Watch, Watched, Watching: That last thread... forget about it completely. It doesn't matter.

[williamjm]

17 hours ago, Raja said:

I'm watching Big Little Lies - how did I sleep on this show whilst it was airing? The cast is so good, the cinematography is as good if not better. The Kidman relationship is really fucking me up. I'm not even trying to think about the central plot line so to speak, it's just nice to watch a well written show after the number of duds I've seen over the past year ( I'm looking at you, Westworld) 

Might have to go find the thread and read all of y'alls thoughts

It does have an excellent cast. The scenes with Kidman and her therapist are incredibly tense. The murder mystery whodunnit aspect of the show worked well enough, but its the character interactions that really make the series work.

[briantw]

8 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

First episode was good, it had humourous elements but definitely wasnt a comedy. Kept the balance well.

My main takeaway from Killing Eve was that I was really surprised by just how funny it was for a drama.  Lots of laughs and great characters.

[Astromech]

25 minutes ago, briantw said:

My main takeaway from Killing Eve was that I was really surprised by just how funny it was for a drama.  Lots of laughs and great characters.

It really seemed more of a dark comedy to me. I found the series excellent and am hoping for more.

 

8 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

First episode was good, it had humourous elements but definitely wasnt a comedy. Kept the balance well. Since we just had the Emmys and Sandra Oh was up for this, I'll compare to the other dramas that were nominated and say it takes itself less seriously than them and seems 'lighter' for want of a better description. That isn't a criticism though.

I also haven't read A Discovery of Witches. I'll check out the first episode then decide if I want to keep watching and whether it will work best as weekly viewing or a binge when it's all out. 

Sandra Oh was nominated, but Jodie Comer was more impressive as Villanelle imo. Loved her.

[Cas Stark]

9 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Watched The Ritual last night and LOVED it 

Did you?  I've been looking at it, but all horror disappoints me these days, I don't think I've been anything but massively underwhelmed for anything since The Ring, LOL.  I did love Triangle, which literally no one anywhere saw.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I've tried watching the new Jurassic Park movie twice now and fell asleep both times. Granted it was late at night, but the movie is not very good. Will give it one more try this weekend at an earlier time to see how it ends.

[briantw]

4 minutes ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

I've tried watching the new Jurassic Park movie twice now and fell asleep both times. Granted it was late at night, but the movie is not very good. Will give it one more try this weekend at an earlier time to see how it ends.

It is one of the absolute dumbest movies I've ever seen.  It's basically just a shittier, dumber remake of Lost World.  Kind of like how the first Jurassic World was just a shittier, dumber remake of the original Jurassic Park.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, briantw said:

It is one of the absolute dumbest movies I've ever seen.  It's basically just a shittier, dumber remake of Lost World.  Kind of like how the first Jurassic World was just a shittier, dumber remake of the original Jurassic Park.

Yeah that's how I feel so far. I wish they had just done a faithful adaptation of The Lost World. Jurassic Park was pretty faithful to the book, albeit with some changes, many of which worked out well, but the rest of the movies have just taken pieces from The Lost World and spread it out. I might be the rare person who thinks the second book was better, or at least on par with the first. The major change I hate is what they did to the character of Sarah Harding. She is awesome in the book and awful in the movie. 

[briantw]

Just now, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

Yeah that's how I feel so far. I wish they had just done a faithful adaptation of The Lost World. Jurassic Park was pretty faithful to the book, albeit with some changes, many of which worked out well, but the rest of the movies have just taken pieces from The Lost World and spread it out. I might be the rare person who thinks the second book was better, or at least on par with the first. The major change I hate is what they did to the character of Sarah Harding. She is awesome in the book and awful in the movie. 

The worst part about Fallen Kingdom is that the whole movie is really just a trailer for the third movie.  Some of the shots from the FK trailer literally show up at the very end of the film to set up a third one.

[HexMachina]

3 hours ago, williamjm said:

It does have an excellent cast. The scenes with Kidman and her therapist are incredibly tense. The murder mystery whodunnit aspect of the show worked well enough, but its the character interactions that really make the series work.

That’s why I’m not too worried about a second season, the most interesting part of the show remain (plus Meryl Streep!)

2 hours ago, briantw said:

My main takeaway from Killing Eve was that I was really surprised by just how funny it was for a drama.  Lots of laughs and great characters.

I wonder if that’s a quirk of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s writing. My rather limited knowledge of her is in comedy 

[GallowKnight]

23 minutes ago, SpaceForce Tywin et al. said:

I've tried watching the new Jurassic Park movie twice now and fell asleep both times. Granted it was late at night, but the movie is not very good. Will give it one more try this weekend at an earlier time to see how it ends.

