Re: What Did You Watch? 2024-12-23 (Monday)

On Tue, 24 Dec 2024 18:31:19 -0700, anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net>
wrote:

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

On 12/24/2024 9:43 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

Yesterday, I ran errands, and took it easy. So I actually didn't do
much, except finish up S1 of "Cross", though I did get through a movie:
 
soaps: DOOL - Mon's ep. Leo and Rafe interrogate Hattie, and seem to
ascertain that she isn't the new Lady Whistleblower; later, at the cop
shop, Belle lawyers up Hattie before Jada can question her, but it seems
likely Hattie is not behind the "poisoned" cupcakes either. Jada offers
JJ his job back, before he and NuGabi go out on a date. It seems like
Kristin isn't the one sabotaging Brady and Ava - if it's not Kristen, it
can only mean that daughter Rachel is the one doing it.
 
Cross (Prime) - Last 4 episodes of season #1 (which is only 8 ep's long).
   Including naked nudity from Alona Tal!!... Which is actually kind of
weird - Tal's a mom now. I wouldn't do naked nudity as an actress if I
was a mom...
   Sidenote: This may be set in Washington, DC, but it was so clearly
filmed in Canada, that it's not even funny - not only is Jennifer
Wigmore in the main cast (as the police chief), with Sharon Taylor in a
important role, but Jessica Clement and Karen Robinson pop up in a key
supporting role, and Kristin Booth and Siobhan Murphy also appear.
   Anyway, this was mostly good stuff, with episode #5 (Cross goes to
the the richie-rich serial killer's birthday for some cat-and-mouse
action) being probably the best of the lot.
   The season actually comprises two main storylines - the serial
killer, and Cross's "stalker" - so I was a little surprised when the
former storyline pretty much wraps up in episode #1.7.
   That leaves the "stalker" storyline for episode #1.8. And I can't
say I was all that thrilled with how this one resolved, as the culprit
wasn't whom I was expecting (so I guess they succeeded in the "surprise"
department), and I didn't buy their motivation for such a long-term
project.
   There is a mid-credits scene in ep. #1.8 with Alona Tal that hints
at something, but isn't clear what it's hinting at.
 
The Inheritance (Hulu) - What's really interesting about this 2024 film
is that it was originally produced, in 2022, *for Netflix*. But, for
whatever reason, Netflix dropped this film (and another, as yet
unreleased film) in early 2023 - so it took another almost 2 years for
this one to be released.
   Starring Bob Gunton! as the patriarch of a zillionaire family who
calls his 4 children (and one daughter-in-law) - Rachel Nichols(!),
David Walton, Peyton List the Younger, and Austin Stowell and Briana
Middleton (as the daughter-in-law) - home for his 75th birthday to
"protect" the old man from a "threat" on his life. So he locks them all
in the mansion with him, threatening to remove their inheritance, unless
they stay.
   It's not giving too much away in saying the "threat" is a "woo-woo"
supernatural threat, through the kids don't immediately realize this.
   This was OK, I guess (I enjoyed Gunton, and Peyton List is amusing
in a too small part), though I didn't enjoy it as much as the somewhat
similar "The Invitation" with Nathalie Emmanuel.
 

 
I have Hulu now, but haven't watched anything on it yet.  Let me add
this to the Hulu watch list.
 

 
What did you watch?
 

 
I watched:
 
Fatal Attraction (4K disc) 1987 movie starring Michael Douglas as a man
who has an affair with a woman (Glenn Close) who becomes obsessed with
him.  Her obsession leads to killing the family pet and traumatizing the
family child.  She does many wild things that brings nothing but fear
and misery to his life.
 
 
Misery (4K disc) 1990 movie starring James Caan as a best-selling author
who writes a final novel killing off his main character.  He then meets
a woman (Kathy Bates) who is his number one fan, and is obsessed with
him. She does many wild things that brings nothing but fear and misery
to his life, including holding him hostage and forcing him to write a
new novel to bring the character back while killing anyone who discovers
the truth.  But while everyone thinks he's dead, the local sheriff
suspects he's really alive and sets out to find him.
 
 
Fear (blu-ray) 1996 movie starring Reese Withersppon as a teenage girl
who meets a teenage boy (Mark Wahlberg) who becomes obsessed with her.
His obsession leads to killing the family pet and traumatizing the
family child.  He does many wild things that brings nothing but fear and
misery to her life.
 
 
Wild Things (4K disc) 1998 movie starring Matt Dillon as a school
guidance counselor who has to deal with two students (Neve Cambell and
Denise Richards) who accuse him of rape.  As he plot unfolds with
various twists and turns, they do many wild things that bring nothing
but fear and misery to his life.
 
 
Obsessed (blu-ray) 2009 movie starring Idris Elba as a man who meets a
woman (Ali Larter) who becomes obsessed with him.  She does many wild
things that brings nothing but fear and misery to his life, inlcuding
traumatizing the family child.  Unlike "Fatal Attraction" Idris never
actually sleeps with Ali.  She's just a total psycho from the start who
gets it in her head she's in a relationship with him.  But Idris'
character is married to Beyoncé, and in an epic cat fight to end all cat
fights, Beyoncé beats that idea out of her by the end of the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCR6t4Qy4bE
 
 
Silent Night, Fatal Night (Lifetime) A best-selling author writes a
final novel killing off her main character. She is then kidnapped and
forced to write a new novel to bring the character back while the
kidnapper kills anyone who discovers the truth.  But while everyone
thinks she's dead, the local sheriff suspects she's really alive and
sets out to find her.  I should mention, the novelist also has a number
one fan who plays a part in plot.  I think I might have watched a
different movie with a similar premise once.
 
 
What If...? (Disney+) - "What If... Agatha Went to Hollywood?" - Agatha
Harkness goes to Hollywood.  This was worse than the first one!
 
 

>
I watched the first one after you mentioned it and it wasn’t very good.  So
there are a bunch of abominations on the loose and the avengers built giant
Mecha suits to beat them and the abominations win and kill all the avengers
so the second and third string avengers hop in the apparently undamaged
Mecha suits and … win. Yeah, that makes no sense at all.
Then the abominations all go breed at the north pole and return by the
thousands and a software upgrade for the suits by Bruce Banner lets them
transform to become infinitely powerful.

It wasn't quite like that. The Alpha was able to create more of it's
kind and apparently had been doing that since the last battle up under
the ice caps. Why it did that and cared enough to attack humanity is a
question they never addressed. Also they never addressed how the
software upgrade changed the suits into transformers, or Power Ranger
suits. Only way that would make sense is if the suits were designed as
transformers from the beginning, but then only Bruce Banner knew that
was part of the design?