Current Watching

[Benjm]

Finished watching Strangers, with John Simm, Anthony Wong, and Emilia Fox in the early hours.

I really enjoyed it

Didn't watch this as broadcast but should maybe give it a go if it is still available.

I have bit of a problem with John Simm, Christopher Eccleston and, to a lesser extent, Anna Friel, in that they are great actors but I have very little confidence that I will enjoy the projects that they choose to act in. It's not that they pick complete duds so much as the parts that they want to play tend to be contained in vehicles that are either too heavy and dour or worthy family dramas. So the paradoxical outcome is that I think John Simm is a fine actor but would probably have been more likely to watch Strangers if he hadn't been in it.

[MsD]

I know what you mean. I enjoyed this more as it went on, just warmed to the characters. Annoying brat teenager in particular got less annoying.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Just started Bodyguard. First episode was very good. Hope it keeps up the quality:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7493974/

It does. Its "action" sequences are particularly well directed, relying much more on dramatic tension than is typically the case. Also it has Keeley Hawes, who I'd watch selling soap-powder.

[Hot Pepsi]

It does. Its "action" sequences are particularly well directed, relying much more on dramatic tension than is typically the case. Also it has Keeley Hawes, who I'd watch selling soap-powder.

It is very good. As you said, it's very well directed and shot and all the performances are very sound.

Hopefully it will do well and inspire more creators to think about doing these kinds of limited series. It's more of a tradition in the UK whereas in the US, something like this is usually - and needlessly - stretched out into multiple, increasingly implausible, seasons.

As it is, Bodyguard probably had more plot than it really needed. (Spoiler Alert: The conspiracy goes .... ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP and NOT EVERYTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS!)

[Patrick Thistle]

Is anyone going to watch the gritty reboot of Sabrina the Teenage Witch? I've seen the trailers and it looks like it might be ok. Ish. I'm really not sure.

[Ginger Yellow]

Too much in my backlog to bother with that.

[Hot Pepsi]

I watched all of it, as I mentioned above.

It's very dark. Moreso than even the usual "gritty-reboot" of these kinds of things. It's about a coven that is actually loyal to Satan/The Dark Lord, sort of in an Anton LeVey sorta way - and not at all in the Wiccan sorta way - Except that in this world, souls, magic, demons, hell, purgatory, etc, are all - apparently - literally real. No doubt this will upset a lot of parents and the sort of people who wanted to ban Harry Potter, but if they actually watched it, they'd see that it's actually not a favorable portrayal of this kind of religion. It is, like the cod-Nietsche/Ayn Rand shit that LeVey was into, actually really nasty and ultimately fascist. The not-so-hidden message appears to be that love, not power, brings freedom. But it's probably going to take another season or two (if ever) to get there.

It's based on a comic book series which was itself a grimdark re-appropriation of the characters set in the 1960s, but my understanding is that the plot has been changed a bit. I haven't read that. The art looks cool.

It's hard to tell where Greendale is supposed to be other than that it's near Riverdale. Of course it's filmed in Vancouver, but given that it has coal mines, gets cold in November, and had a witch population in the 17th century, the only reasonable conclusion is Eastern Pennsylvania. It's also not clear when it's supposed to have happened. Nobody has a mobile phone and they use land-lines, but there are subplots about feminism and LGBTQ acceptance that would not fit in the 60s. But, of course, mobile phones ruin so many suspense plots. Most "I have to get [somewhere hard to get to] to warn them" elements are ruined.

[Patrick Thistle]

Cheers HP.

In other news I think the third series of The Good Place is going to tank it.

[Diable Rouge]

I watched all of it, as I mentioned above.

It's very dark. Moreso than even the usual "gritty-reboot" of these kinds of things. It's about a coven that is actually loyal to Satan/The Dark Lord, sort of in an Anton LeVey sorta way - and not at all in the Wiccan sorta way - Except that in this world, souls, magic, demons, hell, purgatory, etc, are all - apparently - literally real. No doubt this will upset a lot of parents and the sort of people who wanted to ban Harry Potter, but if they actually watched it, they'd see that it's actually not a favorable portrayal of this kind of religion. It is, like the cod-Nietsche/Ayn Rand shit that LeVey was into, actually really nasty and ultimately fascist. The not-so-hidden message appears to be that love, not power, brings freedom. But it's probably going to take another season or two (if ever) to get there.

It's based on a comic book series which was itself a grimdark re-appropriation of the characters set in the 1960s, but my understanding is that the plot has been changed a bit. I haven't read that. The art looks cool.

