The Fantastic Cavalcade of Cinematic Splendor (a.k.a. What are you watching?)

DeeJayK

All-Pro
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Name
Keith
I couldn't find a "what are you watching?" thread, so figured I'd start one as a companion to the "what are you listening to?" thread.

I just got done watching the Ukrainian movie Atlantis (Атлантида), and wanted to share. This film was made in 2019/2020 and is set in 2025 in the immediate aftermath of a war in which Ukraine has improbably defeated Russia (talk about life imitating art, huh?). There's not a lot of plot per se, but it really does an incredible job of evoking the immense tragedies wrought by war, some of which last well after the shooting has stopped.

Beyond the strange parallels to the current situation, it's a very cinematically interesting film, consisting of only 28 mostly wide, long shots over its 1.5 hour plus running time.

It's definitely worth a watch. AFAIK it's available in the US only for rent via Apple TV, or via the subscription service Fandor, which is how I watched it.


- K
 
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Past few days have been binge watching some older movies like Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Director's Cut) on my new toy, a 4K OLED TV. For years I've been watching stuff on a Panasonic Viera plasma TV and, while it has a great 1080p picture, literally all of the TVs in the family & extended family have been updated to 4K units except for the one that I watch stuff on. The ironic part of it being that in all of the family I'm the person that watches the most movies and would be considered the resident 'movie buff'. Heck, even my laptop [Dell XPS with OLED UHD] has a better screen then than the plasma. I finally said heck with it and got a new TV from Costco using a few years worth 'rewards' certificates to bring the price down.

I've also gone back and rewatched the S2 of Picard from the beginning, Moonknight, and the Halo episodes. I'm contemplating a Star Wars marathon next in anticipation of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
 
I've also gone back and rewatched the S2 of Picard from the beginning, Moonknight, and the Halo episodes. I'm contemplating a Star Wars marathon next in anticipation of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
I'm not sure I want to see the Halo show, I don't like their vision of the Spartans from what I've seen. I always pictured Master Chief and his cohorts as tragic, scarred (physically as well as mentally/emotionally) but intelligent and consummately trained figures, and not athletic, ruthless badasses with rippling muscles and scarcely any sign of being cyborgs.

I am cautiously excited for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I love Anson Mount's Pike so far, and the newest Spock iteration seems pretty good too.
 
Of all things I didn't think I would ever voluntarily watch, I am currently over the half-way point of the oddly intriguing South Korean series "Mr Sunshine" on Netflix. Finished episode 12 last night, so 12 more to go. It is somewhat "strange" but oddly fascinating.
 
Of all things I didn't think I would ever voluntarily watch, I am currently over the half-way point of the oddly intriguing South Korean series "Mr Sunshine" on Netflix. Finished episode 12 last night, so 12 more to go. It is somewhat "strange" but oddly fascinating.
Hmmm...the short encapsulation of this one on IMDB ("A young boy who ends up in the U.S. after the 1871 Shinmiyangyo incident returns to Korea at a historical turning point and falls for a noblewoman.") doesn't exactly grab me, either. That said, I was heretofore completely ignorant of Shinmiyangyo so it seems this could be an opportunity to address that gap. I'll add it to my list.


- K
 
@DeeJayK

It is somewhat of an odd duck so to speak, but I find it to be worth the time, also filling some gaps in the general history dept.

One thing is for certain, if one is a button counter in the military history dept as to guns and such, entertainment is best found elsewhere, or the USMC has kept it under their hat that they used Lee-Enfield rifles in certain theathers... I think the production company ran by a "Make do and mend" policy approach. 😂
 
Almost anything made in north west Europe is full of it, Keith ...

Oh, and everyone smokes cigarettes ...
The tobacco companies mustn't be banned from that form of placement advertising in the EU.
Yeah, I'm familiar with the genre. I was hoping you might share some recent examples you liked.

The most recent such movie I've watched was I Onde Dager (The Trip), which I'd put in the "airplane movie" category (i.e. it's fine to kill some time, but not great cinema).

- K
 
After taking a break to watch "Sanctuary", I started "Stargate SG-1" again this evening, Season 2 3.

edit - oops
 
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Yeah, I'm familiar with the genre. I was hoping you might share some recent examples you liked.

The most recent such movie I've watched was I Onde Dager (The Trip), which I'd put in the "airplane movie" category (i.e. it's fine to kill some time, but not great cinema).

- K
Sorry, Keith. I misunderstood.

Try:

Deadwind

The Chestnut Man

Bordertown
Bordertown Mural Murders (film)

The Mire 97 (a bit strange ... quite menacing )

The Case
 
I watched the finale of the first season of Severance from Apple TV. The series imagines a dystopian near future in which a technology has been developed that allows a person's work memories to be completely disconnected (i.e. severed) from their non-work life.

The entire series was some of the most gripping television I've seen in ages. Definitely recommended.


- K

P.S. For camera nerds one of the characters in the show photographs important events using a Leica M6 (although the Leica badge has been replaced by that of the fictional evil corporation/cult behind the psyche-splitting technology, Lumon Industries).
 
Finished with Stargate SG-1. Will be starting Stargate Atlantis next. edit - Scratch that, I'm going to break up the series. On to Warehouse 13.

Awaiting delivery of Battlestar Galactica Blood and Chrome, People of Earth (series), and Season 1 of Resident Alien.
 
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