Well, after working hard for two weeks straight (had to run meetings,
and get new instructors ready for the new semester, and then classes
started this past week), I decided that this long weekend, and
especially today (Saturday), I was going to blow off some steam and just
watch movies!!

Unfortunately, a number of the movies I wanted to watch are either
unavailable to me (e.g. Project Hail Mary) or haven't come to streaming
yet (e.g. It Ends, Backrooms).

So I think I cobbled together a pretty decent line-up of flicks for a
Saturday anyway:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In
glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!
Second, this is basically nothing more than a higher-budget
over-long episode of "The Mandalorian" TV series. There is nothing wrong
with this if you like the series - But why did this have to be released
in theaters?!! Why not just do another season of the TV series?
And, third - There is just *way too much* CGI in this flick! Like,
not just the monsters - I think that almost every *character* besides
Mando (and Sigourney Weaver) in this film is CGI. This seriously took me
out of the movie in several places... Remember when they used to make
movies with "practical effects" and, like, costumes and puppets and
stuff?! Well, you don't have to worry, because there's not much of that
in this film!
In addition (and this was not unexpected) - it does pretty literally become the "Baby Yoda" flick for a stretch in the middle.
But, mostly aside from the gratuitous and annoying over-use of CGI,
I did actually enjoy this film. It's fine as a low-stakes "popcorn" Star Wars-universe film.

The Martian (Ultra HD Blu-ray disk!) - So this wasn't just in "glorious
4k" - it was in "super-duper glorious 4k!!" :D
And, yes - I had never actually watched this before. It's been on TV
for years now, but it's one of those films I refused to watch for the
first time on ad-supported TV. And then I bought it on UHD Blu-ray a
couple of years back and decided tht I would wait to watch on UHD disk.
Well, today was finally the day for it, esp. as I can't watch "Project
Hail Mary" yet.
I thought the film itself was quite good.
Yeah, sure, they definitely gloss over the specifics of how Matt
Damon manages to survive on Mars for so long.
But this is a good, mostly hard-science based thriller, and I'd love
to see more flicks like this made.
And it looks incredible on UHD Blu-ray - I'm guessing better than it
would have looked in a theater.

The Long Walk (HBO Max) - I quite enjoyed this too, though I didn't find
it as emotionally involving (or wrenching!) as some people on r/horror apparently did.
I did think David Jonsson was quite outstanding in this - get this
guy more acting gigs, STAT!! (Oh... He's the new "Black Panther"! Now it
all makes sense...)
And Mark Hammil is unrecognizable in this - I didn't even realize it
was him until the final credits!
Apparently, Stephen King thinks this is one of the better
adaptations of his works, and I think I mostly agree. Though I was a
little horrified to learn after watching this that the film total
changes the character arc for Peter McVries (Jonsson's character) which,
while it works for the film, is a major change from King's book's
ending. This put me a little off after the fact.
Anyway, this one gets a 'Thumbs up' from me.


And what did you watch, at the start of your Labor Day weekend?!



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

The Martian (Ultra HD Blu-ray disk!) - So this wasn't just in "glorious
4k" - it was in "super-duper glorious 4k!!" :D
And, yes - I had never actually watched this before. It's been on TV
for years now, but it's one of those films I refused to watch for the
first time on ad-supported TV. And then I bought it on UHD Blu-ray a
couple of years back and decided tht I would wait to watch on UHD disk. >Well, today was finally the day for it, esp. as I can't watch "Project
Hail Mary" yet.
I thought the film itself was quite good.
Yeah, sure, they definitely gloss over the specifics of how Matt
Damon manages to survive on Mars for so long.

Laurence Olivier would have just acted thin.

