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Post by andydecker on Mar 27, 2021 12:10:53 GMT
Watched Netflix' The Irregulars. Oh boy. Where to start? If you as a viewer can manage to forget everything you know about Victorian times, history, moral values, reality or science – and I mean everything – I guess it is not half bad. The grimy streets and the high society are a Diversity fantasy, coloured aristocracy and all. Including the Irregulars, of course. The story as such is a nicely – often even splendidly - produced Urban Fantasty/Gothic with surprisingly graphic violence at times – but in this kind of fare you can cut off faces as long as you don't show a nipple. I can suspend my disbelief only so far. So I often had to burst out laughing at the absurd modern dialogue and knowledge – she is a clone, says the fake Victorian heroine without batting an eye, but on the other hand she grew up on the London streets and in a workhouse. This isn't Dickens, so she surely got a good education on the way like the rest of the kids. And the target audience knows what a clone is and to explain the concept of a magical Doppelgänger or meat puppet would have been too difficult to explain at the moment. So who cares if it is nonsense. As you need drama in the world building, you have a risible simplistic the rich are evil message, which of course just surfaces when the plot needs it. The Holmes re-imagining is okay, not terribly original but servicable. It uses the props of the mythos and is no worse as, say, the Downey or the Gatiss version. Steampunk Holmes without the steam. (Well, of course Gatiss is a much better writer and not so painfully obvious and simple as this. Derivative doesn't cover it, as far as the writing is concerned.)
All in all I didn't hate it, I could laugh about the absurdity, the anachronisms and unbelievable twists. But I guess anachronism is the wrong word, the series doesn't want to be acurate in anything. So how can it be anachronistic? It is just dark fantasy in Victorian costumes where everybody behaves and thinks like a 21st century person.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Mar 27, 2021 17:20:18 GMT
I have only managed to watch a few minutes of THE IRREGULARS so far, but I must say Edward Hogg is like a reincarnated Ralph Bates.
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Post by helrunar on Mar 27, 2021 19:28:45 GMT
A series everybody on social media was discussing a few weeks ago is something called Bridgerton. It seems to be a Harlequin Romance type serial set in Regency England but with race-blind casting, and selected characters who, from what I was able to determine from descriptions, appeared to have been copied from Downton Abbey which was already a copy of stereotyped characters hearkening back to Upstairs Downstairs.
I'm so glad I feel absolutely no obligation to watch current television. A couple of days ago I relaxed with two episodes of Adam Adamant Lives which can be described as antediluvian in every salient aspect.
cheers, H.
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Post by jamesdoig on Mar 27, 2021 20:27:07 GMT
Watched Netflix' The Irregulars. Oh boy. Where to start? Must watch this - I've heard it's good. Recently watched the first two season of Servant, which is definitely worth a look. And binge watched Deutschland 89 over the last few days - didn't even realise they'd made a third season, so it was nice to find it.
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Post by cauldronbrewer on Mar 28, 2021 1:20:18 GMT
Watched Netflix' The Irregulars. Oh boy. Where to start? If you as a viewer can manage to forget everything you know about Victorian times, history, moral values, reality or science – and I mean everything – I guess it is not half bad. I'm grateful you mentioned this show! I was looking for something to watch with my 12-year old tonight, so we checked out the first episode. Thanks to your comments, I went in expecting absurd plots and willful anachronisms. I wasn't disappointed--it was all ridiculous but fun. The part lifted from The Birds gave my son a bit of a scare, so I'm hoping he doesn't have nightmares tonight...
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Post by helrunar on Mar 28, 2021 2:06:34 GMT
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Post by andydecker on Mar 28, 2021 10:23:29 GMT
Looking for something to watch with my 12-year old tonight, so we checked out the first episode. Thanks to your comments, I went in expecting absurd plots and willful anachronisms. I wasn't disappointed--it was all ridiculous but fun. The part lifted from The Birds gave my son a bit of a scare, so I'm hoping he doesn't have nightmares tonight... I watched the rest and was amused that every major beat was exactly as I expected. I won't spoil it. Of course I am not the target audience. But I wondered what it is supposed to be. Frankly I often was baffled about the massive tonal contrasts. The horror elements were at times very strong and would have merited IMHO not that long ago an R rating, if it had been a movie. This is pretty adult stuff. The character arcs were pretty basic and simple, which is definitely for the younger. It lacks balance. On the other hand the story arc is well handled, maybe better as in other series.
