I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.

But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending to
watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone! It
must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was already gone
by Nov. 1. >:/

So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:

Girl Gone Bad (Prime) - This 2022 Canuck horror flick stars Alison
Thornton (USA's "Dare Me", Lifetime's "Caught in His Web"), who also
produces.
The beginning of this film confused me, because it seemed like it
was going to star Mya Lowe instead. But the purpose of the opening scene
is pretty quickly established.
This flick is kind of torture porn-y, but also a revenge flick.
It was made for a $1.98, and Thorton's character is frustrating. But
it sports some good performances, and I think overall I liked it.
The ending was appropriate, though maybe not satisfactory.

Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
(IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
turned up on Prime.
This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
preferred the latter.
This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
(Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find the
phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.

What did you watch?

On 11/11/2023 11:59 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.
>
> But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending to
> watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone! It
> must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was already gone
> by Nov. 1.  >:/
>

Here's the million question. With the sequel on the way are they
putting it behind a more expensive pay wall or will it be back in time
for people to revisit it before the sequel?

> So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:
>
> Girl Gone Bad (Prime) - This 2022 Canuck horror flick stars Alison
> Thornton (USA's "Dare Me", Lifetime's "Caught in His Web"), who also
> produces.
>    The beginning of this film confused me, because it seemed like it
> was going to star Mya Lowe instead. But the purpose of the opening scene
> is pretty quickly established.
>    This flick is kind of torture porn-y, but also a revenge flick.
>    It was made for a $1.98, and Thorton's character is frustrating. But
> it sports some good performances, and I think overall I liked it.
>    The ending was appropriate, though maybe not satisfactory.
>
> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
> turned up on Prime.
>    This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
> preferred the latter.
>    This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>    Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
> brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
>    (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
> they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>    But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find the
> phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>    This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>

How is it Tubi is financing their own flicks and can afford Jerry
O'Connell?

>
> What did you watch?
>

I watched:

The Maze Runner (4K disc) 2014 post-apocalyptic movie about a group of
teenage boys living in a "glade" where each month a new teen arrives
with no memories other than his name. Each day a giant gate opens
revealing a maze, but at night the gates close and the maze changes.
And there are monsters in the maze too. The story kicks off when Dylan
O'Brien arrives and has the bright idea to solve the maze and escape.
And because he's the star of the movie he pulls it off bringing his
co-stars along for the ride.

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (4K disc) 2015 sequel which picks up
where the first movie ends. The group of plucky maze running teens lead
by Dylan O'Brien are "rescued" by Littlefinger (Aidan Murphy) and taken
to safety. But, you know it's Littlefinger and he can barely contain
his overt evilness. On the commentary track they mentioned they had
three different Game of Thrones actors in this movie and that by hiring
Littlefinger they couldn't even pretend that the character wasn't going
to turn out to be evil. It was just so obvious. So the Maze Runners
quickly catch on that he's part of the same group that put them in the
maze, and that group is now using the kids to extract a cure for a
plague that's wiping out humanity. Once they escape they quickly team
up with Giancarlo Esposito who shockingly is not playing a villain, and
Allita Battle Angel (Rosa Salazar). They all then make their way to the
resistance lead by Barry Pepper. But the movie ends on a cliffhanger
when they are betrayed by one of their own (Kaya Scodelario) and
Littlefinger captures several Maze Runners.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (4K disc) 2018 concluding movie in the Maze
Runner trilogy. This was my first time watching it since it was
originally in the theater. The bulk of this movie is pretty much the
Maze Runners trying to rescue their friends and take down Littlefinger
and the maze builders. To do this they have to sneak their way into the
last remaining city on Earth. There was one bit of outrageousness when
a character who clearly died in the first movie returns to help save the
day.
"We watched you die."
"No, you left me to die."
Dude was infected with a deadly virus *and* had a giant spear sticking
out of his chest. There's no coming back from that! Then he shows up
in movie 3 without even a limp. I'm not buying it!

