This has been a really unproductive week in terms of me watching and writing about movies. As in, I only saw three, and wrote about a different three. Needless to say, my weekly tally is not going well. I have, however, been watching a lot of 30 Rock, so there’s that. I’d seen seasons 1 and 2 before, loved them, but never watched any further for reasons, presumably, but I got the 7-season boxset for Christmas and have been working my way slowly through. How slowly? Well this past week I finally reached series 2. Yep. So I’ve yet to break new ground (I’m up to the episode where Tracey Morgan says something loud and stupid), but I’m still really enjoying it. What I hadn’t noticed before, however, was just how heavily scored the whole thing is. As in, there are times when I can’t hear the dialogue because the music is just too damn loud. It’s like Interstellar in there.

Oh, and the Oscars happened last night. I didn’t watch them because they’re on at stupid o’clock in the UK, plus I don’t have the channel that the Oscars are shown on, so whenever I have seen it it’s been at my parents’ house, and I couldn’t be bothered with the extra hassle this year, plus taking today off work when I’ve got a lot to do, and really, I’ve watched the highlights on YouTube (the opening number with Neil Patrick Harris, Anna Kendrick and Jack Black, and Everything Is Awesome being performed live) and seen a picture of Idina Menzel and John Travolta presenting an award, so yeah I feel like I saved myself a few hours. I have no issues with how the awards fell. I’m overjoyed Boyhood didn’t get Best Picture (confirming my Avatar theory). I’d have liked Keaton to get Best Actor, but Redmayne was solid in The Theory of Everything, so no surprise there. I guess I need to see Big Hero 6 now, but I was going to do that anyway. So, here’s what I watched this week:

Waterworld (1995)
Waterworld has a reputation for being a big old belly flop in a world made of water. I think I recorded it out of curiosity than anything else, and I’ve got to say I kind of enjoyed it on a what-the-heck-is-going-on level. Call it a guilty pleasure, but this was ridiculous fun. Costner plays a man known simply as Mariner, in a world where global warming has melted the ice caps and everyone lives on the ocean, dreaming of the myth of dry land and fighting for food, fuel, paper and dirt. Mariner has a mutation though – he’s got gills and webbed feet (it’s unclear if these evolved – which I’m not sure is how evolution works – or were added surgically, but who cares, he’s a merman, and he finds himself lumbered with a woman and child, the latter of which has a map tattooed on her back (which seems to be just an arrow, really), but which makes her a target for one-eyed Dennis Hopper’s evil jetski gang. If what I’ve said doesn’t have you interested, I don’t know what will. All you need to know is the final scene, when Costner, in an airborne craft, needs to save someone in the water below who is about to be set upon by three jetskis all about to converge on one point. Costner ties a rope (not a bungee cord, just an ordinary rope) around himself, hands the other end to someone else and says “Tie this off” before jumping over the side – before the rope has been tied. The people still in the craft manage to tie it, Costner falls perfectly above the person in danger, grabs them and bungees back up again – on the ordinary rope – to safety, causing the three jetskis to collide in a big explosion. Let’s analyse this, shall we? Had Costner not jumped to save the person-in-need, all three jetskis still would have crashed into one another and also the person they were trying to retrieve-and-not-kill. Also, it’s a damn rope. It’s not elastic. I loved how stupid this all was.
Lists: TiVo
Choose Film 6/10

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

Just because I only saw one film I need to review this week, doesn’t mean I didn’t cross something off every list I could. The Outlaw Josey Wales is on two of the lists I’m going through (including the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die), it was also part of the recommendations list, as Nick Rehak, my fellow French Toastie, picked this as something I should see. It’s also heavily set or based around Missouri and Missourians, so I’m taking it as my Missouri movie for my USA Road Trip over at French Toast Sunday, and it was also amongst the films saved on my TiVo. So yay for me, review coming soon.
Lists: TiVo, Empire Top 500, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Nominated Movies, French Toast Sunday USA Road Trip

The Lego Movie (2014)
I still love this movie, and yes it’s still my favourite from 2014 (although I haven’t seen a great deal more from last year that would even get close to knocking it off). This watch (my fourth, as selected by my wonderful girlfriend) got me thinking about the proposed sequel, due in 2018. Spoilers for The Lego Movie, Stranger Than Fiction, The Avengers and Iron Man 3 ahead. In the third act of The Lego Movie, Emmet (wonderfully voiced by Chris Pratt) discovers his world is ruled over by essentially a God, who just so happens to be a child and, ultimately, his father (Will Ferrell), and that all of Emmet’s actions are kind of like Ferrell’s in Stranger Than Fiction, in that they are dictated by the will of another sentient being, and that his free will is merely an illusion. Now, where do they go from here sequel-wise? Do they break free from the world of Bricksburg and head to one of the other Lego worlds like Middle Zealand? Or do they pull an Iron Man 3 and directly reference the events of the previously film, when Tony Stark suffered PTSD from his encounter with aliens and sending a bomb into space via a wormhole? Whatever they decide, I’m looking forward to whatever direction it takes and just seeing what is going to happen. Basically, my most anticipated movie for three years time has already been decided upon.
Lists: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (hopefully)

Luther (2011)

Series 3, Episode 1, 2, 3, 4: We finished Luther this week. Sad times, as now there’s no more Luther to watch. Boo. On the plus side, series 3 is amazing. I loved it. All of it. It’s so tense, with great characters (Alice comes back for a bit, yay!) and some development of ones I hadn’t previously liked, but became genuinely interested in (hello Gray and Schenk) as well as the addition of David O’Hara to the cast as this series’ primary villain. Also, Michael Smiley (pictured). He doesn’t have a lot to do in the show – he’s Benny, the tech guy back at base who can hack anything, and has a background in MMORPG – but I like Michael Smiley, so I’m pleased whenever he shows up. If you’re unfamiliar, he’s cropped up in some Edgar Wright work (he’s Tyres in Spaced and Reverend Green in The World’s End) and Ben Wheatley’s films too. The only question now is, what do I watch next? I think I might track down series 3 of Game of Thrones.

Posts you may have missed:
Boyhood
The Goonies
Bad Timing
Favourite Scene Friday: The French Connection – I took a look at The French Connection‘s infamous car chase as part of To The Escape Hatch’s Oscar-centric month of February. It’s probably my favourite car chase ever, definitely top 3 at least, if only for how insanely it was made.
Lambcast #257 2015 Oscar Predictions: I was joined by my co-host Robert, Shane, DJ and David to discuss our Oscar predictions. It’s a little late now, but we still had fun on the show. If you’re bored with all the Oscar talk, just skip to the Rants, Raves and Last Lamb Standing game, which are always fun.

Goals Update
Aim: Cross off all saved TiVo films
Watched: 9
To go: 52
Should be on: 9
On Track: Yes!

Aim: See 25 films in the cinema
Watched: 4
To go: 21
Should be on: 4
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Review Kate Winslet’s remaining films
Reviewed: 0
To go: 3
Should be on: 0
On Track: Yes!

Aim: Watch 12 “bad” films from the 1001 List
Reviewed: 1
To go: 11
Should be on: 2
On Track: No!

Aim: Watch 1 nominated film a week from the 1001 List
Reviewed: 2
To go: 50
Should be on: 8
On Track: No!

Aim: Cross off 75 films from the 1001 List
Reviewed: 8
To go: 67
Should be on: 12
On Track: No!