Current Watching

[Gangster Octopus]

I've known yer man since he started school with my little brother about fifty years ago. He's based his look on my father.

[Benjm]

Was the question that people have been asking the music one?

[Gangster Octopus]

Obviously.

[Snake Plissken]

Watching The Last Dance on Netflix. Documentary about Michael Jordan, interwoven with the story of the Chicago Bulls 1997-98 season.

Even as someone who can’t stand basketball, this is brilliant stuff.

[Sits]

Are they using the original theme music? (No.)

By the latter part of the series the message clearly got through and it’s subtly woven into the theme at first, then gradually ramped up in incidental music towards the last episode. Nicely done. A 7.5 series with solid acting, lovely locations obviously, and enough for a second series I’d hope.

[danielmak]

I could have sworn there was a a thread for Once upon a time...in Hollywood. I saw this in the cinema and enjoyed it, although wouldn't rank it among the top films I've seen. I watched again this past weekend but did it in two chunks: watched up until Cliff is driving to Spawn Ranch and then started from there on night two. I had other things I wanted to watch so splitting it was easy, but I also found that this allowed the story to sink in. I still wouldn't rank it as a top film for me, but a really good one. My main complaint has to do with his use of the Sharon Tate character. She gets a lot of screen time but 90% of that screen time is her dancing with friends and listening to music. There's not much depth to that character when compared to the Rick and Cliff characters (esp. given the screen time). I need to chase down the director's cut now.

[imp]

Watched 'The King' on Netflix. As usual after watching anything that's historically based I reached straight for wikipedia to find out how much of it was plucked out of a scriptwriter's arse and how much actually happened. This prompted me to remember how poor my knowledge of European history is prior to the 20th. century, and then to order a 500-page book about Henry V and Agincourt, though it's possible that by the time it gets delivered I will have lost all interest. 'The King', by the way, is a worthy production and doesn't shy back from the realities of 15th. century combat. Must have been a mad film to be an extra in - yelling and grappling around in deep mud in a suit of extremely heavy armour.

[ad hoc]

Yes, I enjoyed it too. (I was asked to watch it because yer man Chalamet is my 14 year old daughter's crush-of-the-moment). It was pretty good though I thought (and I like the way they used Shakespeare as the source but didn't feel the need to go full on "cry god for harry england and st george")

[Ray de Galles]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it on here but 'Race Across The World' has been a surprise TV highlight of the lockdown for me. My wife and son watched series one just before the new one started and I went from doing something else while it was on in the background to being hooked.

I've followed the second series with them every week and last night's finale was a genuinely tense, breathtaking watch. I don't normally watch anything that could be termed "reality TV" and I suppose this does fall in to that genre but it was a high quality example and one became really invested in the character of the contestants and absorbed in their journey (literal rather than metaphorical, as is usually the case, thankfully).

[diggedy derek]

I know a lot of fans of that, and it reminds me of me being hooked to Channel 4's vaguely similar Hunted. I suppose ultimately I wonder how true it all is and how much they're being guided or helped. But it looks absolutely spectacular, and the characters come across very well.

[Hot Pepsi]

I'm binging Star Wars Rebels. It's pitched quite nicely, I reckon. Certainly doesn't have the fist gnawing-ness of Clone Wars.

Rebels is slightly better than Clone Wars, but Clone Wars gets better as it goes along and the current season is very good and looking like it will have a very satisfying conclusion, showing the destruction of Mandalore, which sets up a lot of the stuff in Rebels and The Mandalorian.

[Hot Pepsi]

The fourth season of The Last Kingdom is on Netflix. I find it oddly compelling even though it’s horribly violent, as were the historical events it portrays.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The fourth season of The Last Kingdom is on Netflix. I find it oddly compelling even though it’s horribly violent, as were the historical events it portrays.

