Vikings Season 4 has started and the cast is back for another season. I still can't believe this is a History Channel show. I've enjoyed all three previous seasons and highly recommend this show, unless you're not a fan of medieval combat, Norse mythology, and beautiful women. Anthem, can we agree on Ketheryn Winnick (Lagertha) and Alyssa Sutherland (Aslaug).

PQ and SQ are about par for a television production. Sound is definitely better on Blu-Ray. PQ and the production are both gritty. The color of the picture leans towards cool and the black levels and contrast leave a lot to be desired. All this shouldn't deter you from checking out the show. It's very entertaining, just not demo material.

Cheers,

T Cobe

T Cobe:

I've not seen Vikings. The wife has no interest in that type of programming. At 9 p.m. we watch Hannity on Fox News...the wife pays many of the bills here...need I say more.

As far as your Fair damsels are concerned:
Alyssa Sutherland > doesn't catch my eye
Ketheryn Winnick > Now we're talking

anthem wrote: T Cobe:

I've not seen Vikings. The wife has no interest in that type of programming. At 9 p.m. we watch Hannity on Fox News...the wife pays many of the bills here...need I say more.

Anthem,

No need to explain to me...there's a reason I'm watching Vikings in the basement at 6:30 AM.

Cheers,

T Cobe

So, where to post? I love this song, from the DVD (no Blu-ray version made) of a Fleetwood Mac concert, "The Dance". I have the DVD. Despite less than perfect SQ and PQ, this is a great compilation of Fleetwood Mac songs. Stevie does know how to rock!



Rick

Well, this isn't the first time I've been wrong about something and in this case, I'm glad I was. When I first saw the previews for Mad Max Fury Road, I thought the film looked ridiculous. I immediately wrote the film off as a "wait for cable" release. Many months later after several positive reviews, I purchased the film and was blown away by the PQ and SQ.

Tonight, Fury Road won 6 Oscars including sound editing and sound mixing. Additionally, it was nominated for the prestigious awards of best picture, directing, and cinematography. From a technical standpoint, this film was fantastic!

While I didn't watch it last night, I'll probably be watching it again tomorrow. For those that were also skeptical of this film, it is a 2-hour thrill ride that is technically superior. It is an absolute feast for the eyes and ears and should not be missed.

Cheers,

T Cobe

I've watched several movies since I last posted.

1) Rubber... this is that movie about a tire from a few years ago. If you like weird movies and good cinematography, take a look. If movies that seem to be weird just for the sake of weird I'm guessing you'll hate this. PQ was good, SQ was N/A, its not that kind of movie.

2) Life of Pi... I just got around to seeing this. I LOVED the movie except for one thing (which didn't ruin it) at the end where one character explicitly states the "point" of the story to another character. I haven't read the book and I'm curious if this happens in the book too or if it was dumbed down for movie goers. Either way, I still REALLY liked this film. PQ was better than average and the cinematography is stunning. SQ was fine as far as I noticed but again, not a blockbuster soundtrack. Good where it was active (e.g. the shipwreck... not a spoiler if you've seen even a preview).

3) Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials... I thought the first movie was decent. I never read the books but like the Divergent series (which i did read the books) this young adult stuff tends to blur together for me. As a franchise I'm struggling to even care about the main characters and I feel like there was such a massive shift between what was disclosed in the first movie vs. what is going in on the world that it is just jarring. PQ and SQ were both OK. I don't recommend getting into this series unless you read and loved the books, in which case, you've probably already seen them.

4) The Good Dinosaur... I really liked this movie. I feel like Pixar really screwed the pooch in marketing this as it was impossible to get a sense of what this movie was about. Its a pretty standard coming of age story told a bit differently. The backgrounds and environmentals in this movie were stunning. Almost photorealistic. Its as if they rendered it photorealistic and then turned a knob to back it down a notch to make it look a little cartoony. The main characters are very detailed but stylized much more cartoony which felt a bit odd against the backgrounds. I wouldn't say it didn't work but its something I noticed. PQ was excellent as was SQ. There are a few storm scenes that are good plus some dinosaurs walking around.

5) The Martian... WOW, really liked this one. I finished reading the book a few weeks ago and nothing ever compares to the book. Plus, I really liked the book. The sense of humor from Mark Watney that is conveyed in the book only halfway translates to screen. And that was enough to make the movie work but the book is so much funnier if you have a dark sense of humor. PQ and SQ were pretty much perfect IMO.