I watched:

Fireworks ERUPT at Disney Meeting Over Indy 5 Box Office FAILURE | Iger
FURIOUS at KK Source Says!:
After making a paltry $60 million at the box office domestically, Indy 5
appears to have dialed up a destiny of losing money, and Disney is extremely
unhappy with the opening weekend grosses. My Hollywood spies, along with a
walk-in source, claim that an emergency executive meeting was called, and
that exchanges between Kathleen Kennedy and Bob Iger got very heated, with
factions inside Disney and Lucasfilm trying to assign blame for this box
office catastrophe. Here are details from a walk-in source, relaying to me
the rumor that's spreading through the halls of Lucasfilm about what
allegedly happened at that meeting, but of course as with all walk-in
sources, take this with an extra teaspoonful of salt! #disney #indianajones
#lucasfilm
https://youtu.be/Umm8oZh8hAw

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA:
"The Gang Gets Cursed". A series of bad omens leads the gang to believe they
are all cursed; they set off to undo the curses and make amends to those
they've wronged; Mac meets Chase Utley and invites him for a catch.
I'm shocked that Paddy's Pub on Bar Rescue was never considered as a plot
line until now. How did Kaitlin Olson manage to contort her face that way
through the whole episode? Was it some kind of CGI or prosthetic? OMG, I
laughed every time I looked at her.

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA:
"Risk E. Rat's Pizza and Amusement Center". The Gang goes to Risk E. Rat's,
finding it updated with safety and overcautiousness; Dee takes Frank to find
risqu� jokes hidden throughout the establishment; Mac plays Skee-Ball to win
tickets for a prize.
I was too old for Chuck E Cheese when they came out, but we went a few times
to play the video games and the pizza was decent. I always imagined they
wouldn't be nearly as fun for kids and probably made you sign waivers IRL. I
kinda expected tyhings to wrong when they plugged everything in and turned on
the power, but not to that extent!

What did you watch?

--
Let's go Brandon!

On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:

> What did you watch?

I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
nothing...:

soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.

AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
*low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.

--
"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 Thu, 6 Jul 2023 06:34:12 -0700, Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid>
wrote:

>On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
>I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
>after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
>nothing...:
>
>soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
>is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
>something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
>do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
>Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
>one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
>weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
>again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
>they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
>scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
> I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.
>
>AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
>background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
>*low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.

I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.

Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
one with only killing at night.

Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.

Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.

So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
afraid of them rising from the grave.

On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
> On Thu, 6 Jul 2023 06:34:12 -0700, Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid>
> wrote:
>
>> On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>>
>>> What did you watch?
>>
>> I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
>> after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
>> nothing...:
>>
>> soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
>> is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
>> something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
>> do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
>> Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
>> one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
>> weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
>> again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
>> they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
>> scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
>> I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.
>>
>> AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
>> background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
>> *low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.
>

I think I have all of them in 4K. No current plans to watch them, but
I'll try to wrap back around to them again in the next couple of years
or so. Now that I think about it, I still need to watch my Rocky box
set. Maybe I'll do a Rambo/Rocky weekend...

> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>
> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
> one with only killing at night.
>
> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>
> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>
> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
> afraid of them rising from the grave.

I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
I might have watched one or two episodes back then.

I continued to clear my DVR of old recordings before my DVR deletes them
by watching:

Sleuth (Cinemax) 2007 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh starring Michael
Cain as a jealous husband who plots revenge against the man (Jude Law)
who is having an affair with his wife. Cain who is a writer cooks up an
elaborate plan to murder Jude Law which leads to various twists and
turns as the movie plays out. This is a remake of a 1972 movie that
starred Cain in the role played by Law in this version.

Ruthless People (TMC) 1986 comedy directed by Jim Abrahams and the
Zucker brothers starring Danny DeVito as a man planning to murder his
wife (Bette Midler). However, things don't go as planned when before he
can murder his wife she's kidnapped by Helen Slater and Judge Reinhold
and held for ransom. Good luck getting that ransom money paid!
Meanwhile DeVito's mistress has a secret plan to have her boyfriend
(Bill Pullman) blackmail DeVito for the murder. Of course, DeVito
didn't actually murder his wife, but they don't know that. The movie
holds up well enough. I don't think I've seen this since the 80s. And
I had no idea Helen Slater was in it.

Secret Invasion (Disney+) - "Betrayed" - Episode 3 has Fury and Talos
partnering up again while acting like an old married couple.

On Thu, 6 Jul 2023 08:22:32 -0700, Arthur Lipscomb
<arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
>> On Thu, 6 Jul 2023 06:34:12 -0700, Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>>>
>>>> What did you watch?
>>>
>>> I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
>>> after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
>>> nothing...:
>>>
>>> soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
>>> is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
>>> something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
>>> do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
>>> Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
>>> one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
>>> weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
>>> again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
>>> they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
>>> scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
>>> I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.
>>>
>>> AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
>>> background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
>>> *low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.
>>
>
>I think I have all of them in 4K. No current plans to watch them, but
>I'll try to wrap back around to them again in the next couple of years
>or so. Now that I think about it, I still need to watch my Rocky box
>set. Maybe I'll do a Rambo/Rocky weekend...

One day I may get a 4K TV. Still running my 720P TV and since it works
I'm loathe to replace it even though the prices on even 4K TVs have
come down quite a bit.

>
>> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
>> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
>> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
>> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
>> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
>> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>>
>> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
>> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
>> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
>> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
>> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
>> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
>> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
>> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
>> one with only killing at night.
>>
>> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
>> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
>> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
>> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
>> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
>> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
>> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
>> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>>
>> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
>> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
>> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
>> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
>> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
>> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
>> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
>> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>>
>> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
>> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
>> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
>> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
>> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
>> afraid of them rising from the grave.
>
>
>I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
>before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
>I might have watched one or two episodes back then.

