After an arduous workout, I watched:

TWO AND A HALF MEN:
"I Think You Offended Don". Judith is pregnant, and Alan suspects he's the
father. Meanwhile, Jake is in a foul mood.

TWO AND A HALF MEN:
"David Copperfield Slipped Me A Roofie". Melissa (Kelly Stables) doesn't
think Alan's family appreciates him, so she asks him to move in with her and
her mom.

FAMILY GUY

FAMILY GUY

TWO AND A HALF MEN:
"Look at Me, Mommy, I'm Pretty". While Alan plans Evelyn's wedding,
Charlie plans his next conquest -- his future stepsister

TWO AND A HALF MEN:
"Fish in a Drawer". George Eads has a cameo in this episode in which a
CSI team investigates a death at Charlie's house. The script was
written by "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" scribes Sarah Goldfinger
and Evan Dunsky. This ep was suprisingly HEElarious!

What did you watch?

--
Let's go Brandon!

On 8/18/23 1:30 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:

> What did you watch?

I needed to start turning my focus back towards work, so I ran errands
and got through less TV yesterday...:

Detective Knight: Redemption (Tubi) - This 2022 film is the "second
film" in the "trilogy".
It is very clear that "Rogue" and "Redemption" were filmed
back-to-back, as they both have much of the same cast (and nearly the
same end-credits), while the third one, "Independence", must have been
filmed later, as it has an almost entirely new cast.
This one is still junk, like the first film "Rogue", but I found
this one a little more palatable as the lead villain here is played by
Paul Johansson, chewing the scenery with reckless abandon, which made it
slightly more entertaining.
Also, this sequel film has much more of Lochlyn Munro than the first
one did, which I appreciated.
However, this film marks the second worst Bruce Willis performance
of all time (after "Gasoline Alley") - in "Redemption", Willis barely
speaks *at all*, and almost the entire performance is a series of very
awkward Willis "reaction shots" to something someone else (usually
either Johansson, Beau Mirchoff or Lochlyn Munro) has said. Willis
barely registers in a film in which he is ostensibly the "lead"...

R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (Netflix) - Anim's point of it being
about "*basic competence*" comes up again!
First, I was not expecting this to be a "*direct*" prequel, but it
is - in this, Jeffrey Donovan is playing the exact same character that
Jeff Bridges played in the original film - Roy Pulsipher, but back in
the 1870s Old West, just around the time Roy dies. I was not expecting
that, do not find in necessary, and in fact find it a minus, as Bridges
is a full 20-years older than Donovan (10 years, if we account for the
decade gap between the original film and the sequel...).
Then, while the film takes pains to get some details from the
original correct, it gets a whole lot of just basic stuff wrong - like
Roy saying he followed the coyotes that ate his bones in the original,
and the prequel completely ignoring that and disposing of that in a line
of dialogue from *somebody other than Roy*!
And the original film goes to pains to state that you can only kill
a deado with a headshot (I'm assuming decapitation from Jeanne's magic
sword would also do the trick!), but this film completely ignores that,
and deados seem to be killed with non-magical weapons and non-headshots.
[roll]
Third, it was impossible to figure out what Penelope Mitchell's
(Jeanne) accent was supposed to be! - Whose "bright idea" was it to have
an Aussie try and do a "French accent"?!! (It comes off as more
Scandanavian or Irish most of the film!!)
Beyond all of that (i.e. just getting basic stuff wrong), this was
actually... OK. I actually mostly liked Donovan's, and even Mitchell's
(once you get past the accent), performances. And Jake Choi provides
some decent comic relief, as do the two RIPD agents' "avatars", which
are two young African-American women.
But the plot is pretty darn silly and unimpressive, the film
looks/feels "cheap", and the baddies are only salvaged by the head
baddie being played by Richard Brake. (I also liked Hungarian actress
Nóra Trokán as the chief "bad girl", and Kerry Knuppe as the RIPD
"supervisor" (note: she was not playing Mary-Louise Parker's role from
the original, fortunately!).

soaps: DOOL - Mostly more fallout from Victor's death, including some
flashback footage from Kate's and Victor's marriage(?!) - this must have
been before I started watching DOOL. Meanwhile, on the mayoral front,
Abe and Paulina pull a bait-and-switch.
GH - Finally got back to this, with Mon's ep. Mostly fallout from
Anna's house getting burned down. Also, Sonny puts into motion his plan
to find out who is behind Mason and the EVOL nanny.

