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

[Matt2112]

Ad Astra

Yes, I took a ridiculously long amount of time to get round to seeing this (it was released in 2019), but finally see it I did.

This had very mixed reviews, with its central theme of "2001 meets Apocalypse Now" being received with wildly varying degrees of success, but overall I'm in the camp that liked that idea and its execution; I loved the technical aspects, especially the Oscar-nominated sound mixing which is glorious in Atmos.

Its script is far from perfect, with some of the action set-pieces creating jarring tonal shifts, but taken in the more cerebral spirit in which it's meant this is a solidly enjoyable sci-fi.

Rating: ***

[Matt2112]

The Raid

There's a recently released film doing the rounds in cinemas called The Furious, a Hong Kong production that is getting rave reviews which almost always cite favourable comparisons to Gareth Evans's brutal Indonesian action-thriller from - wow! - 2011.

So, ahead of seeing The Furious, I went into the spare room where I knew my Blu-ray of The Raid would be somewhere amongst quite deep clutter, and happily I found it almost immediately, in a wire frame slot near the top of a bluray storage tower that is sticking up out of various rubble.

Of course, plot and characterisation are secondary here to spectacularly violent, bone-crunching, bloody, gory fight scenes which are stunningly staged and choreographed - at the end of the numerous combat set-pieces, I could feel my heart racing and pounding as if I'd just done a punishing HIIT session.

And yet, after around 15 years, while it rightly retains a cult classic status and clearly still acts as a benchmark of its genre, its impact for me has diminished a little if only because the novelty factor has worn off.

Rating: ***

[dom]

Episode 1 of Your Friends and Neighbours with  John Hamm, enjoyable - hopefully it stays this good

[pxr5]

Series 4 of From. Still more questions than answers - Lost2? And another season to come yet.

[Fishy]

Silo s3

[Matt2112]

The Furious

Saw this on a long overdue trip to Bradford's marvellous Pictureville cinema, which is housed in the National Science & Media Museum.

As mentioned in my re-review of The Raid, this Hong Kong martial arts action thriller has been widely touted as the best example of the genre since Gareth Evans's now cult classic, so I went into this with high expectations.

And while the numerous combat scenes are indeed "batshit insane", technically impressive and at their best when the main character starts using a hammer (one of many reasons for the 18 rating), they do become quite repetitious and, for all the bloody carnage on display, sometimes verge on becoming quite...boring.

This will land much more satisfyingly for hardcore fans of the genre I'm sure, but for more casual observers like me, overall it just struck me as okay...ish.

Rating: **

[pxr5]

Series 3 of The Terror. The first season was excellent and begins with the Royal Navy's polar explorer ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. The ships are frozen and trapped in the ice, and those aboard must survive the harsh weather conditions and each other, while being stalked by an elusive menace. The second season is about a Japanese community held in interment camps in California during WWII. It's not too bad, but nowhere near as good as the first season. Season 3 is set in an asylum where a normal joe gets interred against his will whilst facing a menacing patient locked behind a silver door - only 6 eps and it's ok but nothing to shout about (Dan Stevens stars).

[Thenop]

Watched Crime 101 on Prime.
Ok-ish. Like the scenery, it is situated in Los Angeles..we see some Michael Mann type long shots.
It is overly long though at 143 minutes.
Mark Ruffalo is a highlight, like always. Halle Berry is OK, and Thor plays a Thief/Robber that avoids casualties.

Nick Nolte's cameo was surprising and difficult to understand.

I am giving it a 65/100

[pxr5]

We are watching 7 Up from the very beginning. It started in 1963 with the group at 7 year old. Currently watching 28 Up (1984) and trying to get them all in before 70 Up is aired later this year. An absolutely fascinating watch, my only gripe is how repetitive it is - but that's due to us watching them all close together, whereas I supposed they were meant to be watched every 7 years. What really strikes me now is how miserable they all seem to be, was it really like that in the 70s? It's all on ITVX.

[Fishy]

Cape Fear up to ep 9 now

[pxr5]

The Last Frontier -  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26862142/ - the first episode was excellent, and one wonders how this story could continue for another 9 one-hour long ones. The Alaskan scenery is fantastic though and the acting is very, very good.

[pxr5]

Up to 49 Up now. So 2005/6. Some have dropped out though, but I understand they will all be back for 70 Up.