Oh and new Star Trek Discovery! I’m excited for the new season - so far it’s living up to season 2 (and leaving season 1 in the dust… what a mess that was!)
2 Likes
I’d never heard of Shudder (horror film streaming service) but I like that this exists : )
Browsing their list, I’ve only seen a small proportion of them, but I would definitely recommend:
- The Brood
- It Follows
- Housebound (which is substantially a comedy)
- Sightseers (which is completely a comedy)
Things which were already on my to-see list, but which I haven’t actually seen:
- Antiviral
- Prevenge
- Darling
- The Eyes Of My Mother
Things which caught my attention while browsing and sound promising:
- One Cut of the Dead
- The Canal
I’d probably watch all of the documentaries.
Things they don’t have, but which I’ll recommend while I’m here, as they’re amongst my favourite horror films:
- Rosemary’s Baby
- Repulsion
- Night of the Hunter (which I think qualifies, and is a superb film in any case)
- Candyman
- Suspiria (both of them)
- The Babadook
- Don’t Look Now
- The Shining
The recent (2018) “Suspiria” is, despite a common framework, very different to the original film; but on the whole I really liked it, and I’m glad that it’s so much its own creature. I think some aspects may prove a bit divisive for fans of the classic, so YMMV. I like them both.
Some other things I liked from recent years:
“You Might Be The Killer” is a fun spin on the slasher genre.
“Lifechanger” punches well above its budget, and I thought it was great. It must have presented some interesting casting dilemmas, too.
“Anna and the Apocalypse” is a musical about zombies, and an absolute hoot.
1 Like
Meanwhile, watched Only Lovers Left Alive tonight; one of my three favourite Jim Jarmusch films.
Continuing the theme, tonight I watched Dead Man; one of my three favourite Jim Jarmusch films.
(Sadly I do not have a copy of Paterson, so that one will have to wait, but I look forward to the day when I next see that again.)
2 Likes
We watched more James May. It’s relaxing. I’ve learned a new word in Japanese “Sumimasen” and now that I’ve googled it to make sure I didn’t spell it wrong, I realize I hadn’t quite learned it 
6 Likes
Depending on who says it and how, it can sound like “sunmasen”, “suman”, “sumanai”…
5 Likes
She-Ra spoilers here (don't click if you haven't seen it, it's worth watching)
I thought Catra’s arc was really well done. She continually struggles with what’s right vs actions driven by anger or jealousy. It’s a fairly in depth look (for a kid’s show) at the desire to lash out at the things that hurt you. She’s dealt a rough hand and is just trying to prove that she’s worth something. Her arc happens over time internally as much as external actions. And even after the couple of episodes she’s “lost” rather than “fixed” right up until the end.
Also, I hope you enjoy Avatar! The two shows have some interesting parallels, particularly in that they get better over time as the characters become more established.
2 Likes
Having watched a lot of anime and Japanese films, in addition to formerly practicing Kendo and Iaido for a number of years, I have picked up a smattering of words and phrases. I really need to work on committing to memory the katakana and hiragana phonetic alphabets, though. The former would help a lot now and then at work when attempting to troubleshoot one of our employee’s computers, as she has Windows set in Japanese, so a lot of the programs and links are displayed using katakana.
4 Likes
James May in Japan is just the best - I’d like to see him go to other countries. While I’m no expert, the team’s approach to Japan is so much more nuanced and well researched than the normal ‘wow cosplay cafes’ approach of most other documentaries. I also really like that James is specifically interested in the real country and ordinary people, not the tourist version, and tries to connect with it as best his bumbling old man self can (with an extraordinary amount of sumimasens, even when that word isn’t always quite appropriate).
4 Likes
Just finished watching The Rock in honor of Sean Connery’s recent passing. Michael Bay at his best, Nicholas Cage in one of his less crazy roles, and Sean Connery kicking ass. What’s not to like?
If I had more time to devote to watching movies, I would probably follow up with The Hunt for Red October, You Only Live Twice, and for kicks, Darby O’Gill and the Little People.
Though we probably will watch Highlander one of these days, for the added Clancy Brown action.
3 Likes
I’d recommend a couple of my favourite movies with him, Robin and Marian, Rising Sun, and one that I watched a million times when I was a kid: The Man Who Would Be King.
We did watch, as a little homage on Friday night, The Last Crusade.
2 Likes
I am ashamed of myself for neglecting to mention The Last Crusade. Especially when I was just thinking about it the other day.
3 Likes
I too would recommend both The Man who would be King and The Last Crusade.
4 Likes
No love for the Untouchables?
1 Like
A bit less than for the others. I have not watched it for ages, it might be worth a go one of these days.
But it’s another classic ‘accent’ from Connery
2 Likes
You gotta love his “Lithuanian” accent in Hunt for Red October, nailed it. 
Nearly as good as his Spanish accent in Highlander 
1 Like
Ooh, should add The Great Train Robbery. Get some excellent Donald Sutherland in that one as well.
3 Likes
It should have been Egyptian as thats where he was from. Although I guess if you’ve lived 2300+ years, your accent is going to be pretty mixed up!
3 Likes
I’ve been told by a Russian that it’s not wildly off, but we weren’t sober at the time.
The thing that put me in quite the wrong frame of mind to enjoy the film was the title card, which in theory was showing the submarine’s name in Cyrillic:
and the second line, er, isn’t: it should be ОКТЯ́БРЬ. That vertical-bar I was eliminated in the spelling reforms of the revolution, and I have no idea at all what the “BR” at the end was meant to be. And yet they got КРА́СНЫЙ right! Did they get bored at having to translate a whole two words of text and just half-arse it?
4 Likes