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Watch, Watched, Watching: Looking for the Light


Ramsay B.

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I've seen the first episode of Velma, just out of curiosity. I wanted to know just how bad something like this could be.

Actually it wasn't as awful as I expected. Certainly not good, but is it exceptionally bad given the horde or awful 'adult animation' swirling around Netflix and co? Not especially. Its exactly what you would expect. Unfunny jokes that don't land, a predictable progressive narrative that makes fun of the usual groups, and an appeal to teenage minds written by a middle age woman. 

I don't really get the outrage over the whole 'you are ruining our childhoods!!' when it comes to Scooby Doo. Everyone must know that they have been pumping out garbage in the name of Scooby Doo for decades, they has been no attempt to stay true to the original series.. like ever. Its probably the most over done and battered franchise when it comes to stuff I watched as a kid.

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8 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I've seen the first episode of Velma, just out of curiosity. I wanted to know just how bad something like this could be.

Actually it wasn't as awful as I expected. Certainly not good, but is it exceptionally bad given the horde or awful 'adult animation' swirling around Netflix and co? Not especially. Its exactly what you would expect. Unfunny jokes that don't land, a predictable progressive narrative that makes fun of the usual groups, and an appeal to teenage minds written by a middle age woman. 

I don't really get the outrage over the whole 'you are ruining our childhoods!!' when it comes to Scooby Doo. Everyone must know that they have been pumping out garbage in the name of Scooby Doo for decades, they has been no attempt to stay true to the original series.. like ever. Its probably the most over done and battered franchise when it comes to stuff I watched as a kid.

I used to tire of the Scoobie toons, even as a kid they bored the socks off me. One of the most over-rated entities ever.

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I saw the news that Amazon ordered another series of The Night Manager. I had told my folks a couple years ago how much I thought they'd like it, but it got lost in the recommendation queue. Told them again this week, and started the first episode. Then just watched the whole six hours in one sitting. I love the scenery (both the locales and two legged variety). When I saw it the first time, I only knew Hiddleston as Loki, of course. He's magnetic as a stoic, moody sexpot. Hugh Laurie chews up his scenes with panache, and Olivia Colman is always a delight. The plot borders on absurdity, but it generally gets away with it through charm and presentation. Folks said they'd start tonight. I think it's right up their alley.

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I’ve got Paramount Plus free for a couple of months so I’m giving a few of the series on that a try at the moment. 

Tulsa King was entertaining without being anything special. I’ve not really liked any of the Star Trek tv shows for a long time but for nostalgia reasons I’d quite like to like one. I’ve heard some good things about Strange New Worlds so I’ll give that a try, the first episode was ok. I’ll probably watch some of the many Yellowstone shows at some point.

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4 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

I’ve got Paramount Plus free for a couple of months so I’m giving a few of the series on that a try at the moment. 

Tulsa King was entertaining without being anything special. I’ve not really liked any of the Star Trek tv shows for a long time but for nostalgia reasons I’d quite like to like one. I’ve heard some good things about Strange New Worlds so I’ll give that a try, the first episode was ok. I’ll probably watch some of the many Yellowstone shows at some point.

1923 is very good but mostly the only storyline I care about is the Spencer one. I'd watch an entire show just with that. 1883 was great and obviously Yellowstone is very good.

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Coming off the Vox Machina binge, I was looking for another fantasy show. So I watched The Witcher: Blood Origin. Terrible. Bad acting, cheap production, stupid character decisions and rushed arcs. It did not satisfy. 

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Finished Fleishman is in Trouble and liked it very much. It was really cool how they managed to transform this show from the light comedy in the first couple of episodes into much more serious drama later on, without losing any of its appeal. Last two episodes were great. 

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20 hours ago, Argonath Diver said:

I saw the news that Amazon ordered another series of The Night Manager. I had told my folks a couple years ago how much I thought they'd like it, but it got lost in the recommendation queue. Told them again this week, and started the first episode. Then just watched the whole six hours in one sitting. I love the scenery (both the locales and two legged variety). When I saw it the first time, I only knew Hiddleston as Loki, of course. He's magnetic as a stoic, moody sexpot. Hugh Laurie chews up his scenes with panache, and Olivia Colman is always a delight. The plot borders on absurdity, but it generally gets away with it through charm and presentation. Folks said they'd start tonight. I think it's right up their alley.

the way Hugh Laurie says 'Corky' made me crease up every time. 

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I've actually watched Night Manager twice.  I've sort of thought Pine's performance presentation was rather influence by Craig's as Bond. I have no reason that I can articulate for thinking that.  Other than both of them -- sexy as hell, I suppose?

