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

[pxr5]

Thunderbolts* - I don't know why I put myself through these Marvel movies anymore. The juice has well and truly dried up and this is yet another formulaic offering from a studio that was once revered. It's just dull and a movie by-numbers. It has no charm at all (though I do think some for was made in this regard, but it doesn't work). I don't care about any of the characters and the story is so strained it almost hurts. Even the effects are yawn-inducing - tick, tick, tick - it's all been seen before.

I'm really hoping that the new Fantastic Four movie brings us something different and anything except this regurgitated Marvel crap. For Thunderbolts* - 3/10  Oh yeah and the asterisk in the name of the movie is for Thunderbolts - *The New Avengers - which alas means more to come.

[R6GYY]

Finished a few things recently.

Shetland - all 9 seasons and eagerly awaiting the next (Nov 25?)

Dune: Prophecy - overall very enjoyable. I had a big problem early on with the Desmond Hart character and his apparent 'super-powers', but luckily everything was explained through science later.

Ballard - this spin-off from Bosch was very good indeed. So much so that we have now started on Bosch which is new to us.

Bookish - hmm... 6 episodes (3 x 2 part stories). Mixed feelings about this but will continue with it there are more produced.

[R6GYY]

Currently watching . .

On my own:

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.

Episode 1 - back with a bang following the cliff-hanger of season 2.
Episode 2 - a bit of relief from the the tension and action of the last couple of Gorn-infested episodes with a weird 'alternate reality' type episode.

Rick And Morty season 8.

With Sian:

Last Saturday on C4 catchup: Angel Has Fallen. We've seen it before, but the "Has Fallen" films are worth re-visiting from time to time.

Bosch season 1. Hits the ground running. Our kind of thriller. Excellent! Some great jazzy type music too.

Side note - I was sure I recognized Raynard Waits' mother and indeed I did. None other than Veronica Cartright who of course I first saw in the original Alien back in 1979.

[Thenop]

Bosch season 1. Hits the ground running. Our kind of thriller. Excellent! Some great jazzy type music too.

Side note - I was sure I recognized Raynard Waits' mother and indeed I did. None other than Veronica Cartright who of course I first saw in the original Alien back in 1979.

Happy to see you like it, it's very good. I quite like the character developments over the years, and there's enough of the lighter stuff in there to keep it from getting grim.

And plenty of jazz, that is a bonus!

[pxr5]

Nine Perfect Strangers season 2. Utter tosh.

[Fishy]

Smoke.... first episode

[pxr5]

28 Years Later - I've seen lots of zombie horror movies, and TV shows, and not one of them comes even close to this 3rd in the series of the 28 films. It really is tremendous. 

The UK has been quarantined by the rest of the world due to the rage virus and a group of survivors are living on Holy Island (cut off from the mainland except for a temporary causeway). A young lad goes to the mainland with his father to basically go through his initiation. But not only are these latest infected fast as fuck, some have developed a modest intelligence. I've mentioned before about 28 weeks later that some of the infected then are naked. In this every one is - of course they are, duh; it's where every other zombie movie has gone wrong. But if a movie could ever get the 'realism' right then this one most certainly has. I wish I could say more about the plot, but it would really spoil anyone's viewing, suffice to say it's a roller-coaster. The young actor playing Spike is stunning and Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes are similarly brilliant. There is another well known actor too, but I won't spoil who it is. The ending is crazy and a real wtf moment - but I loved it. Oh, just go and watch it: it's a masterpiece of the horror genre and a real buzz in all of the dross movies we get these days. So easily a 10/10

[pxr5]

The Sandman season 2 - The first season was excellent and this new offering in continuing in the same vein. It's not as polished as the first series and feels a bit more forced, but a decent watch nonetheless - only 3 eps in so far though.

[Fishy]

Smoke.... first episode

Up to ep 7..it's very good...

[Fishy]

The Ballad of Wallis Island

[pxr5]

One Piece series 1. How did I miss this gem of a TV Show that first aired in 2023? I'm really not a big fan of Manga or Anime, apart from a few movies (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle etc.), so I wasn't expecting much from this really. Turns out this is massive in the Manga world and this is a TV series based on the comic series. I suppose the producers had an awful lot to live up to and respect the source material. In this regard I think they succeeded brilliantly and despite most of the actors being non-Japanese they absolutely kept that weird Japanese style. At times it borders on being childish, but it doesn't matter because it's the Manga way. The characters and locations really are something to behold and it feels like it's all jumping straight from the pages of a comic. The feel of it, the effects, the action really is top notch for a TV show and it just rolls along at a great pace - and who doesn't love pirates. As an adventure story this really sets a high bar and the 8 episodes flew by. My wife and I loved it and a second series in in the works - thankfully. Simply brilliant, feel good TV. A rip roaring 10/10

[Fishy]

Finished off Smoke..it was very good

[pxr5]

Revival - Based on a comic apparently. Lots of dead bodies come back to life in this thriller/sci-fi/horror. When it first started I thought it was a comedy, but isn't advertised as such, but maybe it was all just a bit too cheesy. I stuck with it and it does get a lot better as it goes on and the 8 episodes wrap up the story with a decent conclusion. Acting is quite poor overall but that might be due to its weak script. I'm sounding harsh, but I actually quite enjoyed it. 6.5/10

[Fishy]

Hostage

[Thenop]

Watching Amazon Prime, for which I pay 5,99/month (being bumped up from 2,99 last year, a 100% increase) and all of sudden there's a new button. 'Go Ad Free'. Turns out they have introduced commercials, in the midst of shows and movies, at random it seems unless you pay another 2,99.
I a not a cheapskate, I pay for everything but this is a bit of a move. No doubt the next step is 'buy this' button during the commercials.