The Sword and Laser discussion

I agree with you on Mando. Even though he didn’t write many of the episodes, you can see his story telling influence on the series. And compared to Clone Wars, Rebels really did get up and moving fast and solidly. Too bad they couldn’t have taken what they learned from that, and used it on Resistance.

LOOOOOVE Leesa's reviews. I'm not cool; I had to google what BAE was.

Tamahome wrote: "LOOOOOVE Leesa's reviews. I'm not cool; I had to google what BAE was."

It's the defense/aerospace company, right? ;) (I kid, I kid)

Ok, I feel old. I now had to look up what it meant.

Somehow in my head when I first read it here I thought it was "Best Author Ever" said with a 90's stuck up teen girl accent. I know it doesn't make sense used after the word author, but I read it quick.

Get off my lawn!

FWIW in context I thought it meant "Best Author Ever" instead of the more obvious slang interpretation. *shrug*

It seems the acronym is a bit flexible. I meant it as "best at everything", but "before anyone else" also applies.

Begone Annoying Elves.

Quta 'ksh quessir.

Tamahome wrote: "Quta 'ksh quessir."

Mm, quesadillas. :d

It was supposed to be what you said in Elvish. But I had to use "go evil elves". https://www.angelfire.com/empire2/ang...

Just watched the first two episodes of WandaVision on Disney +.

Pitch-perfect send-up of 1950s sitcoms with a hint of horror underneath. Liz Olsen and Paul Bettany are incredible. Based on the trailer, I’m guessing each episode will be a different era as filtered through sitcoms. Ep 1 was definitely in the Donna Reed/Father Knows Best style, while ep 2 was channeling the vibe of The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Patty Duke Show. (Ladies in pants! 😮)

Tamahome wrote: "LOOOOOVE Leesa's reviews. I'm not cool; I had to google what BAE was."

Okay but do you know Salt Bae?

Outside the Wire on Netflix is... fine. Not much new here, but solidly done.

To answer your next question, no, I don’t sleep much.

Trike - I've been assuming that Wandavision is inspired by The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man filtered through the MCU events. Does it seem like it?

I've been meaning to read that.

Tamahome wrote: "I've been meaning to read that."

It's decent. More than, actually. It's only, IIRC, 12 issues or 2 volumes. If you read on the iPad, it's on Hoopla if your library offers that.

I'm on the fence about WandaVision. There's a good story waiting to bust out.

So hopefully they don't drag out the faux-Bewitched shtick out for too long.

Rick wrote: "Trike - I've been assuming that Wandavision is inspired by The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man filtered through the MCU events. Does it seem like it?"

It does not, thank baby jeebus. Only the “living in the suburbs” thing is congruent, but we’ve seen similar stories in X-Men with the Hellfire Club, Fantastic Four and Avengers with King’s Crossing (and Skrull Cows).

Speaking of cows, I noticed that the supermarket sells Bova Milk — Bova the Cow-Woman is the midwife for Wanda’s parents and later Wanda herself in the comics. Bova was one of the New Men experiments by the High Evolutionary, so maybe we’ll get a Savage Land call-out.

Nor does it appear to be inspired by House of M, but that could change by the end. Pushing Wanda too far has historically resulted in Very Bad Things Happening.

Tassie Dave wrote: "I'm on the fence about WandaVision. There's a good story waiting to bust out.

So hopefully they don't drag out the faux-Bewitched shtick out for too long."

Based on the trailer, I think it will go pretty quickly through the eras. I’m hoping for a Partridge Family episode that has musical numbers.

Emma Caulfield can sing, as we saw in Buffy, and Kathryn Hahn is also a singer. Fingers crossed.

Edit: Teyonah Parris, who plays Geraldine (view spoiler)[but will be revealed to be Monica Rambeau (aka Photon), (hide spoiler)]is also a singer.

Can you put your edit in spoiler tags? I assume this was announced somewhere, or leaked, but I didn't know that and now I do..

Rob wrote: "Can you put your edit in spoiler tags? I assume this was announced somewhere, or leaked, but I didn't know that and now I do.."

My bad. I thought that was common knowledge.

Maybe it has been. I generally try not to read up too much on movies or tv shows though.

