Whatcha Watchin'?

[Blackhawk]

I honestly can't. I have never been able to watch more than a few scenes with subtitles before I completely lose track of what's going on (I either watch the show and lose the dialog, or I read the show and lose the visual elements.) It's kept me from more than a few things I'd want to watch.

Yeah, that's a real shame, as some of the finest content available on streaming platforms are the foreign shows.

I've sometimes wondered if it's my autism. I am a fast reader, but I tend to get tunnel vision when watching shows, and I end up focusing on one or the other (text or video) exclusively. That inevitably leads to me getting completely lost.


RE: Person of Interest

I will put that on my 'later' list. I've recently started another show with Michael Emerson (Evil) that gets lots of recommendations. The jury's still out, but he's such a distinct actor that I don't want to try to keep track of two of him at once.

The problem with finding shows like this is that there are a lot of military shows, lots of political dramas, and there are lots of deep thriller/espionage shows. The rarity is when they're put together. It's what Tom Clancy made his buck doing, and what 24 nailed.

/edit - top of page fix.

[Kraken]

We just finished S1 of Ozark. It lives up to its reputation.

[Daehawk]

Just watched Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters on Amazon Prime.. Saw it years ago so this was a rewatch. Fun if sorta unconnected movie. Gemma and Pihla were both easy on the eyes.

[hepcat]

I will put that on my 'later' list. I've recently started another show with Michael Emerson (Evil) that gets lots of recommendations. The jury's still out, but he's such a distinct actor that I don't want to try to keep track of two of him at once.

I started this late last night on a lark. I had always chalked it up to a crap X-Files attempt, but the reviews are stellar for it.

The first episode was pretty good, although it did have some rough edges. Still, it was good enough that I think I'll stick with it for a while.

[Daehawk]

Everyone should watch Lucifer, its fantastic.

[Scuzz]

We are currently watching season 1 of Only Murders in the Building.

[Blackhawk]

I will put that on my 'later' list. I've recently started another show with Michael Emerson (Evil) that gets lots of recommendations. The jury's still out, but he's such a distinct actor that I don't want to try to keep track of two of him at once.

I started this late last night on a lark. I had always chalked it up to a crap X-Files attempt, but the reviews are stellar for it.

The first episode was pretty good, although it did have some rough edges. Still, it was good enough that I think I'll stick with it for a while.

I'm midway through season 2. There is just enough "What's really going on?" to keep me interested, and it has that mysterious element that makes it fun, even though I'm not sure exactly what factor it is. It definitely builds up steam as it goes, though.

[gilraen]

Person of Interest was phenomenal, full stop.

Lucifer...I really enjoyed it but it feels like I wanted to like later seasons more than I actually did.

[Skinypupy]

A few things I've been watching over the past couple weeks:

- Devilman Crybaby: After the creepy, horrible Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy experience, I needed an anime pallet cleanser. Devilman Crybaby was excellent. Buckets of gore with monsters tearing people to shreds and lots of sex, but none of it felt exploitative or just gross like Bastard did. Really strong characters and an interesting story. Art style wasn't my favorite, but it grew on me by the end. 7/8 tentacles

- Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend. I love, love, love Iron Chef but this reboot was just...okay. The new Kitchen Stadium was very cool, Alton Brown and Kristen Kish were fantastic hosts (Kish was especially good), the Chairman was hilariously over-the-top, and the cooking was fascinating to watch. Maybe it's just because the formula has become a bit stale, but it just all felt kinda meh. None of the Iron Chefs were particularly interesting, and the judges were mediocre. I don't think I heard them say a single negative thing about a single dish throughout the entire competition. Everything was "exquisite" and "the best I've ever had" and "absolutely perfect". It also felt really gimmicky, like they didn't really know what to do with it. The first four episodes all had themes to them (i.e. "tailgate", "medieval", "farm", etc), but then they just sort of dropped that idea entirely midway through. They did a few other things to mix it up, none of which really worked very well. I'll always enjoy watching Iron Chef, but this one was pretty disappointing. 4/8 tentacles.

- Love, Death, & Robots: Finally got around to finishing Season 3. It was the most uneven season, with some episodes being completely mindblowing (Jibaro, Bad Travelling) and others being completely uninteresting (The Very Pulse of the Machine, Kill Team Kill). Definitely worth a watch, but know that not everything will click. 6/8 tentacles

- Baking Impossible: A really interesting concept of combining cooking and engineering but terrible execution. Challenges like creating a boat make of cake that can actually sail for 45 seconds should be really cool, but the production and the way it's edited is mostly just jarring. It's a long competition and they end up trying to cram 9 hours of baking and engineering from 10 teams into about 30 minutes. It ends up just being a jumbled mess that's hard to follow. In the first episode, one of the two teams whose cake actually make it through the challenge afloat wasn't even introduced during the "get to know the competitors" montage. It's like they just randomly showed up. The things they make are amazing, but the production is bad enough that it makes things really tough to watch. 3/8 tentacles

- Farzar: A mature take on 80's sci-fi cartoons...that is spectacularly horrible. I got through three episodes of fart jokes, geriatric sex jokes, poop jokes, completely unneccesary violence and gore, and lame characters. Lance Reddick deserves better than this. 1/8 tentacles.

