On 5/1/2022 9:42 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> I actually got some grading on Saturday, so the only movies I watched
> were TV ones:
>
> soaps: DOOL - Thur's ep. Demon Allie springs Evan/Christian from the
> clink, conks Jake over the head, and then uses voodoo/magic to make the
> unconscious Jake appear to be Ben to dumb Ciara. (Before this Jake
> informs Ciara that he thinks Johnny was possessed by the Devil before,
> after all...) Silly Susan Banks is also figuring out that Johnny used to
> be possesed. While captive in the crypt, Zombie Andre DiMera tries to
> convince Ben Weston to kill Johnny for his freedom, but Ben refuses...
> The other stuff was Jan Spears drama, but I don't really care.
>
> I half-watched (while grading!) some Hallmark Channel movie with Janel
> Parrish (who's 33 now!!) - "Right in Front of Me", I guess?
>
> The Blacklist (recorded) - "El Conejo" (ep. #9.17). It says something
> about this series that the Blacklisters now are consistently ranked in
> the 170's(!!) this season!...
>   Anyway, this was partly an "Aram" episode, and those parts of the
> episode were dumb - Aram gets kidnapped by the titular Blacklister
> (Carlos Gomez), some kind of cartel head, after the program Aram wrote
> for that tech company of his is used against the cartel's business. This
> leads to an incredibly stupid wrap-up of the tech company storyline.
>   The decent part of the episode, as per usge, were the Red parts. Red
> tries to track down how "Lizzie's tapes" ended up in the hands of the
> "bad guys", which leads him to two of his flunkies... In the end, Red
> discovers what some of us have probably suspected for a while - Oh
> NOES!! "Mr. Kaplan" is still alive!!! (And, presumably, she's the "Big
> Bad" coming after Red and his business, and maybe after Cooper too!)
>

I hadn't thought of that! But what does she have against Cooper?

>
> What did you watch?
>
>

With the new Obi Wan series and the Star Wars celebration (with Obi Wan
himself the main guest of honor) both being a few weeks away, it was
time to dive into the Star Wars universe. So I watched:

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (4K disc) First up the worst
prequel. Before diving in I read a few reviews and the review for
Phantom menace said the disc picture quality was awful. I didn't recall
any issues with the picture quality of the movie the last time I
watched, but seeing it blown up on a giant screen, I have to agree the
picture quality was a major disappointment. And it's not as if the plot
makes up for it. But over the years I've learned to tolerate the plot
and just sort of turn my brain off and let the movie happen. Plus you
know, Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber battling two Jedi in
their prime while Duel of the Fates blares in the background helps one
to forget all the stuff that happened earlier in the movie. But I have
to say there is just a certain level of extreme ick factor during the
Padme baby Anakin scenes, where Lucas tries to establish a budding
romantic relationship between a grown woman and a toddler. But it's not
all bad. The last time I watched these movies was a few years ago on
blu-ray and Disney+. I recall being seriously underwhelmed and
disappointed with the sound quality. Well, these new Dolby Atmos tracks
on the 4K disc are a major improvement and get the job done right this
time. The pod race scene may be my new go to demo disc for showing off
my sound system.

Episode II – Attack of the Clones (4K disc) - Not much to say. It's
better than Episode I. But too often comes off as a demo reel for ILM.
Unfortunately effects that were state of the art at the time look
dated today. This is why practical effects are the best! They never
look dated when done right. Anyway, this really should have been the
first prequel. Or at least a mash up of this and the first script
keeping the best parts of each while getting rid of the junk.

Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (4K disc) - The prequels do get
progressively better as they go making this one the best of the bunch.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (Disney+) - If you've ever wanted to know how
Han Solo made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, then this is
the movie for you. I know the movie has a bad rep, but I actually like it.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin (blu-ray) 1985 animated sci-fi movie.
Set in a galaxy far, far away, the plot involves a young man named Luke
Skywalker, I mean Orin, with a destiny to fulfill. When the movie
starts Orin is a slave on a planet where the people have been tricked
into believing the mine they slave away in is the entire universe. But
Luke, I mean Orin encounters a forceful ghost and learns that he is
special and thanks to a magical force that only he can wield, he can
cause a blade less sword to ignite into a laser sword. You know, sort
of like a lightsaber, only it's definitely not a lightsaber or anything
copyrightable. Anyway, Luke, I mean Orin thanks to his ability to wield
the laser sword escapes the mine and teams up with a scoundrel space
pirate, two comic relief robots, and a princess like female love
interest. Together they do battle against a would-be galactic empire.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think I once watched a
different movie with a similar plot. Starchaser, a name never actually
spoken in the movie, but does sound a little like Skywalker, is actually
a pretty good movie. But it's fallen mostly into obscurity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8UZ2WfLG70

Sputnik (Netflix rental) - I forgot to mention this from the other day.
This is a 2020 Russian sci-fi horror movie. Set in 1983 (a detail I
never noticed while watching the movie) a Russian cosmonaut returns to
Earth infected by a killer alien parasite that lives inside of him but
partially leaves his body each night. The cosmonaut has no memory of
any of this and is being held by the government in isolation so they can
study the alien. The government brings in an ethically challenged
psychiatrist to examine the cosmonaut and help the team understand why
he doesn't seem to be aware that a killer alien is living inside of him
or why he has no apparently memory of how it got there. As sci-fi
horror movies go, this one was very watchable. The Russians do tend to
make some pretty good sci-fi movies. At least the ones I've seen
recently that made it to the U.S.

On 5/1/2022 10:18 AM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>
> Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (4K disc)  First up the worst
> prequel.  Before diving in I read a few reviews and the review for
> Phantom menace said the disc picture quality was awful.  I didn't recall
> any issues with the picture quality of the movie the last time I
> watched, but seeing it blown up on a giant screen, I have to agree the
> picture quality was a major disappointment.  And it's not as if the plot
> makes up for it.  But over the years I've learned to tolerate the plot
> and just sort of turn my brain off and let the movie happen.  Plus you
> know, Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber battling two Jedi in
> their prime while Duel of the Fates blares in the background helps one
> to forget all the stuff that happened earlier in the movie.  But I have
> to say there is just a certain level of extreme ick factor during the
> Padme baby Anakin scenes, where Lucas tries to establish a budding
> romantic relationship between a grown woman and a toddler.  But it's not
> all bad.  The last time I watched these movies was a few years ago on
> blu-ray and Disney+.  I recall being seriously underwhelmed and
> disappointed with the sound quality.  Well, these new Dolby Atmos tracks
> on the 4K disc are a major improvement and get the job done right this
> time.  The pod race scene may be my new go to demo disc for showing off
> my sound system.
>
>
> Episode II – Attack of the Clones (4K disc) - Not much to say.  It's
> better than Episode I.  But too often comes off as a demo reel for ILM.
>  Unfortunately effects that were state of the art at the time look
> dated today.  This is why practical effects are the best!  They never
> look dated when done right.  Anyway, this really should have been the
> first prequel.  Or at least a mash up of this and the first script
> keeping the best parts of each while getting rid of the junk.
>
>
> Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (4K disc) - The prequels do get
> progressively better as they go making this one the best of the bunch.
>
Text book example of "damning with faint praise". :)

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 5/1/2022 12:28 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 2022-05-01 18:44:29 +0000, BTR1701 said:
>
>> In article <t4mfdq$uqu$1@dont-email.me>,
>>  Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Solo: A Star Wars Story (Disney+) - If you've ever wanted to know how
>>> Han Solo made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, then this is
>>> the movie for you.  I know the movie has a bad rep, but I actually like
>>> it.
>>
>> Same. It was fun little action movie. I don't know why it gets such
>> grief.
>
> I agree - I also like it, and am disappointed that there will be no
> followup. I wanted to see where they were going to go with Emilia
> Clarke's character.
>
> But, then again, I'm still waiting for the "Robin" movie follow up to
> "The Dark Knight Rises" too!!
>
>

The Obi-Wan series takes place during this time frame. At one point
there was talk that Obi-Wan would serve as a continuation of this
movie's dangling plot threads. Some of those rumors have been recently
shot down, but you never know.

