What are you watching right now?

[RileyG]

I watched Lover's Lane. It was an early 2000s slasher. Kinda dumb.

 

[angelsaroundme]

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon is one of the most enjoyable Chinese movies I've seen. It's stylish and extremely fun. The genius of Dee as he solves the case, great action scenes including beginning and ending with sea creature destruction, a land creature that reminded me of Universal Horror but modernized and with some romance, the entertaining rivalry of Dee and Yuchi, it's a near perfect popcorn flick.

 

[.Mikha'el.]

US Open tennis

 

[DragonFox91]

College football week 1

Hawkeye show. When I heard the summary I was concerned this would be another Last Jedi. But Hawkeye’s character is consistent w/ prior works: he’s not turned into a buffoon, coward, or jerk, & Kate Bishop is likable but doesn’t always win, & they don’t have to make Hawkeye weak to prop her up. Some of the humor & action scenes are fine & are enough to keep me watching. But overall I found it boring. The episodes are slow & it all just feels like filler. A lot of the humor takes you out of it, tho every time I started to think that, something ‘serious’ happened. I recommend it if you’re trying to keep up w/ the MCU.

I had incorrectly called Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Assemble in my recent post. Note EMH is the good one, Assemble is the weaker one
Episodes of Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes I must’ve hit some dud episodes, but shows good overall & not a cashgrab or dumbed down like I was expecting. This show’s for Marvel comic book fans.
Episodes of Avengers: Assemble. This is the cashgrab show I was afraid of. It's not terrible, but just feels cheap

I watched Secret Invasion Episode 1 & might be done. I may try to finish it, but it’s really boring, that first episode dragged, & they turned Nick Fury into a coward, & it just comes across as cheaply made.

 

[angelsaroundme]

It was really weird watching Secret Invasion. It's like the show goes back and forth between hating the main character and then remembering it's supposed to be celebrating Nick Fury's legacy, the guy who put the Avengers together and helped save the world.

The show displays a common recent trend of partial character assassination of at least one male character. While at the same time, propping up at least one female character (G'iah). It's a terrible way to endear people to new characters or lesser-known characters. I can't recommend finishing Secret Invasion.

 

[DragonFox91]

Even the first episode was strange b/c it kept telling us he’s a wimp now but in the middle of the episode he also shoots someone dead & he’s still working thru the mission like normal.

Yeah, I wanted to bring up the character assassination of male characters more in my other reviews but tried to keep it minimum b/c it’s a common criticism in Marvel (& Disney in general) now & I wanted to avoid a rant about it. I may try to finish it eventually b/c it’s only 6 episodes but that one 40 minutes just dragged. The intro to it was pretty cool tho.

 

[angelsaroundme]

I think one of the first noticeable or extreme examples was Luke in The Last Jedi, where he's nothing like the hero from the original Star Wars films. They turned him into a jaded selfish jerk. The Mandolorian helped fix Luke's legacy by having him teach Grogu, though.

Secret Invasion is one of the most schizophrenic examples I've seen. It goes back and forth like some weird game, one minute portraying Nick positively, the next making him look stupid, immoral, or weak. I think SI has the lowest Marvel TV score.

 

[bèlla]

I started watching Nara Smith a few days ago through compilations and it was like seeing myself on screen or a kindred spirit. This is what I've missed! My passion for food is both nourishment and performance. I saw a delectable night dress years ago at a cooking school. It was meant for marital bonding and I was instantly entranced. That's what I wanted for my spouse but the norm was always plain, sedate, etc.

Why can't you be beautifully coiffed while cooking with music in tow and something refreshing to enjoy? It's a question no one asked but when I saw her piece she reminded me of the old Dr. Laura episodes encouraging a similar approach. She told the wives, your husband is gone all day and surrounded by women who look their best. What does he encounter when he comes home?

~bella

 

[bèlla]

I watched the fourth episode of Rings of Power yesterday and this season is better. The plot is moving nicely but the pacing with the Istari is dragging and the Harfoot storyline is probably a mistake. They're trying to do a lot for a series with limited episodes. The elves, dwarves, Númenóreans and showdown with Sauron was more than enough. I don't think they knew how to bring him in and the Harfoots were the solution as an ode to the hobbits.

