On a red-level allergy day, I watched:

Several Star Trek YouTube videos.

VANDERPUMP RULES:
"Lovestruck at the Discopussy". Katie plans a divorce party trip to Las Vegas
and Lake Havasu, but conveniently leaves Scheana off the guest list; Lala and
Raquel find themselves flirting with the same guy; Ariana receives
devastating news from home.

I was distracted by killer seasonal allergies, so I'll have to watch again
with a notepad, heh heh. As Cleveland Brown would say, "Discopussy? Oh,
that's nassssty!" I couldn't help but wonder how much of this ep was altered
to give Raqu^H^Hchel a "bad edit" with Oliver. Speaking of whom, I found it
amusing that LaLa decided to she wanted to have sex with a man with a tattoo
teardrop and is married (but currently separated) with a child, both which
are huge red flags. I would have thought as soon as the words "married, but
currently separate" left his lips, LaLa would have vanished in a cloud of
dust accompanied by cartoon skedaddling sounds.

WHAT WHAT HAPPENS LIVE!:
Lisa Vanderbucks was a last-second guest change, prompted by the recent
scandoval.

GHOST ADVENTURES:
"Benson Grist Mill". Zak Bagans and the crew travel to Utah to investigate a
150-year-old grist mill haunted by shadow figures poltergeist activity and an
angry male presence. The guys are overwhelmed by the property's dark energy
as they attempt to contact a dead girl named Alice.

What did you watch?

--
Let's go Brandon!

On 2023-03-10 09:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:

> What did you watch?

My trip up north got cancelled due to bad weather, so I'm settling into
"super chill" mode for the rest of my Break - I still need to do some
more grading, but I should be able to get more movie viewing in from
here on in!

So, after my morning job yesterday, I watched:

C.B. Strike (HBO Max) - "Troubled Blood: Part 2". Picking up where Part
1 left off, we start getting some clarity. Strike and Robin continue to
interview people still alive from 1974. They eventually figure out that
the woman in the video is not their missing person from 1974, but a
corworker from the "Bunny" club who disappeared(?)/was killed(?) a year
earlier. But we get to learn how the missing woman crossed paths with
gansters, thanks to her foolish coworker. In the end, their stupid
client confronts her father, causing him to have a heart attack, so she
wants to call the whole case off!

The Ark (recorded) - "Two by Two" (ep. #6). I think I'm going to try to
write up a separate "SnARK" review of this one...

Romeo & Juliet (Showtime Anytime) - I've been wanting to see this 2013
flick starring Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet for some time. What I forgot
is how annoying these kids, and the play, is!!
Well, at least this one's not as annoying as the overwrought 1996
Baz Luhrmann version with Claire Daines and DiCraprio!! And I like Paul
Giamatti as the friar in this one!

Then LMN was premiering *two* new movies last night!:

Her Study of a Killer (LMN) - This was maybe better than I expcting.
First, let me say the the current title makes *no sense*. I think it
makes some kind of reference to Lady Macbeth, and how actors "study"
their characters... but basically, it has almost nothing to do with the
film as shown. The original title, "High School Revenge", makes a lot
more sense...
Anyway, this was pretty good, as it has at least two viable suspects
through most of the flick, so you're not sure what is going on...
However, I think they blew it by not revealing at the end that the two
suspects were working *together* - that would be a novel "twist" for a
Lifetime flick, and I'm disappointed they went conventional/cliche with
their "villain" reveal, rather than trying something different.

Revenge for My Mother (LMN) - IMDb has this as a 2022 flick, but I
don't think it has premiered (e.g. on Lifetime itself) before now - I
think last night was its premiere.
Anyway, this was OK - maybe a little better than usual for a "woman
dismantles her target's life" kind of flick (often I don't care for
these very much). And the "villain" certainly has legitimate motive
here!! And she sure does a number on the victim's common-law husband!
I feel like Taylor Joree Scorse, who played the "villain" here,
could be super attractive if she just lost some weight...

--
"Who would ever do this to him!?" - HottCiara on DOOL (04-27-2020), asking
who would stab Victor Kirakis... How about ANYONE WHO'S EVER MET HIM??!!