[hepcat]

- Love, Death, & Robots: Finally got around to finishing Season 3. It was the most uneven season, with some episodes being completely mindblowing (Jibaro, Bad Travelling) and others being completely uninteresting (The Very Pulse of the Machine, Kill Team Kill). Definitely worth a watch, but know that not everything will click. 6/8 tentacles

Jibaro is an absolute masterpiece. It is hauntingly beautiful. I still can’t get it out of my head weeks after seeing it.

[Kraken]

- Love, Death, & Robots: Finally got around to finishing Season 3. It was the most uneven season, with some episodes being completely mindblowing (Jibaro, Bad Travelling) and others being completely uninteresting (The Very Pulse of the Machine, Kill Team Kill). Definitely worth a watch, but know that not everything will click. 6/8 tentacles

Jibaro is an absolute masterpiece. It is hauntingly beautiful. I still can’t get it out of my head weeks after seeing it.

I started watching LD&R a couple of weeks ago and, unbeknownst to me, Netflix decided to serve them up from newest to oldest. So I'm starting with S3. Haven't gotten to this episode yet though.

[Blackhawk]

Yeah, LDR looks like they set it to 'shuffle.' I just started it a few weeks ago. I went and figured out which episode was first, played that manually, and just had it pick the next episode for me. It went in the correct order.

FWIW, there are only two episodes that are connected (Three Robots and Three Robots: Exit Strategy.) Just watch Three Robots before Exit Strategy, and the order of the rest don't matter. And even then the only carry overs between the two episodes were really minor.

[hepcat]

Even the (excellent and hilarious) Three Robots aren’t really dependent on each other. So you could even watch them out of order without missing/spoiling anything.

[Max Peck]

During the Prime Day sale I picked up a $0.99/month subscription to Acorn through Prime Video so that I can finally watch I, Claudius. Overall, I think it holds up pretty well.

[Skinypupy]

With it showing up on Netflix, I finally decided to take the plunge and watch the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series. I knew it was a genre classic, but had never had the opportunity to see it before. My viewing experience went something like this:

- Episodes 1-10: Cool anime mech battles. Amazing animation. Hints at a deeper story. This is really awesome, and I don’t see why everyone says it’s so hard to follow.
- Episodes 11-16: Damn, this got really dark, really fast.
- Episodes 17-24: Um…what in the holy fuck is happening?
- Episodes 25-26: ::brain melts and oozes out my ears::

I don’t think I’ve seen a show go completely off the rails quite like this one does. Not awful, mind you, just one of the more completely bizarre and unexpected twists I’ve ever experienced.

It got me thinking though, that’s for sure. About what, I’m…not entirely sure yet.

Edit: just finished the “End of Evangelion” movie as well. Now I’m both confused and depressed.

[Sudy]

Nope is bizarre and imaginative. It also seems a little... unfocused at times, and might be a bit too long at two hours and fifteen minutes. But it's so gorgeous and riveting it doesn't matter. It's like David Lynch and Terry Gilliam had a kid, only dial the weirdness down to 65%. Daniel Kaluuya is excellent in this, his stoic character not losing his trucker cap till near the end. It makes a good companion to The Arrival and Outer Range in tone. There's a constant feeling of dread and of the strange.

Unfortunately the sound was really muddy in my theatre. It's been an issue there before. I presume it's not the mix. Anyway, I struggled with probably 40% of the dialogue.

Spoiler:

The creature's final form is mind-bending and one of the reasons I compare it to The Arrival. In my opinion they both really pulled off depicting a lifeform beyond the comprehension of humans. I read it was partially based on some of the biblical descriptions of angels which is exactly what my mind went to. The square green...orifice? Eye? ...at the end that looked as if there was a sheet repeatedly being pulled back from it blew my mind.

[Jeff V]

During the Prime Day sale I picked up a $0.99/month subscription to Acorn through Prime Video so that I can finally watch I, Claudius. Overall, I think it holds up pretty well.

