Panthers in 1960’s Chicago. www.imdb.com/title/tt9784798/
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 22, 2022 7:46:41 GMT
We watched The Adam Paradox on netflix the other night and thoroughly enjoyed it. A jolly sci-fi romp with an ace cast. I recommend it if you have nothing to do one evening....unchallenging but great fun.
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Post by huckle on Apr 3, 2022 19:43:35 GMT
My movie thing - costume epics with skimpy plot lines, cavalry charges, sword fights, looting and pillaging and lots and lots of geography, so The Trilogy of Polish Nobel Prize winning author Hendryk Sienkieswicz (known in the “West” mostly as the author of Quo Vadis) has been a delight to watch. On the recommendation of Polish and Ukrainian teaching buddies, I had read the books from Gutenberg, free. Thanks to Amazon, I found the films, cheap and used. The era covered is that of the final years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ukrainian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars fight Poles, with much betrayal and changing sides. The Winged Hussars of the Polish cavalry, the pantalooned Cossacks with their shaved heads leaving only one long tuft of hair and the fur lined cone helmeted Tatars are all spectacular in glorious color. We see hangings, spies impaled, deep piles of furs, horse pulled sleds in deep snow, a Ukrainian wedding festival, wolves devouring horses and endless mead drinking. All good fun for me.
The three books/films are 1. With Fire and Sword, 2. The Deluge 3. Fire on the Steppe/Pan Wołodyjowski
I also equally enjoyed the Russian film (2009) of Gogol’s Taras Bulba
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 3, 2022 19:58:51 GMT
I buy more and more used DVDs for next to nothing.
I had been looking for a rare Belgian movie for several years -- Li (English title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) -- and finally found it at a site called DVD Lady, based in the US. But what I actually received was a good quality pirate DVD mailed from the UK. The movie itself is much more gentle than the opening scene.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Apr 4, 2022 19:40:33 GMT
We watched 'The Bubble' on Netflix. Mildly amusing. According to The Radio Times it's the worst film released in the past 12 months. Jeff thought that it was hilarious.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 9, 2022 4:17:50 GMT
Finally got my hands on BEASTS OF NO NATION, a 2015 Netflix movie about a child soldier in a civil war in an unidentified West African nation. Very well done, filmed in a style reminiscent of war journalist footage, with Idris Alba as the Commandant. His character reminded us of Marlon Brando’s Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. www.imdb.com/title/tt1365050/
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 9, 2022 5:00:06 GMT
Did you find it terribly harrowing to watch? I avoided it for fear of that, even though I adore Idris Alba.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 18, 2022 3:30:10 GMT
Actually no. There was a childish optimism even in the worst situations, and Idris Alba’s Commandant had his tender side, too. Not to say horrible things didn’t happen.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 18, 2022 3:54:07 GMT
Mmmmm. Okay, I think. You have to understand that I am a terrible wimp about what I watch.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 19, 2022 4:28:52 GMT
(I thought I already posted this, but no can find. Guess I forgot to push Create Post.) Watched The Green Knight last night. Wow! From the title I was expecting a superhero or action film, but it was actually a charming retelling of an Arthurian legend about a would-be knight on a quest, and the adventures and misadventures that befall him along the way. There’s a lot of magic and the photography is haunting and beautiful. Dev Patel as Sir Gawain is easy to look at, too. Two thumbs up! www.imdb.com/title/tt9243804/
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 19, 2022 6:02:17 GMT
Looks like a major change of pace for Dev Patel.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 19, 2022 19:27:13 GMT
The IMDB trivia section said that they were looking to cast a typical white Anglo Saxon male for the role when they set their eye on Dev Patel in a modeling gig and found him perfectly regal for the role. I thought he was wonderful, running the gamut of emotions and taking what could have been just a campy romp to another level. Plus he cleans up real good!
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Post by casimira on Apr 20, 2022 18:04:14 GMT
I watched a movie on Netflix last evening that was so sad and depressing.
Still Alice which stars Julianne Moore who is a world renown linguistic professor at Columbia University is diagnosed with Familial Alzheimer's disease at age 50.
