I watched what I will be watching EVERY summer in Berlin from now on: the Eurovision Song Contest Finale.
I thought Switzerland deserved the win, although France should’ve been rated higher. And I’m still bummed about Estonia finishing last. WTAF???
I also love that there is ZERO MENTION of the fact that the Finnish performer didn’t simply “step out of a giant egg,” but that HE WAS NAKED WAIST DOWN AND THE CAMERA FOLKS WERE DOING THEIR DARNDEST TO AVOID SHOWING HIS FLOPPY PEEN
Not really my thing but as a resident of the Netherlands it was hard escaping the disqualification of our entry!! He was a strong favourite to win but apparently a #metoo moment, or something similar, happened behind the screens between him and a camera woman.
The Equalizer / The Equalizer 2 / The Equalizer 3 - (2014, 2018, 2023) - dir. Anton Fuqua
In an oddly continuing theme, last weekend I burned through this series, based on yet another 80’s TV series I never watched. The parameters are similar to a number of other shows and films, both before and since: our protagonist (in the films, Robert McColl, played by the always commanding screen presence of Denzel Washington) is a former super spy / assassin / unstoppable killing machine who has somehow managed to stop. But his innate sense of justice won’t let him walk away when his regular-folks friends that he’s made are plagued by various baddies. And thus, lots of stabby, slice-y, shooty action and an ever-growing pile of goons, guards and thugs as Denzel hacks his way up whichever crime ladder he’s climbing 'til he gets to cut off the head.
Fuqua is a known quantity, specializing in these sort of macho shoot-em-ups, and have ranged anywhere from stunning (Training Day) to “on in the background while you fold laundry” (Olympus Has Fallen). The Equalizer films fall pretty squarely in the middle of that scale, with the first being an obvious cut above the rest, and in this case, the third being a half step up from the second. The actual antagonists barely matter, though various mafia organizations, Russian in 1, Italian in 3, are better than the weird quasi-govt. conspiracy nonsense of 2.
Washington is frankly too good for this sort of thing. He tries to make McColl into somewhat of a real person, giving him interesting personal tics and reflecting a lifetime of being a highly trained weapon, but the scripts more or less treat him like a flesh and blood Terminator, and there’s only so much you can build on that.
Still, if you need a quick an easy action fix, these aren’t bad. In the US, 1 & 3 are currently on Hulu, while 2 is on Netflix.
We finally watched Unfrosted last night, which was tangentially talked about here. It was a perfectly fine, occasionally funny flick. If yer bored on the couch on a Monday eve and looking for some very light entertainment & have very low expectations, it’s practically perfect.
We’d just finished watching a kinda disappointing Mexican horror flick and wanted to end the evening on a light note. It did the trick. Lotsa fun cameos.
I love all of those, except Training Day, which for some reason, probably a reputation for violence, I don’t want to watch. The violence in the rest of them don’t bother me, but I somehow think Training Day is different.
We watched this tonight as well and enjoyed it. A cavalcade of stars! It’s not going to change cinema as we know it, but you can certainly do worse in the entertainment department.
Watched The Promised Land / Bastarden with Mads Mikkelsen yesterday, which had been on our list for a while. A short summary of the plot: dude tries to grow potatoes where he shouldn’t, which really pisses off a massive douche bag – one of the most loathsome villains in recent film history.
Not for the faint of heart – it’s a Danish film, after all – with a stark, uncompromising look on the chaos of life, with just a tiny sprinkle of humor. Man, do I love Danish films.
But then I’d watch Mads Mikkelsen recite the phone book. He is incredible in everything I’ve seen him in, and now I want to rewatch Another Round / Druk.
We just finished watching it. I usually forget shows / movies almost instantly, but this one will remain lodged firmly in my head for a while
It is definitely not for everyone, and episode 4 might be triggering for people who have experienced
sexual violence, abuse, or rape.
How this is being referred to as a ‘dramedy’ by Netflix is beyond me, as I didn’t find much to laugh at, save for very few exceptions. It is DARK.
The Guardian said it best in their review’s final paragraph: Inevitably, Baby Reindeer makes for stressful and often distressing viewing; in describing it as “still piercingly funny”, the marketing bods at Netflix are the only ones having a laugh. Over the series, the sheer onslaught of pain is difficult to endure, and what it gains in scope, it loses in focus. “Surely it couldn’t get any worse from here,” says Donny, at one point. Reader, it does. Eventually, this makes for frustrating viewing. Yet at the same time, it is original, compelling, and unforgettable. Episode four, in which we find out more about Donny’s state of mind, is one of the most disturbing and upsetting episodes of television I have seen in a long time. I suspect it is also extremely important that what it depicts is depicted, and examined and explored, on screen. Come forewarned and expect to be rattled.
My hold on ‘Oppenheimer’ finally showed up to borrow from the library. We had to watch it in two parts and will watch it again before I have to return it in two weeks. Our poor cat’s ptsd was definitely triggered by the sound effects!
Just watched an entertaining late-era noir called The Lineup from 1958. It’s based on a long running tv series that I had also not heard of until today. The bad guys are the psychopathic Dancer played by a very evil Eli Wallach, his mentor Julian played by Brian’s Keith’s dad the very recognizable Robert Keith, and wheelman McClain played by personal favorite Richard Jaeckel sporting a spiffy brush cut.
The film was directed by noir master Don Siegel, best known for another San Francisco thriller, Dirty Harry, and features (1) great location scenes; (2) one of the more shocking film deaths; and (3) a lesser known but quite impressive chase scene culminating on the unfinished Embarcadero Freeway.
Season 2 of The Great AMERICAN Baking Show (fuck you, pillsbury, for your gross and greedy trademarking of ‘bake off’) is now available on The Roku Channel, which is free on any web browser or availablemof you have a Roku tv device.
Paul and Prue are back, along with actor Zach Cherry as one of the hosts. Ellie Klemperer has been replaced with comedian and actress Casey Wilson. Only on the first episode but it seems to be business as usual, which is to say pleasant and relatively low key.
We’ll see if they manage the cultural faceplants of the British ‘Mexican week’
The first technical is a Battenberg cake, something pretty rare for Americans to encounter. Should be interesting.
I’m on week 5 or 6 and all is well. The two comedians “bits” at the beginning and during the bakes are a bit cringe but I’ll allow it. Wish Netflix would drop more of the junior great baking show. The two I watched were really charming and I love the judges. Just saw that the Professionals great baking show is coming back and can’t say I’ve watched either season all the way through. Not a fan of the judges on that one.
