[watching] What have you viewed recently? (II)

TLOTR: The War of the Rohirrim. Just been to see it at IMAX.
It's a nice tale, quite deriviative of the films, and in some ways a way to tell similar tales. But JRR always was a fan a of stories retold.
It's a nice bit of tomboy feminism combined with weaving in some kickass women into the the Rohirrim legend structures.
The animation is a mix of styles, essentially anime over a rotoscopes UNREAL engine background [and sometimes foreground]. It's an intgeresting approach and I liked it but sometimes it comes off as a but rushed, needed a bit more work.
The voice acting is good, and I am delighted that the Rohirrim are now clearly co-located in South and West Yorkshire, Rotherham, Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds! [I did wish the lead Hera has flattened her vowels a bit].
Was it good? It were middling to fair.. having read of it it was done to keep the rights to Tolkien films with Warner Brothers since they were in danger of losing the rights. Part of me think they rushed it.
Did I enjoy it? Gosh yes, it's Anglo-Nordic and Tolkien, cause I loved it. The Princess stood up for herself, she has some great moments, the villain was full on villainous as well as having a few moments when empathy kicked in.. the animation was interesting even when not quite 'there', and it tied in nicely with the meta plots.

There is no point in seeing it on IMAX tho', or truthfully at a cinema..
 
Guvnor said:
TLOTR: The War of the Rohirrim. Just been to see it at IMAX.
It's a nice tale, quite deriviative of the films, and in some ways a way to tell similar tales. But JRR always was a fan a of stories retold.
It's a nice bit of tomboy feminism combined with weaving in some kickass women into the the Rohirrim legend structures.
The animation is a mix of styles, essentially anime over a rotoscopes UNREAL engine background [and sometimes foreground]. It's an intgeresting approach and I liked it but sometimes it comes off as a but rushed, needed a bit more work.
The voice acting is good, and I am delighted that the Rohirrim are now clearly co-located in South and West Yorkshire, Rotherham, Sheffield, Bradford and Leeds! [I did wish the lead Hera has flattened her vowels a bit].
Was it good? It were middling to fair.. having read of it it was done to keep the rights to Tolkien films with Warner Brothers since they were in danger of losing the rights. Part of me think they rushed it.
Did I enjoy it? Gosh yes, it's Anglo-Nordic and Tolkien, cause I loved it. The Princess stood up for herself, she has some great moments, the villain was full on villainous as well as having a few moments when empathy kicked in.. the animation was interesting even when not quite 'there', and it tied in nicely with the meta plots.

There is no point in seeing it on IMAX tho', or truthfully at a cinema..
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A fair assessment. And indeed, not essential to see on the big screen....but my daughter is of an age when she wants to treat her parents to an outing, occasionally, and I wasn't about to say no to that
 
Finished watching Secret Level on Prime. A good mix of shorts based on past, current, future and recently cancelled video games. Around 10 minutes long. Nice little storytelling with good graphics - games covered D&D, Unreal Tournament, W40K Space Marine, Crossfire even Pac Man (though I found that one dark and weird).

It includes a short from Exodus the forthcoming game next year (there is even talk of a TTRPG for it) and the recently (and short lived) cancelled Concord game. Definitely worth a look
 
We completed our seasonal watch of The Box of Delights, something I've watched every Christmas since I was a child. This year, I had the new 40th Anniversary Blu Ray to watch. The Box of Delights happens to be my favourite book, and I have copies of the Radio 4 version and the more recent Big Finish version on CD.
 
Nathan said:
We completed our seasonal watch of The Box of Delights, something I've watched every Christmas since I was a child. This year, I had the new 40th Anniversary Blu Ray to watch. The Box of Delights happens to be my favourite book, and I have copies of the Radio 4 version and the more recent Big Finish version on CD.
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Been a long time since I seen that - on bbc iPlayer right?
 
Nathan said:
We completed our seasonal watch of The Box of Delights, something I've watched every Christmas since I was a child. This year, I had the new 40th Anniversary Blu Ray to watch. The Box of Delights happens to be my favourite book, and I have copies of the Radio 4 version and the more recent Big Finish version on CD.
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A friend of mine and her husband are big fans of this. They went to the stage version in Stratford last year. It had mixed reviews but they liked it. I keep meaning to watch the TV series myself - Christmas does seem like the ideal time to finally get round to it.

Masefield was a local lad, born just down the road from me in Ledbury. His Dad's old law firm is still going and bears the family name although I don't think there are any Masefields working there now.
 
I watched Doctor Who's The Wars Games in Colour last night. As I found the colourisation and picture to be fantastic, it felt to me that I was just watching the highlights. It was a little jumbled. I guess it's hard to edit down 10 episodes into the running time of just 4 episodes.

The newly created regeneration scene was nicely done and I did like the inclusion of the modern Doctors in the scene where the Second Doctor had to chose a new face.
 
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Not watched yet but will be.
The trailer suggests that it won't be pulling any punches like the original material.
 
