Alright... Alright! What's Covid-19 making you binge watch????

[Worf]

It's actually called Tales From the Loop. It's set in the 80s, in the fictional town of Mercer, Ohio. The two major employers are the Loop, which is some sort of high-tech research facility of indeterminate mission. The other is the Quarry, where you go to make rocks if, presumably, you're not smart enough for the Loop.

So far, four eps in, it has seemed to deal with sci-fi artifacts in the town that can change things, and the moral, ethical, and personality challenges that come with using them. It's very noir and a bit dystopian. The only actor I recognize is Jonathan Price.

I wrote a review of this some weeks ago. We enjoyed it. Kinda like "Stranger Things" without being clubbed over the head withe 80's nostalgia.

Worf

 

[Worf]

Someone please put me out of my misery... More "90 Day Fiancee"! God what drivel!

Worf

 

[Edward]

Funny you mention the BD upgrade issue. I have Withnail and I on DVD, Criterion Collection, with lots of great features. I was pumped when I saw a BD version and got it. Great picture and sound, but NO features other than the trailer, which was on the DVD.

I watch the BD movie now, then switch disks to watch the featurettes.

Some of the chocies they make with marketing are definitely strange.... I remember when DVDs first came out in the UK, the popularity of multi-region players skyrocketed because in the early days the Region 2 releases were much more likely to be bare bones, while USRegion 1 titles got far more in the way of extras.

 

[MisterCairo]

Some of the chocies they make with marketing are definitely strange.... I remember when DVDs first came out in the UK, the popularity of multi-region players skyrocketed because in the early days the Region 2 releases were much more likely to be bare bones, while USRegion 1 titles got far more in the way of extras.

Speaking of multi-region players, I may need to get one, as Peaky Blinders was on BD here in North America for seasons one and two, but has mysteriously been absent for the remaining series.

Yes, yes, yes, I know, it is on Netflix Canada, which is how we've kept up with the series.

But for how long??? And no extra features. And it is not portable like disks are.

 

[Frunobulax]

I wrote a review of this some weeks ago. We enjoyed it. Kinda like "Stranger Things" without being clubbed over the head withe 80's nostalgia.

Worf

Other than being set in the 80s and seeming to deal quite a bit with the younger set, I really don't see the parallels. I get a totally different vibe and it seems they're trying to deal with different types of situations than just the Upside Down. There is no Big Bad, just interaction with the technology, which appears to be mysteriously littered about the town.

 

[Edward]

Other than being set in the 80s and seeming to deal quite a bit with the younger set, I really don't see the parallels. I get a totally different vibe and it seems they're trying to deal with different types of situations than just the Upside Down. There is no Big Bad, just interaction with the technology, which appears to be mysteriously littered about the town.

I like the sound of that. While I do enjoy Stranger Things, by now they're laying on the "Look! Look! A thing from the eighties! Look at the thing from the eighties!" just a bit too thick for me. I fear I remember the eighties rather too well to have anty genuine nostalgia for them.

 

[Frunobulax]

I like the sound of that. While I do enjoy Stranger Things, by now they're laying on the "Look! Look! A thing from the eighties! Look at the thing from the eighties!" just a bit too thick for me. I fear I remember the eighties rather too well to have anty genuine nostalgia for them.

I went out and read a couple of episode synopses today, as I was curious for more info on a couple of episodes I've seen. One observer pointed out (I don't think that this is a spoiler), the period setting of the show is rather weird. While it seems to be set in the 80s, some things still appear out of place, like they're from the 50s/60s. As an example, in one ep, a young girl is listening to an album on a record player. Not a stereo, Walkman, or anything you'd commonly see in the 80s, but one of those box-like things with a ceramic arm and one speaker. There are other, similar examples. Yet the futuristic technology that I mentioned is littered about the town is in decay, like it's been laying around for many years or decades.

 

[MisterCairo]

While it seems to be set in the 80s, some things still appear out of place, like they're from the 50s/60s.

This reminded me of something that drives some people figuratively insane about the cult film Napoleon Dynamite. It is clearly set in the present in which it was made (2004 - hint, in the opening credits there is a high school student card for ND which indicates the school year as 2004-2005), and yet:

The character Deb dresses in dayglow colours and stirrup pants, and hairstyles like it is 1984, especially the side ponytail.
The high school dance music is Forever Young by Alphaville, and the "Happy Hands Club" sign-signs The Rose by Bette Middler.
Napoleon after meeting Rex wears moon boots and 80s-90s era Hammer pants, uses a Walkman and ancient VCR.

