What program/film/documentary are you watching now?

[warspite1]

Brave New World (Sky)

I read the book 40 odd years ago as part of my English Literature course. Can't remember much of it, but recall enough to make some sense of this series, which is based on the book (from what I can recall and saw, I suspect its only loosely based on the book).

I thought it was entertaining in places - and after two episodes I thought it was going to be special. But it kind of lost its way really, which was a shame. I don't think there was enough (any?) real explanation of the world they are living in - if one hadn't read the book I think it wouldn't make much sense.

The overall series lacked any real depth (the story centred on three key characters) but there was no real sense of who was directing this highly controlled society from above - there was no real sense of menace. And, a bit like Westworld I got the feeling the writers were more intent on patting themselves on the back about how clever they were being, than on actually explaining to the audience what was going on.

The ending clearly left open for a second series though don't know if that is planned.

[RFalvo69]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Brave New World (Sky)

I read the book 40 odd years ago as part of my English Literature course. Can't remember much of it, but recall enough to make some sense of this series, which is based on the book (from what I can recall and saw, I suspect its only loosely based on the book).

I thought it was entertaining in places - and after two episodes I thought it was going to be special. But it kind of lost its way really, which was a shame. I don't think there was enough (any?) real explanation of the world they are living in - if one hadn't read the book I think it wouldn't make much sense.

The overall series lacked any real depth (the story centred on three key characters) but there was no real sense of who was directing this highly controlled society from above - there was no real sense of menace. And, a bit like Westworld I got the feeling the writers were more intent on patting themselves on the back about how clever they were being, than on actually explaining to the audience what was going on.

The ending clearly left open for a second series though don't know if that is planned.

I read the book quite recently, actually. While one could not expect for all of its contents to be translated on modern television (6 years old male and female kids living naked in promiscuity so to shed any inhibitions re: sex from the earliest age!!) I hoped that this show could at least become his own thing.

Well, it found the overall effort disappointing. At the beginning you can't even tell what the character in this scene (Lenina) is possibly doing if you haven't read the book. The first two or three episodes, however, were exciting and interesting, but then the middle act sagged and the ending was very confusing. All the nuances of the book were ditched and the plot became predictable.

Edit: I could even say that "Equilibrium", the 2002 movie with Christian Bale, incorporated more themes from Brave New World than this show (amid adrenalinic action scenes, BTW). Pity, because the book is very relevant today. Huxley himself said that its themes were still not a worry in 1931, when it was published, but they would have become more and more relevant in the future - and I think that he nailed it.

[warspite1]

Watched a three part series called Being Beethoven (BBC iplayer).

An excellent documentary that brought out just what a complex, tortured, and lonely sole this genius was. If you love Beethoven's music then I recommend this. One of the talking heads put it very well; Beethoven was never lucky in love and she said she thanks all those women that rejected him because in doing so, it enabled him to focus his energy on the music he gave us.

Listening again (after an absence of some years) to his 5th Symphony. Stonking. Absolutely incredible [&o]

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Watched a three part series called Being Beethoven (BBC iplayer).

An excellent documentary that brought out just what a complex, tortured, and lonely sole this genius was. If you love Beethoven's music then I recommend this. One of the talking heads put it very well; Beethoven was never lucky in love and she said she thanks all those women that rejected him because in doing so, it enabled him to focus his energy on the music he gave us.

Listening again (after an absence of some years) to his 5th Symphony. Stonking. Absolutely incredible [&o]

Beethoven still had to deal with a lot of distractions https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2nx1dj

[warspite1]

The Race to Perfection (Sky)

This is a series of seven episodes to mark the 70th anniversary of the start of the Formula 1 World Championship.

I was looking forward to his sooooooo much. In truth its not been bad (its been good to see some of the old footage, from races and of principal characters, before my time or in the early days of my interest) but could - and should - have been much, much better. The whole thing lacked direction and was disjointed, unstructured and sometimes there was duplication of incidents.

They would have been better with a vanilla documentary with each episode looking at a single decade. Still, for F1 fans its worth tuning in.

[Zorch]

R.I.P. https://io9.gizmodo.com/sir-sean-conner ... 1845537405

[redcoat]

I’ve just watched a new video on Mark Felton’s channel on YouTube about D-Day’s ‘sixth beach’ - Band beach:

https://youtu.be/5z-CjczAGuM

[warspite1]

Doctor Sleep

A sort of sequel to The Shining, focussing on Danny's life post the horrors of the Outlook Hotel.

Nothing to compare with the original of course, but not a bad film at all. I liked the fact that they tried - and generally succeeded - in recreating the looks of Nicholson, Duvall, Crothers and Stone when showing a few flashbacks.


The Grady twins from the original....

[warspite1]

Le Mans 66

Wasn't hugely interested in watching this (sports cars (apart from those beasts from the mid-eighties) aren't really my thing), but then thought why not - I'll give it a go....