But this is a good, mostly hard-science based thriller, and I'd love
to see more flicks like this made.
And it looks incredible on UHD Blu-ray - I'm guessing better than it
would have looked in a theater.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/5/2026 10:57 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

Well, after working hard for two weeks straight (had to run meetings,
and get new instructors ready for the new semester, and then classes
started this past week), I decided that this long weekend, and
especially today (Saturday), I was going to blow off some steam and just watch movies!!

Unfortunately, a number of the movies I wanted to watch are either unavailable to me (e.g. Project Hail Mary) or haven't come to streaming
yet (e.g. It Ends, Backrooms).

You are in for a treat once you get to see Project Hail Mary.
Backrooms was OK. I didn't watch the original YouTube series so I'm
sure a lot of the inside references went right over my head. I haven't
gotten around to It Ends yet.

So I think I cobbled together a pretty decent line-up of flicks for a Saturday anyway:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In glorious 4k!
ÿÿ OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
ÿÿ That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
ÿÿ Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

(cough) Star Trek (cough)

ÿÿ Second, this is basically nothing more than a higher-budget over-
long episode of "The Mandalorian" TV series. There is nothing wrong with this if you like the series - But why did this have to be released in theaters?!! Why not just do another season of the TV series?
ÿÿ And, third - There is just *way too much* CGI in this flick! Like,
not just the monsters - I think that almost every *character* besides
Mando (and Sigourney Weaver) in this film is CGI.

Oh my god! I can't believe you just said that. LOL. This movie is
famous for using practical effects instead of CGI. When you think about
it, that's high praise for the practical effects that you couldn't tell
the difference. I had a similar experience while watching in the
theater. I knew there was something different about the effects, but I couldn't tell what.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ySFHHPElUpY

https://theasc.com/article/mandalorian-grogu-razor-crest-miniature-cinematography/

https://www.facebook.com/starwarsnerdout/posts/behind-the-scenes-footage-from-the-mandalorian-grogu-offers-a-detailed-look-at-t/1639092671207498/




This seriously took me

out of the movie in several places...

I can't explain why, but I have a similar experience with a lot of
Spider-Man movies. For some reason the actual person in a suit just
looks like it's CGI to me, even though it's an actual person. And it
will similarly take me out of the movie for a second.


Remember when they used to make

movies with "practical effects" and, like, costumes and puppets and
stuff?! Well, you don't have to worry, because there's not much of that
in this film!

If you say so... ;-)

ÿÿ In addition (and this was not unexpected) - it does pretty literally become the "Baby Yoda" flick for a stretch in the middle.

Yeah, that middle section could have been deleted.

ÿÿ But, mostly aside from the gratuitous and annoying over-use of CGI,
I did actually enjoy this film. It's fine as a low-stakes "popcorn" Star Wars-universe film.

The Martian (Ultra HD Blu-ray disk!) - So this wasn't just in "glorious
4k" - it was in "super-duper glorious 4k!!"ÿ :D

I don't have the 4K version. :-(

ÿÿ And, yes - I had never actually watched this before. It's been on TV
for years now, but it's one of those films I refused to watch for the
first time on ad-supported TV. And then I bought it on UHD Blu-ray a
couple of years back and decided tht I would wait to watch on UHD disk. Well, today was finally the day for it, esp. as I can't watch "Project
Hail Mary" yet.
ÿÿ I thought the film itself was quite good.
ÿÿ Yeah, sure, they definitely gloss over the specifics of how Matt
Damon manages to survive on Mars for so long.

Matt Damon was the best botanist on the planet. Doesn't that explain
it? ;-)

ÿÿ But this is a good, mostly hard-science based thriller, and I'd love
to see more flicks like this made.
ÿÿ And it looks incredible on UHD Blu-ray - I'm guessing better than it would have looked in a theater.

