How did you like that movie / TV show / book?

@Ike Savage

Just giving Vinland another viewing and spoiler alert, you live in Vinland. :smileyvike:
 
StevOz said:
@Ike Savage

Just giving Vinland another viewing and spoiler alert, you live in Vinland. :smileyvike:
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I'll try to grit my teeth and check out an episode.

Other than Miyazaki or a couple of his fellows at Ghibli, I am sadly not an anime fan.
 
When I saw this list of the top 100 Sherlock Holmes performances of all time, I was instantly piqued. Side note: not sure how many people know this, but there were dozens & dozens and actors who played the role long before Basil Rathbone came along and portrayed him in the 40's.

Now I'm seeing some real interesting contenders in the ~top ten, such as Jonny Lee Miller in Elementary (2012-2019), Christopher Plummer in Murder by Decree (1979), and the Russian-made films of Vasily Livanov, i.e. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1980-1987).

But one that especially intrigues me is Yūko Takeuchi in Miss Sherlock (2018 ).

Miss-Sherlock.jpg

--from the article:--
​
"HBO Asia’s Miss Sherlock, which is one of the best Holmesian adaptations I’ve ever seen, is a modern, female, Japanese reboot of the famous detective partnership. But those more obvious reasons don’t solely account for why the show is so vanguard and engaging.

It’s star, Yûko Takeuchi, is riveting as “Sherlock,” an elegant, if aloof and snide, young woman who uses her brilliant observational powers to solve crimes, mostly for her own amusement. She is bossy, self-directed, cranky, and whiny. But she is also glamorous! She loves designer clothes and always looks eminently cool hiking over to a crime scene in her long dusters and stilettos.

It’s nice to see a Holmes who clearly loves being the center of attention, so much. Her relationship with Shihori Kanjiya’s "Wato" (the Watson character) is also compelling; Sherlock acts like the spoiled, rich-girl roommate archetype we’ve seen so often, a catty older sister-figure to the shy and sensitive Wato. Though a friendship does grow out of their incidental situationship, Sherlock still gives Wato an extremely hard time. The whole vibe just totally works, and you’ll be thinking about Yūko Takeuchi’s performance long after you’re done with the eight episodes."

.

Although I admit I'm interesting in those other productions, I'm definitely going to watch this series. Not unlike how there was no way I could pass on the Benadryl Cumberbund (sp) series, once I heard about it. This one is eight episodes of 48-min each, perfect for me.

.

Sadly, and rather unbelievably, I've already learned that Ms. Takeuchi commit suicide only two years after series one, and only one year after getting married.

Somehow it reminds me of another one of my favorite Japanese film-people, Juzo Itami, who directed the brilliant Tampopo and A Taxing Woman, who was forced by the Yakuza to leap to his death in 1997, after making a film which heavily mocked the Yakuza institution (Minbo: the Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion).

So I don't know quite what to think about all this, but I have a feeling that as much as I might enjoy this new series, it's also going to leave me pretty damn glum.

Damn, I'm still gonna watch it, though!
 
Okay, I watched all eight eps of Miss Sherlock, and it was a real nice little series. Pretty clearly inspired by the BBC Cumberbatch series (Sherlock), but with plenty of differences to make it interesting. Especially being set in Japan, with women protagonists. Forty-eight minutes could easily have been stretched to 1:30 (minus commercials) with no loss of quality IMO. The plots were that interesting & effective.

If there's some knocks on the series, it might relate to it being slightly overdramatic at times, as well as the logic not always adding up perfectly. But, really... pretty minor stuff in the scheme of things. Although one thing I did find disappointing was the Moriarty character, who couldn't hold a candle to Sherlock's version IMO.

In terms of pacing, the series got really tense around the final two episodes, in which Miss Sherlock is framed, then forced to murder someone to halt a pandemic, and has to go on the run. It really tests the dynamic between her and the "Watson" character, as they never got along well, yet were nevertheless beginning to truly care for one another. The very end of the final episode re-creates the famous "Reichenbach Fall," a classic, calamitous moment in Holmesian history.

.

