Great Scott: an overview
We have definitely amused ourselves in doing this particular set of reviews. It was fascinating to see the Scotts’ style over a few (um, four) decades.
Final thoughts:
A: not one I’ll rewatch endlessly, but beautifully constructed.
Ridley – Blade Runner (1982)
Tony – Top Gun (1986)
A: I will never ever think this is as good a film as all those 80s boys think it is. 30 min of awesome flying; the rest is stupid love story.
Tony – Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Tony – Crimson Tide (1995)
Tony – Enemy of the State (1998)
Ridley – Gladiator (2000)
Ridley – Robin Hood (2010)
A: as above.
The Martian
The final in our Great Scott! reviewing adventure.
The Martian
Ridley (2015)
A: Basically this is our reward for getting through the others. We saw it twice in the cinema…
J: Mars has never been rendered more beautifully.
A: or realistically. I love that this is not the first mission, but well into the history of Martian exploration.
I also love the banter. And that the Commander is definite in her commitment to safety because THAT’S HOW IT SHOULD BE.
J: If this was really a NASA mission that whole conversation about aborting or not would not happen.
A: I think being on a different planet is going to have an impact on attitudes to command structures.
I love the cinematography of the storm.
J: Yup, it does a really good job of intense and frenetic without being shaky cam or hard to watch.
A: There’s a touch of the ‘do we sacrifice everything for one man’ but I like the grim reality of … no, of course you don’t. Continue reading →
Robin Hood (2010)
Getting through Great Scott!
Robin Hood
Ridley (2010)
A: And so we come to the only film on our list that neither of us has seen. This promises to be interesting. I have an abiding fascination with Robin Hood: both visually (I will quote the animated version at you; I don’t care if you disapprove of my adolescent love of the Costner version) and academically (Stephen Knight’s history is awesome). So… I’m a bit scared.
J: In ye olde times …
A: Yikes look at that font.
So, 12th century eh. Blanchett already being forceful, with a bow? I’m pleased. A flaming arrow!
J: More ye olde times …
A: Robin Longstride, eh? That’s different. But it’s still Richard not-so-lion-heart’s time. AND we’re actually on crusade with Rusty! (wait, not crusade – this is France, surely, with Richard more interested in running French bits than his English territory)
J: So basically it’s Gladiator … gosh I hope it’s not as slow. I wonder if they will show the archer’s paradox… slow motions arrows n all. Continue reading →
Spy Game: further thoughts
My beloved says that the whole movie is about the woman. And from a plot point of view, that’s true; Pitt’s character is all about saving her, and she’s the reason for the break-up of the bromance (uh, maybe this is part of my problem with it…).
The more I thought about Elizabeth Hadley, the more I realised that she is a sexy lamp. While she has apparently done some things, they mostly happen off-screen. At best, she’s a sexy lamp with a post-it note to assist with passing on some information. She’s a MacGuffin – only there to give the (male) characters something to argue about and then go get. She has zero motivation of her own within the plot, she has zero agency, she has next to no character development.
… and this is why it will never be a favourite movie.
Spy Game
Spy Game – 2001 – Tony Scott
J: We’re entering into risky territory tonight for both of us. Me because I’ve always rated Spy Game among my favourite films, but perhaps have never watched it critically… Alex because she ‘hates Spy Game’ and always refuses to watch is with me… until this project dictated… Someone is going to walk away with their tail between their legs.
Fight….
A: I haven’t seen this in… ten years? All I remember is that I loathed it. I don’t even remember why, now, but I’ve been avoiding rewatching it for all these years. And now I’m going in. The things I do. Maybe things will have changed. Maybe there will be tears. Continue reading →
Movies and TV of 2016
New TV:
Molly * Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo * X-Files (reboot) * Sonic Highways * Once Upon A Time (season 1) * The Night Manager * Carmilla (season 2) * The Expanse (season 1) * Agents of SHIELD (season 3) * Orphan Black (season 4) * Trepalium * Revolution School * Games of Thrones (season 4) * Game of Thrones (season 5) * Games of Thrones (season 6) * The Americans (season 1) * The Americans (season 2) * The Americans (season 3) * The Durrells * Once Upon A Time (season 2) * Once Upon a Time (season 3) * Person of Interest (season 1) * Carmilla (season 3) *
TV, rewatched:
Fringe (season 2) * Fringe (season 3) * Fringe (season 4) * Pride and Prejudice (BBC) * Jericho (season 1 and 2)
New movies:
Dallas Buyers Club * San Andreas * State of Affairs * Captain America: Civil War * Deadpool * The Hollow Crown (Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, Henry V) * Ghostbusters 2016 * Frozen (um, without most of the singing) * Batman v Superman * Sherpa * Pride and Prejudice and Zombies * The Art of Flight * X-Men: Apocalypse * John Carter * The Huntsman: Winter’s War * Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children * The Congress * Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy * Only Lovers Left Alive * Lover Come Back * Underworld: Awakening * Jason Bourne * Suicide Squad * Star Trek Beyond * Independence Day: Resurgence * Rogue One *
Movies, rewatched:
Mad Max: Fury Road * Sahara * Aliens * Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade * Chronicles of Riddick * The Fifth Element * The Avengers * Ghostbusters (original) * The Edge of Tomorrow * Thor: The Dark World * Captain America: The Winter Soldier * Independence Day * Alien * Top Gun * Beverley Hills Cop * Beverley Hills Cop II * It Might Get Loud * Bridge of Spies * Crimson Tide * Stargate (the movie) * The Edge of Tomorrow * Underworld * Underworld Evolution * Blade Runner * Mr and Mrs Smith * Enemy of the State * Pacific Rim * RED
Galactic Suburbia 158
Happy New Year edition! One last episode before we squeak into 2017. In which we sum up a year of culture consumed and other interests, and mourn the recently departed. You can find us on iTunes or at Galactic Suburbia.
