What are you watching?

[Baulderstone]

I saw this headline in my news feed today and thought we were getting Zak Snyder's Wizard of Oz. It turns out that its actually being directed by Nicole Kassell, who was a director on the Watchmen TV series, along with The Americans and The Leftovers. Not nearly as crazy as I thought.

 

[Lofgeornost]

I watched episode 6 of Picard--one of the best so far, I thought. Narek's plan for dealing with Soji finally began to make some sense and the re-union of Picard with Hugh was oddly touching. I hadn't realized that Jonathan Del Arco, who to me is Dr. Morales from The Closer/Major Crimes, had played Hugh back in the day.

 

[0qualifications]

I'm watching a pretty mediocre fantasy show called the outpost. I'll watch it all the way through because there isn't enough fantasy TV shows.

 

[EmperorNorton]

While I am optimistic that Falcon and the Winter Soldier and other Marvel Disney shows will be enjoyable... damn, WandaVision is setting the bar *really* fuckin' high for anything that follows.

It is quite possibly my favorite thing in the MCU, as long as they stick the landing.

It is everything I love about television. Inventive concept, insanely well acted (Bettany and Olsen are killing it, and the rest of the cast isn't far behind), well written, well directed, well edited. The level of care and detail in mimicking the old sitcom styles is so impressive.

It's so good.

 

[chuckdee]

I haven't gotten to it in my queue yet... but looking forward to it.

 

[EmperorNorton]

Also on the other side of the comic book divide... I just finished hate watching the second season of Titans about a week ago. It is hard to explain why I still watch the show. It is monumentally bad on all levels. It's like a train crash. I can't look away it is so horrific that it somehow wraps back around to like, fascination. I'm so confused as to how a show could fail on so many levels. It had like, one episode that I think was actually pretty good (the one introducing Conner Kent... which I realized was because it managed to avoid all the other characters who are insanely unlikeable), and the rest is just... one horrible piece of shit after another. I don't even want to blame the actors because I don't think anyone could make the dumb shit they are doing sound good.

It's just so mind-blowingly bad.

I also started watching Doom Patrol which... what the fuck this show is really good. It's like the people at DC went:

"Hey let's make a show about a bunch of flawed, damaged people who have to step up and be heroes..."
"We already did that, that is what Titans is?"
"... except we make it good."
"MY GOD MAN GIVE THIS MAN A RAISE!"

 

[chuckdee]

Seemingly unpopular opinion, but I like Titans. There are flaws, but there's enough of a good show there for me to enjoy it.

 

[Baulderstone]

I watched Vivarium the other night. That was great. It had the strength of being being deeply weird and uncanny, but anchored by believable human drama between the main characters.

 

[Jan Paparazzi]

I also started watching Doom Patrol which... what the fuck this show is really good. It's like the people at DC went:

"Hey let's make a show about a bunch of flawed, damaged people who have to step up and be heroes..."
"We already did that, that is what Titans is?"
"... except we make it good."
"MY GOD MAN GIVE THIS MAN A RAISE!"

I also like it better than the Umbrella Academy. There is more character development in Doom Patrol and the plot and pacing are actually good. The Umbrella Academy is not bad, but the characters are a bit flat. The Doom Patrol characters really have the blues.

 

[TristramEvans]

I watched Vivarium the other night. That was great. It had the strength of being being deeply weird and uncanny, but anchored by believable human drama between the main characters.

Is that the one where the couple go to look at that house in the planned neighborhood and (everything else is spoilers)?

If so, I saw that a long time ago and really loved it but could never remember the name afterwards

 

[TristramEvans]

I'm rewatching Twin Peaks: The Return, because I mentioned it somewhere else a few days ago and got it in my head. I wish we could have an ongoing TV series like this.

 

[urbwar]

I cycled through 2 episodes each of NCIS, NCIS New Orleans, Magnum PI and SWAT. Started watching Den of Monsters on Tubi, but it's not really that good. Caught the first two episodes of the new NJPW show on the Roku Channel. Planning on watching a couple of movies on Hulu after I finish playing a few more turns of Master of Orion, as they're expiring soon

 

[Mankcam]

I have Netflix and Prime, yet I watched Tubi last night
I know that nothing good comes from watching Tubi late at night

I came across this...still not sure what the hell I just watched, or if I will ever be the same...

"La Grande Bouffe'

(French-Italian art film from the1970s, I should have known better...)

Plot Summary: "The film tells the story of four friends who retreat to a villa for the weekend, with the express purpose of eating themselves to death"

What tha?

This is not a recommendation, it's just something I survived...

 

[Voros]

I have Netflix and Prime, yet I watched Tubi last night
I know that nothing good comes from watching Tubi late at night

I came across this...still not sure what the hell I just watched, or if I will ever be the same...

