What Are You Watching?

[Jalouis]

I love Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, it makes me happy.

I watched the first episode of Black Clover for some reason. Does Astra sound like that for all 100+ episode? His scream has like vocal fry or something, and he is screaming all the time!

[The Sibling she/her]

I'm on season four of game of thrones now. Wow. I kind of wish I didn't read the books because the show is awesome but I completely spoiled all the plot twists and stuff.

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

24 minutes ago, The Sibling said:

I'm on season four of game of thrones now. Wow. I kind of wish I didn't read the books because the show is awesome but I completely spoiled all the plot twists and stuff.

I kinda feel the same way. I've only watched the first season and a chunk of the second, but I already know everything that's going to happen up until a little more than halfway through A Storm of Swords, as that's where I am in the books. Watching the last two or three episodes of season one would have been much more... not enjoyable, but it would have been more interesting and I would have kept my attention better if I had not already read A Game of Thrones.

Spoiler

The true king is Stannis "the Mannis" Baratheon. Fight me.

 

[PrestoTheMagnificent]

3 episodes into Loki season 2. It's not as good as season 1 so far, but it's still entertaining. Hard to believe that it's already halfway over

[Zurvanight he/him]

If you guys haven't seen The Amazing Digital Circus yet, you're missing out. 

 

[Eluvianii he/him]

Well, as it's becoming habit in October, I watched a few horror movies this month. While this doesn't apply to all of them, the main theme this year was classics I haven't watched.

The Thing: Oh this was great. The atmosphere, the cast, the paranoia. And man, the effects. You know, I'm not the kind of person that thinks practical effects are superior to cgi in any and all scenarios, but these effects are certainly better than any cgi gore I can imagine. It looked amazing and I have no clue how they pulled that off. It really sells the otherworldness of the creature.

The Wasp Woman (1959): This was interesting. A slow burn, which is impressive considering this is under 90 minutes. Not a lot of monster scenes here but rather works hard on its theme about the consequences of pursuing beauty at all costs. Which naturally results in wasp powers so everyone should go for it. The last 20 minutes are some the most efficient use of time I've ever seen.

The Haunting (1963): THIS movie. It's gotta be my favorite from all I saw this month. It's psychological as hell, a little heavy on the inner monologue but hey, it works. The house is beautiful, that staircase will live rent free in my brain for the rest of my days. The characters are great, they break a few stereotypes I'm used to expect from the time. it all feels so ahead of its time. Wonderful movie.

Halloween: The Thing kind of raised my expectations for John Carpenter. I wouldn't say they have been lowered that much yet but this movie certainly pushed things in that direction. I don't know, it had a few good scenes but, nothing much. I'm not really attached to any character either, so really, my only takeaway are the intro scene (that one is amazing I'll admit) and a few of the stalking scenes. Not enough though, I don't feel particularly compelled to continue with these honestly. Maybe I'll watch a couple more just to see how things get when magic gets involved.

Haunted Mansion (2003): The biggest outlier this year, because it's neither a classic nor a movie I hadn't seen. I always like to mix some non-horror in October, it's always nice to have things that have the right atmosphere while not trying to give you nightmares. I'd even argue non-horror tends to nail the atmosphere more than horror. Case in point, have you seen the damn mansion? I want to live there, like, wow. With this I wanted to revisit one of my favorites as a kid and you know what? It holds up. Plot is as simple as it gets, a mystery held by one single clue, and the whole movie is just unveiling that clue, but this thing shines in that simplicity. I love everything here and if anything I wish it was longer. Give me more of the mansion, give me more of the ghosts, give me more of the family experiencing it all. Gonna rewatch this one more often.

Haunted Mansion (2023): This movie is my favorite Seven Samurai adaptation. Jokes aside I did not even see the trailer for this one so the whole thing was one big pleasant surprise. This isn't a remake, this is Disney telling the new director to pretend the previous movie doesn't exist and just do whatever they wanted. The result is the polar opposite of the 2003 movie. This has a much smaller focus on the mansion and the ghosts themselves but in exchange the plot is way more complex and the characters more developed. The tone is more grounded too. The original had this romantic air to it, the ball, the tragic couple, the delightful design of the mansion. This one is more like assembling a team to fight a powerful villain. A ghost villain. And I love it. I love the fact that we live in a world where both movies exist they're so unnecessary to each other yet so complementary to each other.

