• What Did You Watch? 2026-06-08 (Monday)

    From Ubiquitous@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 04:30:41
    After an arduous workout, I watched:

    Nothing.

    What did you watch?

    --
    Democrats and the liberal media hate President Trump more than they
    love this country.


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Ian J. Ball@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 13:44:11
    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder
    original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a
    better and more accurate title.
    This was on both Tubi and AMC+, and I took a chance on AMC+ for it figuring there would be fewer commercials - there were fewer, but the trade-off is that the AMC+ app is *ass*, especially when using the Apple
    TV remote: I had trouble with the remote in several spots (needing to
    turn on captioning to actually understand the dialogue), which kicked me
    out of the movie a couple of times... :/
    I watched this because it stars Jessica Belkin, whom I know from
    some Lifetime flicks (and a really bad horror flick I watched once) -
    for those in the know: Belkin is set to star in the upcoming "Baywatch"
    sequel series, playing Hobie's surprise daughter (which I guess makes
    her Mitch Buchannon's granddaughter!).
    Anyway, this wasn't bad, though I didn't think it was quite as good
    as the similarly themed "Open 24 Hours". But Belkin is actually called
    on to "act" in this role, and handles it well.
    The gist - the bitchy (and slutty? - are we supposed to take what
    she says in the open about her sex life seriously?!)
    waitress-come-manager nepo daughter of a diner owner (hey! it's Jeremy
    Sisto!) finds out in the film's open that she's preggers, and then she
    finds out her dad has assigned her the overnight shift at the diner with
    a coworker (Taylor Kowalski) she despises. Well that doesn't last long -
    after kicking out some confrontational shithead kids at the diner, she
    fires the despised coworker for insubordination. (We see the firing
    scene, "Roshomon"-style first from her viewpoint, and then later from his.)
    Which means now she is all by herself on the overnight shift.
    Soon enough, it seems like some people (the asshole kids she kicked
    out of the diner?) show up and start terrorizing her.
    Things escalate quickly from there.
    Overall, this was decent horror suspense, with a good performance
    from Belkin (though I can't say *any* of these characters are
    particularly sympathetic), with one or two twists along the way I didn't
    see coming.
    I didn't care for the ending, though - I don't think they quite
    stuck the landing.

    I also caught some soaps: CBS soaps are not worth recapping, but on GH -
    1) Leisel Obrecht is put in confinement with Josslyn (so Joss fills
    Obrecht in on what is really going on), which means 2) Agent Cullum now
    knows about Josslyn which means her days may be numbered. Meanwhile, the trainwreck of Willow sniffing after Chase continues - now Brook Lynn is enlisting Lucy Coe as a co-conspirator against Willow.


    What did you watch?



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From shawn@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 17:03:43
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder >original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was >originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a >better and more accurate title.

    Snipped text


    What did you watch?


    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM. A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From The True Melissa@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 17:07:57
    Verily, in article <UBI20260608@dont-email.me>, did weberm@polaris.net
    deliver unto us this message:

    After an arduous workout, I watched:

    Nothing.

    What did you watch?

    I rewatched South Park's Imaginationland trilogy. It's not one of my
    favorite works. The humor's not great, IMO. It's a little obvious for
    South Park.

    --
    The True Melissa - Canal Winchester - Ohio
    United States of America - North America - Earth
    Solar System - Milky Way - Local Group
    Virgo Cluster - Laniakea Supercluster - Cosmos

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Arthur Lipscomb@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 17:35:37
    On 6/9/2026 2:03 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder
    original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was
    originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a
    better and more accurate title.

    Snipped text


    What did you watch?


    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM.

    What channel is this on?

    A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?


    This is a multiday catch up. I watched some movies that helped disclose
    the truth about aliens:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (4K disc) 1977 movie written and
    directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of aliens that
    kidnap a child, traumatize the child's mother and drives a family man
    insane.


    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven
    Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien
    that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the
    E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was
    going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T. monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was
    for.


    Super 8 (4K disc) 2011 movie written and directed by J. J. Abrams and co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of young
    teens in 1979 who are trying to make a student film for a competition
    when they witness a train crash and stumble upon a government conspiracy
    to hide the existence of alien life. On the commentary track Abrams
    said people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of E.T. but he seemed to
    take that as a badge of honor.


