Current Watching

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Watched the first episode of The Boat Story on BBC i-player just now, a few hours after it launched. Bloody hell. Same basic idea as Shallow Grave, i.e. ordinary folk stumbling across criminal assets of huge financial value and tempted to run off with them, with the violent criminal gang in question eager to track down whoever has their loot. But it goes from 0 to 60 in horror level pretty quickly, makes Shallow Grave look like Miss Marple. Very unusual fare for BBC1 Sunday evening broadcast, surely. The grimness of the violence is not my cup of tea at all, but I watched because I'm a huge fan of Daisy Haggard and I really rate Paterson Joseph too, and it got a very positive review from Lucy Mangan, link below. I am indeed now hooked, thanks to DH's and PJ's performances.

Boat Story review – Daisy Haggard’s hilariously dark drama is worthy of Tarantino or the Coen brothers | Television & radio | The Guardian

[Benjm]

We watched the first episode of the BBC's new Sunday night crime thing, Boat Story. Very tricksy, gratingly smug third person narration, gratuitous violence and gore, all of which undermined any human element to the story. Unlikely we'll bother going back for more. At times it felt like watching an hour long Confused.com advert.

Also on the go; Scrublands, an Australian Outback set mystery about a journalist investigating the aftermath of a mass shooting incident by a priest. It is fairly watchable, despite some plot implausibilities, and the locations photograph well, as always. First shock revelation is that the killer priest was shot by the police rather than quietly moved to another parish.

Edit: EEG's post was over the page when I wrote mine, for some reason.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

We watched the first episode of the BBC's new Sunday night crime thing, Boat Story. Very tricksy, gratingly smug third person narration, gratuitous violence and gore, all of which undermined any human element to the story. Unlikely we'll bother going back for more. At times it felt like watching an hour long Confused.com advert.

Ha, I wouldn't disagree with any of that (except for the confused.com jibe, which I think is probably a bit harsh). For me, the smug and tricksy narrative framing and slightly silly OTT stylisation (silent movie style black screens with trying-too-hard clever clever comments) are just mildly irritating. The violence and gore is much more of a problem and is making me think twice about continuing. But I might do so anyway, just because the characters played by Daisy H and Paterson J are engaging and superbly acted.

[Benjm]

But I might do so anyway, just because the characters played by Daisy H and Paterson J are engaging and superbly acted.

They are definitely the best thing about it and don't need any of the bells and whistles to hold the audience's attention.

I once had a holiday job in a factory where someone engineered a very similar industrial accident to the one featured (slight spoiler, but it is a very early scene) because he was in debt and needed the compensation. I wasn't there long enough to find out whether the ruse worked but the fact that everyone seemed to know about it didn't seem to bode well.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Bloody hell! That’s awful. How desperate would someone have to be to do that?

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Watched the second season of The Newsreader, fairly lightweight Australian soap-y drama set behind the scenes of an evening news show in the 1980s, all episodes now on iplayer. Being set in the 80s it obviously needs to be hinged around the major events of the decade, so the first season had the Challenger space shuttle, Halley's Comet and Chernobyl, the second the 1987 financial crash, the Australian Bicentennial and the emergence of Kylie Minogue, and they've already confirmed there will be a third season, so the fall of Berlin Wall must be due an appearance, and it will probably involve someone having to type out some script quickly and then sprint across the building to deliver it just in time.

It's an easy watch though, if not exactly gripping.

[matt j]

For All Mankind - yup, we watch it here too. What others have said. It has so much going for it except the extremely terrible main characters and all their decisions.

[colchestersid]

David Holmes: The Boy who Lived

On Sky Documentary channel. Funny and emotional, the story behind Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double who was paralysed on the set of the final Harry Potter film.

I'm normally allergic to documentaries where the central character gives life lessons from adversity but this was an exception. One little scene towards the end where Holmes comforted a nurse who had lost her best friend to Covid was incredibly moving. Daniel Radcliffe was as personable as ever but the pain this has caused him and everyone close to Holmes was very apparent

Recommended

[Sits]

Watched the second season of The Newsreader, fairly lightweight Australian soap-y drama set behind the scenes of an evening news show in the 1980s, all episodes now on iplayer. Being set in the 80s it obviously needs to be hinged around the major events of the decade, so the first season had the Challenger space shuttle, Halley's Comet and Chernobyl, the second the 1987 financial crash, the Australian Bicentennial and the emergence of Kylie Minogue, and they've already confirmed there will be a third season, so the fall of Berlin Wall must be due an appearance, and it will probably involve someone having to type out some script quickly and then sprint across the building to deliver it just in time.

It's an easy watch though, if not exactly gripping.

I can’t believe that’s made it off these shores. It’s OK - we watch it but I half-watch everything unless it’s really compelling. I’m assuming it’s supposed to feel the way 80s Aussie TV felt (almost got vibes of Return to Eden, one of the first things Mrs. S and I watched on our Radio Rentals TV) otherwise I can’t explain it. I also don’t particularly like either of the leads. Otherwise, great!