Don't think I ever saw this in first run but have probably managed to
see all of the episodes multiple times over the years. Was on my
favorite combos of horror and snarkiness.

>
>I continued to clear my DVR of old recordings before my DVR deletes them
>by watching:
>
>
>Sleuth (Cinemax) 2007 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh starring Michael
>Cain as a jealous husband who plots revenge against the man (Jude Law)
>who is having an affair with his wife. Cain who is a writer cooks up an
>elaborate plan to murder Jude Law which leads to various twists and
>turns as the movie plays out. This is a remake of a 1972 movie that
>starred Cain in the role played by Law in this version.
>
>
>Ruthless People (TMC) 1986 comedy directed by Jim Abrahams and the
>Zucker brothers starring Danny DeVito as a man planning to murder his
>wife (Bette Midler). However, things don't go as planned when before he
>can murder his wife she's kidnapped by Helen Slater and Judge Reinhold
>and held for ransom. Good luck getting that ransom money paid!
>Meanwhile DeVito's mistress has a secret plan to have her boyfriend
>(Bill Pullman) blackmail DeVito for the murder. Of course, DeVito
>didn't actually murder his wife, but they don't know that. The movie
>holds up well enough. I don't think I've seen this since the 80s. And
>I had no idea Helen Slater was in it.
>
>
>Secret Invasion (Disney+) - "Betrayed" - Episode 3 has Fury and Talos
>partnering up again while acting like an old married couple.
>

I need to get around to watching this. I started the first episode and
then got distracted and haven't got back to it.

Once again I will tell you all what I watched despite Ian's not caring. :P

The Proof Is Out There S3E13 'Chupacabra, Greatest UFO Photo Ever and
Mars Sounds' DVR recording
"The truth behind a recent sighting of Chupacabra outside of an Amarillo
Zoo; an aerial photograph taken over Costa Rica could be the greatest
UFO picture ever taken; strange sounds recorded on Mars."

Chupacabra literally means "goat sucker" since Hispanic legend claims
they suck the blood of goats.

What Did You Watch?

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

On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:

> What did you watch?

Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.

This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS Galaxy's
Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon ride
(Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done a lot better
at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator tricked out to
look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played on CGI screens in
front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces you around.) It was also
too short for the amount of line-standing it takes to get in.

The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but the
payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar bay of a
First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your ship is captured
and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of stormtroopers lined up
in ranks and the battle raging outside with TIEs swooping past the entrance to
the hangar. The stormtroopers were all subtly moving and it took me a moment
to realize they weren't people in costume, they were animatronic, but it
looked very realistic. The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride
this time, where you actually go from one place to another-- was also
impressive. Some of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a point
where Kylo Rea has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through the
roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very convincing.
Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was puncturing the ceiling.
And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was also quite breathtaking,
because... AT-ATs!

There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your own
lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids. There was a
Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make it worthwhile.

But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
admission because that price is now so outrageously high. Last time I went to
Disneyland, the entrance fee was $78, which at the time I thought was a
ridiculous amount. Now it's $159!!! And that's just to get in. Everything
inside the park is now an upgrade that costs money. It's like Disneyland has
turned into Spirit Airlines. I just don't remember the whole experience being
such a crass money grab the way it is now.'

I also wanted to check out the new Marvel MCU attraction but they put that one
in the other park (Disney's California Adventure), so you can't just buy one
$160 ticket and do both. You have to buy a separate admission to that park.
Maybe when I win the lottery and have cash to burn I'll come back and do that
one.

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
>> On Thu, 6 Jul 2023 06:34:12 -0700, Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>>>
>>>> What did you watch?
>>>
>>> I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
>>> after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
>>> nothing...:
>>>
>>> soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
>>> is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
>>> something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
>>> do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
>>> Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
>>> one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
>>> weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
>>> again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
>>> they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
>>> scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
>>> I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.
>>>
>>> AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
>>> background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
>>> *low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.
>>
>
> I think I have all of them in 4K. No current plans to watch them, but
> I'll try to wrap back around to them again in the next couple of years
> or so. Now that I think about it, I still need to watch my Rocky box
> set. Maybe I'll do a Rambo/Rocky weekend...
>
>
>> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
>> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
>> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
>> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
>> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
>> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>>
>> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
>> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
>> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
>> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
>> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
>> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
>> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
>> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
>> one with only killing at night.
>>
>> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
>> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
>> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
>> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
>> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
>> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
>> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
>> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>>
>> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
>> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
>> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
>> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
>> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
>> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
>> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
>> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>>
>> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
>> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
>> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
>> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
>> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
>> afraid of them rising from the grave.
>
>
> I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
> before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
> I might have watched one or two episodes back then.
>

It was in fact, two movies before it became a very short-lived TV series.

>
> I continued to clear my DVR of old recordings before my DVR deletes them
> by watching:
>
>
> Sleuth (Cinemax) 2007 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh starring Michael
> Cain as a jealous husband who plots revenge against the man (Jude Law)
> who is having an affair with his wife. Cain who is a writer cooks up an
> elaborate plan to murder Jude Law which leads to various twists and
> turns as the movie plays out. This is a remake of a 1972 movie that
> starred Cain in the role played by Law in this version.
>

I remember the original. I had no idea they remade it

>
> Ruthless People (TMC) 1986 comedy directed by Jim Abrahams and the
> Zucker brothers starring Danny DeVito as a man planning to murder his
> wife (Bette Midler). However, things don't go as planned when before he
> can murder his wife she's kidnapped by Helen Slater and Judge Reinhold
> and held for ransom. Good luck getting that ransom money paid!
> Meanwhile DeVito's mistress has a secret plan to have her boyfriend
> (Bill Pullman) blackmail DeVito for the murder. Of course, DeVito
> didn't actually murder his wife, but they don't know that. The movie
> holds up well enough. I don't think I've seen this since the 80s. And
> I had no idea Helen Slater was in it.

