Watch, Watched, Watching : Series or Stand Alone? Home or Theater?

[Heartofice]

Wow, its amazing how popular Squid Game has become. Its pretty much the most popular show on Netflix. That is impressive for a Korean show. 

I'm right up to the last episode and I kind of feel like the initial promise of the show has only been fulfilled in bursts. There are so many elements to like about it, most of the performances are fantastic, I have literally been close to tears at points. The games themselves are tense and really have you on the edge of your seat.

It isn't perfect, most of what is happening behind the scenes of the games is very silly, some of it actually pretty crap. Almost everything to do with the VIPs was jaw droppingly awful, which kind of confirms my theory a bit that foreign shows tend to seem a lot more competent by simply not being in English. Once the english speakers arrived I could barely watch.

The real strength I have always felt with the show is that the social commentary on inequality and poverty was really interesting. With the show zipping around quite a lot and killing everyone off, you lose a bit of that element and it becomes a bit more generic. 

Still a deserved popularity winner.

[RhaenysBee]

I’ve been watching Truth Be Told for the past couple days. It’s quite similar to The Undoing. It’s supposed to be a crime drama, but it’s impossibly boring and you don’t really care whodunnit.

The show doesn’t make me attached to any of the characters enough that I would care about their fate/success/failure/struggle. Aaron Paul and Octavia Spencer do what they can with the nothing they are given, but there’s only so much. The main protagonist has no self-reflection whatsoever, and it’s unclear if the show wants us to take her seriously and like her or is actually aware that she’s highly unrelatable and very difficult to like, or even respect. The show doesn’t really make an effort to establish a backstory that would explain and warrant who she is. Some level of class struggle and racial issues are scratched on the surface, but we don’t really dive into either because… I don’t actually know why, we just don’t.

In fact, neither the themes, nor the plot, nor the characters, not even the atmosphere or the dynamics of the show offer you anything. You don’t even get chemistry between any of the actors. You constantly have a feeling that you’re watching a lousy spin-off of something, and if you had seen that something you might at least get the characters and the premise better. Alas, there’s no something. It’s like a textbook but the text was deleted and you only get the table of contents. Don’t waste your time. 

[l2 0 5 5]

Recently went through some mini series on Netflix.  Watched Clickbait and Midnight Mass.  The former was an easy watch. I like how each episode was POV focused.  I thought the detective and reporter were the most interesting ones.  For the latter, it was largely good.  Thought some of the dialogue between Riley and Erin was longwinded, and found myself drifting off.  I wish Rahul Kohli had more involvement throughout.  Haven't seen him in much but I really like him. 

[DMC]

Finished rewatching Sopranos earlier today.  Seen a lot of "best episodes" rankings for it around the past week or so, and thinking about it..I'd go with Isabella, the penultimate episode of the first season.  I'll spoiler the explanation...

Spoiler

To be clear, my choice is not just because the eponymous character is amazingly beautiful.  I think the episode combines everything that's great about the show better than any other offering.  Or at least what I thought was most important and/or fun about the show.  The mother/son dynamic combined with gangster shit topped off with psychiatry.  With Melfi not only figuring out Liv was behind the hit before anyone but also the scene in the car after when Tony describes his dream (or whatever) with Isabella and the baby.  Melfi tells him "that baby was you Anthony."  Makes me cry every damn time.

In addition, the music, Tony buying orange juice right before the hit, and of course Tony's hallucinations of Isabella before the show went full bore into the dream world in later seasons.  It's a masterful integration of all the best components.

 

[BigFatCoward]

I have to say 'pine barrens' and 'college' which tend to dominate best episode lists bemuse me a bit.  I think they are both very good, but not so much better than other episodes to make it so obvious why everyone would pick them. 

 

[DMC]

3 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

I have to say 'pine barrens' and 'college' which tend to dominate best episode lists bemuse me a bit  I think they are both very good, but not so much better than other episodes to make it so obvious why everyone would pick them. 