I love it.

"My friends call me UNCLE Rico..."

 

[MisterCairo]

Not binging per se, but I have a 45 minute run on the treadmill each day, an episode of Vikings on Netflix with no commercials is 46 minutes, so, I watch it with the volume on high and subtitles so I don't miss anything with the moody Viking/Wessexian/Northumbrian/Mercian talking soundtrack. 55 inch plasma screen my friends... Who says exercise can't be fun...

On season three, episode five now.

 

[Edward]

I went out and read a couple of episode synopses today, as I was curious for more info on a couple of episodes I've seen. One observer pointed out (I don't think that this is a spoiler), the period setting of the show is rather weird. While it seems to be set in the 80s, some things still appear out of place, like they're from the 50s/60s. As an example, in one ep, a young girl is listening to an album on a record player. Not a stereo, Walkman, or anything you'd commonly see in the 80s, but one of those box-like things with a ceramic arm and one speaker. There are other, similar examples. Yet the futuristic technology that I mentioned is littered about the town is in decay, like it's been laying around for many years or decades.

We were an unusual household in the eighties; my parents had switched to cassette early on, and we didn't have a record player in the house until I turned sixteen and wanted one. AS I recall it, most young kids did the cassette thing, but anyone who got seriously into music went vinyl. Vinyl was also the chocie of an older generation, and really the dominant format until CD arrived; I remember buying my first CD in the Summer of 1991 - a long time before I had a CD player, but by the tiem I got one I had half a dozen disks to put on it.

I remember a lot of kids back in the early eighties putting on their parents records; my grandparents had a record player I was fascinated with (and an album, which I now have, of nursery rhymes and songs they kept for me - I have a strongm emory of being about three and it was a big deal to have My Record put on in the dining room while we ate dinner). I also recall that cassette-single never took off, all singles were vinyl ,so a lot of kids who bought a single with their own money were automatically into vinyl there. The description of the player you give is definitely a much older thing.... maybe the idea is to indicate something from the fifties or sixties, a parent or grandparent's Old Thing that is now just an old thing for the kids to play with.... in 1983, 1960 was like 1997 now. Eeps.... I have CDs that are older now than an original 7" of Elvis's take on That's Alright Mama was in 1983.... If they're presenting these thing as "80s", yeah, that's a bit off, but the way I remember the 80s, it wasn't much different from the 70s until at least 1985. A friend of mine's dad was satill wearing flares in 1989...

This reminded me of something that drives some people figuratively insane about the cult film Napoleon Dynamite. It is clearly set in the present in which it was made (2004 - hint, in the opening credits there is a high school student card for ND which indicates the school year as 2004-2005), and yet:

The character Deb dresses in dayglow colours and stirrup pants, and hairstyles like it is 1984, especially the side ponytail.
The high school dance music is Forever Young by Alphaville, and the "Happy Hands Club" sign-signs The Rose by Bette Middler.
Napoleon after meeting Rex wears moon boots and 80s-90s era Hammer pants, uses a Walkman and ancient VCR.

I love it.

"My friends call me UNCLE Rico..."

It's a film I hated. I tried, I watched it the whole way thorugh, but I think the problem I had was that I absolutely loathed all of the characters that were supposed to be sympathetic. That said, I think with the overall vibe what they were trying to suggest was one of those backwater communites whose heyday had been the eighties and where, tucked out of the way of the modern world, not much had changed since. It's not an uncommon concept, really; I remember noticing by my late teens how many older people had reached a certain point in their lives and just sort of frozen there. The father of a friend still wearing flared trousers in 1989. The woamn in our church's choir who to this day dresses immaculately in the fashions of 1984. I think this can happen to whole towns.... presumably in the film, the joke is that it's a backwater stuck in the eighties... (certinly reminded me of a lot of places in my own native Northern Irelan. At least, those that aren't still stuck in the seventeenth century... ).

Not binging per se, but I have a 45 minute run on the treadmill each day, an episode of Vikings on Netflix with no commercials is 46 minutes, so, I watch it with the volume on high and subtitles so I don't miss anything with the moody Viking/Wessexian/Northumbrian/Mercian talking soundtrack. 55 inch plasma screen my friends... Who says exercise can't be fun...

On season three, episode five now.

