The Sword and Laser discussion

So, the "Thor themes back to the 60s." Thor was always done as the noble Knight, the enforcer of Truth, Justice and the Asgardian Way. All he had to do was live up to his sense of honor. Odin's task was far more grim: Preserve the Realm. Sometimes the Nine Realms. He could not afford Thor's sanctimony and sometimes took actions that seemed compromised. They were always in the search for a greater good where Thor focused on just the portion that he could see.

And, not sure everyone knows this (I first saw it in Thor comics), but Odin in both mythology and Thor comics hung on Yggdrasil for nine days in search of knowledge.

So why put up with Loki and his antics? I mean, obvious comics foil, yes. The Loki of the comics is regularly far afield of the mythological figure. Still, he is regularly hurting Asgard. Why not put an end to him?

(view spoiler)[The timelines that Loki is holding include the past, present and future. Of all timelines. What I think is this: When Odin hung on Yggdrasil, he felt Loki's presence. When Loki came into his life in the normal timeline, Odin knew that Loki had a greater role to play. Allow his desire for a throne, yes, because Loki would sit on the greatest and most demanding throne of all. Allow any antics, even the death of Baldur, the deaths of many normal humans, because Loki will preserve a far greater amount of life.

In the end only the grim determined god who has been both bad and good is powerful enough to sit on the throne of the Multiverse. Odin prepared the way for a god greater than himself. (hide spoiler)]

Relevant media I consumed this week: https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.or...

I also watched the Loki finale, and I agree with what you’ve all said. Very good indeed.

I watched the season 4 premiere of For All Mankind on Apple TV. And holy rocketships they are not messing around. Honestly, though, I’d rather live in that timeline. It looks awesome, and fulfills the promise of 1950s sci-fi as well as 1960s NASA. It’s the updated Disney space exploration of my youth. (This type of show: https://youtu.be/esYyOnz76NU?si=7Ixkw...) There are a couple new characters introduced that I’m not sure about because their relationship is really weird. Hopefully that gets ironed out.

Also watched the first four episodes of the Netflix docuseries Age of Samurai: Battle For Japan, after watching Blue Eye Samurai, just to get the real story. And my god, those people were insane. Talk about brutal… oof. (view spoiler)[One guy is viewed as weak because he got a disease that infected his tear duct causing his eye to bulge out slightly, so he cut it out. Hardcore. And that’s one of the less shocking moments. (hide spoiler)] Really well done series.

Edit: revising my rating downward to a 2/5 from a 5/5. See explanation below. 😳

The Creator is on Hulu and it is terrific. Gorgeous cinematography, great script, amazing acting. The young girl who plays the robot is astonishing. Five stars, no question.

Trike wrote: "The Creator is on Hulu and it is terrific. Gorgeous cinematography, great script, amazing acting. The young girl who plays the robot is astonishing. Five stars, no question."

I went to the cinema to see that and it was a great watch. I second your 5/5 star rating :-)

I see Rebel Moon Part 1 is on Netflix (higher audience than critic score on Rotten 🍅's). Jeremy Jahns says alcohol is required.

Also I can stream The Swarm on the CW online, but Comcast can't find it on my tv?

Great as The Creator was from a visuals and acting point of view (and the fact that it was original IP, which is always a bonus in this day and age), I can't remember when was the last time I saw such a plot-hole-ridden story. At times it seemed more hole than plot. I'm usually pretty good at suspending disbelief but this was pushing my limits...

I saw the Creator in the theater only because it rained cats and dogs that day. It was not on my radar. And i was glad I spent my box office money on such a great film.

Steve wrote: "Great as The Creator was from a visuals and acting point of view (and the fact that it was original IP, which is always a bonus in this day and age), I can't remember when was the last time I saw s..."

You know what, now that my initial “wow that was cool” impression has worn off, I completely agree with you.

The movie *does* do a decent job of keeping you interested from moment to moment, but as I was feeding my dogs this morning the typical “fridge logic” moment happened — that’s where hours later you’re getting a drink from the refrigerator and you go “hey, wait a second…” — and I started pulling at those threads. Once I did that the story falls apart because the actions we see don’t make any sense.

