majestic

Would I use a Microsoft OS at work where I deal with a Microsoft ERP system... let's see... why yes, I do, actually. The Apple ID is purely for my phone. Our work mobiles are all iPhones.

Did you go and peek at what's going on or was the trailer that concinving? edit: Kind of mini-watch guide: There are three films and a TV show, the show exist in a TV broadcast version (which is what you get on streaming services) and a Blu Ray version. The BR version has updated animation, but also minor changes here and there (and some soundtrack shenanigans). The first two films, Beginnings and Eternal cover the events of the TV anime. They're better animated (although how much one likes the CGI-ridden modern looking anime style is an entirely different question) and much better paced than the show (over an hour of mostly redundant runtime was cut), but suffer from a weaker soundtrack and the disjointed feeling you get when watching what's essentially a made for TV anime stitched together into feature film length. The third film Rebellion is a direct continuation of the anime. Whatever way you pick to start is up to you, it's hard to recommend fully either way, but the broadcast version is the easiest to access, what with being on Netflix, presumably even in Australia, although who knows, distribution licencing is supremely weird. BR and movie versions look better, broadcast version sounds better (and with a Yuki Kajiura soundtrack, that matters). Movie version is better paced. Pick your poison, unless you want to experience the full artistic progression, in which case you can go broadcast, followed by a BR rewatch and the films, but that seems awfully redundant, even with the short runtime.

Sort of, if you count Alfred Bester being a telepath in Babylon 5 as commentary. It's a clear reference, at least. My appreciation for Babylon 5 has degraded in recent times - it's a show that suffers from rewatching it. The little things you gloss over the first time become more prominent, and you'll start to notice that it's a bit messy and that the actor's performances weren't really that good (with some exceptions, but Bruce Boxleitner and Patricia Tallman can't act even if their life depended on it). Having a serialized story is nothing special in this day and age either, but it was a huge draw at the time. Contains a dig at Deep Space Nine, because the concept was apparently presented to Paramount but not picked up, and they then came out with a space station based TV show that eventually also contained serialized storytelling (although not nearly as much as Babylon 5 did). Relies heavily on keeping you entertained through a slow unravelling of a mysterious conflict, and a completely rushed conclusion to a secondary plot line (in all fairness, that is due to the troubled commitment of the studio to the show) about the rise of a fascist regime. I'm a sucker for the mystery part, but that's also a big reason why rewatches aren't nearly as interesting. Once you know what's going on (and what is going on is a tad silly), the show loses a part of its appeal. Traded more newtonian space physics for straight up more space action somewhere in season three. Is very well worth a watch for fans of sci-fi, but I prefer Deep Space Nine. Cue random rabid Babylon 5 fan berating me in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...

Blood-C, Episode 4: Age kind of matters, guys. Sakura is endearing in her inability to understand the feelings of others towards her - and that's because she's 12. Saya on the other hand is denser than Sakura ever was, and not even her sheltered upbringing can fully explain that. Okay, yeah, Fighting Evil By The Moonlight (tm) probably does a number on your brain, particularily in such a scenario, but come on... Also can't shake the feeling that literally everyone she interacts with (possibly except for the twins, her other friend and the class rep) has some hidden agenda. Fumito rings every creepy Pegasus warning bell. Conclusion: I'm 11:29 in on the fourth episode at the point of writing this.

Apple decided to lock my ID for no particular reason, so I had to jump through some hoops to reactivate it. *sigh*

Oh, by the way, as you're already here @Gorth , how about watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica? Look at this bubbly trailer: But really, like, watch Sailor Moon first. The 90ies one, not Crystal.

It was something I came up with a while ago. Maybe one of the others still has the relevant PMs, if you really want to know, just don't blame me afterwards. I wash my hands of the entire sordid ordeal.

The actual Bruno would watch JoJo's for the hot muscle dudes.

For the love of all that is holy, that is one mean nightmare. I guess, you know, time for some expectation spoilers for the next two episodes - don't blame me if you cick and have expectations then! I'm pretty sure Bruno would watch Kill La Kill and like it for all the fanservice, and tell us all about his Ryuko x Mako fantasies. Although, I don't know, Satsuki's fascist regime should be right up his alley. Great, now I'll be stuck with that thought for a while.