On 3/10/2023 10:28 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 2023-03-10 09:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
> My trip up north got cancelled due to bad weather, so I'm settling into
> "super chill" mode for the rest of my Break - I still need to do some
> more grading, but I should be able to get more movie viewing in from
> here on in!
>
> So, after my morning job yesterday, I watched:
>
> C.B. Strike (HBO Max) - "Troubled Blood: Part 2". Picking up where Part
> 1 left off, we start getting some clarity. Strike and Robin continue to
> interview people still alive from 1974. They eventually figure out that
> the woman in the video is not their missing person from 1974, but a
> corworker from the "Bunny" club who disappeared(?)/was killed(?) a year
> earlier. But we get to learn how the missing woman crossed paths with
> gansters, thanks to her foolish coworker. In the end, their stupid
> client confronts her father, causing him to have a heart attack, so she
> wants to call the whole case off!
>
> The Ark (recorded) - "Two by Two" (ep. #6). I think I'm going to try to
> write up a separate "SnARK" review of this one...
>
> Romeo & Juliet (Showtime Anytime) - I've been wanting to see this 2013
> flick starring Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet for some time. What I forgot
> is how annoying these kids, and the play, is!!
>   Well, at least this one's not as annoying as the overwrought 1996 Baz
> Luhrmann version with Claire Daines and DiCraprio!! And I like Paul
> Giamatti as the friar in this one!
>

I really didn't like the Laz Burman version either.

> Then LMN was premiering *two* new movies last night!:
>
> Her Study of a Killer (LMN) - This was maybe better than I expcting.
>   First, let me say the the current title makes *no sense*. I think it
> makes some kind of reference to Lady Macbeth, and how actors "study"
> their characters... but basically, it has almost nothing to do with the
> film as shown. The original title, "High School Revenge", makes a lot
> more sense...
>   Anyway, this was pretty good, as it has at least two viable suspects
> through most of the flick, so you're not sure what is going on...
> However, I think they blew it by not revealing at the end that the two
> suspects were working *together* - that would be a novel "twist" for a
> Lifetime flick, and I'm disappointed they went conventional/cliche with
> their "villain" reveal, rather than trying something different.
>
> Revenge for My Mother (LMN) - IMDb has this as a 2022 flick, but I don't
> think it has premiered (e.g. on Lifetime itself) before now - I think
> last night was its premiere.
>   Anyway, this was OK - maybe a little better than usual for a "woman
> dismantles her target's life" kind of flick (often I don't care for
> these very much). And the "villain" certainly has legitimate motive
> here!! And she sure does a number on the victim's common-law husband!
>   I feel like Taylor Joree Scorse, who played the "villain" here, could
> be super attractive if she just lost some weight...
>
>

I watched:

Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+) - "No Win Scenario" - picking up where
last episode ended the ship is spiraling towards doom and everyone is
spending their last few hours making peace with their pending death. So
of course Picard heads to the holodeck because the holodeck uses a
separate power supply which allows the crew to huddle in a fantasy world
before they die. Hey, it's the same excuse they used on Voyager, so at
least they're consistent. Back in the real world Riker and Seven have
to figure out a way to save the ship and capture or kill the saboteur.
Overall, a pretty good episode. I loved Riker's battle tactic at the
end, but I won't ask how fast or slow everything was moving during the
fight.

The Mandalorian (Disney+) - "Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore" -
Episode 2 finds Din and Grogo visiting the mines of Mandalore so he can
cleanse himself or whatever he thinks will happen. But the planet
towards out to not be as dead as everyone thought. Pretty good episode.

Accused - "Brenda's Story" A comic is raped by a more famous comic but
the DA refuses to prosecute the case prompting the comic to speak out
publicly against her accuser. When the guy is assaulted the DA decides
to prosecute the comic for "causing" the attack by publicly saying bad
things should happen to him. This was ridiculous episode worthy of Law
& Order in the ways they twisted the flimsy premise to get the case into
court.

Scream 6 (theatrical) Latest entry in the "franchise" and as the movie
explicitly explains, a franchise is different than a sequel, and
consequently, "there are rules to surviving a horror franchise." Pretty
much picking up where Scream 5 ended, the survivors including Sam
Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her younger sister Tara (Jenna Ortega)
have moved to New York and are attending college. Well Tara and two
other survivors are in school. I think Sam is just hanging around to
keep her sister safe. Anyway, since this is a "franchise" that means a
new killer can't be far behind looking to increase the franchise's body
count. Hayden Panettiere from Scream 4 and Courteney Cox from every
Scream movie since the first one also star. Overall, I liked this entry
into the franchise. Scream 3 remains the only one that didn't really work.