La Grande Bouffe

Plot Summary: "The film tells the story of four friends who gather in a villa for the weekend, with the express purpose of eating themselves to death"

What tha?

This is not a recommendation, it's just something I survived...

La Grande Bouffe is a classic! Ferreri is a madman. Didn't know it was on Tubi. Ferreri's Dillinger is Dead got a Criterion release a few years ago.

 

[Mankcam]

La Grande Bouffe is a classic! Ferreri is a madman. Didn't know it was on Tubi. Ferreri's Dillinger is Dead got a Criterion release a few years ago.

Yes I had since read that this is a cult favourite
If you are not ready for it, it still throws you after all these years heh heh

Not sure if I could sit through Dillinger Is Dead, but it has cautiously spiked my interest, just to say I've seen it and survived it
Not sure if it can be watched alongside anyone else however,

Tubi is definately the home for stuff like this lol

 

[Voros]

Yes I had since read that this is a cult favourite
If you are not ready for it, it still throws you after all these years heh heh
Tubi is definately the home for stuff like this lol

La Grande Bouffe was his biggesr hit, if anything his other films are even more bizarre. His provocative sexual politics would get him ran out on a rail these days.

 

[The Butcher]

Finished season 3 of The Expanse today. That might be the best written show out there right now. It's just refreshing having a large cast of characters where everybody has believable motivations and acts according to what they believe is best, instead of having Good Guys vs Dumb Guys. It's a little slow at times, but then big stuff happens and everything changes and it feels like they aren't afraid to completely wreck their world. I'm enjoying it.

I really like what they did with minor characters from the books, like Drummer and Ashford. TV Ashford is orders of magnitude cooler than book Ashford. I’d watch a series on Ashford’s past as a pirate!

I've tried t get into Expanse twice now, but it seems to be the sort of show that will require me to sit down and just watch it with no distractions, which isn't my usual MO, and will likely have to wait until I have substanially more free time.

I’ve seen it with a ton of distractions but I have had the privilege of reading the books beforehand.

Haven’t even started S04 yet, though.

Last night I did a double feature of Inception & Tenet. I'm a heretic in that I've never seen Inception before. I liked that one alot. Tenet was good, but not as easy to follow at times. I'm now on to the Expanse season 4, while still plugging away at NCIS

Inception is really good. Tenet works best if you give up on trying to follow the (hideously unscientific) plot and just sit back and enjoy the surrealistic action scenes.

I realized I can't really fault it, because Star Trek: Beyond is the kind of Star Trek plot I'd dream up when I was 12.

Very good way of putting it, and JJ’s SOP too. His Star Wars movies are the sort of Star Wars sequels a 12-year-old might write. “Death Star but SO MUCH BIGGER”

I also like it better than the Umbrella Academy. There is more character development in Doom Patrol and the plot and pacing are actually good. The Umbrella Academy is not bad, but the characters are a bit flat. The Doom Patrol characters really have the blues.

I haven’t seen Doom Patrol but Umbrella’s characters are a crap shoot of sorts — some actors manage to pull it off (Klaus), some just don’t (Luther, Alison).

 

[urbwar]

Inception is really good. Tenet works best if you give up on trying to follow the (hideously unscientific) plot and just sit back and enjoy the surrealistic action scenes..

Inception was really impressive, even now. I loved the action in Tenet. The whole weirdness of time travel in it was off putting in a way, but I suspect if I watch it again, it might make a little more sense.

 

[Baulderstone]

Is that the one where the couple go to look at that house in the planned neighborhood and (everything else is spoilers)?

If so, I saw that a long time ago and really loved it but could never remember the name afterwards

That's the one. It really is a hard movie to talk about without spoiling, which is why my post was so vague. I was fortunate in that an old girlfriend recommended it to me, so I went in blind. I've been recommending it heavily over the last couple of days, telling people not to watch the trailer and to just trust me.

I really like what they did with minor characters from the books, like Drummer and Ashford. TV Ashford is orders of magnitude cooler than book Ashford. I’d watch a series on Ashford’s past as a pirate!



I’ve seen it with a ton of distractions but I have had the privilege of reading the books beforehand.

Haven’t even started S04 yet, though.

Coincidentally, I started season 4 last night. I watched the first two episodes, and easily could have kept going if I my grown-up urge to go to bed because it was after midnight hadn't prevailed.

 

[Giganotosaurus]

I've started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. I've never been really interested in Star Trek before now, having only watched a couple of episodes of the original series when I was a kid. I think for the longest time it was the Teleportation and rampant Time Travel that turned me off, but now I've grown to not care and just enjoy what I enjoy.