 

Agreed.  In terms of differentiating quality, I think it's a lot easier to compose a worst episodes list than best - and the Vito storyline from 6A would highlight the former.  Also the ep where Tony befriends his dad's goomar (In Camelot).

[Annara Snow]

5 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

I have to say 'pine barrens' and 'college' which tend to dominate best episode lists bemuse me a bit.  I think they are both very good, but not so much better than other episodes to make it so obvious why everyone would pick them. 

 

I don't know if I can think of any episodes that I would call bad, but I remember a lot of episodes and moments I thought were great. 

I have to disagree about College - it was the first The Sopranos episode that I thought was really great and put the show on another level for me. And then the end of season 1 was really strong with Isabella, Nobody Knows Anything, and the finale. I remember season 2 also having incredibly strong final episodes, Knight in White Satin Armor and Funhouse. 

Season 3 is the one I remember as the strongest and many great episodes throughout. Pine Barrens was super fun, but for me the standours are probably the Melfi-centric Employee of the Month, Amour Fou with Gloria's storyline, University (which kind of got its sequel in season 4 Whoever Did This, also great), and season 4 also had some fantastic moments, especially the finale Whitecaps

Spoiler

with Tony and Carmela fighting and breaking up.

I think I found season 5 less strong overall, but Long Term Parking was great, and I love the scene in the season 5 premiere 

Spoiler

where Melfi tells Tony why she could never date him.

 

[Nictarion]

It’s really tough to pick a single favorite episode of The Sopranos, but some of mine from each season;

S1 - College, Boca, Isabella

S2 - From Where to Eternity, The Knight In White Satin Armor, Funhouse 

S3 - University, Pine Barrens, Armour Fou

S4 - Whoever Did This, The Strong Silent Type, Whitecaps

S5 - Irregular Around the Margins, Marco Polo, Long Term Parking 

S6 - The Ride, Soprano Home Movies, The Blue Comet 

 

If I was hard pressed to pick just one, for years it was always Pine Barrens, but I think now it might be Whitecaps. It has the best acting I’ve ever seen on television (both Gandolfini and Falco), and the Dean Martin boat thing is one of the funniest parts of the show’s entire run.

Picking a favorite season is just as hard. But I’d probably have to say S2. Richie Aprile was definitely my favorite antagonist to Tony (not counting Livia and Jr). And Janice was a great addition to the show. 

[Veltigar]

Saw some stuff lately I didn't discuss here, so here is a list:

• No Time to Die: This was an excellent outing in the Bond universe and long overdue, as this is the only Craig film that lived up to the promise of Casino Royale. It took us three dismal films to get here, but at least this last film was really good. A shame that Craig didn't get better stuff to do, as I do think he's an excellent Bond. My favorite in fact, although I know that is a controversial choice. He's always great as Bond, but usually the films around him are flaky. 
  
  What I really liked was the direction (Fukunaga should do more stuff), the acting from everyone (although the highlight for me was definitely Ana de Armas) and the set design. The villain's lair in particular was stunning. The film is sadly not quite perfect (looking at you Peter Bradshaw with your ridiculous 5/5 reviews for every Bond film out there) as the villain was weak, the Bond song bland and the ending didn't really sell me. Still definitely a great time at the theatre   
   
• Squid Game: I decided to get on board the hype train and found this surprisingly decent. It is terribly predictable, I think I figured out 
  Spoiler

  both twists by episode 2 or 3

  but Squid Games strength really lay in its execution. The series had a lot of visual flair and I think the way they expressed their artistic vision in the settings and costumes was really well done. Most actors with the VIP's and one other exception were also really on point, so definitely worth binging. The ending is a bit of a bummer though as the flair and panache with which this series comported itself in the earlier episodes fell away entirely.

  Spoiler

  The evil old man reveal was so bland. I think they should have gone more over the top with that, just as they did in the rest of the series. Due to the fact that it was so low key, it was even more noticeable how silly the entire concept of the Squid Game is.

