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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 25, 2023 16:08:54 GMT -5
I watched Princess of Mars on Tubi earlier this week. That's the film The Asylum produced to ride on the coat-tails of the marketing campaign of the John Carter movie that Disney produced a few years ago, as per the production house's business plan. They make cheap knock-off of big Hollywood productions, with titles like Transmorphers, Cretaceous Park or Almighty Thor. Straight to video (now streaming) stuff. (...) Sounds like you're talking about the one starring Traci Lords, which was made in 2009, so about three years before Disney's John Carter. I watched it on TV about a year or two after its release (it was shoved into one of those after midnight slots as a schedule filler). Otherwise, your review pretty much sums up my own thoughts on it. I'll just add that I think the bulk of the outdoor Barsoom scenes were shot at the renowned Vasquez Rocks, which is why everything looked so familiar.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 25, 2023 17:24:46 GMT -5
I watched Princess of Mars on Tubi earlier this week. That's the film The Asylum produced to ride on the coat-tails of the marketing campaign of the John Carter movie that Disney produced a few years ago, as per the production house's business plan. They make cheap knock-off of big Hollywood productions, with titles like Transmorphers, Cretaceous Park or Almighty Thor. Straight to video (now streaming) stuff. (...) Sounds like your talking about the one starring Traci Lords, which was made in 2009, so about three years before Disney's John Carter. I watched it on TV about a year or two after its release (it was shoved into one of those after midnight slots as a schedule filler). Otherwise, your review pretty much sums up my own thoughts on it. I'll just add that I think the bulk of the outdoor Barsoom scenes were shot at the renowned Vasquez Rocks, which is why everything looked so familiar.
That's the one. I just read that it cost $300,000 to make, with only $70,000 going to principal photography (the bulk of the rest being eaten up by the CGI). That's crazy cheap! You're right about Vasquez rocks too; it's not quite at the end of the parking lot, but is a 34 minute drive from Burbank, if Google map is to be trusted. I must say, I'm quite impressed by how much was done with so little. The return on investment was much better here than for the Disney film! |
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Post by majestic on Sept 2, 2023 20:38:08 GMT -5
Just finished Jury Duty on Amazon FreeVee. It was a really neat concept that made it a quirky series. The guy that was featured was really unflappable and rolled with all the weird characters around him. The concept is they are filming a documentary about jury duty and everyone is am actor except for one person who isn't aware that it is all fake. James Marsden of X-Men fame appears as himself. If you like quirky strange humor you would like this show.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 24, 2023 2:23:17 GMT -5
How cow! I just realized last night that the entire fifth season of What We Do in the Shadows has been out since this past summer - damn! Got some TV watching to do; perfect for the Halloween season, though.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 26, 2023 12:14:48 GMT -5
Recently watched the second season of Good Omens. Another fun romp, which is just really about David Tennant and Michael Sheen. Episode two, with the torment of Job was just bloody hilarious and brilliantly skewering satire. Maybe not quite as good as Season One, but still very fun.
Almost done with the third and final season of Reservation Dogs. I really can't say enough about this show. I'm sorry to see it end, but it's at the choice of the creators not due to monetary issues. At turns funny and poignant. I love that they really are delving in to the generational issues of indigenous life this season.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 3, 2023 4:01:00 GMT -5
I don't know if anyone has been watching, but I finished the two seasons of Only Murders in the Building. The Hulu offering stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as true crime podcast fans who get involved in solving a murder (then another) in their Manhattan apartment building. Steve Martin is a freakin' national treasure and Martin Short is usually enjoyable. I honestly only knew Selena Gomez as a child star that I was vaguely aware of by cultural osmosis, but she's quite enjoyable as Mabel. It's honestly a super fun show that I recommend. It also usually has at least one pretty big name guest star per season, Sting in Season One, Tina Fey in Season Two and Paul Rudd appears to be on tap for Season Three. Just finished watching season one last night (it's being shown by Star - formerly Fox - Channel in my neighborhood); it took about two episodes for it to fully click with me, but after that I quite thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to watch the further seasons. And yes, I agree about Gomez - I only knew that she was famous for reasons unknown to me, and was pleasantly surprised at what an outstanding actress she is.