Mortal Engines (4K disc) 2018 post-apocalyptic movie set over a 1000
years in the future where most of civilization has been wiped out and
what's left of civilization has gone mobile. What's left of the city of
London is now mobile and travels the world eating smaller towns for
their resources. The movie's main villain is played by Hugo Weaving who
has rebuilt a weapon from before the fall of civilization and he he
plans to use it to take over what's left of humanity. It's up to a
small band of freedom fighters to stop him. I only saw this once when
it was first in theaters and other than a vague memory that I liked it,
I had no memory of what was going to happen. Watching it again, I liked
it a lot. Also while watching I was getting a very strong vibe of
"Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" which is a 1984 Japanese animated
movie with a somewhat similar plot. Both movies are set in a distant
post-apocalyptic future after a world war wiped out civilization with
someone finding and attempting to use an ancient super weapon for
ultimate power. I already have plans to revisit "Nausicaä" in the near
future so I'll be sure to compare how similar the two movies are.

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>On 11/11/2023 11:59 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

>>. . .

>>Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
>>(IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
>>the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
>>turned up on Prime.
>>    This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
>>preferred the latter.
>>    This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
>>brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
>>and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>>    Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
>>office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
>>brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
>>    (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
>>they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>>    But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
>>pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
>>unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find the
>>phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>>    This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
>>chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.

>How is it Tubi is financing their own flicks and can afford Jerry
>O'Connell?

Doesn't he have to bribe someone to get cast these days?

On 11/11/23 1:13 PM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:

> On 11/11/2023 11:59 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>> I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.
>>
>> But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending
>> to watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone!
>> It must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was already
>> gone by Nov. 1.  >:/
>
> Here's the million question.  With the sequel on the way are they
> putting it behind a more expensive pay wall or will it be back in time
> for people to revisit it before the sequel?

Most likely the latter - But it is not on Max *at all* right now. I
think it's available on Tubi (and TNT ap) right now (and not in 4k!),
but not on any of the "premium" ad-free streamers, incl. Max.

>> So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:
>>
>> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
>> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
>> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
>> turned up on Prime.
>>     This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
>> preferred the latter.
>>     This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
>> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
>> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>>     Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
>> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
>> brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
>>     (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
>> they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>>     But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
>> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
>> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find
>> the phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>>     This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
>> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>
> How is it Tubi is financing their own flicks and can afford Jerry
> O'Connell?

Considering how many Tubi Original flicks they are churning out these
days, Tubi must be doing fine!

Also, I think Jerry O'Connell goes pretty cheap these days! ;)

>> What did you watch?
>
>
> I watched:
>
>
> The Maze Runner (4K disc)
>
> Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (4K disc)
>
> Maze Runner: The Death Cure (4K disc)

I only like the first one of these. The second one is OK, but a sharp
step down. The third is a dumpster fire.

In fact, that is pretty much the recurring these of the YA-book series
film adaptations, except probably Harry Pothead: the final film is a
dumpster fire.

(This is also true of the "Twilight" flicks, though in the case of those
the *penultimate* flick is even worse than the last flick! Which is also
true of the Harry Potheads - "Deathly Hallows, Part 1" is by far the
worst flick in the series...)

> Mortal Engines (4K disc) 2018 post-apocalyptic movie set over a 1000
> years in the future where most of civilization has been wiped out and
> what's left of civilization has gone mobile.  What's left of the city of
> London is now mobile and travels the world eating smaller towns for
> their resources.  The movie's main villain is played by Hugo Weaving who
> has rebuilt a weapon from before the fall of civilization and he he
> plans to use it to take over what's left of humanity.  It's up to a
> small band of freedom fighters to stop him.   I only saw this once when
> it was first in theaters and other than a vague memory that I liked it,
> I had no memory of what was going to happen.  Watching it again, I liked
> it a lot.

Yep, it's preposterous, but generally entertaining. For instance, I
think I liked it more than "Alita: Battle Angel" which came out around
the same time.

On Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 2:59:28 PM UTC-5, Ian J. Ball wrote:

> I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.
>
> But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending to
> watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone! It
> must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was already gone
> by Nov. 1. >:/
>
> So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:
>
> Girl Gone Bad (Prime) - This 2022 Canuck horror flick stars Alison
> Thornton (USA's "Dare Me", Lifetime's "Caught in His Web"), who also
> produces.
> The beginning of this film confused me, because it seemed like it
> was going to star Mya Lowe instead. But the purpose of the opening scene
> is pretty quickly established.
> This flick is kind of torture porn-y, but also a revenge flick.
> It was made for a $1.98, and Thorton's character is frustrating. But
> it sports some good performances, and I think overall I liked it.
> The ending was appropriate, though maybe not satisfactory.
>
> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
> turned up on Prime.
> This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
> preferred the latter.
> This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
> Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
> brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
> (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
> they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
> But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find the
> phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
> This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>
>
> What did you watch?

Nothing. The cable has been turned off.

--
Let's go Brandon!

On 11/11/23 4:40 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:

> On Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 2:59:28 PM UTC-5, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>
>> What did you watch?
>
> Nothing. The cable has been turned off.

Then you at least need an OTA antenna.

And you're going to need to get internet somehow!!...

Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>> On 11/11/2023 11:59 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>
>
>>> . . .
>
>>> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
>>> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
>>> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
>>> turned up on Prime.
>>>    This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
>>> preferred the latter.
>>>    This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
>>> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
>>> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>>>    Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
>>> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
>>> brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
>>>    (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
>>> they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>>>    But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
>>> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
>>> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find the
>>> phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>>>    This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
>>> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>
>> How is it Tubi is financing their own flicks and can afford Jerry
>> O'Connell?
>
> Doesn't he have to bribe someone to get cast these days?
>

Yeah, his most recent credit is the new love boat and right now he’s mostly
doing phone ads for gambling apps.

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

Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
> On Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 2:59:28 PM UTC-5, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>
>> I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.
>>
>> But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending to
>> watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone! It
>> must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was already gone
>> by Nov. 1. >:/
>>
>> So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:
>>
>> Girl Gone Bad (Prime) - This 2022 Canuck horror flick stars Alison
>> Thornton (USA's "Dare Me", Lifetime's "Caught in His Web"), who also
>> produces.
>> The beginning of this film confused me, because it seemed like it
>> was going to star Mya Lowe instead. But the purpose of the opening scene
>> is pretty quickly established.
>> This flick is kind of torture porn-y, but also a revenge flick.
>> It was made for a $1.98, and Thorton's character is frustrating. But
>> it sports some good performances, and I think overall I liked it.
>> The ending was appropriate, though maybe not satisfactory.
>>
>> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
>> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
>> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
>> turned up on Prime.
>> This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
>> preferred the latter.
>> This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
>> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
>> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>> Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
>> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate the
>> brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a corpse.
>> (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film, but
>> they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>> But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
>> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
>> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find the
>> phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>> This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
>> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>>
>>
>> What did you watch?
>
> Nothing. The cable has been turned off.

I can hardly wait for that happy day!!

>
> --
> Let's go Brandon!
>

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

On 11/11/2023 2:17 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 11/11/23 1:13 PM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>
>> On 11/11/2023 11:59 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>> I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.
>>>
>>> But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending
>>> to watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone!
>>> It must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was
>>> already gone by Nov. 1.  >:/
>>
>> Here's the million question.  With the sequel on the way are they
>> putting it behind a more expensive pay wall or will it be back in time
>> for people to revisit it before the sequel?
>
> Most likely the latter - But it is not on Max *at all* right now. I
> think it's available on Tubi (and TNT ap) right now (and not in 4k!),
> but not on any of the "premium" ad-free streamers, incl. Max.
>
>>> So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:
>>>
>>> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
>>> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
>>> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
>>> turned up on Prime.
>>>     This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
>>> preferred the latter.
>>>     This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
>>> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
>>> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>>>     Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
>>> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate
>>> the brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a
>>> corpse.
>>>     (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film,
>>> but they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>>>     But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
>>> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
>>> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find
>>> the phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>>>     This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
>>> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>>
>> How is it Tubi is financing their own flicks and can afford Jerry
>> O'Connell?
>
> Considering how many Tubi Original flicks they are churning out these
> days, Tubi must be doing fine!
>
> Also, I think Jerry O'Connell goes pretty cheap these days!  ;)
>

No arguments there, but when I think of Tubi, I don't think of them even
being able to afford cheap. I guess that's just my bias since I almost
never watch them.

