TV you've just watched

[chempop]

I'm thinking of started either Chernobyl, Carnivale, The Deuce, or season 3 of Westworld. I can't seem to get into The Expanse.

I liked Leftovers even if it was a little difficult at times. I get her mixed up with Mireille Enos of The Killing for some reason. Justin Theroux has become one of my favorite actors ever since MANIAC, if you haven't seen it you are missing out big (I probably mention it here a couple times a year).

Oh, and did I mention I'm watching Mortal Kombat Conquest 10/10

[GaijinPunch]

I'm thinking of started either Chernobyl, Carnivale, The Deuce, or season 3 of Westworld. I can't seem to get into The Expanse.

The Deuce, clearly. And I've seen all of those (although I didn't finish Carnivale as my life got turned upside down). Chernobyl is excellent but less of a time commitment so consider that.

I liked Leftovers even if it was a little difficult at times. I get her mixed up with Mireille Enos of The Killing for some reason. Justin Theroux has become one of my favorite actors ever since MANIAC, if you haven't seen it you are missing out big (I probably mention it here a couple times a year).

Putting it on the list. I like Justin Theroux. Definitely has some weird stuff in his filmography. I think I watched The Leftovers right as a revisted Mulholland Drive and had somehow forgotten about him. Not exactly Kino, but he's fucking hilarious in Wanderlust.

[vol.2]

I've long been a fan of space war and battle mech anime, especially Macross and Gundam, but I've never watched Legend of the Galactic Heros until now.

So far, I'm digging it, but it's not what I expected. There is plenty of battle tactics, but there isn't as much of an emphasis on specific technology like mechs and ships and the details of their abilities as is typical for this kind of affair (which is my preference). Instead, the technology design (while still excellent) takes a backseat in the narrative to tactics and the politics that drive the wars and the disfunction of society that leads to them (and vice versa).

Behold, the widow of a slain war hero, who speaks out against the government's warmongering at his funeral. She is accosted by a gang of ultra-nationalists lead by scheming politician, intent on beating her to death.

Prescience.

[BIL]

LOGH is classic stuff. So many unforgettable characters, great and small.



In case it's of any help - avoid the "next episode" previews after the credits. I did, just because I was so intent on seeing the next ep. Later on I heard from others that they contained major spoilers, as the adaptation was airing quite a while after the books. (edit: maybe the episode titles, too? I was basically marathoning a nice fat folder of "LOGHs01e01.mkvs")

It's not a story that can be "spoiled," really, but well, y'know.

[Hornet]

I can't seem to get into The Expanse.

If you gave up early (and generally happen to enjoy Sci-Fi), I would suggest giving it some time. It's definitely a show that takes a few episodes to get going. The first half of Season 1 is very slow, going for a "pay attention, absorb the setting and atmosphere" approach, but the pacing picks up after that. I would advice anyone getting to at least the end of season 1. If you don't like it by then, you (probably) never will.

These things are obviously very subjective but, for me, this is the best Space Opera since Battlestar Galactica. And, even though each show does its own thing, there are quite a few similarities between the two (mostly in terms of tone and themes), so any BSG fan out there should definitely check it out.

[vol.2]

LOGH is classic stuff. So many unforgettable characters, great and small.

I'm definitely digging it so far. It's so grim compared to a lot of other anime. I got to thinking about it, and I realized it came out at the absolute height of the Bubble Economy. At first it didn't make sense, but then I realized that a time of prosperity is exactly when people have the luxury to get introspective. If you go back an look at wartime entertainment, it's mostly propaganda and escapism.

It's not a story that can be "spoiled," really, but well, y'know.

hahaha. I guess not. The narration kind of tells you the outcome ahead of time pretty often. It's more about the journey really.

I hate "coming next time" in all TV. That's like the sticking point if I visit my folks. They just let that play and have to leave the room. Why on earth to want to know what's going to happen next time? Maybe I got a kick out it when I was a kid and I couldn't be sure that I would catch the next episode of Transformers/GI Joe/Thundercats, but that was special dispensation.

