Jump to content

Watch, Watched, Watching: Ringing in 2018


RedEyedGhost

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Risto said:

ng of Serbian TV, have you watched "Senke nad Balkanom"? I had so many things to do that I haven't had the time to watch it. Is it really that good?

 

I don't know, I haven't watched any Serbian TV shows in a long time (aside from those times when I unfortunately wasn't able to avoid it, as when I was at my aunt's for dinner and they were watching some godawful show or another, and the last time that happened was over a year ago. They've finally installed cable TV, LOL, so this time for Christmas, I watched David Attenborough's BBC Earth documentary about titanosaurs).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

No

So, because i have access to far too many programmes i can't seem to pick and commit to anything.  Resulting in me being unable to get into anything properly.  i have watched a couple of episodes of each of the below, which should i make the effort to complete?

Narco's S3

Godless

Fargo S1

Mindhunter

Mr Robot S3

Preacher S2

 

Fargo S1. While I didn’t enjoy seasons 2 and 3 nearly as much I loved the first season, and each on is stand alone so it’s a relatively small investment. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Fargo S1. While I didn’t enjoy seasons 2 and 3 nearly as much I loved the first season, and each on is stand alone so it’s a relatively small investment. 

I agree s1 is the best but s2 was still top quality. Felt s3 had a bit of a dip

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

No

So, because i have access to far too many programmes i can't seem to pick and commit to anything.  Resulting in me being unable to get into anything properly.  i have watched a couple of episodes of each of the below, which should i make the effort to complete?

Narco's S3

Godless

Fargo S1

Mindhunter

Mr Robot S3

Preacher S2

 

I’ve seen all these, I’d rank them:

Fargo S1

Mr. Robot S3

Narcos S3

Mindhunter

Godless and Preacher S2 are both pretty mediocre. I’m actually considering dropping the latter. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

No

So, because i have access to far too many programmes i can't seem to pick and commit to anything.  Resulting in me being unable to get into anything properly.  i have watched a couple of episodes of each of the below, which should i make the effort to complete?

Narco's S3

Godless

Fargo S1

Mindhunter

Mr Robot S3

Preacher S2

 

The answer to your question is Knightfall :)

To expand a little on Narcos past season 1 . . .

Spoiler

season 3 deals with the Cali cartel. I thought there would be a dip in quality after Pablo, but 3 was just as good as 1 and 2.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Risto said:

I think that history of Islamic countries can offer some amazing materials for good costume dramas. Enough with the Tudors, give us Osmanli :D

I watched MC, or as it was translated in Serbia "Suleiman the Magnificent" only to see whether they are going to blame EVERY DAMN THING on women. The only woman who had done nothing to influence her man was Suleiman's mother, and she died in Season 2. The costumes, although rather inaccurate, were interesting and I loved the music. It had its moments.

 

 

The fabrics and textiles of Magnificent Century were the richest most opulent most glowing shimmering deep piled stuffs (words used in the medieval sense) I have ever seen, even more so than those that are in some African films and television, where textiles are so important too, to indicate wealth and status.

Some historical accounts say though that the harem wasn't as murderous a place in the time of Hürrem Sultan as it supposedly became soon after, when the brother who managed to win the throne had to kill all the other potential claimants.  But in any case, locking up a bunch of people under constant surveillance and rivalry for the attention of a single person is not going to create heroic and adventurous tales.

I really liked, as with Resurrection: Ertugrul, the very large numbers of women's significant roles, with enormous variety, as people are.  Some are good, some are villainous, many are caught by the circumstances of their lives, but all of them are interesting.

Yah -- these Turkish series are very popular in many, many countries outside Turkey too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Zorral said:

The fabrics and textiles of Magnificent Century were the richest most opulent most glowing shimmering deep piled stuffs (words used in the medieval sense) I have ever seen, even more so than those that are in some African films and television, where textiles are so important too, to indicate wealth and status.

Yes, of course... Those costumes, for all their inaccuracy, were truly exquisitely made. 

18 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Some historical accounts say though that the harem wasn't as murderous a place in the time of Hürrem Sultan as it supposedly became soon after, when the brother who managed to win the throne had to kill all the other potential claimants.  But in any case, locking up a bunch of people under constant surveillance and rivalry for the attention of a single person is not going to create heroic and adventurous tales.

As I understood and I might get wrong is that history of Osmanli court became much bloodier after Suleiman the Magnificent. The problem was that up until then, the brothers were actually half-brothers and mothers hadn't had the problem of maintaining the peace between opposing brothers. On the contrary, they would be all for killing the other claimants. When the birth of more princes by one woman began with Hurrem it also created the problem of the mothers who didn't want to choose ONE to become a sultan. Rather, they would let them live, have the kids of their own until of course, the time came. That is why it get bloodier. They forgot that multiple male children by the same woman wasn't just for the sake of Islam's teachings, it was indeed practical.

24 minutes ago, Zorral said:

I really liked, as with Resurrection: Ertugrul, the very large numbers of women's significant roles, with enormous variety, as people are.  Some are good, some are villainous, many are caught by the circumstances of their lives, but all of them are interesting.

