Yesterday, I had to give a review session, and focus on grading, but I
still got through a decent amount of TV:

Night Court (Peacock) - "Broadway Danny Gurgs" (ep. #2.8). This episode
was just OK. Richard Kind shows up as a faded Broadway producer, whom
Dan hates and refuses to defend, as Dan lost $5k on one of his plays.
This part had a bit with a novice public defender (Ashley Padilla) that
Dan brings in, that I wish they had done more with... Meanwhile, Abby is
annoyed with Olivia, when Olivia seems to be pretending to mourn a
recently-departed doorman, but it's the doorman for a building in which
Olivia only *fictitiously* has an apartment in. Meh.

The Masters - Collin Morikawa (among others) pretty much folded on the
final day, and Scottie Scheffler ran away with it, so I'm kind of glad
that I had to stop watching before the end of this, to go give my review
session. The only semi-good part was Brit Tommy Fleetwood kind of
surging on the final day, but not by nearly enough to come close to
winning it. Swede Ludvig Åberg came in second.

soaps: GH - Fri's ep. Not much happened here. I think the only real
developments was Jason tasking Diane with buying the half the hotel back
from Nina (who this time seems somewhat receptive to selling), and Jason
talking with Carly and Carly telling Jason that she thinks Sonny had FBI
Agent Jagger/John Cates beaten up. There was some dumb stuff with Lucy
and Maxie - I think Maxie has had it and may be ready to get Lucy out of
Deception.

Killer Fortune Teller - This had some good elements - like the idiot new
CEO (Jonathan Stoddard) being so easily conned by the conning fortune
teller, and the passed-over sister (Sarah Murphree) of the CEO who
seemed to be the only one in this whole thing with any sense!!
But this had no surprises, right down to it being obvious that the
EVOL!!1! fortune teller (Natalie Daniels) and the CEO's new girlfriend
(Caina Summer Field) were in cahoots long before the movie revealed this.
Still, this was enjoyable enough as an over-the-top thriller.

What did you watch?

On 2024-04-15 13:06:23 +0000, Ian J. Ball said:

> The Masters - Collin Morikawa (among others) pretty much folded on the
> final day, and Scottie Scheffler ran away with it, so I'm kind of glad
> that I had to stop watching before the end of this, to go give my
> review session. The only semi-good part was Brit Tommy Fleetwood kind
> of surging on the final day, but not by nearly enough to come close to
> winning it. Swede Ludvig Åberg came in second.

I'm a bird feeder enthusiast and I thought they stole the show in the
audio, lol.

Didn't notice any of them out on the course though, maybe they thought
all those people sitting in bleachers out in the woods were clapping
for them and they needed to stay in the trees and put on a great
concert.

What a beautiful place though, it would be worth visiting and riding
around in a cart without any golfing going on.

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:
> Yesterday, I had to give a review session, and focus on grading, but I
> still got through a decent amount of TV:
>
>
> What did you watch?

Hey thanks for asking!

TRACKER which made me think I must’ve missed one and sure enough the DVR
didn’t actually record the previous episode.

So I also watched TRACKER.

Episode seven: CHICAGO.

A Vietnamese MMA fighter friend of Bob vanishes, and they go rescue her,
tracking her down to where she’s being held by a cage fighting ring that
nobody ever gets away from. Green Aquaman beats everybody up and Reenie
finds a loophole that lets the fighter and her mother stay in the country
because that’s how it works.

First episode where they don’t take payment. I’ve been waiting for that to
happen.

Episode eight: CAMDEN

I do well soon to be bridegroom with a shady past vanishes. Lots of stupid
in this one. Like they fake his death by sending his car off a cliff by
holding down the accelerator pedal with a bag of flour. Even though the
police aren’t very bright. Aren’t they going to notice? There isn’t a body
in the car, but there is a bag of flower on the accelerator pedal?

There’s also a scene where aqua Greenman is hiding in the back of the bad
guys van, and when they stop to get the money out of the van, by the time
they walk to the back of the van and open the rear doors, he jas somehow
teleported himself through the floor And is underneath it. In an empty
alley in the middle of the night, they wouldn’t hear or see the doors open
much less close…

Anyway he’s being held captive by some gangsters who want him to help them,
steal the fentanyl that’s smuggled into the country with the lobsters. 🦞

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

On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>
> What did you watch?