I hadn't watched any of the recent trailers for WV. The early one I saw was much more enigmatic.

But after seeing a TV ad for the show with some non-TV land scenes, I am much more excited for what we are going to get.

^ Are you able to see it now? The overall consensus is that it isn't all that great. But there are tantalizing bits that I am thinking will work a lot better on rewatch, once the full arc is revealed.

I enjoyed it for what it was (Parody of 50s & 60s sitcoms) and for the glimpses into the greater & darker mystery that lies behind it.

If we hadn't seen those few menacing scenes and "glitches in the matrix" I'd have enjoyed it less.

Just finished watching the Star Wars prequel trilogy for the first time in a really long time.

I didn’t like them when I watched them in my early twenties and I don’t like them now in my late thirties. However, I did find some enjoyment in the experience, though I sincerely doubt it was the one Mr. Lucas intended.

Maybe it is the writer in me but there is so much I would like to change.

Viola wrote: "Maybe it is the writer in me but there is so much I would like to change."

Like telling him not to do them? :p

I think the prequels are the single most expensive vanity movie project ever made. I think they’re a hot mess, but I’ve always defended his choices. His universe, his money. No one else gets a vote. I am baffled by people who were expecting something mind-blowingly awesome. Surely they’d seen all of his other movies.

It was actually kind of sad to see the before and after interviews of superfans who went opening night, to see them so pumped going in and so crushed coming out.

Rogue One is the best possible prequel to Star Wars, but even the finished film has some odd little issues. Fortunately the good bits in that movie are so good that they become minor annoyances rather than the primary features. The prequels invert that with one bizarre choice after another.

^ I was working at Fox at the time Revenge of the Sith came out and they did employee screenings, so I got to see it at the Saul Zaentz theater on the lot. Pretty much the perfect technical setup for that movie. Saw it twice. Beautiful space battle to open the movie. I remember walking out after the second viewing thinking, "great effects, where's the plot?"

Pretty sure I'm the only C-drama watcher here, but my current binge of The Longest Day in Chang'an has been a blast. It's like 24 set in the Tang Dynasty with better characters, fantastic set, plus kickass fight scenes *hearteyes* I think it's in Prime, though I watch it elsewhere.

Alex Ross painting Wolverine: https://youtu.be/HbN6XhZfQVA

Trike wrote: "
I think the prequels are the single most expensive vanity movie project ever made. I think they’re a hot mess, but I’ve always defended his choices. His universe, his money. No one else gets a vote. ..."

This is both spot on and utterly irrelevant. Yes, his universe, his choice... but that doesn't at all mean his choices are beyond reproach or that other, better choices can't be identified. The "it's his/her/their thing and if you don't like it tough" line of argument has always struck me as being nothing more than a way to put up a wall against criticism.

I watched Phantom Menace and never did watch the others. The foreshadowing was heavy handed but what really turned me off was that they're prequels. We know how they turn out, so any side plots, indications that Anakin could be a good guy, etc are all wasted. In that situation, the movies need to give me some other reason to watch them and for me that's usually fleshing out the character whose later self we already know. A great actor and writing might have been able to show us Anakin's descent to the Dark Side and made us feel things, but they had neither.

Yep, it's blindingly easy to come up with better motivations for Anakin. What if the Emperor had convinced Anakin that he would bring order to the Outer Planets and end slavery? Meanwhile the Jedi sit on their thumbs not even trying. And that's just one. How about an internal strife with the Empire, with Anakin caring about the Clone Troopers while the rest of the Empire's military just treated them as cannon fodder. So the Clone Troopers are personally loyal to him and not so much the Empire. Any group of college nerds riffing on Star Wars over dinner could have come up with a better plot.

Trike wrote: "Alex Ross painting Wolverine: https://youtu.be/HbN6XhZfQVA"

When I read this, I saw "Bob Ross painting Wolverine"

Don't get me wrong, Alex Ross is a sensational artist, but I really wanted to see Bob Ross paint Wolverine. ;-)

Rick wrote: "Trike wrote: "
I think the prequels are the single most expensive vanity movie project ever made. I think they’re a hot mess, but I’ve always defended his choices. His universe, his money. No one e...

