The Watching Thread #5

[Gary]

I finished all five seasons of Fargo and have been meandering around watching various movies. I recently rewatched Constantine (for the third or fourth time). Last night, I watched Airheads, which didn't interest me when it first came out. I have to admit it was very humorous.

[Gary]

Time Lapse

Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures twenty-four hours into the future, and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.

This is apparently a re-make of a movie from the 60s(?). Either way, the premise is rather interesting, and the ending is rather vicious. Not a bad movie overall.

[RJDiogenes]

The idea was also used on a couple of episodes of Twilight Zone-- one of them starring Uncle Charlie from My Three Sons.

[Lupine]

^I think the idea also turned up in an episode of Fantasy Island as well.

[RJDiogenes]

Oh, yeah, I seem to remember that.

[Gary]

Resident Alien Season 3 has been out for while. I am now up to Episode 5.

[Gary]

The Holdovers.

Nobody likes teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) -- not his students, not his fellow faculty, not the headmaster, who all find his pomposity and rigidity exasperating. With no family and nowhere to go over Christmas holiday in 1970, Paul remains at school to supervise students unable to journey home. After a few days, only one student holdover remains -- a trouble-making 18-year-old named Angus, a good student whose bad behavior always threatens to get him expelled. Joining Paul and Angus is head cook Mary (Randolph)-an African American woman who caters to sons of privilege and whose own son was recently lost in Vietnam. These three very different shipwrecked people form an unlikely Christmas family sharing comic misadventures during two very snowy weeks in New England. The real journey is how they help one another understand that they are not beholden to their past-they can choose their own futures.

Crazy Credits

The film opens with a 1970's vintage R-rating MPAA card, followed by a 70's version of the Focus Features and Miramax logos.

Very enjoyable film with brilliant character presentation and growth.

[Gary]

I am currently hate watching Star Trek: Voyager. It's nowhere near as horrible as Discovery, but it's still a major disappointment.

[RJDiogenes]

I was disappointed with some of the things they did-- or at least some of the things they didn't do. But I always enjoyed it.

[Lupine]

And it's held up pretty good in re-runs. Better than DS9 in many ways.

[Gary]

I was disappointed with some of the things they did-- or at least some of the things they didn't do. But I always enjoyed it.

I still stand by my statement that Neelix should have been shoved out of an airlock by episode three.

And it's held up pretty good in re-runs. Better than DS9 in many ways.

I am going to pretend you didn't say that.

[Lupine]

^

[RJDiogenes]

Never cross a Niner.

And it's held up pretty good in re-runs. Better than DS9 in many ways.

That's the trouble with arc-based storytelling. It reduces rewatchability.

I still stand by my statement that Neelix should have been shoved out of an airlock by episode three.

I was fine with Neelix, but both Kes and Harry dragged the show down. Replacing Kes with Seven was a smart move, but they should have replaced Harry as well.

[Lupine]

^And I rather liked Kes. Seven would have worked better if they had put in some decent clothes.

And it's held up pretty good in re-runs. Better than DS9 in many ways.

That's the trouble with arc-based storytelling. It reduces rewatchability.

My problem with DS9 wasn't so much the arcs (though the Dominion War really dragged at times), but I never thought the writing was as sharp as TNG and the show never seemed as forward thinking as the other shows of the time.

[Gary]

Couldn't stand Kes or Neelix. Janeway was the female Kirk (minus the implied sex) and was also bipolar. There are a lot of other issues I had with the show, such as the ship being in original condition by the end. The reboot of Battlestar Galactica greatly demonstrates how the ship should have degraded over the course of battles and normal operations. The final season should have been the ship arriving in the Alpha Quadrant (not necessarily Earth) part-way through the final season with the remainder spent on what happened to the crew and the ship afterward.