Oh, I knew Helen Slater was in it. I think that’s one of the reasons we
went and saw it! Same notation for the legend of Billie Jean.

I loved ruthless people. I link to the YouTube clip where the cops say
“this may be the stupidest person on the face of the Earth. Perhaps we
should shoot him.“ All the time:-)

>
>
> Secret Invasion (Disney+) - "Betrayed" - Episode 3 has Fury and Talos
> partnering up again while acting like an old married couple.
>

I’ve fallen asleep three times now trying to watch episode three. I want to
kill Gravik myself. Seriously, bring in the Hulk and smash. Thor is the
protector of Midgard. Tell him what’s going on. Same notation for Doctor
Strange. One good incantation, and all the scrolls will look like they
usually look and 8 billion Earthers (or however many there are on Marvel
Earth these days) will go after them with baseball bats. Or maybe he can
make them allergic to green and they’ll spend the rest of their pitiful
lives curled into balls scratching.

So they’re going to make Super Skrulls. That’s from the fantastic four
comics. A Skrull that had the powers of all four members of the FF.
Obviously that’s not what will be happening here.

>
>

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
>
> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS Galaxy's
Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon ride
(Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done a lot
better
at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator tricked
out to
look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played on CGI screens in
front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces you around.) It was also
too short for the amount of line-standing it takes to get in.
>
> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but the
payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar bay of
a First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your ship is
captured
and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of stormtroopers lined
up
in ranks and the battle raging outside with TIEs swooping past the entrance
to
the hangar. The stormtroopers were all subtly moving and it took me a
moment
to realize they weren't people in costume, they were animatronic,
but it
looked very realistic. The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride
this time, where you actually go from one place to another-- was also
impressive. Some of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a
point
where Kylo Rea has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
the
roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
convincing.
Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was puncturing
the ceiling.
And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was also quite breathtaking,
because... AT-ATs!
>
> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your own
lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids. There was
a Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make it worthwhile.
>
> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
admission because that price is now so outrageously high.

Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?

Last time I went to
Disneyland, the entrance fee was $78, which at the time I thought was a
ridiculous amount. Now it's $159!!! And that's just to get in. Everything
inside the park is now an upgrade that costs money. It's like Disneyland
has
turned into Spirit Airlines. I just don't remember the whole experience
being
such a crass money grab the way it is now.'
>
> I also wanted to check out the new Marvel MCU attraction but they put that one
in the other park (Disney's California Adventure), so you can't just buy
one
$160 ticket and do both. You have to buy a separate admission to that
park.
Maybe when I win the lottery and have cash to burn I'll come back and do
that
one.
>

DCA was better when it was a parking lot.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

On Jul 6, 2023 at 10:29:43 AM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>>
>>> What did you watch?
>>
>> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
> obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
>>
>> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS
>> Galaxy's
> Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon ride
> (Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done a lot
> better
> at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator tricked
> out to
> look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played on CGI screens in
> front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces you around.) It was also
> too short for the amount of line-standing it takes to get in.
>>
>> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but the
> payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar bay of
> a
> First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your ship is
> captured
> and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of stormtroopers lined
> up
> in ranks and the battle raging outside with TIEs swooping past the entrance
> to
> the hangar. The stormtroopers were all subtly moving and it took me a
> moment
> to realize they weren't people in costume, they were animatronic,
> but it
> looked very realistic. The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride
> this time, where you actually go from one place to another-- was also
> impressive. Some of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a
> point
> where Kylo Rea has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
> the
> roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
> convincing.
> Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was puncturing
> the ceiling.
> And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was also quite breathtaking,
> because... AT-ATs!
>>
>> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your own
> lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids. There was
> a
> Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make it worthwhile.
>>
>> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
>> admission
>> because that price is now so outrageously high.
>
> Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?

How did they PC that one up?

On 2023-07-06 17:21:25 +0000, anim8rfsk said:

> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>> On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
>>
>>> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
>>> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
>>> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
>>> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
>>> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
>>> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>>>
>>> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
>>> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
>>> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
>>> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
>>> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
>>> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
>>> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
>>> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
>>> one with only killing at night.
>>>
>>> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
>>> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
>>> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
>>> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
>>> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
>>> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
>>> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
>>> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>>>
>>> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
>>> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
>>> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
>>> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
>>> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
>>> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
>>> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
>>> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>>>
>>> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
>>> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
>>> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
>>> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
>>> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
>>> afraid of them rising from the grave.
>>
>> I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
>> before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
>> I might have watched one or two episodes back then.
>
> It was in fact, two movies before it became a very short-lived TV series.

Thank you - that saved me from having to look it up, when I *really*
didn't want to...