    Contact (blu-ray) 1997 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis based on the
    Carl Sagan novel of the same name. The movie stars Jodie Foster as an astronomer who detects an alien signal with instructions on how to build
    a machine. The movie attempts to be a realistic depiction of how the
    world would react to the circumstances and building the machine that no
    one knows what it will do once built. I watched with the director
    commentary. The movie holds up well enough.


    Arrival (4K disc) 2016 movie starring Amy Adams as a linguist who is
    brought in by the military to help decipher an alien language following
    the sudden arrival of 12 alien spaceships that park themselves around
    the world. Adams has to figure out what the aliens are trying to
    communicate before the military misinterprets their presence and start
    an interstellar war. The movie holds up well enough.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From shawn@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 21:58:58
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 17:35:37 -0700, Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

    On 6/9/2026 2:03 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder
    original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was >>> originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a
    better and more accurate title.

    Snipped text


    What did you watch?


    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM.

    What channel is this on?

    I am watching from my hard drive as I recorded this a long time ago
    and just got around to it. Looks like you can watch it on Hulu and
    Disney+. Ah, so it was a Hulu original so no surprise it is available
    there

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeugS4qjag

    Yeah, the trailer is from five years ago so it's been awhile.


    A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?


    This is a multiday catch up. I watched some movies that helped disclose
    the truth about aliens:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (4K disc) 1977 movie written and
    directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of aliens that >kidnap a child, traumatize the child's mother and drives a family man >insane.

    I've heard that is a decent movie. ;)


    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven >Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien >that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was >probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the >E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was >going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my >parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T. >monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was >for.


    This is one that I know all about it but never got around to watching
    it. It's still on my list so one day.

    Super 8 (4K disc) 2011 movie written and directed by J. J. Abrams and >co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of young
    teens in 1979 who are trying to make a student film for a competition
    when they witness a train crash and stumble upon a government conspiracy
    to hide the existence of alien life. On the commentary track Abrams
    said people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of E.T. but he seemed to >take that as a badge of honor.

    Not familiar with it other than the name.


    Contact (blu-ray) 1997 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis based on the
    Carl Sagan novel of the same name. The movie stars Jodie Foster as an >astronomer who detects an alien signal with instructions on how to build
    a machine. The movie attempts to be a realistic depiction of how the
    world would react to the circumstances and building the machine that no
    one knows what it will do once built. I watched with the director >commentary. The movie holds up well enough.

    Yep, I've watched this a few times over the years and caught clips of
    it quite a few times.


    Arrival (4K disc) 2016 movie starring Amy Adams as a linguist who is
    brought in by the military to help decipher an alien language following
    the sudden arrival of 12 alien spaceships that park themselves around
    the world. Adams has to figure out what the aliens are trying to >communicate before the military misinterprets their presence and start
    an interstellar war. The movie holds up well enough.

    I enjoyed this one and the original THE ARRIVAL with Charlie Sheen.
    Though they are very different movies. ;)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6aH8FV24Rc

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Ian J. Ball@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 19:30:08
    On 6/9/26 5:35 PM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:

    On 6/9/2026 2:03 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    What did you watch?

    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM.

    What channel is this on?

    A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?


    This is a multiday catch up.ÿ I watched some movies that helped disclose
    the truth about aliens:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (4K disc) 1977 movie written and
    directed by Steven Spielberg.ÿ The movie follows a group of aliens that kidnap a child, traumatize the child's mother and drives a family man insane.


    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven Spielberg.ÿ The movie follows the E.T. monster.ÿ A perverted space alien that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the E.T.ÿ monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape.ÿ This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself. And
    I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was
    going to get me.ÿ That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet.ÿ I know it was!ÿ And now that I think about it, I should sue my parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid.ÿ How was this a kid's movie?ÿ The E.T. monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was for.


    Super 8 (4K disc) 2011 movie written and directed by J. J. Abrams and co-produced by Steven Spielberg.ÿ The movie follows a group of young
    teens in 1979 who are trying to make a student film for a competition
    when they witness a train crash and stumble upon a government conspiracy
    to hide the existence of alien life.ÿ On the commentary track Abrams
    said people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of E.T. but he seemed to take that as a badge of honor.


    Contact (blu-ray) 1997 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis based on the
    Carl Sagan novel of the same name.ÿ The movie stars Jodie Foster as an astronomer who detects an alien signal with instructions on how to build
    a machine.ÿ The movie attempts to be a realistic depiction of how the
    world would react to the circumstances and building the machine that no
    one knows what it will do once built.ÿ I watched with the director commentary. The movie holds up well enough.


