What Have You Watched on The Tube? - November 2021
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2JulieLill
Atlantic Crossing Miniseries
Fascinating story inspired by true events of WWII when the Norway Crown Princess took her children to live in the FDR White House while her husband stayed in Norway during the occupation of the Nazis. The Princess helped influence FDR's foreign policy and convinces him to support Norway.
This makes me want to read more about the occupation of Norway.
Fascinating story inspired by true events of WWII when the Norway Crown Princess took her children to live in the FDR White House while her husband stayed in Norway during the occupation of the Nazis. The Princess helped influence FDR's foreign policy and convinces him to support Norway.
This makes me want to read more about the occupation of Norway.
3JulieLill
I was excited to see that the History Channel has a series focusing on the series Star Trek. There have been 2 episodes already aired.
https://play.history.com/shows/the-center-seat-55-years-of-star-trek
https://play.history.com/shows/the-center-seat-55-years-of-star-trek
4JulieLill
Last night I finished the CNN 6 part series on Diana. I knew most of the story but there were some surprises and even though it has been years. I found myself in tears watching it. Highly recommended!
https://heavy.com/news/diana-cnn-documentary-2021-watch-online/
https://heavy.com/news/diana-cnn-documentary-2021-watch-online/
5JulieLill
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021)
"Take a stroll down Sesame Street and witness the birth of the most impactful children's series in TV history. From the iconic furry characters to the songs you know by heart, learn how a gang of visionary creators changed our world." From IMDB This was a wonderful documentary!
With my first child we watched this show consistently but by the time my son was born (my kids are 8 years apart) we had cable and rarely watched Sesame Street and Nickleodeon was a favorite and we watched a lot of Blue's Clues.
"Take a stroll down Sesame Street and witness the birth of the most impactful children's series in TV history. From the iconic furry characters to the songs you know by heart, learn how a gang of visionary creators changed our world." From IMDB This was a wonderful documentary!
With my first child we watched this show consistently but by the time my son was born (my kids are 8 years apart) we had cable and rarely watched Sesame Street and Nickleodeon was a favorite and we watched a lot of Blue's Clues.
6featherbear
Before November is over, some quick notes.
On Nextflix, the 10 episode Cowboy Bebop live-action series. Entertaining. John Cho certainly looks the part of the Fearless/Spike Spiegel character from the original anime to a T. An intentional mish-mash of 40s noir, Blade Runner, Pulp Fiction, Hong Kong Chow Yun Fat shoot em ups & who knows what else. Mixture of far future technology (conversion of planets for human habitation, portals that allow space ships to ignore light speed limitations) and 90s small arms (lots of semi-automatic pistols characteristic of John Woo movies), going along with the anachronism themes. The conclusion is perhaps not as surprising as viewers unfamiliar with noir conventions might believe. A little too conventional for my taste. The line readings of all of the characters sometimes struck me as flat – probably because the lines are pretty flat, reminding me of 70s B movies – none of the brio or weirdness of Tarentino’s dialog. Just started the anime original, also available on Netflix.
Monster Hunter. (2020) Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, of the Resident Evil franchise. Via STARZ during the Xfinity free premium week; probably rentable on Amazon Prime Vid. A nice break from the ultra-flashy interiors of the Res Evil movies – all of it takes place in a desert setting reminiscent of Dune (even has the equivalent of a sandworm; the CGI monster has a substantial part in the script). Based on a CapCom video game. Enigmatic opening with a sailing ship with what appears to be a pirate crew caught in a sandstorm with Ron Perlman at the wheel, then attacked by the monster (the ship sails the sands; no water in sight). Next scene has a US army Ranger group led by Anderson regular Milla Jovovich stumbling into an alternate world via said sandstorm. They find the wreckage of the sailing ship, then the monster finds them. Their 21st century small arms are ineffective against the big worm, and they take refuge in one of the many caves that dot the sandy landscape, only to be attacked by hordes of giant crabs. Between them, the crabs & the monster make short work of the soldiers, with the exception of Jovovich. She meets an indigenous hunter played by Tony Jaa (the Thai martial arts star, of the Ong Bak trilogy). Despite separation by language, the two fuss & fight, then team up to fight the crabs & the monster. (No dialog, then, just action) No romance, more like a combat buddies pic. Toward the end, Ron Perlman turns up. Seems he & his crew are dragon hunters; the dragons keep the wormhole open & threaten to cross into Jovovich’s world to wreak havoc & such. So the last battle of the film has one of the dragons getting through to engage (successfully) with the might of the US Army, but Jovovich, Jaa & Perlman & crew cross through the portal & save the day. But Anderson leaves a loose end for a sequel (doubt there will be one, the movie wasn’t a big money maker) – the portal hasn’t been closed, so Perlman & surviving crew, Jaa, & Jovovich re-enter the portal to take care of unfinished business & the credits roll.