Just a correction, Tina Fey also appeared occasionally in season one (I love her role as the full-of-herself superstar podcaster); in fact, an additionally entertaining aspect for me was seeing all of the various, pretty well-known actors who had larger or smaller supporting roles in the show, e.g. Nathan Lane, Roy Wood Jr., Jane Lynch...
Edited to add: for those who are more curious as to what it's all about, here's the season 1 trailer...
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Post by EdoBosnar on Mar 19, 2024 9:43:12 GMT -5
Anyone else here watch Tartakovsky's animated series Primal?
For those who may be unfamiliar, it's a fantasy series set in an imaginary past in which dinosaurs, pre-human mammal species, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens (which only becomes apparent at the end of the first season) coexist.
The main characters are a Neanderthal man, who doesn't have a name but is called 'Spear' in all of the descriptions, and a female Tyrannosaur, called 'Fang.' They form an initially uneasy alliance in the first episode after they both lose their families (Fang's hatchlings and Spear's mate and children) to the same marauding pack of Gigantosauri. The first season mainly follows Spear and Fang as they wander about their incredibly dangerous world trying to survive. There is absolutely no dialogue - besides growling, roaring and screaming.
At the end of season 1, Spear and Fang encounter a woman (Homo sapien), who emerges from the water with a sort of wooden harness around her neck and manacles on her wrists. They eventually befriend each other but then the woman, named Mira (whose dialogue is in Arabic), is again abducted. That leads to the second season...
...in which all but one episode* are all tied together, as Spear and Fang first search for Mira, and are then reunited but still have to deal with a world of troubles, although now the main problems are caused not by horrifying predatory animals but rather other humans, who resemble Vikings, ancient Egyptians and others.
The Spear character often reminded me of Conan, as he is preternaturally strong and basically unkillable, despite all of the abuse he endures, and this was really driven home in the second season, wherein the world in which they travel really resembles Howard's Hyborian Age.
It's a pretty good series, all in all, with excellent animation - although be warned, it is extremely, brutally violent.
* That episode, my least favorite, is the only one in which English is spoken, as it's set in London in the 1890s and involves a bunch of wealthy, stuffy English dudes dealing with an escapee from an insane asylum who breaks into their mansion.
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Post by berkley on Mar 19, 2024 12:18:39 GMT -5
Primal, Only Murders, and Reservation Dags all sound good, I've added them to my list.
A newish one I've only just heard about but haven't yet tried is The Gone - reportedly about an Irish cop who goes to New Zealand on a murder investigation, or something like that.
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Jun 1, 2024 0:02:22 GMT -5
Finished watching Lawman Bass Reeves this evening. I'm not a huge western fan, but my dad was and I have seen a fair number, and I'd count this among the better ones I've seen in recent years. Well done by all involved.
-M
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Jun 13, 2024 23:30:22 GMT -5
Finally got around to watching Genndry Tartovsky's Primal Season 1.  Loved it. Sophisticated storytelling despite the lack of dialogue. Expression and body language carry the characterization and it channels a Frazetta-esque vibe in the feel of the art if not the aesthetics of it. Now I need to track down season 2. -M |
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Post by tonebone on Jul 10, 2024 14:13:24 GMT -5
I've heard good things about Dark also. That and The Expanse are probably tops on my free-time watch list. Though since most of my free time is spent on my PS4 (as I tend to prefer active gaming over passive watching), I don't know when I'll get to them. My most recent watches, both enjoyable, were the French series Les Revenants and the first season of Russian Doll. I had forgotten about The Expanse too! It's a very, very good space opera where physics are actually a thing. Excelent world-building all around and characters we quickly grow fond of. As in Galactica, its ships, space stations and other environments have a very authentic-looking "lived in" appearance (I especially like the way ships aren't aerodynamic, since there would be no point to it) and how there is no magical artificial gravity or warp speed. Space travel looks decidedly unpleasant! I love the show's attention to detail, like how bullets going through the hull of a ship leave little glob of molten metal in their wake : The politics of the show are also pretty interesting. As infuriating and self-defeating as today's, unfortunately! Oh man, so much to recommend about the Expanse! The characters are real, flawed, and relatable. The physics and space stuff are so well thought out (Like how wounds don't heal properly in microgravity environments). The politics are messy, confusing, and intriguing. Some characters are so unlikeable, but then become badass favorites (like Amos and Avasarala). ALL of the female characters ring as real and formidable: Bobbie Draper, Drummer, Clarissa Mao, Avasarala, etc. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 24, 2024 7:15:05 GMT -5
I just recently watched all 16 episodes of Elliot from Earth (2021)...
