First of all condolences to your partner. What a sad loss. And a big hug to you regarding your brother. That sucks and must be very draining and tough to manage.
Regarding words, I am fascinated by them, and I am in love with the English language. Any language is a never-ending well so it will be fun to learn new words through you.
I am not much into films, I don't watch more than one a week, but I am up for discovering new ones that are worth it.
As for series, I've just started "Fallout" that you suggested and I am not disappointed. I have my regolar dose - LOL - of one or two episodes per day of various ones.
Thanks for the kind words Giada. And I think one movie a week is actually great! I'm hoping to do the same (hopefully good ones). And I love language as well and will start posting more pictures of my reference books in Notes. Ha.
My Paramount + sub ends tomorrow (6-6-24) and I'm not renewing. If I really cut down, my core streamers would be: Apple TV +, Prime, Max/HBO and Disney + (after Andor S2, tho' who knows). Netflix? No, because no annual 12-months-for-cost-of-10-plan that I could find. Also, my life is only so long and I like to get out from time to time! I think the biggest problem streamers have are the people who buy for a month, or use a free trial, and cancel after catching up on what interests them. New sub model needed, maybe? BTW: Great doc on MoviePass on HBO. Great 1981 Queen Rock Montreal on Apple TV (also Stax doc.).
Paramount Plus is a tough one. I am due for renewal in August. I do enjoy Star Trek Strange New Worlds and anything Robert and Michelle King are working on (currently that’s Evil. Really enjoyed Elsbeth.) I also like watching Ghosts in real time. I don’t watch a lot on P+ but I seem to be watching something steadily all year long. I put it in my calendar to evaluate in August.
Well, it seems I can still access P+. I checked and it seems I have cancelled, but I was able to watch the Daily Show last night. So who knows. Haven't seen any sign of a new charge yet. I can't guarantee this will happen to you! I understand the loss of things you like, I am the same with Strange New Worlds & Lower Decks. But the costs need to be managed otherwise we're back in cable hell again. Good luck.
I agree with all of this and even the sentiment behind the Netflix cut, but lately I think Netflix has been way outperforming everyone on quality, with no one outside of Hulu very close. But for Paramount+, you picked a good time to bail!
I've just killed Max after 20+years (cable, then streaming) . The recent switch from HBO to Max (in Europe) decreased the definition in the worst-in-the-market app, added ads, increased the price, while there hasn't been much worthwhile content added in the last years (Succession, Station Eleven, to some degree The last of us).
I currently am on a shared account which will stop working once they crack down on password sharing. I am thinking really hard on whether I want to pay for it all year long. I do watch John Oliver every week (it’s not all on YouTube) so that would actually be the big loss. But beyond that, I don’t know if it’s worth it. I love Hacks and some other smaller comedies. House of the Dragon was very mid. I am not optimistic it will improve much. Yes, Max gets some good movies but oof, it’s pretty bleak for what was once a must have channel/service. I might put it on part time status to watch a few shows a year.
HBO definitely needs some kind of comeback. But part of the reason for the odd space it's in now its that it was first told to EXPAND its number of shows -- told by the higher ups that it couldn't be a boutique channel anymore, it had to be more like Netflix. Shows, shows, shows. The infrastructure for that was barely in place (a lot of writer-creators were getting work) the new Discovery-led mandate was, "CUT WAY BACK ON SHOWS." So, outside of the conflicting messages, the fallout is that creators whose deals fell through are reluctant to do anything there, at least for a while. More corporate management problem than artistic problem. But it would be nice to get a really great show again.
I dropped Max last year and was thinking of picking it back up, but the price increase definitely makes it less likely. If my husband wants to watch "House of the Dragon," I guess we can wait 'til all the eps have dropped and then subscribe for a month.
I'm definitely a bit nervous about "Severance" season 2 (which doesn't seem to have a release date yet?). I loved s1 but there was something so odd and perfect (or perfectly odd) about it, I just don't know if they can recapture the feeling.
I would definitely be fine waiting out a whole season of "House of the Dragon," but I'll give it an episode or two this season before deciding. As for "Severance," I think I wrote previously that I liked it but didn't love it -- didn't embrace its quirks like I have for other similar series. But looking forward to what S2 brings.
I wouldn't worry about the whole thesaurus thing. The appeal of your writing has always been in the way you put words together -- the ideas, energy, and imagery -- not in using five-dollar terminology that drives me to the dictionary just to keep up. God save me from writers who insist on using words like "coruscating," "lambent," and "liminal" -- most of them are just showing off.
And speaking of "up" ... yes, the prices of streamers continue to rise, which harkens back to my ongoing bleat that nothing in life is free. Either we pay through the nose to be exempt from commercial breaks or accept those odious commercial intrusions as the price of viewing. The choice is ours, and such is life.