Looks like I should watch entire episodes before posting about them. edit:

I'm always trying to pre-guess twists when I'm aware of them, which is a bit more problematic than simply not knowing and figuring it out passively. Sometimes I semi-jokingly manage, like with Vampire Princess Miyu. Still can't believe the anime pulled that off. Heh. Most twists aren't very surprising though. Why are you watching Elfen Lied by the way, the price of admission for this thread is watching Sailor Moon.

Halfway through Blood-C, Episode 3. Speculation: The twins remind me an awful lot of Yui and Ritsu, except even more extremely synchronized. Still expecting this to fall completely apart halfway through the show. edit: Speculation, part two:

Heh, when I think about it, the three animated films on my list could easily be called maudlin as well. Both Violet Evergaden and the Cardcaptor Sakura movies live off of being sentimental, just in very different ways. One is very heartwarming, the other is soul-crushing until the mood is ruined by the happy ending (and technically it retroactively ruins the series, but that's something else entirely...).

I don't mind, for all I care the entire show could be Saykura happily hopping up and down town singing to herself and being embarrassed by people hearing her.

Everything that ends with Sailor Moon and Steven Universe is well indeed, even if you happen across a Rebuild or two on the road. Or a Madoka in your case. edit: Or Cardcaptor Sakura. Heh.

Blood-C, Episode 2: Saya really is an older version of Sakura. She's blissfully unaware of what's going on around her, brings food to the boy she apparently likes, who really reminds me of Emo McEdgelordface from X, and who curiously enough always shows up directly after their teacher arrives. Alwas in the nick of time there, and always playfully chided about getting into trouble soon. Of course, two episodes isn't enough to fully form a pattern, but given Nanase Ohkawa's fondness for teacher and student romances, might there be something going on? It also doesn't help that the boy with the crush on Saya and her friend from the café both sound and look a good deal like Sakura's father (and Yukito - at least for looks, not the voice, you can't really copy Megumi Ogata). She also fights a tentacle monster plant thing in this episode, which looks an awful lot like a hentai'ed up version of a Leever from Zelda. A few weird scenes with a focus on the twin's behinds and Saya's legs where I don't really know if they were meant to demonstrate something or just there for a few bits of fanservice. Hard to tell with this one. So far, not the worst thing I've watched recently, although I've got to admit that the whole storyline isn't too interesting (yet?).

Looks like I lied with my assessment there. I have seen WALL-E too. It was fine. I felt like that poor tractor. More than once. It also never bothered me that it plays mostly on Earth - or that they visit Earth at all. I watched the He Man cartoons when they were on, but there was always something else I liked more.

Ah, I see. There's a goodly chance that Dark Star will turn out to be a bad idea either, but at least you're not going to be annoyed by any action.

There are some worthwhile things in there, regardless. I mean, obviously, you should not try Masters of the Universe, that's the epitome of bad 80ies action shlock and it's not even liked by anyone appreciating such things. Just by me. Well, and maybe @Raithe who understands the greatness that is Skeletor in the film. I can agree with that, more or less (Dark Knight was too messy for me). Begins had the easy task of measuring up to the prior Batman failures, so hey, not sure how much that... worked in its favor. Probably a lot. Fun fact, I haven't seen it at all. My nephew's go-to film was Cars, and I've seen that a god damned amount of time, and I consider Cars to be the... most wanting of the Pixar films, out of which I liked A Bug's Life and Finding Nemo, and A Bug's Life was more due to the improvement over prior computer animated films. I don't think I've watched any Western animation films since Finding Nemo. Not counting being subjected to Cars, I mean. Well, the Steven Universe movie, so that's one at least.

Most likely not. I can't rewatch what I haven't seen, right? I assume you mean the movie, not the black and white serial, because that was pretty goofy.

It's a bit weird to say I'm having a hard time coming up with a top ten and then ramble on about the many movies that didn't make the list, but there are only so many that really stand out for some reason, and not many at all are readily explainable. There's no real reason why I should like Dark Star so much, yet I do. My wife is absolutely not movie or TV show compatible with me. Didn't stop us though. She hates almost everything I watch. It's kind of funny, actually. edit: The Black Hole is a film I regret rewatching. It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it to be. Eh.