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Oh,. I definitely see the similarities beyond them both being tan, blond heartthrobs, especially when interacting with their romantic targets. Lots of meaningful, silent stares hiding a lonely soul and all that. Another character flatly tells Pine, "everyone is attracted to you.." almost resentfully - which is, at that point, somewhat the reaction myself as a bachelor was having to the character. Heck, the other night I felt myself looking at his damn hairstyle (similar to my own albeit Hollywood flawless no matter what situation of course) and feeling jealous. 

As with lots of action and genre movies I enjoy, I think the scenery and score distracted me over the absurdity of the plot - but that's Hollywood, right? None of the damn thing made a lick of sense! Who cares! Look at this fly-by over the villa again! Isn't Debicki radiant! Queue a close-up of Hiddleston's gorgeous eyes! The music is telling me to type with lots of exclamation points!

I'll say one thing, it's piqued my interest in finding more European pot-boiler crime or spy dramas. I might dip back into Money Heist again, which similarly features outrageously attractive people doing crime things in style

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I've been watching and enjoying season 2 of Carnival Row, with 2 episodes released per week. Until this week, when the writers at some point in the production realized this was it for the show, so they took a sledgehammer to the plot. Oh well, 2 more episodes to go I think.

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I just finished the first 7 episodes of Shrinking.  It is a beautiful, heartfelt, and sincere examination of grief and damage.  How we compartmentalize our lives in ways that make no sense.  How we hurt the people we love because we know they love us.  
 

AppleTV, maybe Bill Lawrence (he also produces Ted Lasso) seems to reject cynicism.  I… love… that.  We have let our cynicism and fear rule our lives for too long.  We have sneared at sincerity and affection.  I think we need to remember we are all of us in this together and none of us make it out alive.

I love all of you.  (((Hugs)))

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A friend talked me into watching another season of The Mandalorian. In preparation for watching the episode together tomorrow, I finally watched the three Mandalorian episodes embedded in The Book of Boba Fett. I have to say that I'm not entirely looking forward to season three of The Mandalorian based on these episodes.

I'm not saying anything shocking when I state that this is clearly no Andor. What I find striking however, is that whenever I watch The Mandalorian, I come away with a feeling of wasted potential. The Mandalorian is a pretty cool character (visually) and the emotional connection at the core of the story works well.

It's just so unfortunate that the emotional storyline of Grogu and Mando is played out on such an idiotic canvas. The world just feels fake. There is no depth to anything.

Spoiler

The typical example I would give is Mando's new speeder. For starters it is another cheap piece of nostalgia (as it is connected to the prequel), but on top of that nothing about it makes a lick of sense.  It's such a small ship and Mando uses it to zip around the galaxy, which makes me wonder... Does Mando never have to poop? Like, it's such a ridiculously stupid ship to give to a ronin type character.

Another thing that didn't work is the way he actually got it. Even if we accept that it's possible for a Naboo starfighter to end up in a backwater like Tatooine, the way they repair it single-handedly is also rather stupid. I have spent some time around garages and if you see the amount of equipment and employees needed to maintain cars, than I don't even want to begin to think what a complex organization would be required to fix a star ship with hyperdrive.

There are also no stakes and most of what works is just reminiscent of better properties outside of Disney Star Wars

Spoiler

The best exemplar for both was Timothy Olyphant's character. When he got shot, I never doubted that he survived, even though the show clearly teased his death. Now I get why they didn't kill him, because The Marshall is there to make people remember Justified, which then creates a halo effect on the inferior property in which this Raylan Givens knock-off is present. 

Other exemplars are the mods which take inspiration from Power Rangers, Cad Bane who is clearly modelled on Lee Von Cleef and that's without listing things like the Rancor which Disney SW is pilfering from the corpse of the original trilogy.

So yeah, The Mandalorian season 3 is facing an uphill battle to convince me. It's just maddening to know that they can produce an Andor if they set their mind to it and then just choose not to do so. Plus est en vous Disney.

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We tried Andor and have set it aside after a couple of episodes.  My wife found it too slow and boring, plus no reason to care about the main character yet.  I thought it was much higher quality than Mandalorian or Boba Fett, but the entire Disney Star Wars TV blitz has fallen pretty flat since the opening season of Mandalorian — when a change in tone papered over very thin world-building.

Full Swing and Drive To Survive S5 were both enjoyable* installments in the expanding universe of sports documentaries.  I don’t follow golf at all but still enjoyed this glimpse at the players.

*To me; definitely not to my wife

The Six Nations Rugby Championship  is very good this year.  Available on Peacock for Americans.

My wife has been rewatching various adaptations of Jane Austen, which, in fairness, generally hold up very well.

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Did you two get through the third episode? The show starts with a couple pretty clear set 3 episode arcs, so eps 3 and 6 were particularly compelling. That said, I guess it's not for everyone and if she wants a more recognizable lead, no worries. 

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