Octopus Overlords

Spike Lee's Vietnam/VietnamVeteran Da 5 Bloods is coming to Netflix June 12.

This looks amazing.

I'm in for that one.

Just started watching Da 5 Bloods. I'm only 15 minutes in, but so far I'm hooked.

The premise (which the trailer makes clear) is four African-American Vietnam vets returning to modern-day Vietnam to recover something they left behind.

What's interesting is that Lee cast 50-60-something actors in the roles, but the same actors play themselves in flashbacks without any makeup or de-aging technology. It takes a moment to get used to, but then it feels natural.

In fact the whole movie feels very natural and minimal, very close to the characters. It doesn't quite feel like a Spike Lee movie, or at least not yet. (I haven't seen his more recent stuff, so I don't know if he's been trending in this direction or not.)

Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo are enough to get me on board.

Same.

I didn't know they were in it. I'm definitely in.

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Netflix released Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts season 2 today.

Uh, what is that?

Yeah, looked that up. Is it "serious" or more just for kids. I'm getting more the latter vibe.

Finished Da 5 Bloods.

Easily the best "made for Netflix" movie I've seen. Watch it as soon as you're able.

Delroy Lindo is especially good.

Netflix offered up Ne Zha as a recommendation yesterday. It's an animated movie from China based loosely on the story Investiture of the Gods. I watched it in Chinese with subtitles, and while the translation seemed off a couple of times it was very easy to follow the story. The movie explores the classic nature vs. nurture concepts and are our fates written or can we make our own destiny; at a very basic level, which is fine as this is an animated family movie. I learned after watching that this is one of China's all time highest grossing films. Apparently there is also a sequel but no idea when or if it will also release on Netflix.

Freyland wrote: ↑Sat Jun 13, 2020 4:40 pm Yeah, looked that up. Is it "serious" or more just for kids. I'm getting more the latter vibe.

Kipo is definitely targeted at young adults. The protagonist and her sidekicks are all around 13 years old, well except for Dave. Dave is a different age at any given time. The underlying story is semi-serious and I would put it a notch or two below Avatar (animated) for seriousness but it's fun to watch with crazy enjoyable characters.

Some recognizable actors are also involved; Sterling K. Brown (This is Us) voices the dad, Deon Cole (Black-ish) is Dave, Joan Jett and Michael Leon Wooley have recurring roles plus some VOA notables, Dee Bradley Baker and Steve Blum. The stand out though, in my opinion is Dan Stevens (Legion, Downtown Abbey) who plays the villain and just kills it. Stevens does a phenomenal job of equally capturing evil, insane and creepy. I really liked his work in Legion and would love to see him now in a villain role in a live action movie or show.

I just noticed that The Witch: Subversion is up on Netflix now. I raved about it after buying it on Vudu a little while ago.. It’s insanely entertaining, as I mentioned in that post. I can’t recommend it enough.

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2020 3:17 pm Just started watching Da 5 Bloods. I'm only 15 minutes in, but so far I'm hooked.

The premise (which the trailer makes clear) is four African-American Vietnam vets returning to modern-day Vietnam to recover something they left behind.

What's interesting is that Lee cast 50-60-something actors in the roles, but the same actors play themselves in flashbacks without any makeup or de-aging technology. It takes a moment to get used to, but then it feels natural.

I found it to be a little disjointed, but I suppose most war films that are about more than the conflict are. It feels more like a war story about a war story. Delroy Lindo is amazing. The score is superb, even if some of the orchestral sections feel overblown.

I wonder how quickly I'd have noticed the flashback scenes if Holman hadn't mentioned the above. I feel like they could have dyed the grey out of the actors' hair at least, but overall I loved this method and wish it would be adopted by more filmmakers. It's just as easy if not easier to suspend my disbelief regarding the age of the characters as it is to accept different, younger actors. CGI de-aging is an abomination, even though it's come along way. The Irishman might have been a technical marvel, and eventually I got used to it. But it still looked so unnatural in places.

Sudy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 22, 2020 2:23 am

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2020 3:17 pm Just started watching Da 5 Bloods. I'm only 15 minutes in, but so far I'm hooked.

