Tag: amazon prime video

Movies vs Books

Why am I in such a Tolkien phase right now? It’s probably due to the second season of Rings of Power, but I read The Silmarillion and I am rereading Lord of the Rings and I am watching Rings of Power and I am (finally) watching the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies. I’m about 15 minutes away from finishing the second movie. It is requiring more suspending of disbelief than I am really willing to give. I’m in a weirdly completist mode now and have to get through all three movies (even though it is laughable that Jackson took a 400 page book and adapted it into a nine hour movie).

What’s the point of this post though? The point of this post is a spoiler free comment on Rings of Power season two episode four. I saw the first two Lord of the Rings movies before I read the books. When I was done with everything I was able to look back and consider if the books were better or worse than the movies. I think they are pretty even. There are a couple of things about the movies that I prefer to the books though. First, there is a whole lot less singing in the movies. In Fellowship, especially, people are singing all over the place and it just gets tedious.

The other thing that I like better about the movies eventually became my absolute favorite thing about the movies. Literally the thing I like best. Simply, they left Tom Bombadil out. I mean… The Hobbit was a kids book. Lord of the Rings was not. Somehow it seems that Tolkien must have tried to make Fellowship a little more kid-friendly by throwing this insufferably boring, painful character named Tom Bombadil into the story. In my current re-read of the books I am in the middle of the Tom Bombadil arc right now and I cannot get out of it fast enough. It’s just awful. Jackson left him out of the movies and it makes me love the movies that much more.

I just finished this week’s new episode of Rings of Power. Season two, episode four. Without giving out any spoilers, mostly because the news has been out since we saw a trailer months ago, Tom Bombadil is in the episode.

Why? Why, Amazon Prime Video? Why are you torturing me like this? I will say that he’s nowhere near as awful in the episode as he was in the books, but all the same… why would you do this to me?

The Great James Bond Movie Rewatch of 2022 Update

Did I read correctly that Amazon Prime Video is dropping the Bond movies in two weeks? I need to get cracking then!

Here’s the latest update. Goldfinger is as awesome as awesome gets. Sean Connery is the best Bond without question. I mean, Daniel Craig is fantastic as Bond, Roger Moore is iconic, but Connery just IS James Bond. Period. The best there is and the best there ever will be.

I finished Thunderball last night. It is a great movie, but probably not up to Goldfinger’s new standard. It’s the forth movie and the first that isn’t better than the previous movies. I still stand by From Russia with Love being my favorite, but I can’t say anything negative about Goldfinger and the only negative thing I can say about Thunderball is that it isn’t Goldfinger. It’s almost like that movie was just a technical challenge. Can we film a full battle scene underwater? Let’s find out. My favorite part of the big fight at the end is Bond with the jet pack thingie on his back, booking it through the battle and just reaching out and pulling masks off bad guys. Just, excuse me, pardon me.

Up next is You Only Live Twice. I haven’t watched that movie in 100 years. I remember it being good but not quite up to the standard. It’s the first clear step back, but it’s still a good one. We’ll see if my memory is accurate.

Until next time, here is my updated status bar:

  • Sean Connery
    • Dr. No (1962) – Finished
    • From Russia with Love (1963) – Finished
    • Goldfinger (1964) – Finished
    • Thunderball (1965) – Finished
    • You Only Live Twice (1967)
  • George Lazenby
    • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
  • Sean Connery (Again)
    • Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
  • Roger Moore
    • Live and Let Die (1973)
    • The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
    • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
    • Moonraker (1979)
    • For Your Eyes Only (1981)
    • Octopussy (1983)
    • A View To A Kill (1985)
  • Timothy Dalton
    • The Living Daylights (1987)
    • License to Kill (1989)
  • Pierce Brosnan
    • GoldenEye (1995)
    • Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
    • The World Is Not Enough (1999)
    • Die Another Day (2002)
  • Daniel Craig
    • Casino Royale (2006)
    • Quantum of Solace (2008)
    • Skyfall (2012)
    • Spectre (2015)
    • No Time to Die (2021)

The Great James Bond Movie Rewatch of 2022

I had been thinking about it for a while. Over the last month or so there have been a ton of television shows that I have been following closely. For the most part I watch new episodes while doing my morning walkies and that’s how I stay caught up. Most of those shows have ended now so I was thinking of what I could watch in their place (until the next round of must-see shows kicks off).

I started watching the first Hobbit movie but it wasn’t really holding me. I’ll get back to it, but I needed something more engaging. The answer to my conundrum? Bond movies. All of them. It should take me months to finish. Yeah, Bond movies will be the ticket.

I started The Great James Bond Movie Rewatch of 2022 last night with Dr. No. The first official Bond flick and Sean Connery’s debut. I forgot how mean he was in this movie. He’s pretty brutal for 1962 as well. He just plain murders that geologist dude, including a second insurance shot in the back. Blood thirsty.

