Movies

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Generally, I don’t expect too much out of Netflix films, but I have to say, Eli is probably a good, true horror film. It’s really, really rare that I watch a horror film and praise it as one, because let’s face it most aren’t very good films. Eli I think is a genuine horror film, through and through, and actually deserves some good ratings.

The first half of the movie rather plays up the terror and the horror, leaving you with the suspense of whether the ghosts are trying to help Eli or if it is all a delusion in his head. In a lot of ways, it makes me think of the 1963 version of The Haunting in the way it works that horror. But, it realizes that for the big screen something a bit more visceral is required for frightening the watcher. As a film, I think that it captures much the same concept of instilling terror and horror, and weaves something that works much better for a film, as it is not so dependent on your interpretation and understanding of the protagonist. Rather it’s gonna keep you curious when you’re not shaking in your boots.

And the twist at the end? That’s one hell of a twist.

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Thus far, I’ve found Hulu’s Halloween suggestions mostly a positive. A broad mixture of horror films, largely from the ‘70s to the ‘90s and beyond for some more recent films. Both familiar films and ones I hadn’t gotten around to yet.

This afternoon, I’m going with something I haven’t seen in a few years: the second version of The Haunting.
Personally, I think the film more or less deserves the critical panning it received, it’s a film you watch for the effects not because it’s an essential anything. For me, it’s probably the last movie that ever scared me. I remember watching it on a rather long break many years ago and then having to go move furniture, and being a bit unnerved. I mean, it’s basically a house that comes alive and eats people as far as the special effects go. What’s not unnerving about that concept? Since then tidbits of Hill House have haunted my dreams over the past few decades: enough to no longer be scary as it became a reoccurring setting for various nightmares.
On the flip side, I’ve never really cared much for the original film. It was very fateful to the novel in my honest opinion, but just not scary. As a horror film: it’s only scary in the sense of kids around a campfire kind of stories, not terrifying, well not when I first watched it fifty some years after the book was written. Perhaps because I view Eleanor’s part in the story more a cause for sadness than a vehicle for terror, which is kind of essential to the novel. Her torment and place in the world is the real terror, not the house or spooky occurrences. Meanwhile, as out of the wall as the ‘99 film is, it tries to rely largely on the horror of the situation rather than the characterizations. The two films have different takes, and the novel’s greater time for exposition means it can leverage a more psychological terror than the simple scares the ‘63 horror film could ablidge.
If you have some time, probably better to read the novel and ignore the rest, or just watch the ‘63 film if you want a decent abridged version of the story. Me? I watch the later film because I remember being like 12, and finding it disturbingly horror.
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Watching Star Trek: First Contact for the first time in a year or two, and I’m reminded that it’s probably the only great next generation film.

Compared to what went before, it’s also quite pleasing to the eye how the time and budget let them reimagine the ships for the big screen. I remember in one of the art books, the designer of the Enterprise-E has commented they had Cadillacs for starships, and he wanted to build a Porsche. Yep, I’d say he pulled it off, lol.

It’s also pretty great how Zefram Cochran and Lilly fits into things. Which also reminds me of a later comment from Archer, that suggested Cochran kinda shaped up to deal with history, except for that one time he got really, really drunk and started talking crazy 😀.

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First world problems: when you’re an Alien fan and you see Covenant on sale for such a low, low price that your Blu-ray collection must now become complete again.

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The painful math of availability: when you start calculating the cost of pre-ordering a recent series about to land on disc, versus how much of your wishlist could squeeze into the same price.

I’m a touch tempted to nab the pre-order of That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Season while the first part of season one is both available and cheaper than release pricing. But at the same time checking my Amazon list: the same price range when you factor in shipping (and Prime) would equal nabbing two series–older ones more likely to disappear. Where as Rimuru might disappear before I get around to acquiring it someday.

Many series see a western releases these days but I’ve generally find availability becomes a problem within the decade. One of my favorites is quite expensive and very scarce if you want the Blu-ray, and the series only aired ~5 years ago; even its license holder only offers DVD versions on their store front :'(. Many older series often I can only find DVD releases if they made a bargain bin recycle or apply a bit of careful hunting. One in particular on my shelf kind of fit both scenarios but over a decade ago, having been adapted from a visual novel that is now ~15 years old and quite damned unavailable today.

This leads me to worrying about how much good stuff might simply disappear.

Actually that makes me think about Robot Jox. As a film that impacted me greatly as a child, I kind of leapt at the DVD offering and was disappointed by the ultra-craptacular release. It was nearly unwatchable. And then bloody amazed when the Blu-ray came out with an excellent transfer–for a film so little known that I never really expected a post-VHS anything to happen.

