Jump to content

Watch, Watched, Watching: Ringing in 2018


RedEyedGhost

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Finally decided to start The Expanse after hearing about it on here and other places. I was trying to wait for Amazon Prime to add S2 so I could binge the first couple seasons but it seems to be taking forever.  Halfway through S1 and I’m liking it so far. 

Oh is it distributed by Amazon in the U.S? Weird, it’s Netflix over here, I assumed it would be the same since they obviously have to have some kind of deal with SyFy

2 hours ago, Triskele said:

There have been a lot of complaints about the Holden actor in the Expanse threads.  

Really? Interesting. While I don’t think he is outstanding or particularly memorable I don’t dislike him at all and thought he improved from season one to season two. I find him infinitely better than Kit Harrington who I think is a really terrible actor with the emotional range of a teaspoon,

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watched I Tonya the Margot Robbie movi about Tonya Harding. It wasn’t something I knew too much about growing up and the controversy passed me by. Having said that it was a very enjoyable film and Robbie puts in anothe great performance. I’d highly recommend it. Only down side being the frankly awful CGI pasting of Robbies face onto a skater’s body during the skate scenes. That was horrendously bad.

I also highly recommend The end of the f***ing world, which is a British tv series I raced through in one session yesterday on Netflix. Absolutely loved it, the story of two kids who run off, one who likes to imagine he is a psychopath. Lovely writing and brilliantly performed by both leads. I guess maybe it was on channel 4 as each episode is only 20 mins long

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Gonna watch Hard Sun and McMafia tonight.Love me some new BBC dramas.:)

I did this last night - both are worth a watch. Episode one of McMafia edges out Hard sun for me as it's really slick (think high end BBC political thrillers good) and movie-like. Hard Sun is clearly the brain-child of the Luther team and has a more pop feel to it but the concept is really intriguing and the female lead is excellent. One funny thing about Hard Sun is that I've finally seen a positive for Trump as President - there's no way he wouldn't tweet the end of the world if he knew it was coming.

I know the BBC tends to stockpile it's A-list shows for January but this is a promising start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Jumanji was the biggest pile of shite I have ever had the displeasure of paying to watch in the cinema

Chris Stuckman's review pointed out there were a lot of missed opportunities of exploring the concept. Fortunately "Reboot" is being rebooted this year and given it now has a live-action element I suspect it will be better explored here. Assuming it keeps the spirit of the original.

9 minutes ago, Eggegg said:

 

I also highly recommend The end of the f***ing world, which is a British tv series I raced through in one session yesterday on Netflix. Absolutely loved it, the story of two kids who run off, one who likes to imagine he is a psychopath. Lovely writing and brilliantly performed by both leads. I guess maybe it was on channel 4 as each episode is only 20 mins long

Netflix are doing a better job of promoting it/newsites are giving it more coverage as a netflix show than channel 4. Channel 4 did advertise it a lot but it was in the "it's like skins - young trendy people need to watch" style that's always turned me off. Which is a shame as 50% of the shows advertised in this way reallty aren't skins-style. Although Channel 5 does very much have a "house-style" in the sense I can usually say with confidence "this is BBC or C4 or ITV"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Triskele said:

I also recently saw this for the first time and definitely thought it was solid.  Kind of a modern western with pickup trucks instead of horses.  Ben Foster was a convincing prick.  

I went ahead and watched Gunpowder and thought it was quite weak and am surprised that it was made.  It also felt a bit ominous for Kit Harrington to me.  He felt like a lifeless Jon Snow but without the Stark family background and Castle Black brothers to help endear the audience to him.  It feels like he might struggle to escape this roll.

Tyler sheridan is one of the few writers (and now director) where I'll watch something simply because of his name. He's probably the most promising modern western stlyle screenwriter around. Definitely looking forward to the TV show he has coming out this year. And the film highlighted how Chris Pine is actually a really good actor and that his Trek character is just him playing the role as created.

