Watch, Watching, Watch -- Keep the change you filthy animal!

[Leofric]

Really enjoying Season 2 of Beforeigners, episode 4 dropped this morning on HBO Max.    I just spent the last month reading the Harry Hole series by Jo Nesbø, so really like seeing a version of the police in Oslo and recognizing some of the city locations from descriptions in the books.  

[Cas Stark]

The Lost Daughter.  I liked it, it was very grim.  This is probably the performance Coleman should have won an Oscar for, not The Favorite.  

Guy Ritchie's King Arthur movie.  Totally bananas, might eventually achieve a cult following in the bad but somehow entertaining category.

[Veltigar]

On 1/13/2022 at 10:19 AM, RumHam said:

Heston was also in the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes which I assume was a protest against the idea of remaking movies.

Wow, he was in the remake? who did he play?

23 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Love Soylent Green. 

  Reveal hidden contents

Heston was also active in the civil rights movement back in the day. Aside from the NRA stuff, I'm not sure Heston was ever much of a right winger, even later in life.

Unlike Jon Voight or James Woods, who have kind of gone off the deep end. I can still remember Voight making some silly speech back in 2008 where he compared Obama's rise to Julius Caesar (it wasn't) and that, like Caesar, he was going to take over the republic (he should have). 

You love Soylent Green? I hope you know that 

Spoiler

It is made of people, you cannibal 

 

That is surprising info about Chuck. I remember all the memes and the out-of-our-cold-dead-hands compilations, but that part of his life completely passed me by. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll read up on it.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

26 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

Wow, he was in the remake? who did he play?

You love Soylent Green? I hope you know that 

  Hide contents

It is made of people, you cannibal 

 

That is surprising info about Chuck. I remember all the memes and the out-of-our-cold-dead-hands compilations, but that part of his life completely passed me by. Thanks for pointing it out, I'll read up on it.

 

He played Thade's dying father.

I know what it's made of. Nom nom nom nom nom nom...

[Zorral]

2 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Guy Ritchie's King Arthur movie.  Totally bananas, might eventually achieve a cult following in the bad but somehow entertaining category.

[Derfel Cadarn]

https://deadline.com/2022/01/fx-greenlights-latest-elmore-leonard-1234912732/
 

Justified coming back!

[WarGalley]

Recently re-subscribed to Netflix and finished The Witcher S2. I remember this being pretty much on par with S1 and didn't see much of the improvement that others felt about it. A lot of the show felt like cheesy, 1:1 character dialogue that you would see in a CW series. I rolled my eyes in a lot of the scenes involving the mages who seem far more preoccupied by politics than anything involving magic.

Spoiler

I strongly feel the show's strength is in the stories about the monsters, curses and magic of this world. The first episode of the season, with it's twisted tale on Beauty and the Beast, was my favorite -- and I think I preferred those types of episodes versus the "main quest" of the Ciri and Nilfgaard storylines. Every scene outside of monsters and curses felt like characters having teenage dialogue. The veteran Witcher having a macho pissing contest with an orphan 12 year old Ciri was the worst. Also, Yennefer allying herself with the Black Knight even in escape and pursuit stretched the imagination. She was hunted down like a dog and had a baby killed in her arms a few weeks/months(?) ago by this guy. 

Any who, I got through the show fairly quickly so it did grab me, and I'll still be checking out S3.

On to Squid Game next. As Iooked at the shows that have accumulated on Netflix since rejoining a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I certainly want to catch up on Narcos, Ozark, Arcane and The Last Kingdom. My desire for any content after that however starts dwindling rapidly and the more I look at the HBOMax catalogue, the more attractive it looks for longer term subscription.

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, WarGalley said:

Recently re-subscribed to Netflix and finished The Witcher S2. I remember this being pretty much on par with S1 and didn't see much of the improvement that others felt about it. A lot of the show felt like cheesy, 1:1 character dialogue that you would see in a CW series. I rolled my eyes in a lot of the scenes involving the mages who seem far more preoccupied by politics than anything involving magic.

