Watch, Watched, Watching: Those Bloodthirsty Gods!

[Zorral]

41 minutes ago, Astromech said:

I had no idea there was a series. I enjoyed the 2005 film, even though the second half of the film was a bit long-winded.

I just saw Gunpowder is premiering on HBO tomorrow night. I'll probably check it out. Haven't heard much of anything about it. Any UK boarders who have seen it care to share opinions?

Judging by the comments and reviews in the British newspapers (digital versions) that I've seen -- many viewers found the many gruesome and grisly scenes disturbingly graphic, detailed and prolonged, which at least commentators said made them quit watching.  I.e. it wasn't popular, and recaps etc. kinda didn't get play and commentary dropped way down.

[Astromech]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Judging by the comments and reviews in the British newspapers (digital versions) that I've seen -- many viewers found the many gruesome and grisly scenes disturbingly graphic, detailed and prolonged, which at least commentators said made them quit watching.  I.e. it wasn't popular, and recaps etc. kinda didn't get play and commentary dropped way down.

Damn, that's disappointing to learn. I may still attempt it with lowered expectations.

[WarGalley]

Watched 2 movies.

3 Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri. Good movie with some unexpected plot turns. Call me a crotchety old man but I thought the first half of the movie was unnecessarily foulmouthed given the setting of a small town Missouri and the nature of the people likely to be living there. The end could have been a little more satisfying and concluding. But like I said, good movie overall. Not sure I'd rate this as the best movie of the year but I haven't seen many of the other contenders. Will probably see The Big Sick, Lady Bird and The Florida Project in the next few weeks to compare it against.

Shot Caller - Prison life turns upper-middle class family man Nicolaj Coster-Waldau into a gangster lord. Decently entertaining. Solid cast including Jon Bernthal (as a guy named Frank interestingly). Ultimately the movie is a dark crime drama reminiscent of American History X by nature of it's premise and story structure. Pretty decent overall.

 

11 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

My weekend binge was season 1 of Romanzo Criminale. Took me a few eps to get into it but once I did I couldnt stop watching. Not the same feel as Gomorra but still similar in many ways. Kinda like an Italian tv show version of Scarface. 

 

Hmm.. I'll keep it on my radar if it becomes available to me.

[Annara Snow]

7 hours ago, Zorral said:

Judging by the comments and reviews in the British newspapers (digital versions) that I've seen -- many viewers found the many gruesome and grisly scenes disturbingly graphic, detailed and prolonged, which at least commentators said made them quit watching.  I.e. it wasn't popular, and recaps etc. kinda didn't get play and commentary dropped way down.

Many? There are like two or three, and it's nothing worse than you can regularly see on cable shows like GoT (and way milder than Spartacus).
I guess many BBC viewers don't watch cable?

If they have issues with graphic depictions of hanging, drawing and quartering, they should blame their own history (Edward Longshanks who introduced that type of capital punishment, everyone that continued to use it, in this case against people who simply practiced a non-state sanctioned religion, and the regular folk who watched those things live and cheered).

[PetyrPunkinhead]

I watched the horrible El Camino Christmas on Netflix last night. My gf and I were duped by the cast and trailer. That's what we get for thinking Netflix could put out a decent film. :/

On 12/9/2017 at 3:34 PM, l2 0 5 5 said:

Just saw the last episode of Curb. Thought it was brilliant. Lin Manuel Miranda did a great job in the 2 episodes he was in. I enjoyed the conflicts he and Larry had. Looking back I think the highlight episodes of the season are 5,6,9, and 10. The show has grown away from the heavy improv scenes they did early on in the series, and I think that showed more this season, but still great stuff. Hope LD does another. 

Agreed! CYE S9 was on point and I'm so glad it returned. Admittedly it started off a bit uneven but around episode four or five  it started firing on all cylinders. There are easily four or five classic episodes this season that are as good as any previous episode. I hope LD & JB return for a S10.

[Nictarion]

9 minutes ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

I watched the horrible El Camino Christmas on Netflix last night. My gf and I were duped by the cast and trailer. That's what we get for thinking Netflix could put out a decent film. :/

Agreed! CYE S9 was on point and I'm so glad it returned. Admittedly it started off a bit uneven but around episode four or five  it started firing on all cylinders. There are easily four or five classic episodes this season that are as good as any previous episode. I hope LD & JB return for a S10.

Curb has been officially renewed for another season. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Godless was good.  I finished all of it within three days because of a lot of time spent on airplanes.  It’s like the Stranger Things of westerns: every trope is included as an homage but it’s very well made and stands alone as high quality viewing.  Basically an 8 hour western movie with heavy echoes of Shane mixed with any Sergio Leone movie, with an entirely new feminist angle. 

Americans S4 is only ok so far.  It’s pretty grim in order to convince us that Philip and Elizabeth are both burned out.

And I’m watching GoT S7.  I’m glad I saved it for binge watching.  Weekly episodes would have been frustrating.  There’s a shitload of plotholes, especially travel time and convenient surprise fleet interceptions, but if you switch off your brain then it’s fun (similar to The Last Jedi).  Sad to think that the excellent first three books were followed up by a weak middle section of two bad books and now finished by a rushed & inconsistent TV adaptation.  Imagine what it could have been. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

Have started "Godless", 2 episodes in and enjoying it. Jeff Daniels has really rounded into a great all around actor now that he's moved on from comedy roles.