On 2023-03-10 21:41:15 +0000, Arthur Lipscomb said:

> On 3/10/2023 10:28 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>> On 2023-03-10 09:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>>
>>> What did you watch?
>>
>> My trip up north got cancelled due to bad weather, so I'm settling into
>> "super chill" mode for the rest of my Break - I still need to do some
>> more grading, but I should be able to get more movie viewing in from
>> here on in!
>>
>> So, after my morning job yesterday, I watched:
>>
>> Romeo & Juliet (Showtime Anytime) - I've been wanting to see this 2013
>> flick starring Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet for some time. What I forgot
>> is how annoying these kids, and the play, is!!
>>   Well, at least this one's not as annoying as the overwrought 1996 Baz
>> Luhrmann version with Claire Daines and DiCraprio!! And I like Paul
>> Giamatti as the friar in this one!
>
> I really didn't like the Laz Burman version either.

It's Claire Danes at her most whiny and shrill!!

> I watched:
>
>
> The Mandalorian (Disney+) - "Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore"

Still waiting for all of the S3 ep's to drop before tackling.

However, I may go for "Andor" after I finish "C.B. Strike"....

> Accused - "Brenda's Story"

A show I may never end up getting to... (Maybe this summer?...)

> Scream 6 (theatrical) Latest entry in the "franchise"...

I still have to get to "Scream [5]" - but it's trapped on Starz... and:

NO ONE GETS STARZ!!!

So I may never get to see it... :(

> Scream 3 remains the only one that didn't really work.

Yeah, I really did not like "Scream 3" (which I saw in the theater).
It's the only one in the series that I have no desire to rewatch.

--
"Who would ever do this to him!?" - HottCiara on DOOL (04-27-2020), asking
who would stab Victor Kirakis... How about ANYONE WHO'S EVER MET HIM??!!

I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
The first movie in the now five movie (and 1 TV series) franchise. This
was pretty much a "bottle movie" with some 90% or so of it taking place
in one house. (The other 10% basically take place in the house's front
yard.) Apparently because the director only had a budget of a little
over 2 million and this was a cheap way to make a movie. I thought it
was good and would recommend it. It works both as a "simple" horror
movie and as a movie with a political/social commentary. I have the
other four movies lined up and will be watching them, in order, over the
next few days.

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

On Mar 10, 2023 at 2:02:35 PM PST, "Dimensional Traveler" <dtravel@sonic.net>
wrote:

> I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
> The first movie in the now five movie (and 1 TV series) franchise. This
> was pretty much a "bottle movie" with some 90% or so of it taking place
> in one house. (The other 10% basically take place in the house's front
> yard.) Apparently because the director only had a budget of a little
> over 2 million and this was a cheap way to make a movie. I thought it
> was good and would recommend it. It works both as a "simple" horror
> movie and as a movie with a political/social commentary. I have the
> other four movies lined up and will be watching them, in order, over the
> next few days.

They made such a big deal about the dad being the salesman for all the
super-duper home security systems, and the whole time I'm thinking to myself,
there's a major feature that was overlooked here: gun ports. Would have solved
a lot of problems really early on.

Someone really needed to kick the little boy's ass. He pretty much caused
every single problem they had that night.

What was the daughter's boyfriend thinking, anyway? "Hmmm... I really want to
keep shagging my biscuit of a girlfriend but her daddy is getting in the way,
so I'll get a gun and stow away in their house on the one night of the year
when I can murder her dad in cold blood right in front of her and then there
won't be anything stopping us from being together!"

Yeah, genius, that'll work. Even if you can kill dad and no one could arrest
you for it, the daughter still loves her parents. They may annoy her but she
doesn't want to see them brutally killed right in front of her.

Even his idiotic teenage mind has got to have known that she wouldn't want to
have anything to do with him after that.