  Hide contents

I strongly feel the show's strength is in the stories about the monsters, curses and magic of this world. The first episode of the season, with it's twisted tale on Beauty and the Beast, was my favorite -- and I think I preferred those types of episodes versus the "main quest" of the Ciri and Nilfgaard storylines. Every scene outside of monsters and curses felt like characters having teenage dialogue. The veteran Witcher having a macho pissing contest with an orphan 12 year old Ciri was the worst. Also, Yennefer allying herself with the Black Knight even in escape and pursuit stretched the imagination. She was hunted down like a dog and had a baby killed in her arms a few weeks/months(?) ago by this guy. 

Any who, I got through the show fairly quickly so it did grab me, and I'll still be checking out S3.

On to Squid Game next. As Iooked at the shows that have accumulated on Netflix since rejoining a couple of weeks ago, I decided that I certainly want to catch up on Narcos, Ozark, Arcane and The Last Kingdom. My desire for any content after that however starts dwindling rapidly and the more I look at the HBOMax catalogue, the more attractive it looks for longer term subscription.

I think you're confusing Yennifer with Ciri.

Spoiler

The Black Knight didn't hunt Yen like a dog. Up until the battle at Sodden, Yen hardly interacted with Nilfgaard. And the only baby that died in her arms was the daughter of one of the northern kings who had sent a mage assassin after his own wife.

 

[WarGalley]

55 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

I think you're confusing Yennifer with Ciri.

  Hide contents

The Black Knight didn't hunt Yen like a dog. Up until the battle at Sodden, Yen hardly interacted with Nilfgaard. And the only baby that died in her arms was the daughter of one of the northern kings who had sent a mage assassin after his own wife.

 

Oh I thought 

Spoiler

The mage assassin and the Black Knight were the same.

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

10 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

Guy Ritchie's King Arthur movie.  Totally bananas, might eventually achieve a cult following in the bad but somehow entertaining category.

The first half is interesting but it completely falls apart in the second. I remember reading something about some re-shoot/editing drama behind that film. 

[Nictarion]

Well Station Eleven ended up being one of the best standalone seasons of a tv show I’ve seen in quite some time. There was not a single weak episode, or even a wasted scene. Just fantastic from start to finish. 

Spoiler

I could barely focus on anything other than Kirsten and Jeevan reuniting during the finale, and it didn’t disappoint. 

 

[Scott_N]

1 minute ago, Nictarion said:

Well Station Eleven ended up being one of the best standalone seasons of a tv show I’ve seen in quite some time. There was not a single weak episode, or even a wasted scene. Just fantastic from start to finish. 

  Hide contents

I could barely focus on anything other than Kirsten and Jeevan reuniting during the finale, and it didn’t disappoint. 

 

Couldn't agree more. Great, great TV. Probably the best show I've seen since Chernobyl.

[Scott_N]

Just noticed a Ray Donovan film is out. I had no idea one was even in the making. Anyone seen it and, if so, is it a worthwhile effort? I liked the show but last couple of seasons weren't great.

[Tywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Nictarion said:

Well Station Eleven ended up being one of the best standalone seasons of a tv show I’ve seen in quite some time. There was not a single weak episode, or even a wasted scene. Just fantastic from start to finish. 

  Reveal hidden contents

I could barely focus on anything other than Kirsten and Jeevan reuniting during the finale, and it didn’t disappoint. 

 

I'm only on episode eight, but it certainly is an incredibly unique show. The premise is bonkers and could have easily failed, and yet, it's magical. Definitely going to binge the rest before your orange kitties play tomorrow afternoon. 

[BigFatCoward]

15 hours ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

https://deadline.com/2022/01/fx-greenlights-latest-elmore-leonard-1234912732/
 

Justified coming back!

While I loved it. Not sure I want it back without the same supporting cast. Though its possible for a few cameos. 