Great show. The narrative arc across tow seasons very much has two halves; I'm enjoynig the second half as much as the first. My favourite trhing in all of it, though, has been the relationship between Ragnar and Athelston the monk.

 

[Frunobulax]

We were an unusual household in the eighties; my parents had switched to cassette early on, and we didn't have a record player in the house until I turned sixteen and wanted one. AS I recall it, most young kids did the cassette thing, but anyone who got seriously into music went vinyl. Vinyl was also the chocie of an older generation, and really the dominant format until CD arrived; I remember buying my first CD in the Summer of 1991 - a long time before I had a CD player, but by the tiem I got one I had half a dozen disks to put on it.

I remember a lot of kids back in the early eighties putting on their parents records; my grandparents had a record player I was fascinated with (and an album, which I now have, of nursery rhymes and songs they kept for me - I have a strongm emory of being about three and it was a big deal to have My Record put on in the dining room while we ate dinner). I also recall that cassette-single never took off, all singles were vinyl ,so a lot of kids who bought a single with their own money were automatically into vinyl there. The description of the player you give is definitely a much older thing.... maybe the idea is to indicate something from the fifties or sixties, a parent or grandparent's Old Thing that is now just an old thing for the kids to play with.... in 1983, 1960 was like 1997 now. Eeps.... I have CDs that are older now than an original 7" of Elvis's take on That's Alright Mama was in 1983.... If they're presenting these thing as "80s", yeah, that's a bit off, but the way I remember the 80s, it wasn't much different from the 70s until at least 1985. A friend of mine's dad was satill wearing flares in 1989...

I can't remember when I switched to CDs. Tapes were for the car, vinyl was for my home stereo, which I began assembling components for since the mid-70s. Most if it is still in the attic, including my Utah speakers.

However, as stated, this isn't a one-off. TV sets look more like what my family had in the 60s, I don't believe I've seen a car with anything but an AM radio in it, the fashions are rather anachronistic, and nobody seems to use a telephone.

 

[MisterCairo]

It's a film I hated

It is a polarizing film to be sure. Like Withnail and I, you either LOVE IT, HATE IT, or scratch your head and think "WTF is this"? There are no in-betweens. The directors while making it (it was based on a nine minute film school project Jared Hess made with Jon Heder, complete with the suit buying scene) admitted they had no idea what people would make of it.

It made over $40 million box office on a budget of $400k, one of the most profitable films in ratio terms of all time.

presumably in the film, the joke is that it's a backwater stuck in the eighties...

Jared Hess admitted as much. It was filmed in his hometown. In fact, the opening sequence as a whole had to be added after testing, to both "tell the audience this is about high school" and to add the school ID card with the school year on it

 

[MisterCairo]

^^^
Fun facts about Napoleon Dynamite the film:

"Pedro" was 30 at the time of filming.

"Deb" was "Enola" in Waterworld.

Jared Hess claims he had no idea "Napoleon Dynamite" was a pseudonym for Elvis Costello until one of the high school extras told him the second last of the 23 shooting days, claiming he'd met a guy in Chicago or somewhere on the street while Hess was on mission for the Mormons. Costello remains convinced the name was just stolen.

The entire high school student body are listed as extras.

Uncle Rico's van is a 1975 Dodge Tradesman Santana that was owned by a local and used for the film. It is now in Texas and available to rent:

http://unclericovan.com/?p=gallery

Yes, I LOVE the film...

 

[Feraud]

It's actually called Tales From the Loop. It's set in the 80s, in the fictional town of Mercer, Ohio. The two major employers are the Loop, which is some sort of high-tech research facility of indeterminate mission. The other is the Quarry, where you go to make rocks if, presumably, you're not smart enough for the Loop.

So far, four eps in, it has seemed to deal with sci-fi artifacts in the town that can change things, and the moral, ethical, and personality challenges that come with using them. It's very noir and a bit dystopian. The only actor I recognize is Jonathan Price.

I enjoyed this one a lot.

The wife and I watched Devs on Hulu and it was pretty trippy. The writer/director Alex Garland also did Ex Machina.

 

[Edward]

Alex Garland also wrote [iThe Beach[/i] (the book is vastly superior to the film), and the screenplay for the outstanding 28 Days Later.

I can't remember when I switched to CDs. Tapes were for the car, vinyl was for my home stereo, which I began assembling components for since the mid-70s. Most if it is still in the attic, including my Utah speakers.