[Mischief Maker]

Just watched Russian Doll on Netflix for a second time. So many details you miss the first time.

It's probably my favorite of the Netflix originals. Yes, better than "Maniac" despite the two having very similar broad structures. "Maniac" has wonderful style at points but ends up feeling like less than the sum of its parts. Russian Doll is just about perfect, from the dialog to the cinematography to the FANTASTIC soundtrack!

It's definitely a love-it-or-hate-it kinda show and it's best to go in blind. (With the one exception if you're on the fence that while it has the same basic premise as Groundhog Day, it becomes much, much more by the end.)

[Marc]

Treated myself to some Tom Baker-era Dr Who Blu-Rays, Season 12. Just finished 'Robot', it was goofy as hell.
Picked up the first season of The Soprano's because a friend of mine as a massive, massive fanboy. Not started yet through.

[BIL]

Marathons of the Tom Baker series were airing while we lived in England for a year in the 80s, so to me he was always "the" Doctor Who... then we moved back home, and I can attest to the series being all but unknown west of the pond, back then. Nobody knew WTF I was on about. I remember being hella disturbed despite the cheese, being only small. Still like some of those ghetto-ass, Sunday School arts n' crafts FX, tbh.

Even ~20yrs on, I was surprised when it really hit the global stage circa Tennant.

I'm a cock-suckin mudda-fuckin Sopranos fanboy too Did a series rewatch late last year, it's aged sublimely well. Pitch-black crime/domestic drama with a morbidly hilarious streak.

Dreadfully amused at retrospective tut-tuts RE: its mobsters' viciously homophobic, racist, misogynist ways... do these mezzofanooks realise the career criminal they're scolding the writers for giving insufficient WokeyPoints (minor spoiler, S4E12 "Eloise")

Spoiler

breaks into an elderly widow's home and batters her to death for her life savings in the same ep? Then again she probably deserved it, she was white.

Gotta agree with the numbnuts on one thing, though - this sort of unvarnished evil probably wouldn't get greenlit at the moment.

[chempop]

Russian Dol

I will have to check it out!

[chempop]

The Deuce, clearly.

Started this last week and binged the first 2 seasons. Just great. A simple show I can follow even when I'm exhausted, some very entertaining characters, but overall... relaxing.

C.C. and Lori are terrific, as are Eileen and Harvey.

[vol.2]

Marathons of the Tom Baker series were airing while we lived in England for a year in the 80s, so to me he was always "the" Doctor Who... then we moved back home, and I can attest to the series being all but unknown west of the pond, back then.

Tom Baker was who I understood to be "the doctor" until at least the 90s when someone (my aunt) finally explained to me the whole multiple lives thing and I realized that all those other guys weren't a totally different TV show.

I also was a huge fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the BBC production of that was basically the same people responsible for the Tom Baker years productions. The TV HGTTG was adapted from the radio dramas that were produced before Douglas Adams wrote the books and was actually a writer for the Tom Baker years Dr. Who himself.

Plus, he was just so much damn cooler than all the others put together. Loved the home PC ads he did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSRC0S7pls8

[GaijinPunch]

The Deuce, clearly.

Started this last week and binged the first 2 seasons. Just great. A simple show I can follow even when I'm exhausted, some very entertaining characters, but overall... relaxing.

C.C. and Lori are terrific, as are Eileen and Harvey.

Larry Brown FTW

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

Can't let any mention of British sci-fi go by without recommending Blake's 7.

[Mortificator]

Can't let any mention of British sci-fi go by without recommending Blake's 7.

The problem is that other fans have been unable to stop themselves from spoiling the finale! Virtually the only thing I know about Blake's 7 is how it ends.

[Vexorg]

Lucifer:

This one's weird. In a nutshell, Satan gets bored of torturing the damned, so he leaves Hell and goes to Los Angeles where he becomes a consultant for the LAPD (apparently he really hates it when other people try to do his job for him) with a side business of running a sketchy nightclub. Over time, some of his old family drama starts to follow him to Earth to complicate things at inconvenient times. Most of the supporting cast is pretty forgettable, but Tom Ellis makes up for it in the title role as the massively narcissistic and obnoxious Lucifer. The end result is a reasonably entertaining show.