WHAT’S NEW ON THE INTERNET?
Carrie Fisher
George Michael
Richard Adams
Vera Rubin
(note: we recorded this ep before the death of Debbie Reynolds was reported)
CULTURE CONSUMED IN 2016:
Tansy: Rogue One
Alisa: Operation Apocalypse Plan (books mentioned: Will McIntosh’s Soft Apocalypse as a guide to the probable future, Defying Doomsday)
Alex: The Arrival
Tansy: Hurricane Heels by Isabel Yap (& Buffy rewatch with daughter, because this is what 11 yr olds are for)
Alisa: PhD & Jamberry
Alex: The Expanse
Tansy: Check Please fandom & Yuri on Ice
Alisa: Paleo Cinema Podcast
Alex: Octavia Butler
Link to call for Letters to Butler
Tansy — 2016 culture round ups in Smugglivus & Ambling Down the Aqueduct
Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!
Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Ridley: 1982
Over this year my beloved and I are watching a film by either Ridley or Tony Scott. We’re watching in chronological order (well, except for this one, because it took us a while to find it…). There are, of course, spoilers.
J: Hello vintage opening … Like something from an 1980s computer game…
Also old school long from credits up front.
A: love a good scroll-up of back story. Early 21st century artificial people eh? Using them as slave labour? Not so hard to believe if you push it back another century or so. Love that this also imagined humanity was colonising other planets already.
J: Visual cues that link bank to Alien. The pyramids. Lights. Tones. Also Harrison is so young!
A: well that was a bleak opening. And I’m not just talking about the colours, but that is a big part of it. Did the giant ad on the side of the building of the Asian lady start with this movie? And you want young? Edward James Olmos! By golly he’s young! And his eyes are freaky.
J: Blue and teal started before Michael Bay … Just sayin’.
A: the music is going to be an interesting part of this care of Vangelis. Very noir-futuristic. I also wonder whether The Fifth Element was deliberately mirroring the Chinese takeaway scene. Continue reading →
Galactic Suburbia 155
Our post-Halloween episode, featuring vampire college students, spider-infested children’s birthday parties, and tiny adorable skeletons. This isn’t even the culture consumed part, it’s our real life! You can get us from iTunes or at Galactic Suburbia.
(sorry for the sound quality of this one, we’re blaming the weather or possibly DEMONS)
The Halloween Update
From birthday parties to Trick or Treating, yes, Halloween is a thing in Australia now.
What’s new on the internet?
World Fantasy Awards winners announced.
CULTURE CONSUMED:
Alisa: Frequency Season 1 ep 1-4, Jessica Jones
Tansy: Hocus Pocus; Octavia Cade: The Convergence of Fairy Tales, Tremontaine 1 & 2, Kelly Robson’s Tremontaine story, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho translated by Anne Carson; Hold Me, Courtney Milan
Alex: Carmilla season 2 and season 0; Jericho rewatch; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; The Congress
Please send feedback to us at galacticsuburbia@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter at @galacticsuburbs, check out Galactic Suburbia Podcast on Facebook, support us at Patreon and don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes if you love us!
Great Scott presents: Crimson Tide
Crimson Tide
Tony: 1995
Every fortnight (ish)* my beloved and I are watching a film by either Ridley or Tony Scott. We’re watching in chronological order. There are, of course, spoilers.
A: The captain of a US nuclear missile sub is as powerful as the president of the US or Russia? Really?
J: Ok – A proper movie tonight – Simpson / Scott.
A: the setting: a Chechen ‘rebellion’ and Russian government has been suspended… civil war in Russia, basically. OOH Cuban missile crisis analogy. And starting with a kids’ birthday party is NEVER a good sign, man. Never.
J: Dramatic opening, rain, political intrigue … heavily armoured base…
A: The CO (Cranky Gene Hackman) interviewing a new XO (Serious Denzel)… already possible cracks appearing (former raising an eyebrow at the year at Harvard…) – and then jokes from other officers about the captain going through XO. That’s what we call BODING. Continue reading →
Randomly Yours, Alex 