Current Watching

[ad hoc]

We watched Lupin too and I fucking loathe that half a series shit. They do it on Casa de Papel too. As irritating as shit. There ought to be a warning at the beginning of a series that says "this series is unfinished".

[DCI Harry Batt]

Was it half a series?

[Benjm]

I watched the second part of Lance, a two part ESPN documentary, on BBC2 last night. Over an hour and three quarters it covered Armstrong's story from his first Tour victory onwards. I haven't seen the first part but, treating this as a stand alone work, the makers made quite an effort to be even handed in their treatment of him and a great deal of the film was Armstrong talking to camera and giving his perspective on what happened.

He is still very angry about (in his view) being scapegoated for being the best at what everyone else was doing, still contemptuous of those he sees as lesser riders or snitches, still prone to evading responsibility other than in set piece expressions of contrition. He comes across as a horrible person who has developed a marginally better understanding of what people expect him to say in order to be allowed to go about his business to some reduced degree. The one moment when he seemed unsettled by a genuine surge of emotion was when he said that he loved Jan Ullrich, although this soon developed into a tirade about how some riders had been punished excessively for doping when it was the norm, the other names essentially proxies for himself.

A peculiar detail was that in one of the set piece interviews forming the core of the programme, Armstrong was sporting a prominent and untidy finger bandage, having cut himself while trying to prepare food during an at-home-with sequence presumably intended to show his human side.

[ad hoc]

Was it half a series?

Well it was unfinished. It was either a half or a third

[DCI Harry Batt]

Hmmm. I mean, I can see why you'd say that, intellectually, but I wonder why I didn't feel like that.

[DCI Harry Batt]

Bit of a spoilertastic sub-thread, mind.

[Hot Pepsi]

The season finale of The Expanse was well done.

***spoiler***
The way they wrote Alex off the show was a bit abrupt. He had to go because the actor has been credibly accused of some very bad behavior. I guess it will be ok.

[Uncle Ethan]

Not sure if ever mentioned before, but Jack Irish is a decent Australian show. Movie format for the first two then goes into series mode. Movies better for mine.

[hobbes]

The season finale of The Expanse was well done.

***spoiler***
The way they wrote Alex off the show was a bit abrupt. He had to go because the actor has been credibly accused of some very bad behavior. I guess it will be ok.

Total emotional rollercoaster of an ep. I'm going to miss the character of Alex, accepting of course that Cas Anwar gave Alcon absolutely no choice.
t's also a shame because Anwar was a big part of the cast/fan relationship. Before the allegations came out, he was really involved in the Screaming Firehawks, genuinely seeming to love the contact with fans. Rather too much, it seems in hindsight.

[Sits]

Not sure if ever mentioned before, but Jack Irish is a decent Australian show. Movie format for the first two then goes into series mode. Movies better for mine.

From memory, nicely atmospheric, Guy Pearce is good and the three old guys in the pub are a bit of fun. Don’t remember much plot.

[ad hoc]

We watched The Dig last night. It's a bit every-period-piece-British-film-ever-made, but still pretty good
Repressed emotions? Check
Taciturn characters? Check
Tragedy? Check
Missed opportunities? Check
Class system denying recognition to the real heroes? Check
Lots of rain? Check

But also well acted (check), well scripted (check), beautifully shot (check).

[Satchmo Distel]

I'm giving 'The Americans' another try (I was going through some clinical depression when I tried before) and also enjoying The Staircase documentary about the Kathleen Peterson case, originally made by a French company in 2004, which is very meticulous in following how the prosecution and defence in the North Carolina murder case compiled their cases and court strategies, and the effects on family members. Netflix trailer from 2018:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvv9...hannel=Netflix

My wife and I are also treating ourselves to 'New Tricks' from the 90s (Amazon Prime), which is very light and fluffy but enjoyable as a comfort snack.

[Sits]

Did I mention we’re watching World On Fire on the most interesting of the terrestrial channels, SBS? A solid early-WW2 drama hopping between Poland, Western Europe and England. The younger cast are decent but Helen Hunt, Lesley Manville and Sean Bean are all excellent, as is the WW2 detail. Worth a go.

[WOM]

We watched The Dig last night.
But also well acted (check), well scripted (check), beautifully shot (check).

Yup. We took a gamble, but it was time well invested.

[WOM]

Also, finally Hail Caesar, which I thought was very enjoyable and funny despite being one of the bros' weaker efforts. L was bored stiff.

[ad hoc]

Other new films on Netflix we've seen of late:
White Tiger - good, bit disturbing and tough to watch at times, but powerful and well made
Adu - 3 stories that don't really connect to each other. The central one about the titular character is good and well done. The others are there for reasons unknown (especially the rich guy and his daughter plot). I understand the desire to break up the hard to watch main story line, but meh

[DCI Harry Batt]

So I'm guessing The Expanse has its own thread [just noticed and just managed to miss an Expanse spoiler up there] What about Spiral?

There are many dangers on TV threads, mind.

Well, one, really. The spoiler thing.

[Sits]

On The Dig:

Yup. We took a gamble, but it was time well invested.