--
"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 7/6/2023 10:21 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>> On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
>>> On Thu, 6 Jul 2023 06:34:12 -0700, Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>>>>
>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>
>>>> I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
>>>> after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
>>>> nothing...:
>>>>
>>>> soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
>>>> is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
>>>> something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
>>>> do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
>>>> Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
>>>> one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
>>>> weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
>>>> again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
>>>> they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
>>>> scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
>>>> I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.
>>>>
>>>> AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
>>>> background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
>>>> *low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.
>>>
>>
>> I think I have all of them in 4K. No current plans to watch them, but
>> I'll try to wrap back around to them again in the next couple of years
>> or so. Now that I think about it, I still need to watch my Rocky box
>> set. Maybe I'll do a Rambo/Rocky weekend...
>>
>>
>>> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
>>> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
>>> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
>>> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
>>> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
>>> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>>>
>>> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
>>> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
>>> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
>>> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
>>> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
>>> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
>>> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
>>> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
>>> one with only killing at night.
>>>
>>> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
>>> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
>>> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
>>> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
>>> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
>>> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
>>> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
>>> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>>>
>>> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
>>> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
>>> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
>>> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
>>> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
>>> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
>>> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
>>> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>>>
>>> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
>>> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
>>> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
>>> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
>>> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
>>> afraid of them rising from the grave.
>>
>>
>> I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
>> before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
>> I might have watched one or two episodes back then.
>>
>
> It was in fact, two movies before it became a very short-lived TV series.
>
>
>>
>> I continued to clear my DVR of old recordings before my DVR deletes them
>> by watching:
>>
>>
>> Sleuth (Cinemax) 2007 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh starring Michael
>> Cain as a jealous husband who plots revenge against the man (Jude Law)
>> who is having an affair with his wife. Cain who is a writer cooks up an
>> elaborate plan to murder Jude Law which leads to various twists and
>> turns as the movie plays out. This is a remake of a 1972 movie that
>> starred Cain in the role played by Law in this version.
>>
>
> I remember the original. I had no idea they remade it
>
>>
>> Ruthless People (TMC) 1986 comedy directed by Jim Abrahams and the
>> Zucker brothers starring Danny DeVito as a man planning to murder his
>> wife (Bette Midler). However, things don't go as planned when before he
>> can murder his wife she's kidnapped by Helen Slater and Judge Reinhold
>> and held for ransom. Good luck getting that ransom money paid!
>> Meanwhile DeVito's mistress has a secret plan to have her boyfriend
>> (Bill Pullman) blackmail DeVito for the murder. Of course, DeVito
>> didn't actually murder his wife, but they don't know that. The movie
>> holds up well enough. I don't think I've seen this since the 80s. And
>> I had no idea Helen Slater was in it.
>
> Oh, I knew Helen Slater was in it. I think that’s one of the reasons we
> went and saw it! Same notation for the legend of Billie Jean.
>

Another movie I watched a zillion times on HBO when I was a kid. Had I
known Slater was in RP I probably would have paired them. My original
plan was to pair RP with Space Balls, but that went out the window and
now I have no idea when I'm going to get around to watching Space Balls.

> I loved ruthless people. I link to the YouTube clip where the cops say
> “this may be the stupidest person on the face of the Earth. Perhaps we
> should shoot him.“ All the time:-)
>
>
>>
>>
>> Secret Invasion (Disney+) - "Betrayed" - Episode 3 has Fury and Talos
>> partnering up again while acting like an old married couple.
>>
>
> I’ve fallen asleep three times now trying to watch episode three. I want to
> kill Gravik myself. Seriously, bring in the Hulk and smash. Thor is the
> protector of Midgard. Tell him what’s going on.

That idea was raised and rejected by Fury.

Same notation for Doctor
> Strange. One good incantation, and all the scrolls will look like they
> usually look and 8 billion Earthers (or however many there are on Marvel
> Earth these days) will go after them with baseball bats. Or maybe he can
> make them allergic to green and they’ll spend the rest of their pitiful
> lives curled into balls scratching.
>
> So they’re going to make Super Skrulls. That’s from the fantastic four
> comics. A Skrull that had the powers of all four members of the FF.
> Obviously that’s not what will be happening here.
>
>

But have you seen the powers they are planning to mimic? Groots ability
to stretch, The Extremis ability to flame on, one of their abilities
will be super strength. I'm sure there is at least one more that hasn't
been revealed yet..

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> On Jul 6, 2023 at 10:29:43 AM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> What did you watch?
>>>
>>> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
>> obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
>>>
>>> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS
>> Galaxy's
>> Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon ride
>> (Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done a lot
>> better
>> at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator tricked
>> out to
>> look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played on CGI screens in
>> front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces you around.) It was also
>> too short for the amount of line-standing it takes to get in.
>>>
>>> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but the
>> payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar bay of
>> a
>> First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your ship is
>> captured
>> and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of stormtroopers lined
>> up
>> in ranks and the battle raging outside with TIEs swooping past the entrance
>> to
>> the hangar. The stormtroopers were all subtly moving and it took me a
>> moment
>> to realize they weren't people in costume, they were animatronic,
>> but it
>> looked very realistic. The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride
>> this time, where you actually go from one place to another-- was also
>> impressive. Some of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a
>> point
>> where Kylo Rea has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
>> the
>> roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
>> convincing.
>> Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was puncturing
>> the ceiling.
>> And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was also quite breathtaking,
>> because... AT-ATs!
>>>
>>> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your own
>> lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids. There was
>> a
>> Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make it worthwhile.
>>>
>>> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
>> admission
>>> because that price is now so outrageously high.
>>
>> Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?
>
> How did they PC that one up?
>

Star Wars land ate about a third of the jungle Cruise. And they could
easily have done it without making that sacrifice.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid> wrote:
> On 2023-07-06 17:21:25 +0000, anim8rfsk said:
>
>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>> On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
>>>
>>>> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>>> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>>> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
>>>> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
>>>> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
>>>> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
>>>> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
>>>> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>>>>
>>>> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
>>>> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
>>>> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
>>>> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
>>>> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
>>>> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
>>>> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
>>>> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
>>>> one with only killing at night.
>>>>
>>>> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
>>>> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
>>>> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
>>>> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
>>>> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
>>>> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
>>>> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
>>>> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>>>>
>>>> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
>>>> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
>>>> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
>>>> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
>>>> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
>>>> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
>>>> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
>>>> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>>>>
>>>> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
>>>> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
>>>> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
>>>> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
>>>> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
>>>> afraid of them rising from the grave.
>>>
>>> I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
>>> before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
>>> I might have watched one or two episodes back then.
>>
>> It was in fact, two movies before it became a very short-lived TV series.
>
> Thank you - that saved me from having to look it up, when I *really*
> didn't want to...
>
>