   

• The Killer: Do I need to say more than "Classic John Woo"? I saw Hard-boiled for the first time a few months and that made me decide to put more of John Woo's Hong-Kong action films on my schedule. It took me some time to get there, but The Killer is even better than Hard-boiled.
  
  I have always been a Sam Peckinpah fan and until recently I would have confidently defended him as the greatest action director ever, but John Woo is beating him I think. The gun play in his films is amazing, but it's the melodrama that makes his films work. I'm not sure how to explain it, but The Killer contains so many scenes and plot points that shouldn't work, but Woo is able to sell it just on the strength of his action and the charm of his actors. I'm still not sure how Danny Lee and Chow Yun-Fat became friends in this film, but I don't care, it just works. Bring on the white doves, painted glass windows and a few million squibs!  

[Ran]

Watched Blood Simple for the first time ever. Quite an interesting film -- first film for Joel and Ethan Coen, Frances McDormand (who met Joel Coen on this film and ended up married to him to this day), and composer (and very frequent Coen collaborator) Carter Burwell. It's a dark neo-noir film, driven by a love triangle and things go tragically, horribly wrong for pretty much everyone. For me the standout performance is M. Emmet Walsh as a sleazy detective, hired to spy on an unfaithful wife and then to do rather more...

The story of the genesis of this film is pretty neat -- the Coens really wanted to make a movie together, though Joel was just a production assistant after having finished film school and Ethan had a B.A. in Philosophy from Princeton and 0 film experience otherwise. Joel's buddy Sam Raimi told them to make a two minute trailer to shop around. Said trailer featured Bruce Campbell in the part that Dan Hedaya (aka Nick Tortelli from Cheers) would play in the film. Pretty much everyone rejected the proposal, but they raised money independently and eventually landed a distributor. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

[DMC]

7 hours ago, Annara Snow said:

I love the scene in the season 5 premiere 

LOL.  "You're not respectful of women...You're not really respectful of people."

6 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I think now it might be Whitecaps. It has the best acting I’ve ever seen on television (both Gandolfini and Falco)

Definitely agree with the latter - the prolonged argument is just amazing performances by both of them.  In terms of favorite episodes though, it's a little too...one dimensional for me to put it at the top.  Maybe not one dimensional but..singularly focused?  Something like that.

Picking a best season is indeed just as hard.  I think I'd have to agree with Annara and go with Season 3.  Both the first and second season finish stronger (there's very little suspense in the Season 3 finale), and the first season is probably the most "enjoyable" for me, but looking over the list of episodes Season 3 just has so many strong offerings, it's like an all-star team.

ETA:  Oh, forgot to add it's even more impressive that Chase and co. had to completely reconstruct Season 3 after Nancy Marchand's death.

[Ser Drewy]

53 minutes ago, Ran said:

Watched Blood Simple for the first time ever. Quite an interesting film -- first film for Joel and Ethan Coen, Frances McDormand (who met Joel Coen on this film and ended up married to him to this day), and composer (and very frequent Coen collaborator) Carter Burwell. It's a dark neo-noir film, driven by a love triangle and things go tragically, horribly wrong for pretty much everyone. For me the standout performance is M. Emmet Walsh as a sleazy detective, hired to spy on an unfaithful wife and then to do rather more...

The story of the genesis of this film is pretty neat -- the Coens really wanted to make a movie together, though Joel was just a production assistant after having finished film school and Ethan had a B.A. in Philosophy from Princeton and 0 film experience otherwise. Joel's buddy Sam Raimi told them to make a two minute trailer to shop around. Said trailer featured Bruce Campbell in the part that Dan Hedaya (aka Nick Tortelli from Cheers) would play in the film. Pretty much everyone rejected the proposal, but they raised money independently and eventually landed a distributor. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

For a long time Blood Simple was my favourite Coens film. I remember loving every minute of it. I really need to rewatch it at some point. 

[Nictarion]

Saw No Time to Die, tonight. Thought it was great.