On 5/1/2022 1:02 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 2022-05-01 19:47:39 +0000, Arthur Lipscomb said:
>
>> On 5/1/2022 12:28 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>> On 2022-05-01 18:44:29 +0000, BTR1701 said:
>>>
>>>> In article <t4mfdq$uqu$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>  Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Solo: A Star Wars Story (Disney+) - If you've ever wanted to know how
>>>>> Han Solo made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, then this is
>>>>> the movie for you.  I know the movie has a bad rep, but I actually
>>>>> like
>>>>> it.
>>>>
>>>> Same. It was fun little action movie. I don't know why it gets such
>>>> grief.
>>>
>>> I agree - I also like it, and am disappointed that there will be no
>>> followup. I wanted to see where they were going to go with Emilia
>>> Clarke's character.
>>
>> The Obi-Wan series takes place during this time frame.  At one point
>> there was talk that Obi-Wan would serve as a continuation of this
>> movie's dangling plot threads.  Some of those rumors have been
>> recently shot down, but you never know.
>
> I would think that if Emilia Clarke (or Alden Ehrenreich) were going to
> show up in it, we would have heard something by now...
>
>

The Star Wars Celebration starts May 26 and runs through May 29. Expect
to hear a lot of somethings around then...

Right now the only person from Obi-Wan officially announced to be at the
convention is Ewan McGregor. The general online consensus seems to be
there is no way he's the only one from the series who will be there in
person, so expect more guest announcements on May 4th. But guests who
would spoil the show probably won't be announced or at least won't be in
autograph hall.

The Celebration isn't just a random fan convention. It's the official
convention where all the big names will be there and big announcements
will be made. I honestly have no idea what's going to be announced, but
I will be there in person and I'm looking forward to hearing the
announcements live. If I can get a seat in the auditorium that is. :-)

On 5/1/2022 10:51 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 2022-05-01 17:49:29 +0000, Dimensional Traveler said:
>
>> On 5/1/2022 10:18 AM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>>>
>>> Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (4K disc)  First up the
>>> worst prequel.  Before diving in I read a few reviews and the review
>>> for Phantom menace said the disc picture quality was awful.  I didn't
>>> recall any issues with the picture quality of the movie the last time
>>> I watched, but seeing it blown up on a giant screen, I have to agree
>>> the picture quality was a major disappointment.  And it's not as if
>>> the plot makes up for it.  But over the years I've learned to
>>> tolerate the plot and just sort of turn my brain off and let the
>>> movie happen.  Plus you know, Darth Maul and his double-bladed
>>> lightsaber battling two Jedi in their prime while Duel of the Fates
>>> blares in the background helps one to forget all the stuff that
>>> happened earlier in the movie.  But I have to say there is just a
>>> certain level of extreme ick factor during the Padme baby Anakin
>>> scenes, where Lucas tries to establish a budding romantic
>>> relationship between a grown woman and a toddler.  But it's not all
>>> bad.  The last time I watched these movies was a few years ago on
>>> blu-ray and Disney+.  I recall being seriously underwhelmed and
>>> disappointed with the sound quality.  Well, these new Dolby Atmos
>>> tracks on the 4K disc are a major improvement and get the job done
>>> right this time.  The pod race scene may be my new go to demo disc
>>> for showing off my sound system.
>>>
>>> Episode II – Attack of the Clones (4K disc) - Not much to say.  It's
>>> better than Episode I.  But too often comes off as a demo reel for
>>> ILM.  Unfortunately effects that were state of the art at the time
>>> look dated today.  This is why practical effects are the best!  They
>>> never look dated when done right.  Anyway, this really should have
>>> been the first prequel.  Or at least a mash up of this and the first
>>> script keeping the best parts of each while getting rid of the junk.
>>>
>>> Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (4K disc) - The prequels do get
>>> progressively better as they go making this one the best of the bunch.
>>
>> Text book example of "damning with faint praise".  :)
>
> Yeah, but in retrospect, I actually think I prefer the "prequels" to the
> wretched "sequels" (esp. the last one!!).
>
And another example! :D

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.