You’re welcome. I’ll even tell you from memory that the second film was
called THE NIGHT STRANGLER and starred Oscar Goldman, as an immortal killer
living in the Seattle, underground cities.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> On 7/6/2023 10:21 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>> On 7/6/2023 7:15 AM, shawn wrote:
>>>> On Thu, 6 Jul 2023 06:34:12 -0700, Ian J. Ball <IJBall@mac.invalid>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On 2023-07-06 08:30:40 +0000, Ubiquitous said:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>>
>>>>> I actually had to do some work after coming home last night (though
>>>>> after a schedule shuffle, my weekend should be free!), so almost
>>>>> nothing...:
>>>>>
>>>>> soaps: DOOL - Well, this ended dark! - At the end, the EVOL!!1! nurse
>>>>> is basically torturing Abe, giving him a tranquilizer or paralytic or
>>>>> something so he's basically got "locked in" syndrome, and all Abe can
>>>>> do is sit there motionless and shed tears out of his eyes!...
>>>>> Meanwhile, Lani, Eli and Theo are idiots as they are basically looking
>>>>> one of the perps in the eyes and are too stupid to realize he's acting
>>>>> weird and is obviously guilty. And they're already writing Eli back out
>>>>> again (he just got here!!). Finally, I f***king *hate* the storyline
>>>>> they're developing with Chanel and Talia - Talia is f***king *pond
>>>>> scum*, and they need to write this bitch off the show immediately!
>>>>> I didn't even get to Wed's ep of GH.
>>>>>
>>>>> AMC was running a marathon of "Rambo" flicks, so I put that on as
>>>>> background noise - but it looked like the films were broadcast in
>>>>> *low-def*: it was very "fuzzy" picture.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I think I have all of them in 4K. No current plans to watch them, but
>>> I'll try to wrap back around to them again in the next couple of years
>>> or so. Now that I think about it, I still need to watch my Rocky box
>>> set. Maybe I'll do a Rambo/Rocky weekend...
>>>
>>>
>>>> I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>>> and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>>> lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. In this movie we have a
>>>> series of mysterious deaths of young women. Who were found alone, with
>>>> two puncture marks at the neck and drained of all blood. No one but
>>>> Kolchak wants to admit that this has all the signs of a vampire. Not
>>>> that he believes in them but he does believe that there may be someone
>>>> who thinks of themselves as a vampire and is behaving like one.
>>>>
>>>> Of course the cops and people running the town don't want to listen to
>>>> Kolchack until the cops have multiple run-ins with the killer where in
>>>> he tosses them around like paper weights and gets shot multiple times
>>>> even at point blank range without showing any effect. Not to say they
>>>> like Kolchak's plan to give every cop a cross, a wooden stake and
>>>> mallet but they don't seem to have a better plan since their guys
>>>> apparently can't stop him even they outnumber him and fire their
>>>> weapons at him. So he may or may not be a vampire but sure acts like
>>>> one with only killing at night.
>>>>
>>>> Turns out Kolchak is a better detective than the police and manages to
>>>> track down where our 70 something vampire is living. He goes there to
>>>> find one of the missing women tied up and being used as a fresh source
>>>> of blood by the vampire. Who manages to come home in time to find
>>>> Kolchak and get into a brawl with him. One that Kolchak is losing
>>>> until his friend with the FBI comes in and with his help, a cross and
>>>> the sun coming up they manage to beat back the vampire giving Kolchak
>>>> the chance to stake the vampire. Just as the cops arrive.
>>>>
>>>> Which leads to the next part of the act where the powers that be
>>>> replace Kolchak's story with one of their own of the heroic actions of
>>>> the Vegas PD in stopping the killer. They also tell Kolchak that he
>>>> has to get out of town right away or they will file charges of murder
>>>> since they saw him stake the guy. Never mind that there's a reasonable
>>>> self-defense argument given the way the guy has tossed everyone
>>>> around. Oh, and they advised Kolchak's girlfriend to get out of town
>>>> so she went her way leaving Kolchak with no way to find her.
>>>>
>>>> So we close out listening to Kolchak's recording of the details of the
>>>> book he had just finished writing detailing all that went down with
>>>> this killings, but , as always, saying that everyone associated with
>>>> the matter is either dead or unwilling to talk. Oh, and surprisingly
>>>> enough all of the guy's victims were cremated as though someone was
>>>> afraid of them rising from the grave.
>>>
>>>
>>> I didn't know it was a movie. I'm not sure if I ever watched the show
>>> before. I vaguely recall The Sci-fi channel aired it way back when, and
>>> I might have watched one or two episodes back then.
>>>
>>
>> It was in fact, two movies before it became a very short-lived TV series.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> I continued to clear my DVR of old recordings before my DVR deletes them
>>> by watching:
>>>
>>>
>>> Sleuth (Cinemax) 2007 movie directed by Kenneth Branagh starring Michael
>>> Cain as a jealous husband who plots revenge against the man (Jude Law)
>>> who is having an affair with his wife. Cain who is a writer cooks up an
>>> elaborate plan to murder Jude Law which leads to various twists and
>>> turns as the movie plays out. This is a remake of a 1972 movie that
>>> starred Cain in the role played by Law in this version.
>>>
>>
>> I remember the original. I had no idea they remade it
>>
>>>
>>> Ruthless People (TMC) 1986 comedy directed by Jim Abrahams and the
>>> Zucker brothers starring Danny DeVito as a man planning to murder his
>>> wife (Bette Midler). However, things don't go as planned when before he
>>> can murder his wife she's kidnapped by Helen Slater and Judge Reinhold
>>> and held for ransom. Good luck getting that ransom money paid!
>>> Meanwhile DeVito's mistress has a secret plan to have her boyfriend
>>> (Bill Pullman) blackmail DeVito for the murder. Of course, DeVito
>>> didn't actually murder his wife, but they don't know that. The movie
>>> holds up well enough. I don't think I've seen this since the 80s. And
>>> I had no idea Helen Slater was in it.
>>
>> Oh, I knew Helen Slater was in it. I think that’s one of the reasons we
>> went and saw it! Same notation for the legend of Billie Jean.
>>
>
> Another movie I watched a zillion times on HBO when I was a kid. Had I
> known Slater was in RP I probably would have paired them. My original
> plan was to pair RP with Space Balls, but that went out the window and
> now I have no idea when I'm going to get around to watching Space Balls.
>
>> I loved ruthless people. I link to the YouTube clip where the cops say
>> “this may be the stupidest person on the face of the Earth. Perhaps we
>> should shoot him.“ All the time:-)
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Secret Invasion (Disney+) - "Betrayed" - Episode 3 has Fury and Talos
>>> partnering up again while acting like an old married couple.
>>>
>>
>> I’ve fallen asleep three times now trying to watch episode three. I want to
>> kill Gravik myself. Seriously, bring in the Hulk and smash. Thor is the
>> protector of Midgard. Tell him what’s going on.
>
> That idea was raised and rejected by Fury.
>
> Same notation for Doctor
>> Strange. One good incantation, and all the scrolls will look like they
>> usually look and 8 billion Earthers (or however many there are on Marvel
>> Earth these days) will go after them with baseball bats. Or maybe he can
>> make them allergic to green and they’ll spend the rest of their pitiful
>> lives curled into balls scratching.
>>
>> So they’re going to make Super Skrulls. That’s from the fantastic four
>> comics. A Skrull that had the powers of all four members of the FF.
>> Obviously that’s not what will be happening here.
>>
>>
>
> But have you seen the powers they are planning to mimic? Groots ability
> to stretch, The Extremis ability to flame on, one of their abilities
> will be super strength. I'm sure there is at least one more that hasn't
> been revealed yet..