I just watched it. It's bad, really, really bad.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

16 minutes ago, briantw said:

The worst part about Fallen Kingdom is that the whole movie is really just a trailer for the third movie.  Some of the shots from the FK trailer literally show up at the very end of the film to set up a third one.

Ugh. I hate that.

7 minutes ago, GallowKnight said:

I just watched it. It's bad, really, really bad.

That's what I expect, but Jurassic Park is my favorite movie so I just can't not see it. 

[dbunting]

25 minutes ago, briantw said:

It is one of the absolute dumbest movies I've ever seen.  It's basically just a shittier, dumber remake of Lost World.  Kind of like how the first Jurassic World was just a shittier, dumber remake of the original Jurassic Park.

I see your Jurrasic Park movie and raise you, The Predator, all in. Your entire post could have been about either movie and would have applied perfectly!

[williamjm]

58 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

That’s why I’m not too worried about a second season, the most interesting part of the show remain (plus Meryl Streep!)

I'm not sure where I expect them to go in a second season, but I'm definitely interested to find out.

Speaking of murder mysteries, I just finished watching Sharp Objects. In terms of the acting talent involved and the overall quality of the show I'd say it has some things in common with Big Little Lies, although the murders here are much more bizarre by comparison (together with the small town setting it reminds me a bit of season 1 of True Detective at times). The ending of the last episode was particularly memorable

[Nictarion]

8 minutes ago, williamjm said:

I'm not sure where I expect them to go in a second season, but I'm definitely interested to find out.

Speaking of murder mysteries, I just finished watching Sharp Objects. In terms of the acting talent involved and the overall quality of the show I'd say it has some things in common with Big Little Lies, although the murders here are much more bizarre by comparison (together with the small town setting it reminds me a bit of season 1 of True Detective at times). The ending of the last episode was particularly memorable

Including the director. 

[williamjm]

2 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

Including the director. 

I hadn't realised that, but it does make sense.

[Iskaral Pust]

I spent far too much time on airplanes in recent weeks but it did allow me to get through some watching on my iPad. 

I finished my rewatch of The Wire.  It is conclusively the best TV ever made, even on rewatch.  S5 is the weakest but they couldn’t end on the optimistic note of S4. The story felt complete, slightly overdone, but they knew when to let it end. 

I also watched Amazon’s Jack Ryan.  Pretty good; I posted a review in the dedicated thread.

I started Ozark S2, which is OK but it still feels like Jason Bateman is just playing a grimdark version of Michael Bluth — not just the portrayal, the entire character arc is written like that.  I’ll probably finish it but it doesn’t seem urgent now that I’m not a captive audience on an airplane.  I have some more flights next week.

I discovered The Great British Bake-Off, which is the most relaxing TV ever.  You don’t actually watch it, you just mellow out with it on in the background.  You could use it as background music for a massage. 

Aside from that PL soccer and NFL are back in full swing.

[WarGalley]

18 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

I’m almost done with season 3 of Gomorrah. So far it’s not as good as the first two seasons but it’s still pretty great. 

Haven't started it yet but it's up next if I can still get proper subtitles. Season 3 is going to be my yardstick against The Wire as my favorite show.

Edit: *** at least for the first 3 seasons of a show. I understand it's probably really hard to sustain the adrenaline rush of the first 2 seasons and a show can tank anytime if it goes on long enough and reaches greater acclaim and popularity. But Season 3 is key in my measuring of it as a whole.

[Iskaral Pust]

18 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

I’m almost done with season 3 of Gomorrah. So far it’s not as good as the first two seasons but it’s still pretty great. 

I didn’t realize that S3 was forthcoming.  The story seemed complete after S2.  I’ll definitely look out for this but it’s not available on Netflix yet. 

[Nictarion]

Just finished The Americans series finale and wow...that was amazing. Might be my 3rd favorite series finale after The Shield and Six Feet Under. 

Paige getting off the train totally gutted me.

Not sure it cracks my top 10, but it’s definitely up there. Easily one of the best non-HBO shows I’ve ever seen. Probably had the best soundtrack of any show since The Sopranos, too. 

[HexMachina]

2 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Just finished The Americans series finale and wow...that was amazing. Might be my 3rd favorite series finale after The Shield and Six Feet Under. 

 

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Paige getting off the train totally gutted me.

 

Not sure it cracks my top 10, but it’s definitely up there. Easily one of the best non-HBO shows I’ve ever seen. Probably had the best soundtrack of any show since The Sopranos, too. 

Spoiler

Paige getting off the train was an absolute gut punch, and perfectly shot, from "with or without you" as the backing, to Rhys and Russell's reaction to seeing her slip away as the train trundles past. Excellent stuff