~bella

 

[bèlla]

I started watching Squid Games to see what I could glean from the show. Netflix is a tool for propaganda and predictive programming. I knew what to expect but seeing it firsthand is a different experience. The premise is based on poverty and its possible escape by playing the game. Invitations are distributed throughout the city and if they agree to participate they're picked up at designated points and given sleeping gas once they're in the car so they won't know where they're going.

The facility is on an island which makes escape nearly impossible. They're dressed while asleep and wake to an orientation explaining the rules, badging and their consent agreement. Meals are given and the players reside in one room filled with bunks. The people who work for the company wear uniforms and masks and carry guns. They sleep in private cubicles with a camera and aren't allowed to speak unless addressed.

The games are derived from childhood favorites. Success means continuance and failure results in death. They weren't told that beforehand and the first casualties leave most traumatized and they ask to go home. But they're not allowed to quit the game once they've begun. The game master allows them to vote and the majority decision will apply to the group.

They won their freedom and were returned to the drop spot in their underwear and bound. Their clothes were beside them and they were forced to free themselves and dress in the streets. After a harrowing experience like this most people would be thankful they survived and never go back. But their circumstances were such they decided to return.

Unlike The Hunger Games this depicts human suffering from a different perspective. They're debt laden and fighting for survival. The games master devised a solution for his entertainment by dangling the carrot of relief. It's honestly unsettling when you consider it rationally. But we've seen similar depictions with The Purge which vexed the unfortunate, wrongdoers, and others they envied. There was a point where a group of well heeled people were watching the game unfold behind a hidden glass.

And that's the message beneath the trio. The common denominator in all three is human suffering is the latest sport. I don't know if this heralds a return to gladiators so to speak. But it suggests a diminishing empathy in our society that can only worsen.

Squid Games was the number one show on Netflix and debuted in 2021 during the height of the pandemic. In the midst of uncertainty and human tragedy we preferred a show depicting more. That's the primary reason (beyond the obvious) I didn't watch it. The show was renewed and the new season is debuting soon.

~bella

 

[angelsaroundme]

If you want to see the brighter side of Kdramas, I would recommend Crash Landing On You. It's heartfelt, funny, and genuinely one of the best shows of the last decade, at the very least.

 

[angelsaroundme]

Someone said it well when they said that the original Beetlejuice worked because you had the normal and good characters of the Maitlands. They balanced out the strangeness and darkness. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice doesn't have that. One always hopes a comedy might at least be entertaining, but Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is just cynicism under the guise of comedy.

 

[angelsaroundme]

Body Brokers is surprisingly good. The movie is about how the insurance companies are required to provide drug rehab for most people and how this can be exploited to make money. It's fascinating because hardly anyone talks about this. It presents everything in an easy-to-understand way and with overall good acting and characters. It's definitely a heavy movie but I learned a lot from it.

 

[DragonFox91]

Body Brokers is surprisingly good. The movie is about how the insurance companies are required to provide drug rehab for most people and how this can be exploited to make money. It's fascinating because hardly anyone talks about this. It presents everything in an easy-to-understand way and with overall good acting and characters. It's definitely a heavy movie but I learned a lot from it.

That sounds interesting.

People complain about the high price of prescription drugs but how many people actually need their prescription drugs, I wonder…….
& the side effects of them..............

 

[.Mikha'el.]

I am watching yesterday's Bills/Dolphins game.

 

[timewerx]

I started watching Squid Games to see what I could glean from the show. Netflix is a tool for propaganda and predictive programming. I knew what to expect but seeing it firsthand is a different experience. The premise is based on poverty and its possible escape by playing the game. Invitations are distributed throughout the city and if they agree to participate they're picked up at designated points and given sleeping gas once they're in the car so they won't know where they're going.

The facility is on an island which makes escape nearly impossible. They're dressed while asleep and wake to an orientation explaining the rules, badging and their consent agreement. Meals are given and the players reside in one room filled with bunks. The people who work for the company wear uniforms and masks and carry guns. They sleep in private cubicles with a camera and aren't allowed to speak unless addressed.

The games are derived from childhood favorites. Success means continuance and failure results in death. They weren't told that beforehand and the first casualties leave most traumatized and they ask to go home. But they're not allowed to quit the game once they've begun. The game master allows them to vote and the majority decision will apply to the group.

