TV Watching thread

[rushy]

I watched episode 5 of Kenobi. Loved the Base under Siege aspect of it, and the way it's juxtaposed with scenes of Obi-Wan and Anakin discussing each other's swordplay strategies during the Attack of the Clones era.

[Deleted]

Jun 15, 2022 14:44:07 GMT rushy said:

I watched episode 5 of Kenobi. Loved the Base under Siege aspect of it, and the way it's juxtaposed with scenes of Obi-Wan and Anakin discussing each other's swordplay strategies during the Attack of the Clones era.

Yeah, I knew we'd get some flashback scenes. What would be the point of getting Hayden back otherwise? It was a decent episode in fairness and I like some of the prequel nostalgia. As much as I have my issues with those films, I did grow up with them so I have a fondness for them.

[iank]

Watching a lot of The Bill (1994) at the moment.

[Deleted]

The pilot of My Sister Sam. Lovely and funny so much. It's a bit generic but the characters are great and I love all the actors in it. It's certainly a nice slice of 80s telly.

[rushy]

Really enjoyed the first episode of Man vs Bee. Rowan Atkinson's doing his thing, and his thing is top tier comedy. It's very short (~20 minutes) and the rest of the series is 10 minutes each, so it doesn't overstay its welcome. Excited to see the rest. I can imagine myself rewatching this over and over.

[iank]

Started Buffy season 4 again. I love Buffy. It makes me happy.

[Deleted]

I watched the England women beat the Netherlands 5-1 the other night in a friendly game before the Euros. The Lionesses have every chance of winning it and I honestly think we're the strongest nation in the Women's game.

[Spark Doll King]

Ultraman Ace

Just finished the first disc for the series. Ace is the fifth entry of the Ultra series. Airing in 1972, Ace was a much more confident show then its predecessor. Return of Ultraman was done to test the water and see if it could work after it’s creators passing. With its success, Ace through caution to the wind and went all out.

This series dose a lot of new things. First is the introduction of an over arching antagonist. Prior shows were very episodic in structure, while this still applies, there has never befit been an antagonist who reappeared for more then a couple of episodes per season. This enemy are called the Yapool, a race or a being from an alternate dimension. I say a race or individual because it’s seems none had a clear idea on what they Yapool should be. So far they are a group who look like purple, gimp, clan members (I’m being dead serious) who are working in a sci-fi lab, overlayed with multi-colour lighting and a wave affect to make them less distinct. Yet I know for a fact that later duplications have Yapool as a singular entity who looks like a orange humanoid insect/crustacean.

I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Anyway they want to conquer earth and they attempt to do so by sending their Choju or Terrible-Monsters. Terrible-Monsters are considered a unique sub-group separate from the standard Kaiju, your average giant monsters. This is because they are all created by Yapool via a specific method to be used as bio-weapons. They are created by fusing an earth animal with an alien one, then, based on physiology, further modified with cybernetics. Terrible-Monsters are considered a cut above the others, a fact made horrific my clear in an episode that involves an Alien, Giant Monster and a Terrible-Monster. The Monster is effortlessly defeated and then shockingly ripped to bloody pieces by the Terrible-Monster.

To fight against these invasions we have our team of monster fighters for the show, TAC or The Terrible-Monster Attacking Crew, and our star characters, Seiji Hokuto and Yuko Minami. Yes that’s two main character, for Hokuto and Minami are co-hosts of Ultraman Ace, with Minami being the first women in the role.

Sadly this is were I have to get a bit negative. While Ace can be very off the walls fun, it’s human caste is easily the worst so far. Not terrible but they real don’t hold a candle peers. The Leader, comic relief tech, arrogant sharp shooter and female communications officer are just not very unique, while the nice guy member is so superfluous I forget he’s even there half the time, a fact made worse by there now being two main characters.