Spoiler

Definitely a proper sendoff for Daniel Craig.

My only complaint is that Ana de Armas wasn’t in it more. The part she was in was fantastic though. 

[Nictarion]

6 hours ago, DMC said:

LOL.  "You're not respectful of women...You're not really respectful of people."

Definitely agree with the latter - the prolonged argument is just amazing performances by both of them. In terms of favorite episodes though, it's a little too...one dimensional for me to put it at the top.  Maybe not one dimensional but..singularly focused? Something like that.

Picking a best season is indeed just as hard.  I think I'd have to agree with Annara and go with Season 3.  Both the first and second season finish stronger (there's very little suspense in the Season 3 finale), and the first season is probably the most "enjoyable" for me, but looking over the list of episodes Season 3 just has so many strong offerings, it's like an all-star team.

ETA:  Oh, forgot to add it's even more impressive that Chase and co. had to completely reconstruct Season 3 after Nancy Marchand's death.

I’m not sure I really understand what you’re even trying to say here, but that episode has plenty going on. The relationship drama with Tony and Carmela, some high stakes mob stuff with Johnny Sac and NY, the humor of Tony’s method to get out of the house contract, etc. It checks most of the boxes of what makes a great Sopranos episode. The only thing it really didn’t have was any great Dr Melfi scenes. 

As for S3? Yeah, I will always give them a ton of credit for putting together such a strong season after having to scramble a bit when Nancy Marchand died. I do think Livia testifying against Tony would have made for a much better storyline than a lot of the Jackie Jr stuff, but overall S3 is still fantastic. Especially the Gloria episodes. 

[DMC]

35 minutes ago, Nictarion said:

I’m not sure I really understand what you’re even trying to say here, but that episode has plenty going on. The relationship drama with Tony and Carmela, some high stakes mob stuff with Johnny Sac and NY, the humor of Tony’s method to get out of the house contract, etc. It checks most of the boxes of what makes a great Sopranos episode. The only thing it really didn’t have was any great Dr Melfi scenes. 

I'm saying it was predominately focused on the breakup, or only one aspect.  Sure there was the Johnny/Carmine drama, but it was dealt with in the episode fairly expeditiously (as is Junior's trial).  And, as you said, no Melfi.

[Nictarion]

8 minutes ago, DMC said:

I'm saying it was predominately focused on the breakup, or only one aspect.  Sure there was the Johnny/Carmine drama, but it was dealt with in the episode fairly expeditiously (as is Junior's trial).  And, as you said, no Melfi.

True. But it did lay the groundwork for all the Tony/Johnny Sac tension that comes the following season. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

Am about 3/4's of the way through "News of the World".

Stars Tom Hank's in a post civil war western where he is tasked with a long arduous journey to get a twice orphaned (from her German and Kiowa tribal family) girl to far away relatives.

Of course the ever talented Hank's is great. But the young girl (Helena Zengal) really steals any scene she's in, she speaks 3 languages in the role (German, Tanoan/Kiowa and English).

 She is just one super talent, looks about 12 years old in the movie, maybe even younger and she holds her own with the Oscar winner Hank's.

[Annara Snow]

15 hours ago, DMC said:

LOL.  "You're not respectful of women...You're not really respectful of people."

"I don't love people?"

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

It's that time of the year, which means , look for horror films you may have missed.

Black Christmas, which Scream completely ripped off, is fucking fantastic. It's not actually very scary, but then again horror films rarely spook me so use your own governor. What a perfect little film. Also, I don't think I need to use spoiler tags on a movie that's nearly 50 years old, but was the first example of someone being told to get out of the house and they'll be just fine, but instead decide to both run upstairs to the killing area, and then also run into the fucking basement to escape, when the god damn front door is right there with the police trying to save your ass?

[BigFatCoward]

Rewarched the film what we do in the shadows in to get me excited for the new season.  Not a patch on the TV show but Nick the vampire telling everybody he is 'twilight' always has me crying with laughter.