Fantastic scenery as well, apparently they filmed near Santa Fe- 

 

 

Godless (2017– )
Filming Locations.
Showing one filming location.
Santa Fe Studios, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.

Godless (TV Mini-Series 2017– ) - Filming Locations - IMDb

IMDb › title › locations

 

 

[Nictarion]

I watched Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond on Netflix. It’s a documentary about the making of the Jim Carrey film Man on the Moon, about Andy Kaufman. It’s mostly behind the scenes footage of Carrey using method acting throughout the entire filming of the movie. I’ve heard of hardcore method actors like De Niro and Daniel Day Lewis, but this was a whole other level. Carrey is an absolute nut! Very interesting stuff. I highly recommend it. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I watched Dunkirk this weekend. I really wanted to like it, given that it’s the first movie my cousin is getting a production credit on, but I didn’t. It wasn’t a bad movie, it just didn’t do a lot for me. And honestly I have no idea why that is. Maybe I’ll give it a month and watch it again.

[DireWolfSpirit]

On December 17, 2017 at 8:56 PM, Annara Snow said:

Many? There are like two or three, and it's nothing worse than you can regularly see on cable shows like GoT (and way milder than Spartacus).
I guess many BBC viewers don't watch cable?

If they have issues with graphic depictions of hanging, drawing and quartering, they should blame their own history (Edward Longshanks who introduced that type of capital punishment, everyone that continued to use it, in this case against people who simply practiced a non-state sanctioned religion, and the regular folk who watched those things live and cheered).

I have to agree with you on this, hanging, drawing and quartering depictions should reflect the brute cruelty involved, especially when its an important part of the story being portrayed. It would be a disservice to reenact such punishments as anything other than the barbarity it was.

[Zorral]

On 12/17/2017 at 5:03 PM, Astromech said:

Damn, that's disappointing to learn. I may still attempt it with lowered expectations.

NY Times review -- the writer's watched all 3 eps.  Scathing, rather -- Kit Harrington is no better an actor in this than on GOT evidently.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/arts/television/kit-harington-gunpowder-game-of-thrones-review.html?

[SpaceChampion]

Dirk Gently's season 2 was madcap and fun!  Unfortunately BBC America just cancelled it.  AMC is still in, as is Netflix.  So presumably it'll still be made unless they numbers are not working out.

[DivisionByZero]

1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said:

Dirk Gently's season 2 was madcap and fun!  Unfortunately BBC America just cancelled it.  AMC is still in, as is Netflix.  So presumably it'll still be made unless they numbers are not working out.

What?!  No!  What madness is this?!  This show was so much better written and acted then sooooo much else out there.  We better see this on Netflix...  We need more madcap fun in the world, not less.

[Astromech]

7 hours ago, Zorral said:

NY Times review -- the writer's watched all 3 eps.  Scathing, rather -- Kit Harrington is no better an actor in this than on GOT evidently.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/17/arts/television/kit-harington-gunpowder-game-of-thrones-review.html?

Haha, ouch! I took my mother to see Pompeii in the theatres because she's so interested in the story of the Mt Vesuvius eruption. We were both rooting for the volcano by the end of the film.

I DVR'd Gunpowder and will probably still attempt it when I find time.

[ljkeane]

I've got Amazon Prime back for a month so I'm currently catching up with all the stuff I've missed since I last had it. First up I've burned through Bosch season three pretty quickly. It's not reinventing the wheel or anything, it's a fairly standard cop show except it's not in episodic format, but it's really well executed and I definitely enjoyed it. I'll probably try American Gods or Man in the High Castle season 2 next.

[briantw]

5 hours ago, ljkeane said:

I've got Amazon Prime back for a month so I'm currently catching up with all the stuff I've missed since I last had it. First up I've burned through Bosch season three pretty quickly. It's not reinventing the wheel or anything, it's a fairly standard cop show except it's not in episodic format, but it's really well executed and I definitely enjoyed it. I'll probably try American Gods or Man in the High Castle season 2 next.

Yeah, Bosch is a really solid cop show.  I can't really think of a better one out there right now.  It's not The Wire, but it's well-written and keeps you interested.

[RedEyedGhost]

7 hours ago, ljkeane said:

I've got Amazon Prime back for a month so I'm currently catching up with all the stuff I've missed since I last had it. First up I've burned through Bosch season three pretty quickly. It's not reinventing the wheel or anything, it's a fairly standard cop show except it's not in episodic format, but it's really well executed and I definitely enjoyed it. I'll probably try American Gods or Man in the High Castle season 2 next.

Don't skip Sneaky Pete.

[WarGalley]

53 minutes ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Don't skip Sneaky Pete.

Have you seen Patriot? I would recommend checking out the pilot. 

I've been meaning to watch Goliath with Billy Bob Thornton too at some point. Amazon actually has a pretty good set of original content from what I gather but their marketing is absolutely terrible. And between new Netflix and Amazon content and releases, I find my queue of shows to watch to be growing at an absurd rate relative to how fast I can watch them. I just can't keep up with it all. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

I have to admit, I love Taboo.  I know its a slowburner but its a show I reserved for when my wife was late or nightshift and I was off the next day, and could watch it with a bottle of wine, the lights off and candles lit.