Gamer - Netflix disc rip (screencapping project)
AKA 'Crank 3'. Made by the same pair that made the Jason Statham
vehicles 'Crank' and 'Crank 2' it is much like those two with Gerald
Butler instead. Turn your brain off and let it come to a complete stop
before watching to avoid damage.

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

On 4/15/2024 7:22 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>
>> What did you watch?
>
> Gamer - Netflix disc rip (screencapping project)
> AKA 'Crank 3'.  Made by the same pair that made the Jason Statham
> vehicles 'Crank' and 'Crank 2' it is much like those two with Gerald
> Butler instead.  Turn your brain off and let it come to a complete stop
> before watching to avoid damage.
>

I *want* to like this movie but it just rubs me the wrong way. But it's
one of those movies that I keep watching hoping that this time maybe
it'll be good.

I watched:

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Starz) 1998 crime movie and Guy
Ritchie's directorial debut. This is also Jason Statham's film debut.
The plot involves various criminal gangs who have overlapping crimes
(Gang A robs Gang B who then gets robbed by Gang C type of deal). The
movie is a complete incomprehensible (and I mean that literally) mess.
I saw it once when it first came out and didn't like it. On second
viewing I still found the movie to mostly be a mess. I definitely get
they were trying to be clever and basically do a British "Pulp Fiction"
type of movie but the movie has issues. That being said, I might have
liked it a *little* more on this viewing mostly because the closed
captions and ability to rewind back helped to make the plot slightly
more understandable.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (HBO) 2014 spy movie based on the TV show
directed by Guy Ritchie. Set in the 1960s Henry Cavill stars as a
smooth talking Gentleman/con artist who works for the CIA and is
assigned to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter (Alicia Vikander)
from East Berlin. Armie Hammer also stars as a Russian KGB agent who is
assigned to stop him. But soon the two are forced by their governments
to team up and work together to stop a new rival group from developing a
new type of nuclear bomb. Hugh Grant also pops up as a British MI6
agent who runs to the two agents. This was my first time watching it
since seeing it in the theater. I guess it was OK.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (4K disc) 2011 spy drama with an all star cast
including Gary Oldman as a British spy in the 70s forced out after a
mission goes horribly wrong, but he's later brought back to hunt down a
mole inside the agency. The movie holds up very well.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (Starz) 2023 action comedy directed by
Guy Ritchie and starring Jason Statham as a private contractor brought
in by the British government (Cary Elwes plays his handler) to
infiltrate a billionaire arms dealer (Hugh Grant). To get in with the
dealer Statham and his team blackmail a Hollywood actor (Josh Harshnet)
who the dealer is a fan of into helping them go undercover as his
entourage. This wasn't very good.

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> On 4/15/2024 7:22 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>
>>> What did you watch?
>>
>> Gamer - Netflix disc rip (screencapping project)
>> AKA 'Crank 3'.  Made by the same pair that made the Jason Statham
>> vehicles 'Crank' and 'Crank 2' it is much like those two with Gerald
>> Butler instead.  Turn your brain off and let it come to a complete stop
>> before watching to avoid damage.
>>
>
> I *want* to like this movie but it just rubs me the wrong way. But it's
> one of those movies that I keep watching hoping that this time maybe
> it'll be good.
>
> I watched:
>
>
>
> The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (HBO) 2014 spy movie based on the TV show
> directed by Guy Ritchie. Set in the 1960s Henry Cavill stars as a
> smooth talking Gentleman/con artist who works for the CIA and is
> assigned to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter (Alicia Vikander)
> from East Berlin. Armie Hammer also stars as a Russian KGB agent who is
> assigned to stop him. But soon the two are forced by their governments
> to team up and work together to stop a new rival group from developing a
> new type of nuclear bomb. Hugh Grant also pops up as a British MI6
> agent who runs to the two agents. This was my first time watching it
> since seeing it in the theater. I guess it was OK.

How much of a fan of the TV show were you?

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

On 4/15/2024 8:40 AM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
> On 4/15/2024 7:22 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>
>>> What did you watch?
>>
>> Gamer - Netflix disc rip (screencapping project)
>> AKA 'Crank 3'.  Made by the same pair that made the Jason Statham
>> vehicles 'Crank' and 'Crank 2' it is much like those two with Gerald
>> Butler instead.  Turn your brain off and let it come to a complete
>> stop before watching to avoid damage.
>>
>
> I *want* to like this movie but it just rubs me the wrong way.  But it's
> one of those movies that I keep watching hoping that this time maybe
> it'll be good.
>
It was the tea-bagging, wasn't it.