 

[chuckdee]

I really like what they did with minor characters from the books, like Drummer and Ashford. TV Ashford is orders of magnitude cooler than book Ashford. I’d watch a series on Ashford’s past as a pirate!

Totally agree on this point. It's always amazing to me when someone takes a character that wasn't fleshed out in a novel, and in another medium makes them so much more interesting than the author ever did.

 

[Voros]

Totally agree on this point. It's always amazing to me when someone takes a character that wasn't fleshed out in a novel, and in another medium makes them so much more interesting than the author ever did.

That is also due to the actors. Often writers on series also are taken by the actors performance and start to write more for them. Both actors for Drummer and Ashford are terrific, charisma overload, I would have watched a series that was just the two of them.

 

[soltakss]

Finished Dark crystal and enjoyed it.

Watched Love, Sex and Robots, very good.

Just started Ghoul, not sure about it.

Also, watched a Russian historical film, Furious, excellent!

 

[The Butcher]

Lest I forget: watched the first three episodes of Lovecraft Country.

The first episode was amazing!

The second jumped straight into the deep end of the fantasy pool, which felt a bit jarring, and not in a good way.

The third was okay but felt like a separate tale crammed into the arc of these characters.

 

[Kilted Rob]

Foxy Brown.

 

[chuckdee]

That is also due to the actors. Often writers on series also are taken by the actors performance and start to write more for them. Both actors for Drummer and Ashford are terrific, charisma overload, I would have watched a series that was just the two of them.

Yeah, I meant the actors. I mean, look at Mr. Nancy in American Gods. His success was all Orlando Jones. That scene in the parlor with Ibis, Bilquis, and Mr. Nancy was a masterclass. Orlando Jones had Mr. Nancy down so much that it was a gateway into him writing for the series. Damn shame about the new showrunner.

 

[Brock Savage]

I've been watching Letterkenny and still haven't decided whether I like it or not.

 

[3rik]

We started watching Tales from the Loop on Prime. First episode was OK.

 

[Voros]

Under Fire starring Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy (the sexy snake dancer replicant in Blade Runner), Jean-Louis Trinigant in a rare English language performance and an insanely young Ed Harris. One of those movies that you saw on the VHS shelves and playing on afternoon or late night TV in the 80s but somehow I never caught it.

A romantic but unsentimental triangle among journalists and spies during the Nicaraguan revolution it is the kind of morally amibgious and adult movie Hollywood was already rapidly moving away from in the 80s. Many years later Tarantino used the Jerry Goldsmith theme in Django Unchained.

 

[Nobby-W]

Under Fire starring Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy (the sexy snake dancer replicant in Blade Runner), Jean-Louis Trinigant in a rare English language performance and an insanely young Ed Harris. One of those movies that you saw on the VHS shelves and playing on afternoon or late night TV in the 80s but somehow I never caught it.

A romantic but unsentimental triangle among journalists and spies during the Nicaraguan revolution it is the kind of morally amibgious and adult movie Hollywood was already rapidly moving away from in the 80s. Many years later Tarantino used the Jerry Goldsmith theme in Django Unchained.

I liked Under Fire when I saw it back in the late Jurassic. See also Let's Get Harry (much pulpier but interesting performances from Gary Busey and Robert Duvall) and Proof of Life, which had a very good cast including Russell Crowe, David Caruso and David Morse. Gottfried John's character Kessler is also an interesting one.

 

[TristramEvans]

I've started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. I've never been really interested in Star Trek before now, having only watched a couple of episodes of the original series when I was a kid. I think for the longest time it was the Teleportation and rampant Time Travel that turned me off, but now I've grown to not care and just enjoy what I enjoy.

Though it definitely shows it's age now, TNG is still like "comfort food" watching for me, and there's some legitimately reallyreally good episodes - The Drumhead and Measure of a Man both hold up today as both relevant and some of the best scifi stories, independent of franchise, ever put to the small screen. I think it's a shame that in entertainment weve pretty much lost this optimistic view of the future as well, where humanity is presented as an enlightened, post-scarcity global society where people handle most of their issues with maturity, compassion, and philosophy.

That said, I always skip the first season and there is some just damn goofy stuff that goes on. The obsession with light jazz and the 20th century always confused me as well.

 

[Baulderstone]

Though it definitely shows it's age now, TNG is still like "comfort food" watching for me, and there's some legitimately reallyreally good episodes - The Drumhead and Measure of a Man both hold up today as both relevant and some of the best scifi stories, independent of franchise, ever put to the small screen. I think it's a shame that in entertainment weve pretty much lost this optimistic view of the future as well, where humanity is presented as an enlightened, post-scarcity global society where people handle most of their issues with maturity, compassion, and philosophy.