I had bought it on DVD about 20 years ago. The last time I watched it was with my wife, who I've only known 12 years. A late friend of mine (and former Octocon participant) wanted to name his son Aelius Sejanus after the Pretorian Captain played by Patrick Stewart; but sadly, he only had girls, one of which I now have to buy a college graduation gift for Saturday. It was my all time favorite of the Masterpiece Theater productions, and made me a life-long fan of Derek Jacoby.

[Blackhawk]

I'm currently without a short show. I usually keep one fun half-length comedy that I'm 'actively watching', but I'm all caught up on my current one (What We Do in the Shadows.)

I'm tempted to rewatch one of my favorites - Archer, Venture Bros, or Futurama - but I'd sort of like to see something new (and yeah, I've seen Rick & Morty and Disenchantment, both of which are great, but it hasn't been long enough for a rewatch.) Note that they're all genre shows. Any suggestions for something new in keeping with that theme?

[Isgrimnur]

Inside Job (Netflix)
Solar Opposites (Hulu)

[Kraken]

Resident Alien is back.

[hepcat]

Whoo hoo! Love me some alien Tudyk!

[em2nought]

"The Fundamentals of Caring" wasn't too bad, and "The Terminal" was ok.

[Sudy]

And So It Goes is a power fantasy for aging white members of the upper middle class that spits on the poor and the afflicted.

0.75/10. Horrible times had by all.

[hepcat]

Rotten Tomatoes appears to agree with you. 18 percent. Ouch.

[Sudy]

Cynicism aside this obviously isn't a genre I'd usually watch unless it scored above 80%, but it was family movie night at my folks'. It's still a pleasure to watch Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton work even in a film that portrays drug addicts as the scum of the earth unless they redeem themselves by getting elite jobs and having beautiful children.

In other news I watched the first two episodes of The Old Man and it may be the best television I've seen since the The Leftovers.

[hepcat]

I’m two episodes into The Old Man. I’ll watch anything with Jeff Bridges. He’s truly one of the greats.

[hepcat]

I have to recommend Killing It on Peacock. It stars the great Craig Robinson as a down on his luck divorced father trying to start a business, but ends up killing pythons in the swamps of Florida for prize money to fund it.

The snake thing is just there though to introduce us to an Australian woman who befriends him and acts as his clueless but sweet sidekick through a series of offbeat and sometimes really dark escapades.

If you try it out, don’t let the first 2 or 3 episodes turn you off. It takes a bit of time to build up to its potential. But when it does, it gets good real quick.

[ImLawBoy]

I recently finished Warrior on HBO Max (originally aired on Cinemax). It's set in the early days of San Francisco where lots of Chinese immigrants are setting up in Chinatown, which leads to confrontations with the locals (including plenty of Irish immigrants who have settled there). The wealthy industrialists use cheap Chinese labor to displace more expensive Irish labor, which doesn't sit well with the now unemployed Irish. The Chinese also have well established gangs (Tongs), which is where much of our attention is directed.

Ah Sam is a recent immigrant who happens to be a martial arts prodigy and also speaks English, which is very rare for new immigrants. He has come to the US looking for his sister, who came across with her nasty warlord husband. Ah Sam joins a tong and makes his way into the leadership circle pretty quickly. Meanwhile, he finds out that his sister is now married to the head of a rival tong. Uh oh.

The show says it is based on the writings of Bruce Lee, which is cool I guess. There's plenty of fighting - both of the martial arts and street fighting/brawling variety. There's political intrigue, there's action, there's sex. It's a pretty good time. On the down side, lighting was apparently pretty bad in old San Francisco, and many of the scenes are way too dark.

They've apparently just started filming Season 3, so whatever issues with new programming are plaguing HBO Max don't seem to have impacted this show.

[WYBaugh]

Inside Job (Netflix)
Solar Opposites (Hulu)

Solar Opposites is so damn good.

[telcta]

I’m two episodes into The Old Man. I’ll watch anything with Jeff Bridges. He’s truly one of the greats.

What did you think of the season overall? I throughly enjoyed the first few episodes then I started to drift away and I couldn’t put my finger on it. There were some very long dialogue scenes but, like you said, I’ll watch whatever Bridges is in.

Spoiler:

It was an odd season finale, like the show just stopped… I guess I was expecting more but 7 episodes is an odd number, figured I’d have another one.

Also, the actors playing the younger versions are spot on. Young Lithgow has his voice and mannerisms down.

[telcta]

Anyone catching Bad Sisters on Apple? Just a couple episodes in and I’m really liking it… the music is fantastic. I can’t wait to see where it goes.

Spoiler:

The flashback transitions using view master type slide effects works really well.

Similar to Big Little Lies.