Really pleased I did. Matt Damon (playing American former driver and designer Carroll Shelby) and Christian Bale (playing British driver Ken Miles) were excellent together and the story - albeit which took some liberties with real life - was nicely paced and for the most part nicely told. The only real downer for me was that they resorted to showing the tragic Lorenzo Bandini as something of a caricature - a silent, snarling presence in the 'enemy' Ferrari. Story telling should have moved on from that sort of nonsense. Didn't detract too much from the film though.

[bomccarthy]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Le Mans 66

Wasn't hugely interested in watching this (sports cars (apart from those beasts from the mid-eighties) aren't really my thing), but then thought why not - I'll give it a go....

Really pleased I did. Matt Damon (playing American former driver and designer Carroll Shelby) and Christian Bale (playing British driver Ken Miles) were excellent together and the story - albeit which took some liberties with real life - was nicely paced and for the most part nicely told. The only real downer for me was that they resorted to showing the tragic Lorenzo Bandini as something of a caricature - a silent, snarling presence in the 'enemy' Ferrari. Story telling should have moved on from that sort of nonsense. Didn't detract too much from the film though.

It was a good story, but there was so much more to tell that it could have been even better as a streaming miniseries. Miles' involvement with Shelby was much deeper (he was the father of the 427 Cobra and was instrumental in the Daytona Coupe's championship season in 1965). Shelby American was running on the ragged edge in 65-66, supporting the GT-40, Daytona Coupe, and Cobra roadster racing efforts worldwide, while building street Cobras alongside race cars in the same shop. And Ford's development of the GT-40 prior to Shelby's involvement was a melodrama in itself - the GT-40 actually raced unsuccessfully at Le Mans in '64 before Shelby took it over in '65. Also, the movie doesn't convey how famous Miles was in the Southern California racing scene prior to the GT-40. He had largely designed the Scarab for Lance Reventlow and was considered one of the best race car engineers in the world by 1962.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Doctor Sleep

A sort of sequel to The Shining, focussing on Danny's life post the horrors of the Outlook Hotel.

Nothing to compare with the original of course, but not a bad film at all. I liked the fact that they tried - and generally succeeded - in recreating the looks of Nicholson, Duvall, Crothers and Stone when showing a few flashbacks.


The Grady twins from the original....

I read Doctor Sleep a few years ago and thought it a serviceable sequel to the original superlativeThe Shining. Similarly with the movies-DS was entirely serviceable, but not the nightmare fuel that was the original. A "B-" to a previous solid "A".

ETA: Haven't you ever been tempted to 'correct' the little Warspites? And when their mother interfered with your duty, wouldn't you 'correct' her too?

[RFalvo69]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Doctor Sleep

A sort of sequel to The Shining, focussing on Danny's life post the horrors of the Outlook Hotel.

Nothing to compare with the original of course, but not a bad film at all. I liked the fact that they tried - and generally succeeded - in recreating the looks of Nicholson, Duvall, Crothers and Stone when showing a few flashbacks.


The Grady twins from the original....

I read Doctor Sleep a few years ago and thought it a serviceable sequel to the original superlativeThe Shining. Similarly with the movies-DS was entirely serviceable, but not the nightmare fuel that was the original. A "B-" to a previous solid "A".

ETA: Haven't you ever been tempted to 'correct' the little Warspites? And when their mother interfered with your duty, wouldn't you 'correct' her too?

The problem I had with this movie was...

SPOILER










...That when they reach the Overlook Hotel we get a very conventional horror story with a series of "The Shining's Greatest Hits" livening up the background. When Rose the Hat just smiles while he watches the blood coming out the elevator all the power of that very iconic scene is wasted. The trailer actually does a better job (!) by implying that the blood is a symbolic way to show Danny's powers being leeched from him by the ghosts. But, alas, no such connection in the movie.

Mike Flanagan is one of my favourite directors since I discovered him in "Oculus" and "Hush". The Netflix miniseries "The Haunting of Hill House" was riveting. However his last two offerings (this movie and "The Haunting of Bly Manor") were rather meh. He is very prolific, so maybe he needs to take a pause and recharge his creative batteries.

[RFalvo69]

As a chess player since when I was a kid (I even won a couple of local tournaments when I was in high-school) I appreciate a lot the care that is given in portraying accurately the game of chess. All the terminology and what you can see of the matches are correct (I wonder if they used the transcription of real matches to simulate this).

Being able to play chess "blind" in your mind is not the supernatural ability implied by the story. Actually, being able to "see" a position after five moves (or more) is a required basic skill if you want to win even your neighborhood tournament. Two competent chess players can play a game without a board and this is even considered a form of training. Then there are some phenomenons who are able to play fifteen or even twenty games "blind" [X(]; their minds must be a series of drawers that they are able to open and close at will...