Our leads do not make a good impression either. Let me ask you, what do you think Hokuto and Minami we’re doing before they joined TAC, also how did they join? Well Hokuto was van driver for a Baker’s and Minami was a nurse. Now that would not be a problem in itself, but they then join TAC because they decided they wanted to. None scouted them, they don’t know any of the team and only one of them comes even remotely close to have any skills they would need. Yet they get the job without issue, have no team friction or even seeing any training. In comparison to our last two outsiders joining this is laughable. Ultraseven’s Dan helped the Ultra Guard fight against an Alien invasion, while Return’s Go was scouted by MAC’s leader because he witnessed Go’s bravery during a monster attack. Go would further cement himself into the team thanks to his enhanced abilities yet would also screw up thanks to his lack of experience. Both far more believable then just rocking up in your car to join an elite military team.

So far there has not been a health balance between any of the caste. As with Doctor Who, to many team members results in little to no character development, which is probably why they all feel bland.

Another negative point is the imbalance of our leads. Its clear as we progress that the show favourers Hokuto over Minami. It’s normal him that performing most of the main character stuff while Minami is his wingman at best. Even their time as Ace is stilted, Hokuto shown to be the controlling part of the giant while Minami feels like a component. In fact there is a story in which Minami is being hurt by a powerful attack Hokuto had to use, further displaying the imbalance of their team.

Then there is Ultraman Ace himself. The fifth Ultra brother, Ace real stands out from the crowed. Ultraman, Zoffy (Ultraman’s superior from his series) and Ultraman Jack (Return of Ultraman) look almost identical par a few minor aesthetics. Ultraseven is the most unique looking like a taller, mores stylised, more armoured variant with a head fin. Ace is kind of a cross between the two. He’s more stylised like Ultraseven but thinner and sleeker. His face is the more human looking in terms of proportions, while his head has a somewhat helmeted look with a much larger crest then Seven’s. Power wise he has the standers ultra moves the other gave, but with his own twists, but also has way more then them. While the other Ultras could pull a power out their ass at times, Ace is doing it almost ever episode. It makes him seem very op but thankfully many of his fight are fun to watch thanks to blend of dynamic action, silliness and gore.

Another minor point is that the show fully embraced the idea of a shared Ultraman Universe. This was touched on in Return but turned up to 11 here, Ace occasional calling the aid of fellows.

On the subject of gore, this series is very violent and down right horrifying at times. We have people melted down to very realistic skeletons by acid, the skeleton of someone kidnapped by a lunatic, monsters chopped to pieces with their guts falling out, monsters ripped to pieces in brutal fashion. This show dose not pull its punches. While that’s all in good fun, I was not overly fond of Hokuto slapping a female reporter despite the fact she got him in trouble and was being difficult.

Ace has so far been a very mixed bag but an entertaining one none the less.

[iank]

Jonathan Creek. They've messed up one of the eps on the season 2 dvd set. The season is widescreen, but just one ep - The Scented Room - is for some reason clearly not proper widescreen and appears like a smaller box on the TV.
It's really weird.

[iank]

Started watching season 1 of Wicked Science again with the first episode. Believe it or not, it is over 2 years since I saw season 1!
Good opener, though a couple of odd things - one, in my reviews I've been pronouncing Dina completely wrong for some reason - it's spoken as Deena - and despite what I thought, Verity is in episode 1. Honestly I thought they added her in ep 2, to give Elizabeth someone to talk to and make it the 3-against-1 lineup look less dodgy, but f**k me no, she's there in the first episode, sitting next to her in class and walking with her when she tries to talk to Toby later only to get the death stare from Dina. But she doesn't so much as get a line, and I couldn't remember her from back in the day - it had been 14 years and all I could remember was Toby and Elizabeth, the general premise and bits of one episode (season 2's Fever), so it's perhaps not surprising she didn't register with me here.
Still, a solid and fun opener and Bridget is gorgeous in it, even if Elizabeth is rather terrifying. I love that her idea of a practical joke is to switch a dodo egg for a T-rex one! (The mid 2000s TV CGI is woeful). To be fair, she clearly means it is a joke and a sort-of "we're both geniuses, isn't this going to be fun?!" message, as she actually gives Toby the heads-up as to what she's done, but f**k if that's her idea of a joke, I'd hate to see her when she's angry (we will. Frequently. Especially this season). 
And further to the above, the Spanish DVDs are just like the Creek ep above - clearly widescreen, but non-anamorphic, so you have to zoom it to get it to look right. Weird. I'm grateful for them, but I wish we could get a Western release...