This is both spot on and utterly irrelevant. Yes, his universe, his choice... but that doesn't at all mean his choices are beyond reproach or that other, better choices can't be identified. The "it's his/her/their thing and if you don't like it tough" line of argument has always struck me as being nothing more than a way to put up a wall against criticism.."

I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. (Obviously, since I criticized them immediately after saying that. And my feelings about Empire Strikes Back are pretty well known at this point.)

All I’m saying is that the hyperbole of “he raped my childhood!” — aside from being unforgivably insensitive to actual victims of sexual assault — is ridiculous. They’re movies, and half the ones he made before those prequels are garbage. Empire? Garbage. Willow? Garbage. Temple of Doom? Garbage. The special editions? Garrrrbaaaage.

But he did make a couple billion dollars creating two franchises people love, and those are his toys. He can play whatever he wants with them. That doesn’t mean they’re immune from criticism. “Defending his choices” is not the same as agreeing with them. A friend of mine spent his stimulus check on his car instead of banking it, then he lost his job. His money, his choice, but I still told him that was a dumb thing to do when he was contemplating it.

Similarly, the whole defense of “George R.R. Martin is not your bitch” is both right and wrong. True, he isn’t, but that doesn’t mean readers don’t get to complain about the pace of his writing. He made promises that he’s not keeping.

These things can coexist simultaneously.

Mark wrote: "Trike wrote: "Alex Ross painting Wolverine: https://youtu.be/HbN6XhZfQVA"

When I read this, I saw "Bob Ross painting Wolverine"

Don't get me wrong, Alex Ross is a sensational artist, but I really..."

“We’re just going to put some happy clouds right here, to reflect all the happy blood pooling around his feet.”

I just binged the new Perry Mason on HBO. I found the first episode unpleasant, and I didn't understand why he was a private detective instead of a lawyer. But then I googled a little bit and gave it another chance. I ended up finishing it in two days. You could say it has an almost fantastical element. There's a lot of trumpet music. Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black is the blonde religious lady.

I just finished Perry Mason as well. I liked it, but the ending was a bit rushed. Tatiana Maslany was great as always.

Now I'm watching season 3 of infinity train.

X-Wing v. TIE fighter diorama: https://youtu.be/D4GWkFGpmR4

USS Enterprise v. Romulan ship diorama: https://youtu.be/Lefsec_ILBk

Woah this South Korean movie Space Sweepers look cool (Netflix Feb 5):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3dcD...

It sort of reminds me of a live action PlanetES anime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DakRY...

I have had a reminder set for that for a few weeks. It looks cool.

Tom may be interested in that. He and his wife are fans of Korean TV and movies. Plus it's Laser.

Planetes was great. I bought the DVD’s when they first came out, and then did a rewatch just a few years ago. I didn’t rewatch the extra material on the rewatch, but I remember it being very interesting on the first watch. It had some interviews with NASA personal keeping track of all the items in orbit.

A walk thru Umberto Eco's personal library...

https://twitter.com/_LuisRoso/status/...

Mark wrote: "A walk thru Umberto Eco's personal library...

https://twitter.com/_LuisRoso/status/..."

:heart:

Tweeted

Tamahome wrote: "Woah this South Korean movie Space Sweepers look cool (Netflix Feb 5):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3dcD...
..."

That does look cool. I think sci-fi + "insane action" is a perfect combination. I'm surprised it doesn't get done more often.

God v. King

https://youtu.be/y2_43Fy7_WM

Trike wrote: "God v. King

https://youtu.be/y2_43Fy7_WM"

Is this the first of the HBO MAX day and date releases following WW84?

Mark wrote: "Trike wrote: "God v. King

https://youtu.be/y2_43Fy7_WM"

Is this the first of the HBO MAX date and day releases following WW84?"

I don’t think so, but the others didn’t make my interestometer twitch, so I don’t recall them.


Edit: here’s what I found:

The Little Things (Denzel cop, serial killer) - Jan 29
Tom & Jerry - Mar 5
Mortal Kombat- Apr 16
Godzilla vs. Kong - May 21 (now changed to Mar 26)
Conjuring 4 - Jun 4
Space Jam 2 - Jul 16
Suicide Squad 2 - Aug 6
Dune - Oct 1
Matrix 4 - Dec 22