That said, I always skip the first season and there is some just damn goofy stuff that goes on. The obsession with light jazz and the 20th century always confused me as well.

Comfort food is a good description for me. I only saw the first couple of seasons back in the day. I graduated high school after that, and my TV viewing mostly stopped for years. I found it largely disappointing, but my friends and I all watched it anyway even if it was mostly to mock it, while occasionally being impressed. It was on a game night, so we'd often put on before the game started.

Maybe because it was something I watched with friends, I now find having it on in the background is soothing. And, as you say, it has a pleasant tone of optimism. It's the light jazz of science fiction for me.

 

[Lofgeornost]

I've started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. I've never been really interested in Star Trek before now, having only watched a couple of episodes of the original series when I was a kid. I think for the longest time it was the Teleportation and rampant Time Travel that turned me off, but now I've grown to not care and just enjoy what I enjoy.

A local broadcast channel carries as one of its digital repeaters a network called Heroes & Icons which shows all the Star Trek series, from the original through Enterprise, every weeknight. So I see bits of Next Generation and Deep Space Nine fairly frequently.

Though it definitely shows it's age now, TNG is still like "comfort food" watching for me, and there's some legitimately reallyreally good episodes...

That said, I always skip the first season and there is some just damn goofy stuff that goes on. The obsession with light jazz and the 20th century always confused me as well.

Yeah, a few interesting episodes nothwithstanding, the first year or two of the show is pretty rough.

It's not just TNG in which characters have a fascination with the 20th century, of course. Kirk travels back to that era twice; when Sisko has his dreams? visions? he is an SF writer in the 1950s, and Quark et al. are responsible for the Roswell incident in 1947. Tom Paris also is fascinated with 20th-century culture and the Voyager crew end up back in San Francisco c. 2000, IIRC. Presumably all this is to make things more accessible to the audience; there is no reason that characters might not be equally taken with, say, Hammurabi's Babylon or the early dynastic period on Andor (assuming there was one).

 

[TristramEvans]

Growing up I had the hardest time rationalizing the universal translator thing. It legitimately bothered me.

 

[Baulderstone]

It's not just TNG in which characters have a fascination with the 20th century, of course. Kirk travels back to that era twice; when Sisko has his dreams? visions? he is an SF writer in the 1950s, and Quark et al. are responsible for the Roswell incident in 1947. Tom Paris also is fascinated with 20th-century culture and the Voyager crew end up back in San Francisco c. 2000, IIRC. Presumably all this is to make things more accessible to the audience; there is no reason that characters might not be equally taken with, say, Hammurabi's Babylon or the early dynastic period on Andor (assuming there was one).

Basically, the same reason The Doctor, someone who travels through all of time and space, mostly travels with 20th Century Earthers.

 

[Séadna]

"The Inner Light" is another great episode. "Masks" gets some flak but I think they were genuinely trying for something new there and the concept needed more time than a TV series like that could manage. "Sub Rosa" is the most unintentionally funny.

 

[Stan]

Basically, the same reason The Doctor, someone who travels through all of time and space, mostly travels with 20th Century Earthers.

also, see Futurama

 

[Lofgeornost]

In the Trek franchise's defense, its characters aren't always interested in the 20th century. Janeway has a fascination with Jane-Eyre-like fiction set in 19th-century England and with Leonardo da Vinci (played by John Rhys-Davies).

I'm also fond of the TNG episode "The Wounded," which gives Colm Meaney a good deal to do (always a plus), introduces the Cardassians, and has a fine guest-star turn by Bob Gunton as Benjamin Maxwell and Marc Alaimo as Gul Macet. And TNG gave us the Borg, one of the more interesting (and initially very scary) antagonists.

 

[chuckdee]

Decided to go skip the Boys S2 and the Expanse S4 in my watch order, and go straight to WandaVision. Got through the 6 episodes that are streaming over the weekend. Now I have to wait for the next episodes to come out like everyone else. I was hoping to wait until the end like I have been for others and just watch them all at once, but there's more chatter and more chances for getting spoiled with this one than anything since GoT.

 

[Voros]

I liked Under Fire when I saw it back in the late Jurassic. See also Let's Get Harry (much pulpier but interesting performances from Gary Busey and Robert Duvall) and Proof of Life, which had a very good cast including Russell Crowe, David Caruso and David Morse. Gottfried John's character Kessler is also an interesting one.

Thanks I haven't seen those and I have a love for these kind of downbeat thrillers.

A similar gem from the late 70s starring Nolte, Tuesday Weld and Michael Moriarity is Who'll Stop the Rain based on the great book Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone.



My rule of thumb is that if it is from the 60s-80s and it has Tuesday Weld in it you know it is going to be good. She is the female Harry Dean Stanton.