theunderstudy

I'm enjoying Shōgun so far. Can see the effort gone into the costuming and the show always grabs your attention in quiet and loud moments which is usually a very good sign 

All The Presidents Men. What can you say about this that hundreds haven't already? Masterfully directed by Pakula, brilliant performances by Hoffman and Redford and excellent supporting performances by so many name actors like Robards and Balsam and Warden.... truly brilliant 

12 minutes ago, MaVilla said:

what im about to say is clearly untrue, but from the perspective of someone who has read Dune probably 10+ times, and the others in the series numerous times, i cant imagine how someone who hasnt read the books could actually "get" Dune in just 2 movies.

Now, from the amount of people who loved the 2 Dune movies, and havent read the books, my belief is clearly not true, but maybe there is some truth in it, in the sense that the books give much more detail and nuance, that underpin the whole story, like a deeper understanding etc,  but if you dont know it in advance, i guess you just dont, and take the film on face value, and its still superb i guess?

anyways, glad you liked it.

 

You could say the same about Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones though.  You can't bring everything from the books to the screen as there's always so much nuance and world-building you do in literature that you can write into a book and first person opinions from the thoughts of POV characters you can't display as well on screen without clunky exposition and there's a lot of questions even Villeneuves films that the book answers.... but I think there's enough context in the films to get the central premise across. In my opinion. Others may not share it or feel its been given shorter shrift than possible. Some might argue it could have been 3 films to allow for more buildup to the final part from the middle of the story.

All of the major players in this film are portrayed incredibly and I've seen plenty of people saying this is a star-making role for Austin Butler (can't disagree) but Chalamet's performance is absolutely incredible in this and has stuck with me. You buy his first half performance and reluctance to be a messiah and then the shift he undertakes makes sense

The film was absolutely brilliant. Full of absolutely fantastic performances and some stunning direction by Villeneuve

I thought England couldn't get worse. I was wrong. This is a real nadir 

Really, really poor. A below-par quality India side missing Ashwin and England gifted their wickets away with mind-numbingly poor shots and decisions. Just like the Lords test against Australia, an open goal and they've turned around and booted it back into their own. **** pathetic 

I didn't think I'd watch Falcons Niners in 2012 happen again against the Lions 

3 hours ago, veloman said:

Possibly "Botham's Ashes " at Headingly ??

Maybe. Before my time though so never experienced it first hand. The Stokes Headingley Miracle maybe... In this England were effectively -27 for 5 with India yet to bat on a surface they comfortably scored 436 on a day earlier.....in India itself with a rookie bowling attack. Outstanding character both by Pope and the bowlers batting and fielding 

Extraordinary test, don't think I've seen a team dead and buried like that come back and win. Pope has to be MOTM. Hartley can only take some good 4th innings wickets if England put a good score up and without Pope India don't even have to bat again there 

India in touching distance of a win but with 3 wickets left.

Remember when teams used to actually tour countries for test series rather than play like a warmup game then a 5-test series? Why is that not a thing any more? England should have been out there for ages playing Presidents XIs all over India 

On 04/01/2024 at 21:39, rjw63 said:

I’m on the lead!

(RiP Glynis)

I had Glynis Johns too. Did well to reach that old 

Let's try again with some of mine.

- Bob Newhart

- Tippi Hedren

- Glynis Johns

- John Rhys-Davies

- Al Pacino

Real shame about Tom Wilkinson - he pops up in so much stuff you forget. Always enjoyed seeing him in a film. Michael Clayton deserves another rewatch 

Can't remember if I'd put any of them in but I've been burning through some random films on Prime.

- Sum of All Fears - 6/10. Solid Jack Ryan film with some fun chemistry between Affleck and Freeman. Still don't know how Affleck talks the President down after Baltimore gets nuked but hey ho

- 3.10 to Yuma - 9.5/10. Great film that feels like it takes its time and flies by with brilliant turns from Bale and Crowe. And a scintillating Ben Foster solidifying himself as one of the great underrated actors of our time.

- Rollerball - 7.5/10. Still not sure how the hell the sport makes sense or why the big corporations can't just kill off Jimmy Caan outside the arena instead but a fun dystopian one which again flies by quite quickly 

- Aliens (dvd) - 9/10 James Cameron is good isn't he? Makes you wish he'd go back to wells like this rather than arsing around with Avatar sequels. 

- Manchurian Candidate (remake) - 7/10 always risky when you remake a classic but a solid film with Denzel and Liev Schreiber leading the way. Some actors about to make a mainstream breakthrough in this too - Anthony Mackie and Jeffrey Wright jump to mind. Interesting to set against the Gulf War this time too (which makes it feel slightly out of time again)

14 hours ago, Genie said:

I saw this online and thought i’d post it here. I haven’t seen enough of the films to really have a view but might be interesting for others  

 

- Star Wars fair. But big disagree on Indy, 2 is a big drop off from 1 but 3 is as good as 1.

- Matrix Reloaded I'd have a tad higher but fair overall 

- is that the new Star Trek or the old one? If new then 1 and 3 are excellent and 2 is mid. If old 1 is crap and 2 is amazing, 3 mid.

- Superman 3 should be a tiny bit higher but fair overall 

- Jurassic Park 1 should be near the top of the bar if not full. Fair otherwise 

- Next 3 totally fine.

- Mad Max 1 is better than 3. 

- Jaws fair. BTTF should be a drop off from 2.

- Die Hard 2 should be lower.

- Blade fair. POTA I feel are more even with maybe 3 being weaker.

- Godfather fair. Rocky 1 is miles better than 2 or 3 which are subpar

- T1 should be higher. Great film and close to T2 but T2 is better. T3 better than rating.

- Rambo fair but would have 1 higher rated.

- Confused on Batman. If that's Nolan that's hideous rating as 2 would be full bar with 1 really good and 3 subpar. If that's Keaton/Kilmer then first should be higher as should the second. 

- Alien fair. Alien and Aliens are two different films and I have more fun with Aliens but Alien is one of THE horror films of the 20th century 

Desperately sad about Andre Braugher. An underrated actor until he got his time in the spotlight with Brooklyn Nine-Nine where he was the best thing about it 

Honestly wanted to get it for some portable gaming. I picked up a cheap copy of Pokemon Scarlet as I haven't played a new game not on an emulator for about 15 years.

Bought myself a Switch Lite last weekend as I've wanted one for a while. Any specific recommendations on cases etc?

When you consider GTA V was released on the PS3 and the Xbox 360 that's staggering. Vice City and Leonida are perfect for this release. I cannot wait. 

A free DLC in this day and age for a top level game is unheard of. Looking forward to any seconds I can spend in GoW

Dammit I didn't repeat him this year. Ah well, nevertheless 

I'm sure I had Kissinger again this year. Finally