I had to laugh about your remark with The Birds. You really could play a drinking game with this series, identifying the lifted parts.
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Post by andydecker on Mar 28, 2021 18:26:41 GMT
The Possession of Hannah Grace (2018) Another one on Netflix. I am not a big fan of possession movies. It is always the same, you can only do so much with the topic. But it was Shay Mitchell as the star, and I liked her in Pretty Little Liars. I don't want to spoil the plot, mainly it is about the corpse of a possessed girl who ends in a morgue in which Mitchell has the night shift and is alone. Unfortunatly the movie is not very good. It begins well and bloody, and to be fair, it tries to do something different. But everything becomes "meh" fast. Stana Katic of Castle fame has a small role, but is wasted, Mitchell tries to do as much as she can, but her role doesn't give her much to do, so she remains interchangeable. The biggest problem of course if that The Autopsy of Jane Doe did basically the same story and did it better. The actress playing Hannah is doing it well and can creepily hang from the ceiling, but the awkward efforts of the production to avoid full frontal or even toplessness (*gasp) gets also wearisome fast, especially in a movie rated R. Which really is laughable as there are no R things here.
Another horror movie I fast forwarded in parts.
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Post by helrunar on Mar 30, 2021 3:28:50 GMT
An Irish ghost story from 1953 involving rain, cigarettes, whiskey, tea, harps... and Orson Welles: www.youtube.com/watch?v=59yMEgjY-1wI remember a similar tale in one of the Chetwynd-Hayes Terror Tale books but can't recall if it was set in Ireland, Scotland or Cornwall. Or Wales! H.
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Post by Dr Strange on Mar 30, 2021 12:54:42 GMT
An Irish ghost story from 1953 involving rain, cigarettes, whiskey, tea, harps... and Orson Welles: www.youtube.com/watch?v=59yMEgjY-1wI remember a similar tale in one of the Chetwynd-Hayes Terror Tale books but can't recall if it was set in Ireland, Scotland or Cornwall. Or Wales! It is very similar to Oliver Onions' The Cigarette Case - but that is set in the south of France.
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Post by helrunar on Mar 30, 2021 14:39:21 GMT
Interesting, Dr Strange--the story I was thinking of was set somewhere in Albion (Scotland, I think?--so I should write Alba, question mark). I think there are several variations on this theme.
This short film is interesting because it was produced by Micheál MacLiammóir's romantic/professional partner Hilton Edwards, and I wasn't aware that he was at all involved with films. MacLiammóir (who was born Alfred Willmore in London with no Irish family background) is quite an intriguing character--reinvented himself in a way that seems similar to Welles himself. MacLiammóir's Oscar Wilde one man show is on you tube--he had a great voice for Wilde's work.
H.
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Post by ripper on Mar 31, 2021 9:38:19 GMT
I watched Tales From The Darkside The Movie last night, not bad, a lot gorier than the TV series still with a sense of fun but more violent than fun. The actors were quite good. The story with the cat was probably the best, and the goriest as well, especially when the cat crawls in and out of a man's body, this was a really good fx scene. I tried watching some Thriller but have not really gotten into this yet, from what I saw that series could be a bit slow in terms of pacing but maybe I just need to be more patient. Supernatural 1977 was fairly good, I was electrified by the theme and intrigued by the story, although it was set in history which took a bit of getting used to; the conclusion was unexpected, which was nice. Tales From The Unexpected is turning out to be really, really good, I like this series a lot and it is really creepy. Episodes watched so far include Royal Jelly, fantastic premise killer ending, they did this one so well. The Flypaper, absolutely chilling and so subtle yet so nasty. Georgy Porgy, very good and quite frightening. I am now looking forward to seeing the rest of them. The Day The Earth Caught Fire is a really good film, I caught this on YouTube, good storytelling and a great premise which still stands up today and feels ever more topical. I saw Tales from the Darkside--the Movie on video when it was first released. I'm not sure, but I don't remember seeing the TV series prior to the film's release in the UK. I thought Debbie Harry was pretty good, and overall it was not a bad anthology. Thriller used to be a highlight of the week's viewing for me. That creepy titles sequence put me in the mood for being scared--I was only 11 when I first saw it. My favourite episodes were the supernaturally-themed ones. Many had a second-string American actor in the lead, probably to increase sales likelihood in the US. Donna Mills turned up in at least two episodes, and I really liked the one she was in about a haunted Rolls Royce--One Deadly Owner I think it was called. Supernatural is a bit of a mixed bag imo. It is a little slow at times, but that was how much drama was back in the 70s. Also, the low budget is apparent--the BBC was rather cash-strapped back then. Some fine actors and that ace titles sequence. Think it was shown on Saturday nights, back when Saturday night telly was worth watching.