I started buying vinyl with a vengeance in 1989, and CDs also in 1990 (got my first CD player in 92). My parents always used cassettes; I had a few, though mostly they were for the Walkman on the move, and once I was able to buy vinyl and CD I stopped buying cassettes entirely, save for blank ones for copying my vinyl to take it on the move.... I am about to give away the stereo system I got for my 18th, nearly twenty-seven years ago (it's just, sadly, worn out - not unlike me!). Its replacement will have a tuner, vinyl and CD, but instead of a cassette, I'll be hooking up a laptop for my own playlists.... The times, they are indeed a-changin'.

However, as stated, this isn't a one-off. TV sets look more like what my family had in the 60s, I don't believe I've seen a car with anything but an AM radio in it, the fashions are rather anachronistic, and nobody seems to use a telephone.

Soundsl ike they're aiming for some tiemline all of their own. Interesting.

 

[Frunobulax]

Alex Garland also wrote [iThe Beach[/i] (the book is vastly superior to the film), and the screenplay for the outstanding 28 Days Later.



I started buying vinyl with a vengeance in 1989, and CDs also in 1990 (got my first CD player in 92). My parents always used cassettes; I had a few, though mostly they were for the Walkman on the move, and once I was able to buy vinyl and CD I stopped buying cassettes entirely, save for blank ones for copying my vinyl to take it on the move.... I am about to give away the stereo system I got for my 18th, nearly twenty-seven years ago (it's just, sadly, worn out - not unlike me!). Its replacement will have a tuner, vinyl and CD, but instead of a cassette, I'll be hooking up a laptop for my own playlists.... The times, they are indeed a-changin'.



Soundsl ike they're aiming for some tiemline all of their own. Interesting.

I had the good fortune of spending my late teens and early twenties working at record stores, during the time when used records and second-hand vinyl became popular. I had a very good collection of 60s/70s/80s rock on vinyl, but unloaded them on eBay a few years ago, as I hadn't even had a working turntable in over a decade.

Now I'm lazy and mostly stream, although I still have several hundred CDs.

 

[Frunobulax]

I wrote a review of this some weeks ago. We enjoyed it. Kinda like "Stranger Things" without being clubbed over the head withe 80's nostalgia.

Worf

Sorry for the late reply, but can you please point me to your review? I'd like to read it.

 

[scotrace]

We've been alternating between old episodes of ER (Hulu, we're up to season five), and playing Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (level 33).
I bought Call of Duty WWII but haven't been able to get three yards across the beach at Normandy in three weeks.

 

[Frunobulax]

We finished Tales From the Loop last night. The last ep was directed by Jodi Foster, and was pretty good. While I want to see a Season 2, I still found some of the series rather uneven. The focus on human character development/interactio, using sci-fi as an incidental background, i a good idea. A few of the episodes were a little uninspiring, however.

A few days ago, at my wife's behest, we started watching Dead To Me on Netflix, with Christina Applegate. Hit and miss there also. Some of it has been funny, and the direction it's going is interesting, but whether they can pull it together and make something out of it is still a question.

 

[Edward]

I'm currently working my way through the latest series of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch redux on Netflix, with the Sabrina role played by the young lady who was Jhon Hamm's daughter in Mad Men. It's a fascinating little series with (in the best sci-fi and horror traditions) many mainstream social (and religious) mores challenged through the allegorical "church of night". Currently it's dealing with the politics of Hell, as based on Dante. A clever little show that's pleasantly diverting and asksthe "but what if"s that the original glossed over.

I had the good fortune of spending my late teens and early twenties working at record stores, during the time when used records and second-hand vinyl became popular. I had a very good collection of 60s/70s/80s rock on vinyl, but unloaded them on eBay a few years ago, as I hadn't even had a working turntable in over a decade.

Now I'm lazy and mostly stream, although I still have several hundred CDs.

I'm anti-streaming, but I do love my MP3 player for taking so much of my collection on the move (it was a lifesaver last November when I had a work 'day' trip to Paris forcibly extended by and additional three hours each way on the Eurostar...). The hifi system I'm building now, the plan is to include a laptop / MP3 plug in via DAC, so I can do my own playlists and such as is convenient. I do love the chance to put on vinyl and actually listen to an album as was designed by the artist - it's interesting how streaming/digital convenience has so radically altered how we listen to music. There are huge plusses to it, of course: I choose to see it as an additional rather than talking away from. Still, nothing for me can beat the ritual of putting on a record, even if a CD can run it a close second.