Gunpowder looked lavish and the story is a good one but I found the whole thing unengaging. As for Kit HArrington - I've seen the spooks film and some of that Pompei film. If I'm being really honest he's not that good in GOT but the show carries him. This is actually true of a lot of the show's younger leads eg Sansa and Dany. Maisie Williams has more promise of having a successful future career I think.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I found out I had the last season of Peaky Blinders still stored on my DVR. I watched it over the last couple of days and I quite enjoyed it, although it's starting to show its age I think. This season, the series lost any claims it still had on the label of prestige drama, but it's still an enjoyable popcorn romp imo. Overall I think it was worth my time though, I like Cillian Murphy and Paul Anderson a lot, Adrien Brody was a nice addition and Tom Hardy yet again stole the show (Quite sad that his own Taboo isn't as good, Solomons would have been a better character to make such a TV-series about). 

A couple of things did annoy me:

Spoiler

The insultingly stupid plot twist with Arthur Shelby... You'd have to be incredibly clueless to believe that. Poorly executed and it just felt so damn cheap (e.g. they clearly showed John's corpse in the burning wagon, but no such shot was included for Arthur... very obvious).

I also feel like they wasted Adrien Brody a bit. Unlike some others, I enjoyed Brody's take on the gangster (perhaps the voice was a bit much, but his dress and demeanor were spot on), but the writing let him down. He was quite menacing in the beginning, but the Shelby's made a fool out of him the entire time. I hope that the next series, which I hear is going to be the final one, brings in a credible opponent. The series clearly needs that.

And one obligatory thing I need to mention

Spoiler

Tom Hardy you left us to soon, he was the best thing about this whole damn series :crying:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6-1-2018 at 0:41 AM, Wall Flower said:

Sorry, I should have said disappointment on the TV romance front. :D

Oef, I feel like I dodged a bullet there ;)

On 6-1-2018 at 0:41 AM, Wall Flower said:

Not a dude, btw

Whoops, my bad, my sincerest apologies :) 

On 6-1-2018 at 0:41 AM, Wall Flower said:

It was Susan, played by Joanna David in Morse. IRL, she's Hathaway's aunt (married to Edward Fox). I haven't seen the 4th season of Endeavour yet - something to look forward to.

I'm afraid I'm ancient enough to have seen Morse all the way through its TV run. On the plus side of being old, I generally forget all the twists and turns, which is good for rewatches.

I thought the fourth season was better than the third, albeit a bit depressing as well. Although the best murder mysteries usually are, George Gently also had a way of getting under your skin like that. And Frost could often surprise you by opening a can of sadness. 

I'm really curious about Morse. It should be great, seeing how influential it has been over the years :) 

On 6-1-2018 at 0:53 AM, Tywin et al. said:

Women can be dudes too. There's a revolutionary song dedicated to this:

 

Exactly what I was thinking about when I made the comment :P 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, red snow said:

Netflix are doing a better job of promoting it/newsites are giving it more coverage as a netflix show than channel 4. Channel 4 did advertise it a lot but it was in the "it's like skins - young trendy people need to watch" style that's always turned me off. Which is a shame as 50% of the shows advertised in this way reallty aren't skins-style. Although Channel 5 does very much have a "house-style" in the sense I can usually say with confidence "this is BBC or C4 or ITV"

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. I had seen adverts for this and it came across as 'edgy' and hip in a way that many C4 shows like to do. But i was much better than that, I felt a really connection the main characters even if they were written in a slightly over the top way that many teen shows do.

I looked up the main two, as I knew I'd seen them before. The guy was in that episode of Black Mirror last season where he gets blackmailed into robbing a bank, I think he might always be cast as a weirdo. The girl I knew I recognised from something but couldn't place it, but she was in Hannah, which is one of my favourite movies! Her portrayal of a spoilt middle class teenager in that movie is one of my favourite performances ever! In fact that movie is full of awesome performances. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, Eggegg said:

I looked up the main two, as I knew I'd seen them before. The guy was in that episode of Black Mirror last season where he gets blackmailed into robbing a bank, I think he might always be cast as a weirdo. 

