TV and Movie Thread

[Solovei]

Yes! This! It really is an excellent film - serious while still being deeply entertaining. Probably the best action movie I've ever seen (you know they did pretty much every stunt in it for real, at 60mph? There's so little CGI in that film compared to similar ones!)

I also appreciated the lack of shakycam! ugh, just... everything was so beautifully composed, it was like a painting.
I have to say it's the smartest dumb action movie I've ever seen.

[SugaAndSpice]

Dr. Who and Sherlock!! And My Little Pony, of course. (Odd mix, don't you think?)

[Solovei]

Dr. Who and Sherlock!! And My Little Pony, of course. (Odd mix, don't you think?)

Seems pretty standard to me 

[Sunflower]

It has come to my attention that I am tragically deficient in the area of pop culture, particularly TV and anime.  I already have an awful lot of my future free time mortgaged catching up on the final (or latest) seasons of "Breaking Bad," "Mad Men," "Game of Thrones," and other live-action shows.

BUT if I were to carve out some time for binge-watching, particularly older, anime, or other non-U.S. shows, what should I watch, in order to get the references y'all make?  I can probably fit in the top 3 between now and the end of the year. 

Already nominated:
Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagann
Akta Manniskor ("Real Humans," which is apparently now being remade in the U.S.)
Fullmetal Alchemist
Ripping Yarns
Gravity Falls

For budget reasons, I'm limited to what I can find at my local library system on DVD.  But luckily, the library is pretty well-stocked.

Fire away with suggestions!   

[Fimbulvarg]

It has come to my attention that I am tragically deficient in the area of pop culture, particularly TV and anime.  I already have an awful lot of my future free time mortgaged catching up on the final (or latest) seasons of "Breaking Bad," "Mad Men," "Game of Thrones," and other live-action shows.

BUT if I were to carve out some time for binge-watching, particularly older, anime, or other non-U.S. shows, what should I watch, in order to get the references y'all make?  I can probably fit in the top 3 between now and the end of the year. 

Already nominated:
Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagann
Akta Manniskor ("Real Humans," which is apparently now being remade in the U.S.)
Fullmetal Alchemist
Ripping Yarns
Gravity Falls

For budget reasons, I'm limited to what I can find at my local library system on DVD.  But luckily, the library is pretty well-stocked.

Fire away with suggestions!   

I don't think you can have "older anime" if you desperately want to get memes that are being thrown around by the younger generation. None of the animes+Gravity Falls are old in any sense of the word. "Old anime" means stuff like the original Dragon Ball cartoons, Gundam, Space Battleship Yamato etc.

Also, I don't think I've spent a single dollar on anime. Most of the stuff is streamed from crunchyroll and other sites or torrented.

[Mélusine]

Fullmetal Alchemist is very good (the 2nd one is better) but if you has never seen Mushishi, you HAVE to discover it, because it's truly beautiful.
And now I'll let the persons who own a real culture speak.

[Sunflower]

I don't think you can have "older anime" if you desperately want to get memes that are being thrown around by the younger generation. None of the animes+Gravity Falls are old in any sense of the word. Old anime means stuff like the original Dragon Ball cartoons, Space Battleship Yamato etc.

Also, I don't think I've spent a single dollar on anime. Most of the stuff is streamed from crunchyroll and other sites or torrented.

Right, I probably wasn't clear -- I meant older (like "Ripping Yarns") OR anime AND/OR non-U.S. shows -- whatever seems to be in the best overlap between "popular with the youth" and "intellectually/aesthetically powerful enough that a middle-aged snob like me can allow herself to watch it."  With a bonus for anything that's actually pertinent to SSSS or this forum.

I'd prefer stuff on DVD because it's more convenient to watch.  But I'll settle for streamed delivery, even though it's to my 8-year-old Mac via a less-than-maximal cable connection. 

[Haiz]

Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagann
Fullmetal Alchemist
Gravity Falls

I can vouch for these three. I don't think Gravity Falls is on DVD as of yet, though.

I don't know how much you enjoy cartoons, but if you like Gravity Falls (which I think you will because it's brilliant), there's also Steven Universe (which is spawning all the gemsonas in the forum museum, ehehe) and Over the Garden Wall. All of these cartoons are really clever and will feel rewarding to watch even for adults.
Steven Universe has many tropes in common with anime and references a lot of them and the genre.
Over the Garden Wall is a 10 episode miniseries, and it's just. it's an incredible experience to watch. it takes less than two hours to watch the whole thing but that means it's really easy to rewatch!

[kjeks]

Right, I probably wasn't clear -- I meant older (like "Ripping Yarns") OR anime AND/OR non-U.S. shows -- whatever seems to be in the best overlap between "popular with the youth" and "intellectually/aesthetically powerful enough that a middle-aged snob like me can allow herself to watch it."  With a bonus for anything that's actually pertinent to SSSS or this forum.

I'd prefer stuff on DVD because it's more convenient to watch.  But I'll settle for streamed delivery, even though it's to my 8-year-old Mac via a less-than-maximal cable connection.

Monster, though it is really dark and the DVDs are hard to get. which reminds me... *sneaks off to search*

[Mélusine]

"popular with the youth"

Ah... Is popular on the forum enough ? ^^°

Monster, though it is really dark and the DVDs are hard to get. which reminds me... *sneaks off to search*

Dark but good It was what I discovered after FMA.

[Fimbulvarg]

"intellectually/aesthetically powerful enough that a middle-aged snob like me can allow herself to watch it."

Er, if that means what I think it does you may be approaching this with the wrong mindset. Gurren Lagann is loud, rappy, stupid and ridiculous, and if that doesn't appeal to you there's not much to be gained from forceful exposure.

But Attack on Titan is kinda essential nowadays. And sort of similar to SSSS in various ways.

[Laufey]

Some I could definitely recommend, although it's debatable whether any of these could count as "old":

Ergo Proxy
Tekkon Kinkreet
Paranoia Agent
The Tatami Galaxy

Er, if that means what I think it does you may be approaching this with the wrong mindset. Gurren Lagann is loud, rappy, stupid and ridiculous, and if that doesn't appeal to you there's not much to be gained from forceful exposure.

Indeed. Gurren Lagann doesn't make any excuses but that's exactly what its charm is. Watching it is always an experience (I'm currently re-watching it and I don't think I've hurt myself this badly since Mawaru Penguindrum)(by which I mean there are some really heartbreaking moments in there, just to clarify).

[Solovei]

Gurren Lagann is loud, rappy, stupid and ridiculous, and if that doesn't appeal to you there's not much to be gained from forceful exposure.

It IS those things but somehow in between giant robots punching each other you start to really feel for the characters and the whole message about "always get better than you are!" (that was the message, right? you know, all those drills and spirals? it was all about self-improvement? I really hope that was it and not something completely different)

I would also add Battlestar Galactica to your list if you hadn't already seen the re-imagined series. It's exactly the kind of smart sci-fi middle-aged snobs can get behind 

[Fimbulvarg]

It IS those things but somehow in between giant robots punching each other you start to really feel for the characters and the whole message about "always get better than you are!"

I think most animes - even the flamboyant low-brow ones such as Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, One Piece, Bleach, Naruto etc etc - try to have some sort of philosophical content. Sometimes it's just very pretentious, like with Bleach and Naruto. But arguably there are those who actually get it kind of right, like Full Metal Alchemist (IMO).

(that was the message, right? you know, all those drills and spirals? it was all about self-improvement? I really hope that was it and not something completely different)

Y-yeah, let's just go with that.

[Auleliel]

Anything from Studio Ghibli by Hayao Miyazaki.