I am going to cheat here, because first I am going to review something I >actually watched on Friday (night):
Backrooms (HBO Max) - 2026 horror? thriller? film from Kane Parsons, who >based the film off a same-titled series of YouTube (6-min) shorts that >Parsons also put out starting in 2022 (FTR, I have not seen these, and I1980s...)
am not sure I want to pull the trigger on them now...).
The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (I didn't even make the connection!)
and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve (from the "Presumed Innocent" TV >series, among other things), with special appearances from Finn Bennett
(A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking) and Mark >Duplass!
I am getting the feeling that this film is polarizing - either you
really like it or you don't.
Well, I ended up really liking it.
And that was with me going in expecting the third act to be weak -
it probably was a little weaker than the rest of the film, but nowhere
near catastrophically so.
Anyway, this film's genre can best be described as "exploration
thriller" ("exploration" is a subgenre of film, right? like "survival"
and "exploration" films, yeah?! ;> ). Though, it's more complicated than >that (and trying to explain it probably qualifies as a spoiler).
But what I thought was really, really great in this flick was the
*set design*! Where did they film this?! Did they really build all these >cool, huge sets on a soundstage somewhere? How much did this cost?!!
(Also loved that this was set in the Bay Area c.1990 - they kind of
nailed the sort of local ads you got on local Bay Area TV in the
Anyway, I definitely think this is worth a look for the set-design,
even if you don't totally buy into the film's premise or setting.
What did you watch?
I am going to cheat here, because first I am going to review something I actually watched on Friday (night):
Backrooms (HBO Max) - 2026 horror? thriller? film from Kane Parsons, who based the film off a same-titled series of YouTube (6-min) shorts that Parsons also put out starting in 2022 (FTR, I have not seen these, and I
am not sure I want to pull the trigger on them now...).
ÿÿ The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (I didn't even make the connection!)
and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve (from the "Presumed Innocent" TV series, among other things), with special appearances from Finn Bennett
(A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Lukita Maxwell (Shrinking) and Mark Duplass!
ÿÿ I am getting the feeling that this film is polarizing - either you really like it or you don't.
ÿÿ Well, I ended up really liking it.
ÿÿ And that was with me going in expecting the third act to be weak -
it probably was a little weaker than the rest of the film, but nowhere
near catastrophically so.
ÿÿ Anyway, this film's genre can best be described as "exploration thriller" ("exploration" is a subgenre of film, right? like "survival"
and "exploration" films, yeah?! ;> ). Though, it's more complicated than that (and trying to explain it probably qualifies as a spoiler).
ÿÿ But what I thought was really, really great in this flick was the
*set design*! Where did they film this?! Did they really build all these cool, huge sets on a soundstage somewhere? How much did this cost?!!
ÿÿ (Also loved that this was set in the Bay Area c.1990 - they kind of nailed the sort of local ads you got on local Bay Area TV in the 1980s...)
ÿÿ Anyway, I definitely think this is worth a look for the set-design,snip
even if you don't totally buy into the film's premise or setting.
What I really watched on Saturday (and before) was:
A Doctor to Die For: The Sarah Harris Story (Lifetime) - New Lifetime
flick. The moral of this story is - Sometimes you just can't save some people.
soaps: GH - If they going to have Willow go all "Dark Willow" and be a scheming conspirator-type, I really wish they'd write her smarter. But, honestly, that maybe goes for most of the characters on the show these
days. Meanwhile, Bluesy Burke (daughter of Billy Burke, and yeah that's
her real name) looks to have left the show (at least for now - the
actress has gone off to college so I am skeptical that I will ever come
back to the show) so Charlotte has been sent off to boarding school.
ÿÿ DOOL - [sigh...] Looks like they are going to go down the "Philip is
a dirty gambling addict" storyline path again... Meanwhile, in a
surprise to absolutely no one, they show us that Joy is faking her
paralysis - I just want this bitch busted sooner rather than later.
What did you watch?
I spent the day binging through a bunch of zombie movies. First some of George A. Romero's sequels to "Night of the Living Dead." They held up
very well.
"Zombies, man. They creep me out."
World War Z (4K disc) 2013 movie which stars Brad Pitt as a investigator forcibly volunteered by the United Nations to help track down the cause
of a zombie outbreak that has begun to overrun the world. The movie
follows Pitt's character as he crisscrosses the globe looking for
answers. Peter Capaldi also costars as Doctor Who, I mean a W.H.O.
Doctor. I haven't watched it in years and had pretty much forgotten
what happens in the movie. It held up very well. These were fast
moving swarm zombies that can zombify someone in seconds after a bite.
This leads to a very intense sequence set on an airplane as someone in
the back gets turned and there are no doors between the back of the
plane and the front of the plane. My one gripe is the movie has an
abrupt ending with no real resolution, then again most zombie movies do
tend to end that way.
On Oct 4, 2026 at 8:58:47 AM PDT, "Arthur Lipscomb" ><arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
I spent the day binging through a bunch of zombie movies. First some of
George A. Romero's sequels to "Night of the Living Dead." They held up
very well.