Almost all of the story only works because characters do stupid things. And there are a lot of those.

Honestly, I’m embarrassed that I didn’t notice this as I was watching, because usually I do. I guess I’ll have to confess that I am actually human and not an AI.

Still, gorgeous visuals and stellar acting, so I’ll only downgrade it to a 2/5.

They only filmed The Creator with "prosumer cameras" too and somehow made it look like more. At least it's not a sequel or reboot of something.

Watched Genie on Peacock starring Melissa McCarthy as the genie. It’s a silly little Christmas trifle that’s a bit of fun.

Also watched the latest episode of For All Mankind. The plot thickens! That last line promises excitement to come. (view spoiler)[”Want to help me steal an asteroid?” 😎 🪨 🧑‍🚀 🚀 (hide spoiler)]

Tried watching Rebel Moon on Netflix… emphasis on *tried*. I fell asleep twice and Mrs. Trike had to wake me. This is a blatant Star Wars + Seven Samurai ripoff and I liked it better when it was a bad Roger Corman 1980s film called Battle Beyond the Stars.

Speaking of stars, this gets zero from me. No matter its other sins, a movie should never be boring. It should certainly not put me to sleep at 7:15. I didn’t finish and won’t be watching part 2.

Trike wrote: "Tried watching Rebel Moon on Netflix… emphasis on *tried*. I fell asleep twice and Mrs. Trike had to wake me. This is a blatant Star Wars + Seven Samurai ripoff and I liked it better when it was a ..."

I watched that last night too and I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to given that the 3 or 4 reviews I perused beforehand were all scathing.

It was hugely derivative like you say but I had huge amounts of fun trainspotting all the references and influences.

There are so many movies that use the Seven Samurai as inspiration, it is hard to call it a rip off. Jack Synder's movie was his pitch to the Star Wars people. Was listed for a while until someone pulled the plug on it. There were some things I liked, some I did not. So, it gets 3 out of 5 stars from me.

I have watched :

Leave the World Behind : They did an excellent job with ramping up the tension , I was into this.

Saltburn : It was fine. I think I would have been really into this when I was younger. It felt like it was trying to hard. But it was well acted. I wish one of my favorite actors Richard E Grant had more presence in the film.

Watched Gran Tourismo. I thought it was moving, although my Mom & friend weren't into it as much, because it didn't have someone like Liam Neesan kicking younger men's asses. Maybe you have to be into video games and car racing more. It has the sherriff from Stranger Things as the driving coach. The kid has a deep voice. There's a sad part in the middle, but the end is inspiring.

I also watched Rebel Moon last night. It was ok but I was kinda bored. I can't name a character other than the main character. I ended up texting with friends while watching it. Also, what is up with Snyder and the slo-mo?! So much slo-mo.

It's a bit weird these days in movies how a woman can toss around a group of men like they were made out of paper-mâché. But I'll take slow motion over hyper-edited shaky cam any day. I think critics are too sensitive to originality, since they watch so many things. As long as it's well done, it's ok with me. Maybe this needed to be a mini-series to develop the characters a bit more. Release the Snyder cut!! ✂️

Tamahome wrote: "Release the Snyder cut!!"

We should un-release the Snyder Cut. :p

That’s one of the other issues I had with this show: it was advertised as an R-rated Star Wars, but this was PG-13. They’re going to release the R version later. That feels like a cheap bait-and-switch. An R Star Wars would at least be different. The closest we’ve gotten is Andor.

Snyder likes to bludgeon us with unsubtle imagery, but having Space Nazis as the bad guys was just eye-rollingly lazy. They barely changed the outfit. Using South African actors instead of German didn’t disguise that.

I guess my real issue is that all this talent was assembled and so much money spent for something so dull and derivative.

Tamahome wrote: "Watched Gran Tourismo...."

I didn't even know this film existed. I'm going to have to check it out.

^^ Some of the Dalek episodes of Dr. Who are pretty blatant as well. In, IIRC, Genesis of the Daleks (with Tom Baker) the Kaleds strut around in black uniforms making salutes that are just this side of the actual Nazi one.

