WarGalley

I'll be there Saturday for sure. Possibly Friday night!

@Xray the Enforcer Signed up and sent you a PM with my contact info. Let me know if you need help in any of the other areas and will be happy to pitch in.

Yeah I'm halfway through season 8 of Shameless as well. You don't often see a show keep steady in quality for 8 seasons but I think at this point you feel like you're part of the Gallagher family and just want to watch them continue growing in life. It's like some defunct version of a family sitcom that you keep coming back to. This season even feels wholehearted and with a lot less debauchery than I'm used to.. and I like it even though I keep waiting for it to all implode.

I just marathoned the first 3 seasons of Bosch. This show is really, really good. I didn't expect to say that coming from a police procedural that has multiple run-of-the-mill plotlines going on at the same time but they're all told with very tight writing and good pace. Season 2 was particularly great and was almost what True Detective Season 2 should have been. And I like how the seasons end with enough of the plot wrapped up but with some carryover for the next season that it's still satisfying. It's like one long story that flows from one season to the next. It's also endearing to see a lot of familiar cast. Lance Riddick playing Lt. Daniels-Los Angeles, Jamie Hector as a charismatic sidekick and numerous other people from various shows that I've enjoyed in the past. Well recommended detective noir.

So I dropped the show when it first released but have now resumed and am in the middle of the season. I'm enjoying it well enough and didn't notice the "trio cooperation" that some of you mentioned until now. I do agree now that it's been pointed out but I'm more interested in the story progression so I don't really see it as a problem. What's been far more of a problem for me is: 1. This being a prequel where we know the fates of some of these characters (they don't die or someone else will probably die because the rival character is in the movie). I also agree that the story and it's relationship to the movie can get a little confusing at times. I'm very curious what the experience would be like if the series was watched first instead of the movie. 2. The opening scene consistently being a scene from the episode's climax is very unnecessary and detrimental. We already know too much about the future of these characters and the story and this.... tactic is not necessary for plot progression, viewer retention or entertainment. I still like it overall. The movie is better (so far) and it doesn't come close to Gomorrah the series but those are high bars and the series thus far has been entertaining enough.

I watched Seven Psycopaths. I liked it but not as much as In Bruges, partly because I didn't find the story as tight. Sam Rockwell is great. Christopher Walken's dialogue is at it's peak Christopher Walken. Also watched the first season of Goliath on Amazon. Very good legal drama in the vein of House of Cards. Deadbeat drunk and brilliant lawyer, Billy Bob Thornton takes on his old firm and their boss in William Hurt. William Hurt in particular is great. This is a David E. Kelley production so you get some character dynamics that feel like they belong on network television but instead have found themselves in a greater level production. The season as a whole wraps up fairly nicely though the final confrontation was a little anticlimactic given it's buildup, and I didn't find the final legal outcome very convincing. The second season appears to have gotten near universal reviews as being a dumpster fire so I think I'll stop watching here.

That makes more sense though I still think transporting her should not have been that difficult. :shrug: Been on a watching spree. Finished Luke Cage S2 which was a great improvement over the last few shows in the Netflix Marvel universe. The music is outstanding. Which motivated me to finish Jessica Jones S2. Oof.. I had to slog through this one. I just did not care about any of the characters.. and Jessica, Trish and heroin guy were all characters written like 14 year olds in 30 year old bodies. Just a messy season of teenage snark, poutiness, rebellion and drugs. I did not care for the villain or the mother-daughter relationship stuff at all. But I was totally redeemed when I watched In Bruges last night. Loved it! Great black comedy crime drama. Absolutely great ending. This movie's been on my To-Watch list for some time and I wish I had gotten to it sooner. I'll be moving Seven Psychopaths up on my list now since it's from the same director.

I just got back from Sicario 2 as well. I liked it about as much as the first one.. could have been great but very good instead. Something about these movies lack something that puts them over the top. The action scenes are definitely solid.

On the last episode. Didn't realize till now that Donovan is also Fisk's lawyer (same actor and character).

My friend and I did a re-watch where we fast forwarded past every scene that wasn't a robot fight. Definitely the way to watch these movies. Short, easy, efficient. And you dont deal with all that dreadful dialogue.

I'm on episode 9 and this season has been a massive improvement over S1, the Defenders, Iron Fist, and JJ S2 (which I haven't finished yet). I'm not sure if my expectations going in were so low as to guarantee success, but I am pleasantly surprised. The music, the sound quality, and the visuals of the Harlem's Paradise music scenes are fantastic. Completely agree with @Zorral. I'm ready to buy the soundtrack or subscribe to the Spotify channel that can expose me to more music like this. The humor is the 2nd best part. Most of the jokes are hitting home. Piranha in particular gives Clay Davis a run for his money. The Game of Thrones reference was also funny.. and it still amazes me how pervasive the books and show have become in modern pop culture. Also the Usain Bolt trope worked for me. I grew up in a Brooklyn neighborhood that went from a Jewish / Italian neighborhood to a Caribbean / Jamaican one over the course of about 12 years. They capture a lot of the "neighborhood" culture very well particularly on the Jamaican front. I went out of my way yesterday to buy some beef patties and fried plantains after binging several episodes. I'm still pining for oxtail stew and goat curry. The show definitely reminds me of how much I miss Brooklyn having not been back in several years. General spoilers through E9 about things I didn't like or didn't warm to.

Damn, you people are fast. Anyone want to give me the non-spoiler reaction to the villain(s)? Also I thought a good chunk of season 1 had some corny lines and scenes.. any improvement over Season 1?

How spoilery is that one? I have put an embargo on sicario trailers based on what I read about that 2nd trailer. But 10 days is a long time away....

Yeah, I've seen it and I did enjoy it but it's a different type of movie. Yeah, I fully expect to forget about most of Body of Lies other than DiCaprio and Crowe were in it. The Town was most certainly trying to be Heat or at least be in homage to it, but Jon Hamm was not depicted as the intelligent and on-the-prowl detective that Pacino's character in Heat was. That was the biggest flaw in the movie and kept it from being great instead of good. The cat and mouse, mano a mano chase just wasn't there. I suppose the crimelord florist could have also played a similar but different foil to Affleck's character, but they didn't really do that either. Inside Man was a little too safe and gimmicky for me. Definitely on my list and will eventually get to it when it becomes available to me. I've always been curious if knowing the plot toThe Departed will detract from my experience.

I was trying to find a movie like Heat (possibly my all time favorite movie) and Netflix listed Body of Lies as a movie like it. It was okay I guess. I've seen this before -- in fact it's almost a carbon copy of Spy Game but not as good. I just didn't get invested in the characters and I liked the culmination in Spy Game better. I still have a crime drama fix to satisfy so might try American Heist on Netflix next.