My Son Didn't Do It (LMN) - This was actually decent - it provided
plenty of potential suspects, and plenty of red herrings, to keep you
guessing.
It may be my imagination, but Gina Holden-fronted Lifetime flicks
are usually better than average!

On 8/18/2023 8:07 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 8/18/23 1:30 AM, Ubiquitous wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
> I needed to start turning my focus back towards work, so I ran errands
> and got through less TV yesterday...:
>
> Detective Knight: Redemption (Tubi) - This 2022 film is the "second
> film" in the "trilogy".
>    It is very clear that "Rogue" and "Redemption" were filmed
> back-to-back, as they both have much of the same cast (and nearly the
> same end-credits), while the third one, "Independence", must have been
> filmed later, as it has an almost entirely new cast.
>    This one is still junk, like the first film "Rogue", but I found
> this one a little more palatable as the lead villain here is played by
> Paul Johansson, chewing the scenery with reckless abandon, which made it
> slightly more entertaining.
>    Also, this sequel film has much more of Lochlyn Munro than the first
> one did, which I appreciated.
>    However, this film marks the second worst Bruce Willis performance
> of all time (after "Gasoline Alley") - in "Redemption", Willis barely
> speaks *at all*, and almost the entire performance is a series of very
> awkward Willis "reaction shots" to something someone else (usually
> either Johansson, Beau Mirchoff or Lochlyn Munro) has said. Willis
> barely registers in a film in which he is ostensibly the "lead"...
>
> R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (Netflix) -

I forgot about this. I need to watch it.

This will be a multi-day catch up. I watched:

Foundation (AppleTV+) "The Sighted and the Seen" - Episode from last week.

The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.

Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
hard to understand at times.

Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
Overall, the movie was pretty good.

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

>The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
>as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
>town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
>murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
>up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
>the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.

I saw this some time ago. I don't recall if it was on Cinemax or The
Movie Channel. I thought the story moved slowly but ultimately I was
entertained. I watch a lot of stuff with closed captions these days.

>Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
>resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
>to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
>Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
>someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
>they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
>kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
>throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
>take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
>of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
>communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
>dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
>more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
>be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
>hard to understand at times.

What about nekid nudity of nubile young actresses? I don't need to be
concerned about their accents in sex scenes.

>Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>starring Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>Overall, the movie was pretty good.

This sure sounds like one of several Grimm's fairy tales.

On 8/18/2023 10:05 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
>> The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
>> as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
>> town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
>> murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
>> up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
>> the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.
>
> I saw this some time ago. I don't recall if it was on Cinemax or The
> Movie Channel. I thought the story moved slowly but ultimately I was
> entertained. I watch a lot of stuff with closed captions these days.
>

Yeah, I default to close captions for everything.

>> Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
>> resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
>> to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
>> Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
>> someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
>> they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
>> kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
>> throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
>> take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
>> of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
>> communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
>> dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
>> more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
>> be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
>> hard to understand at times.
>
> What about nekid nudity of nubile young actresses? I don't need to be
> concerned about their accents in sex scenes.
>

None.

>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>> starring Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>
> This sure sounds like one of several Grimm's fairy tales.

Actually it felt a lot more like the first "Iron Man" movie. However,
the Blue Beetle comics have been around since the 30s in various
incarnations. The movie references three different Blue Beatles. The
first reference was blink and you miss it. But the Ted Kord Beetle is
heavily referenced throughout and of course the movie focuses on the
Jaime Reyes Beetle character.

On Fri, 18 Aug 2023 17:05:37 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

>Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
>>The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
>>as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
>>town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
>>murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
>>up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
>>the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.
>
>I saw this some time ago. I don't recall if it was on Cinemax or The
>Movie Channel. I thought the story moved slowly but ultimately I was
>entertained. I watch a lot of stuff with closed captions these days.
>
>>Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
>>resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
>>to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
>>Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
>>someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
>>they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
>>kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
>>throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
>>take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
>>of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
>>communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
>>dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
>>more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
>>be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
>>hard to understand at times.