Night of the Living Dead (1968): The classic of classics, I didn't even have the right to call myself a zombie fan before today. And good thing too because this is a really good movie. I was expecting campiness, which I got, but the movie is very tense actually. This is exactly the kind of movie that compels you to yell at the screen telling characters what to do. That's always a good way to make a horror movie.

[PrestoTheMagnificent]

Just finished the Five Nights at Freddy's movie. It wasn't really anything to right home about plot wise, but the animatronics were great, the story was entertaining, and the action was mostly well done. The characters were fun, and I think all the actors did a great job. I watched it with a bunch of fans of the series, and the amount of fanservice was quite obvious. However, as a person who hasn't played a single game, the plot wasn't too convoluted and I understood everything. The movie mostly succeeded at what it was trying to do, so I'm gonna give it an 8.5 out of 10. Don't really understand the low critic scores.

[Lord Gregorio he/him]

1 hour ago, PrestoTheMagnificent said:

Just finished the Five Nights at Freddy's movie. It wasn't really anything to right home about plot wise, but the animatronics were great, the story was entertaining, and the action was mostly well done. The characters were fun, and I think all the actors did a great job. I watched it with a bunch of fans of the series, and the amount of fanservice was quite obvious. However, as a person who hasn't played a single game, the plot wasn't too convoluted and I understood everything. The movie mostly succeeded at what it was trying to do, so I'm gonna give it an 8.5 out of 10. Don't really understand the low critic scores.

I thought it was great. I watched it on my phone and I have played the games and watched some of the ones I haven't played. I wasn't ever a giant fan of it, but I thought it was interesting. The movie was a lot better than most movies I've been seeing nowadays. I'd give it an 8 or 9 out of 10.

[Kasimir he/him]

Unsurprisingly in light of recent news (RIP Matthew Perry), Friends rerun. Not a superfan but my school demographic had a significant number of ESL students, so we watched it for English classes and I have the nostalgia and still bust a gut laughing at some scenes.

[Lord Gregorio he/him]

On 11/3/2023 at 7:57 AM, Kasimir said:

Unsurprisingly in light of recent news (RIP Matthew Perry), Friends rerun. Not a superfan but my school demographic had a significant number of ESL students, so we watched it for English classes and I have the nostalgia and still bust a gut laughing at some scenes.

I never watched Friends aside from occasional Insta reels, but ya. RIP Matthew Perry. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Lord Gregorio

[PrestoTheMagnificent]

The Amazing Digital Circus is a very good 3D animated show, with just the pilot out on youtube- I watched it three times and then watched through all of Murder Drones, which is by the same creator, Glitch Studios. Recommend both!

[Eluvianii he/him]

Just watched My Neighbors the Yamadas. I was very wary of this movie because, well, Takahata. Instead this turned out to be the cutest Ghibli movie I've seen since Ponyo. Pure distilled slice of life, but like, actual "Heh, I've been there" kind of slice of life. Even though it's about a Japanese family the amount of scenes I could relate to was certainly something. I was laughing all the way through.

 

I'm also catching up with 3 years of Doctor Who before the 2023 specials. Was kind of sad to see how little there was to catch up on, barely 10 episodes. Still, today I finished Series 13, aka Flux and this might be one of my favorite Doctor Who stories now. As much as I like the monster of the week format, I've always wanted longer stories, like the old serial format. This was exactly that. So many subplots, so many one-off companions which surprisingly were all great, and above all Weeping Angels are scary again. I didn't think I'd live to see that. I was kinda worried about having only Yaz left as a companion this season since, well, she's barely a character, but all the new additions made up for that in spades. Wouldn't mind seeing more longer stories in the future, but on a smaller scale. So far the whole universe needs to be at stake to keep the Doctor busy for more than two episodes.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Eluvianii

[Briar King]

Power watched Blue Eyed Samurai yesterday while my sisters Netflix worked on my tv(checked today and the household block rust is back in place) and it was very good imo. Only thing that I wasn’t a fan of was a bit of modern sounding music in ep 6. Show is graphic and adult sexual so be aware of that.

