Current Watching

[ad hoc]

Oh thanks for letting me know it's available. Been wanting to watch that ever since I moved to Romania

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

I can't recommend it highly enough - it's extremely good on the action in Romania. Have you read the books? I once discussed them with an ex-OTFer

[Ginger Yellow]

The Killing Eve season finale felt like a meta commentary on what's happened to the show since season 1. Don't think I'll bother with it any more.

[San Bernardhinault]

Yeah. I didn't mind the series as much as others have, but I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of drama in the ending.

[pebblethefish]

A girl at work has bullied me into giving Desperate Housewives a try (I'm so up to date!)

Purely based on the name I'd always avoided it, thinking it was a Sex and the City sort of thing, but on the basis of the first three episodes it's actually pretty good.

[WOM]

I'm with you. I think that once the novelty wears off - and I'm going to call that three seasons - I tend to feel like 'Well, where's this going? Just 'more of the same'?'
We're finishing up S3 of Animal Kingdom, which is weirdly addictive yet incredibly pointless. And frankly, I'm probably done with it although there's an S4 kicking around.

Yeah, so I lied. We're half way through Season 4 now. Still an enjoyable diversion, but not must-see.

Also, really enjoying Penny Dreadful - City of Angels. I don't like Nathan Lane, but I like him in this. Neat story set in 1930s/40s Los Angeles.

[WOM]

A girl at work has bullied me into giving Desperate Housewives a try (I'm so up to date!)

Purely based on the name I'd always avoided it, thinking it was a Sex and the City sort of thing, but on the basis of the first three episodes it's actually pretty good.

Yup, we were regular viewers back in the day, when network TV was a thing.

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah, so I lied. We're half way through Season 4 now. Still an enjoyable diversion, but not must-see.

Also, really enjoying Penny Dreadful - City of Angels. I don't like Nathan Lane, but I like him in this. Neat story set in 1930s/40s Los Angeles.

Yeah, he's really excellent in that. He's based on this guy.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histo...les-180966961/

I'm enjoying it too and its sent me down a few wiki rabbit holes about LA history and Chicano culture. Most of the characters and events are based on history, but not exactly, of course. Inca would know more about it. Like, I couldn't find anything about a shootout between residents and police over that highway to Pasadena, but it did displace a lot of Hispanic homeowners (as did Dodger Stadium, but that was after the war).

And the LAPD was remarkably racist (still is, as far as I can tell, but not like that) and there was a lot of racial violence throughout that era. The "Zoot Suit Riots" is the most famous example, I think. They haven't shown that event in particular. Not yet, but I guess it's coming. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, there's even an honest-to-God "Surf Nazi." I'd heard of Surf Nazis Must Die, but I thought that was just made up. I'm not shocked that there were and are super racist people in California, but I couldn't imagine actual Nazis surfing.

I'm sure Incandenza knows way more about this.

[matt j]

Netflix added the three seasons of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" recently. It's really, really, so good. Particularly the second and third seasons. I'd genuinely put the episode "The Puppetmaster" near the top of my favorite TV episodes of all time.

[Posty Webber]

Netflix added the three seasons of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" recently. It's really, really, so good. Particularly the second and third seasons. I'd genuinely put the episode "The Puppetmaster" near the top of my favorite TV episodes of all time.

The greatest of shows. Have watched the series 3 times.

[Simon G]

We finished season 2 of How To Get Away With Murder last night.

It's still quite gripping and we have decided to kick straight on with season 3 this evening.

[gavc23]

Our whole household now sits down together to watch Forged In Fire every evening. I’ve lost track of series, dates or repeats but as they’re all the same, it could even be the same episode we’re watching every time.

Men with beards fashioning medieval weapons out of garden railings before being sent to their home forge to create their own version of a pike which a judge then appears to have a little too much fun butchering a pig carcass with.

It’s a professionals series this week, can’t see the Farriers getting too far.

[ad hoc]

We've wrapped up "The Valhalla Murders" now, which i definitely recommend. The lead, N?na D?gg Filippusd?ttir, is brilliant, and the thing is well scripted. (Filippusd?ttir was also in Trapped which I think was discussed on here many many pages back). Netflix, which has clearly sussed that we're fans of Nordic murder mysteries which take place with heavily managed emotions and in landscapes that seem black and white even when it's in colour, tried to push us on to Deadwind next, which is another Finnish detective show, but we've opted for Space Force for now. Not made up my mind about it yet. It's very "light" but not very funny.

[Sits]

I have been disparaging on many occasions about some ABC Australia dramas. So it was with some trepidation we approached Operation Buffalo which started this week. Concern heightened on seeing a 4.9 rating on IMDB. But we gave it a go, and were very glad we did. The drama centres on the Maralinga (sp.) atom bomb tests in the 50s. Stars Ewen Leslie, currently holding his own opposite Elisabeth Moss in the continually improving S2 of Top of the Lake.

So Operation Buffalo, after one episode, very promising. It doesn’t fall into the common ABC trap of being ultra-serious and unremittingly dark. There’s a thread of humour vaguely reminiscent of Catch-22 in that some of the themes are pretty horrific, but the blase, thoughtless attitude of many of those in power is brought into relief with humour. Leslie’s hard-pressed camp CO attempts to hold things together amid the chaos. And a chilling finale delivered in matter-of-fact way which really works.

IMDB only had five reviews including a couple of 1/10. They probably came looking for unremittingly dark.

[Balderdasha]

Netflix added the three seasons of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" recently. It's really, really, so good. Particularly the second and third seasons. I'd genuinely put the episode "The Puppetmaster" near the top of my favorite TV episodes of all time.

