What are you watching?

Dial of Destiny just makes me think of Dial H for Hero so I failed to keep a straight face for the poster for this one.

Still, hope springs eternal and etc…

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I had no idea this was happening, and last night I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s a sign! (I’ve no idea whether it’s a good sign, but it’s a sign.)

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I’m going to have to miss The King of Jazz on the big screen, as I have Covid. This is a bit upsetting. I’ll have to find some kind of substitute to watch at home instead.

Tonight I watched Brief Encounter, which was heart-rending.

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I’m no better off…

(The “Tenacious Indy” posters are probably already out there; possibly with a bit of Spinal Tap thrown in for good measure, given that title…)

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Accidentally binged all of Wednesday last night and enjoyed it a lot, despite its flaws. Jenna Ortega was great as Wednesday and the best part of the show.

Not recommended if you want to take it seriously, as it falls apart a bit if you think about it too much - stuff like lore inconsistencies, etc. (All the other students have supernatural abilities, so why were any of the Addams family there? If it’s specifically set up for such students, why is it also presented as an elite school that requires entrance exams?)

It being tied to the Addams Family is a bit of a double-edged sword as well. It’s something to make the show stand out from all the other stuff in a similar vein that’s been released in a post-Harry Potter/Twilight world (boring love triangle and all).

But it has a lot about it where stuff we already know about the characters doesn’t vibe with their actions/motivations in the show, because otherwise the plot wouldn’t work. And Catherine Zeta Jones just doesn’t manage anything better than looking good as Morticia.

It also kind of just waves vaguely at some themes that its “outcasts” could be allegories for, but fails to actually engage with them at all.

Also a bit disappointed that they killed off Gwendoline Christie’s character (spoiler for the last episode).

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I have avoided Wednesday because of my fondness for The Addams Family (first the television series, then the first 2 movies). They are just good people in a loving, supportive, and fun family. I don’t trust anyone to do them justice.

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Wednesday is the first bit of media that I’ve seen relentlessly, excessively pushed at me through online advertising. Endless clips of the show, photos of the lead actress as both Wednesday and looking sexy in non-Wednesday outfits, which is jarring when considering the age of the role she’s playing, comments and commentary on the show… it’s oppressive. It certainly made me aware of the show, when I otherwise wouldn’t have been, but I think I’ll have to avoid watching it now, just on principle.

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Interesting. Other than the thumbnail on Netflix, I have seen nothing for the show or the actress, online or elsewhere. They pushing it hard it Japan or something?

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No idea how these things work. I don’t have and have never had a Netflix account, and it’s all in English, so it can’t be very well specified if I’m being targeted.

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Well I completely forgot to make it a musical, but my substitute tonight was Holiday with Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and my gosh I love being reminded just how magical a pairing that was. I’ve seen this one before, and will happily watch it many more times in the future.

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I mean, you admit to being an Addams family fan, and you know English. That’s pretty good targeting.

We watched the first episode. It was fun.

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I don’t think I’ve said I’m an Addams family fan? I don’t have any particular feelings about the former show(s?)

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Sorry, I’d mentally concatenated your post with the previous one, saying the poster wasn’t going to watch because they were a fan of the old ones.

I decided that I needed to follow that with The Philadelphia Story with the same pairing, which probably means Bringing Up Baby is coming up soon (it’s not so long since I watched it, but I don’t need much of an excuse :‍)

About as far removed from those as one can get, I’ve also recently watched the John Wick action films starring Keanu Reeves. I’m finding myself less and less interested by their “mysterious world of assassins” setting the more they expand upon it (I get why they feel the need to expand it, but it’s become a lot of screen time dedicated to something which wasn’t a strong point in the first place); however the fight choreography in these films is consistently creative and entertaining. I was finding #3 pretty disappointing for the first while, but then dogs to the 'nads happened and all was forgiven (although changing the dialogue of only one scene, and making no other changes, would have fixed about four different problems with the resolution of that plot). I’m still amazed by just how wooden some of Keanu’s dialogue delivery continues to be, but that’s definitely not what anyone is watching these films for, and I can’t fault his dedication to the physical requirements of the role!

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To be fair, i think the slight monotone delivery works for his character.

Watched Matilda the film on Friday. Great stuff. It really is an amazing musical. The choreography was superb. Sadly they cut one of my favourite songs (Telly) but I understand why they took more focus of the family to focus on the school.

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(In Tim Minchin musical news, Groundhog Day the musical is starting up again in London with the same leading man, and tickets go on sale noon tomorrow).

We went and saw Violent Night last night, starring David Harbour. You can practically see the writer had the thought, “What if we remade Die Hard but replace the character of John McClaine with Santa Claus?” To the point that there’s even sequences that seem to be homages to the Die Hard films.

In any case, it was a gloriously violent comedy, with an amount of gore that might be a bit too much for some, but was just right for us, and still managed a bit of heartwarming Christmas-y feeling.

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Plus, an homage to Home Alone (and the videos that detail how many times the burglars should have died).

Despite the violence and gore, it had equal measure Hallmark movie Christmas schmaltz. The juxtaposition between these who is what makes the movie.

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Just watched the short little Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special, and it was… better than expected? It had a few actual laugh moments, and the premise is very silly.

There are a few tiny niggles, but my main one is always; gosh Hollywood takes its Christmas Specials very seriously.

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I just want to have been there when they pitched it to Kevin Bacon

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