    Arrival (4K disc) 2016 movie starring Amy Adams as a linguist who is
    brought in by the military to help decipher an alien language following
    the sudden arrival of 12 alien spaceships that park themselves around
    the world.ÿ Adams has to figure out what the aliens are trying to communicate before the military misinterprets their presence and start
    an interstellar war.ÿ The movie holds up well enough.

    Wait - you didn't watch "The Arrival" (1996)?!! :p



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Arthur Lipscomb@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, June 09, 2026 20:29:36
    On 6/9/2026 6:58 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 17:35:37 -0700, Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

    On 6/9/2026 2:03 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder
    original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was >>>> originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a >>>> better and more accurate title.

    Snipped text


    What did you watch?


    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM.

    What channel is this on?

    I am watching from my hard drive as I recorded this a long time ago
    and just got around to it. Looks like you can watch it on Hulu and
    Disney+. Ah, so it was a Hulu original so no surprise it is available
    there

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKeugS4qjag

    Yeah, the trailer is from five years ago so it's been awhile.


    Thanks. I saw this when it originally aired and really liked it.



    A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?


    This is a multiday catch up. I watched some movies that helped disclose
    the truth about aliens:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (4K disc) 1977 movie written and
    directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of aliens that
    kidnap a child, traumatize the child's mother and drives a family man
    insane.

    I've heard that is a decent movie. ;)



    I think it probably worked a lot better in the 70s. There was less to
    compare it against and the family dynamics were probably a lot more
    relatable back then. It's an OK background noise movie for me, but I'd probably like it a lot more if there was a commentary track on the disc.


    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven
    Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien
    that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was
    probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the
    E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was
    going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my
    parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T.
    monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was
    for.


    This is one that I know all about it but never got around to watching
    it. It's still on my list so one day.


    If you were a kid in the 80s it was required viewing. Every parent on
    the planet dragged their kid to see it. Watching it as an adult the
    movie is not scary at all. But when you're 5 years old that thing is
    pure nightmare fuel.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/80s/comments/16e5688/was_anyone_else_absolutely_terrified_as_a_child/


    Super 8 (4K disc) 2011 movie written and directed by J. J. Abrams and
    co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of young
    teens in 1979 who are trying to make a student film for a competition
    when they witness a train crash and stumble upon a government conspiracy
    to hide the existence of alien life. On the commentary track Abrams
    said people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of E.T. but he seemed to
    take that as a badge of honor.

    Not familiar with it other than the name.


    It's a nostalgia bait movie. I wasn't a teen in the late 70s so the
    nostalgia doesn't work on me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-0XuYxh67w



    Contact (blu-ray) 1997 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis based on the
    Carl Sagan novel of the same name. The movie stars Jodie Foster as an
    astronomer who detects an alien signal with instructions on how to build
    a machine. The movie attempts to be a realistic depiction of how the
    world would react to the circumstances and building the machine that no
    one knows what it will do once built. I watched with the director
    commentary. The movie holds up well enough.

    Yep, I've watched this a few times over the years and caught clips of
    it quite a few times.


    Arrival (4K disc) 2016 movie starring Amy Adams as a linguist who is
    brought in by the military to help decipher an alien language following
    the sudden arrival of 12 alien spaceships that park themselves around
    the world. Adams has to figure out what the aliens are trying to
    communicate before the military misinterprets their presence and start
    an interstellar war. The movie holds up well enough.

    I enjoyed this one and the original THE ARRIVAL with Charlie Sheen.
    Though they are very different movies. ;)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6aH8FV24Rc


    I actually watched this last year. It holds up well. They are coming
    out with a 4K disc soon.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From anim8rfsk@3:633/10 to All on Friday, June 12, 2026 20:53:02
    Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
    On 6/9/2026 2:03 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder
    original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was >>> originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a
    better and more accurate title.

    Snipped text


    What did you watch?


    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM.

    What channel is this on?

    A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?


    This is a multiday catch up. I watched some movies that helped disclose
    the truth about aliens:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (4K disc) 1977 movie written and
    directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of aliens that kidnap a child, traumatize the child's mother and drives a family man insane.

    I loved the original version of this movie. It probably helps that I saw
    with my great college love at the time.
    I hate the special edition of this movie.
    Spielberg must?ve been annoyed at paying Amy Irving $100 million in
    alimony, and re cut it to make Terri Garr completely unlikable (you have to work hard to make that happen) and she leaves her husband for no reason
    other than he took a shower with his clothes on after being visibly burned.
    I like a couple of the new effect shots but that?s it.