On 3/10/2023 2:02 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
> The first movie in the now five movie (and 1 TV series) franchise.  This
> was pretty much a "bottle movie" with some 90% or so of it taking place
> in one house.  (The other 10% basically take place in the house's front
> yard.)  Apparently because the director only had a budget of a little
> over 2 million and this was a cheap way to make a movie.  I thought it
> was good and would recommend it.  It works both as a "simple" horror
> movie and as a movie with a political/social commentary.  I have the
> other four movies lined up and will be watching them, in order, over the
> next few days.
>

I think I've watched the first three movies, but not the last 2 and not
the TV series. I keep meaning to at least finish the movies but it's a
low priority for me.

In article <tug9do$24hv9$4@dont-email.me>, dtravel@sonic.net wrote:

>I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
>The first movie in the now five movie (and 1 TV series) franchise. This
>was pretty much a "bottle movie" with some 90% or so of it taking place
>in one house. (The other 10% basically take place in the house's front
>yard.) Apparently because the director only had a budget of a little
>over 2 million and this was a cheap way to make a movie. I thought it
>was good and would recommend it. It works both as a "simple" horror
>movie and as a movie with a political/social commentary.

The premsie doesn't hold up at all if you think about it.

--
Let's go Brandon!

arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:

>Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+) - "No Win Scenario" - picking up where
>last episode ended the ship is spiraling towards doom and everyone is
>spending their last few hours making peace with their pending death. So
>of course Picard heads to the holodeck because the holodeck uses a
>separate power supply which allows the crew to huddle in a fantasy world
>before they die. Hey, it's the same excuse they used on Voyager, so at
>least they're consistent. Back in the real world Riker and Seven have
>to figure out a way to save the ship and capture or kill the saboteur.
>Overall, a pretty good episode. I loved Riker's battle tactic at the
>end, but I won't ask how fast or slow everything was moving during the
>fight.

Leave it to Picard, the hero, to go hide in the holodeck!

That reminds me of one of the YouTube clips I saw last night.

https://youtu.be/Ppv4Art5mck

--
Let's go Brandon!

On 2023-03-11 09:30:41 +0000, Ubiquitous said:

> In article <tug9do$24hv9$4@dont-email.me>, dtravel@sonic.net wrote:
>
>> I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
>> The first movie in the now five movie (and 1 TV series) franchise. This
>> was pretty much a "bottle movie" with some 90% or so of it taking place
>> in one house. (The other 10% basically take place in the house's front
>> yard.) Apparently because the director only had a budget of a little
>> over 2 million and this was a cheap way to make a movie. I thought it
>> was good and would recommend it. It works both as a "simple" horror
>> movie and as a movie with a political/social commentary.
>
> The premsie doesn't hold up at all if you think about it.

No, it doesn't. And the fact that they doubled-down and tried to make a
franchise out of it is even worse. At best, the premise was only good
enough for a one-off.

--
"Who would ever do this to him!?" - HottCiara on DOOL (04-27-2020), asking
who would stab Victor Kirakis... How about ANYONE WHO'S EVER MET HIM??!!

On 3/11/2023 8:04 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 2023-03-11 09:30:41 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>
>> In article <tug9do$24hv9$4@dont-email.me>, dtravel@sonic.net wrote:
>>
>>> I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
>>> The first movie in the now five movie (and 1 TV series) franchise.  This
>>> was pretty much a "bottle movie" with some 90% or so of it taking place
>>> in one house.  (The other 10% basically take place in the house's front
>>> yard.)  Apparently because the director only had a budget of a little
>>> over 2 million and this was a cheap way to make a movie.  I thought it
>>> was good and would recommend it.  It works both as a "simple" horror
>>> movie and as a movie with a political/social commentary.
>>
>> The premsie doesn't hold up at all if you think about it.
>
> No, it doesn't. And the fact that they doubled-down and tried to make a
> franchise out of it is even worse. At best, the premise was only good
> enough for a one-off.
>
I see you and raise you "Midi-Chlorians".

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

In article <tui8q1$2isjv$1@dont-email.me>, IJBall@mac.invalid wrote:
> On 2023-03-11 09:30:41 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>> In article <tug9do$24hv9$4@dont-email.me>, dtravel@sonic.net wrote:

>>> I watched 'The Purge' (Netflix disc)
>>
>> The premsie doesn't hold up at all if you think about it.
>
>No, it doesn't. And the fact that they doubled-down and tried to make a
>franchise out of it is even worse. At best, the premise was only good
>enough for a one-off.

There was an ep of RICK AND MORTY that mocked it well.

--
Let's go Brandon!