In other news, we will be watching the "Christmas Carol" ep of Dr. Who along with the new special, sometime tomorrow.

As for Rebel Moon, I can't see the title without flashing on the Murderbot show "Sanctuary Moon." Which I would much rather see. Perhaps I will watch Rebel Moon. Much later.

Watched "The Creator" on Disney+. I'd give it a 6/10. It was ok, nothing special.

Trike wrote: "this gets zero from me. No matter its other sins, a movie should never be boring. It should certainly not put me to sleep at 7:15."

So it gets 0 stars because you're old and had a grandpa nap 🤔

😜

Watching The Swarm miniseries based on the German book. It's only available on the CW online.

We watched Quiz Lady with Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, and Will Ferrell. A bit of fun, which we all need now and again. Sandra Oh gets to be over the top in a broadly comedic role, which she never gets to do. Also features the last appearance of Paul Reubens in a tiny cameo. 4/5

Tassie Dave wrote: "So it gets 0 stars because you're old and had a grandpa nap"



https://ibb.co/ZJMQcV1

I'm not a grandpa either. Yet still have grandpa naps.

🤔 😕 😉

It became a cliche during our Dr. Who bingefest of the Classic doctors, spanning about a year, that I would always fall asleep during the last of however many serials we chose to watch. In fact that's often how my wife decided when it was time to stop. Many is the day we started with a rewatch of half the previous night's episode.

When you get up at 3:00 AM for work, falling asleep watching TV is a common occurrence.

No matter how good the TV show/movie is.

I have to re-watch many shows.

Being 61, only exacerbates the problem 😉

Tassie Dave wrote: "... Being 61, only exacerbates the problem 😉"

Come now. Harden up young whippersnapper. 😌

Clyde wrote: "Tassie Dave wrote: "... Being 61, only exacerbates the problem 😉"

Come now. Harden up young whippersnapper. 😌"

Working with a 68 yo & a 78 yo certainly makes me feel young.

Except that the 78 yo is way fitter than me 😕

In reply to John Taloni. I nearly snorted drink out my nose on your comments regarding the Kaleds. The Daleks are not thinly disguised Nazis. They have always been outright Nazis.

Finished watching Bodies on Netflix. It’s an SF show featuring four detectives during different time periods working on the same case. The TV series was based on the graphic novel, Bodies by Si Spencer. Excellent show.

Shows that I want to watch next are Ahsoka Season One on Disney Plus and Good Omens Season One and Two on Amazon Prime Video.

Have now seen the new Dr. Who episode and am cautiously optimistic for this series. Charismatic Doctor, decent script, solid acting chops on the Companion. Little mysteries dropped in. I kinda like the new Sonic Screwdriver. Hilarious Goblin song. Definitely enjoyed the "seems like magic but is a different kind of science" bit that goes back at least to Pertwee/Delgado and The Daemons. Subversively awesome introduction of Mrs. Flood. The "It's a Doctor-Ful Life" take works and fits the season.

Gary wrote: "Finished watching Bodies on Netflix. It’s an SF show featuring four detectives during different time periods working on the same case. The TV series was based on the graphic novel, Bodies by Si Spencer. Excellent show.

Shows that I want to watch next are Ahsoka Season One on Disney Plus and Good Omens Season One and Two on Amazon Prime Video...."

I really enjoyed Bodies. Well done on all fronts. Likewise Good Omens. I liked season 2 even better than 1.

Ahsoka not so much. But 3 out of 4 is pretty good.

We binged the entirety of season 1 of Reacher on Amazon. Quite good. Frankenstein’s monster as Sherlock Holmes is pretty effective.

🛸 SPACECRAFT SIZES seen in first person view! 🚀
https://youtu.be/lw6qppma02s?si=XKvxV...

I’ve been watching the Godzilla tv show Monarch? It’s flawed but I like it

Christos wrote: "I’ve been watching the Godzilla tv show Monarch? It’s flawed but I like it"

I just got caught up to episode 9 tonight. And I agree. That episode in particular, was very well done. Will be interesting to see where they leave the series off.