>>> What did you watch?
>>
>>
>> I watched:
>>
>>
>> The Maze Runner (4K disc)
>>
>> Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (4K disc)
>>
>> Maze Runner: The Death Cure (4K disc)
>
> I only like the first one of these. The second one is OK, but a sharp
> step down. The third is a dumpster fire.
>
> In fact, that is pretty much the recurring these of the YA-book series
> film adaptations, except probably Harry Pothead: the final film is a
> dumpster fire.
>

I actually really like the Potter series and consider it one that gets
better as it goes through the end. I never read the books so I'm only
comparing them against the other movies, not what could have been had
they followed the books more closely.

> (This is also true of the "Twilight" flicks, though in the case of those
> the *penultimate* flick is even worse than the last flick! Which is also
> true of the Harry Potheads - "Deathly Hallows, Part 1" is by far the
> worst flick in the series...)
>

I'm currently planning to revisit various YA movies through this month.
With the exception of "Twilight." Technically, I have all of them on
discs, but I haven't watched them since they were originally in
theaters. I only saw the final movie once when it was in theaters. I
guess I'll eventually revisit them, but at the moment, I have *zero*
interest in doing so.

>> Mortal Engines (4K disc) 2018 post-apocalyptic movie set over a 1000
>> years in the future where most of civilization has been wiped out and
>> what's left of civilization has gone mobile.  What's left of the city
>> of London is now mobile and travels the world eating smaller towns for
>> their resources.  The movie's main villain is played by Hugo Weaving
>> who has rebuilt a weapon from before the fall of civilization and he
>> he plans to use it to take over what's left of humanity.  It's up to a
>> small band of freedom fighters to stop him.   I only saw this once
>> when it was first in theaters and other than a vague memory that I
>> liked it, I had no memory of what was going to happen.  Watching it
>> again, I liked it a lot.
>
> Yep, it's preposterous, but generally entertaining. For instance, I
> think I liked it more than "Alita: Battle Angel" which came out around
> the same time.
>

I was on the fence between watching this or "Alita: Battle Angle."
Mortal Engine ultimately won out because I *wanted* to watch it, whereas
Alita was more of an afterthought once I realized the same actress from
Maze Runner was also Alita.

On Sat, 11 Nov 2023 15:54:38 -0800, Arthur Lipscomb
<arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

>On 11/11/2023 2:17 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>> On 11/11/23 1:13 PM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>>
>>> On 11/11/2023 11:59 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>> I got home yesterday, intending to just watch some movies.
>>>>
>>>> But I was massively ticked off when I checked Max, finally intending
>>>> to watch "Beetlejuice" (in 4k!!), only to find it was *already* gone!
>>>> It must have been on Max for merely weeks. I'm guessing it was
>>>> already gone by Nov. 1.  >:/
>>>
>>> Here's the million question.  With the sequel on the way are they
>>> putting it behind a more expensive pay wall or will it be back in time
>>> for people to revisit it before the sequel?
>>
>> Most likely the latter - But it is not on Max *at all* right now. I
>> think it's available on Tubi (and TNT ap) right now (and not in 4k!),
>> but not on any of the "premium" ad-free streamers, incl. Max.
>>
>>>> So, instead I went for a couple of horror-type movies off Prime:
>>>>
>>>> Play Dead (Prime) - Oddly, this 2022 flick was actually a "Tubi Film"
>>>> (IOW, a Tubi Original) - but I guess Tubi never showed it to me among
>>>> the movie selections, because I'd never seen or noticed it before it
>>>> turned up on Prime.
>>>>     This is higher-rated on IMDb than "Girl Gone Bad", but I think I
>>>> preferred the latter.
>>>>     This stars Bailee Madison (Good Witch, PLL: Original Sin). Her
>>>> brother and ex-boyfriend unwisely stage some robbery that goes wrong,
>>>> and the ex gets killed, though the brother escapes.
>>>>     Now Madison's character needs to break into the coroner's
>>>> office/morgue to retrieve the ex's cell phone, lest it incriminate
>>>> the brother - so she has her brother drug her so she looks like a
>>>> corpse.
>>>>     (Which means Madison is naked in a sheet for some of the film,
>>>> but they cheat us out of any naked nudity!!)
>>>>     But The Coroner (a surprisingly effective Jerry O'Connell) is
>>>> pulling some seriously shady stuff in the morgue, which Madison
>>>> unfortunately discovers, but is trapped in the morgue. Can she find
>>>> the phone and escape? Or is she toast?!
>>>>     This gets pretty preposterous, but I guess it's a good
>>>> chase/escape-from-the-baddie flick.
>>>
>>> How is it Tubi is financing their own flicks and can afford Jerry
>>> O'Connell?
>>
>> Considering how many Tubi Original flicks they are churning out these
>> days, Tubi must be doing fine!
>>
>> Also, I think Jerry O'Connell goes pretty cheap these days!  ;)
>>
>
>No arguments there, but when I think of Tubi, I don't think of them even
>being able to afford cheap. I guess that's just my bias since I almost
>never watch them.
>
>>>> What did you watch?
>>>
>>>
>>> I watched:
>>>
>>>
>>> The Maze Runner (4K disc)
>>>
>>> Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (4K disc)
>>>
>>> Maze Runner: The Death Cure (4K disc)
>>
>> I only like the first one of these. The second one is OK, but a sharp
>> step down. The third is a dumpster fire.
>>
>> In fact, that is pretty much the recurring these of the YA-book series
>> film adaptations, except probably Harry Pothead: the final film is a
>> dumpster fire.
>>
>
>I actually really like the Potter series and consider it one that gets
>better as it goes through the end. I never read the books so I'm only
>comparing them against the other movies, not what could have been had
>they followed the books more closely.