Mojin: The Worm Valley (2018). Chinese big screen type monster movie, featuring a giant lobster or crayfish, and a monstrous snake. Viewed via Amazon Prime. Turns out it’s the most recent of a loose tetralogy of Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider genre spectacles: Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2015), Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015), Mojin: The Worm Valley (2018), and Mojin: Mysterious Treasure (2020). Adapted from a (book) series apparently not available in English. According to reviews on Amazon, Mojin: The Worm Valley is not as good as the 2 earlier films (the 4th is not available on Amazon & may not have been released for the U.S. Market). Worm Valley was the only movie available “free” to Amazon Prime subscribers, so if you like it (as I did) it functions as a tease to rent the 2 earlier titles. Most striking are the beautiful landscape shots, reminiscent of the dreamy settings of Avatar -- there is even an anti-gravity island in Mojin, with gardens reminiscent of the Cameron hit. Prettiest was at a stop over on the way to their destination, where they watch flame flies (fire flies that burst into flame when they die) swarming at night. Fireflies also a feature of Avatar if I recall. The swarm can be controlled by capturing the king fly, & this turns out to be critical in the big scene at the end. Plot I found somewhat incomprehensible – the hero carries a curse – professor of antiquities deciphers ancient texts, which seem to point to a sacred jewel – there’s a map – professor, daughter, hero, partner, & two assistants set off, find valley, monsters. But the curse has not been lifted ...
On Nextflix, the 10 episode Cowboy Bebop live-action series. Entertaining. John Cho certainly looks the part of the Fearless/Spike Spiegel character from the original anime to a T. An intentional mish-mash of 40s noir, Blade Runner, Pulp Fiction, Hong Kong Chow Yun Fat shoot em ups & who knows what else. Mixture of far future technology (conversion of planets for human habitation, portals that allow space ships to ignore light speed limitations) and 90s small arms (lots of semi-automatic pistols characteristic of John Woo movies), going along with the anachronism themes. The conclusion is perhaps not as surprising as viewers unfamiliar with noir conventions might believe. A little too conventional for my taste. The line readings of all of the characters sometimes struck me as flat – probably because the lines are pretty flat, reminding me of 70s B movies – none of the brio or weirdness of Tarentino’s dialog. Just started the anime original, also available on Netflix.
Monster Hunter. (2020) Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, of the Resident Evil franchise. Via STARZ during the Xfinity free premium week; probably rentable on Amazon Prime Vid. A nice break from the ultra-flashy interiors of the Res Evil movies – all of it takes place in a desert setting reminiscent of Dune (even has the equivalent of a sandworm; the CGI monster has a substantial part in the script). Based on a CapCom video game. Enigmatic opening with a sailing ship with what appears to be a pirate crew caught in a sandstorm with Ron Perlman at the wheel, then attacked by the monster (the ship sails the sands; no water in sight). Next scene has a US army Ranger group led by Anderson regular Milla Jovovich stumbling into an alternate world via said sandstorm. They find the wreckage of the sailing ship, then the monster finds them. Their 21st century small arms are ineffective against the big worm, and they take refuge in one of the many caves that dot the sandy landscape, only to be attacked by hordes of giant crabs. Between them, the crabs & the monster make short work of the soldiers, with the exception of Jovovich. She meets an indigenous hunter played by Tony Jaa (the Thai martial arts star, of the Ong Bak trilogy). Despite separation by language, the two fuss & fight, then team up to fight the crabs & the monster. (No dialog, then, just action) No romance, more like a combat buddies pic. Toward the end, Ron Perlman turns up. Seems he & his crew are dragon hunters; the dragons keep the wormhole open & threaten to cross into Jovovich’s world to wreak havoc & such. So the last battle of the film has one of the dragons getting through to engage (successfully) with the might of the US Army, but Jovovich, Jaa & Perlman & crew cross through the portal & save the day. But Anderson leaves a loose end for a sequel (doubt there will be one, the movie wasn’t a big money maker) – the portal hasn’t been closed, so Perlman & surviving crew, Jaa, & Jovovich re-enter the portal to take care of unfinished business & the credits roll.
Mojin: The Worm Valley (2018). Chinese big screen type monster movie, featuring a giant lobster or crayfish, and a monstrous snake. Viewed via Amazon Prime. Turns out it’s the most recent of a loose tetralogy of Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider genre spectacles: Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2015), Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015), Mojin: The Worm Valley (2018), and Mojin: Mysterious Treasure (2020). Adapted from a (book) series apparently not available in English. According to reviews on Amazon, Mojin: The Worm Valley is not as good as the 2 earlier films (the 4th is not available on Amazon & may not have been released for the U.S. Market). Worm Valley was the only movie available “free” to Amazon Prime subscribers, so if you like it (as I did) it functions as a tease to rent the 2 earlier titles. Most striking are the beautiful landscape shots, reminiscent of the dreamy settings of Avatar -- there is even an anti-gravity island in Mojin, with gardens reminiscent of the Cameron hit. Prettiest was at a stop over on the way to their destination, where they watch flame flies (fire flies that burst into flame when they die) swarming at night. Fireflies also a feature of Avatar if I recall. The swarm can be controlled by capturing the king fly, & this turns out to be critical in the big scene at the end. Plot I found somewhat incomprehensible – the hero carries a curse – professor of antiquities deciphers ancient texts, which seem to point to a sacred jewel – there’s a map – professor, daughter, hero, partner, & two assistants set off, find valley, monsters. But the curse has not been lifted ...
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