I don't really buy that you've seen either Wanted or Indien, so I'll just disregard that last statement there. Whisper of the Heart isn't just the best Ghibli film, it's legitimately one of the best films I had the pleasure of watching, even with that not so great ending. Have you watched Dark Star yet and not posted about it? That bad? Did it get turned off? I also realized by reading the other posts that I forgot Memento. Yes, the film is by far and large "just" its gimmick, but that worked surprisingly well. It's Nolan's best film, and the only one I would truly consider excellent. The others all have issues, even though everyone seems to love The Prestige, for instance. Inception was fine-ish, great visuals, but there's something off about DiCaprio's and Ellen Page's acting, or maybe I'm projecting something on Ellen Page there. Guess compared to the rest of the DC movies the Batman films were decent enough, but even them... eh, dunno. Begins was all right, the others increasingly confusing, and the last one pretty bleh. Here's the funny thing - as a general rule, I don't rewatch much either. It took me close to 25 years to have another go at Sailor Moon. Having seen Star Wars as much as I did comes from a time where I had a lot of free time, only a handful of video tapes, two channels on TV (neither of which showed anything worthwhile for me, at the time) and a good bunch of books that I already went through twice. They were my Frozen, I guess.

Nothing will ever be as awesome as Neil Breen's ballsack.