The Long Walk (HBO Max) - I quite enjoyed this too, though I didn't find
it as emotionally involving (or wrenching!) as some people on r/horror apparently did.
ÿÿ I did think David Jonsson was quite outstanding in this - get this
guy more acting gigs, STAT!! (Oh... He's the new "Black Panther"! Now it
all makes sense...)
ÿÿ And Mark Hammil is unrecognizable in this - I didn't even realize it
was him until the final credits!
ÿÿ Apparently, Stephen King thinks this is one of the better
adaptations of his works, and I think I mostly agree. Though I was a
little horrified to learn after watching this that the film total
changes the character arc for Peter McVries (Jonsson's character) which, while it works for the film, is a major change from King's book's
ending. This put me a little off after the fact.
ÿÿ Anyway, this one gets a 'Thumbs up' from me.

And what did you watch, at the start of your Labor Day weekend?!

This is a catch up. Over the last couple of days, I watched:


Battlestar Galactica (blu-ray) - I finished the second season. I was surprised they kept the Pegasus as a new Battlestar that's just part of
the fleet now. Season 2 adds Xena and a scenery chewing Dean Stockwell.
Season 2 ends on a cliffhanger that I am looking forward to see
resolved in season 3.


Practical Magic (4K disc) 1998 movie staring Sandra Bullock and Nicole
Kidman as two sister witches under a course that whoever they fall in
love with will die. It's OK. I mainly upgraded to 4K and watched
because there is a sequel on the way.


The Craft (4K disc) 1996 movie about 4 teenage girls who discover they
can do real magic. But things quickly escalate out of hand when the
power goes to some of their heads. This movie has one of my favorite
lines, "This isn't real!" "Then why are you still bleeding?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txRvP-g5gao


The Craft: Legacy (blu-ray) 2020 sequel that is 85% remake of the first
movie and 15% new stuff. I suspect they added the bare minimum of new
stuff so it could technically be called a sequel instead of a remake.
I actually like the new stuff and wish they had spent more time focusing
on those new plot elements instead of rehashing the first movie. It's annoying that so much of this one is a rehash seeing as how it is
actually a sequel that takes place in the same universe.


Barbarian (4K disc) 2022 movie written and directed by Zach Cregger. I watched with the commentary which opens with Cregger commentary that technically this is a Disney movie. That matters because this is a very
hard R horror movie. And it took a few years before Disney finally
released this on disc. Anyway the plot is sort of divided into 2
connected stories. The first has Georgina Campbell and Bill Skarsg†rd
as two people who finds themselves at the same Airbnb that was seemingly double booked. And the second half features Justin Long who finds
himself at the same Airbnb. In both sequences very bad things happen at
the Airbnb that would make fans of "Hostel" squirm. This was mostly background noise.


Weapons (4K disc) 2025 movie written and directed by Zach Cregger. The
movie is set in a small town where one night all, except one, of the
children from a particular classroom run away never to be seen again.
The locals blame the classroom teacher, demanding she must know why all
the kids ran away. The rest gets into spoiler territory. The movie
holds up well, but I would have liked a commentary track.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

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

On 9/5/2026 10:57 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

. . .

Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

(cough) Star Trek (cough)

If you are highly selective. "The Wrath of Khan" and "Save the Whales"
were excellent, the rest not so much. The Abrams' movies couldn't be
bothered with new material and were forgetable.

Practical Magic (4K disc) 1998 movie staring Sandra Bullock and Nicole >Kidman as two sister witches under a course that whoever they fall in
love with will die. It's OK. I mainly upgraded to 4K and watched
because there is a sequel on the way.

There is? Why? This movie was relentlessly mediocre.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/6/26 9:35 AM, Arthur Lipscomb wrote:

This is a catch up.ÿ Over the last couple of days, I watched:

[snip]

Practical Magic (4K disc) 1998 movie staring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as two sister witches...

Still have never watched this. And kind of pissed that they recast Evan
Rachel Wood with Joey King for the sequel, so I may never bother with either...

The Craft (4K disc) 1996 movie about 4 teenage girls who discover they
can do real magic.

