What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

I love the Departed. You might also want to check out its inspiration, Infernal Affairs. Although unfortunately, the plots are almost identical so you won't get any surprises.

jeb wrote: I reWAHtched the fuckin DePAHted. Wheah the fuckin' AXsents ah so fuckin' THICK you can cut em like a fuckin' SLICE-a-BUDDah.

When I went into boot camp in the Army, the Army was doing a thing with the National Guard (still may be doing it), where you go into boot camp the summer before you finish high school, and AIT after you graduated. So in a company of about 130 or so people, there were 120 kids from Bahston, a few Hispanics also from Boston, and three Regular Army recruits. I came from Southern WV and had the accent to prove it*. So I got a lot of, "You tawk funny," in that thick Southie accent.

*Lost most of it after 30+ years in Columbus, I think. A couple of days back home, or an hour long conversation with my mom can bring it back.

hotseatgames wrote: I love the Departed. You might also want to check out its inspiration, Infernal Affairs. Although unfortunately, the plots are almost identical so you won't get any surprises.

I think seeing IA first kinda ruined any appreciation for The Departed for me. Great cast but it felt like they were just going through the motions compared to IA.

I'd like to see more cross cultural adaptations. I can do subtitles and all that but it's nice to have an English version with the little changes for us. Koreans and Japanese in particular have a very specific type of drama down pat with tight plotting that we could use more of over here.

Oxygen on netflix. Virtually a one woman (in a box) production from France, I think. Pretty cool with a nice onion layer set of reveals (just don't look back because nothing really holds up in retrospect). A bit too much whining and crying and not enough "get it done before the air runs out!" for my wife but I enjoyed it well enough. Like a lot of these "it has a sci-fi setting but it's really about the people" shows I wish there had been a science advisor to clean up at least the background details with the FX but it is what it is.

I also watched Infernal Affairs first and still liked it a lot better than The Departed. Also IA has two sequels that are pretty good too.

Having lived in Boston area for over 20 years I can confirm there are only a few areas with the accent. Like the term "wicked" it's just something played up for the tourists.

jeb wrote: I reWAHtched the fuckin DePAHted. Wheah the fuckin' AXsents ah so fuckin' THICK you can cut em like a fuckin' SLICE-a-BUDDah.

What this show doesn't get, and which basically every Boston film/show doesn't get is that the accents disappear outside of a few select neighborhoods. Not every cop in the state police is from Southie. A number of them are from Framingham, for example.

Very convoluted. DiCaprio is really good, and plays a fucked up Boston kid better than Matt Damon, which is odd given where they're from. Wahlberg beats them both though, which makes the most sense. Great cast, and I'm a little sad to have noticed the age-parity the female lead (Vera Farminga, doing a lot with not much) has with DiCaprio/Damon, even though that should be the most normal thing in the world.

This sums up Boston movies pretty well.



On a related note, CITY ON A HILL is a Showtime series that takes place in Boston in the early 90s, when I lived there as well. It really nails the look and feel of the era, even if much of the first season was shot in NYC. S2 it appears they shot more in Boston. The second season just ended, not sure if it will get renewed. Kevin Bacon in particular really shines as a shady FBI agent.

ChristopherMD wrote: I also watched Infernal Affairs first and still liked it a lot better than The Departed. Also IA has two sequels that are pretty good too.

Having lived in Boston area for over 20 years I can confirm there are only a few areas with the accent. Like the term "wicked" it's just something played up for the tourists.

Lived there from 88 til 97. One reason the accents aren't nearly as prevalent as movies would lead you to believe is that the vast majority of people you run into are not Boston natives; like me they moved there for college, some stay. some leave. Boston proper is actually not that large geographically. Also I'd think the accent is likely slowly disappearing as the lower class neighborhoods where the accent was most noticeable are or already have become gentrified. My old neighborhood, Mission Hill, was pretty borderline back in the day but now its much nicer.

I read somewhere that the NE accent, maybe Boston in particular, is actually closer to "old english" than what the brits sound like today. Their accent drifted while the pilgrim founded accent here did not (as much).

So just imagine "Shakespeare in the Park" with Boston accents

jason10mm wrote: So just imagine "Shakespeare in the Park" with Boston accents

Shakespeah in the Pahk!

jason10mm wrote: I read somewhere that the NE accent, maybe Boston in particular, is actually closer to "old english" than what the brits sound like today. Their accent drifted while the pilgrim founded accent here did not (as much).

So just imagine "Shakespeare in the Park" with Boston accents

My first college English professor argued the same thing but for Appalachia. They became culturally and physically isolated while the English hung out with the French and the rest of Europe.

I know there's a Youtube thread, but there's never been a more appropriate time for this:

DarthJoJo wrote: My first college English professor argued the same thing but for Appalachia. They became culturally and physically isolated while the English hung out with the French and the rest of Europe.

I'm not sure I'd call a few centuries of nearly constant warfare "hanging out" but yeah, it may have been appalachia I'm thinking of. Either way, it makes for a funny auditory experience.

Watched Army of the Dead on netflix. Wow, if there is ever an example of why the writer, producer, AND director (possibly even editor) of a film shouldn't be the same person or couple, this is it. They threw EVERYTHING at the wall, there are so many dangling storylines that went no where, had no point, or were just....huh?? but weren't cut. There is a core of an interesting fun (but definitely not scary) zombie film in there but it is saddled with the bloated weight of spin-offs, side stories, and "hold my beer, wouldn't it be cool if....?" mystery box nonsense.

Oddly enough, the digital replacement of an entire character is the LEAST objectionable or jarring part of the film for me (the disjointed aspect of this character's inclusion is greatly assisted by the extreme overuse of some sort of dreamy background filter fuzzy thing for the entire film).

If I had to rate the recent netflix big budget action flicks, this would be a bit behind Extraction (far and away the leader) and Six Underground (a sloppy but much more fun film). Better than Amazon's Without Remorse though, because that film was an endless grim slog with really dull action other than one middle scene.

jason10mm wrote: Oddly enough, the digital replacement of an entire character is the LEAST objectionable or jarring part of the film for me (the disjointed aspect of this character's inclusion is greatly assisted by the extreme overuse of some sort of dreamy background filter fuzzy thing for the entire film).

I didn't know anything about this, and didn't notice anything weird, so whatever they did must have worked pretty well.

More than I can count, actually. Let's see what I remember...

I was surprised how much I liked The Endless. Didn't feel like much I have seen. Also looked a bit cheaper than it must have been, which is kind of a plus.

Snatch still is very entertaining. Enough great characters for several movies. I got that strange vibe of remembering how groundbreaking it was 21 years ago without actually being sucked in as much. "Ze Germans" gets me every time.

Whip it/Roller Girl is smarter than those movies usually are. It's still a sports movie, mind you. Just a friendly one. Teenage daughter and I agreed that Landon Pigg should not play a romantic interest, but maybe that was the point.

Y'all know this, but The last Jedi is too long. It might still be my favourite of the nine. If they only had let him run with it, I wonder where we would have arrived after Episode nine. Instead we're again stuck with all that 'blue blood' nonsense we should be done with since 1789.

In a Brendan Gleeson double feature, I saw Calvary and The Guard (with Don Cheadle). Both good to great, The Guard slightly better for humour and being even more Irish. A Masterpiece.

Calvary is so good. Such a tight character study supported by a great crop of actors and wonderful touches in the Jesuit bishop immediately finding a workaround for the seal of confession and the twit priest reading The God Delusion in wide-eye wonder.