OT: Capitals Cinema Club: TV and Movies

[hb12xchamps]

Sunderland Till I Die on Netflix is a great documentary about Sunderland’s demise and how passionate their fan base is. They follow Sunderland through their relegation season from the Championship and their eventual sale. Haven’t gotten to season 2 but it’s about their season in the third tier of English football. Great behind the scenes look at how quickly a club can fall without proper financial backing. Know there’s plenty of footy fans on this board that would enjoy it

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix is fantastic.

 

[twabby]

The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix is fantastic.

I'm going to be in a small minority but I really, really disliked this movie. Sorkin is clearly posturing for an Oscar and is more interested in drawing similarities between actual leftist radicals of the era who wanted actual material change and the current liberal Trump outrage which is more aesthetic than anything.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

On a less depressing note....


The Boys season 2......epic.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I'm going to be in a small minority but I really, really disliked this movie. Sorkin is clearly posturing for an Oscar and is more interested in drawing similarities between actual leftist radicals of the era who wanted actual material change and the current liberal Trump outrage which is more aesthetic than anything.

I'm not getting into all that, I just thought it was a really fun movie to watch. Sasha Baron Cohen was great as Abbie Hoffman.

 

[HeyMattyB]

I enjoyed The Boys Season 1 a lot more than Season 2. S1, IMO, was more nuanced in its world/character building and more introspective in its social/political commentary. S2 IMO, was much more surface-level spectacle-based entertainment. Still enjoyable, though.

That said, I could watch Nazis get punched, kicked, and beaten to a bloody pulp for hours. A true delight!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Season 1 was fast out of the gate and unknown so more impactful, but I felt like more core character development happened in season 2.

 

[tenken00]

Season 1 was fast out of the gate and unknown so more impactful, but I felt like more core character development happened in season 2.

Homelander is the man.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Homelander is the man.

lol the insane one!

Stormfront nourishing his insanity was so great....I’m wondering when he just says F it...and starts taking over the world.

I also wonder if in their quest to stabilize compound V to be able to use safely on adults, if some of the main characters against the Supes don’t themselves end up getting powers....

 

[tenken00]

lol the insane one!

Stormfront nourishing his insanity was so great....I’m wondering when he just says F it...and starts taking over the world.

I also wonder if in their quest to stabilize compound V to be able to use safely on adults, if some of the main characters against the Supes don’t themselves end up getting powers....

The actor who plays him is great. I wouldn't want to know Homelander, but man... I could watch his character for hours. And I've always liked Karl Urban (I think "Dredd" is seriously underrated). Not a fan of le petit Huey though.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Big Karl Urban fan as well....and Dredd!

 

[tenken00]

Big Karl Urban fan as well....and Dredd!

It took me awhile to realize the main baddie in Dredd is Queen Cersei.

 

[HeyMattyB]

I appreciate this take on The Boys' depiction of modern fascism. I think it's a good thing for a popular television show to really hammer home the point that not *all* racists wear hoods, and not all fascists wear swastikas. It seems like such an obvious point, but a lot of people these days think that anything that falls short of those extreme/obvious examples isn't *actually* racism/fascism.

Stormfront and Homelander are both beloved by the public. In part, that’s because they hide many of their most horrific acts and opinions. But it’s also because fascistic nationalism and demonization of marginalized people is popular. Stormfront and Homelander exploit American nationalism and xenophobic panic. They warn of the threat of superpowered illegal immigrant terrorists — directly echoing Republican, Trumpian rhetoric about disease-spreading immigrant supercriminals and Muslim invasion. Fascism in The Boys, as in real life, calls the public to their worst selves. Thanos comes for everyone, but Stormfront picks her targets more carefully, and as a result, she’s able to create a groundswell of support for violence and authoritarianism.

Stormfront targets immigrants just like contemporary neo-Nazis do, and like them, she also uses social media, memes, and cool-girl anti-establishment branding. She gives speeches decrying the elite corporate establishment for being squishy and weak, and for downplaying the threat from superpowered immigrants. Stormfront is hip, irreverent, and anti-corporate, spinning exciting conspiracy theories in the interest of ratcheting up populist enthusiasm for a program of hate and genocide. Her fascism is alt-right and up to date. Even her name, Stormfront, references the most infamous current real-life white-supremacist website.