[Iskaral Pust]

I watched Arcane (S1?) by myself over several weeks.  Neither my wife nor son were interested.  Very good steam-punk art design, animation and soundtrack, and reasonably good voice acting.  The characters and central plot are very YA/emo, and the two main arcs are poorly connected.  Similar to Peaky Blinders and other punk-toned dramas, we’re supposed to feel bad for parasitic characters who cause death and mayhem around them, but feel anguished that it brings them negative consequences.

[Annara Snow]

Finally finished work yesterday afternoon and it's great to have a free weekend where I can just rest and finally get to watch stuff. 

The Euphoria Jules special (which I had to go and find since HBO, while airing the season 1 marathon and Rue special ahead of the season 2 premiere and then the premiere, apparnently somehow forgot that the Jules special exists) was amazing and beautiful, the best episode of that show IMO, and confirms her as the most interesting character on the show.

Station Eleven finale was also great. I will be rewatching the show and I want to read the book.

The Expanse confirmed what I had believed all along: it does not feel like a series finale, and I don't think this season was ever meant to really be the last season. You can see the difference between showrunners ending a show because they want to, and the showrunners having to end it because the network or streaming service demands it - and in this case, they made what is really a brilliant season finale that leaves the door wide open for a continuation and closes one big storyline only to sets up big storylines in the future.  I expect them to try to get a continuation of the story on some other streaming service or network; and if they fail, at least they've made it clear that there is more story and invited people to read the books.

[Veltigar]

I watched the first episode of the BBC's The Green Planet (2022) today, another great David Attenborough nature documentary. This one is special though, as it gives the limelight to plants for what I believe is the first time.

Apart from the somewhat unfortunate tendency to anthropomorphize, the first episode of this series is a perfect episode of TV. Everything looks beautiful, it's educational and just an absolute delight to watch. What made it extra interesting was that they also focused on the team and the technology that made the series possible and that was also incredible. They use a type of camera that was created by a dude tinkering in his garage on his own for a decade. Absolutely bonkers, but it is great to see this type of innovation at work. I highly recommend this series and I cannot wait for Sunday's episode.

I also watched an interesting Russian film from 1959 called Ballad of a Soldier. I cannot recall how this came to be on my watchlist, but wherever it came from, I am glad I have seen it. It's a very haunting film, telling the story of a Russian soldier on leave from WWII and the people he encounters while trying to get home to his mother. 

The film is possessed of an elegiac beauty, the performances are all lived in and the writing is very crisp. It's one of the greatest war films, even though there is only one short battle scene in it and that at the very beginning to boot. Definitely warmly recommended to anyone interested in experiencing some of the many little human drama's on the Eastern Front.

On 1/14/2022 at 6:53 PM, Derfel Cadarn said:

https://deadline.com/2022/01/fx-greenlights-latest-elmore-leonard-1234912732/
 

Justified coming back!

Color me intrigued! Funny coincidence, but I just rewatched the final conversation between

Spoiler

Raylan and Boyd last week. The writing is so great in it:

Raylan: I thought it was news that should be delivered in person.
Boyd: That the only reason? After all these long years, Raylan Givens, that's the only reason.
Raylan: Well, I suppose if I allow myself to be sentimental, despite all that has occurred, there is one thing that I wander back to.
Boyd: We dug coal together.
Raylan: That’s right.

Still my pick for best ending in TV

 

On 1/14/2022 at 5:17 PM, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

He played Thade's dying father.

I know what it's made of. Nom nom nom nom nom nom...

Man, I completely missed that.

[Zorral]

11 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

While I loved it. Not sure I want it back without the same supporting cast.

Particularly my hands down favorite, Chief Deputy, Art Mullen, played by Nick Searcy.  I will miss Kentucky too.

[DMC]

In terms of returning characters - trying not to bias who I want to return - Boyd, Ava, and Art all have pretty well completed arcs, can't see much reason to bring them back other than fan service.  Tim and Rachel though, they could do more with I think.  Doesn't sound like that's what the show is going for though.