Time for my unpopular take of the week: I watched the first episode of "Ripley" a couple of months ago, and never went back for more -- not because it isn't good, but maybe because it's a bit too good. Or maybe I should make a point of seeing movies when they're released rather than waiting 20+ years. See, I finally got around to "The Talented Mr. Ripley" -- released in 1999 -- last year, so it's still fresh in mind. It's an excellent movie, very well done, but I found the story of a conniving liar who learns to be a skilled and ultimately murderous con man just a bit too nasty and brutish. It doubtless offers useful insights into the depths of human nature, but given what I see on the TV news every evening -- bloody human-caused mayhem and misery everywhere I look -- I'm not sure this kind of movie qualifies as "entertainment." Not for me, anyway, so as good as the television reboot is, I really don't need to revisit that world.
Again swimming upstream, I wasn't sold on the black and white treatment of the reboot, which everybody is oohing and ahhing about. The cinematographer -- Bob Elswit -- did a great job, and FWIT, I worked on a feature film he shot in Oxford, Mississippi 35+ years ago. I cut my cinematic teeth on the great film noirs of the 40s and 50s, which were shot on black and white film by highly skilled cameramen and processed by labs who really knew what they were doing. There's a richness to those old black-and-white films that can't be duplicated with digital. "Ripley" was shot in color on digital cameras, then desaturated to leave only the black and white image. Bob had to light the show properly to get a crisp black and white look -- otherwise the image would have been muddy -- and he did as good a job as one can with digital. But the black-and-white "film look" can't yet be replicated with digital cameras, and even Bob Elswit's skills couldn't prevent the images from being too crisp with a razor-blade edge. But that's just the way it is with digital, so I have to accept it and understand that my personal cinematic aesthetic was formed in a much earlier era that we'll never see again. The early "Ripley" stuff shot in New York City was pretty good, but once the drama moves to Italy, the black and white just didn't work for me, probably because the recently-seen movie was rendered in rich, glorious color that truly did justice to the landscape of Italy. To me, that represented the wonderful, lush life Ripley saw and wanted for himself -- the viewer can see that and understand why he wants it -- but putting the same character in an Italy devoid of color changes the whole tone of the drama, which turned ugly a lot quicker than in the movie.
I don't know if Bob Elswit specializes in these things, but his Oscar came for shooting "There Will be Blood," another undeniably impressive production that ultimately wound up -- to steal from the Bard -- being much sound and fury signifying nothing.
Anyway, that's my two cents for the week -- you can throw it out with the dishwater.
A righteous rant, well structured, indeed, and well said. I didn't know that about the Elswit stuff and feel a little chumpish LIKING the "too crisp with a razor blade's edge" look, even though you're spot on about that. But knowing why it's like that is good for the knowledge bank. As for the color, you make great points about character motivation for the original -- the world is a multicolored gem that's hard not to want to steal. But since that version *exists,* I'm OK with the B&W version as an option. I did find it gorgeous.
As for the travels, enjoying my time until then. SF was so gorgeous today but wow downtown is so, so diminished. The bones will always be there, though. It still has great bones everywhere you look. But yeah, feeling almost like it's too soon to head back, but that's just how it all worked out on multiple calendars. And besides, always something to write about with travels. Have some oysters and beer for me this summer. I think based on recent family events, I'll be spending more time on the Monterey Peninsula instead of West Marin.
Brother! You wrote what I wanted to write about Ripley but you were so much clearer than I was when I wrote a similar screed a couple of months ago. Thank you. Ripley just left me cold — and I REALLY wanted to like it and I think you just showed me why. I loved the film, the cinematography the cast and the skill of the director, basically all of the tools in the box were used masterfully and it was obvious that everyone on that shoot (and in the editing room) was all in. Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books are classics for a reason and the movie captured the same feeling. Ripley, however, just whiffed.
So we're not the only folks who noticed that you seem to spend a lot of time recently moving?
I thought about adding Max again with the new season of House of the Dragon starting this month but Max killed that idea with a timely price change announcement. I can be patient and wait for at least another show I want to watch show up. And is it weird that HBO is now named after its porny brother Cinemax? Is Skinemax still around?
Skinemax is still around, although it tried to go high brow with Steven Soderbergh's "The Knick," and failing that just went for all action. Who knows about all these hollowed out brands. All I know is that "Max" is the dumbest thing ever. Give me the old HBO. And give HBO some respect, Discovery.
First of all condolences to your partner. What a sad loss. And a big hug to you regarding your brother. That sucks and must be very draining and tough to manage.
Regarding words, I am fascinated by them, and I am in love with the English language. Any language is a never-ending well so it will be fun to learn new words through you.