In article
<1613816990.710364636.668970.anim8rfsk-cox.net@news.easynews.com>,
anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> > On Jul 6, 2023 at 10:29:43 AM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
> >
> >> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> >>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> What did you watch?
> >>>
> >>> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
> >>> obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
> >>>
> >>> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS
> >>> Galaxy's Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon
> >>> ride (Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done
> >>> a lot better at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator
> >>> tricked out to look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played
> >>> on CGI screens in front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces
> >>> you around.) It was also too short for the amount of line-standing it
> >>> takes to get in.
> >>>
> >>> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but
> >>> the payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar
> >>> bay of a First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your
> >>> ship is captured and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of
> >>> stormtroopers lined up in ranks and the battle raging outside with
> >>> TIEs swooping past the entrance to the hangar. The stormtroopers were
> >>> all subtly moving and it took me a moment to realize they weren't
> >>> people in costume, they were animatronic, but it looked very realistic.
> >>> The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride this time, where
> >>> you actually go from one place to another-- was also impressive. Some
> >>> of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a point where
> >>> Kylo Ren has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
> >>> the roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
> >>> convincing. Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was
> >>> puncturing the ceiling. And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was
> >>> also quite breathtaking, because... AT-ATs!
> >>>
> >>> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your
> >>> own lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids.
> >>> There was a Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make
> >>> it worthwhile.
> >>>
> >>> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
> >>> admission because that price is now so outrageously high.
> >>
> >> Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?
> >
> > How did they PC that one up?
> >
> Star Wars land ate about a third of the jungle Cruise. And they could
> easily have done it without making that sacrifice.

Hmmm... the jungle cruise looked the same as it always had to me. Not
sure what was missing.

I forgot to add that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye"
broke down as we were standing in line for it, so that was another
disappointment to factor into the $159 ticket cost. (Plus $30 for
parking)

On Thu, 06 Jul 2023 13:19:24 -0700, BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

>In article
><1613816990.710364636.668970.anim8rfsk-cox.net@news.easynews.com>,
> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>> > On Jul 6, 2023 at 10:29:43 AM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>> >
>> >> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>> >>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net>
>> >>> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> What did you watch?
>> >>>
>> >>> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
>> >>> obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
>> >>>
>> >>> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS
>> >>> Galaxy's Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon
>> >>> ride (Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done
>> >>> a lot better at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator
>> >>> tricked out to look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played
>> >>> on CGI screens in front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces
>> >>> you around.) It was also too short for the amount of line-standing it
>> >>> takes to get in.
>> >>>
>> >>> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but
>> >>> the payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar
>> >>> bay of a First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your
>> >>> ship is captured and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of
>> >>> stormtroopers lined up in ranks and the battle raging outside with
>> >>> TIEs swooping past the entrance to the hangar. The stormtroopers were
>> >>> all subtly moving and it took me a moment to realize they weren't
>> >>> people in costume, they were animatronic, but it looked very realistic.
>> >>> The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride this time, where
>> >>> you actually go from one place to another-- was also impressive. Some
>> >>> of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a point where
>> >>> Kylo Ren has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
>> >>> the roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
>> >>> convincing. Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was
>> >>> puncturing the ceiling. And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was
>> >>> also quite breathtaking, because... AT-ATs!
>> >>>
>> >>> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your
>> >>> own lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids.
>> >>> There was a Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make
>> >>> it worthwhile.
>> >>>
>> >>> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
>> >>> admission because that price is now so outrageously high.
>> >>
>> >> Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?
>> >
>> > How did they PC that one up?
>> >
>> Star Wars land ate about a third of the jungle Cruise. And they could
>> easily have done it without making that sacrifice.
>
>Hmmm... the jungle cruise looked the same as it always had to me. Not
>sure what was missing.
>
>I forgot to add that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye"
>broke down as we were standing in line for it, so that was another
>disappointment to factor into the $159 ticket cost. (Plus $30 for
>parking)

Damn that is getting way to expensive. But as the previous Disney CEO
said as long as there are more people wanting to attend the park than
can reasonably fit in the price needs to keep going up and I'm
guessing it will. Just kind of sad how many families that would have
readily attended the park in the past won't be able to afford going
now.