Edit: If you are curious about chess there is a movie around, "Pawn Sacrifice", about Bobby Fischer's descent into schizophrenia with the shadow of his match with Boris Spassky looming on it. For those not in the knowing, chess in the 1950-60s was considered a Soviet domain, with all the greatest players coming from Soviet Union; when in 1972 the challenger for the World title finally was an American, for some weeks the Cold War was fought on a chess board in Reykjavik, and this enormous pressure took a heavy toll on Fischer's already creaky mind; this movie, however, while well done, is heavily dramatised: Fischer, later in his life, basically lost his mind, but at Reykjavik he was still considered "very eccentric" and not yet at the levels of paranoia shown in the movie; still a good watch tho.

[timmyab]

I watched 'The death of Stalin' last night. Loved it. Jason Isaacs playing Zhukov stole the show, I was howling [:D]



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJ-0cjMD60

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69



As a chess player since when I was a kid (I even won a couple of local tournaments when I was in high-school) I appreciate a lot the care that is given in portraying accurately the game of chess. All the terminology and what you can see of the matches are correct (I wonder if they used the transcription of real matches to simulate this).

Being able to play chess "blind" in your mind is not the supernatural ability implied by the story. Actually, being able to "see" a position after five moves (or more) is a required basic skill if you want to win even your neighborhood tournament. Two competent chess players can play a game without a board and this is even considered a form of training. Then there are some phenomenons who are able to play fifteen or even twenty games "blind" [X(]; their minds must be a series of drawers that they are able to open and close at will...

Edit: If you are curious about chess there is a movie around, "Pawn Sacrifice", about Bobby Fischer's descent into schizophrenia with the shadow of his match with Boris Spassky looming on it. For those not in the knowing, chess in the 1950-60s was considered a Soviet domain, with all the greatest players coming from Soviet Union; when in 1972 the challenger for the World title finally was an American, for some weeks the Cold War was fought on a chess board in Reykjavik, and this enormous pressure took a heavy toll on Fischer's already creaky mind; this movie, however, while well done, is heavily dramatised: Fischer, later in his life, basically lost his mind, but at Reykjavik he was still considered "very eccentric" and not yet at the levels of paranoia shown in the movie; still a good watch tho.

If you're really into Bobby Fischer, there's a documentary about his final years in Iceland. I have not watched it. https://en.chessbase.com/post/full-fisc ... in-youtube

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: timmyab

I watched 'The death of Stalin' last night. Loved it. Jason Isaacs playing Zhukov stole the show, I was howling [:D]



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJ-0cjMD60

+1 It's outrageous, preposterous, and more than a little bit true. No wonder Putin banned it.
Most of Zhukov's best lines can't be repeated here [:D]

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: timmyab

I watched 'The death of Stalin' last night. Loved it. Jason Isaacs playing Zhukov stole the show, I was howling [:D]



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiJ-0cjMD60

+1 It's outrageous, preposterous, and more than a little bit true. No wonder Putin banned it.
Most of Zhukov's best lines can't be repeated here [:D]

agree ... and dialogue at the end when the Red Army replaces the NKVD at the road block ...

[Protonic2020]

All so intellectual here, not bad. I contemplate on life mostly the rest of the time i just exist and i´m angry with the "world", humanity. I like strategy games and games in general since it´s a mix of exploring, play and learning.
But i would like to read a good book if i knew before hand that it´s good or i can´t be bothered with it. I started to read some Swedish book some political biography about JFK that i just started to read, i probably won´t go back to it. It wasn´t that big but i need that hook to keep reading.
I saw some amazing TV productions about nature in the vast Russia a couple of days ago, very well done and the nature looked pristine and untouched by man. "Pristine"? Sounds like a female name "prestine" and spell checker rejects it, oh well.

[Curtis Lemay]

Well, Duh! "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

[Protonic2020]

Instead of making a new thread about it, i´m visible enough as it is on the forum. [8|]
And a movie seen for the first time a long ago but since this is a gaming forum with focus on war gaming, don´t miss out on this excellent Finnish war movie about the Russian\Finnish war named "Talvisota" and one of the best ones i have seen and i have seen many.
It totally lacks the usual Hollywood drama and is a much better production IMO because of it. It´s done with style, drama and adrenaline pumping battle action that captures the hopeless nature of that war and makes at least me feel a lot for the individual soldiers in it as they take on one superior foe in numbers and equipment, but what they lack in that they compensate with determination and "sisu" (a Finnish word).

Wikipedia says:
"Sisu is extraordinary determination in the face of extreme adversity, and courage that is presented typically in situations where success is unlikely. It expresses itself in taking action against the odds, and displaying courage and resoluteness in the face of adversity; in other words, deciding on a course of action, and then adhering to it even if repeated failures ensue. It is in some ways similar to equanimity, though ‘’sisu’’ entails an element of grim stress management.

The English "gutsy" invokes a metaphor related to this one".

(Where´s my choice to upload a pic from this point of posting a comment? You´ll have to post it and return to it to add a pic?). Mm´kay.