The premise (which the trailer makes clear) is four African-American Vietnam vets returning to modern-day Vietnam to recover something they left behind.

What's interesting is that Lee cast 50-60-something actors in the roles, but the same actors play themselves in flashbacks without any makeup or de-aging technology. It takes a moment to get used to, but then it feels natural.

I found it to be a little disjointed, but I suppose most war films that are about more than the conflict are. It feels more like a war story about a war story. Delroy Lindo is amazing. The score is superb, even if some of the orchestral sections feel overblown.

I wonder how quickly I'd have noticed the flashback scenes if Holman hadn't mentioned the above. I feel like they could have dyed the grey out of the actors' hair at least, but overall I loved this method and wish it would be adopted by more filmmakers. It's just as easy if not easier to suspend my disbelief regarding the age of the characters as it is to accept different, younger actors. CGI de-aging is an abomination, even though it's come along way. The Irishman might have been a technical marvel, and eventually I got used to it. But it still looked so unnatural in places.

One aspect I found especially aggravating were the pointlessly 'Proper Case' foreign language subtitles.

Why The Hell Did Everyone Speaking In A Foreign Language Insist On Capitalizing The First Letter Of Every Word?

I'm almost done Season 1 of Dear White People and would recommend it. They do a good job of integrating humor into some very complex situations and characters.

Updated info on The Witcher S2 and Lucifer S5:

Netflix has revealed an August 21st premiere date for the first part of the upcoming fifth season of their fan-favorite supernatural series “Lucifer”. Tom Ellis leads these first eight episodes of the new run which arrive more than a year since the series had its debut on Netflix.

Netflix has also announced that production on the second season of its fantasy series “The Witcher” will officially resume on August 17th. Production was put on on-hold in March after co-star Kristofer Hivju (“Game of Thrones”) contracted coronavirus whilst globally productions began shutting down due to the rising pandemic.

Cyberpunk 2077 anime series.

Sweet Magnolias is a great family show. There aren't many of these on Netflix that families can watch as a whole, and this one is great. And I heartily endorse the theme song, Nickel Creek's Destination.

Watched the entire first season of The Umbrella Academy this week. That was a heck of a ride.

Sheesh. Delroy Lindo is really something. Always did like him. And a certain scene toward the middle of the film had me holding my breath without even realizing it. Hell of a movie, Da 5 Bloods.

Canadian Netflix got Sons of Anarchy recently so I've been binging that, but the final five seasons don't drop till next month. In 2020 it kind of feels like a generic crime drama (feeling especially similar to other FX show The Shield in pacing) that relies upon stereotype a little too much, but the supporting cast really carries it. Ron Perlman, Kim Coates, Theo Rossi, Tommy Flanagan, Dayton Callie etc. are a constant pleasure to watch.

I watched the first season and a half of Sons of Anarchy mostly because it was originally written as a sort of modern day telling of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which I found intriguing. Unfortunately it seemed to me that they dropped the premise and the show became, as you stated, another generic crime drama of the PG-13+ type on FX. I always found the acting pretty top notch but I quickly stopped being interested in the story they were telling.

We'll see how I feel after watching the rest of the series, but the problem I usually have with shows like this that run so long is the volume of crimes the main characters commit with few consequences until the very end of the series. They always want to start off with a bang, but then they have to top it season after season. Yet there's almost always a get out of jail card. (Except for the season a major character spends in prison.)

At least skip ahead to the series finale. Specifically the last 20 minutes or so. I still laugh at how truly awful that was. I mean, we’re talking Ed Wood level...but without the sincerity.

But yeah, it was an interesting attempt at creating a modern day version of Hamlet, but Kurt Sutter just isn’t a very good writer. He thinks raunch and shock are all you need for a story.

So I finished Series 3 of Marcella this weekend. I love the show, and enjoyed this series, but it wasn't as good as the first two. Still I remain obsessed with Marcella who is just such a great, insane (putting it mildly), anti-hero! Anna Friel is awesome.

Finished Season 3 of 13 Reasons Why last night. I loved the first season, as terrible as the things it portrayed were. I appreciated the second season for what it was, but nothing compared to the second season. The third season was just... too much. There were a lot of great topics presented really well, but the overarching story and ending was... unsatisfying. Maybe that was kind of the point, but seeing that the day after seeing the ending of The Last of Us Part II (intense, story-driven video game), was probably too much for me.