 

[tenken00]

I appreciate this take on The Boys' depiction of modern fascism. I think it's a good thing for a popular television show to really hammer home the point that not *all* racists wear hoods, and not all fascists wear swastikas. It seems like such an obvious point, but a lot of people these days think that anything that falls short of those extreme/obvious examples isn't *actually* racism/fascism.

Stormfront and Homelander are both beloved by the public. In part, that’s because they hide many of their most horrific acts and opinions. But it’s also because fascistic nationalism and demonization of marginalized people is popular. Stormfront and Homelander exploit American nationalism and xenophobic panic. They warn of the threat of superpowered illegal immigrant terrorists — directly echoing Republican, Trumpian rhetoric about disease-spreading immigrant supercriminals and Muslim invasion. Fascism in The Boys, as in real life, calls the public to their worst selves. Thanos comes for everyone, but Stormfront picks her targets more carefully, and as a result, she’s able to create a groundswell of support for violence and authoritarianism.

Stormfront targets immigrants just like contemporary neo-Nazis do, and like them, she also uses social media, memes, and cool-girl anti-establishment branding. She gives speeches decrying the elite corporate establishment for being squishy and weak, and for downplaying the threat from superpowered immigrants. Stormfront is hip, irreverent, and anti-corporate, spinning exciting conspiracy theories in the interest of ratcheting up populist enthusiasm for a program of hate and genocide. Her fascism is alt-right and up to date. Even her name, Stormfront, references the most infamous current real-life white-supremacist website.

Sounds interesting and I'll probably read the article, but I haven't actually finished The Boys Season 2 yet (still on Ep 5). I've been side tracked in the free time with games and horror movies/shows since tis the season. I'm actually currently thinking about watching "The Haunting of Bly Manor" on Netflix since I liked the Hill House series. But it seems to have mixed reviews.

 

[HeyMattyB]

We just started the Haunting of Bly Manor after finishing the Boys S2! It's pretty slow/meandering so far. We keep waiting for things to really pick up and pay off (which it just *kind of* started to do five episodes in?). I wish the pace was a little quicker (a lot of scenes drag on forever), the plot a little more focused (it's trying to do too many things at once), and the themes more developed (it's all over the place). Also, oh dear lord, WHAT IS UP with the terrible accents in this show?! LOL. But it does look good, and it's entertaining enough to keep watching.

We mostly enjoyed the Hill House series (though I don't remember much about it other than mostly enjoying it). Funny side story: That was the first show we watched after buying a (cheap) 4K TCL Roku TV with HDR. The HDR picture was pretty dark, so the whole time I was like, "Uh... I guess that's just how this show is lit, to keep the atmosphere spooky? But geez is it dark!" I only found out later that you have to adjust the TV's gamma settings (which, by default, are pretty dark), which can only be done via the Roku TV phone app. For some reason it's not in the regular TV menus? LOL.

 

[usiel]

It took me awhile to realize the main baddie in Dredd is Queen Cersei.

Man she was a legit awesome baddie in Dredd.

The guy playing Homelander is in a series called Banshee which is great, imho. Just get past the terribad cgi car crash in the beginning of the first episode.

 

[Hivemind]

I agree Interstellar over Ad Astra but Ad Astra is still good. For me though they are two different types of movies. Interstellar is a believable action type space movie in the Gravity (cool movie but pretty unbelievable from a reality standpoint) and Armageddon (which is a complete farce from a reality standpoint) where Ad Astra is a good 2001 A Space Odyssey type mind **** realistic space movie although the part at the end where Brad Pitt uses a nuclear explosion to get back to earth was disappointing and that giant radio tower was cool looking but not very realistic.