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

On 4/15/2024 4:04 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>> On 4/15/2024 7:22 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>>
>>>> What did you watch?
>>>
>>> Gamer - Netflix disc rip (screencapping project)
>>> AKA 'Crank 3'.  Made by the same pair that made the Jason Statham
>>> vehicles 'Crank' and 'Crank 2' it is much like those two with Gerald
>>> Butler instead.  Turn your brain off and let it come to a complete stop
>>> before watching to avoid damage.
>>>
>>
>> I *want* to like this movie but it just rubs me the wrong way. But it's
>> one of those movies that I keep watching hoping that this time maybe
>> it'll be good.
>>
>> I watched:
>>
>>
>>
>> The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (HBO) 2014 spy movie based on the TV show
>> directed by Guy Ritchie. Set in the 1960s Henry Cavill stars as a
>> smooth talking Gentleman/con artist who works for the CIA and is
>> assigned to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter (Alicia Vikander)
>> from East Berlin. Armie Hammer also stars as a Russian KGB agent who is
>> assigned to stop him. But soon the two are forced by their governments
>> to team up and work together to stop a new rival group from developing a
>> new type of nuclear bomb. Hugh Grant also pops up as a British MI6
>> agent who runs to the two agents. This was my first time watching it
>> since seeing it in the theater. I guess it was OK.
>
> How much of a fan of the TV show were you?
>
>

Not much of one. I don't recall watching reruns when I was a kid.
Although I'm sure I must have watched one or two episodes at some point.
Much like Mission Impossible, I knew the show existed but never went
out of my way to watch reruns of it. Also keep in mind my ability to
even watch was extremely limited given the show was canceled nearly a
decade before I was even born... :-)

Was the movie like the original show? I was actually curious if
Cavill's counterpart in the show was also a thief blackmailed by the CIA
into working for them.

On 4/15/24 6:42 PM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:

> On 4/15/2024 4:04 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>
>>> I watched:
>>>
>>>
>>> The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (HBO) 2014 spy movie based on the TV show
>>> directed by Guy Ritchie.  Set in the 1960s Henry Cavill stars as a
>>> smooth talking Gentleman/con artist who works for the CIA and is
>>> assigned to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter (Alicia Vikander)
>>> from East Berlin.  Armie Hammer also stars as a Russian KGB agent who is
>>> assigned to stop him.  But soon the two are forced by their governments
>>> to team up and work together to stop a new rival group from developing a
>>> new type of nuclear bomb.  Hugh Grant also pops up as a British MI6
>>> agent who runs to the two agents.  This was my first time watching it
>>> since seeing it in the theater.  I guess it was OK.
>>
>> How much of a fan of the TV show were you?
>
> Not much of one.  I don't recall watching reruns when I was a kid.

FTR, I don't think either this, or "Wild, Wild West" was being rerun
when I was a kid (a few years before you!). WWW may have been, rarely.
But I don't think "Man from UNCLE" ever was - if it was, I have no
recollection of it at all

> Although I'm sure I must have watched one or two episodes at some point.
>  Much like Mission Impossible, I knew the show existed but never went
> out of my way to watch reruns of it.  Also keep in mind my ability to
> even watch was extremely limited given the show was canceled nearly a
> decade before I was even born... :-)

MI may have been rerun when I was a kid. But I really wasn't exposed to
it until the 80s writers strike, when ABC just remade old episodes.

> Was the movie like the original show?  I was actually curious if
> Cavill's counterpart in the show was also a thief blackmailed by the CIA
> into working for them.