The Craft: Legacy (blu-ray) 2020 sequel

Still have *never* seen this. I think it has literally never left
Starz(?) and gone to another streamer (not even Tubi!) the entire time.

Well, this is a good way to make sure your film never gets seen, folks!
You *have* to farm your films out to the other streamers from
time-to-time, or no one will ever see them!!

Barbarian (4K disc) 2022 movie written and directed by Zach Cregger.

Saw it. I generally agree with r/horror that the first half of the film
is much better than the second half.

Weapons (4K disc) 2025 movie written and directed by Zach Cregger.

Planning on getting to this, and "Bring Her Back", before the end of
this Labor Day weekend. (Both are on HBO Max.) We'll see if I make it!



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/6/2026 9:58 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

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

On 9/5/2026 10:57 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

. . .

Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

(cough) Star Trek (cough)

If you are highly selective. "The Wrath of Khan" and "Save the Whales"
were excellent, the rest not so much. The Abrams' movies couldn't be
bothered with new material and were forgetable.

Practical Magic (4K disc) 1998 movie staring Sandra Bullock and Nicole
Kidman as two sister witches under a course that whoever they fall in
love with will die. It's OK. I mainly upgraded to 4K and watched
because there is a sequel on the way.

There is? Why? This movie was relentlessly mediocre.

I'm not going to dispute it was relentlessly mediocre. The only reason
I even own it (and I think watched it for the first time) is it was
included as a double feature with "Witches From Eastwick" blu-ray. I
would usually pair the two movies since they were on the same disc
anyway. But relentlessly mediocre is still better than bad. And it's
not a bad movie, so I'll put it on and let it play in the background.

I actually have hopes for the sequel. A while back I took a Warner
movie survey where they were asking a bunch of questions about what
people would want in a sequel, and all of my responses went towards dark horror movie. And from the trailer, I think the movie *might* have incorporated some of those responses. Clearly it was already on their
minds since those dark horror options were included in the first place.

And it's easy to forget that to the degree the first movie had a
villain, it was a frevny xvyyre, jub gurl zheqrerq naq ur pnzr onpx nf n xvyyre tubfg. So dark horror themes were even in the first one. But
like you said the movie *is* so very relentlessly mediocre that, that
plot detail is easily forgotten.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/6/26 9:58 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

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

On 9/5/2026 10:57 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

. . .

Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

(cough) Star Trek (cough)

If you are highly selective.

It's also a fundamentally different example as the ST films came a full
decade after the run of the ST:TOS TV series.

What the other examples, including "Mando", did/do is try to launch the theatrical movie pretty much immediately from the TV series, not 10+
years later. (And nearly all of these other attempts failed.)

"The Wrath of Khan" and "Save the Whales"
were excellent, the rest not so much.

I like VI as well - I think it's good "guilty pleasure" fun.

The Abrams' movies couldn't be
bothered with new material and were forgettable.

I have never watched them, and don't ever plan to.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sep 5, 2026 at 10:57:07 PM PDT, ""Ian J. Ball"" <ijball@mac.invalid>
wrote:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!
Second, this is basically nothing more than a higher-budget
over-long episode of "The Mandalorian" TV series. There is nothing wrong with this if you like the series - But why did this have to be released
in theaters?!! Why not just do another season of the TV series?

This. That's exactly what I said leaving the theater. How come they didn't
just break it up into 25-minute segments and put it on Disney+ as Season 3 (or 4 or whatever) of the show?

The Long Walk (HBO Max) - I quite enjoyed this too, though I didn't find
it as emotionally involving (or wrenching!) as some people on r/horror apparently did.

Weirdly, it was a very faithful adaptation of King's work but it just doesn't seem to work well as a film. Much of the novella consists of internal monologues among the characters, which you lose in a film format.

I always complain that Hollywood changes King's books and that's why the
movies are generally shitty, but this one didn't change much of anything and while it wasn't shitty, it left me disappointed, as the story has long been
one of my favorites.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sep 6, 2026 at 9:58:21 AM PDT, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

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

On 9/5/2026 10:57 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:

. . .

Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

(cough) Star Trek (cough)

If you are highly selective. "The Wrath of Khan" and "Save the Whales"
were excellent, the rest not so much. The Abrams' movies couldn't be
bothered with new material and were forgetable.

Practical Magic (4K disc) 1998 movie staring Sandra Bullock and Nicole
Kidman as two sister witches under a course that whoever they fall in
love with will die. It's OK. I mainly upgraded to 4K and watched
because there is a sequel on the way.

There is? Why?

Because Bullock and Kidman want a paycheck.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ian J. Ball wrote:
Well, after working hard for two weeks straight (had to run meetings,
and get new instructors ready for the new semester, and then classes
started this past week), I decided that this long weekend, and
especially today (Saturday), I was going to blow off some steam and just watch movies!!

Unfortunately, a number of the movies I wanted to watch are either unavailable to me (e.g. Project Hail Mary) or haven't come to streaming
yet (e.g. It Ends, Backrooms).

So I think I cobbled together a pretty decent line-up of flicks for a Saturday anyway:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?! Second, this is basically nothing more than a higher-budget
over-long episode of "The Mandalorian" TV series. There is nothing wrong
with this if you like the series - But why did this have to be released
in theaters?!! Why not just do another season of the TV series?
And, third - There is just *way too much* CGI in this flick! Like,
not just the monsters - I think that almost every *character* besides
Mando (and Sigourney Weaver) in this film is CGI. This seriously took me
out of the movie in several places... Remember when they used to make
movies with "practical effects" and, like, costumes and puppets and
stuff?! Well, you don't have to worry, because there's not much of that
in this film!
In addition (and this was not unexpected) - it does pretty literally
become the "Baby Yoda" flick for a stretch in the middle.
But, mostly aside from the gratuitous and annoying over-use of CGI,
I did actually enjoy this film. It's fine as a low-stakes "popcorn" Star Wars-universe film.

The Martian (Ultra HD Blu-ray disk!) - So this wasn't just in "glorious
4k" - it was in "super-duper glorious 4k!!" :D
And, yes - I had never actually watched this before. It's been on TV
for years now, but it's one of those films I refused to watch for the
first time on ad-supported TV. And then I bought it on UHD Blu-ray a
couple of years back and decided tht I would wait to watch on UHD disk.
Well, today was finally the day for it, esp. as I can't watch "Project
Hail Mary" yet.
I thought the film itself was quite good.
Yeah, sure, they definitely gloss over the specifics of how Matt
Damon manages to survive on Mars for so long.
But this is a good, mostly hard-science based thriller, and I'd love
to see more flicks like this made.
And it looks incredible on UHD Blu-ray - I'm guessing better than it
would have looked in a theater.

The Long Walk (HBO Max) - I quite enjoyed this too, though I didn't find
it as emotionally involving (or wrenching!) as some people on r/horror apparently did.
I did think David Jonsson was quite outstanding in this - get this
guy more acting gigs, STAT!! (Oh... He's the new "Black Panther"! Now it
all makes sense...)
And Mark Hammil is unrecognizable in this - I didn't even realize it
was him until the final credits!
Apparently, Stephen King thinks this is one of the better
adaptations of his works, and I think I mostly agree. Though I was a
little horrified to learn after watching this that the film total
changes the character arc for Peter McVries (Jonsson's character) which, while it works for the film, is a major change from King's book's
ending. This put me a little off after the fact.
Anyway, this one gets a 'Thumbs up' from me.

And what did you watch, at the start of your Labor Day weekend?!

Our family watched the finale of Silo Season 3.

Can't wait for Season 4.

Sneak Peak from Apple TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yq7dvVINpY


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--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

Well, after working hard for two weeks straight (had to run meetings,
and get new instructors ready for the new semester, and then classes
started this past week), I decided that this long weekend, and
especially today (Saturday), I was going to blow off some steam and just watch movies!!