I quite like the movie Interstellar (or at least I did when it was released, it's been a few years since I've seen it). That being said, not sure I'd chuck it into the "believable" category. It sets itself up as "hard sci fi" for much of the first two acts, but completely abandons that in the third act. And even among the hard sci fi bits, it just gets stuff entirely wrong at points. I won't bore people here, but I have a whole rant about the orbital mechanics of one of the scenes.

 

[Hivemind]

There was one thing I strongly disliked about The Boys season 2, but it would be essentially impossible to discuss without spoilers of the season finale and potential political discussion.

 

[usiel]

There was one thing I strongly disliked about The Boys season 2, but it would be essentially impossible to discuss without spoilers of the season finale and potential political discussion.

Still need to finish it realized they were doing the once a week BS so just waited till it finished.

Grinding my way through that turkish historical fantasy series Resurrection (netflix)..on eps 96, lol.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Sounds interesting and I'll probably read the article, but I haven't actually finished The Boys Season 2 yet (still on Ep 5). I've been side tracked in the free time with games and horror movies/shows since tis the season. I'm actually currently thinking about watching "The Haunting of Bly Manor" on Netflix since I liked the Hill House series. But it seems to have mixed reviews.

Your watch list needs a reshuffle....

I get it though....often quality doesn’t drive next in my list, it’s what you’re feeling at the moment. You have Shudder by chance? (In that genre)....

 

[tenken00]

Your watch list needs a reshuffle....

I get it though....often quality doesn’t drive next in my list, it’s what you’re feeling at the moment. You have Shudder by chance? (In that genre)....

I admit, I've been severely slacking on my shows. I have a huge backlog that I have to get through but always got sidetracked. I think the last show I've watched that I got to the end of in its current season is The Expanse... many mamy moons ago.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I admit, I've been severely slacking on my shows. I have a huge backlog that I have to get through but always got sidetracked. I think the last show I've watched that I got to the end of in its current season is The Expanse... many mamy moons ago.

Quality SYFY Expanse.

I’m watching Utopia on Prime currently....it’s crushing it so far (episode 3)....

 

[tenken00]

Quality SYFY Expanse.

I’m watching Utopia on Prime currently....it’s crushing it so far (episode 3)....

I think its mostly because I've turned into such a binge watcher. If I watch something I like, I could watch a whole season within a couple of days. Suffer at work because I need to watch one more episode instead of sleeping haha.

If there are week long breaks in between its almost like out of sight out of mind.

But yeah the Expanse is great. I love my scifi/fantasy though. Was thinking about reading the books. Probably will sometime.

 

[Kalopsia]

I think its mostly because I've turned into such a binge watcher. If I watch something I like, I could watch a whole season within a couple of days. Suffer at work because I need to watch one more episode instead of sleeping haha.

If there are week long breaks in between its almost like out of sight out of mind.

But yeah the Expanse is great. I love my scifi/fantasy though. Was thinking about reading the books. Probably will sometime.

I highly recommend the books. I'll admit I'm pre-disposed to like them because I'm a huge fan of more "grounded" scifi and fantasy like ASOIAF, Black Company, Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, and Mass Effect (basically anything at the "One Big Lie" level on Moh's Scale of Science Fiction Hardness), but it might be my favorite book series. The show does a pretty good job of staying true to them too, so it shouldn't be too jarring to make the switch.

And if you're a binge-reader as well, the 9th and final book in the series is due out in 2021, so no worries about an ASOIAF situation!

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I think its mostly because I've turned into such a binge watcher. If I watch something I like, I could watch a whole season within a couple of days. Suffer at work because I need to watch one more episode instead of sleeping haha.

If there are week long breaks in between its almost like out of sight out of mind.

But yeah the Expanse is great. I love my scifi/fantasy though. Was thinking about reading the books. Probably will sometime.

i just pulled off the Stargate and Stargate Atlantis rewatch during early pandemic.....was great....was quite a feat just getting through the sheer size of the content, but made me love both series more even than I did first time. There were some, but not as many as I expected episodes I had never seen, quality SYFY for my tastes.

so much content so little time....I’m a massive multitasker.....3 screens going...almost always....helps me power through.