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:
> On 4/15/24 6:42 PM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:
>
>> On 4/15/2024 4:04 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>>>> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>>
>>>> I watched:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (HBO) 2014 spy movie based on the TV show
>>>> directed by Guy Ritchie.  Set in the 1960s Henry Cavill stars as a
>>>> smooth talking Gentleman/con artist who works for the CIA and is
>>>> assigned to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter (Alicia Vikander)
>>>> from East Berlin.  Armie Hammer also stars as a Russian KGB agent who is
>>>> assigned to stop him.  But soon the two are forced by their governments
>>>> to team up and work together to stop a new rival group from developing a
>>>> new type of nuclear bomb.  Hugh Grant also pops up as a British MI6
>>>> agent who runs to the two agents.  This was my first time watching it
>>>> since seeing it in the theater.  I guess it was OK.
>>>
>>> How much of a fan of the TV show were you?
>>
>> Not much of one.  I don't recall watching reruns when I was a kid.
>
> FTR, I don't think either this, or "Wild, Wild West" was being rerun
> when I was a kid (a few years before you!). WWW may have been, rarely.
> But I don't think "Man from UNCLE" ever was - if it was, I have no
> recollection of it at all

UNCLE got some rerun play, but not nearly as much as you would expect,
given its enduring popularity. It got a lot of weird home video releases
like a box laser disk set where they picked the episodes entirely by their
awareness of the guest stars, such as Sonny and Cher, in one of the very
worst episodes of the series.

I think one of the big problems with both UNCLE and TW3 is that their
earliest and best episodes are black and white. And programmers (if not
viewers) are convinced no one will watch black-and-white.

>
>> Although I'm sure I must have watched one or two episodes at some point.
>>  Much like Mission Impossible, I knew the show existed but never went
>> out of my way to watch reruns of it.  Also keep in mind my ability to
>> even watch was extremely limited given the show was canceled nearly a
>> decade before I was even born... :-)
>
> MI may have been rerun when I was a kid. But I really wasn't exposed to
> it until the 80s writers strike, when ABC just remade old episodes.
>
>> Was the movie like the original show?  I was actually curious if
>> Cavill's counterpart in the show was also a thief blackmailed by the CIA
>> into working for them.
>
>
>

--
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 4/15/2024 4:04 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
>>> On 4/15/2024 7:22 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>>> On 4/15/2024 6:06 AM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> What did you watch?
>>>>
>>>> Gamer - Netflix disc rip (screencapping project)
>>>> AKA 'Crank 3'.  Made by the same pair that made the Jason Statham
>>>> vehicles 'Crank' and 'Crank 2' it is much like those two with Gerald
>>>> Butler instead.  Turn your brain off and let it come to a complete stop
>>>> before watching to avoid damage.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I *want* to like this movie but it just rubs me the wrong way. But it's
>>> one of those movies that I keep watching hoping that this time maybe
>>> it'll be good.
>>>
>>> I watched:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (HBO) 2014 spy movie based on the TV show
>>> directed by Guy Ritchie. Set in the 1960s Henry Cavill stars as a
>>> smooth talking Gentleman/con artist who works for the CIA and is
>>> assigned to rescue a kidnapped scientist's daughter (Alicia Vikander)
>>> from East Berlin. Armie Hammer also stars as a Russian KGB agent who is
>>> assigned to stop him. But soon the two are forced by their governments
>>> to team up and work together to stop a new rival group from developing a
>>> new type of nuclear bomb. Hugh Grant also pops up as a British MI6
>>> agent who runs to the two agents. This was my first time watching it
>>> since seeing it in the theater. I guess it was OK.
>>
>> How much of a fan of the TV show were you?
>>
>>
>
> Not much of one. I don't recall watching reruns when I was a kid.
> Although I'm sure I must have watched one or two episodes at some point.
> Much like Mission Impossible, I knew the show existed but never went
> out of my way to watch reruns of it. Also keep in mind my ability to
> even watch was extremely limited given the show was canceled nearly a
> decade before I was even born... :-)
>
> Was the movie like the original show?

Not at all. Pretty much all they used was the character names. It was
supposed to be a prequel set before the TV series, but it was pretty much
completely out of continuity, even for what little backstory we knew.

Also, much of the attraction of the original is the chemistry and
camaraderie between the two leads, which you don’t get in the movie or
annoyingly in the actual series reunion movie where the characters meet
briefly at the beginning, and then work separately to track down the bad
guys.

I was actually curious if
> Cavill's counterpart in the show was also a thief blackmailed by the CIA
> into working for them.

No. That’s actually the premise of another pretty good show of the era,
Robert Wagner‘s IT TAKES A THIEF. Another show that didn’t get the rerun
exposure it deserved. The story about it (I’m not sure if it’s true) is
that all the decent masters were destroyed in a fire or something so all
that’s left is grainy chopped up syndication prints.

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