What's in/on Your DVD/VCR/PVR etc

[pxr5]

The Bondsman - Daft horror series with Kevin Bacon. Vibes of Ash vs The Evil Dead and Tucker and Dale vs Evil but with less comedy. A bondsman is brought back to life by the devil to hunt down escaped demons. It's not bad but some of the script is a bit too cheesy and the whole thing seems a bit roughly made, but I've seen a lot worse than this. Short episodes again, which is getting more common with US shows and only 8 of them. A watchable 7/10

[R6GYY]

Strange New Worlds season 3.

At last!

Got Bookish waiting in the wings.

[pxr5]

M3gan 2.0 - The first movie was decent, this new one isn't. All the charm and substance has gone to leave us with a run-of-the-mill action/sci-fi movie. 2 hours was way, way too long and I'd lost the will near the end. Shame really 3/10

[Matt2112]

M3gan 2.0 - The first movie was decent, this new one isn't. All the charm and substance has gone to leave us with a run-of-the-mill action/sci-fi movie. 2 hours was way, way too long and I'd lost the will near the end. Shame really 3/10

Not seen this yet; but that really is a shame as the first one was very good indeed and had far more depth to it than most tech-gone-wrong movies.

[pxr5]

M3gan 2.0 - The first movie was decent, this new one isn't. All the charm and substance has gone to leave us with a run-of-the-mill action/sci-fi movie. 2 hours was way, way too long and I'd lost the will near the end. Shame really 3/10

Not seen this yet; but that really is a shame as the first one was very good indeed and had far more depth to it than most tech-gone-wrong movies.

The 2 movies are not alike at all, which is where it went wrong. 

[pxr5]

Novocaine - Now this was a better movie after the disappointing M3gan.2.0. A mild-mannered assistant bank manager turns to extreme lengths to get back his girlfriend who is taken hostage during a bank robbery. Thing is our hero has a genetic disorder and he can't feel pain (which is a real thing - I looked it up). I imagine the writers must have had a field day coming up with ways for our man to get hurt and abused. I was expecting this to be a bit lighter and more a comedy. Sure there are some funny moments but it does deserve its R rating for the amount of blood and gore. I had to look away a couple of times such was the the violence at times. But it never became gratuitous, as he's dealing with some really nasty guys. The whole thing is a hoot and my wife and I loved it. 8.5/10

[Thenop]

We tried Gladiator 2.
The original has always been a favourite, so meeting expectations would be a challenge anyway.

In hindsight, the CGI baboons should have made us turn it off then and there. But we soldiered on until we could no more.

I am sure there is a group of people that liked it, but the main premise (the Hanno/Lucius character being Maximus' son) is simply too far fetched. The references to the original are countless making it painfully obvious how much less of a flick it is.

Won't be finishing it.

[dom]

Watched Hidden Figures last night - great film

[R6GYY]

Amongst other things, Dune: Prophecy

[pxr5]

Finished The Four Seasons over a couple of nights. It was pretty good. A second series is in the works.

[Fishy]

Toxic Town

[pxr5]

We're watching a Dutch/Flemish TV show on Ch4 called Arcadia. A scifi set in an alternative reality, people live by their scores - the higher their score the better they are treated and the lower obviously it's pretty shit (actually sounds a good way of doing things lol). A family's father is sent to the 'outside' for frigging his daughters' scores and it follows his wife and 4 daughters as they try to figure what's going on. It's actually quite good, but an offer from Netflix to globalise it was turned down so there wasn't a lot of cash. Also filmed in lockdown so not many extras. But oddly these issues actually lend the show a rather grim, empty and quite depressing feel to it. I like it and there is a second series too. 7.5/10

[The Picnic Wasp]

Breaking Bad - I know, I know, but I've only quite recently joined the internet TV community. I've just finished watching the last series having binged on one or sometimes two episodes per night. Two was unavoidable on occasion as the storyline was so gripping. Phenomenal writing and acting from beginning to end and having been astonished today to discover it first aired in 2008, I can't believe I avoided spoilers in all that time. This was just an inadvertent occurrence but quite fortunate. I don't think I've ever experienced anything so bizarrely wonderful on TV before and I'm now looking forward to the Saul spinoff and El Camino.

[Matt2112]

Breaking Bad - I know, I know, but I've only quite recently joined the internet TV community. I've just finished watching the last series having binged on one or sometimes two episodes per night. Two was unavoidable on occasion as the storyline was so gripping. Phenomenal writing and acting from beginning to end and having been astonished today to discover it first aired in 2008, I can't believe I avoided spoilers in all that time. This was just an inadvertent occurrence but quite fortunate. I don't think I've ever experienced anything so bizarrely wonderful on TV before and I'm now looking forward to the Saul spinoff and El Camino.

El Camino is good and can be safely watched chronologically between Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.  BCS in my opinion is at least as good as Breaking Bad.  All the qualities that made BB exceptional are in BCS, yet honed even more precisely.

Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn are quite extraordinary in BCS; their performances alone are worth the ticket price.

I'm (still) working through BB again, but now knowing what I know from BCS - not that there's any references as such in BB to the events in BCS (though of course BCS has certain definite prequel elements to BB).

I'd say you're in for a treat.

[Matt2112]

Nosferatu (2024)

Robert Eggers' follow-up to The Northman, which was a huge disappointment after the excellent oddity of The Lighthouse.

Unfortunately his adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel and the timeless Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror from 1922 is all 21st century style and no substance.

The cinematography and production design is lavish and sumptuous, but all the crucial elements - script, story, suspense, eeriness, dread - are horribly underdeveloped.

Add in some overwrought performances that verge on the comical (only Willem Defoe seems to know how to perfectly pitch his role) and this all adds up to (another) substantial let down.

I hope Eggers rediscovers his form for his next project, Werwulf, due in 2026.

Rating: **