During today’s walkies I started From Russia with Love. I didn’t get terribly far into it. I think it’s safe to say that Goldfinger is the template for all Bond movies that followed it, but for me personally, From Russia with Love might be my favorite of them all. It’s still a spy movie first and foremost. With Goldfinger they start devolving into fantasy action movies rather than spy movies. I don’t know. I love them all, and Goldfinger is easily one of the best, but there is just something about From Russia with Love that really works for me.

As with the Marvel rewatch I did a few months ago, I will keep an updated list of the movies as I watch them because… it’s my page and I can do whatever I want, dig? Note, I am not including the unofficial movies. I don’t acknowledge that the spoof version of Casino Royale exists (sorry, Woody Allen), and the final Connery appearance in Never Say Never Again was not made by the same studio and is just a remake of Thunderball. It’s a good movie and I might tack it on to the end, but it’s not official so it’s not on the list.

Here is the full list of Bond movies, in order of release:

  • Sean Connery
    • Dr. No (1962) – Finished
    • From Russia with Love (1963) – In progress
    • Goldfinger (1964)
    • Thunderball (1965)
    • You Only Live Twice (1967)
  • George Lazenby
    • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
  • Sean Connery (Again)
    • Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
  • Roger Moore
    • Live and Let Die (1973)
    • The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
    • The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
    • Moonraker (1979)
    • For Your Eyes Only (1981)
    • Octopussy (1983)
    • A View To A Kill (1985)
  • Timothy Dalton
    • The Living Daylights (1987)
    • License to Kill (1989)
  • Pierce Brosnan
    • GoldenEye (1995)
    • Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
    • The World Is Not Enough (1999)
    • Die Another Day (2002)
  • Daniel Craig
    • Casino Royale (2006)
    • Quantum of Solace (2008)
    • Skyfall (2012)
    • Spectre (2015)
    • No Time to Die (2021)

The Boys

A couple of weeks ago, while convalescing, I got tired of waiting for season three of The Boys on Amazon to launch so I started watching season one. I figured I’d watch the first two seasons in time for the third season to start.

Unfortunately I got my dates mixed up. I thought the third season would start in mid-June, but it started yesterday. I was only one episode into season two. What was I to do?

I’ve been ready for season three since the minute I finished season two, back whenever that was. Should I just start season three without finishing rewatching season two?

Does it matter? Does anyone care? Do I care?

Okay, nerd-boy. Let’s finish season two. Nerd.

Kids in the Hall

The Kids in the Hall are back with the first new season since 1995 and it’s glorious. Instead of writing skits where they pretend to be old people, they actually are old people and it’s amazing.

The Headcrusher comes back in episode four and it’s incredible.

The old naked men part… that’s not so great, but everything else is phenomenal.

Thank you, Kids in the Hall. Thank you for coming back to us, especially when you’re not naked.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

I just learned some shocking news. The greatest movie ever made… the highest cinematic moment in the history of cinematic moments… the high water mark of western civilization’s artistic expression………

Is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is on Amazon Prime Video. Holy shit, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is on Amazon Prime Video!!!

Quarantine TV Update

Thanks to 50/90 and the return of some pro sports, my quarantined TV watching has fallen off the cliff. At least prior to this past weekend.

The second season of The Umbrella Academy came out. I liked the first season, so I popped on the first episode. It started with a quick recap of season one. While watching that I had two thoughts. The first was, wow, I had kinda forgotten a lot of this. The second was, wow, that season might have been a whole ton better than I remembered, and I did really like it.

I was planning to watch one episode, and spread the season out for a couple of weeks. Nope. Once I started watching I was hooked and couldn’t stop. I started the season on Saturday and finished it on Monday. Yikes. It was so good.

Prior to the start of 50/90 I started watching The Watchmen on HBO. I was only a couple of episodes in, but I was enjoying it quite a bit. I started up again last night. The second season of The Boys is coming on Amazon in a few weeks. I’ll be jumping back into that. I’ve also been picking my way through a Rick and Morty rewatch. When I’ve got 25 minutes or so to kill before work I’ll watch an episode. I’m in season two. I just watched the Unity episode where Rick creates a life form just to test out his chosen method of suicide. Is that the most colossally depressing thing you’ve ever seen or what? The show is so good.

Then there is the 800 pound gorilla in the streaming television room…. The Handmaids Tale. It’s out there. Its supposed to be amazingly good. I want to watch it. I haven’t watched it yet because I am afraid of it. I know it’s going to hit too close to home. I don’t want to find out how that show is going to make me feel.

That and sports. There’s a Bruins game at 4:00 today. I have a meeting at 4:00 today. Damn it.