 

Have seen lots of John Wayne for the 1st time recently. Perfect. Just perfect entertainment.

[Robin Sedai she/her]

Probably my favourite video on YouTube! I rewatch it every once in a while, it always makes me feel happy and joyful.

 

[The Honorable Musician he/him]

The Owl House is one of the best TV shows ever (in my opinion). It is the most beautiful thing...

[The Sibling she/her]

I finally started House of the Dragon! I'm on episode 5 and very much enjoying it. I 'm not a huge fan of the big time skips but otherwise it's very good and kind of making me want to read Fire & Blood.

[The cheeseman Don't you dare go Hollow!]

8 minutes ago, Ookla the Sibling said:

I finally started House of the Dragon! I'm on episode 5 and very much enjoying it. I 'm not a huge fan of the big time skips but otherwise it's very good and kind of making me want to read Fire & Blood.

I finished it last week and it's SO good. I wasn't a huge fan of the time skips either, but imo it all pays off in the end. The music and the costumes were some of my favorite parts.

[The Sibling she/her]

2 minutes ago, Ookla the Cheesy said:

The music and the costumes were some of my favorite parts.

Yeah the costumes in this and Game of Thrones are so good. I love the dresses, especially the ones with super long sleeves because they just make me think of havahs. 

[Robin Sedai she/her]

Binged all three seasons of Only Murders in the Building! Great show, very funny with three-dimensional and likable characters. I'm looking forward to the next season! Also got my sister hooked on Gravity Falls

[The Honorable Musician he/him]

The new Percy Jackson and the Olympians show is pretty good in my opinion.

[SmilingPanda19 Any!]

Currently rewatching the Star Wars Franchise in Chronological order. Watched it a bunch when I was little with my dad, burned into my mind.  I’m actually really enjoying it, learning to appreciate it more now that I’m able to wrap my mind around it more.

[The Wandering Wizard he/him]

1 hour ago, SmilingPanda19 said:

Currently rewatching the Star Wars Franchise in Chronological order. Watched it a bunch when I was little with my dad, burned into my mind.  I’m actually really enjoying it, learning to appreciate it more now that I’m able to wrap my mind around it more.

Oooooo have you watched the clone wars or rebels? 

[SmilingPanda19 Any!]

27 minutes ago, The Wandering Wizard said:

Oooooo have you watched the clone wars or rebels? 

I’ve seen a little bit of rebels and none of the clone wars. My Dad, brother, and sister are obsessed with Rebels.

[The Honorable Musician he/him]

23 minutes ago, SmilingPanda19 said:

I’ve seen a little bit of rebels and none of the clone wars. My Dad, brother, and sister are obsessed with Rebels.

The Clone Wars has some of the best Star Wars content in my opinion. Would highly recommend. Rebels is pretty good too, but I think its better to watch Clone Wars first, otherwise you'll be a bit confused by some of the stuff happening.

[Kasimir he/him]

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End released Part Two recently, and I've been sleeping on it due to having wasted too many years of my life on Bleach I'll never get back

I've followed the manga irregularly but the anime is really good. The names are certainly a Choice, where you have the hero Himmel (lol), the vanguard/warrior Eisen, the mage Frieren, and the priest Heiter, and such wonderful names as Stolz, Etwas, and Laufen (  ) but I love the premise and in general the bittersweet, reflective nature of the anime.

I liked that it follows a JRPG party after the party kills the Big Bad and the near-immortal elf in a party of two humans and a dwarf has outlived most of her party members and has realised at their funerals she never bothered to know them. It's not done in a cheesy way, it's kind of done by asking what kind of attitude towards time and urgency a long-lived species would have, how different their perspective would be, and...I think I like both the fact it's set after the Big Bad and it's...positive?

The sads are bittersweet for sure, but it's light-hearted and funny in a bunch of places. I feel a lot of immortality storylines are geared towards 'immortality sucks watch everyone you love die it is a Curse' and I think this one breaks it in a refreshing way because it does start with the immortality premise but it's about learning how to live and how to form connections and understand people. It's focused around the idea of legacy and memory. Which is kind of neat. I think it's actually pretty humanist at core, which I am happy about.