One sees the rapid deterioration of her memory loss.
Because the disease is hereditary she implores her three children to get tested. One of the three tests positive. It is her oldest daughter who is an aspiring actress in NYC.
It was a difficult movie for me to get through but the script and acting along with the NYC location shots were superb.
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Post by kerouac2 on Apr 20, 2022 18:20:54 GMT
Yes, Still Alice was a pretty tough movie, but for some strange reason I find all Alzheimer's movies kind of tough.
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Post by casimira on Apr 21, 2022 15:46:32 GMT
I'm sure it does Kerouac and can understand why. Just as I'm sure it strikes a cord with many of us who have lived with friends and family and first hand witnessing their decline into oblivion.
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Post by Kimby on Apr 22, 2022 20:48:28 GMT
Watched two movies on airplanes Wednesday. (I love Delta’s seat-back entertainment system!) SPENCER tells the tale of Princess Diana arriving at Sandringham Estate in 1991 for a Royal Family Christmas weekend, a command performance of sorts and clearly a stressful event for her and her sons. Kristen Stewart does a passable job of passing as troubled Diana, though it’s not a comfortable portrayal to watch of The Most Photographed Woman in the World. A lot of angst squeezed into a long weekend. And a whole lot of wardrobe changes, which she rebels against. By 1991, the Wales’s marriage was lurching to its end, and Diana had not yet found her wings. She’s clearly tormented by the royal fishbowl she finds herself in. Though there are at least 12 members of the Royal Family (plus 5 or 6 Corgis and about 8 Golden Retrievers for the “hunting”) most family members are not even mentioned by name. The redhead must be Fergie. The one at the Queen’s heel must be Prince Phillip. The film is really all about Diana. I had not realized that her childhood home was so near Sandringham Estate, and in the film, she agonizes about its being boarded up and falling into decay. The opening scene with an army of chefs unpacking cases and cases of vegetables, meats and fishes, and the recitation before each 3-hour meal preparation began of what all the courses will be and what sauces will be served with each…well, it’s another world we commoners and colonists will never know. It was fun seeing the clothing, some that I remember her wearing. It’s an OK film, but not on my top ten list. www.imdb.com/title/tt12536294/The second film was a 2020 documentary called I AM GRETA, about everyones’s favorite teenaged climate activist and her few years in the spotlight. Her speeches become more biting over time and eventually scathing - who can forget the “How DARE you?!” speech she gave in New York? The background info about the day to day life of a young eco-warrior was interesting, especially the sailboat trip across the Atlantic, taken so she would not be hypocritical by flying. Her dedication is admirable, but her pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears. How dare you, indeed! www.imdb.com/title/tt10394738/
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 29, 2022 5:58:41 GMT
Over on the series thread I reported that I watched the new series The Man Who Fell to Earth & that in the fairly recent past I'd read the book. I also saw the 1976 movie with David Bowie in the theater when it was released. Last night I figured it would be good to watch it again, preparatory to immersing myself in the new tv series. It held my attention from beginning to end. No surprise, Bowie in many ways is the movie, but the whole thing is well done. One thing was that I realized my perception about Bill Nighy as the much older Bowie character was correct despite my having forgotten the original character's name. But another thing really threw me -- that was the amount of full nudity of both men and women in the film, along with rather a lot of blatant sex and foreplay which looks anything but faked. That would have been pretty out-there for a mainstream movie in 1976, so I couldn't understand how I'd forgotten it entirely. It turns out that not recognizing those scenes was not because of faulty memory, but because [Director Nicolas]Roeg watched helplessly as Donald Rugoff, The Man Who Fell To Earth’s American distributor, recut the film, trimming it by 20 minutes ... source. I'm glad the film was restored and consider it two hours and nineteen minutes of my time well spent. www.rottentomatoes.com/m/man_who_fell_to_earth
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 8, 2022 20:04:10 GMT
Our son has signed up for Disney+ tv, he's a bit of a Star Wars fan and there are many shows on the service that he is looking forward to watching. One advantage of his membership is that he can stream on up to 4 devices, different shows at the same time..so he's added the family tv.
