shmups.system11.org

Yeah, right. As if Mike, Rich and myself wont be here this time next year whinging about Discovery season 3 or the new Pike show.

He mighta shitcanned his account, but those fat clowns Rich and Mike ain't gonna unsubscribe from shit!

Also I award the review 9.5/10 stars, ie TOTAL SHIT I clapped and cried and retweeted and pissed my pants seeing all the oldschool capn's, then shat myself in rage at the outro's lack of squeezed gats - fuck this old cracker asshole! The man is a generational treasure, giving even the shittiest desecrations of classic IPs entertaining post-mortems.

Just finished the controversial yet excellent She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. If you liked Steven then this comes highly recommended.

I love the show Sirens. A Dennis Leary joint that is funny as fuck even though it only got two seasons. Have watched through both seasons a few times.

Anyway after never watching Brooklyn 99 while it was on, and incorrectly presuming it was on Fox for some reason, we're about three seasons in. The shows are really similar and 99 has gotten far funnier than I ever thought it would be.

And speaking of Dennis Leary we watched a bit of his stand up recently. Still funny, still relevant.

Devs

Alex Garland's latest. While not a home run, definitely a fun watch. I think the TV format (8 episodes) fits his style better than feature film. Not familiar w/ the source material of Annihilation but some of the characters were flat out cartoonish. None (well, little) of that here. In fact, one argument might be they're too realistic interpretations of Bay Area tech workers who aren't really known for their emotional range.

Anybody watched Mozart in the Jungle? I've been interested in the title, but the way I feel nowadays, I'd rather try reading the original book, taking a break from serialised fiction altogether.
Although what I'd really wanna know is - how people who live this line of work find the TV show. Also, I should re-watch Orchesta Rehearsal*.

*) Off-topic here, but some revelatory read, this. When watching Prova d'orchestra for the first time, I thought the sound was just poorly done (as is oftentimes the case with Polish films), but it seems to be purposefully mayhem now.

ZeroZeroZero - "a study of the business around the drug cocaine, covering its movement across continents." as gritty and nihilistic as Sicario, but 8-hours long and to the backdrop of gorgeous cinematography and Mogwai soundtrack (their best work in years) as ephemeral as the lives depicted. Stefano Sollima directed the second, poorer Sicario: Day of the Soldado, but ZeroZeroZero is more similar to his previous work, Gomorrah

That caught my eye before. I see that it's on Prime. Will give it a go.

Interesting, I loved the 2008 Gomorrah movie (as much as you can love something so bleak) - had no idea there was also a TV series based on the same book. Sounds like I've got stuff to catch up on, thanks for the heads-up rapoon.

I thought this got a bad rap. Not as good as the first (are they ever?) but was still quite enjoyable.

Just finished the final season of Dark (Netflix)

Overall I'd say it's a fine B-class show. Twin-Peaks-esque soap opera with sound and cinematography that portend existential dread, but none of the satire. It's a mystery box that doesn't really have anything profound to say, but it wraps up all the plot threads far better than a lot of mystery box shows I've seen lately. A satisfying if not terribly nutritious snack for quarantine.

Though part of my enjoyment probably came from digging up scraps of my high school German as I listened to the dialogue.

It's better than the HBO Watchmen sequel, not as good as Stranger Things season 1, I'd put it on more or less the same level as Netflix's The Witcher.

The Twin Peaks Meme group I'm in is having a hay day with this, usually making a jab at viewers that think it's the most existentially enlightening thing in the history of TV b/c it's not straight forward. Disclaimer: I've not watched it... I heard very mixed reviews of it.



So it was the best show of 2019?

Loved the soundtrack, but a sequel to Watchmen that *SPOILER* culminates in a race against time to prevent the firing of a blue sky beam, *END SPOILER* is kinda missing the point.

Though I suppose my viewing was ruined by reading an interview of Lindelof where he said one of the most brain-meltingly centrist things I ever read:



https://www.vulture.com/2019/10/watchmen-hbo-damon-lindelof.html

Not directly related, but shit, we're in quarantine and here's a way to kill 15 minutes!

Watched a few episodes of Scooby Doo and Guess Who and I'm enjoying it so far. I especially liked the episode with Urkel, despite strangely lacking any reference or appearance by other Family Matters characters (though one character bears a slight resemblance to Carl Winslow).

OT: Gaijinpunch, I was surprised to find out the special RegalSin was referring to was actually a thing. (haven't watched it, though).

The journey is the destination maybe?



TIL!

Went through Zero Zero Zero pretty quickly. Probably the best series on Prime I can think of. I know that's not saying a lot, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Also went through Kidding on Showtime. Can't believe I hadn't heard of this other than from an ex-colleague.

Might be of interest: Talking Sopranos, ongoing podcast with Michael Imperioli and Steven R. Schirippa, plus frequent guest spots from cast & crew. Episode-by-episode commentary, does what it says on the tin. Funny guys and consummate craftsmen. A bit lovey at times, but it'll do for comfy background noise. Just got to the downfall of Mikey P, feelin' the burn. Fuckin poison ivy!

I'm almost done with Babylon 5 and it is hard to put into words. I enjoyed it, a lot. It is very ambitious, and the view of the future it presents is turning out to be much more realistic than the hopeful view of Star Trek. The world and characters feel real and good. Many are far from perfect. The last season is probably the worst but I think in it's entirety it is worth watching.

Just finished rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender with my girlfriend—it was her first time watching and she loved it. She's usually not one for animated shows so I was happy to see that she thoroughly enjoyed it. I consider it a masterpiece and have the Blu-rays to watch with my future children.