The problem is, where does that leave me? Pretty damn glum, just as I suspected it would. Indeed, I would have loved to have seen a season two, and it's depressing that the lead killed herself the way she did (the actress, not the character). It's hard to figure out why she did away with herself, but one thing that kind of stood out to me is that mental health support is evidently surprisingly poor in Japan. Yuko Takeuchi may well have been suffering from long-term burnout and problems related to fame, yet felt she had nowhere to turn, in the end. :/
 
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@Pop Bumper Pete, @NitroNimbus and @StevOz,

The other day I finished the 500-page graphic novel Terra Australis, and am curious what you blokies think about my take (below) on Captain Phillip's 11-ship mission to establish Sydney in 1788.

So the thing that immediately hit me was the fact that the Botany Bay mission was in many ways such an incredibly mad, costly plan! Evidently the only previous experience Britain had with the area was Captain Cook's voyage from almost two decades prior, yet they aimed to have the little fleet sail all the way around the world to an area you might well have labelled on the map "Here Be Dragons." Knowing very little about the arability of the land (the soil was in fact, poor), with a cargo of completely unskilled convicts, and a force of soldiers that would not have been adequate to stand up to a serious, organised resistance from the locals.

So when I learned that almost every potential disaster that could have befallen the mission did -not- actually come to pass (save chronic food shortages) I kinda felt like "where's the real story here?" I guess I just assumed the history was going to resemble more the wretched, disastrous early colonies of 1600's America, but no. Although-- I suppose Britain had better technology and experience to draw on at the time, as well as the mission being military in nature, not run by adventurer civilians.

So it was all mildly interesting to me (I never learned the details of this stuff in school), but I have to admit that I did feel a bit let down. Meanwhile, I suspect that there must be some OTHER early histories of Straya that are far more riveting. Assuming I got a fairly accurate picture of the situation from the novel, which might be a big assumption.
 
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@NitroNimbus,
The Dutch discovered it before Cook, really?

But also, yeah... you're right. I agree. The main part of this whole nasty business was indeed a huge exploitative mission, without consideration or honor. Sadly, the standard colonial model, no?

I'm from South America myself, and the 'standard model' as I see it is Colonial Empires imposing their will, assuming fancily-dressed, lucre-counting folks who know best, imposing their beliefs / religion upon the 'ignorant natives.' They certainly did it to US. (altho sadly I'm just a hybrid of the natives and the Spaniard conquerors, so what the hell do I know, anyway?)

Not only am I sick and tired about this kind of thing, but I'm sick and tired about this kind of thing.
 
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NitroNimbus said:
Oh! fuck,
I though this was a private message, but it is true Australia does not exist.
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Not sure what it is there, matey, but ever since you showed up here, I've sort of felt like: 'well, that's my MAN.'

Eh... there's always time to resort to FISTICUFFS, though! (I was one of Fagan's lads in the local Oliver Twist production, hey!)
 
@Ike Savage
Sorry mate for this dribble, I was self medicated a lot more than usual.
No excuse but to be honest I have no idea how I even managed to use the keyboard or type a sentence, cheers!
 
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NitroNimbus said:
Sorry mate was just trying to have some fun.
"sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, cynicism is the laziest form of engagement."
FISTICUFFS, is the last thing on my mind. I am guessing my unorthodox humor is not working at all.
I have no idea about civil rights or GOD or anything else, but it's fun to poke someone to see how they feel.
I seriously don't give a flying fuck about any of it, each to there own, cheers!
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Eh... just another Pink Panther episode in the game of life. :sdot::sdot::sdot: :pac:
 
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yeah, the Dutch discovered Western Australia about 1600
the Chinese probably knew about the northern tip as well

you have to always remember, historians never tell the facts of history, the story is usually bent one way or the other

while mother England wanted to expand the Empire, the convicts they sent would not have been murderers and rapists, instead we got thieves, forgers and others who at least had skills that could be used on a new country

Interesting, slavery was going out of fashion in England at the time, New South Wales was founded on a 'No Slavery' dictates
sure, some landholders, bent/broke this rule, but we never officially had slaves
 
Pop Bumper Pete said:
while mother England wanted to expand the Empire, the convicts they sent would not have been murderers and rapists, instead we got thieves, forgers and others who at least had skills that could be used on a new country
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Thanks Pete, and yeah, that's the picture I got from the novel. Also, quite a few of the convicts were evidently unfortunate sods who did little more than steal a loaf of bread for their starving families, only to get sentenced to something ridiculous like seven years in prison or whatnot. Some real shades of Les Miz, there.