[rushy]

Better Call Saul continues to be the best show on television at the moment, maybe top 10 of all time.

[Spark Doll King]

Ultraman Decker Episode 1 - Day of the Attack

Set 8 years after the end of the last series, Ultraman Trigger, there have been no Monster attacks in in that time and humanity has entered a new era of expansion. We are now traveling through the solar system and several colonies on Mar. Thins are so peaceful that GUTS-Select, the earth primary anti-monster task force, is having their budget slashed as well as their ships & mecha from the Trigger era automated. All seems well until Mars is attacked by a race called "The Sphere".

Befor anything can be done however, the Sphere then appear on earth. 5 gigantic variants called King Spheres, and their swarms of Sphere Soldiers, appear across the globe an begin to attack. During their assault, a young shop worker named Kanata Asumi attempts to save civilians along side two GUTS-Select trainees. in response to the attack the Automated Weapons are unleashed and seem to effectively combating the Sphere, until the King Sphere summons a summons a giant monster

Spheresaurus, the Dynamic Fusion Monster


The monster unleashes a green pulse of energy from its back, containing an EMP, which renders all the automated weapons useless. It then begins syphoning  from the ground, while a group of Sphere Soldier crowed around it.



The people on the ground do the best they can, but the Sphere now have them completely out gunned and even begin absorbing people. Kanata is one of these people, but a strange event occurs while inside the alien. A being calling itself "Decker" appears befor him, offering to join with him and protect the earth. Using a device given to him by Decker, Kanata transforms into the giant and begins decimating  aliens. He then sets his sights on Spheresaurus, who he defeats with only slight difficulty, however while the battle is one, the war is beginning. We see that a green wave of energy is encircling the planet, originating from the King Sphere. Decker tries to destroy the one above him but is late. He damaged by the barrier and fall to earth, returning to the form of Kanata. Kanata has impressed the commander of GUTS-Select, who suggest that he should become one of their Trainees. Kanata choses to do this after talking with his Grandfather, whom he works with, as well as to try an save his parent who were on Mars at the time.

Over all a very good start to the series and by all accounts a much better beginning then the last series, which was lambasted by fans. The characters are good, the plots intreasting and the giant monster fight is great, if a little short. I'm also not fond of the gimmick given Decker, which is clearly their to sell toys but then thats apparently been a thing since this new company took over Ultraman in the mid 00s. It's also not the worse I've seen and really given how strong the rest of the episode was, I can forgive that. I'll go more into that when I review the next episode as it's more relevant there.

Side note Decker is this years currently airing Ultraman series. 

8/10

8/10

[Spark Doll King]

Ultraman Decker Episode 2 - Kanata's Resolve

Synopsis - "One year has passed and with Earth still enveloped by the Spheres' barrier, Kanata struggles with his training. During an exercise with fellow cadets Soma Ryumon and Ichika Kirino, Kanata has an accident that injures his leg and Soma decides to call off the exercise, when Deathdrago appears and begins attacking. Kanata transforms into Ultraman Decker to fight back, but he still suffers from his injury, until he is instructed to use a Dimension Card to summon the monster Miclas and destroy Deathdrago with its help. After the battle, captain Taiji Murahoshi notices that Kanata, Soma and Ichika disobeyed orders to evacuate in order to help the injured civilians and recognizing their dedication, promotes them to official members of GUTS-Select, transfering them to Nursedessei where they meet the rest of the team, vice captain Sawa Kaizaki and the robot HANE2, who pilots the new GUTS Hawk aircraft."