[Mischief Maker]

After years of hearing about Rick and Morty and how smart it was, I finally binged seasons 4 and 5 on cable on-demand.

I dunno, felt like another Aqua Teen Hunger Force to me. Fecal humor, overconfident assholes, and shocking levels of gore for a cartoon. The "smart stuff" just seemed like generic Star Trek technobabble.

Season 4 was decent, with the vat of acid episode being the highlight. 5 had its moments but was pretty consistently lame. Everybody says they were crying to the Rickconvenient Truth episode but *spoiler* Morty and Planetina's relationship was constantly undermined for me by the gross incestuous implications of Rick taking his granddaughter to a series of orgies in the B plot.

Also while I get that the show's intentionally loosey-goosey with regard to continuity, why the hell did they decide the awful sperm episode needed a followup instead of being memory-holed?

I guess all the good stuff is in the first three seasons?

[vol.2]

I actually don't think you can watch Rick and Morty out of order. Much of the humor is temporal in nature and relies on small nuggets of story or plot twists that are shown to you in a specific, obviously planned out manner.

But, yeah, the first three seasons I laughed the most. I think the later seasons are good, but there's also an element of the investment in the story at that point and there is a lot of stuff to look for and things that are thrown out there that keep it interesting if you have been watching since the beginning.

________________


For the Sopranos fans out there, there was an article in the NYT about the popularity of the show among younger viewers. Thought you all might be interested. ARTICLE

[Mischief Maker]

Yeah, I just dumped Netflix for HBO Max and now that I'm watching in order I'm realizing lots of jokes that didn't land with me were callbacks. Oopsie!

[vol.2]

there's also a somewhat clever, nonlinear psuedo-mystery in the show that is established through time (kind of like Lost), and that wouldn't come across otherwise. i'm not saying it necessarily is going anywhere, but there's a sense of a puzzle or puzzles to work out. Wait until you get to the episode "Total Rickall," that's where things get more interesting.

[Blackfielding]

Marathons of the Tom Baker series were airing while we lived in England for a year in the 80s, so to me he was always "the" Doctor Who... then we moved back home, and I can attest to the series being all but unknown west of the pond, back then.

Tom Baker was who I understood to be "the doctor" until at least the 90s when someone (my aunt) finally explained to me the whole multiple lives thing and I realized that all those other guys weren't a totally different TV show.

I also was a huge fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the BBC production of that was basically the same people responsible for the Tom Baker years productions. The TV HGTTG was adapted from the radio dramas that were produced before Douglas Adams wrote the books and was actually a writer for the Tom Baker years Dr. Who himself.

Plus, he was just so much damn cooler than all the others put together. Loved the home PC ads he did. https://online-video-cutter.com/stabilize-video

Chernobyl by Netflix.
A great and in some ways scary series but a must-watch, no doubt.

[Mills]

Squid Game Obviously.

Weirdest sh*t I've seen on Netflix

[Leandro]

Just saw the Chucky pilot. Enjoyed it a lot.

Also marathoned the recent Mighty Ducks tv show. It seemed inspired by Cobra Kai success, it's decent feel good show even though it has lots of heavy handed diversity stuff like typical Disney

Enviado de meu moto g(6) usando o Tapatalk

[BIL]

Watched Squid Game over the last week. Psychological torture porn ala Battle Royale. Gorgeously produced and efficiently directed, with a great cast and some inventively harrowing scenarios. At the same time, it can't help feeling familiar; polite society reduced to/revealed as gladiatorial horror can only go so many ways. Strong effort in an innately limited subgenre.

SPOILERS:

Spoiler

Absolutely loved O Yeong-su / Old Man / Player 001's performance. Heartbreaking. What a lovely smile he has too, reminds me of ol' Brucey Forsyth. Seems like a nice chap, hope later-life fame treats him well.