I recently watched the film Shin Masked Rider on Amazon Prime here in the UK although I see that it has had a global release.

My friend Kim picked it as her choice in our ongoing film club.

Japanese manga inspired action film based on a 70s series. It was a fun watch. :-)

Ever see the Indian movie 2.0? It's kind of crazy like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owPuQ...

Tamahome wrote: "Ever see the Indian movie 2.0? It's kind of crazy like that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owPuQ..."

Nope never heard of it, but having watched the trailer I am happy to confirm that it looks like my kind of silly :-)

I will save it for my next film club pick in a few weeks time.

You are going to join Trike on my list of favoured influencers. :-)

First episode of True Detective, Season 4. Holy cow, you can’t go wrong with Jodie Foster. Take the eeriness of the Arctic circle after the sun has gone down for months, add in the creepy writing from Season 1, and mix it all up with Jodie Foster on the front line. Sprinkle with some vibes from John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” After lackluster seasons 2 and 3, I am looking forward to the rest of this.

I finished Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV and wow was that good. Matt Fraction really tied all these Godzilla and Kong movies together.

It always annoys me when a director comes into an existing franchise and ignores all the previous continuity and established lore. It is far more challenging to come up with a compelling story that fits within the existing framework, finding ways to push the story forward. This is why Aliens is considered one of the greatest sequels of all time, while Alien 3… isn’t. James Cameron took the stuff from Alien and added to it. Alien 3 ignored most of it. (Instead of prisoners, the original script had monks living on a wooden satellite that they were taking apart and burning to stay warm. Which works fine as an allegorical fantasy but it doesn’t fit into the nuts-and-bolts Xenomorph universe.)

Fraction goes the Aliens route by finding ways to add new ideas and recontextualizing existing lore. The opening scene of the series features John Goodman on Skull Island, which at first seems like the TV show is just tying together the various Monsterverse entries, but halfway through it’s clear that one of the guys we’re following is the younger version of Goodman’s character from Kong: Skull Island. One of the last scenes of the show revisits Goodman on Skull Island, and since we’ve now gone through the journey of these people dealing with kaiju and their various lost friends and family, it gives a little more oomph to the characters in previous movies. Goodman seems like a tinfoil hat guy in Kong, but this new information paints him as a tragic character who is desperate to find answers.

On top of that, they tie in lots of other scattered bits from previous films, such as the company Apex. We get to see how Apex horned in on Monarch’s territory and the machinations they put in place to avoid responsibility for all the giant monster damage they incited in Godzilla vs. Kong.

That’s how you do it.

👆What he said. The movies were very hit and miss, but, overall, the tv show did a good job of pulling it all together.

Finished watching Reacher Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video. It’s not an SF show but features lots of action and advanced weaponry. Based on the Reacher novels written by Lee Child.
I am watching True Detective Season 4: Night Country on Max. It is a police procedural but features supernatural elements. The Alaska setting and murder scene reminds me of the movie named The Thing from 1982. I like how seasons 4 and 1 are connected. I’m encouraged that this season will be a good one.
Shows that I want to watch next are Ahsoka Season One on Disney Plus and Good Omens Season One and Two on Amazon Prime Video.

I just watched the movie , Wonka which I rented (19.99) on Vudu and brought it at a reduced price(9.99).

Finished JK Rowling's CW Strike detective series. The last season has quite the ending. Another season is being created. Oh when will Robin and Cormoran get together?? I'm tempted to read the latest book about the cult, but it's chunky.

Just watched The Marvels, which hit Disney+ today, and I really liked it. So did the other 2 guys I was watching it with. I was grinning the whole time. I'd go so far as to say it's my favorite since Endgame.
Iman Vellani is such a delight to watch and even Brie Larson had a personality this time.
It's a shame it didn't do better at the theatre.

Just watched the preview of The Eagle Obsession, a documentary about the iconic Space: 1999 spaceship.

https://youtu.be/9HBchDwnXBU?si=3vTQO...