A pretty solid second episode, its pretty clear that Decker wants to be a more character driven style of series. Kanata is a guy with a lot of heart but it's blatantly obvious that he lags behind all these other people who have been doing this for far longer. Another interesting point is that he has no powers in his normal human form. Having no powers means there are no short cuts here, he's going to have to be able to pull his own weight when not a giant alien. In fact it's take a step further, Decker is one of those Ultras for who damage in human or giant form remains just as debilitating. His injured leg put him at a major disadvantage against Deathdrago a monster Decker should should really not be having trouble with. Yet again the, despite being a bit of a goof ball at times, knows when to put his head down and keep marching. 


Soma Ryumon is our teams resident no-nonsense, hard arse. He's not a bad guy but very intense and takes all his training with seriously at all times. There are hints that he joined the training program for a reason also and dose not want to fail. Naturally he butts heads with the under achieving Kanata, whom he views as a burden and fool at first. When teamed up with him Soma fears that he'll not be able to make the cut to become part of GUTS-Select, as only three trainees will be selected. For all that attitude though, like his team-mates he's more then happy to disobey orders in order to do whats right and he grows to respect Kanata some what. 


Ichika Kirino is sort of the middle grounded between Kanata and Soma. She takes her training seriously but never acts like a arsehole about it. She's calm and rational, but happy to run into situations when she feels it's right. She's also finds herself in-between the other two acting as peace maker for their more extreme personalities. 

our monster is Deathdrago, the Destructive Rampage Dragon.



This monster first appeared during the Trigger series. It uses electrical attacks from its horns and mouth. It dose not seem like it would be a major threat to Decker, save for his injuries, that said something is clearly off with the Monster. It's main weakness is it's lark horns, which play a part in electrical abilities. Should one be blown off, historically Deathdrago will retreat, however GUTS-Select's Kaiju expert states that the create is clearly agitated, it's entire manner displaying is feels threated, which is odd because the none on the team has interacted or even been near it. Since it won't back down, Decker is forced to fight it while injured and needs a little help.

Miclas


Miclas is an old staple of Ultraman with a lot of reach. He was originally a capsule monster belonging to Ultraseven in 1967, and along side Windom & Agira, he would occasionally pop out to help when Ultraseven was in trouble. The capsule monsters are considered a big inspiration for Pokemon btw. Anyway they have all returned to help different Ultramen over the years in various forms, this time as Card Monsters. This was the gimmick I alluded to befor, Decker's device uses cards transform, power up and in this case summon Monsters for a short time. Miclas is generally the brawler of his team and the middle man in terms of strength. He have  but he helps Decker push back Deathdrago befor is very short time limit ran out. You can bet his old team mates will appear later in the series. 


Plot wise we learn that after their original assault, the Sphere have not been seen for a year, though their barrier is still in place. What that means is anyone's guess, it may have been part of their plan but I think it may be more likely they sought to revaluate their strategy in the face of combating an Ultra. then the is the aforementioned agitation of Deathdrago, is that to do with the Sphere or is some other force at work.

While the actual monster fight was a bit short for my taste this was good little episode 

7/10

[Deleted]

Watched England women vs Spain in the Euros.

Bloody hell, we don't do things easy   1-0 down with seven minutes to go and then we got the equalizer. We then went on to win it 2-1 in extra time. So much drama, so much passion from the girls. I've never been prouder watching this team perform. The Semi Finals await!

[Deleted]

The Simpsons - Bart Gets Hit by a Car.

Classic Season 2 episode. The real highlight here besides the entertaining court scenes is the introduction of the wonderful ambulance-chasing shyster Lionel Hutz. What a talented actor Phil Hartman was. He's severely missed in later seasons.