I'm having a hard time coming up with a top 10 list. I've seen a lot of films, and a good deal of them are either of a genre I enjoy or do something well enough to not be considered bad, but as someone once asked me after the umpteenth time we watched something at the theater and my reaction was "It was fine, really": Do you like movies at all? Why yes, I do, why else would I spend money on watching them. Do I define this based on my greatest appreciation for whatever reason, then that list suddenly includes films that based on any objective criteria shouldn't even have been made. Like the Masters of the Universe live action film. Should I focus on watershed movies in film history that I happened to like? If so, there's a place for For a Fistful of Dollars, even though I very much prefer Once Upon A Time In The West. Ultimately, throwing out any non-subjective reasons to appreciate something beyond pure enjoyment to make this manageable, but it will also mean that a lot of films that normally are on these lists aren't in it (like Termintor, Alien, Indiana Jones movies that aren't Crystal Skull, etc.). I'm also going to include animation, because I can. It's also something based on my current mood and place in life, sprinkled with a couple of all time classics. Tomorrow it might be different, but here goes nothing: Indien (1993) or Wanted (1999) - good idea to include year of release, because writing Wanted would otherwise leave people dumbfounded. Wanted - the one with James McAvoy - is terrible. It's so bad it crosses from so bad it's good back to just awful. Wanted on the other hand is a great, both funny and thought provoking film about someone escaping from reality, and Indien is a tragicomedy road movie. Who knows, since I'm not exactly planning this post this might not even be an "or" but a both - depends on how many films I really loved I can come up with. Masters of the Universe (1987) - the obvious guilty pleasure. This is just bloody fantastic, and I was sort of surprised that nobody else seems to be of my opinion. Has an absolutely great Skeletor philosophizing about the loneliness of heroes and villains, cheesy special effects and soundtrack, totally ridiculous plot elements, an early role by Robert Duncan McNeill. I will never say good bye to this, only good journey. Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) - not only the best of Sergio Leone, but the best Western. Keep your John Wayne, and yes, it wins out over The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Period. Fantastic soundtrack too (but what else would you expect from Morricone), great use of the actors and even a great performance of Charles Bronson. The only way to make this better would be to have Clint Eastwood play Harmonica (the role, not the instrument). Violet Evergarden (2020) - so now everyone who is a regular at the obviously best thread on this board will wonder why this is here after I've spent hours writing what amounts to a 25 page essay on how much I hated the ending, but that's five minutes out of it's two hours and twenty minutes runtime. Has the obvious disadvantage of being a film based on a series. It might still work as a standalone film, but won't be as effective. I'm honestly not sure if this should be here, or not, but it sure left a mark that barely any other film can claim to have. Could be substituted for Marriage Story. Dark Star (1974) - this film does have a cult following that enjoys it in spite of its flaws, while I like it for its flaws. Honestly, the absurdity of it all makes this so much worthwhile - or utterly boring, depending on how much you appreciate when really nothing happens for an hour in the most absurd of ways, followed by the 20 minutes that everyone else likes. Cardcaptor Sakura - The Sealed Card (2000) - Where Violet Evergarden might work as a standalone film for fans of romantic drama (and B-plots involving terminally ill children) there's no way this works at all without having seen the series, as it is the capstone that ends it. Or should have ended it, because just like so many things these days, it got an unnecessary and terrible sequel series. This film is probably as close to a 10 out of 10 you can get, but it does that simply also because there are 70 episodes establishing these characters. In a way, that's close to cheating. Movies based on a series more often than not end up being an overly long standalone episode never utilizing the strength of the series to create a worthwhile film. Not so this one. Paid with having no appeal for non-fans. Star Wars, original trilogy (1977 to 1983) - no real need to separate these. I could, but then I would have to say that Empire is the best of the three, but Return is the one I like the most - very much in spite of its many flaws. Also the film I saw the most. Easily. Not just a couple of times, more like hundreds. I killed a bunch of VHS tapes watching and rewatching this, like daily. Whisper of the Heart (1995) - I'm just going to agree with @Bartimaeus and say that this has become my favorite Studio Ghibli film. Iron Sky (2012) - if it weren't for Iron Sky, Starship Troopers would be here. Expected nothing going to the theater, found absolutely biting satire that got way too real back in 2016. Charming performance by Udo Kier, as always. Has a really bad sequel. Stay clear of that. Has an extraordinary amount of negative votes in IMDB by people who simply didn't get it. I bet a whole bunch of them would bite their own butts today for saying it's way too unrealistic to have a Sarah Palin stand-in as president. *snort* The Big Lebowsky (1998) - @Gromnir might say that films should have a plot, and he likes to cite this one as proof, but I'll just disagree even if I in principle agree with the argument. This is the best film about nothing ever made, and it's all down to three perfect performances where you can't quite shake the feeling that everyone is just playing themselves, not roles. Well, that's ten films (13 if we count Star Wars as three separate films and both Indien and Wanted). I could add more, I guess, but a top ten it was supposed to be. A fair amount of new additions removed some others from what I normally would have. The list also leaves out a few films that I really enjoyed but are all on a similar level with nothing to elevate them in a subjective way. There's the fantastic Terminator, for instance. Alien. Nightmare on Elm Street 3, which is my favorite slasher film (actually, the Nightmare on Elm Street series is the only slasher series I have any sort of appreciation for, and that's 100% down to Robert Englund - the third movie also has the kookiest premise and is just overall good fun to boot). It's leaving out the fantastic works of Luc Besson and Roman Polanski (both of which are very problematic filmmakers for obvious reasons) which probably deserve a mention too. These are all films I would watch to the end if I happened across them, as would obviously be The Thing, or Escape from New York. There are more local films (Muttertag, an absurd black humor satire with the five actors of the main cast playing well over 20 roles). Many french films starring Jean Reno or Alain Delon. Any of the older Asterix films. Various Disney films, several Pixar ones. The dour but impressive works of Michael Haneke, like The White Ribbon or Amour. Shortbus, that @KP the meanie zucchini mentioned, certainly was a great little film, although this is so far out of mainstream (and @Bartimaeus in case you don't know what it is about but got curious after us mentioning it, I don't know if there's a censored version, perhaps. An uncut version is, I think, out of the question - it has several scenes of unsimulated intercourse, but even a cut for TV version is not really... compatible, I think). Bunch of guilty pleasures that are missing too. Like the third Starship Troopers film. Other cult films like Cube, or classics Casablanca. I have probably forgotten to mention a whole bunch of films. I've just seen way too many to count. Most of them were... not good. Still, with the sheer volume, there are too many that I liked for whatever reason to not make an overblown post here, even with being picky. Because for as many films that I seem to have really liked based on this post, the ones I hate are legion. The lot of the American Pie films. @Hurlshot's favorite The Hangover is so offensive based purely on its premise that I don't need to watch it at all to know I'd hate it. Anything that has Adam Sandler in it. And lastly, because as if this post wasn't offensive enough, there's a huge amount of absolutely overrated films and people. Like virtually everything by Quentin Tarantino. Natural Born Killers. From Dusk 'Til Dawn. What did KP say? Have at me.

Very much not safe for work to google, just a heads up in case any of you go "huh, what's that, funny name" right now.