Revisiting bits and pieces of The Sopranos. Not in the mood for a full rewatch, just enjoying the craftsmanship, easy gallows humour and Scorsese-good tracklist. A few cracks I'd forgotten about got me good.

"You remember your first blowjob?"
"Yeah. Sure."
"How long it take for the guy to cum?"



"Ey, Tone, didja hear what I said? I asks him if he remembers his first blowjob - and den I asked how long it took for the guy to cum!"



Neurotically macho guys sucking dick = GOLD

"Oh yeah?! If I shoot, it's goin' in ya brasciole!"

Season 4 usually ends up being my favourite. The lack of most other seasons' "boss dude" or impending crisis in favour of general mob skulduggery gives it an easygoing, morbidly comfy fly/wall feel. One ruinously cathartic and 'orribly messy whack to keep things from getting too cozy. Also has some of David Chase & co's most haunting imagery, including this dark beauty.

That said, Season 3 shares a lot of 4's good traits, and one of the series' most brutal slayings.

"Take the children, what's left of them."

Alternating with episodes of aforementioned podcast. It's a generally relaxed listen, but Schirippa's mock-violent reaction to a whopping bit of fan-wankery cracked me up. "Who are these asswipes?"

The Pajama Pants podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler and some fuck I don't know (but thanks for getting this together, and STFUing while they talking! ) is fun too. Refreshingly un-PC in our neurotic pussified times. God DAMN JLS was HAWT around s3 (beautifully, succinctly lyrical cinematography - ALSO bouncy! ). I didn't know she'd been living with fuckin multiple sclerosis all these years, what kinda god.

So I watched the 6th episode of the Hospital Valle Norte Spanish(?) TV series. All acted in Spanish, so I could only make singular words out of it, such as claro and jamas. Tey speak FAST to my Slavonic customs. I was, nonetheless, entertrained. You've watched one hospital show - you've kinda seen them all, also, I did work in a real-life hospital for a while, so there's that.

Children's Hospital is a must-watch for you then.

Just finished "Good Omens" (Amazon Prime)

A Terry Pratchett-y show about a slacker angel and slacker demon who both gained an appreciation for human society and a begrudging friendship over the millennia since the Garden of Eden trying to prevent the apocalypse.

It's enjoyable but wow do these Amazon Original shows look cheap compared to Netflix. A still practical model and some suggestive photography would accomplish so much more than the half-assed CGI the populate these shows with.

Not a top-shelf show, I'd put it on the same level as their version of The Tick. But it's fun watching and the ending won't piss you off.

I got nothing to report really, but Fargo Season 4 will finally grace us on September 27th.

Nice! I'd forgotten, with all the pandemic delay bullshit going on.

Sopranos rewatch #nth (fourth, I think?) done. The older I get, the more fantastical it's apparent the show always was - but it's fantasy in service of great drama, and if I want realistic mafia (realistic anything), I go to historical records. Million things to note but for now this interview with Joey Pants (Ralphie) jumped out at me, particularly his phrase "fight to the death." While Whoever Did This always stands out as a peak episode, I'd not appreciated the singularity of its centerpiece. In a show revolving around diabolically formalised violence, it's the one time a pair of enemies drop all pretense/"honour" for a personal contest of mutual, murderous hatred.



It's a rare moment of honesty in a sea of lies upon lies, innocent in a way, its like never seen again. Aptly eulogised by Chris's visceral disgust at a bad toupee sliding off another soon to be vanished skull - coming within touching distance of more avowedly comic knuckleheads, as the murder machine promptly resumes operations - Tony not about to pass up a chuckle from the controls. You're so high on scag you wouldn't know if he had your mudda's muff on his head!

Well, there was this I guess. Certainly wasn't intended to kill though. Also not a "fight" so much as "public ass-rape at gunpoint."

Spoiler: show

Season 4 remains my favourite, much for the same reasons it always was. Comfiest season - no looming crisis, no designated "end boss," just lots of characterful squabbles and minor shitstorms, several Gandolfini/Chianese masterclasses ("I'm a source of amusement! I pretend to wipe my ass in front of people!" ) and some choice surrealism, more eerily restrained and abstracted than in prior seasons (or later ones).

MFW Saturn Darius II

Spoiler: show

On that subject, watching the entirety of Twin Peaks (all TV + Fire Walk With Me) prior to this revisit was informative. David Chase's original concept for the show heavily invoked Lynch's, and having seen both, it's really apparent - not just in the overt dream sequences, but certain reflective passages (Chase loves his trees, stocking them not with owls but dangerously tranquilising whispers of breeze, a series-long mortal omen) and offbeat minor characters (Have you heard the good news?).

Also the finale where the audience is anxiously waiting for the conclusion, and the director uses this as an opportunity to torture them with some ancillary bullshit:

Oh man, I completely forgot about the finale. Peaks really enhanced my viewing of it, from a vaguely hopeful enigma to... still not devoid of hope, but more decidedly arrayed, and menacing for it. The meticulous arrangement of mundane, discrete parts into something troubling and portentous felt immediately Lynchesque. (I'd never paid much attention to the happy young couple and solitary old man forming a triptych with mid-life, ever-uncertain Tony and Carmela... or other things, like "Rock It Billy" - a nest of idly circling quantum-karmic vipers. Even the fabled Unidentified Black Males are here!)

It got me thinking about the choice of song, always such a factor throughout the show - there's the argument from some corners that the lyrics (quoting wikipedia offhand) are about

Did you watch The Return?

Finally about to go through it again w/ a friend who said she'd get going at the start of quarantine. Guess she got a life. Anyway, it's always fun to find new stuff. Each performance at the road house is worth the hour alone.

I watched the last series of Catastrophe. I dig that show... sad to see it go, but a very charming ending. Apparently Lovecraft Country is bananas.