I am not much into films, I don't watch more than one a week, but I am up for discovering new ones that are worth it.
As for series, I've just started "Fallout" that you suggested and I am not disappointed. I have my regolar dose - LOL - of one or two episodes per day of various ones.
Thanks for the kind words Giada. And I think one movie a week is actually great! I'm hoping to do the same (hopefully good ones). And I love language as well and will start posting more pictures of my reference books in Notes. Ha.
My Paramount + sub ends tomorrow (6-6-24) and I'm not renewing. If I really cut down, my core streamers would be: Apple TV +, Prime, Max/HBO and Disney + (after Andor S2, tho' who knows). Netflix? No, because no annual 12-months-for-cost-of-10-plan that I could find. Also, my life is only so long and I like to get out from time to time! I think the biggest problem streamers have are the people who buy for a month, or use a free trial, and cancel after catching up on what interests them. New sub model needed, maybe? BTW: Great doc on MoviePass on HBO. Great 1981 Queen Rock Montreal on Apple TV (also Stax doc.).
Paramount Plus is a tough one. I am due for renewal in August. I do enjoy Star Trek Strange New Worlds and anything Robert and Michelle King are working on (currently that’s Evil. Really enjoyed Elsbeth.) I also like watching Ghosts in real time. I don’t watch a lot on P+ but I seem to be watching something steadily all year long. I put it in my calendar to evaluate in August.
Well, it seems I can still access P+. I checked and it seems I have cancelled, but I was able to watch the Daily Show last night. So who knows. Haven't seen any sign of a new charge yet. I can't guarantee this will happen to you! I understand the loss of things you like, I am the same with Strange New Worlds & Lower Decks. But the costs need to be managed otherwise we're back in cable hell again. Good luck.
I agree with all of this and even the sentiment behind the Netflix cut, but lately I think Netflix has been way outperforming everyone on quality, with no one outside of Hulu very close. But for Paramount+, you picked a good time to bail!
I've just killed Max after 20+years (cable, then streaming) . The recent switch from HBO to Max (in Europe) decreased the definition in the worst-in-the-market app, added ads, increased the price, while there hasn't been much worthwhile content added in the last years (Succession, Station Eleven, to some degree The last of us).
I currently am on a shared account which will stop working once they crack down on password sharing. I am thinking really hard on whether I want to pay for it all year long. I do watch John Oliver every week (it’s not all on YouTube) so that would actually be the big loss. But beyond that, I don’t know if it’s worth it. I love Hacks and some other smaller comedies. House of the Dragon was very mid. I am not optimistic it will improve much. Yes, Max gets some good movies but oof, it’s pretty bleak for what was once a must have channel/service. I might put it on part time status to watch a few shows a year.
HBO definitely needs some kind of comeback. But part of the reason for the odd space it's in now its that it was first told to EXPAND its number of shows -- told by the higher ups that it couldn't be a boutique channel anymore, it had to be more like Netflix. Shows, shows, shows. The infrastructure for that was barely in place (a lot of writer-creators were getting work) the new Discovery-led mandate was, "CUT WAY BACK ON SHOWS." So, outside of the conflicting messages, the fallout is that creators whose deals fell through are reluctant to do anything there, at least for a while. More corporate management problem than artistic problem. But it would be nice to get a really great show again.
I dropped Max last year and was thinking of picking it back up, but the price increase definitely makes it less likely. If my husband wants to watch "House of the Dragon," I guess we can wait 'til all the eps have dropped and then subscribe for a month.
I'm definitely a bit nervous about "Severance" season 2 (which doesn't seem to have a release date yet?). I loved s1 but there was something so odd and perfect (or perfectly odd) about it, I just don't know if they can recapture the feeling.
I would definitely be fine waiting out a whole season of "House of the Dragon," but I'll give it an episode or two this season before deciding. As for "Severance," I think I wrote previously that I liked it but didn't love it -- didn't embrace its quirks like I have for other similar series. But looking forward to what S2 brings.
I wouldn't worry about the whole thesaurus thing. The appeal of your writing has always been in the way you put words together -- the ideas, energy, and imagery -- not in using five-dollar terminology that drives me to the dictionary just to keep up. God save me from writers who insist on using words like "coruscating," "lambent," and "liminal" -- most of them are just showing off.
And speaking of "up" ... yes, the prices of streamers continue to rise, which harkens back to my ongoing bleat that nothing in life is free. Either we pay through the nose to be exempt from commercial breaks or accept those odious commercial intrusions as the price of viewing. The choice is ours, and such is life.