[Sits]

Robbie Williams on Netflix. Decent enough I suppose. I've never particularly liked his music or his cheeky, chappie shtick but as per the Beckham documentary, I was rooting for him by the end and pleased that he seems at peace.

No surprise that it's very self indulgent and unlike the Beckham doc, there's little input from others who were around at the time. Lots of behind the scenes footage though that saves it for me and a glimpse into the pressures solo performers are under. Another example too, of the scummy British press and the way they operated when they still had some clout.

Finished now, and I think most of the above is pretty fair. Main difference being that Mrs. S was a big fan so we went to see him twice in the 201*s - he really is (was?) an excellent entertainer. As with many artists there’s this disconnect between insecurity on one side, and larger than life persona when performing. In Williams’ case I think this is ramped up to the extreme on both sides so he was always on the edge through the heights of stardom. And again as with many artists, substances were an escape. Before he met his wife - who might well have saved him - he doesn’t always appear to have had great people around - honourable exception is Jose.

I hope he is genuinely OK now. There’s still a lot of anger and bitterness there.

Recommended if you can cope with the self indulgence and the fact that he conducts almost the entire retrospective in his vest and pants

[Hot Pepsi]

For All Mankind - yup, we watch it here too. What others have said. It has so much going for it except the extremely terrible main characters and all their decisions.

I could not agree less.

[Hot Pepsi]

I watched Die Hard 2. I realized I'd never seen it.

[San Bernardhinault]

Die Hard 2 made the fundamental mistake of thinking it was the sequel to an action movie rather than the sequel to a Christmas movie which had some action in it. Which allowed them to make another three non-festive Die Hards.

[ad hoc]

Die Hard 2 made the fundamental mistake of thinking it was the sequel to an action movie rather than the sequel to a Christmas movie which had some action in it. Which allowed them to make another three non-festive Die Hards.

It's got snow in it. That makes it as about as christmassy as the first one

[Felicity, I guess so]

My students sometimes think 'is it a Xmas film?' constitutes Film Analysis when it comes to Die Hard. So often I've developed the strategy of saying the real question is 'is it a Western?'

[Benjm]

I watched Die Hard 2. I realized I'd never seen it.

Without checking, it's the airport one?

[Simon G]

Without checking, it's the airport one?

Correct.

I like Die Hard 2, it's no Die Hard or Die Hard with a Vengeance, but it's got its place.

I've not bothered with anything after the third one though, the trilogy is it for me.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I can’t believe that’s made it off these shores. It’s OK - we watch it but I half-watch everything unless it’s really compelling. I’m assuming it’s supposed to feel the way 80s Aussie TV felt (almost got vibes of Return to Eden, one of the first things Mrs. S and I watched on our Radio Rentals TV) otherwise I can’t explain it. I also don’t particularly like either of the leads. Otherwise, great!

The Wikipedia page for the series is remarkably extensive, and makes it appear to be the cultural event of the decade:

The Newsreader - Wikipedia

From reading the depths of that page it seems to have found an international market in the way that middle ground dramas by public broadcasters often do, so it has travelled to more than just the BBC.

[Sits]

The Wikipedia page for the series is remarkably extensive, and makes it appear to be the cultural event of the decade:

The Newsreader - Wikipedia

From reading the depths of that page it seems to have found an international market in the way that middle ground dramas by public broadcasters often do, so it has travelled to more than just the BBC.

It just feels very parochial to me, like TV drama did when we first arrived here.

Edit: what a bizarrely huge Wikipedia page! Someone’s a fan. Or the director.

[Benjm]

We watched the first series of The Newsreader and have been eyeing up the second on the iPlayer. Like Borgen, it may have got a head start from the relief of not being a murder/crime driven piece. There was a sense that some of the true life events woven in had been a bigger deal in Australia than internationally.

When Robert Taylor turned up in Scrublands, I actually said, "It's the older anchor guy from The Newsreader," even though it probably isn't the stand out achievement of his long and varied career.

[Discordant Resonance]

It just feels very parochial to me, like TV drama did when we first arrived here.

Edit: what a bizarrely huge Wikipedia page! Someone’s a fan. Or the director.

Never hurt The Sullivans, Sons and Daughters or A Country Practice in finding an international audience in the past, mind you.

[Discordant Resonance]

Or indeed, The Flying Doctors, which, alongside Home and Away shows just how much Aussie content occupied the RTÉ schedules in the late Eighties/early Nineties!

[Hot Pepsi]

Without checking, it's the airport one?

It’s supposedly Dulles airport.

[WOM]

Correct.

I like Die Hard 2, it's no Die Hard or Die Hard with a Vengeance, but it's got its place.

I've not bothered with anything after the third one though, the trilogy is it for me.

I've never seen any of them. I think I 'get' them through what's floating around in the ether, though.

[Gangster Octopus]

Yup, they've never appealed to me.