JCC wrote: ↑Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:13 pm So I finished Series 3 of Marcella this weekend. I love the show, and enjoyed this series, but it wasn't as good as the first two. Still I remain obsessed with Marcella who is just such a great, insane (putting it mildly), anti-hero! Anna Friel is awesome.

Been watching it too, and I find her smoking hot.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:13 pm Been watching it too, and I find her smoking hot.

I like her too. I was trying to figure out if she was always this skinny. She may need to eat a happy meal or two!

To me, she'll always be Chuck from Pushing Daisies.

hepcat wrote: ↑Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:37 pm At least skip ahead to the series finale. Specifically the last 20 minutes or so. I still laugh at how truly awful that was. I mean, we’re talking Ed Wood level...but without the sincerity.

But yeah, it was an interesting attempt at creating a modern day version of Hamlet, but Kurt Sutter just isn’t a very good writer. He thinks raunch and shock are all you need for a story.

The redeeming factors for the later seasons was the appearance of Jimmy Smits as Nero the retired Latin gangster now escort service entrepreneur and Walton Goggins as the fabulous Venus van Dam.

The season when “The Irish took my baby!” and the gang takes a road trip to Ireland was pretty bad.

Was that the one where Marcia, Greg and the rest of the gang came across Vincent Price in Hawaii and he trapped them in a cave?

And I think it goes without saying that any appearance of the great Walter Goggins can elevate almost any show.

JCC wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:16 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 1:13 pm Been watching it too, and I find her smoking hot.

I like her too. I was trying to figure out if she was always this skinny. She may need to eat a happy meal or two!

I think it's just typical of her body type. She was excellent in 'The Heavy Water War' miniseries about the bombing of the Norwegian Heavy Water plant during WWII.

hepcat wrote:Was that the one where Marcia, Greg and the rest of the gang came across Vincent Price in Hawaii and he trapped them in a cave?

And I think it goes without saying that any appearance of the great Walter Goggins can elevate almost any show.

The plot line was on par with that episode. I think the most memorable thing from their Ireland vacay was that Jax almost shagged his half sister.

I've been watching Sutter's newest show Mayans M.C. and it's equally as awful. The only reason I watch, and I'm ashamed to admit this, is because I'm curious as to what violent or perverse story line he'll turn to next to keep his audience fixated on the show. He doesn't know how to create characters with any depth, so that's all he has.

Aw we loved Pushing Daisies. It was so quirky.

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:17 pm I've been watching Sutter's newest show Mayans M.C. and it's equally as awful. The only reason I watch, and I'm ashamed to admit this, is because I'm curious as to what violent or perverse story line he'll turn to next to keep his audience fixated on the show. He doesn't know how to create characters with any depth, so that's all he has.

Ugh, I was watching it too but ended up letting the last two episodes of the past season die from neglect on my DVR. There are flashes of good television in Sutter's stuff but some tired dreck as well. Of course, Edward James Olmos salvages every scene he's in.

JCC wrote: ↑Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:13 pm So I finished Series 3 of Marcella this weekend. I love the show, and enjoyed this series, but it wasn't as good as the first two. Still I remain obsessed with Marcella who is just such a great, insane (putting it mildly), anti-hero! Anna Friel is awesome.

So, I finished it tonight, and I actually really liked this season. It was a nice change of setting, as I was getting tired of her constant blackouts. After last season, I'd wondered where it would go as they seemed to have written her into a corner.

Although one thing that really confused me with the season finale was her hair color. All throughout the season, she had blonde hair and they'd even dedicated part of an episode to explain her transition, and yet during the last episode she's back to her old hair color and they barely even notice or question her why she's not looking like a different person, and compounding that confusion was the blackout they'd started the episode with. Rather sloppy writing if you ask me.

I started watching season 3 of Dark. I enjoyed the first two seasons, but this third one just seems jumbled. There are just too many different storylines and people to keep track of; I honestly couldn’t provide any semblance of a synopsis through three episodes so far.