Alex Lawther. He killed it as Kenny in the episode of Black Mirror called 'Shut Up and Dance'. So yeah I can see him getting typecasted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally getting around to watching Ash Vs Evil Dead.  I watched the first few episodes back when the show came out, but then never finished the first season.  I rewatched the episodes I'd already seen since it had been a couple of years.  Enjoyable show.  I like the decision to keep the episodes half an hour long.  It ensures they move quick and don't wear out their welcome.  Lots of good one-liners and the violence is ridiculous, which is what I expect from Evil Dead.  Best way to describe it would be dumb fun.

I also love how Ash's dream is to go to Jacksonville.  :lol:

I'm midway through season two now and the show hasn't really lost any steam.  Not sure the story makes any kind of actual sense, but they keep finding ways to string it along, leading to more violence and comedy, so I'll allow it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, briantw said:

Finally getting around to watching Ash Vs Evil Dead.  I watched the first few episodes back when the show came out, but then never finished the first season.  I rewatched the episodes I'd already seen since it had been a couple of years.  Enjoyable show.  I like the decision to keep the episodes half an hour long.  It ensures they move quick and don't wear out their welcome.  Lots of good one-liners and the violence is ridiculous, which is what I expect from Evil Dead.  Best way to describe it would be dumb fun.

I also love how Ash's dream is to go to Jacksonville.  :lol:

I'm midway through season two now and the show hasn't really lost any steam.  Not sure the story makes any kind of actual sense, but they keep finding ways to string it along, leading to more violence and comedy, so I'll allow it.

I really need to finish this show. I have admit that after that first episode which I thought was brilliant, I felt like the quality was a little patchy and i never bothered after about the 5th episode. If I hear enough good things I'll go back to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Eggegg said:

I really need to finish this show. I have admit that after that first episode which I thought was brilliant, I felt like the quality was a little patchy and i never bothered after about the 5th episode. If I hear enough good things I'll go back to it.

Yeah, I stopped for similar reasons.  I think it's a show that really benefits from binge-watching as opposed to week to week viewing, because the episodes are short and the ones that aren't as good don't stick out when you don't have to wait a week to watch the next one.  I thought season one picked up toward the end, but I agree there was a slump early in season one while all the wheels were clicking into place.

Season two benefits from not really having to set anything up.  They get everyone together in the first episode and the pedal stays on the gas pretty much from the get-go.  Also, the intro to season one (not the first scene but the first scene with Ash in it) is fucking brilliant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Eggegg said:

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. I had seen adverts for this and it came across as 'edgy' and hip in a way that many C4 shows like to do. But i was much better than that, I felt a really connection the main characters even if they were written in a slightly over the top way that many teen shows do.

I looked up the main two, as I knew I'd seen them before. The guy was in that episode of Black Mirror last season where he gets blackmailed into robbing a bank, I think he might always be cast as a weirdo. The girl I knew I recognised from something but couldn't place it, but she was in Hannah, which is one of my favourite movies! Her portrayal of a spoilt middle class teenager in that movie is one of my favourite performances ever! In fact that movie is full of awesome performances. 

 

Yeah, that actor is going to be the go to unhinged youth for a while. If his performance in black mirror wasn't him being a one-trick pony then he should be fine but as you say he probably needs to avoid doing similiar roles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The actress who played Alyssa in The End of the Fucking World (Jessica Barden) also played Justine in Penny Dreadful. That is why she looked so familiar. Both her and Alex Lawther were great in The End of the Fucking World.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Astromech said:

The actress who played Alyssa in The End of the Fucking World (Jessica Barden) also played Justine in Penny Dreadful. That is why she looked so familiar. Both her and Alex Lawther were great in The End of the Fucking World.

This. They're awesome. Great show too. Hope they don't make anymore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Mexal said:

We watched it this past weekend and really enjoyed it. Just an entertaining movie. 

Agreed. I watched Bright the other day.  Sure, it was quite heavy on the allegory but I guess maybe I was lucky I didn't have any expectations, etc. going in?  I thought it was entertaining enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

×
×
  • Create New...