What are you Watching Today Part 2

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

It’s the 2024 equivalent of the people who are really, really into crystals

[Dunners]

Napoleon

FFS, Ridley.

What a mess of a film. Some okay bits, but this really should have been so much better. A wasted opportunity which, I'm disappointed to say, isn't worth your time or money at the cinema.

Sure, watching on a smaller screen at home will mean not experiencing some of the more cinematic moments, but IMO they simply are not good enough to justify the effort.

I watched this again last night just to see if it was as bad as I recalled.

It wasn't. It was worse. Not only does it fail to deliver in any historically accurate sense, but the battle scenes are actually pretty crap. I've seen far better CGI efforts in Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.

[Max B Gold]

Napoleon

FFS, Ridley.

What a mess of a film. Some okay bits, but this really should have been so much better. A wasted opportunity which, I'm disappointed to say, isn't worth your time or money at the cinema.

Sure, watching on a smaller screen at home will mean not experiencing some of the more cinematic moments, but IMO they simply are not good enough to justify the effort.

I watched this again last night just to see if it was as bad as I recalled.

It wasn't. It was worse. Not only does it fail to deliver in any historically accurate sense, but the battle scenes are actually pretty crap. I've seen far better CGI efforts in Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones.

Could you make an epic film like that? No. So shut up.

[Constanza]

Off to Kneecap this week. I will report back in due course.

[The Mindsweep]

The Trap, oh boy where do I begin

The first half and beyond seems like a promo for the director,
M. Night Shyamalan's daughter. She plays Lady Raven who is loved by teenage girls and we get a lot of her warbling on stage. The plot is ridiculous, with every supposed twist signposted way ahead. The end takes forever, so many this must be it moments, but it keeps on going and going and spoiler alert, expect Trap 2 to arrive soon.

[Dunners]

Might have to pop into the cinema to watch this.

Kermode's verdict: Some good stuff. Some meh stuff. Some not-so-good stuff. But overall it's not bad but not great.

[Long slender neck]

So yet another crap sequel?

[Rich Tea Wellin]

So yet another crap sequel?

Surprise

[Long slender neck]

Griselda- Sofia Vergara gurns, smokes and swears through this womens version of Narcos. Limited series. I liked it.

[Long slender neck]

Blink Twice- tech king Chunning Totem invites a couple of normal women to his private island. Things go awry of course. Fairly modern and entertaining. Also came with a trigger warning. By nepo baby zoe kravitz, working title pu55y island.

[Proposition Joe]

Last year's BBC documentary series Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland. Christ. Heavy, heavy going at times but excellent TV and choice of interviewees. Shameful how little we get taught about this part of our very recent history.

[Give it to Jabo]

Danish sub-titled film shown last night on BBC4..The Promised Land..managed to be engrossing from the starts, no long, lingering shots that can make art-house films tedious…

[Long slender neck]

Alien Romulus: I went into it thinking that Alien films had become predictable and follow a template. This is probably still true and yet I found this enjoyable.

[Proposition Joe]

Last year's BBC documentary series Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland. Christ. Heavy, heavy going at times but excellent TV and choice of interviewees. Shameful how little we get taught about this part of our very recent history.

Almost finished episode 4. Still good but a tough watch now, the weight of the endless tragedy, heartbreak and senseless death/violence seems to literally come out of the screen at you.

[Constanza]

Last year's BBC documentary series Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland. Christ. Heavy, heavy going at times but excellent TV and choice of interviewees. Shameful how little we get taught about this part of our very recent history.

Almost finished episode 4. Still good but a tough watch now, the weight of the endless tragedy, heartbreak and senseless death/violence seems to literally come out of the screen at you.

Incredible series.

[Proposition Joe]

My non-British OH keeps asking "did you know about this?" after every other atrocity or tragedy and I have to say "no" 80% of the time. "But this is the UK, why not?". Good question really.

[Dunners]

My non-British OH keeps asking "did you know about this?" after every other atrocity or tragedy and I have to say "no" 80% of the time. "But this is the UK, why not?". Good question really.

It is. My kids both thought I was pulling their legs when I was telling them about what was effectively a civil war in the UK in our lifetimes. So I made them watch this.

What I would say however is that maybe, just maybe, the silence has been part of the formula for trying to consign the past to the past. There has been a younger generation born into a relatively peaceful Northern Ireland for whom the notion of returning to those times is sickening. Trying to solve past differences can be more difficult than everyone sort-of agreeing to just forget (or, at least, pretend to forget).

That's not to say that everything is settled in Northern Ireland. It still has the potential to erupt again.

[Give it to Jabo]

Absolutely loving re-watching the Auf Wiedershen Pet reruns on ITVX..
.

[Proposition Joe]

My non-British OH keeps asking "did you know about this?" after every other atrocity or tragedy and I have to say "no" 80% of the time. "But this is the UK, why not?". Good question really.

It is. My kids both thought I was pulling their legs when I was telling them about what was effectively a civil war in the UK in our lifetimes. So I made them watch this.

