Monday, February 26, 2018

partial viewing

heya


so, i've watched a few more things, then. partially, though, look you see. mostly in full, but also partially. if you are of a mind to keep reading, it is with every confidence that i suspect if not suggest that this lumbered, cumbersome introduction will make sense.

for some reason these posts i do after watching a few things have proven to be popular. should they be of any use in helping people select or otherwise choose something to watch, well then so much the better. it might, however, be that they are read for the amusement factor of my words alone, or simply because you people have absolutely nothing better to do.

anyway, what i watched. or partially watched.

CSI New York Series 6
provenance - 99p. That's Entertainment store

yes, enthusastic readers of these articles will raise an eyebrow here, as normally discs sans boxes from that store normally cost 49p. in this instance, it was the entire series, six discs i think, for 99p, which indeed translates as 16.5p a disc. yes, yet again i am baffled as to how we have let physical media forms of entertainment be so devalued, but a most happy result for me in this instance.

i was looking for something to watch as i did a spot of ironing one evening. as no films struck me as of interest to watch, at least not ones i could have on with the boys running in and out as i ironed, i elected to have a watch of some episodes of this.

how many episodes? i think i got through either 2 and a half but also it might have been three and a half. in any eventuality, i have seen just about all of them before, so the usual happens. this would entail me thinking i haven't seen it, only to get to the last 10 minutes when the baddie (usually one what done a murder) is revealed and i go, oh yes, that's right i recall.

of the many variations that CSI has, this would be my favourite. strange, as prior to it i usually couldn't stand Gary Sinese in stuff. as for the others, the original (aka Las Vegas) was good but became a parody of itself towards the end. Miami had a good solid 2 - 3 seasons, but went to sh!t after they got rid of Speedle and started having ludicrous plots, like the infamous Murder In Space episode. as for the other, Cyber, a good idea gone bad with stereotypes, and i am amazed it lasted into a second series.


Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows
provenance - nowt, free to air tele

when it just so happened that i had some rare time alone boredom saw me flick through the tele channels to see what was on. i observed that one of the many free to air broadcasters we have here in England had this on. having seen the first one but not getting around to this, i tuned in.

erm, yeah. whilst i really, really enjoyed the first one, this second one makes it clear as to why we have not had a third one as such as yet. apparently there are "problems" with the script, scheduling the two leads (which i take as being a problem with scheduling him out of it what plays Iron Man in them hero film things), the director, etc. perhaps, and maybe this is just my view, the fact that this second film was not very good is why no rush has been made for more from any particular corner.

this wasn't a very good film, then. it seems them what made it thought that the best parts of the first were the "slow motion / bullet time" segments, and so basically elected to structure a film around scenes where they could do that stuff. it gets boring very quickly, and one is easily prone to being distracted by other stuff instead of watching and working out just what the heck is going on. well, i was.

no, then, i would not suggest anyone rush off to watch. which is probably pointless advice for an eight or so year old film. but, still, Robert Downey jrn does his "i am a proper thespian, don't you know" stab at a British accent, which is worth a listen, if only briefly.
 
Heist
provenance - nowt, free to air tele

so, then, yes, i found myself alone once more, with for all practical reasons just a provided television set to entertain. another scan through the channels revealed this was on. i asked myself how bad could some crime thriller what had Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito in, plus a boss support cast, be?

the answer is not at all bad. very good, as point of fact. for a start, the plot is an interesting twist on a tired one. Hackman as the elder master thief is retired because he has to be, rather than the old "just one more job" story. let me not say much more on the plot, lest i spoil what a joy this film is to watch.

both Hackman and DeVito are superb. well, aren't they always? i suspect it's the case that one forgets just how good Gene Hackman is in basically everything (maybe bar Superman IV), and how much we miss him. my reaction to this was to want to watch some classic Gene, be it French Connection, Unforgiven, Mississippi Burning, or even stuff like Crimson Tide, Runaway Jury and Enemy Of The State. good too to see DeVito play "straight bad". he does it ever so well with a comic turn in stuff like Ruthless People and Get Shorty.

should for some reason you, like me, have missed this on release, then it is well worth the time and effort to seek it out. a true gem of a film, and one that i suspect i shall watch again at some stage.

Battlestar Galactica 'The Movie'
provenance - 49p, That's Entertainment store

yes, i do indeed have a copy of this in a box, along with all other released proper 70s versions of Battlestar Galactica, but this was sat there for 49p so i grabbed it.

indeed i did fetch it and watch it when looking for something to watch as i did a spot of ironing. this movie is a natural selection to watch any time, really,. but it was in mind after the most recent Star Wars film.

as i mentioned, more than once, in my sort of review, or if you will quasi think piece, of that film, rather than The Last Jedi it should have been called Star Wars Episode VII : Battlestar Galactica, for so very much of the plot and structure was "borrowed" from this, the "movie" made out of the TV pilot episodes and some extra scenes.

there is not a lot i could say about proper Battlestar Galactica than what i have already said, which is that it is most excellent. many of you will recall in particular how i discussed all this when addressing the controversy of me being accused of "not being a  proper fan" of Intergalactic throughout 2017.

i saw enough of the film to say that yes, them what made The Last Jedi had "observed" this fine film and allowed it to "inform" their own film making exploits. unfortunately, the iron sort of shorted and sparked and went a bit on fire as i was watching this and ironing, and so i had to stop at around the 58 minute mark so as to attend to the flames and requisite smoke detector alarm.

with respect to the latter, my (considerably) better half has imposed a ban on me doing ironing for the forseeable future, lest it was my fault for the one iron breaking and thus having the risk of me breaking her shiny new one. this i think is unfair, and also means that it might be a while before i watch something else worth mentioning here.

anyway, as ever, hope this has all been of interest or use to someone!



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




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