The female roles were interesting, but the writing was problematic. It revealed the old "woman was the sinner" ideology. You see, the way things are made in Magnificent Century is that every sin each of the male members of the family made, was actually done by woman "making" them do so. Suleiman killed Mustafa because of Hurrem, Mustafa made mistakes because of his mother, Bayazid killed his brother and his sons because of whats-her-name. Every crime can be traced to a woman. That is what I really hated about it.

28 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Yah -- these Turkish series are very popular in many, many countries outside Turkey too.

In Montenegro, when they started airing "Ezel", a Turkish modern adaptation of Count of Montecristo,  the cities' streets were empty. From 7 pm to 8.30/9 pm, everyone was home. It was borderline spooky. That was the first time I saw how popular these TV shows are at Balkans. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/01/2018 at 8:36 PM, Veltigar said:

I saw the first episode of channel 4's new sitcom 'Derry Girls' apparantly I do watch sitcoms again because this was hilarious. It's about a group of Irish girls (+ one wee English fellow) at a Catholic school in '90 era Derry. I suspect this is going to be a great one :D

I thought you said:

  Reveal hidden contents

As a Jew, if you made a funny Holocaust joke, I’d laugh. For example, who’s the best Jewish cook?

What's clever about

  Reveal hidden contents

Hitler

in this context? Perhaps something is lost in translation, but when I think about a funny holocaust joke I think of something like:

  Reveal hidden contents

Hitler calls a meeting of his best soldiers and commanders and tells them "Alright I want to order the assassination of one thousand jews and four hedgehogs."

Then one of his generals stands and says "But... Mein furhur why four hedgehogs?"

Hitler then smiles and says "See? No one gives a fuck about the jews."

 (this is probably outrageously offensive to some, for which I do apologise)

I have to agree with @Annara Snow Telenovella's, based on the small sample I have seen are terrible. Like, pretty much on the same level as a bad soap opera. 

Based on my experience, I would say that the 13 episode limit is pretty hard to beat regardless of culture (again sitcoms and animation are more capable of transcending this limit). Unless the show in question has a really atypical production schedule and a bigger budget than usual, it's hard to make something decent if it has more episodes than that.

I mean think of it, how many seasons of television can you recall where you'd say that an extra episode or two could have improved the whole story? Looking back to recent years, only the first season of The Last Kingdom springs easily to mind, that could have used an extra episode if they had had the budget for it. I can cite way more shows that would benefit from a reduced number of episodes (e.g. all those superhero junk shows they're making now). 

Of course I don't know that Turkish show in question. Perhaps it did have those two things or perhaps it's one of those mysterious flukes that happen occasionally ;)  

I just watched the first two episodes of Derry Girls. Agreed, it’s hilarious. :D The headteacher/Nun is great with her deadpan monotony. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Risto said:

Yes, of course... Those costumes, for all their inaccuracy, were truly exquisitely made. 

As I understood and I might get wrong is that history of Osmanli court became much bloodier after Suleiman the Magnificent. The problem was that up until then, the brothers were actually half-brothers and mothers hadn't had the problem of maintaining the peace between opposing brothers. On the contrary, they would be all for killing the other claimants. When the birth of more princes by one woman began with Hurrem it also created the problem of the mothers who didn't want to choose ONE to become a sultan. Rather, they would let them live, have the kids of their own until of course, the time came. That is why it get bloodier. They forgot that multiple male children by the same woman wasn't just for the sake of Islam's teachings, it was indeed practical.

The female roles were interesting, but the writing was problematic. It revealed the old "woman was the sinner" ideology. You see, the way things are made in Magnificent Century is that every sin each of the male members of the family made, was actually done by woman "making" them do so. Suleiman killed Mustafa because of Hurrem, Mustafa made mistakes because of his mother, Bayazid killed his brother and his sons because of whats-her-name. Every crime can be traced to a woman. That is what I really hated about it.

In Montenegro, when they started airing "Ezel", a Turkish modern adaptation of Count of Montecristo,  the cities' streets were empty. From 7 pm to 8.30/9 pm, everyone was home. It was borderline spooky. That was the first time I saw how popular these TV shows are at Balkans. 

That's what I understood too -- when Suleiman married Hurrem, it changed everything in a domino effect, because non of the previous Sultans had taken wives, who then, with their sons, expected the right of inheritance of the sultanate by virtue of the previous sultan being the father -- the way so many states operated all around them.

I haven't seen season 2 of MC -- it's not streaming on netflix, dang, at least, not yet.  I have been anxious to see the pasha get his.  Not to mention the season closed on the cliffhanger of Hurrem and the artist eating the poisoned whatever it was -- I forget.

