Hidden Gems of HBO Max

SpacePProtean wrote:

In the first episode, the Emperor makes reference to "the gods," yet the Orange Catholic Bible is expressly monotheistic in the Abrahamic tradition. Literally unwatchable.

It's only been what 50-60 years after the Jihad so that saying wouldn't be uncommon at this point in time...

Lord of the Rings - the 1978 version!- is now available!

It is just so bad, so wonderful and so bad!

I remember liking it as a kid. I think I'll leave my memories there.

Hmm... I wonder if the other films Ralph Bakshi made in that style are available anywhere. For some reason I feel like Wizards or Fire and Ice would hold up better.

Dune Prophecy has been ok for me so far. For such a common thing in modern television I'm really getting bored with half the episodes being flashbacks. First episode was ok to set the stage but can't we just cover this stuff in a 30 second exposition conversation and move on? Or maybe not understand the main character motivations for 5 minutes without a flashback?

To be fair, I think I enjoy more the flashbacks than the current timeline.

Watched Caddo Lake, a Max original movie, how they like to say it. If you've watched the series Dark, this is that, much simpler, more American, not bad.

I really liked Caddo Lake. I watched it not having the slightest idea what it was about, and had a great time.

Actually enjoyed the first two episodes of Creature Commandos.

Seems to canonically connect with events from The Suicide Squad (2021) and the Peacemaker show.

Animation is okay, in that kind of generic adult animation style. You're not gonna come away raving about the animation quality like it was something from Studio Trigger, but it's not bad either. Tone-wise leans towards the Harley Quinn show side of things, but isn't quite that slapstick.

Voice actors are doing a really solid job.

Mario_Alba wrote:

I really liked Caddo Lake. I watched it not having the slightest idea what it was about, and had a great time. :)

Same. I wasn't going to give it a look until I heard that it was surprisingly good, and I completely agree.

Couldn't get my wife to commit to Dark and the subtitles. Maybe that will be good enough

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

It's pretty much what you'd expect in terms of emotional impact, but I admit I was floored when they said...

Spoiler:

... he was actually allergic to horses.

Saw the trailer for that. Definitely looks like a watch

Watchmen: Chapter One

A competent almost 1 for 1 adaptation of the original graphic novel with good performances from the cast, but if you've read the book over and over again, you wouldn't miss much by skipping this.

Rat Boy wrote:

Watchmen: Chapter One

A competent almost 1 for 1 adaptation of the original graphic novel with good performances from the cast, but if you've read the book over and over again, you wouldn't miss much by skipping this.

But you will miss Manhattan doing an Austin Powers routine for most of his scenes.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice:

I'm a little confused. I'm really not seeing a downside to Monica Bellucci's character.

Dune: Prophecy Season 1, Episode 6:

Can't wait for the Frank Herbert invention...

Spoiler:

... face-dancer...

... to enter popular parlance.

Watched the first episode of Get Millie Black and it's got me interested so far.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16369304/

Main character is a detective from Scotland Yard, who returns to Jamaica after her abusive mother dies. She ends up working missing persons cases and joining the Kingston police.

I don't pretend to know much about Jamaica, but seems like a grimmer leaning detective show, that's going to get into themes of race and gender and power within the context of Jamaica.

Definitely seems like it'll be thematically heavy, so not a light whodunit or procedural. Some slurs for transgender/gay people used fairly early in the episode, as a heads up. I don't think in a cheap/provocative way, but that is going to be part of the show.

Of additional note is that the writer appears to be Marlon James, who wrote Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50608676-black-leopard-red-wolf