What I would say however is that maybe, just maybe, the silence has been part of the formula for trying to consign the past to the past. There has been a younger generation born into a relatively peaceful Northern Ireland for whom the notion of returning to those times is sickening. Trying to solve past differences can be more difficult than everyone sort-of agreeing to just forget (or, at least, pretend to forget).

That's not to say that everything is settled in Northern Ireland. It still has the potential to erupt again.

I get that but feels like there's an extra layer considering there a spectacular ignorance - very much including myself in this - on the mainland, it's almost as if mainland UK doesn't think there's any kind of reckoning or understanding necessary. It's not like postwar Germany when they did their best to confront what happened during the Nazi era (granted, far from a direct comparison) nor is it like Spain where they very deliberately tried to 'forget' about the Guerra Civil for decades, with mixed results. I daresay there's been a degree of looking back in Northern Ireland, while also being careful not to poke a bear that's still not far from the surface, but just a bit crazy how history taught here can be from the Korean War to Vietnam but nothing about our own, pretty recent, stuff. Not that it would probably amount to much more that "IRA bad, UK army/Govt 'good guys'" as it's always harder to assess your own actions.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Atomic People on iplayer. First hand accounts of the last few people living who witnessed the bombs. So graphic and terrifying. A must watch to realise how inhumane we can be

[Dunners]

I get that but feels like there's an extra layer considering there a spectacular ignorance - very much including myself in this - on the mainland, it's almost as if mainland UK doesn't think there's any kind of reckoning or understanding necessary. It's not like postwar Germany when they did their best to confront what happened during the Nazi era (granted, far from a direct comparison) nor is it like Spain where they very deliberately tried to 'forget' about the Guerra Civil for decades, with mixed results. I daresay there's been a degree of looking back in Northern Ireland, while also being careful not to poke a bear that's still not far from the surface, but just a bit crazy how history taught here can be from the Korean War to Vietnam but nothing about our own, pretty recent, stuff. Not that it would probably amount to much more that "IRA bad, UK army/Govt 'good guys'" as it's always harder to assess your own actions.

I think that's the thing though. No matter how you approach teaching people about this recent history, you're always going to be getting it wrong in somebody's opinion, which will just risk inflaming things. But the degree of ignorance on the mainland was really brought to light during the Brexit referendum. Nobody who voted for Brexit properly thought through, or cared about, the implications for Northern Ireland.

I have family in the Republic and north of the border and the resigned consensus appears to be that it is largely best forgotten about until the passage of time and emergence of new generations means a reignition of hostilities is unlikely. It could well become a topic in history lessons a hundred years for now, but for now it's just too raw.

The long term trend had been for the catholic population to eventually overtake the protestant population so that a peaceful reunification became thinkable. Interestingly, declining fertility rates in both communities and the emergence of mass immigration as a thing has threatened to challenge that trend. This is one of the reasons why some loyalists and republicans were united in the recent anti-immigration protests in Belfast (there were the usual other reasons, of course).

[Rubex Kube]

I get that but feels like there's an extra layer considering there a spectacular ignorance - very much including myself in this - on the mainland, it's almost as if mainland UK doesn't think there's any kind of reckoning or understanding necessary. It's not like postwar Germany when they did their best to confront what happened during the Nazi era (granted, far from a direct comparison) nor is it like Spain where they very deliberately tried to 'forget' about the Guerra Civil for decades, with mixed results. I daresay there's been a degree of looking back in Northern Ireland, while also being careful not to poke a bear that's still not far from the surface, but just a bit crazy how history taught here can be from the Korean War to Vietnam but nothing about our own, pretty recent, stuff. Not that it would probably amount to much more that "IRA bad, UK army/Govt 'good guys'" as it's always harder to assess your own actions.

I think that's the thing though. No matter how you approach teaching people about this recent history, you're always going to be getting it wrong in somebody's opinion, which will just risk inflaming things. But the degree of ignorance on the mainland was really brought to light during the Brexit referendum. Nobody who voted for Brexit properly thought through, or cared about, the implications for Northern Ireland.

I have family in the Republic and north of the border and the resigned consensus appears to be that it is largely best forgotten about until the passage of time and emergence of new generations means a reignition of hostilities is unlikely. It could well become a topic in history lessons a hundred years for now, but for now it's just too raw.

The long term trend had been for the catholic population to eventually overtake the protestant population so that a peaceful reunification became thinkable. Interestingly, declining fertility rates in both communities and the emergence of mass immigration as a thing has threatened to challenge that trend. This is one of the reasons why some loyalists and republicans were united in the recent anti-immigration protests in Belfast (there were the usual other reasons, of course).

Loyalist & Republicans, don't you mean Bigots from Coolock Dublin Joined Bigots in Belfast for a Riot?

[BIGRON]

Just watching the Paralympics , seeing those guys in wheelchairs playing bowls bought a tear to my eye , shows how fortunate I am not being disabled

[The Mindsweep]

Watched The Long Good Friday, such a great film. Love Bob Hoskins, never get tired of watching it and Mona Lisa

[CEB2ElectricBoogaloo]

All time great film, that. And a real snap shot of a time, right before that time came to an end. It’s underrated if anything.


I’m about to start series 2 of Rings of Power. The first series got a lot of unfair flak by the racists and the sexists but was bloody great