    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T. monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was for.

    I hate this movie. Mom wanted to watch it and so I got it on laser disk and
    we viewed it on Halloween while waiting for trick-or-treaters. She was strangely quiescent afterwards and when we finally talked about it, she
    thought it was awful and neither of us wanted to admit it. It?s the first
    time I could clearly see Spielberg pulling the strings. The best I could
    say about it is that the special edition is even worse




    Super 8 (4K disc) 2011 movie written and directed by J. J. Abrams and co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of young
    teens in 1979 who are trying to make a student film for a competition
    when they witness a train crash and stumble upon a government conspiracy
    to hide the existence of alien life. On the commentary track Abrams
    said people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of E.T. but he seemed to take that as a badge of honor.


    Contact (blu-ray) 1997 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis based on the
    Carl Sagan novel of the same name. The movie stars Jodie Foster as an astronomer who detects an alien signal with instructions on how to build
    a machine. The movie attempts to be a realistic depiction of how the
    world would react to the circumstances and building the machine that no
    one knows what it will do once built. I watched with the director commentary. The movie holds up well enough.


    I hate this movie too. Let?s follow the instructions for the spaceship precisely except we?ll stick in a chair. What could possibly go wrong?



    Arrival (4K disc) 2016 movie starring Amy Adams as a linguist who is
    brought in by the military to help decipher an alien language following
    the sudden arrival of 12 alien spaceships that park themselves around
    the world. Adams has to figure out what the aliens are trying to communicate before the military misinterprets their presence and start
    an interstellar war. The movie holds up well enough.


    The fire stick offered me this to watch earlier today. I?m still undecided. Seen the Charlie Sheen version.


    --
    The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From BTR1701@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, June 13, 2026 05:14:10
    On Jun 12, 2026 at 8:53:02 PM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

    Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven
    Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien >> that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was
    probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the >> E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was
    going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my
    parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T. >> monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was >> for.

    I hate this movie. Mom wanted to watch it and so I got it on laser disk and we viewed it on Halloween while waiting for trick-or-treaters. She was strangely quiescent afterwards and when we finally talked about it, she thought it was awful and neither of us wanted to admit it. It?s the first time I could clearly see Spielberg pulling the strings. The best I could
    say about it is that the special edition is even worse

    I can say that it's easily one of the great film scores of all time.

    The chord cadence and resolution building up to the moment when the bikes take off into the air still gives me chills.



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From anim8rfsk@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, June 13, 2026 09:26:45
    BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
    On Jun 12, 2026 at 8:53:02 PM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

    Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:

    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven
    Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien >>> that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children, >>> gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was
    probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the >>> E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was >>> going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my >>> parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T. >>> monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was >>> for.

    I hate this movie. Mom wanted to watch it and so I got it on laser disk and >> we viewed it on Halloween while waiting for trick-or-treaters. She was
    strangely quiescent afterwards and when we finally talked about it, she
    thought it was awful and neither of us wanted to admit it. It?s the first
    time I could clearly see Spielberg pulling the strings. The best I could
    say about it is that the special edition is even worse

    I can say that it's easily one of the great film scores of all time.

    The chord cadence and resolution building up to the moment when the bikes take
    off into the air still gives me chills.

    Before I saw the movie, I took the universal tour where they showed how all
    the special effects in movies were done and they were completely wrong.
    That may have colored me against the scene.



    --
    The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Arthur Lipscomb@3:633/10 to All on Saturday, June 13, 2026 09:38:01
    On 6/12/2026 8:53 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
    Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
    On 6/9/2026 2:03 PM, shawn wrote:
    On Tue, 9 Jun 2026 13:44:11 -0700, "Ian J. Ball" <ijball@mac.invalid>
    wrote:

    I guess I will start today's off, as I want a thread so that I can go
    over the "Paranormal Activity" series.

    But first! to start things off! - Yesterday I watched a movie off
    Shudder! (by way of AMC+), though I don't think this was a "Shudder
    original" film:

    Last Straw (AMC+/Shudder) - From the end credits, it looks like this was >>>> originally going to be titled "The Late Shift"(?), which is actually a >>>> better and more accurate title.

    Snipped text


    What did you watch?


    I spent the weekend watching MARVEL'S HELSTROM.

    What channel is this on?

