Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler So what are you watching tonight?

Over the past couple says I watched the six-episode first season of Pioneer One, (http://vodo.net/pioneerone). It's free to download and pretty well-written "plausible" sci-fi. I really liked it.

I'll have to remember to check that one out, Peter.

Tonight I went to see Haywire, the new Steven Soderbergh movie. It had a bit of a different feel because of how it was shot and paced, and the soundtrack felt like a throwback to the '70s. I'm not sure it was the most successful combination, but I still kind of liked it. The star pulled off her role well. It's always more convincing when the female action star isn't super-skinny. Her low voice and badass face helped, too. It's also apparent they didn't want her to come across as unbelievably superhuman. I thought they did a decent job making her seem more real in that aspect. In any case, it's one I'll probably have to watch again before I decide how much I like it in the long run.

Still working on Coupling. Plenty to like.

I watched my Blu-ray of Contagion yesterday. I liked it well enough in the theater, and I'm glad to find I still liked it at home. It looks and sounds good, and for the type of movie it is, it's well-done. It doesn't feel like it's trying too hard to manipulate your emotions, at least in comparison to other virus movies.

Today I watched 50/50. I've always liked Seth Rogen despite several ill-conceived projects he's been largely responsible for. It was nice to see him take part in something a little more serious, in a role similar to one he played in real life to writer Will Reiser. On the other hand, I'm not the biggest fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I never did like 3rd Rock from the Sun, and more recently, I really hated his character in 500 Days of Summer. That being said, I did find him more relatable in this movie, despite my misgivings. Also, Scott Pilgrim's sister is super-cute. While I'd still have a hard time recommending this movie to anyone unless I thought it was right up their alley, there's some good stuff in there, and it can stay on my shelf.

I also watched Real Steel today. First, very nice picture quality. It opens with one of the cleanest dark scenes I remember seeing. The image throughout the entire movie doesn't disappoint. Audio was strong, too, but nothing made my jaw drop. The story was hard for me to get into. I never did care much for the characters. I guess I don't have a lot to say about that.

Coupling was a bit off after the Jeff character left. The character they dropped in, Oliver, really wasn't a worthy substitute. While it still had some great moments, it never reached the great climax I think it deserved. I'd still recommend the show, however. Some of the writing is too good to overlook.

Snow & Ashes. Excellent movie!! On of the best I've seen in a while.

Two jounalists are covering war in eastern Europe (Chechnia?) One comes out.

The movie gradually goes through what happened bouncing between present and past.

I tried to watch Red Riding Hood twice last night and fell asleep both times. Hmmm. I'm just going to send it back to Netflix and rate it poorly.

Tried watching White Irish Drinkers last night. Made it an hour in.

Bren R.

CV, I appreciate the prompt on Coupling. I'm only a few episodes in, but like it well enough, although I find the laugh track (real or otherwise) a little off-putting for some reason.

We started watching Treme. Wow. Very interested to see where this goes, and how it gets there. Fantastic music.

Oh geez, it has a laugh track? Pass.