Yeah, I've reached a point with most of these movies where I never
read the books which is usually a good thing. So I'm not thinking
about what could have been.

>> (This is also true of the "Twilight" flicks, though in the case of those
>> the *penultimate* flick is even worse than the last flick! Which is also
>> true of the Harry Potheads - "Deathly Hallows, Part 1" is by far the
>> worst flick in the series...)
>>
>
>I'm currently planning to revisit various YA movies through this month.
>With the exception of "Twilight." Technically, I have all of them on
>discs, but I haven't watched them since they were originally in
>theaters. I only saw the final movie once when it was in theaters. I
>guess I'll eventually revisit them, but at the moment, I have *zero*
>interest in doing so.

One of these days I'll get around to watching the TWILIGHT movies.

>
>>> Mortal Engines (4K disc) 2018 post-apocalyptic movie set over a 1000
>>> years in the future where most of civilization has been wiped out and
>>> what's left of civilization has gone mobile.  What's left of the city
>>> of London is now mobile and travels the world eating smaller towns for
>>> their resources.  The movie's main villain is played by Hugo Weaving
>>> who has rebuilt a weapon from before the fall of civilization and he
>>> he plans to use it to take over what's left of humanity.  It's up to a
>>> small band of freedom fighters to stop him.   I only saw this once
>>> when it was first in theaters and other than a vague memory that I
>>> liked it, I had no memory of what was going to happen.  Watching it
>>> again, I liked it a lot.
>>
>> Yep, it's preposterous, but generally entertaining. For instance, I
>> think I liked it more than "Alita: Battle Angel" which came out around
>> the same time.

It is an entirely insane movie in terms of how they set up the world.
>>
>
>I was on the fence between watching this or "Alita: Battle Angle."
>Mortal Engine ultimately won out because I *wanted* to watch it, whereas
>Alita was more of an afterthought once I realized the same actress from
>Maze Runner was also Alita.

I started Alita a year or two ago, got distracted and never got back
to it. One day.

On Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 7:56:15 PM UTC-5, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> On 11/11/23 4:40 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> > On Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 2:59:28 PM UTC-5, Ian J. Ball wrote:
> >> What did you watch?
> >
> > Nothing. The cable has been turned off.
>
> Then you at least need an OTA antenna.

Cutting off "the cable" was a big step towards selling the house.

> And you're going to need to get internet somehow!!...

McBurgertown wifi sux. They don't have Comcast here so I can't use theirs.

--
Let's go Brandon!