I did read though that either Captain Phillips or his sponsor (forget his name now) specifically asked for a reasonable share of tradesmen and farmers, i.e. people with directly-applicable skills, but was completely shut down. That part confused me, since Britain put out such a pretty penny to fund the expedition. I mean, you'd think they'd have wanted to do everything to stack the odds in their favor, but not in that case, seemingly.

I'm guessing that came down to personal politics or something. Or just flaws in the way that system worked at the time.
 
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Ah good old gromit, what a dog, now that's a dog I might like, well house-trained, even cooks your breakfast.

Also I thought that rating the Henry Cavill, Enola Holmes (2020) at 100 was a little harsh I rather enjoyed it myself at least a 7 for me.

Other films, yes I have watched Mortal Kombat, and it is what it is I guess the arcade game bought to life. As such it entertains and not a lot else as far as any real storyline or character development goes. Then again it was the safest way to make it as they could have gone horribly wrong trying to do anything else with it.

Also just watched this anime which might be one Ike could watch without having to scratch out his eyeballs.

www.imdb.com

Majokko shimai no Yoyo to Nene (2013) ⭐ 6.6 | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

1h 40m
www.imdb.com www.imdb.com

A good 7.5 from me, quite enchanting and the animation is superb, especially of the technicolor dream type sequences.
 
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Yet another one on the "to watch" pile.
I wanted to watch it after Little Witch Academia but for some reason didn't.

I actually liked Enola Holmes. Quite entertaining, I though.

I know I'll watch MK but I'm not expecting much more than "better than previous ones" and just because I'm a fan!
 
StevOz said:
Also I thought that rating the Henry Cavill, Enola Holmes (2020) at 100 was a little harsh I rather enjoyed it myself at least a 7 for me.

...

Also just watched this anime which might be one Ike could watch without having to scratch out his eyeballs.
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I just watched a clip and it seems good for such fare. Maybe only lose one eyeball watching it? :p

...

Funnily enough, I've been reading the first Enola Holmes bande dessinee the last couple days. It only represents Mycroft & Sherlock as caricatures really, but that doesn't bother me, because the real story is about Enola and her vanished mother.

Technically I suppose it's "young adult" fiction, but I've been enjoying it so far. :)
 

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If you guys get tired of the forced ads on YouTube, you can use this extension for the Chrome web browser:

chrome.google.com

Adblock for Youtube™ - Chrome Web Store

Removes ads from Youtube™.
chrome.google.com chrome.google.com

It is not the same thing as AdBlock. There are a lot of movies you can watch on YouTube that say they are "Free with Ads" which you can watch ad free.
 
Actually I use y t s. :pirat:
 
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GeorgeH said:
If you guys get tired of the forced ads on YouTube, you can use this extension for the Chrome web browser:

chrome.google.com

Adblock for Youtube™ - Chrome Web Store

Removes ads from Youtube™.
chrome.google.com chrome.google.com

It is not the same thing as AdBlock. There are a lot of movies you can watch on YouTube that say they are "Free with Ads" which you can watch ad free.
Click to expand...
I've been using that one for awhile. Love it.

Youtube did try to circumvent it recently, but fortunately, the dev updated it a week ago to shut that business down. Kinda funny, because Google owns & runs both YT and the Chrome store, where the extension is hosted.

Speaking of such things, uMatrix is my favorite adblocker ever. The way it works is that Instead of constantly needing to update a list of custom adblocks for popular sites, it teaches you how to do it yourself, which helps you learn about all the different ways a page can get compromised, then apply that to future situations.
 
The Empire Strikes Quack. First seen widely in 1987 at the 10th Anniversary
Star Wars Convention in Los Angeles. Made by two students at USC.​


This was just about the funniest live-action Star Wars mashup / parody I've ever seen. Did kind of drag on a bit, but oh well. It's right up there with Coming to Alderaan and the Lego parodies IMO.
 
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