Sigh. It’s both a good and a bad thing that I don’t buy many discs per year, be it anime or film. Actually, I’m pretty sure Marvel’s release schedule would bankrupt me otherwise, lol.

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Seen “The Wolf’s Call” on Netflix yet?

If the concept of nuclear weapons doesn’t terrify you: ballistic missile submarines should terrify the living shit out of you. That makes for a decent psychological horror film at sea.

The Wolf’s Call, I think represents either a spectacular binding of pieces gone wrong or an overly daft view of our world. Or should I say, I’d like to think people a little less trigger happy about issuing the order to end the world. The film deals with the implications of a nuclear power being manipulated into retaliation against another. An act that would eventually kick off a potential end of the world scenario–A trap that we hope no one fool enough to fall into so easily.

But it does capture the fact that the SSBN is the most effective means of bringing Armageddon upon the world.

Not so familiar with the French Marine Nationale but America and Russia have enough ballistic missile submarines that I’d say, “Good damned luck tracking them all” even if you had the means our Navy does. Even if you could fell an entire country: you would be long holding your breath waiting for the mushrooms to sprout. As a form of mutually assured destruction I think a sizable SSBN fleet takes it to a near ultimate form.

And if you forget the value of reason, the sanctity of life, those who remain silent under the sea shall rain death upon us all.

I for one would like to believe most people would think a lot more than twice about invoking such a launch. Because even if people are dicks or fools they usually want to live longer than their enemy.

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Hey I’m watching Good Omens – Season 1 (4K UHD). Check it out now on Prime Video!

Never read any of Prachett’s or Gaiman’s books but this is so brilliant that maybe it’s time to stop living under a rock.
There’s really so much to enjoy about this story. An angel and a demon who are pretty much best friends since creation; the four horsemen of the apocalypse on their motorcycles and the rather dedicated delivery guy; the antichrist, his cute hellhound, and his human friends; an oracle witch and witch Hunter and their descendants; and GOD who works in mysterious ways but never says anything unless you’re listening to the narrator.
Really, it’s good stuff.
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For a little while, I have been looking at two possible resources: Amazon Prime and Netflix. I’ve used the free offerings of Hulu and paid offerings at Comcast’s XFinity (our ISP) and Crunchyroll.

Amazon Prime I think is just this awesome deal, that you can’t beat for the price; assuming you’re willing to pay. Basically, you get free two-day shipping and some of the films on Amazon Instant Video can be streamed for free, rather than renting or buying it. Supposedly streaming should work anywhere that Flashplayer does. Not my favourite software but it’s a better option than Silverlight IMHO, assuming you want cross platform support. I don’t order that much stuff but when I do, it will usually come from Amazon or eBay, whoever gives me the better deal. Between the video and the shipping, it’s like an awesome deal. Can’t say that I’ve looked at the Kindle part much, so IDK how well it integrates when using everything but a Kindle device. Selection also looks pretty good but not unlimited, sadly. I may very well give it a try, but will hold off until the shipping is more useful.

Netflix on the other hand, is an interesting wild card that I’m trying out now. A lot of people either left Netflix or have an uneasy relationship with the company after the whole fiasco with the Qwikster idea and the plan split; if I was an investor I would. You can get unlimited streaming or disc rental, or pay more for both. I’m fine with that, especially with the price tag. What interests me though, is the recommendation stuff and the selection. I was impressed with the selection versus XFinity and Hulu, majorly impressed; although the starz thing worries me. How it guesses how likely I am to like something seems accurate enough to take into consideration when choosing a movie, based on what it’s given me for movies I already know. That on it’s own is worth while, with a sufficient selection versus XFinity. The number two problem I have with XFinity is of course, out of what I /can/ watch: what should I watch? That’s a time investment in entertainment you know.

XFinity is a great, if you already get a premium cable service through comcast, it is worth checking out. What irks me though is that a lot of things are either unavailable or only can be played via the set top boxes on demand programming. They’re not the best at web development, only support Windows and iOS for playback; which is a sequence of progressive groans for me but at least there’s a pretty reasonable amount of content, at no extra charge past the cable bill. The problem is, when I want to watch something, it’s a crap shoot whether or not I’ll be able to—and I don’t haven’t had my own TV for a year.

Hulu is better for general TV, not so much for more premium content IMHO, so I don’t really see any sense to a Hulu Plus subscription. For people that prefer series it’s likely worth it, especially if you want more recent ones and don’t have all the DVD sets.

Crunchyroll, if that sort of thing rocks your boat, is worth membership just because the advertising is too frequently the same.

Of course, another option is renting stuff off the Android Market or similar but I’m too cheap most of the time lol. Odds are I could even get a new TV tuner and hook it up to my modem but I’m to lazy and to cheap for that.