Current Watching

[Foot of Astaire's]

Watched Beyond Utopia on BBC catch up last night. A Storyville documentary about people defecting from North Korea. Absolutely gripping and the risks that so many must have taken to get some incredible secret footage, are off the scale.

[Ray de Galles]

A minor, possibly slightly spoilery, question for people who have seen all of True Detective S4 below ;

[SPOILER]Does Danvers quote in Episode 1 "Not a Beatles fan, OK?" have any deeper relevance that reveals itself later in the season? I don't want to know what that is, if so - just if it's there.[/SPOILER]

Hmm, has that worked?

[HORN]

I hope Bordeaux Education persists with Boy Swallows Universe.

[slackster]

Watched Aftersun on the BBC IPlayer last night. I knew little about it other than it was lauded, so it took a while to work out what was going on. But, my, what a fantastic piece of film-making.

[Bored Of Education]

A bit late to Boy Swallows Universe having been deterred by the title. After about ten minutes for me to get over my wariness of any Aussie drama, began enjoying it. Performances are great, especially the boy and even Bryan Brown who’s not hamming too much.

Tried the first episode and Mrs B found it too dark. I persuaded her to try and watch the second and even I found that dark and we gave up. I have heard that the first two episodes are very dark and then it lightens up so will try again.

In the meantime, binged “Platonic” with Seth Roger and Rose Byrne which is pleasantly easily watchable.

Mrs B watched The Twelve which I caught an episode or two of and it looked intriguing

[Hot Pepsi]

Hobbes is right that it is awkward, but somehow I didn't find that off-putting. I usually do.

I don't agree about the therapist episodes. I thought Sarah Paulson was fantastic.
It captured the weird vibe of visiting at therapist whose office is in their own house.
It also captured how millennials of a certain socioeconomic status are now marinating in therapy-speak, for better and worse. That's a big part of the whole show.


I agree that PWB would make it a very different show.
Without being one of those guys, I hope....I can believe that Maya Erskine could blend into a crowd and convince people that she is just a computer programmer in Brooklyn. She's very attractive, but she is good at playing a woman who seems to be trying to take up less space. I suspect that vibe is informed by her role in Pen15. Even in the scenes where she's all dressed up and supposed to look like a world-class smokeshow, as the kids say, she doesn't seem to be striding confidently.

PWB is just more, conspicuous, I guess would be the word. Even though she plays a personal trainwreck in Fleabag, I cannot imagine her doing anything but striding confidently, Bond style. I don't think this show wants a Bond vibe. It's trying to be more grounded.

I suppose Donald Glover is a bit like that too. He's Childish Gambino. It's hard to not see that.

I would have had him switch roles with Paul Dano, who is very good at "playing small." Glover would be great as the pushy real estate guy.

But then, DG is producing the show. Also, there's that episode where he infiltrates a poker game of Black guys and that leads to an awkward conversation about race that felt true to life. They couldn't do that with a white guy in the lead.



Spoiler
It ends on an irritating cliffhanger. I'm pretty sure it will get a second season, but it will feel like a waste of time if it does not.

[Femme Folle]

I enjoyed Mr & Mrs Smith even though parts of if were uncomfortable and the therapist sessions could have been cut altogether, or maybe shorter. If it does get a second season, I would give it a chance, but if it turned out to be more of the same, I might not finish it. I cannot picture Phoebe Waller-Bridge in that role though.

[hobbes]

I've tried Mr & Mrs Smith twice and not made it past halfway on the first episode. Not sure why it just made me feel uncomforatble.
Which is weird. I really like Donald Glover.
It might be because their interactions are so awkward and stilted that it makes me feel how I do when I'm forced to socialise with people I don't know these days.

[Hot Pepsi]

I've really been enjoying Mr and Mrs Smith up until the episode we watched last night - the therapy one - which wasn't great and felt like they were already short of ideas and phoning it in. Hopefully that's just a blip and it finishes as brightly as it started.

That was kind of a bottle episode, but it was hardly phoning it in. It was explaining more about the characters.

[San Bernardhinault]

I've really been enjoying Mr and Mrs Smith up until the episode we watched last night - the therapy one - which wasn't great and felt like they were already short of ideas and phoning it in. Hopefully that's just a blip and it finishes as brightly as it started.

[Hot Pepsi]

It's an hour and 26 mins on my sky box. Presumably with half a dozen ad breaks.

Well, that's Sky's fault.

The whole point of HBO - first as a premium service and now as a brand within a streaming service - is that there are no ads and limited censors. It's been that way for almost 50 years.

If they start cutting it up to accommodate secondary broadcasters that do it wrong, then they might as well just give up and hand the whole thing over to Discovery channel trash.

[WOM]

Loudermilk is on UK Netflix. Haven't watched it though

We really enjoyed it.

Also big thumbs-up for Mr and Mrs Smith.

[hobbes]

Episode 4 is officially an hour.

It's an hour and 26 mins on my sky box. Presumably with half a dozen ad breaks.

[RaggedTrousered]

Loudermilk is on UK Netflix. Haven't watched it though

We're four or five episodes in - enjoying it now, on Netflix uk, but wasn't too sure I would stick with after the first couple.

[Patrick Thistle]

Loudermilk is on UK Netflix. Haven't watched it though

[Femme Folle]

I can't believe there's only one episode of True Detective left. I was watching it on Sunday nights, but sometimes saving it for Monday night if I had to get to bed on time. Sunday is my 90 Day Fiance night, so everything else has to wait until after 10 pm. Then just last week I discovered that TD episodes were available on Friday nights.