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> In article
> <1613816990.710364636.668970.anim8rfsk-cox.net@news.easynews.com>,
> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 10:29:43 AM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>>>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>>
>>>>> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
>>>>> obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
>>>>>
>>>>> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS
>>>>> Galaxy's Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon
>>>>> ride (Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done
>>>>> a lot better at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator
>>>>> tricked out to look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played
>>>>> on CGI screens in front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces
>>>>> you around.) It was also too short for the amount of line-standing it
>>>>> takes to get in.
>>>>>
>>>>> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but
>>>>> the payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar
>>>>> bay of a First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your
>>>>> ship is captured and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of
>>>>> stormtroopers lined up in ranks and the battle raging outside with
>>>>> TIEs swooping past the entrance to the hangar. The stormtroopers were
>>>>> all subtly moving and it took me a moment to realize they weren't
>>>>> people in costume, they were animatronic, but it looked very realistic.
>>>>> The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride this time, where
>>>>> you actually go from one place to another-- was also impressive. Some
>>>>> of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a point where
>>>>> Kylo Ren has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
>>>>> the roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
>>>>> convincing. Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was
>>>>> puncturing the ceiling. And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was
>>>>> also quite breathtaking, because... AT-ATs!
>>>>>
>>>>> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your
>>>>> own lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids.
>>>>> There was a Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make
>>>>> it worthwhile.
>>>>>
>>>>> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
>>>>> admission because that price is now so outrageously high.
>>>>
>>>> Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?
>>>
>>> How did they PC that one up?
>>>
>> Star Wars land ate about a third of the jungle Cruise. And they could
>> easily have done it without making that sacrifice.
>
> Hmmm... the jungle cruise looked the same as it always had to me. Not
> sure what was missing.

Isn’t it all woke now?

>
> I forgot to add that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye"
> broke down as we were standing in line for it, so that was another
> disappointment to factor into the $159 ticket cost. (Plus $30 for
> parking)
>

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

On Jul 6, 2023 at 3:42:06 PM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>> In article
>> <1613816990.710364636.668970.anim8rfsk-cox.net@news.easynews.com>,
>> anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>>
>>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 10:29:43 AM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>>>>> On Jul 6, 2023 at 1:30:40 AM PDT, "Ubiquitous" <weberm@polaris.net>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Nothing. With the arrival of family visiting from Texas, we took the
>>>>>> obligatory trip for the nieces and nephews to Disneyland.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This would be my first time there since the addition of the STAR WARS
>>>>>> Galaxy's Edge attraction. My reaction: mostly meh. The Millennium Falcon
>>>>>> ride (Smuggler's Run) was okay but I've seen that kind of thing done
>>>>>> a lot better at other amusement parks. (You basically sit in a simulator
>>>>>> tricked out to look like the Falcon's cockpit and the 'ride' is played
>>>>>> on CGI screens in front of you while the simulator bumps and bounces
>>>>>> you around.) It was also too short for the amount of line-standing it
>>>>>> takes to get in.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The Rise of the Resistance was much better. It also had a long line, but
>>>>>> the payoff made it worthwhile. The most impressive parts were the hangar
>>>>>> bay of a First Order star-destroyer that you're herded into after your
>>>>>> ship is captured and boarded by the Empire. It was huge, with dozens of
>>>>>> stormtroopers lined up in ranks and the battle raging outside with
>>>>>> TIEs swooping past the entrance to the hangar. The stormtroopers were
>>>>>> all subtly moving and it took me a moment to realize they weren't
>>>>>> people in costume, they were animatronic, but it looked very realistic.
>>>>>> The rest of the ride-- and yes, it's actually a ride this time, where
>>>>>> you actually go from one place to another-- was also impressive. Some
>>>>>> of the practical effects work was top-notch. There's a point where
>>>>>> Kylo Ren has chased your pod down and stabs his lightsaber through
>>>>>> the roof of the cargo elevator you're in and the effect was very
>>>>>> convincing. Looked an awful lot like a real lightsaber beam was
>>>>>> puncturing the ceiling. And the room with the full scale AT-ATs was
>>>>>> also quite breathtaking, because... AT-ATs!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your
>>>>>> own lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids.
>>>>>> There was a Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make
>>>>>> it worthwhile.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But as cool as a lot of that was, I can't say it was worth the price of
>>>>>> admission because that price is now so outrageously high.
>>>>>
>>>>> Was it worth them eviscerating the jungle Cruise for?
>>>>
>>>> How did they PC that one up?
>>>>
>>> Star Wars land ate about a third of the jungle Cruise. And they could
>>> easily have done it without making that sacrifice.
>>
>> Hmmm... the jungle cruise looked the same as it always had to me. Not
>> sure what was missing.
>
> Isn’t it all woke now?

It's just animatronic animals-- lions, hippos, zebras, monkeys, etc.

>> I forgot to add that "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye"
>> broke down as we were standing in line for it, so that was another
>> disappointment to factor into the $159 ticket cost. (Plus $30 for
>> parking)
>> >>

shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

>I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. . . .

Best made for tv movie ever. Refreshing my memory with the Wikipedia page,
it's a Richard Matheson script adapting an unpublished novel by Jeff
Rice. In fact, the novel wasn't finally published till Rice adapted the
Matheson script from The Night Strangler (1973) as a novel, as the publisher
wanted two top selling novels that year. I also read that the second
movie was padded out to 90 minutes to be released theatrically in Europe.

