What are you watching?

[Swatopluk]

My father faces a dilemma there. The cinematic version is available with the Swedish track, the extended TV version only in the German dub.

----

Some old Kulturfilme from the 30ies with the general theme of 'green Berlin on the water'. It's a little known fact that Berlin has the highest number of bridges of any city in Europe.

[Roland Deschain]

My father faces a dilemma there. The cinematic version is available with the Swedish track, the extended TV version only in the German dub.

I had no idea. I wonder why, if it's a Swedish production, that the TV version isn't available with the Swedish track. If i'm going to be watching a dubbed version, I may as well find one with an English dub if I can't find a Swedish one. Odd.

I've subscribed to Netflix for their 30-day free trial. This may have been a mistake, as I now have enough films and TV shows to keep me busy for the next several years, and I mean that almost literally. I'm currently working my way through Andromeda, the excellent science fiction series created by Gene Roddenbury. I'm a third of the way through season 3 at the moment. I never did finish watching it when it was on TV, so this will finally give me closure on how it ends.

[Swatopluk]

It was a Swedish-German co-production

[Pachyderm]

Baltimore Ravens vs Washington Redskins

[Swatopluk]

Time for the Sunday edition of Up! with Chris Hayes

[pieces o nine]

I'm enjoying the http://pope news recap from Stephen Colbert

[Link is to ColbertNation . com]

[Swatopluk]

Yesterday evening I saw the opening film of a retrospective of old Chinese films (1929-1965, i.e. pre-Cultural Revolution).
It was Song at Midnight (1937).
A rather strange experience. The basic plot is clearly inspired by Phantom of the Opera, although the motives of the characters are quite different. The sets and the acting style reminded me strongly of cloak and dagger movies with a strong Spanish flair (like an early Zorro film). And several times characters suddenly began to sing* the praise of the revolution (not yet the communist one but against the old feudal system and (veiled) the Japanese occupation).
The music was also quite eclectic (in a 'choose 5 records at random'' way). A Chinese song sung in a midnight serenade style (with guitar), Night on the Bare Mountain, a classical string piece (I knew it but could not remember the composer) and Rhapsody in Blue(!!!) for the entry of the big bad near the end.
Strange, interesting and entertaining but (at least today) only digestible for a cinephile audience.
Btw, the Chinese delegation that was present seemed to be a bit puzzled why this film was chosen for the opening (I overheard one of the organizers saying that afterwards).

*in some cases literally

[pieces o nine]

Something new from Bob Smeerfak...

[youtube=425,350]dYyDJ-rM5cw[/youtube]

[Swatopluk]

Pirates: Stagnetti's Revenge 

[pieces o nine]

Finally got around to watching The Expendables.   

I knew the cast and general premise; I'd heard it praised as an Action! Blockbuster! movie with comic dialogue. Instead I lost interest early on... it was boring, really.


Also, what is up with Stallone's lower lip? Did he get hit so many times in all those Rocky  films that the attachments to the rest of his face just gave up? Can he not afford a lip lift? These are the sorts of distractions that ruin a [what is the masculine equivalent of "chick flick"?] like this one for me.

In homage to both Sly and the late Roger Ebert I give it one lip down.

[Swatopluk]

A Let's Play of the old (1995) game Battle Isle Phase IV - Incubation

[pieces o nine]

All the school, business, and services closings...


SNOW DAY!!!

[Swatopluk]

The Rachel Maddow Show

[pieces o nine]

Mythbusters
a "Blast from the Past' special, to be followed by Season 10 premier.

[Swatopluk]

A homage to the Skladanowsky brothers.
They were pioneers of cinema and beat the Lumiere brothers by about 8 weeks with the first commercial big screen show of 'living images'.
But the equipment that they had developed was too complicated and lost to the simpler and more reliable French models.
Interestingly their projector could have become the basis for 3D since it worked with two parallel fim strips that got projected alternately (that way one frame got projected while the other strip got transported behind the blind) and one of the brothers later produced stereo photographies. Serendipity was absent unfortunately. The great irony is that it would have made the work much easier since the brothers had to cut the negative fame by frame to produce the two projection strips. Had they modified their camera to take two strips from the start, all that menial work could have been avoided  with a spectacular result. Just imagine that the first public films ever could have been in 3D.