If you can get Loudermilk on Netflix, watch it (it's probably not available outside the USA, unfortunately). Also watch Mr & Mrs Smith on Prime.

[Levin]

This afternoon we watched RRR (the Hindi version, because the Telugu original isn't on Netflix Argentina any more and, well, it's not like we'd have understood any more of the dialogue anyway). It's very, very silly and very, very, very entertaining. A contender for the discussion up thread about films that are really long without being too long.

It has it's own thread somewhere (not a criticism of you posting here, just a note if you was to see other people's opinions).

[Hot Pepsi]

Michael Mann's Ferrari picked up no Academy Award nominations but it's a more interesting watch than several of the heavily hyped films that did. It's really two films in one, which is both it's strength and main weakness. On the one hand it's the story 1957 Mille Miglia, which was pivotal in the company's success, and even existence. On the other it's the story of Enzo Ferrari, his business partner — who's also his wife — and his long-time mistress and their son. Both are fascinating, but don't mesh particularly well.

Penelope Cruz, as Signora Ferrari dominates the film. She gives a scarily incandescent performance that hurls you back in your seat. Unfortunately Adam Driver, as Enzo, doesn't match her screen power, which he really needed to for the sake of the story. The track sequences are much more successful. You really get a sense of how small-time, and phenomenally dangerous, top-level auto-racing was at that time. The cars seem to be buckets of bolts built on the fly and the drivers all have a macho death wish. There are two unforgettable major fatal accidents which are simultaneously startling, terrifying, and brilliantly portrayed.

On a personal note. In her words La Signora watched Ferrari with her "heart in her mouth." As mentioned in previous threads, her father was a racer. In fact he raced in a Mille Miglia, though not in 1957. She wished for more detail about the cars themselves, and also the drivers. She's right, but that would have been a different film, and probably a longer one. Anyhow, flawed as it may be Ferrari is very much worth your time

I'm not sure why that didn't get more awards buzz. Especially Cruz. I haven't seen it, but she is getting rave reviews.

Maybe it came out too late or they just didn't get the campaign right because of strike. Who knows? Ford vs Ferarri, which would seem to appeal to a similar crowd, got some consideration, as I recall.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Michael Mann's Ferrari picked up no Academy Award nominations but it's a more interesting watch than several of the heavily hyped films that did. It's really two films in one, which is both it's strength and main weakness. On the one hand it's the story 1957 Mille Miglia, which was pivotal in the company's success, and even existence. On the other it's the story of Enzo Ferrari, his business partner — who's also his wife — and his long-time mistress and their son. Both are fascinating, but don't mesh particularly well.

Penelope Cruz, as Signora Ferrari dominates the film. She gives a scarily incandescent performance that hurls you back in your seat. Unfortunately Adam Driver, as Enzo, doesn't match her screen power, which he really needed to for the sake of the story. The track sequences are much more successful. You really get a sense of how small-time, and phenomenally dangerous, top-level auto-racing was at that time. The cars seem to be buckets of bolts built on the fly and the drivers all have a macho death wish. There are two unforgettable major fatal accidents which are simultaneously startling, terrifying, and brilliantly portrayed.

On a personal note. In her words La Signora watched Ferrari with her "heart in her mouth." As mentioned in previous threads, her father was a racer. In fact he raced in a Mille Miglia, though not in 1957. She wished for more detail about the cars themselves, and also the drivers. She's right, but that would have been a different film, and probably a longer one. Anyhow, flawed as it may be Ferrari is very much worth your time

[Sam]

This afternoon we watched RRR (the Hindi version, because the Telugu original isn't on Netflix Argentina any more and, well, it's not like we'd have understood any more of the dialogue anyway). It's very, very silly and very, very, very entertaining. A contender for the discussion up thread about films that are really long without being too long.

[Hot Pepsi]

Not as well as a professional editor.

Are our attention spans really that fractured?

HBO Sunday Night shows have usually run about an hour. That’s always been the case. This is a miniseries and geared more toward streaming, so it runs a little longer. But just a few minutes.

Episode 4 is officially an hour. By comparison, The Sopranos was usually 51 to 58 minutes. I looked it up.

Episode 5 is already out because they didn’t want to release it during the Super Bowl.

It does meander and the show is more about the vibe than the mystery. A lot of the incels review bombing it do not get that, but the real critics seem to mostly like it.

[WOM]

I am so unhappy that I can't watch season 2 of 'Kevin Can Fuck Himself'. It's brilliant but I ain't paying for another (AMC) streaming channel. I have a major major crush on Annie Murphy who for a Canadian really pulls off a fab massachusetts accent.

a) crushing along with you, and b) such a great concept for a show.

[hobbes]

Because it all flows together and happens in one day. If you want to break it up, you can chose to do that.

Not as well as a professional editor.

[Exiled off Main Street]

I am so unhappy that I can't watch season 2 of 'Kevin Can Fuck Himself'. It's brilliant but I ain't paying for another (AMC) streaming channel. I have a major major crush on Annie Murphy who for a Canadian really pulls off a fab massachusetts accent.

[WOM]

Netflix doing what Netflix do well with The American nightmare. Three 45 minute episodes. Bloody hell. Only in America...

That was really well constructed. Misleading, but honest at the same time. (The show...not you.)