That's how it is in South America and the Spanish speaking Caribbean and Spain too -- when it's the hour the streets are empty.  It's actually pretty cool to know as one travels across Mexico or Cuba, for instance, that at a particular time everything is going to be quiet, and places without a television (of which there are so many, thank the lordessa!), will be almost empty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday we found Myths & Monsters on Netflix and watched the whole thing in one go (six episodes). Mythology and storytelling is my great love so this is right up my street. It was actually really well made though, quite serious in tone with personable academics explaining the stories and context of the myths. I really enjoyed what they did with the art work too, animating pieces of static art work. I recommend it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Isis said:

Yesterday we found Myths & Monsters on Netflix and watched the whole thing in one go (six episodes). Mythology and storytelling is my great love so this is right up my street. It was actually really well made though, quite serious in tone with personable academics explaining the stories and context of the myths. I really enjoyed what they did with the art work too, animating pieces of static art work. I recommend it. 

I finished this a week or two ago. Completely agree. Very well done series. I would love to see another season or two broadening into other mythologies of the world.

I watched Shot Caller last night. Good film. Nicholaj Coster-Waldau was quite good in it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

I just watched the first two episodes of Derry Girls. Agreed, it’s hilarious. :D The headteacher/Nun is great with her deadpan monotony. 

I have seen all three episodes by now and it's gets even better wouldn't you agree? The third one you'll definitely like, because the headteacher's reaction to Father Peter was hilarious :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched the first episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Pretty good start. This one will be much different for me than OJ, as I know next to nothing about the case. Penelope Cruz was good in the small amount of screen time she had in the episode. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I have seen all three episodes by now and it's gets even better wouldn't you agree? The third one you'll definitely like, because the headteacher's reaction to Father Peter was hilarious :D

Haha yes I live for her snarky asides. She is like an embodiement of my bitchy inner voice :lol: 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw the first episode of Britannia. Based on that very small sample, I'd say it looks promising in a thrashy, yet enjoyable kind of way. My main take away so far is that I would definitely like to ask David Morresy how he does it, like does he use certain types of spices or does he have like a special technique, because he's chewing that scenery like a competitive eater at the world championship for hot dog eating.

Although I have to be honest, certain type of things also make me wary. I really, really hope that this series stays on the right side of the magic/no magic divide. I'm really tired of getting 'supposedly' historical settings where magic turns out to be a real thing just so that lazy writers can write themselves out of plot inconviniences just by saying it was all due to magic (I'm looking at you Vikings). I really hope that every supposedly magical incidence in Britannia will boil down to taking dope and using some neat tricks.  

Overall the action was nice. The series has also done a great job with costumes and scenery setting. The writing is of course pretty dumbed down in places (e.g. Morresey's general claiming that none of the Cetls were aware that the Romans were coming, eventhough in real life certainly the people in the south-west definitely had a lot of contact with the continent and should have known something big was coming)., but right now I can give it a pass because it's still interesting. I also really like the actors involved, they really have assembled a strong cast. The young girl was pretty good as well, so at the very least they also managed to cast a good child actress. 

2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Haha yes I live for her snarky asides. She is like an embodiement of my bitchy inner voice :lol: 

Perhaps you should start your own sitcom ;) do us all a favour by making us laugh.

Spoiler

Peter: Proof at last Peter, proof at last.

Mother: What's wrong with him sister?

Nun: He's a priest like. 

:lmao:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Isis said:

Yesterday we found Myths & Monsters on Netflix and watched the whole thing in one go (six episodes). Mythology and storytelling is my great love so this is right up my street. It was actually really well made though, quite serious in tone with personable academics explaining the stories and context of the myths. I really enjoyed what they did with the art work too, animating pieces of static art work. I recommend it. 

Interesting. I've added that to my queue and will have to check it out soon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've gone back 4 or 5 pages but I don't see any mention of Counterpart. I just caught the first episode, and I see the second one is scheduled for January 28th. The premiere was first broadcast back on December 10.

It looks like it's going to be really interesting. J.K. Simmons (Law and Order, Spider-Man movies, Whiplash etc etc) plays Howard Silk, a long term employee in a weird government bureau, where he signs in in the morning, changes out of his clothes into a generic suit along with his co-workers, and the they all line up in front of identical doors and walk into tiny rooms with a glass partition, where another generically dressed man walks in on the other side, sits down, and they both open their briefcases and the man pulls out a file folder and reads out a list of comments, answered by Silk. The comments are like something out of a cheap spy novel, statements and counterstatements, like, The weather is nice in the summer, and My mother hates the heat but she lives in the south.

Silk applies for a promotion and the director essentially laughs at him and then tells him the job has been filled. Silk doesn't actually know what they even do in the bureau. The fellow who gets the job is murdered. Then Silk is called into a meeting in a concrete room with the nasty looking Director of Operations. A mystery man who is passing them information is brought in with his head covered in a hood. The hood is pulled off to reveal....Howard Silk.

Sometime early in the cold war an experiment went seriously wrong. But as a result, in the building where Silk works, which appears to be in Germany although all the workers appear to be British or American, there's a door that when you walk through it leads to a parallel universe. Everyone has a double. The worlds were identical until the door was opened and they started exchanging information, then histories started to diverge. And now an assassin has crossed over to start killing people.

Here's a trailer. It covers more than the 1st episode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxbxo_NfvM0

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...