I'm sensing a theme hear of thick Australian accents.

>What about nekid nudity of nubile young actresses? I don't need to be
>concerned about their accents in sex scenes.
>
>>Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>starring Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>
>This sure sounds like one of several Grimm's fairy tales.

I hadn't realized this was already out for public review. The one
review of it that I had seen this week wasn't at all happy with it.

On 8/18/2023 10:51 AM, shawn wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Aug 2023 17:05:37 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
> <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>
>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>
>>> The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
>>> as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
>>> town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
>>> murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
>>> up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
>>> the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.
>>
>> I saw this some time ago. I don't recall if it was on Cinemax or The
>> Movie Channel. I thought the story moved slowly but ultimately I was
>> entertained. I watch a lot of stuff with closed captions these days.
>>
>>> Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
>>> resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
>>> to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
>>> Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
>>> someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
>>> they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
>>> kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
>>> throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
>>> take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
>>> of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
>>> communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
>>> dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
>>> more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
>>> be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
>>> hard to understand at times.
>
> I'm sensing a theme hear of thick Australian accents.
>
>> What about nekid nudity of nubile young actresses? I don't need to be
>> concerned about their accents in sex scenes.
>>
>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>> starring Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>
>> This sure sounds like one of several Grimm's fairy tales.
>
> I hadn't realized this was already out for public review. The one
> review of it that I had seen this week wasn't at all happy with it.

Given all the controversy over the reboot of the DC universe I suspect
it will be difficult to get "objective" reviews of the movie itself.

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

In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, Arthur Lipscomb
<arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

> One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
> from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle debuted in August 1939. The Guyver was released in March
1991. You seem to have the who-stole-from-whom thing backwards.

On Fri, 18 Aug 2023 12:09:40 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 8/18/2023 10:51 AM, shawn wrote:
>> On Fri, 18 Aug 2023 17:05:37 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
>> <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
>>>> as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
>>>> town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
>>>> murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
>>>> up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
>>>> the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.
>>>
>>> I saw this some time ago. I don't recall if it was on Cinemax or The
>>> Movie Channel. I thought the story moved slowly but ultimately I was
>>> entertained. I watch a lot of stuff with closed captions these days.
>>>
>>>> Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
>>>> resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
>>>> to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
>>>> Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
>>>> someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
>>>> they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
>>>> kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
>>>> throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
>>>> take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
>>>> of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
>>>> communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
>>>> dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
>>>> more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
>>>> be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
>>>> hard to understand at times.
>>
>> I'm sensing a theme hear of thick Australian accents.
>>
>>> What about nekid nudity of nubile young actresses? I don't need to be
>>> concerned about their accents in sex scenes.
>>>
>>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>>> starring Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>>
>>> This sure sounds like one of several Grimm's fairy tales.
>>
>> I hadn't realized this was already out for public review. The one
>> review of it that I had seen this week wasn't at all happy with it.
>
>Given all the controversy over the reboot of the DC universe I suspect
>it will be difficult to get "objective" reviews of the movie itself.

Perhaps, but as far as I know this movie is not part of the reboot.
This was designed to be separate from both the reboot and the old DC
universe. So in a world without other super heroes.