Last night we watched Artemis Fowl (or is it Foul?)...meh...not really a grown up film but Jeffers enjoyed it. This afternoon I watched Death on the Nile the Kenneth Branagh version. Not as awful as his last Poirot attempt. The cinematography was good imo. The costumes were lovely too.
On Thursday we watched A Million Ways to Die a comedy western with a Blazing Saddles feel about it. Very funny anyway.
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Post by Kimby on May 12, 2022 2:53:26 GMT
BELFAST, a black and white film set during The Troubles in the late 60’s in a peaceful working class neighborhood in Northern Ireland’s capital. Nine year old Buddy is from a Protestant family but some of his friends and neighbors are Catholic, including the girl he has a large crush on. Sweet story despite the senseless violence of the times.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 13, 2022 8:42:40 GMT
I don't know if any if you watched The Detectorists about 2 chaps passionate about metal detecting..a gentle and very funny comedy BBC series...We loved it. Well a feaure length version has been commissioned something to look forward to..
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Post by bixaorellana on May 13, 2022 13:10:55 GMT
Oooooooo!!! I loved that show! Will it be the same two main actors?
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Post by mickthecactus on May 15, 2022 14:08:02 GMT
On the Town with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and the other one.
Just my sort of film.
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Post by Kimby on May 18, 2022 23:12:06 GMT
C’MON C’MON, is a black and white film about a man who “babysits” for his sister’s son while she helps the boy’s father (her ex) deal with a mental health crisis. The kid is a precocious 9-year old and the uncle (Joaquin Phoenix) is learning how to parent on the fly. A sweet story. www.imdb.com/title/tt10986222/
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Post by biddy on May 21, 2022 2:10:38 GMT
I recently watched the Railway Man on Netflix starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman. It's about a former Japanese prisoner of war who confronts his demons and returns to site of his captivity. The torture scenes are intense be warned.
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Post by mickthecactus on May 21, 2022 6:09:26 GMT
The book is excellent too.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 22, 2022 20:08:18 GMT
I have Dune on my television right now. Not paying too much attention because it just doesn't come across on the small screen.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 22, 2022 20:18:43 GMT
Bixa, the same 2 chaps will be in The Detectorists feature length show.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 22, 2022 22:23:16 GMT
Oh, thank you, Cheery! I love both of those actors & they were just perfect in the tv show.
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Post by patricklondon on Jul 22, 2022 8:27:09 GMT
Did you know there's an internet livestream of North Korean TV? It's a way of wasting a few minutes trying to work out what's going on. Technical presentation is quite slick, but the content can be decidedly odd. You might get what appears to be a serious drama about some heroic doctor, or quite a lot of pretty scener and flowers (and sunsets!), occasionally a variety show or a musical ensemble with a lot of players in military uniforms and girl singers sticking to a quite rigid set of steps. There's the odd football match (the times I've seen it, I think it was an old one repeated - featuring Italy vs. someone else). There are fairly straightforward documentary programmes, and the weather reports are much the same as anywhere else. And there are military parades and Kim doing things - addressing the massed ranks of officials, or visiting factories and hospitals and looking at things. What's peculiar is that they never broadcast his voice, only a commentator presumably describing what he said, often in the most hyper-emotional rhapsodising sort of voice. And whatever he's doing or saying, almost eveyone else in attendance is busy with a notepad. Sometimes they reveal more than they perhaps realise. I saw one piece showing Kim at the handover to a new resident of a house in what appeared to be a new housing estate. Kim hands over the keys, the proud new resident, with plenty of bowing and scraping, opens the door and shows Kim in. As they come oout, there's more bowing and scraping as the camera pulls away for a long shot. And it becomes clear that Kim's only brought a small group of officials with him (all with their notepads). The new resident (if that's what he is) dosn't appear to have any family with him, there's no crowd of enthusiastic citizens, in fact no sign of life anywhere else in the new development, just rows and rows of empty houses. My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 22, 2022 12:13:35 GMT
Only a test pattern at the moment.
I myself sometimes watch Ukraine 24 (a news channel) which as been added to my cable service, from which the Russian channels have been removed.
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