    A good series that
    deserved more attention than it got. The story revolves around a
    family that ended up getting powers that seem to be demon related. The
    dad was a serial killer and now the mom is locked away possessed by a
    demon, while the kids deal with their experiences as it seems the dead
    dad has somehow come back and is creating havoc.

    Good performances by much of the cast. Well worth checking out.

    What did you watch?


    This is a multiday catch up. I watched some movies that helped disclose
    the truth about aliens:

    Close Encounters of the Third Kind (4K disc) 1977 movie written and
    directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of aliens that
    kidnap a child, traumatize the child's mother and drives a family man
    insane.

    I loved the original version of this movie. It probably helps that I saw
    with my great college love at the time.
    I hate the special edition of this movie.
    Spielberg must?ve been annoyed at paying Amy Irving $100 million in
    alimony, and re cut it to make Terri Garr completely unlikable (you have to work hard to make that happen) and she leaves her husband for no reason
    other than he took a shower with his clothes on after being visibly burned.
    I like a couple of the new effect shots but that?s it.



    Last time I watched the director's cut because google said to watch the director's cut. This time I was on the fence and really tempted to
    watch the theatrical cut. But google practically threatened me, watch
    the director's cut or else. So I watched the director's cut again. At
    least there's a consensus even with google to skip the special edition version. I'm going to have to make a note to myself to watch the
    theatrical cut next time. Because if I rely on google for which cut to
    watch I'm always going to watch the director's cut.




    E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (4K disc) 1982 movie directed by Steven
    Spielberg. The movie follows the E.T. monster. A perverted space alien
    that lands on Earth naked, ingratiates itself amongst several children,
    gets one child drunk, and then thanks to biological experiments it was
    probably conducting, causes a child to get sick and almost die. There
    were some local law enforcement types that rightfully tried to shoot the
    E.T. monster, but the E.T. monster used its' mind control powers to
    trick the local kids into helping it escape. This movie was
    scientifically designed to traumatize small children such as myself.
    And I'm sure the E.T. monster followed me home from the theater and was
    going to get me. That wasn't just the way the shape of the clothes in
    the closet looked in the dark, that E.T. monster was hiding in my
    closet. I know it was! And now that I think about it, I should sue my
    parents for intentional infliction of emotional distress for taking me
    to see this movie when I was kid. How was this a kid's movie? The E.T.
    monster had a giant head that stretched, a see-through body with an
    exposed heart, and I don't even want to think about what that finger was
    for.

    I hate this movie. Mom wanted to watch it and so I got it on laser disk and we viewed it on Halloween while waiting for trick-or-treaters. She was strangely quiescent afterwards and when we finally talked about it, she thought it was awful and neither of us wanted to admit it. It?s the first time I could clearly see Spielberg pulling the strings. The best I could
    say about it is that the special edition is even worse




    Super 8 (4K disc) 2011 movie written and directed by J. J. Abrams and
    co-produced by Steven Spielberg. The movie follows a group of young
    teens in 1979 who are trying to make a student film for a competition
    when they witness a train crash and stumble upon a government conspiracy
    to hide the existence of alien life. On the commentary track Abrams
    said people accuse this movie of being a ripoff of E.T. but he seemed to
    take that as a badge of honor.


    Contact (blu-ray) 1997 movie directed by Robert Zemeckis based on the
    Carl Sagan novel of the same name. The movie stars Jodie Foster as an
    astronomer who detects an alien signal with instructions on how to build
    a machine. The movie attempts to be a realistic depiction of how the
    world would react to the circumstances and building the machine that no
    one knows what it will do once built. I watched with the director
    commentary. The movie holds up well enough.


    I hate this movie too. Let?s follow the instructions for the spaceship precisely except we?ll stick in a chair. What could possibly go wrong?



    I can kind of see it both ways. The aliens who sent the message may not
    have had any concept (or concern) for human safety needs.



    Arrival (4K disc) 2016 movie starring Amy Adams as a linguist who is
    brought in by the military to help decipher an alien language following
    the sudden arrival of 12 alien spaceships that park themselves around
    the world. Adams has to figure out what the aliens are trying to
    communicate before the military misinterprets their presence and start
    an interstellar war. The movie holds up well enough.


    The fire stick offered me this to watch earlier today. I?m still undecided. Seen the Charlie Sheen version.



    This is *nothing* like the Charlie Sheen movie. It is not a remake.
    It's and alien movie with that happens to share the same name, but other
    than that, there's no relation between the two movies.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)