On 8/18/2023 1:56 PM, shawn wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Aug 2023 12:09:40 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> On 8/18/2023 10:51 AM, shawn wrote:
>>> On Fri, 18 Aug 2023 17:05:37 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
>>> <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The Dry (Netflix disc rental) 2020 Australian drama starring Eric Bana
>>>>> as an Australian federal law enforcement officer who returns to his home
>>>>> town, where he was chased out of years earlier under suspicion of
>>>>> murdering his girlfriend. He returns for a friend's funeral and winds
>>>>> up investigating a mysterious murder. I didn't care much for this and
>>>>> the *thick* Australian accents made the dialogue hard to understand.
>>>>
>>>> I saw this some time ago. I don't recall if it was on Cinemax or The
>>>> Movie Channel. I thought the story moved slowly but ultimately I was
>>>> entertained. I watch a lot of stuff with closed captions these days.
>>>>
>>>>> Talk To Me (theatrical) 2022/2023 Australian horror movie. I couldn't
>>>>> resist the constant stream of positive reviews and broke down and went
>>>>> to see this low budget Indy horror flick. It's about a group of
>>>>> Australian teens who come across a petrified hand that when touched and
>>>>> someone says, "Talk to me" they can see the spirits of the dead. If
>>>>> they then say, "Let me In" the dead can possess them. These foolish
>>>>> kids enjoy the experience of being possessed by the dead and keep
>>>>> throwing parties where they record themselves being possessed. Things
>>>>> take a turn when during one of these parties a teenage girl thinks one
>>>>> of the kids is possessed by her dead mother and wants to further the
>>>>> communication. Things take another turn when the girl keeps seeing the
>>>>> dead even when she's not touching the petrified hand. There's a bit
>>>>> more going on, but spoilers. Overall I guess it was OK. But once again
>>>>> be warned there are *thick* Australian accents that make the characters
>>>>> hard to understand at times.
>>>
>>> I'm sensing a theme hear of thick Australian accents.
>>>
>>>> What about nekid nudity of nubile young actresses? I don't need to be
>>>> concerned about their accents in sex scenes.
>>>>
>>>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>>>> starring Xolo Mariduena (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>>> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>>>
>>>> This sure sounds like one of several Grimm's fairy tales.
>>>
>>> I hadn't realized this was already out for public review. The one
>>> review of it that I had seen this week wasn't at all happy with it.
>>
>> Given all the controversy over the reboot of the DC universe I suspect
>> it will be difficult to get "objective" reviews of the movie itself.
>
> Perhaps, but as far as I know this movie is not part of the reboot.
> This was designed to be separate from both the reboot and the old DC
> universe. So in a world without other super heroes.

No, its part of the DCEU.

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

On 8/18/2023 12:17 PM, A Friend wrote:
> In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, Arthur Lipscomb
> <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
>> One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>> from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle
>
>
> Blue Beetle debuted in August 1939. The Guyver was released in March
> 1991. You seem to have the who-stole-from-whom thing backwards.

Yes, but I watched the Guyver movie first! ;-)

In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:

>Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>Overall, the movie was pretty good.

It looks like a ripoff of THE MCGIVER with a healthy dose of SHAZAM's "we are
family" messaging. I also hear Jaime doesn't behave like a hero and in fact
gets people killed from his incompetence.

--
Let's go Brandon!

In article <ubvhgg$1s8h8$5@dont-email.me>,
Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:

> In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:
>
> >Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
> >starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
> >his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
> >Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
> >after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
> >her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
> >Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
> >the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
> >with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
> >wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
> >she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
> >for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
> >Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>
> It looks like a ripoff of THE MCGIVER with a healthy dose of SHAZAM's "we are
> family" messaging. I also hear Jaime doesn't behave like a hero and in fact
> gets people killed from his incompetence.

Haven't seen the movie but that scene from the trailer where he stands
in the middle of the street and slicing an oncoming bus in half seems
like that'd have a pretty high probability of killing or maiming a few
of the passengers.

On 8/21/2023 10:25 AM, BTR1701 wrote:
> In article <ubvhgg$1s8h8$5@dont-email.me>,
> Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>
>> In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:
>>
>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>> starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>
>> It looks like a ripoff of THE MCGIVER with a healthy dose of SHAZAM's "we are
>> family" messaging. I also hear Jaime doesn't behave like a hero and in fact
>> gets people killed from his incompetence.
>
> Haven't seen the movie but that scene from the trailer where he stands
> in the middle of the street and slicing an oncoming bus in half seems
> like that'd have a pretty high probability of killing or maiming a few
> of the passengers.

The suit did that. The suit has a mind of its' own and doesn't always
do what he wants. Now there are times when the suit straight up wants
to kill someone and he's all, "No. I'm not a killer." But the suit
*should* have just ignored him and got the job done!

On Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:06:07 -0700, Arthur Lipscomb
<arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>On 8/21/2023 10:25 AM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> In article <ubvhgg$1s8h8$5@dont-email.me>,
>> Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>>
>>> In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:
>>>
>>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>>> starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>>
>>> It looks like a ripoff of THE MCGIVER with a healthy dose of SHAZAM's "we are
>>> family" messaging. I also hear Jaime doesn't behave like a hero and in fact
>>> gets people killed from his incompetence.
>>
>> Haven't seen the movie but that scene from the trailer where he stands
>> in the middle of the street and slicing an oncoming bus in half seems
>> like that'd have a pretty high probability of killing or maiming a few
>> of the passengers.

Not necessarily. If you notice the cut went right down the middle of
the aisle. So if no one was standing in the aisle (and it looked like
there wasn't anyone there as the bus wasn't crowded) then the cut
could have happened without hurting anyone. Though I dare say there's
going be a lot of new underwear purchases after that scare.
>
>The suit did that. The suit has a mind of its' own and doesn't always
>do what he wants. Now there are times when the suit straight up wants
>to kill someone and he's all, "No. I'm not a killer." But the suit
>*should* have just ignored him and got the job done!

On Aug 21, 2023 at 6:56:11 PM PDT, "shawn" <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com>
wrote:

> On Mon, 21 Aug 2023 15:06:07 -0700, Arthur Lipscomb
> <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>
>> On 8/21/2023 10:25 AM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>> In article <ubvhgg$1s8h8$5@dont-email.me>,
>>> Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article <ubo7l4$b4cc$1@dont-email.me>, arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>>>> starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>>> >from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>>>
>>>> It looks like a ripoff of THE MCGIVER with a healthy dose of SHAZAM's "we
>>>> are
>>>> family" messaging. I also hear Jaime doesn't behave like a hero and in fact
>>>> gets people killed from his incompetence.
>>>
>>> Haven't seen the movie but that scene from the trailer where he stands
>>> in the middle of the street and slicing an oncoming bus in half seems
>>> like that'd have a pretty high probability of killing or maiming a few
>>> of the passengers.
>
> Not necessarily. If you notice the cut went right down the middle of
> the aisle. So if no one was standing in the aisle (and it looked like
> there wasn't anyone there as the bus wasn't crowded) then the cut
> could have happened without hurting anyone. Though I dare say there's
> going be a lot of new underwear purchases after that scare.

If no one even got hurt, it's only because they were covered in plot armor.

>> The suit did that. The suit has a mind of its' own and doesn't always
>> do what he wants. Now there are times when the suit straight up wants
>> to kill someone and he's all, "No. I'm not a killer." But the suit
>> *should* have just ignored him and got the job done!

atropos@mac.com wrote:
> Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>> arthur@alum.calberkeley.org wrote:

>>> Blue Beetle (theatrical) First movie in James Gun's rebooted DCU,
>>> starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) as Jaime Reyes, a young man helping
>>> his financially struggling family while working for Victoria Kord (Susan
>>> Sarandon). Sarandon chews the scenery twirling her evil mustache and
>>> after a run in she fires Jaime for standing up to her and trying to help
>>> her niece Jenny Kord, daughter of the long missing Ted Kord, AKA The
>>> Blue Beetle. One thing leads to another and Jenny Kord ends up stealing
>>> the Blue Beetle scarab (which is shockingly similarly to The Guyver!)
>>> from her evil aunt and hands it off to Jaime whom it promptly bonds
>>> with. Once Jaime is bonded with the Guyver, I mean Blue Beetle,
>>> wackiness ensues as Sarandon wants it back by any means necessary and
>>> she sends her evil henchman and personal army to get it. Fortunately
>>> for Jaime in addition to the Blue Beetle powers he also has family.
>>> Overall, the movie was pretty good.
>>
>> It looks like a ripoff of THE MCGIVER with a healthy dose of SHAZAM's "we
>> are family" messaging. I also hear Jaime doesn't behave like a hero and in
>> fact gets people killed from his incompetence.
>
>Haven't seen the movie but that scene from the trailer where he stands
>in the middle of the street and slicing an oncoming bus in half seems
>like that'd have a pretty high probability of killing or maiming a few
>of the passengers.

I was thinking of the times he kept overriding the suit when it tried to kill
the bad guiys who were trying to kill his family, one of whom died because of
his stupidity.

--
Let's go Brandon!