While I expected outright head-to-head killing to strike, I still thought the "Marbles" setup was fiendishly efficient tragedy... developing a friend for each of the leads, then shearing them all off in a mid-series fell swoop.

Apparently the VIPs' acting got panned by many. I immediately felt like something was off - but deliberately so, in an uncanny Kubrickian sense. From this article - https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... -game-vips - it seems it may be half and half... either way, I don't think it hurt the show at all. Giving these guys a gooberish, airheaded tone just added to the hyperreal horror - and frankly, I know a lot of insufferable goobers with money who talk like these jagoffs.

Was lukewarm on the sequel hook, exactly like I was with Battle Royale's. The screamingly obvious next step is "We're takin' the fight to Umbrella! Yeaaah!" schlock. Given the show's bleak outlook on the ultra-rich, I'd like to think they might be a bit more pessimistic than simply going Die Hard on the showrunners.

[GaijinPunch]

Haven't watched Squid Game yet -- only person on the planet, apparently.

On my trip to Europe, a friend that was supposed watch Twin Peaks with me over the pandemic to help pass the time but completely dissed me agreed to marathon it while I stayed with her. We got almost all the way there (2 episodes in The Return to go). Agreed to watch them on an upcoming trip next week to finish it off. She had watched S1, so we started w/ S2. A couple of episodes in she was like, "I can't believe you wanted me to watch this by myself." I forgot how terrifying it was.

Anyway, never gets old and The Return is still a blast my 4th or so time through.

[Mischief Maker]

I've started watching The Wire.

This show is amazing. A cop show about the real perverse political incentives that block actual criminal justice reform?!! Has anyone on "Law and Order" ever uttered the words "clearance rate?"

I'm still in season 4, which might be my favorite season because...

Spoiler

...McNulty's been sidelined into a supporting character role...

...but so far in the "Breaking Bad vs The Wire" debate, I'm team Wire.

[GaijinPunch]

You're not gonna find a lot of people disagreeing with you. Gotta be weird watching it now knowing that Michael J Williams is gone.

[neorichieb1971]

Wheel of time - Amazon. Its not that great, presentation and actors do a decent job, but the format keeps trying to explain every little detail on long treks from A-B-C. I spent the last 2 episodes on my phone looking up and down.

Money heist - Watched the end. Its an ok end. There is a major twist on the 2nd from last episode. I don't like the way these shows constantly show back stories just so an actor or actress who died in the previous season can be reinacted. To me, if you die, you die. Get rid.

[vol.2]

I watched the Hawkeye show on Disney. It's pretty meh, but I guess everyone would have expected that. Still though, I am having fun watching it; there's lots of dumb action and there is some amount of budget. I liked Alaqua Cox and Zahn McClarnon in this show, they are both fantastic.

It's only on episode 4, 2 more to go.

[BIL]

I liked Alaqua Cox

I too prefer a lack of cocks on my screen（＾w´ ）One is quite enough imo!

Zahn McClarnon

Great actor - have you seen Fargo (TV)'s second season? Masterful turn as an archetypally eccentric Coen menace. Also just a great oldschool mob war series, with a bit of late-70s SUPER COP action. Bruce Campbell has a howler of a cameo. Totally self-sufficient, no season 1 watch required, though it'll give certain characters and events a little more emotional weight. S1 too is great, more of an alternate take on the film, though it takes place in the same timeline. S3 was more polarising and introspective... less true crime gone awry (though it definitely has that, and other Coen signatures), more a meditation on modern surveillance states and isolation, but I loved it and quite a few others here did, too. Can't go wrong with these three imho.

"Is this what you want, Lester?" Ho ho hoooly fuck!

"We call it our burden, but it's really our privilege."

"Cossack of the plains. Grandchild of the Wolves Hundred." Oh hey it's Mr. Palmer from Twin Peaks, sup

Saving S4 for later when I can get together with my old man. He turned me onto the series without actually knowing the film or any other Coen Bros work, so I was bouncing around at all the Easter eggs going "Yee! That's a reference to [film]" while he nodded understandingly.