OT: Let's talk about movies (and TV shows)... Part XIX

[CauZuki]

Season five of "Parts Unknown" isn't great IMO. It has no standouts, but it does feature a series of solid, if not overly memorable, episodes. The Korea episode would've been certainly my favorite had they not butchered its editing. To this day I do not understand what the appeal was of running the episode backwards was. Ruined its flow to me and didn't bring any more of intended intensity.

So, for my favorites I'd name Budapest and New Jersey.

The ones I liked the least were Miami and Scotland.

P.S. I do have to add that the ending sequence of the Hawaii episode was breath-taking.

Newfoundland episode gets too much hate , I enjoyed it .

 

[overlords]

Michael Moore at it again

fahrenheit 11/9 - Google Search

Eugh. Outside of bowling for columbine, never liked a thing that came out of this guy. Do people really need more trump focused media? It's as if people didn't learn their lesson during the election.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Eugh. Outside of bowling for columbine, never liked a thing that came out of this guy. Do people really need more trump focused media? It's as if people didn't learn their lesson during the election.

His documentary on big pharma was pretty good. And the one where he goes to take ideas from other countries.

 

[Le Tricolore]

Ok, thanks. I'm not expecting a typical family friendly film like Wonder but I would guess it isn't as crass as American Pie.

I saw it yesterday, and can confirm that not only is it not as crass as American Pie (or at all, really), but it's actually an amazing family movie.

Spoiler

The movie is really sad, funny, awkward and relateable. Kayla, the protagonist is an awkward, shy girl who is trying her best to come out of her shell. She's a 14 year old girl who lives with her dad and like many teenagers will take out her frustrations on him even though he doesn't deserve it and only wants the best for her.
We see her dealing with a guy she likes. A new group of friends that she just wants to fit in with, and more.

It's the best movie I've seen come out this year, without a doubt. I couldn't recommend it enough for both teenagers and adults.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Newfoundland episode gets too much hate , I enjoyed it .

Who is hating on the Newfoundland episode? I thought it was one of the strongest from season 11. More so St Pierre and Miquelon portion of it, but the rest is pretty good as well IMO.

 

[CauZuki]

Who is hating on the Newfoundland episode? I thought it was one of the strongest from season 11. More so St Pierre and Miquelon portion of it, but the rest is pretty good as well IMO.

Oh my mistake I am not up to date on the season count , I watch an episode here and there. I thought you were referring to the latest season , yeah the episode was great loved that they mostly used ingredients from the island. Some stuff like the fish bladder was a bit too much for me...

 

[OldCraig71]

This is pretty good take, thanks for sharing!

On Cream's significance... I first thought he was a compass of River's sanity and, just like you, I saw him representing River's ever evolving mental state. Turns out, we, the hard-code fans of the show overthought the whole thing. I won't link to the article but you can Google for director's take if you like. It's not difficult to find.

Notice how the River/Stevie dynamic is drastically different from any other scenes in the movie. Whereas River is constantly bogged down by "every-day", his interactions and surroundings; it all goes away when he's talking to Stevie. She is the only one who can talk to him playfully, unafraid of passing judgement, but she does so in an almost charming way. "Dance, you nutter!" is probably the most powerful piece of dialogue, at least to me in that regard.

Another character that is much important IMO is Ira King. He's serving as a tether to River's madness. I'm not sure the show would've worked without this person. His remarks are often out of place, and are meant to provide slight comic relief. I find it works amazingly well.

Enjoy the ending, it's a thing all of its own. As great as the series already is what they do to untangle the murder mystery is almost cruel. The ending overtakes the entire story for a while, at least when watching for the first time. I can almost say I dislike it because of how well of a job it does taking away from the rest of the show and dimming the River/Stevie storyline. It flips the series on its head in one swift motion and reminds you that there's a murder here to be solved. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else from a show of this caliber.

I just finished the last two episodes after previously posting a reply to you earlier. I have to say that for me at least, this was one of the very best mini series drama's that I have ever seen and I want to again say thank you for posting about this show.