It's hard to tell where Greendale is supposed to be other than that it's near Riverdale. Of course it's filmed in Vancouver, but given that it has coal mines, gets cold in November, and had a witch population in the 17th century, the only reasonable conclusion is Eastern Pennsylvania. It's also not clear when it's supposed to have happened. Nobody has a mobile phone and they use land-lines, but there are subplots about feminism and LGBTQ acceptance that would not fit in the 60s. But, of course, mobile phones ruin so many suspense plots. Most "I have to get [somewhere hard to get to] to warn them" elements are ruined.

In one episode they discuss Cronenberg's remake of The Fly, but it seems evident that the Internet hasn't become an everyday presence, so I would suggest the Nineties, roughly about the time of the original Teenage Witch series.

[Hot Pepsi]

In one episode they discuss Cronenberg's remake of The Fly, but it seems evident that the Internet hasn't become an everyday presence, so I would suggest the Nineties, roughly about the time of the original Teenage Witch series.

Good catch.
That would work. The fashion is hard to pin down to a specific period. Well done by whoever did all the costumes.

I haven't watched Riverdale. This supposedly happens in the same universe - though there's no cross-over yet - so maybe there's more clues there. Or not. It's not really important to the story, but like I said, the comics specifically happen in the 60s so it's curious that they've gone with an out-of-time vibe.

[Diable Rouge]

For anyone who has stuck with House of Cards, even with the increasingly ludicrous plot twists, this final season will amply reward your patience. The enforced absence of Spacey has liberated the show to revert to its taut political roots, the scriptwriters no longer required to accommodate his ever-more caricaturesque gurning and hamming, with Robin Wright proving a steely anchor as a modern Lady Macbeth. Moreover, it appears the threads hanging loose ever since season one will finally be resolved, with a heavy concentration on Doug Stamper and Hammerschmidt (Zoe Barnes's editor) in the episodes I've viewed to date.

[Eggchaser]

Being bed ridden with lurgi for two days gave me the chance to binge watch Agents of Shield season three. I wasn't disappointed, either with the stories or the traditional knife slipped through the ribs that having two of your favourite characters disappear from the screen brings.

[Hot Pepsi]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina made me curious about Riverdale so I’m binging the first season. It is ridiculous and implausible as is typical with shows with 25-year-olds playing 15-year-olds with more self-awareness and maturity than most 55-year-olds - and yet oddly compelling.

It reminds me a bit of Brick, the 2005 Joseph Gordon Levitt noir set in a high school, but with all the usual soap tropes - murder, small town with multi-generation secrets, implausible coincidences, rich people in mansions who will do anything to protect their maple syrup empire, Skeet Ulrich, etc.

[Satchmo Distel]

'Maniac' has some clever ideas about people having to walk around with real-life ads speaking to them, and an option to be someone's temporary husband, but the sum of its parts is not making a coherent whole yet. Not really drawing me in.

Do I want to take the Jim Carrey plunge in 'Kidding'?

Thought about giving Charlie Brooker's 'A Touch of Cloth' a go but unable to find it on Netflix.

[Ginger Yellow]

It's on Now TV in the UK, presumably because Sky funded/aired it. Maybe it'll show up on Comcast?

[Femme Folle]

I'm enjoying 'Kidding'.

[Ray de Galles]

Just started Bodyguard. First episode was very good. Hope it keeps up the quality:

It doesn’t. The show falls off a cliff halfway through and the latter few episodes are a colossal waste of time.

Spoilertastic thread here.

[Ray de Galles]

Ray Donovan's back. Which is a surprise, as I thought he's drowned. But apparently not.

I’m pretty sure they trailed season six right at the end of season five’s finale so it was clear he survived.

Didn’t like the sonambulent first episode much but trust it will kick in to gear now Ray’s got off Staten Island. If it doesn’t then ‘Get Shorty’ may have taken it’s place.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Do I want to take the Jim Carrey plunge in 'Kidding'?

Yes. For sure.

[Hot Pepsi]

It doesn’t. The show falls off a cliff halfway through and the latter few episodes are a colossal waste of time.

Spoilertastic thread here.

I disagree. I thought it got better.

I saw the first episode of Kidding. It didn’t seem like something I’d want to see enough to justify paying for Showtime. Maybe if it’s Netflix someday.

I’ve some of Homecoming, with Julia Roberts, on Amazon. Critics like it but I’m struggling to care.

[Femme Folle]

Kidding is not a show that you get Showtime for; it's a show you watch if you already have Showtime.

[Satchmo Distel]

Watched the first episode of Kidding and thought it was very good. Maniac is still a struggle.

Should I give The Americans a try? Cold War context appeals but not if the central relationship does not sustain credibility.

[Femme Folle]

Satchmo: I vote Yes to watching The Americans.

[Satchmo Distel]

will do

[WOM]

Oh, absolutely positively. We loved it.