The Lynley character began as a prostitute but network standards and
practices demanded that the character be changed, so she became a casino
employee.

I also read that the horrid 2005 tv series remake could not use scripts
and characters from the 1974 tv series because ABC owned the rights to
the two made-for-tv movies only and not the subsequent tv series.

In article <u888si$181dk$1@dont-email.me>,
"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:
>
> >I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
> >and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
> >lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. . . .
>
> Best made for tv movie ever.

Gotta say 'SALEM'S LOT was better.

> I also read that the horrid 2005 tv series remake

But... but... Gabrielle!

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

>. . .

>There are other STAR WARSY things in the area to do-- you can build your own
>lightsaber and build a droid-- but that stuff is mostly for kids. There was a
>Cantina-themed restaurant but the wait was too long to make it worthwhile.

Philadelphia is going to have to amend its lawsuit against manufacturers
of firearms kits to include Disney's light saber assembly kits.

Thanks for the review of your day at the park.

>. . .

On Fri, 7 Jul 2023 05:46:58 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

>shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:
>
>>I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. . . .
>
>Best made for tv movie ever. Refreshing my memory with the Wikipedia page,
>it's a Richard Matheson script adapting an unpublished novel by Jeff
>Rice. In fact, the novel wasn't finally published till Rice adapted the
>Matheson script from The Night Strangler (1973) as a novel, as the publisher
>wanted two top selling novels that year. I also read that the second
>movie was padded out to 90 minutes to be released theatrically in Europe.
>
>The Lynley character began as a prostitute but network standards and
>practices demanded that the character be changed, so she became a casino
>employee.

Yeah, it was clear to me that they had left their options open on
having her be some high priced hooker as I don't recall them ever
saying what she did. Just the fact that they filmed her in the casino
suggested that was where she worked, but she could easily have been a
working girl that worked in the casino or a casino employee. The only
time we see her in the casino it looks like she is working on some
knitting at a table while waiting for Kolchak.

>I also read that the horrid 2005 tv series remake could not use scripts
>and characters from the 1974 tv series because ABC owned the rights to
>the two made-for-tv movies only and not the subsequent tv series.

Ugh, those rights issues seem to cause more problems when attempting
to bring an old project back to life since over time many
people/companies seem to pick up rights to various bits. See the
issues with various Marvel characters and stories being split between
Sony and Disney and Fox, in the past.

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

>>>I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>>and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>>lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. . . .

>>Best made for tv movie ever.

>Gotta say 'SALEM'S LOT was better.

I'm not conflating a miniseries with a made-for-tv movie. Steven King
novels are better adapted as miniseries than movies, that's for certain.

All this time, I'd remembered that The Night Stalker was original to tv,
but now that I've read that Rice just couldn't find a publisher for his
novel, I'm not sure how to categorize this, whether it's an adaptation
or not.

>>I also read that the horrid 2005 tv series remake

>But... but... Gabrielle!

That's the only reason why I gave it a chance, breaking my rule about
W/Qing remakes. She's been in a number of mediocre movies I've watched
just for her. But this tv series was bad enough I couldn't watch it,
not even for her.

shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:
>Fri, 7 Jul 2023 05:46:58 -0000 (UTC), Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

>>>I watched the 1972 film, THE NIGHT STALKER. Yes, Karl Kolchak is back
>>>and this time he's reporting from Las Vegas. Furthermore he has a
>>>lovely girlfriend in the form of Carol Lynley. . . .

>>Best made for tv movie ever. Refreshing my memory with the Wikipedia page,
>>it's a Richard Matheson script adapting an unpublished novel by Jeff
>>Rice. In fact, the novel wasn't finally published till Rice adapted the
>>Matheson script from The Night Strangler (1973) as a novel, as the publisher
>>wanted two top selling novels that year. I also read that the second
>>movie was padded out to 90 minutes to be released theatrically in Europe.

>>The Lynley character began as a prostitute but network standards and
>>practices demanded that the character be changed, so she became a casino
>>employee.

>Yeah, it was clear to me that they had left their options open on
>having her be some high priced hooker as I don't recall them ever
>saying what she did. Just the fact that they filmed her in the casino
>suggested that was where she worked, but she could easily have been a
>working girl that worked in the casino or a casino employee. The only
>time we see her in the casino it looks like she is working on some
>knitting at a table while waiting for Kolchak.

One day a network censor is going to have to explain his job to me, that
gambling can be shown on tv, as well as drinking, smoking, and drug use,
and strip clubs with oddly fit women (your more typical stripper isn't
necessarily in really good shape). White slavery is shown so very often
that it's a sign that the writers have run out of ideas. But
prostitution in the most ordinary sense? Can't have a main character as
a prostitute. We won't even discuss Miss Kitty and Gunsmoke and what her
girls did for a living, or that on radio, she was also one of the
prostitutes.

>>I also read that the horrid 2005 tv series remake could not use scripts
>>and characters from the 1974 tv series because ABC owned the rights to
>>the two made-for-tv movies only and not the subsequent tv series.

>Ugh, those rights issues seem to cause more problems when attempting
>to bring an old project back to life since over time many
>people/companies seem to pick up rights to various bits. See the
>issues with various Marvel characters and stories being split between
>Sony and Disney and Fox, in the past.

I've mentioned before that the very long gaps between James Bond movies
have always been due to MGM's partial ownership of the rights, and
having gone bankrupt multiple times. They were bleeding so much cash
that they couldn't get financing for the Daniel Craig movies in 2005,
which is why they made the deal with Columbia to finance two of the
movies. Of course that gave them the opportunity to remake Casino Royale
since Columbia didn't exactly own the rights to the novel but would have
sued to prevent the movie from getting made without their participation.

It all worked out since the proper time to film the first novel is upon
introducing a new actor playing Bond.