Abi Morgan said the following when describing Thomas Cream:
"I knew that we needed some kind of physical antagonist through the piece and I wanted a manifest that would really hold River’s darkest feelings, would stir him and motivate him and really hold his despair. I researched the psychology of serial killers, psychopaths and sociopaths and I stumbled across Thomas Cream". I guess that in this sense he was the darkness in Rivers mental state of mind but only that of fear and maybe he was an important character because it showed the internal fear that River might not find Stevie's killer.

I also liked the character of Rosa, the police psychiatrist, River learned to trust her especially after she gave him a passing grade in some testing that she conducted early on in the series that allowed him to keep working on the case, I felt like he was attracted to her but only because of her gentle nature that allowed him to reveal parts of his mental struggle that others could not understand.

The ending seemed fitting to me in a way because it revealed the dark past of Stevie and I think it allowed us to see what she had hid from River, I remember his shock in finding out that Frankie was her son and how he kept rewinding the tape and replaying "don't drop your boy", the fact that she hid this from him allowed us to see the personal struggles that her character endured as well and it really gave River true insight into why he must take care of Frankie but I agree, the end was shocking and brilliant at the same time. I kept thinking, there are only 15 minutes left, how can this possibly get better? A 10 out of 10 for me and I will probably watch it again. Cheers.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Please use spoiler tags.

Very glad you enjoyed River. You will notice many more nuances if you decide to watch it again, I promise. There are several things I didn't see/hear until I saw the series 3-4 times. It's not why I keep re-watching it though. The entertainment factor doesn't seem to diminish with repeat viewings - a sign of a rare quality.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Abi Morgan also said this on Cream prior to River's debut on BBC:

“He was the little mosquito I put in the script for myself,” says Morgan. “The bit of fun for me. I was googling these incredible quotes about death, but they were way too florid for any character. So I gave myself this one person who could get away with it. He spews Plato and Aristotle. He’s like tickertape running in River’s mind. I wanted to explore the psychosis of a murderer – and this was a way.”

I am not sure which take of hers we should trust more.

 

[Runner77]

Abi Morgan said the following when describing Thomas Cream:
"I knew that we needed some kind of physical antagonist through the piece and I wanted a manifest that would really hold River’s darkest feelings, would stir him and motivate him and really hold his despair. I researched the psychology of serial killers, psychopaths and sociopaths and I stumbled across Thomas Cream". I guess that in this sense he was the darkness in Rivers mental state of mind but only that of fear and maybe he was an important character because it showed the internal fear that River might not find Stevie's killer....

It's been a while since I've watched River but remember how impactful Thomas Cream was, so much so that to me, the character begged to have a series all his own.

Do you know if anyone has attempted one and if not, did the character leave a strong impression on you? I seem to recall that he was a doctor in Canada and he eluded the law for quite some time, quite possibly on account of his profession.

 

[GoodKiwi]

It's been a while since I've watched River but remember how impactful Thomas Cream was, so much so that to me, the character begged to have a series all his own.

Do you know if anyone has attempted one and if not, did the character leave a strong impression on you? I seem to recall that he was a doctor in Canada and he eluded the law for quite some time, quite possibly on account of his profession.

I suspect this is due, at least in part, to Eddie Marsan's portrayal of Cream. He (Marsan) is a great actor that owned his part in River.

 

[LaP]

His documentary on big pharma was pretty good. And the one where he goes to take ideas from other countries.

One must see documentary for people interested in this kind of documentaries is the one about Monsanto. I don't recall the name but Monsanto is pretty much trying to patent life and actually might succeed which is crazy.

 

[OldCraig71]

It's been a while since I've watched River but remember how impactful Thomas Cream was, so much so that to me, the character begged to have a series all his own.

Do you know if anyone has attempted one and if not, did the character leave a strong impression on you? I seem to recall that he was a doctor in Canada and he eluded the law for quite some time, quite possibly on account of his profession.