I practice my delivery of "I am Utred. Son of Utred" every morning in the shower. It's a really effective way to start the day.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The first season of HBO's The Plot Against America ended last week. It was much better than I'd hoped for. The book was impressive in its own right, and I didn't think the series would match it. Fortunately It didn't try. While Philip Roth's novel used the family's younger son as the narrator, the series opens up the story more. Also current US politics are so close to what might have happened had Charles Lindbergh become president in the 1930s, that the show feels uncomfortably prescient. AFAICR the series ended, more or less where the book ends, but there's apparently going to be a second one, which will be interesting but also a genuine challenge.

We also finished The Trial, an Italian court procedural on Netflix. If you like a twisty whodunit then it's pretty decent, though maybe a couple of episodes too long. Also, for an outsider, it's kind of interesting to see how the Italian judicial system works.

[pebblethefish]

I did like the book Plot Against America, and I could see it working as a series. Do you know if HBO shows normally end up somewhere like Amazon or Netflix, or is it never going to make it over here?

[Ginger Yellow]

I did like the book Plot Against America, and I could see it working as a series. Do you know if HBO shows normally end up somewhere like Amazon or Netflix, or is it never going to make it over here?

They have an arrangement with Sky, at least for now. So they usually show up on NowTV either immediately if they're really big like GoT or a few months later for other stuff. Haven't checked specifically for this show yet.

[Satchmo Distel]

current US politics are so close to what might have happened had Charles Lindbergh become president in the 1930s

Interestingly, Roth addressed this topic privately, as David Simon recalls:

"They're the same in terms of the demagogic underpinnings of their power, what they promise in the most simplistic terms possible, and how susceptible people are to those kinds of promises…and also in the demonization of the other," Simon recalled. "He said, 'Never confuse Trump for Lindbergh.' He was trying to help me. [Lindbergh] was an astounding hero and an astonishing American icon after the flight. … He had the power that Trump as a reality show host and failed casino owner did not have. And yet Trump was able to market what he did have. He wanted me to be wary of making him Trumpist."

"Imagine if Trump were not as flawed a creature as he is," Simon said. "Imagine the damage that could be done if this guy had the charisma and capacity of even a Lindbergh. It's scary."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/li...dbergh-1247241

[hobbes]

Just finished Star Wars Rebels.
Very satisfying series. Dealt with all the emotional. Psychological and spiritual parts of Star Wars without getting repetitive and had some fantastic space battles. The only minor thing was that they did that weird American kids show thing where they won't show a hero deliberately killing a baddie, to the point where they stun them instead, but are happy for whole capital ships to go down in flames with thousands on board.
I'm surprised that the production team of Filoni, Beck and Kinberg (who also did Clone Wars and Resistance) weren't given the Skywalker trilogy. I like JJ Abrams but there's no way that Filoni could have fucked up the middle film as much as Rian Johnson managed to.

[Patrick Thistle]

I just watched the first episode of The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale on Netflix. It's a show that rips the piss out of other TV shows. I laughed a lot. There is a jaw dropping clip from General Hospital.

[jameswba]

I could have sworn there was a a thread for Once upon a time...in Hollywood.

No, there were perhaps 3-4 pages worth of discussion on it, but they were in this thread, presumably last August-September, when the film was out. I was interested enough to contribute at the time, as I'd mostly enjoyed the film, despite not previously liking Tarantino much.

I think there was a suggestion to give it its own thread.

[Tony C]

'Caliphate' on Netflix is an outstanding drama. Just completed it and feel a bit drained.

[Hot Pepsi]

Upload on Prime is very enjoyable. It’s a Black Mirrorish thing about a world where people can have their consciousness uploaded into a virtual “heaven.” Created by Greg Daniels, the guy who did The Office and Parks & Rec.

[Sporting]

. Also, for an outsider, it's kind of interesting to see how the Italian judicial system works.

I thought it mostly didn't!

[Kowalski]

I've been glued to the IPlayer

I've been working my way through the "From The Archive" section, I really liked the Tuesday Documentary collection and Civilisation.

The Storyville docs was also great, if a little upsetting and very infuriating in places.

[Levin]

Valerian is a terrible, terrible film.

It does look pretty but it's really not enough.