Unfortunately, a number of the movies I wanted to watch are either unavailable to me (e.g. Project Hail Mary) or haven't come to streaming
yet (e.g. It Ends, Backrooms).

So I think I cobbled together a pretty decent line-up of flicks for a Saturday anyway:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

Two words: Serenity

And what did you watch, at the start of your Labor Day weekend?!

Hey, thanks for asking!

REACHER.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.
Wild Cards Season Three starring the teacher from the beginning of
Serenity.



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

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 9/6/26 6:57 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

Well, after working hard for two weeks straight (had to run meetings,
and get new instructors ready for the new semester, and then classes
started this past week), I decided that this long weekend, and
especially today (Saturday), I was going to blow off some steam and just
watch movies!!

Unfortunately, a number of the movies I wanted to watch are either
unavailable to me (e.g. Project Hail Mary) or haven't come to streaming
yet (e.g. It Ends, Backrooms).

So I think I cobbled together a pretty decent line-up of flicks for a
Saturday anyway:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In
glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

Two words: Serenity

Creatively, yes. But objectively, "Serenity" bombed at the Box Office,
so this is another piece of evidence towards the point I was making.

And what did you watch, at the start of your Labor Day weekend?!

Hey, thanks for asking!

REACHER.

I would watch this, but I explained why I can't yesterday.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.
Wild Cards Season Three starring the teacher from the beginning of
Serenity.

I don't remember who that was...


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

On 9/6/26 6:57 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have >>>those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

Two words: Serenity

Creatively, yes. But objectively, "Serenity" bombed at the Box Office,
so this is another piece of evidence towards the point I was making.

It made back its production cost in box office. Universal was criticized
for allowing all those screenings so people weren't returning to buy
tickets.

The only publicity I recall was when SciFi Channel got second run rights
to the tv series.

If the show had been renewed, this could have been half a season.

Since this was just a few months after the timeline in the series and 9
months since River was released, what had the Operative been doing all
that time?

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

On 9/6/26 6:57 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:

Ian J. Ball <ijball@mac.invalid> wrote:

Well, after working hard for two weeks straight (had to run meetings,
and get new instructors ready for the new semester, and then classes
started this past week), I decided that this long weekend, and
especially today (Saturday), I was going to blow off some steam and just >>> watch movies!!

Unfortunately, a number of the movies I wanted to watch are either
unavailable to me (e.g. Project Hail Mary) or haven't come to streaming
yet (e.g. It Ends, Backrooms).

So I think I cobbled together a pretty decent line-up of flicks for a
Saturday anyway:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In
glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

Two words: Serenity

Creatively, yes. But objectively, "Serenity" bombed at the Box Office,
so this is another piece of evidence towards the point I was making.

And what did you watch, at the start of your Labor Day weekend?!

Hey, thanks for asking!

REACHER.

I would watch this, but I explained why I can't yesterday.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.
Wild Cards Season Three starring the teacher from the beginning of
Serenity.

I don't remember who that was...

The second boss from bones

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

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

In article <117ivbj$23hns$1@dont-email.me>, ijball@mac.invalid wrote:

Mando & "Baby Yoda" (aka. "The Mandalorian and Grogu") (Disney+) - In >glorious 4k!
OK, let me get this out of the way first - overall, I enjoyed this.
It's not deep. But as "Space Westerns" go, it's mostly decent.
That said, I can see the problems here, and can understand why it
didn't do well at the Box Office.
Well, first - It's a theatrical movie spinoff of a TV show. Have
those EVER worked?!! I mean, since "Batman '66", has this ever worked?!

If memory serves, the Batman movie with Adam West came before the TV
show.

--
Islam is a peaceful religion, just as long as the women are beaten, the
boys buggered and the infidels are killed.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)