Morgan herself said that she enjoyed the Thomas Cream character so much that if there were a season 2 of River she would use him so much more( She also said that a police drama was not something she would attempt again but I am unaware of any other tv series about him) I really enjoyed the scenes with Cream because it seemed to be the most difficult parts for River to overcome, Skarsgard used every ounce of his acting range to deal with his strongest adversary Dr Cream, their scenes/interactions was brilliant to watch.

 

[groovejuice]

I suspect this is due, at least in part, to Eddie Marsan's portrayal of Cream. He's (Marsan) is a great actor that owned his part in River.

I've never seen Marsan in a bad role. This means two things to me: he's selective about his roles and his exceptional talent allows him to steal the scene whenever he's on camera. I really love his work.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Morgan herself said that she enjoyed the Thomas Cream character so much that if there were a season 2 of River she would use him so much more( She also said that a police drama was not something she would attempt again but I am unaware of any other tv series about him) I really enjoyed the scenes with Cream because it seemed to be the most difficult parts for River to overcome, Skarsgard used every ounce of his acting range to deal with his strongest adversary Dr Cream, their scenes/interactions was brilliant to watch.

While I preface this by saying there's nothing wrong with your take on River vs Cream, I do not find that to be a particularly important aspect of the show. I do understand why many fixate on it. That's by design, those scenes are meant to stand out. It is perhaps meant as a valve to release the pressure more than anything.

I think Skarsgard's range shines more is in his interactions with Stevie. Those are what's building up "the steam" so to speak. It is a much more interesting dynamic IMO. Its tone changes as River gets closer to the truth with Stevie becoming progressively more and more hostile (reasons for that you already mentioned earlier). Now, of course, this is reversed in reality. It is River's projection of Stevie that's becoming angry. That tells you about River's state of mind more than anything.

 

[Runner77]

I've never seen Marsan in a bad role. This means two things to me: he's selective about his roles and his exceptional talent allows him to steal the scene whenever he's on camera. I really love his work.

Am I the only one who thinks that Cream is fascinating enough to have a series dedicated to him?

 

[OldCraig71]

While I preface this by saying there's nothing wrong with your take on River vs Cream, I do not find that to be a particularly important aspect of the show. I do understand why many fixate on it. That's by design, those scenes are meant to stand out. It is perhaps meant as a valve to release the pressure more than anything.

I think Skarsgard's range shines more is in his interactions with Stevie. Those are what's building up "the steam" so to speak. It is a much more interesting dynamic IMO. Its tone changes as River gets closer to the truth with Stevie becoming progressively more and more hostile (reasons for that you already mentioned earlier).

I just meant range in the sense of how he was able to switch from what we saw during his interactions with Stevie to what he became when confronted by Thomas Cream and I agree that his onscreen time with Stevie was definitely the most intriguing part of the series.

 

[groovejuice]

Am I the only one who thinks that Cream is fascinating enough to have a series dedicated to him?

The way that Marsan plays him, I'd think so.

 

[Lshap]

Eugh. Outside of bowling for columbine, never liked a thing that came out of this guy. Do people really need more trump focused media? It's as if people didn't learn their lesson during the election.

Bowling for Columbine and Sicko are my two favourites. The scene in Sicko when he rents a boat and putt-putts all the way into Cuba with a group of sick Americans was great film. Moore is at his best when he asks questions like a real journalist. He's at his worst when he presumes to supply all the answers.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Bowling for Columbine and Sicko are my two favourites. The scene in Sicko when he rents a boat and putt-putts all the way into Cuba with a group of sick Americans was great film. Moore is at his best when he asks questions like a real journalist. He's at his worst when he presumes to supply all the answers.

A very good description of Moore.

 

[Kriss E]

Anybody watches Castle Rock?

 

[Mario Lemieux fan 66]

Dans La Brume (Just A Breath Away): 7.4/10 good sci-fi with Romain Duris

 

[Redux91]

Westworld Season 2 Episode 8, .. Wow.

Very awesome, very beautiful..

Love what they are doing with this show , its very bold

Hope they finish the season as strong

 

[Redux91]

Anybody watches Castle Rock?

Gonna jump on that soon enough, what a great concept

 

[Runner77]

Gonna jump on that soon enough, what a great concept

What's drawing you to it?