"Zombies, man. They creep me out."
They just announced that filming has wrapped on TWILIGHT OF THE DEAD, the >final Romero zombie flick which he wrote before he died. Stars Katie >Beckinsale.
World War Z (4K disc) 2013 movie which stars Brad Pitt as a investigator
forcibly volunteered by the United Nations to help track down the cause
of a zombie outbreak that has begun to overrun the world. The movie
follows Pitt's character as he crisscrosses the globe looking for
answers. Peter Capaldi also costars as Doctor Who, I mean a W.H.O.
Doctor. I haven't watched it in years and had pretty much forgotten
what happens in the movie. It held up very well. These were fast
moving swarm zombies that can zombify someone in seconds after a bite.
This leads to a very intense sequence set on an airplane as someone in
the back gets turned and there are no doors between the back of the
plane and the front of the plane. My one gripe is the movie has an
abrupt ending with no real resolution, then again most zombie movies do
tend to end that way.
My main gripe is that I was looking forward to a movie based on the book and >the book was completely ignored for a completely different story.
It was the same feeling I got going into HALLOWEEN 3. I was expecting a >Michael Myers movie and instead got some silly plot about an evil corporation >trying to kill children with Halloween masks.
On 10/3/2026 11:28 PM, Ian J. Ball wrote:
I am going to cheat here, because first I am going to review something
I actually watched on Friday (night):
Backrooms (HBO Max) - 2026 horror? thriller? film from Kane Parsons,
who based the film off a same-titled series of YouTube (6-min) shorts
that Parsons also put out starting in 2022 (FTR, I have not seen
these, and I am not sure I want to pull the trigger on them now...).
ÿÿÿ The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (I didn't even make the
connection!) and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve (from the "Presumed
Innocent" TV series, among other things), with special appearances
from Finn Bennett (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Lukita Maxwell
(Shrinking) and Mark Duplass!
ÿÿÿ I am getting the feeling that this film is polarizing - either you
really like it or you don't.
I think fans of the YouTube series really liked it.ÿ I'm not familiar
with the YouTube videos, so I didn't get a lot of the references.ÿ But I still liked it.
ÿÿÿ Well, I ended up really liking it.
ÿÿÿ And that was with me going in expecting the third act to be weak -
it probably was a little weaker than the rest of the film, but nowhere
near catastrophically so.
ÿÿÿ Anyway, this film's genre can best be described as "exploration
thriller" ("exploration" is a subgenre of film, right? like "survival"
and "exploration" films, yeah?! ;> ). Though, it's more complicated
than that (and trying to explain it probably qualifies as a spoiler).
ÿÿÿ But what I thought was really, really great in this flick was the
*set design*! Where did they film this?! Did they really build all
these cool, huge sets on a soundstage somewhere? How much did this
cost?!!
ÿÿÿ (Also loved that this was set in the Bay Area c.1990 - they kind
of nailed the sort of local ads you got on local Bay Area TV in the
1980s...)
Cal Worthington & his dog Spot.ÿ ;-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOsLdT4slsk&t=7s
ÿÿÿ Anyway, I definitely think this is worth a look for the set-
design, even if you don't totally buy into the film's premise or setting.
What did you watch?
I spent the day binging through a bunch of zombie movies.ÿ First some of George A. Romero's sequels to "Night of the Living Dead."ÿ They held up
very well.
"Zombies, man. They creep me out." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbGUlR-0BSs
Then I watched some "Return of the Living Dead" movies.ÿ Those poor
zombies just want to eat the brains of the living to end the pain of
being dead, and those selfish living people refuse to let them.
Fortunately the zombies in these movies can talk. "Send more cops."
For most of the day they were pure background noise with a commentary
track while I did other stuff.ÿ Then I called it a night with "World War
Z."ÿ But I did pay attention to World War Z.
World War Z (4K disc) 2013 movie which stars Brad Pitt as a investigator forcibly volunteered by the United Nations to help track down the cause
of a zombie outbreak that has begun to overrun the world.ÿ The movie
follows Pitt's character as he crisscrosses the globe looking for
answers.ÿ Peter Capaldi also costars as Doctor Who, I mean a W.H.O.
Doctor.ÿ I haven't watched it in years and had pretty much forgotten
what happens in the movie.ÿ It held up very well.ÿ These were fast
moving swarm zombies that can zombify someone in seconds after a bite.
This leads to a very intense sequence set on an airplane as someone in
the back gets turned and there are no doors between the back of the
plane and the front of the plane.ÿ My one gripe is the movie has an
abrupt ending with no real resolution, then again most zombie movies do
tend to end that way.
What did you watch?
| Sysop: | Tetrazocine |
|---|---|
| Location: | Melbourne, VIC, Australia |
| Users: | 7 |
| Nodes: | 8 (0 / 8) |
| Uptime: | 95:01:48 |
| Calls: | 221 |
| Files: | 21,513 |
| Messages: | 85,849 |