I'm late to it, but am watching The Umbrella Academy and enjoying it a lot. Nice balance of conspiracy, action, soap opera and timey wimey stuff.
Also continuing to re-watch Sapphire & Steel and Thunderbirds.
 
For those who are interested: The latest 28 day viewing data confirms that not only is Gavin and Stacey: The Finale has an astonishing 20.9m viewers after 28 days, but Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl has also broken through the 20m mark reaching 21.6 million viewers. These figures are more than double the current viewership of the top programmes. An amazing feat, nonetheless.

 
So much stuff since last I posted a one sentence review round up. Lets see...

Wolf Hall (BBC) - it's canny, proper 'spot the famous person' fest in S1
SAS Rogue Heroes S2 - Not as good as S1, but it hardly could be!
Dr Who Christmas Episode (BBC) - Meh, a bit too clumsy for me
Band of Brothers (NOW) - very good indeed, glad I got around to it.
Billions S1-5 (Paramount+) - Good fun although I struggle in the 'everyone's a grey area, no heroes or villains' setting
The Dragon Prince S7 (Netflix) - Sadly finished but ended well. I'll always have Tales of Xadia
The Six Triple Eight (Netflix) - feel good war drama, canny
The Diplomat S2 (Netflix) - pretty weak sauce, ends on a cliffhanger after only 6 episodes
Hellbound S1 and S2 (Netflix) - Starts well, but never really seems to go anywhere quick
Arcane S1 (Netflix) - Amazing!
Gyongseong Creature (Netflix) - both seasons are excellent, and maybe how a CoC game could run
Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (Netflix) - Knew nothing about the setting, loved big robots!
Twilight of the Gods(Netflix) - Zack Snyder, animated R-rated Norse epic adventure. Amazing.
The Doom Patrol S1 (ITVX) - very nicely done homage to one of my fave comic teams
Star Trek Lower Decks (final season) - Very well done, nice finale
Civil War (Amazon) - a lot less engaging than I thought it would be
Red One (Amazon) - a lot more engaging than I thought it would be
The Legend of Vox Machina S3 (Amazon) - more of the same, which is good
The Boys S4 (Amazon) - not bothered by the hyperpolitics, glad its ending
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (NOW) - love big beasties, but the weakest of the recent arc
Wonka (NOW) - brilliant fun film
Wicked (at the actual cinema!) - Oh, I adored this so much!
IF (Imaginary Friends) (NOW) - Horseshit
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire (NOW) - overlong, overladen nonsense
Madame Web (NOW) - Seriously bad
The Flash (NOW) - singularly one of the worst movies I have ever seen, its a war crime
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (NOW) - instantly forgettable, like cinematic rohypnol
Agatha All Along (Disney+) - It was OK, felt like story filler for something bigger
What If S3 (Disney+) - Some was good, the ending was a bit much for me, but you know, What If?
The Acolyte (Disney+) - Well I enjoyed it, until the last couple of scenes where they couldn't help themselves!
Renegade Nell (Disney+) - great historical magic romp, love it so obviosuly cancelled
X-Men '97 (Disney+) -properly excellent stuff. I was, as the kids say, hype

There may be one or two I have missed... Oh, and Raw, Smackdown and NXT now on Netflix has me like a pig in shit!
 
We watched Alien: Romulus. It was okay, but it was trying its dam hardest to capture the nostalgia of the original. The final confrontation was probably the best bit, and was the most creepiest thing I've seen in a horror movie for a very long time. However, there were one or two niggling plot holes that tighter writing or better script editing could have easily fixed. Overall, it wasn't a terrible film, but it could have been a whole lot better.
 
Watched Dune: Prophecy and enjoyed it, although it ended just as it was getting interesting. Set 10,000y before the events in Dune, this is all about House politics and a struggle for control.

Also watched Skeleton Crew, which was kind of Spielberg TV Star Wars, and great fun. Although it was focused around the kids it still maintained a nasty edge showing how bad the Star Wars universe can be. Pirates, gold credits and X-Wings. And a Pirate droid called SM-33. If you know, you know... again recommended.
 
Dom said:
Also watched Skeleton Crew, which was kind of Spielberg TV Star Wars, and great fun. Although it was focused around the kids it still maintained a nasty edge showing how bad the Star Wars universe can be. Pirates, gold credits and X-Wings. And a Pirate droid called SM-33. If you know, you know... again recommended.
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I really enjoyed the series too, as it was a lot of fun.

I've finally completed my Clone Wars rewatch. The ending is so poignant, moving, and grown up for an animated series initially aimed at 8 to 12 year olds. I think it's got some of the best stories and writing, outshining a lot of the live action Star Wars shows. My next stop will be a rewatch of all four seasons of Rebels.
 
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman (Disney+) is a zero luggage version of teenage Spiderman with enough IYKYK moments to foreshadow things to come but not so many that it seems irksome. Good cast of (mostly) new supporting characters and very little in the way of epic super stuff. More a teen who's a super rather than a super who's a teen. Art style takes a moment to get used to and then I stopped noticing. Great stuff
 
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