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Post by ripper on Mar 31, 2021 9:47:51 GMT
I watched Tales From The Darkside The Movie last night, not bad, a lot gorier than the TV series still with a sense of fun but more violent than fun. The actors were quite good. The story with the cat was probably the best, and the goriest as well, especially when the cat crawls in and out of a man's body, this was a really good fx scene. I tried watching some Thriller but have not really gotten into this yet, from what I saw that series could be a bit slow in terms of pacing but maybe I just need to be more patient. Supernatural 1977 was fairly good, I was electrified by the theme and intrigued by the story, although it was set in history which took a bit of getting used to; the conclusion was unexpected, which was nice. Tales From The Unexpected is turning out to be really, really good, I like this series a lot and it is really creepy. Episodes watched so far include Royal Jelly, fantastic premise killer ending, they did this one so well. The Flypaper, absolutely chilling and so subtle yet so nasty. Georgy Porgy, very good and quite frightening. I am now looking forward to seeing the rest of them. The Day The Earth Caught Fire is a really good film, I caught this on YouTube, good storytelling and a great premise which still stands up today and feels ever more topical. The early series of Tales of the Unexpected introduced by Dahl were based on his stories, but later series cast the net wider and dropped his introductions. That title sequence of the lady dancing in the flames was a target for many a comedy show in the 80s. Overall, a good series, and introduced me to the less kid-friendly stories of Mr Dahl.
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Post by Michael Connolly on Apr 3, 2021 10:45:56 GMT
Michael, I watched a version of Fear No Evil derived from an old VHS tape several years ago--a friend sent it to me. I have the new disc in the pipeline and look forward to seeing it. It is very typical of occult thrillers in the late Sixties. I recall a scene where Jourdan, very urbane, presides over a dinner party in his very swanky uptown flat at which the occult is discussed and Carroll O'Connor is cast as an unlikely dinner guest. This is a story that involves a haunted mirror. I tried watching Ritual of Evil on youtube but couldn't get very far with it, maybe because the quality was so bad. So I look forward to that one as well. Steve I've just watched the good print of Ritual of Evil on YouTube. It's slow, dated and tame. From all accounts Fear no Evil is better, so I'll give it the benefit of a doubt sometime. If I'm spared. I've already forgotten what happens in Ritual of Evil. I haven't forgotten what happens in Fear No Evil as I just watched it last night. In it the reflection of one Paul Varney, possessed by a demon, comes back from the dead to seduce his fiancée. As he draws some blood from her neck, this makes him Varney the Vampire! I am not making this up. Fear No Evil is the better and the more effective of the two films. Varney is the one on the right.
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Post by ripper on Apr 3, 2021 13:06:45 GMT
I've just watched the good print of Ritual of Evil on YouTube. It's slow, dated and tame. From all accounts Fear no Evil is better, so I'll give it the benefit of a doubt sometime. If I'm spared. I've already forgotten what happens in Ritual of Evil. I haven't forgotten what happens in Fear No Evil as I just watched it last night. In it the reflection of one Paul Varney, possessed by a demon, comes back from the dead to seduce his fiancée. As he draws some blood from her neck, this makes him Varney the Vampire! I am not making this up. Fear No Evil is the better and the more effective of the two films. Varney is the one on the right. Many of these made for TV movies got shown on UK television in the 70s. Most were pretty tame, as networks were confined by what they could show, more so than over here, I believe. Still, there were some decent ones that were worth a look, and some achieved cult status like the two Kolchack movies and The Norliss Tapes.
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