Thursday, May 28, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks #307: TMP Television Edition - Competitive Reality Shows



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - Competitive Reality Shows

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I'm not much for reality shows, but I do watch a couple of the competitive ones. Here are 5 of my favourites.

Survivor (2000 - )
I think I've seen every season except for the first one. The game has really evolved, many new things have been introduced to make the game more challenging. The way the players play the game and the attitude they have, have also evolved greatly. In the first few seasons the contestants are often very bitter when they are voted out and especially if they were blindsided and their bitterness came through during the final tribal council when the jury (the losers) get to question the the remaining survivors about how they played the game. It is the nature of the game that the people who got voted out are the very ones who in the end have to vote who between the remaining survivors should win and be the ultimate "Survivor"...this was a very hard pill for the contestants of the earlier seasons to swallow. However in the more recent seasons, the contestants that make the jury have a more sportsmanship spirit. They seem to have more of the attitude of if they had to be outwitted, outplayed and outlasted, it has to be by someone who is a better player than them...because who wants to lose to a loser right? They are more likely to respect people who have agency and really played the game, in terms of socializing, strategizing or winning the physical challenges, even if that meant they were voted out in the process. The ability to organize successful blindsides just means the remaining survivors are good social players and strategists...and therefore are deserving "Survivors".

The Amazing Race  (2001 - )
I love this show, it's basically an around the world treasure hunt. We follow teams as they complete challenges and puzzles and of course drama and bickering often ensues especially when the contestants are exhausted. They've also added a lot of obstacles in the newer seasons to make the race challenging. A great game often gets franchised and have international versions and The Amazing Race too has a couple. I've seen almost all the seasons of the original American version of course. The other ones I've seen are the Asian version and either the Canadian or Australian versions as well.

The Great British Bake Off (2010 - )
I'm not a fan competitive cooking shows...especially ones that have those studio commentary by the contestants as they are shown cooking during a challenge pretending to narrate the event as it happened when they so obviously already know if they won or lost a challenge by the time they record the commentary...these are just so annoying. But I do love The Great British Bake Off...which doesn't have a studio commentary, only a short on interview with the contestants after each challenge, which I suppose is one of the reasons why I like it. The Great British Bake Off is just very charming and the the tone of the competition is very relax. It seems the contestants are just spending a nice afternoon in a tent, in some nice garden, in some quaint country estate having fun baking. When one contestant is having trouble finishing something on time...other contestants who have finished their own baking often come along and ask what they can do to help...like I said super relax. I think it's because most of the contestants are just home bakers who enjoy baking for family and friends. That said the judges are still quite tough with their criticism, they would definitely point what was wrong with what was made but they are just not mean about it. The challenges are also very fun especially the showstopper challenge of the day where the contestants get to flex their creativity in terms of presentation.

Bake Off: The Professionals [previously known as Bake Off: Crème de la Crème] (2016 - ) 
The contestants are as the title goes, professionals. They are teams of chefs from hotels, restaurants, shops and even the armed forces. And because the contestants are professionals, they are very serious and thus the show has much less banter. It definitely cannot be described as charming like The Great British Bake Off. The judges criticism here are very tough since they are professionals and it often gets very technical which I think is another reason why this is not as popular as The Great British Bake Off. But I still enjoy the show.

The Great British Sewing Bee  (2013 - )
This is very much like The Great British Bake Off in terms of it being very charming and contestants who are amateurs, no one here is betting on becoming a professional and talent scouted to work for a fashion atelier at the end of it. The competition is just like a pleasant way to spend an afternoon for the contestants, spending time doing a hobby they all enjoy. The tone is very relax and challenges are fun especially ones like making costumes for children and pets which were adorable.

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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks #306: Great Final Films of Actors/Actresses



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Great Final Films of Actors/Actresses

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Today's theme is one by thevoid99. Well this is a tricky theme. It was such a challenge to find any movies, but I did manage to find three. While I do think these are good movies, I don't think it was these actors performance that elevated them; they were good movies because of other actors' performances or it was just a really good screenplay.

Adrienne Shelly - Waitress (2007)
If we're talking about acting performance, it would be Keri Russell's, I thought she was great in this. Shelley did however act in this movie too, her final film which she had also written and directed; and it is a great movie. It manages to be the right balance of quirky, funny, sad and heartwarming.

James Gandolfini - The Drop (2014)
Gandolfini's last feature film. As far as I remember he was good in it. I actually want to rewatch this. I remember thinking it was a really good gritty crime drama. And the dog...it was so cute.

Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
The Hunger Games movies are by far the best YA series adaptations. While I did like this movie I don't feel as invested in it as I was in the book, and this adaptation wasn't the best in the movie franchise either. I much prefer Catching Fire and the first movie, they were I think better movies. Still as I've said this was still good and it was Hoffman's last. I have to say he wasn't really given much to do in this franchise. Still he was decent...he certainly has better performances in his filmography.

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Thursday, May 14, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks #305: Girls' Trip



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Girls' Trip

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This theme was inspired by my first pick. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that after it was released there seem to be more movies about women going on trips/vacations together.

Bridesmaids (2011)
This the best out of my picks today. This is a little bit of a cheat because they only sort of went on a trip but like I said this movie inspired this theme. Anyway the women all got on a plane for a Las Vegas bachelorette party, but things went wrong along the way in a funny way and they got kicked off the plane. It's a short bit in the movie but a memorable one.

Wine Country (2019)
I enjoyed this one about a group of middle age friends trying reconnect by going on Napa Valley vacation.

Pitch Perfect 3 (2017)
I watched this very recently and yes they went on a trip. The girls most of whom have graduated, miss singing and decided to reunite and join an overseas USO tour. While I enjoyed the singing bits, I do think the movies have deteriorated with each sequel. There's just not much of a story there. And don't you just find the Emily character (played by Hailee Steinfeld) in the sequels redundant? I sort of do...she is even more so in this one.

Rough Night (2017)
A group of friends go to Miami for a bachelorette weekend. This one is a little like a mash up of Bridesmaids with the whole wedding and bachelorette thing going on and Wine Country with the whole old friends trying to reconnect. I would also say it's a little like a female version of The Hangover as well in that it has all that gross humor thing. Overall I would say it was just an ok watch.

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Thursday, May 7, 2020

Thursday Movie Picks #304: Seven Deadly Sins Edition - Envy



Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Seven Deadly Sins Edition - Envy

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Welcome back to the Seven Deadly Sins edition. I hope this edition has been fun for all and today we're on the fourth sin which is envy. I'm just going for whatever came immediately to mind.

Cinderella (2015) 
Cinderella's stepmother's cruelty is the result mostly of her jealousy; jealous that Cinderella possess beauty and intelligence that her own daughters lack and that she is so beloved and will always come first for her new husband. I really didn't like the costume choices for this movie, it looked cartoony and gaudy. What I did like was character development especially of Cinderella, the prince and her stepmother.

Dorian Gray (2009)
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favourite books. I've seen this and the 1945 version and I can't say I like either that much. However, if had to choose, I'll pick this 2009 version because I really dislike the Dorian in the 1945 one. So jealousy...Dorian, a handsome young man who becomes jealous of a painting of himself because it, unlike him, will stay young forever and so he makes an extraordinary wish.

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
A man is betrayed by his best friend who is jealous of his good fortunes. It was an ok movie.


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