It's about a boy named Elliot and his geologist mother, Frankie, who end up in a giant space station somewhere on the other side of the universe; initially, they meet a small, near-sighted talking stegosaurus, whom they befriend and who takes on the name 'Mo'. They, but mainly Elliot and Mo, have all kinds of misadventures. Yes, it's a kids' show made for the Cartoon Network, but I found it quite funny, with really sharp and intelligently written scripts. Unfortunately, it's apparently been cancelled, and the last episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. I still recommend watching it, though, if you can find it on whatever platform you're using (here in Croatia it's on HBO).
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Post by DubipR on Jul 24, 2024 7:55:14 GMT -5
I finished Deadloch Season 1 on Prime.
This series is an Australian black comedy murder mystery. The premise is when a dead body of a local male from the town of Deadloch in Tasmania, its up to Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins and outsider detective Detective Eddie Redcliffe to solve this case. As it gets going, the community secrets come out. Its very funny in its humor, delivery and premise. Part Brooklyn 99/Part True Detective. Its a very funny. Once you get past the first 2 episodes its a fun and solid 8 episode binge.
-R
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 25, 2024 15:00:20 GMT -5
My first son (whose Disney+ subscription he shares with his parents) convinced me to give the new version of Shogun a second try, after I had dropped it due to its videogame-style CGI.
I was a fan of the original show when it aired way back when, so I wasn't particularly thrilled to learn that someone thought they could do better. Still, credit where credit's due: some of the acting is pretty good, the pace is brisk, and this new adaptation of Clavell's novel does try to be its own thing. I actually liked the first four episodes.
The new Shogun is a little americanized, naturally. It's a challenge nowadays to find a historical production that doesn't feel like today's California. The lady Mariko is now capable of taking on several armoured warriors at once, whirling like a dervish in her kimono and using a lance to great effect. The future shogun, Toranaga, is far nobler here than in the original series (or in the novel); his selfish ruthlessness has given way to stern commitment to duty. Such changes aren't noticeable when one is unfamiliar with the story, but it feels more like fantasy set in an idealized medieval Japan than it does serious historical fiction. The use of CGI obviously emphasizes this impression; nothing beats practical effect (or real boats and castles) when it comes to verisimilitude.
One aspect that can be a blessing or a curse depending on one's point of view is that the Japanese dialogs are all subtitled. In the original series, we viewers were almost always kept in the dark as to what people were saying, sharing the befuddlement of the English main character. On the one hand the change means that we can better understand how different characters intrigue against one another; on the other hand, we don't get the impression that we discover Japan at the same time the hero does.
One thing that might have been cool would be for the Portuguese to speak Portuguese and the Dutch, Dutch. I know most viewers don't much care for subtitles and that using English for all European languages makes for easier viewing, but still.
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Post by berkley on Jul 25, 2024 23:43:24 GMT -5
I finished Deadloch Season 1 on Prime. This series is an Australian black comedy murder mystery. The premise is when a dead body of a local male from the town of Deadloch in Tasmania, its up to Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins and outsider detective Detective Eddie Redcliffe to solve this case. As it gets going, the community secrets come out. Its very funny in its humor, delivery and premise. Part Brooklyn 99/Part True Detective. Its a very funny. Once you get past the first 2 episodes its a fun and solid 8 episode binge. -R
Excellent, I'd like to hear more about series from parts of the world we in Canada don't see or hear enough of.
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