I mentioned I was going to visit my son and his family and watch Alien: Romulus (I don't know if that's the correct title, it's something like that.) on his home theater setup. He's got a 75" TV with some super-whamodyne Panasonic 4K Blu-Ray player and a (separate?) sound system.

It was very much like a theater experience. It's perhaps a sign of age that I'm far less interested in the technical aspects of home entertainment. It was all I could do to refrain from asking him to turn on the subtitles.

I enjoyed the movie, though I thought the story-telling was sloppy and it did too much fan-service with gratuitous callouts to the original and the first sequel. In a couple of scenes, it seemed to me that Cailee Spaeny even looked like Sigourney Weaver. The set designs and effects were first-rate though, and I enjoyed seeing them on that giant screen.

It's interesting how the creators seem bound to the original in terms of display technology. Everything seems to run on glitchy, low-res CRTs. Fan service, I guess.

The CGI version of Ian Holm was disappointing. The voice was good, but too much "uncanny valley" in the face.

Anyway, it was entertaining and I enjoyed seeing my son and his family.

Last night, we watched the 4K UHD version of Galaxy Quest. While it's not as revelatory an experience as Mystery Men was in 4K UHD, the movie has never looked better. Money well spent if you enjoy the movie and have a decent TV.

We also watched Fly Me to the Moon, on Apple TV+. Entertaining. Not a huge Channing Tatum fan, but this was a nice role for him. Scarlett Johansson was a good as she always is. It's a silly movie, but a nice diversion.

Did I mention Blitz earlier? Probably not. Also Apple TV+, and also worth your time.

Originally posted at Nice Marmot 10:52 Monday, 9 December 2024