We've been watching this with the kids. They love it.

[WOM]

Our whole household now sits down together to watch Forged In Fire every evening. I’ve lost track of series, dates or repeats but as they’re all the same, it could even be the same episode we’re watching every time.

I keep having the same question whenever this show comes on: just how many freakin' home hobbyist blacksmiths are there in 2020?

[Hot Pepsi]

The investment just to get started must be considerable.

[ursus arctos]

I went to a talk at the Metropolitan Museum last year that revealed an entire (relatively small, but very international) world of people who make armor.

Everybody needs a hobby.

[danielmak]

Yeah, he's really excellent in that. He's based on this guy.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histo...les-180966961/

I'm enjoying it too and its sent me down a few wiki rabbit holes about LA history and Chicano culture. Most of the characters and events are based on history, but not exactly, of course. Inca would know more about it. Like, I couldn't find anything about a shootout between residents and police over that highway to Pasadena, but it did displace a lot of Hispanic homeowners (as did Dodger Stadium, but that was after the war).

And the LAPD was remarkably racist (still is, as far as I can tell, but not like that) and there was a lot of racial violence throughout that era. The "Zoot Suit Riots" is the most famous example, I think. They haven't shown that event in particular. Not yet, but I guess it's coming. And, as I mentioned in that other thread, there's even an honest-to-God "Surf Nazi." I'd heard of Surf Nazis Must Die, but I thought that was just made up. I'm not shocked that there were and are super racist people in California, but I couldn't imagine actual Nazis surfing.

I'm sure Incandenza knows way more about this.

I'd assume that they are dramatizing what happened in Chavez Revine (area where Dodger Stadium was built), Boyle Heights (I vaguely remember something happening there in the past), and Zoot Suit riots in downtown Los Angeles. You mentioned all of these so I'm only suggesting (again) that historical events have likely been combined to create a context for the show.

BTW, if you want to continue with themes of displacement and urban change in Los Angeles, you might check out Vida on Starz (if you have access) or wherever it streams beyond Starz (Hulu? Netflix?). This is much more contemporary and focuses on two sisters who return to Los Angeles to run a bar that was owned by their parents. I watched the first season and it was pretty good (not great). I expected to come back to it but have been busy with other things. The show is into season 3 (which will be the last, if I remember correctly).

[Ray de Galles]

I watched 'The Vast of Night' on Amazon yesterday and really enjoyed it. The drive-in screenings it's had the U.S. would be a great way of seeing it given the fifties setting, UFO sighting/Cold War themes and the style of the film (it mixes perfect period detail with very inventive direction and camerawork) but it works well on the small screen too as it's framed like an episode of The Twilight Zone.

[Hot Pepsi]

I'd assume that they are dramatizing what happened in Chavez Revine (area where Dodger Stadium was built), Boyle Heights (I vaguely remember something happening there in the past), and Zoot Suit riots in downtown Los Angeles. You mentioned all of these so I'm only suggesting (again) that historical events have likely been combined to create a context for the show.

BTW, if you want to continue with themes of displacement and urban change in Los Angeles, you might check out Vida on Starz (if you have access) or wherever it streams beyond Starz (Hulu? Netflix?). This is much more contemporary and focuses on two sisters who return to Los Angeles to run a bar that was owned by their parents. I watched the first season and it was pretty good (not great). I expected to come back to it but have been busy with other things. The show is into season 3 (which will be the last, if I remember correctly).

Yeah, they’ve combined some events and people to make it fit with the story, which centers around one guy, who is supposedly the first Chicano detective in LAPD history, and his family. I can’t find info on who the first Chicano LA detective was or if anyone marked that at the time.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I'd assume that they are dramatizing what happened in Chavez Revine (area where Dodger Stadium was built), Boyle Heights (I vaguely remember something happening there in the past), and Zoot Suit riots in downtown Los Angeles. You mentioned all of these so I'm only suggesting (again) that historical events have likely been combined to create a context for the show.

BTW, if you want to continue with themes of displacement and urban change in Los Angeles, you might check out Vida on Starz (if you have access) or wherever it streams beyond Starz (Hulu? Netflix?). This is much more contemporary and focuses on two sisters who return to Los Angeles to run a bar that was owned by their parents. I watched the first season and it was pretty good (not great). I expected to come back to it but have been busy with other things. The show is into season 3 (which will be the last, if I remember correctly).

I'd watch both of those but Vida seems to only be on Starz and I can't find the other one at all.

This week's wallpaper has included Amazon's new Little Fires Everywhere which started promisingly but overall was overstretched over eight episodes, and even then looked to be setting up another season at the end.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah, they’ve combined some events and people to make it fit with the story, which centers around one guy, who is supposedly the first Chicano detective in LAPD history, and his family. I can’t find info on who the first Chicano LA detective was or if anyone marked that at the time.

There's also the Aimee Semple Macpherson character (Sister Molly Finister) representative of another cultural side of LA in that period.

[Hot Pepsi]

That’s right. I read about her. But I think Aimee Semple Macpherson is more like Any Madigan’s character and Sister Molly is more like Roberta Star Semple, Macpherson’s daughter, who was part of the ministry but eventually had a falling out with her mother.

[Amor de Cosmos]

That’s right. I read about her. But I think Aimee Semple Macpherson is more like Any Madigan’s character and Sister Molly is more like Roberta Star Semple, Macpherson’s daughter, who was part of the ministry but eventually had a falling out with her mother.

You're quite right. I was using ASM kind of generically. In some ways Sister Molly is more interesting (to me) than most of the other characters.