Us too, yesterday evening. Beautifully done, with some lovely illustrations of less being more. There’s a scene where Ralph Fiennes sits down next to the river after a hard day, early in the dig, and suddenly there’s total silence and a Thames barge glides past. Just lovely.

[Levin]

Here for a Spiral thread. I'm certain there are at least two other ones but I can't find them. It's the one we've been using most recently.

DCI Harry Batt

[Ray de Galles]

I was very much looking forward to The Dig and watched it the evening it came out but was left a little underwhelmed. It's certainly watchable, the visuals are wonderful and there are a lot of nice performances from a great cast but the film as a whole doesn't really hang together that well.

I think the main problem is it tries to cover a lot of sub-plots (the excavations and discoveries, Edith's illness, the loss of her husband, her relationship with her son, her connection with Basil, his friction with the local museum and archeologist brought in to oversee the dig, his marriage, the invented love story between Peggy & Rory and Peggy's husband's sexuality*, the oncoming war etc.) without really doing any of them justice.

If I was being arch I'd say it doesn't dig deep enough in to any of the characters and plot-lines. It had the feel of something originally intended as a Sunday night TV mini-series that had been edited down to film length, losing a lot in the process.

Also, they never really explain quite why Sutton Hoo and what was found there were so significant - leaving it all to one short scene where a character basically says "Well, this is all jolly important, remember that won't you?" in a manner that reminded me of 'The Comic Strip Presents'.

The scene where they add a fighter plane crashing in for no apparent narrative reason is almost a metaphor for their approach, they may as well have thrown in an actual kitchen sink.


* I thought inventing a lover for a real life character and inventing/speculating on her real husband's sexuality was a bit off and it illustrates a lot of the liberties taken with the real events and timeline. Clearly the film only claims to be based on real events and I understand the marketing reasons for wanting an attractive young couple's love story but that element didn't lend itself to the semi-fictional treatment

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah.it would have been better in the theater. But it felt like there was something missing.

[Sits]

I think nowadays if the visuals and vibe are good enough, I’m not too fussed about plot any more.

But it passed the iPad test: I watched it solely, without tapping away on the iPad or nodding off intermittently. I do this for the majority of our viewing and only the best things can get me fully focused.

[Sean of the Shed]

Watched Greenland yesterday. Disaster movies with Gerard Butler are usually a last resort for us, but Mark Kermode choosing it as his movie of the week persuaded us to give it a shot.
He wasn't wrong. This is no Geostorm, this is probably the best Gerard Butler led film I've seen, and obviously Morena Baccarin can do no wrong.
As disaster movies go this was far more character led than the usual CGIfest you normally get. You care more about what happens to them rather than what gets blown up next. Of course it has the usual disaster movie tropes where the clock is ticking and they somehow make it to the destinations with seconds to spare.

SPOILER
Particularly well done scenes are when the characters have to fight for their lives. These aren't the usual movie fights where everyone can take endless punches and have suddenly mastered kung fu. Butler has to really scrap in the truck scene and when he defends himself with a claw hammer he is absolutely shaken and horrified at taking a life.
My one gripe would be the finale was one scene too many at the end. I'd have preferred it finished with them in the shelter and we were left to make our own minds up about the end of the world, but it seems most movie audiences don't want that.

[hobbes]

So in the Great British Pottery Bake Off or whatever, they were doing busts of famous musicians. AND NOT ONE OF THEM DID LIONEL RITCHIE. FOR FUCK'S SAKE HOW MUCH.OF AN OPEN GOAL DO YOU FUCKING NEED?!
I was so angry I had to watch Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn etc.
Pretty good. Oddly paced as DC films seem to be, but there were 3 or 4 belly laughs and plenty of great cartoon violence. Margot Robbie has done a great job with the character despite DCs best efforts.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Watched Greenland yesterday. Disaster movies with Gerard Butler are usually a last resort for us, but Mark Kermode choosing it as his movie of the week persuaded us to give it a shot.
He wasn't wrong. This is no Geostorm, this is probably the best Gerard Butler led film I've seen, and obviously Morena Baccarin can do no wrong.
As disaster movies go this was far more character led than the usual CGIfest you normally get. You care more about what happens to them rather than what gets blown up next. Of course it has the usual disaster movie tropes where the clock is ticking and they somehow make it to the destinations with seconds to spare.

SPOILER
Particularly well done scenes are when the characters have to fight for their lives. These aren't the usual movie fights where everyone can take endless punches and have suddenly mastered kung fu. Butler has to really scrap in the truck scene and when he defends himself with a claw hammer he is absolutely shaken and horrified at taking a life.
My one gripe would be the finale was one scene too many at the end. I'd have preferred it finished with them in the shelter and we were left to make our own minds up about the end of the world, but it seems most movie audiences don't want that.

I watched by myself — La Signora couldn't handle the tension — I didn't think it was as nifty as it was cracked up to be. Disaster movies have to be truly terrifying — only Melancholia qualifies in the End of the World category for me — or seriously camp eg: Towering Inferno or The Poseidon Adventure. I'll grant the casting was good, but the story was as rote as usual. Be forgotten by next week.