They won their freedom and were returned to the drop spot in their underwear and bound. Their clothes were beside them and they were forced to free themselves and dress in the streets. After a harrowing experience like this most people would be thankful they survived and never go back. But their circumstances were such they decided to return.

Unlike The Hunger Games this depicts human suffering from a different perspective. They're debt laden and fighting for survival. The games master devised a solution for his entertainment by dangling the carrot of relief. It's honestly unsettling when you consider it rationally. But we've seen similar depictions with The Purge which vexed the unfortunate, wrongdoers, and others they envied. There was a point where a group of well heeled people were watching the game unfold behind a hidden glass.

And that's the message beneath the trio. The common denominator in all three is human suffering is the latest sport. I don't know if this heralds a return to gladiators so to speak. But it suggests a diminishing empathy in our society that can only worsen.

Squid Games was the number one show on Netflix and debuted in 2021 during the height of the pandemic. In the midst of uncertainty and human tragedy we preferred a show depicting more. That's the primary reason (beyond the obvious) I didn't watch it. The show was renewed and the new season is debuting soon.

~bella

I haven't watched the movie yet.

But drowning in debt myself while living in a poor country, I've actually looked at the possibility of signing myself up for the Ukraine conflict fighting for Ukraine.

The salary is sufficient enough to pay for our monthly loan payments and still have a bit left for savings.

And IF I die in the battlefield, the death compensation to be given to a relative of my choice is way more than enough to pay for all our debts.

What is stopping me from going to Ukraine is nobody wants me to go and quite embarrassingly, I can't afford the plane ticket and other expenses to get a Visa for example.

About your question, NO, I won't be joining any "Squid games" UNLESS you also get compensated for dying.

But if something like Squid game guaranteed $100,000 if you die, I'd join. that's enough money to pay off our debt and still leave enough for investments to sustain my mom, my sister, and my niece for their lifetime.

 

[bèlla]

But drowning in debt myself while living in a poor country, I've actually looked at the possibility of signing myself up for the Ukraine conflict fighting for Ukraine.

The salary is sufficient enough to pay for our monthly loan payments and still have a bit left for savings.

Wow that's serious. Thankfully you're unable to go.

About your question, NO, I won't be joining any "Squid games" UNLESS you also get compensated for dying.

But if something like Squid game guaranteed $100,000 if you die, I'd join. that's enough money to pay off our debt and still leave enough for investments to sustain my mom, my sister, and my niece for their lifetime.

They give money to the families for those who've died. In this case that's everyone except the winner.

 

[timewerx]

They give money to the families for those who've died. In this case that's everyone except the winner.

In that case, I might consider signing up for the game.

But I'd still rather sign up for Ukraine war 1000x than become entertainment for the "haves".

I also did research about joining Israel's IDF but I'm well over the age limit. Ukraine have no age limit which highlights their desperation.

Poor people from poor countries are actually signing up for Russia where they're sometimes used as "human shields".

Maybe Russia have very tempting offers but I don't trust them as much as Ukraine. I don't trust Ukraine either that they will hold on to their word but I'm thinking they'll be better than Russia in that front.

 

[bèlla]

In that case, I might consider signing up for the game.

But I'd still rather sign up for Ukraine war 1000x than become entertainment for the "haves".

I wouldn't wish either on anyone. I hadn't finished the season before I posted. But now I have and there were VIPS who flew in to watch the game from a private room. They had food and entertainment and were betting on the players whom they referred to as horses.

You'd have to be willing to fight and defend yourself. Some players were killed at night by other participants. While I'd like to think the majority would say no you've shared a different perspective. Challenging circumstances might warrant it. I hope it doesn't come to that but my gut says otherwise.

~bella

 

[timewerx]

You'd have to be willing to fight and defend yourself. Some players were killed at night by other participants. While I'd like to think the majority would say no you've shared a different perspective. Challenging circumstances might warrant it. I hope it doesn't come to that but my gut says otherwise.

~bella

I didn't know about the game but in that case, I'm not joining at all.

I don't have issues with self defense even with lethal force but if the choice to simply walk away remains open, I'll make that choice instead.

If I ever get involved in such game, I'd rather kill the game organizers, owners, and sponsors instead.