Thursday 14 January 2016

DECEMBER 2015 - FILMS AND TV

A mixed month, one that started really well and then fell off a cliff as tiredness overtook me, with a busy period at work. When I did break up for the holidays I probably turned to the books more than the TV.

One trip to the cinema with the family - courtesy of a generous gift, a bit of festive TV, not too many films, though I did score a few DVDs for Christmas - I haven't yet watched them.

Time Enough At Last - an episode from The Twilight Zone. Thanks to Keishon for tipping me off to this. A man obsessed with his books and his reading - my kind of guy! Really enjoyable - available at Daily Motion here

Another Neeson action movie. He's an air marshall who's set up as a patsy, as the wrong'uns try to extort money from the airline, as they kill off the passengers at regular intervals. Julianne Moore is pretty good, Neeson is Neeson, which is again pretty good, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the Taken franchise.

It was on TV and it was a re-watch. Without being a Trekkie I always have a fondness for this show - probably nostalgia from my childhood when it was on TV pretty much every week without fail (or so it seemed).  I do like the dude who plays Young Spock - Zachary Quinto. He was the villain, Sylar on Heroes. I do like watching him.

Free tickets to this for the whole family on the night of it's release. No adverts and plenty of treats on our seats at a Premiere screening. BOOM! Happy Days - especially as the Cinema chains hiked the prices upwards by a couple of quid for this to cash in (allegedly - I'm sure I read that either on the BBC or in The Guardian.) If I had a choice I'd choose Star Trek over Star Wars, but I did enjoy this without falling off my seat. Nice to see Harrison Ford can still cut it.

Schmaltzy Christmas viewing one Saturday afternoon. I tried my best to sleep through it, but it was so sickly and sentimental, you couldn't draw your eyes from the screen. Fortunately, my spittoon doubles up as a sick-bowl, so I didn't have to leave my seat. Needless to say the rest of the gang enjoyed a bit of Dolly Parton.

Lightweight Christmas viewing, that melts even my case-hardened Grinch like heart. Seen a zillion times before, but as they say.....I like to Move It, Move It!

Ditto Madagascar. I do think the 3rd one is the best in the series!

NAN - Catherine Tate and her much loved Character. Two shows over Christmas. Very rude, very coarse, extremely vulgar, non-PC, very funny - what's not to like!

Call the Midwife Christmas Special - I shoudn't enjoy this but I do. Even my son watched and liked it. Did the girls have a tear in their eyes of course. I still have a fondness for Jenny Agutter!

Mrs Brown's Boys and similar to Catherine Tate in that it was in two parts. Similar content - rude, coarse and incredibly funny. Brendan O' Carroll is comedy gold.

One-off comedy drama with comedian Russell Howard. Will true love prosper at Christmas time or is it doomed to fail after mad Uncle - Greg Davis spikes his drinks and he ends up inadvertently snogging another woman in front of the woman he loves? Well worth the hour invested in watching this.

Best til last! FARGO SEASON TWO episodes 5 to 9, mostly binge-watched in an evening. One episode to go and I can't wait. Err, actually I can because these were watched by mid-December and my wife and I still haven't got to the finale! Not a dull scene, sentence or moment in this one. If I hadn't deleted them from the black box in the front room, I'd happily watch it again.

12 comments:

  1. Col, barring the new STAR WARS, I have seen the rest of the films, though I can't say the same for television. I'm with you on NON-STOP. I didn't enjoy it despite the presence of Liam Neeson who kind of fits into such roles. The script wasn't convincing. I liked TAKEN, the sequel not so much. I do want to see FARGO, the TV series.

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    1. Prashant, I think Fargo was the highlight of my 2015 viewing! Non-Stop has been the first Neeson film that I've been a little bit disappointed with.

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  2. Oh, I've always liked that Twilight Zone episode, Col! So glad you got the chance to see it. The Star Wars film was a good 'un, too, in my opinion.

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    1. I must confess I haven't really seen many episodes of the Twilight Zone, it was probably a few years too early for me and I've never bothered to check them out when they have aired on TV. It was a great story and twist.
      Star Wars was a fun family night out, even though I couldn't claim to be the world's biggest fan of it.

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  3. You watched it, yay! I re-watch whenever I think of it. The Twilight Zone had some great episodes and featured a lot of young, familiar actors too as you know. If I think of more I'll report back. As for Fargo, I will be all ears (eyes) to see what you think of the finale.

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    1. Yeah - thanks again for the tip-off. I might treat myself to the odd episode now and again! Roll on the finale then!

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  4. We recently watched Non-Stop for the 2nd time. Liked it pretty well. Guess we just get into action movies. Haven't watched any of Fargo yet. Have too much backlog of DVDs to watch.

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    1. I didn't dislike it, just felt it wasn't on a par with some of his other stuff. I have RUN ALL NIGHT to watch soon. Hopefully I like that one a bit better.

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  5. That Twilight Zone epi is a claasic. I watched Gert Lush etc slightly against my will, and enjoyed it more than I expected.

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    1. I was looking at the list of actors who've played a part in the series and there's a fantastic range. I might look a few episodes up with some favourites - Peter Falk - for one.

      I was a bit like that with Gert Lush - enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I always find Greg Davis slightly scary - I don't think I'd want to be stuck in a lift with him. Overall, I thought Christmas TV was a bit crap.

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    2. Yes, there wasn't much in the way of Must-See-TV was there? I ended up watching a lot of other people's choices, which was fine, and they weren't bad, but it wasn't glory days.

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    3. Oh for a Morecambe and Wise or Two Ronnies!

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