Time for my unpopular take of the week: I watched the first episode of "Ripley" a couple of months ago, and never went back for more -- not because it isn't good, but maybe because it's a bit too good. Or maybe I should make a point of seeing movies when they're released rather than waiting 20+ years. See, I finally got around to "The Talented Mr. Ripley" -- released in 1999 -- last year, so it's still fresh in mind. It's an excellent movie, very well done, but I found the story of a conniving liar who learns to be a skilled and ultimately murderous con man just a bit too nasty and brutish. It doubtless offers useful insights into the depths of human nature, but given what I see on the TV news every evening -- bloody human-caused mayhem and misery everywhere I look -- I'm not sure this kind of movie qualifies as "entertainment." Not for me, anyway, so as good as the television reboot is, I really don't need to revisit that world.
Again swimming upstream, I wasn't sold on the black and white treatment of the reboot, which everybody is oohing and ahhing about. The cinematographer -- Bob Elswit -- did a great job, and FWIT, I worked on a feature film he shot in Oxford, Mississippi 35+ years ago. I cut my cinematic teeth on the great film noirs of the 40s and 50s, which were shot on black and white film by highly skilled cameramen and processed by labs who really knew what they were doing. There's a richness to those old black-and-white films that can't be duplicated with digital. "Ripley" was shot in color on digital cameras, then desaturated to leave only the black and white image. Bob had to light the show properly to get a crisp black and white look -- otherwise the image would have been muddy -- and he did as good a job as one can with digital. But the black-and-white "film look" can't yet be replicated with digital cameras, and even Bob Elswit's skills couldn't prevent the images from being too crisp with a razor-blade edge. But that's just the way it is with digital, so I have to accept it and understand that my personal cinematic aesthetic was formed in a much earlier era that we'll never see again. The early "Ripley" stuff shot in New York City was pretty good, but once the drama moves to Italy, the black and white just didn't work for me, probably because the recently-seen movie was rendered in rich, glorious color that truly did justice to the landscape of Italy. To me, that represented the wonderful, lush life Ripley saw and wanted for himself -- the viewer can see that and understand why he wants it -- but putting the same character in an Italy devoid of color changes the whole tone of the drama, which turned ugly a lot quicker than in the movie.
I don't know if Bob Elswit specializes in these things, but his Oscar came for shooting "There Will be Blood," another undeniably impressive production that ultimately wound up -- to steal from the Bard -- being much sound and fury signifying nothing.
Anyway, that's my two cents for the week -- you can throw it out with the dishwater.
Enjoy your travels!
A righteous rant, well structured, indeed, and well said. I didn't know that about the Elswit stuff and feel a little chumpish LIKING the "too crisp with a razor blade's edge" look, even though you're spot on about that. But knowing why it's like that is good for the knowledge bank. As for the color, you make great points about character motivation for the original -- the world is a multicolored gem that's hard not to want to steal. But since that version *exists,* I'm OK with the B&W version as an option. I did find it gorgeous.
As for the travels, enjoying my time until then. SF was so gorgeous today but wow downtown is so, so diminished. The bones will always be there, though. It still has great bones everywhere you look. But yeah, feeling almost like it's too soon to head back, but that's just how it all worked out on multiple calendars. And besides, always something to write about with travels. Have some oysters and beer for me this summer. I think based on recent family events, I'll be spending more time on the Monterey Peninsula instead of West Marin.
Anytime someone mentions "There Will Be Blood" I'm reminded of its fantastic soundtrack. Thanks for the black and white in digital discussion.
I have so many "There Will Be Blood" thoughts, but I think I'll watch it fresh before circling back.
Brother! You wrote what I wanted to write about Ripley but you were so much clearer than I was when I wrote a similar screed a couple of months ago. Thank you. Ripley just left me cold — and I REALLY wanted to like it and I think you just showed me why. I loved the film, the cinematography the cast and the skill of the director, basically all of the tools in the box were used masterfully and it was obvious that everyone on that shoot (and in the editing room) was all in. Patricia Highsmith's Ripley books are classics for a reason and the movie captured the same feeling. Ripley, however, just whiffed.
Michael did make a pretty convincing argument, right?
Absolutely!
Thought I was the only one who was left cold by Ripley...
So we're not the only folks who noticed that you seem to spend a lot of time recently moving?
I thought about adding Max again with the new season of House of the Dragon starting this month but Max killed that idea with a timely price change announcement. I can be patient and wait for at least another show I want to watch show up. And is it weird that HBO is now named after its porny brother Cinemax? Is Skinemax still around?
Skinemax is still around, although it tried to go high brow with Steven Soderbergh's "The Knick," and failing that just went for all action. Who knows about all these hollowed out brands. All I know is that "Max" is the dumbest thing ever. Give me the old HBO. And give HBO some respect, Discovery.
The Knick was absolutely awesome!
But then, of course, there was the Clive Owen of it all...