[Sudy]

The first two or three episodes of The Old Man are some of the best television I've seen in recent memory. The acting from the entire cast is just outstanding. The principals obviously, but Joel Grey's recurring role was especially memorable. Beyond that point I felt it became merely "very good". But I think it's still among the best in the espionage thriller genre. This is deep, emotionally vivid stuff. And in terms of score/soundtrack, you don't get better than T Bone Burnett.

Spoiler:

- The themes of fatherhood and aging are very well done. And there are at least four fathers!
- It started to lose me a bit with Amy Brenneman's character. Brenneman herself is wonderful in this, and I know that her character was important in that she provided perhaps the sole external viewpoint. But the dialogue was a bit overwrought beginning with the scene in the restaurant in the second episode. And I'm OK with this; I find the show has a dreamlike, hyper-realistic quality. Similarly, while her journey seems unrealistic and highly improbable, relationships like this are obviously occasionally forged in real life. But that she wormed Bridges's character out of half his fortune? And I don't know if I buy her superhuman ability to "detect the cracks" that he noticed. I felt the subplot of introducing her to the world of espionage required expansion. It was certainly interesting. But I mean, he just met her.
- Also, Dan Chase was far more interesting before the "I'm secretly hideously wealthy, running a corporation from the shadows" aspect of his character was revealed. But I'm sure I missed some of the bits that better explained this. I re-watched the first two episodes just to revel in the nuances, something I rarely ever do. I'm sure I'd benefit from a whole-series re-watch.
- I wouldn't call the final episode anti-climactic, but I definitely would have been pissed off without knowledge of a second season being approved. Though while I don't know the source material, I find myself wondering if this would have been better off as a miniseries. The final twist was easy to see coming, especially once the mystery had been introduced. But that didn't make it any less captivating. And I had absolutely no problem maintaining interest while Bridges and Lithgow talked in a car on a straight desert road for ten minutes.

[Kraken]

Wife got to pick our next show, so I'm watching "Inventing Anna" on Netflix. If you liked Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore on Ozark, you'll want to see her performance in this. Anna Chlumsky has aged quite visibly since Veep, but she still has the same expressive rubbery face. The story is only moderately interesting to me, but those two performances are worthwhile.

[hepcat]

you don't get better than T Bone Burnett.

Amen, brother.

[telcta]

you don't get better than T Bone Burnett.

Amen, brother.

o brother where art thou

I think the last CD I ever purchased.

[hepcat]

Love that movie. And not just because of the soundtrack...which is very, very good, by the way.

[Jaymann]

The Patient with Steve Carell on HULU is excellent. I like how they got right into the gist without lengthy preamble. Plus the patient is nuanced and believable.

[Sudy]

Mouse-eared hoodlums broke into my house tonight and forced me to watch the new Disney Pinocchio at gunpoint. It's... fine. It's very creative visually. It will be enjoyed by many families with young children. But it's also overly self-aware, bloated, and cloying.

I've managed to avoid most of the Disney live-action remakes. I know most of them are well reviewed, and I'm not innately opposed to family entertainment (despite having no children of my own). But I have very little desire to see the classics of everyone's childhoods expanded and diluted. The CGI is gorgeous, but its integration with live action is, even in 2022, still so awkward.

Tom Hanks is fine if not charming (even if he can't hold his vague accent), but no matter the clever props I'm sure they had him interacting with in place of the yet to be done CGI, it still feels so unnatural. The sets too are delightful, but when you know almost everything is fake--even the stuff that's supposed to be real--suspension of disbelief is constantly challenged.

The biggest problem is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's grating Jiminy Cricket. His voice work isn't the problem; it's the writing. They've taken a classic and endearing character and tried to make him quaint and folksy, and failed miserably. Every time he appeared on screen I wanted to squash him. This is a big issue because he's meant to be the much-needed soul of the story.

I found myself wondering just when Disney lost its magic and became the creatively bereft, regurgitating charlatan it is today. I want to say the mid-90s, but I know there's some bias given that Disney's renaissance coincided with my childhood. Still, even the less lauded 80s Disney had a charm that their modern productions lack. And I know I'm being a little too hard on them; I haven't seen a lot of what they or even Pixar have put out recently. It's still very high quality, and their primary audience is of course children. I'm also a grumpy cynic. But no amount of good will I can summon could transform this into a good time.

[Zarathud]

My daughters are holding out for the Pauly Shore Pinocchio. They’re gluttons for punishment in the name of their memes.

[hepcat]

I'm bringing over my blu rays of In the Army Now and Son in Law tomorrow afternoon. Make sure your wife and two daughters are restrained on the couch and facing the TV. Also, make sure the youngest one has no access to cutlery. I don't want a repeat of the last time. I'm still undergoing reconstructive surgery.