What have you been watching lately

[ed]

BTW, Rob, Witness was mocking me. CH would not have stood for it.

[Pyrrho]

[Bruce]

Just watched the last episode of Umbrella Academy Season 2.

I liked Season 2 more than Season 1. The characters were slightly last whiney and pathetic, and several lingering questions were answered.

The last episode and closing scene were a dozy, but I think I know what happened.....

Spoiler:

There was a scene where the idiots confront their father and describe exactly what day they were born and how he adopted them, but Klaus deliberately left out Ben out of shame for accidentally letting him die.

Later, we also find out that the 7 characters weren't the only super powered people who were born that day.

My theory is that daddy decided that these six idiots were a complete failure and decided to locate and select a different set of super powered babies to buy and raise as the Sparrow Academy.. Ben is the only original because he didn't know about Ben.

That would explain everything, and how he knew they would be arriving. I suspect he will simply disown them at the start of Season 3 and tell them to go away and avoid using their pathetic powers.....until the new super villain made his grand appearance.....which will probably be Harlan

[robinson]

Just finished the first 7 episodes of Perry Mason on HBO


Wow

It really is amazing

And seriously seriously fucked up

[robinson]

Not this series

It’s not at all like the TV shows

Or even the books

[Rob Lister]

Every episode of Perry Mason.

1) Client is falsely accused of murder.
2) ???
3) Perry Mason provokes the real killer into a confession on the witness stand during the trial.

Except one, Perry lost. It killed the series. (IMS)

[Bruce]

Dug up episode one season one of Bewitched.
I loved that show when I was a little kid but I was pretty sure I'd never seen the premier episode.

Sucked so much I didn't last five minutes.

Maybe if I dug up one of the later episodes with Paul Lynde as the funny uncle? Naah.

Good that you learned your lesson. Never do that again.

I loved watching Perfect Strangers when I was a kid. When I saw it was on YouTube, I looked up one of episodes I remember liking the most. It was the 2 part skiing episode. I made it halfway through the first episode and couldn't take it anymore.

My child brain had no idea it was watching the cringiest thinly disguised homo-erotic mess to ever slide into primetime. I used to love watching Nightcourt too, but I've learned my lesson. Best to hold on to those fuzzy memories of childhood happiness and keep them fuzzy.

[Rob Lister]

Gunsmoke, Andy Griffith, Dragnet remain great oldies.

Maverick remains worthy also.

[ed]

Boarded Greyhound with Tom Hanks and got a copy ... arrrrgh

You know, I really wanted to like it. Tom, WW2, Germans, cannons, ships etc etc. The thing was in his wheelhouse, so to speak.

Problem was that it was a hot mess. High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions,

Then ...
High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, High seas, storms, nighttime, shooting, explosions.

No idea whats going on. Everybody is bundled up (there was a storm too, I think) so everybody looked alike.

n/b/ you ever notice in a chick flick that everybody other than the main chick look alike? All blond, good looking and interchangeable? That was the way this movie was.

Massive disappointment. Budget, Tom, cannons but a story that was a bumper sticker.

Pity pity pity

[Giz]

Saw the trailer. Looked like “the cruel sea” but starring Americans instead of brits.

Had put it on a “might watch if it appears on Netflix” list. Maybe I’ll remove.

I saw “the big country” for the first time. Very good, though I doubt I’d go as far as Eisenhower and watch it 5 nights in a row.

[Anaxagoras]

My Octopus Teacher

Netflix documentary. Worth watching for the cinematography at least.

[ed]

Rewatched the 3 seasons of Detectorists. Just a pleasant show, pleasant people, believable and pleasant. I pretty much like everything about it.

Been cycling thru series from the UK and Oz and NZ and most dont last beyond 1 episode. Haven't seen a good movie in a while. Do you reach a point of entertainment saturation where every story line is a commonplace?

Thinking of rewatching The Wire and maybe 24.

Downloaded 9 Star Wars movies. Only saw 3 I thinik.

[Rob Lister]

entertainment utopia = boredom hell

[Doctor X]

Always with the tentacles, Anax

– J.D.

[gnome]

Lower Decks. It's funny as hell and somehow the visuals and themes manage to hit recognizable Trek notes with almost effortless skill. It almost screams "Guys, it isn't that hard to make a Trek show really seem Star Trekky, we managed it with a GAG show."

[Anaxagoras]

Season 2 of The Boys.

Includes this diabetes-inducing little number:



I won't spoil it, but it was a good episode (S2E7 is the latest).

[Bruce]

Started watching Evil. Didn't expect to like it, but finding it quite enjoyable. If they can maintain the delicate balance between scooby-doo mystery solving and OMG there really IS a demon invasion happening all around us........it could end up being a long lasting show.

I kept thinking that the lead demon is the guy who does the voice for Spongebob. It's not, but I like to believe it is. I also like Nick Cage as a priest.

[Bruce]

Practically twins.

[Doctor X]

– J.D.

[ed]

Watched the first episode of War of the Worlds (Brit version 2019). Pretty good. Added a bit of modern pcness but ok. Seems to be cleaving fairly closely to Wells.

Incidentally Tim Spalls son is in it, Rafe. Good actor.

The same year there was a US remake that was "updated" to the present day. Started it but it was a hot mess.

Rewatching Doc Martin. Harmless fun a la Dectectorists except that the lead character is a shit.

[Rob Lister]

Bosch. Excellent.

I watched a few episodes last year, didn't do much. Now I'm totallly fucking engrossed, enthralled, gorging on season 4 now. Best cop detective show since The Wire.

[ed]

Bosch. Excellent.

I watched a few episodes last year, didn't do much. Now I'm totallly fucking engrossed, enthralled, gorging on season 4 now. Best cop detective show since The Wire.

Glad you are liking it. I found the Killing excellent. As I recall you had some derogatory things to say about the lead actress. You might give it another peek.

[gnome]

Season finale was this week. And in just a few weeks DSC Season 3 starts. The Star Trek Must Flow.

[Pyrrho]

[ed]

Watched the first episode of War of the Worlds (Brit version 2019). Pretty good. Added a bit of modern pcness but ok. Seems to be cleaving fairly closely to Wells.

Incidentally Tim Spalls son is in it, Rafe. Good actor.

The same year there was a US remake that was "updated" to the present day. Started it but it was a hot mess.

Rewatching Doc Martin. Harmless fun a la Dectectorists except that the lead character is a shit.

Second episode descended into a morass of tedium. And injected an odd plot element not in Wells.
I'm done. I'll never know what happened.

[Giz]

Watched the first episode of War of the Worlds (Brit version 2019). Pretty good. Added a bit of modern pcness but ok. Seems to be cleaving fairly closely to Wells.

Incidentally Tim Spalls son is in it, Rafe. Good actor.

The same year there was a US remake that was "updated" to the present day. Started it but it was a hot mess.

Rewatching Doc Martin. Harmless fun a la Dectectorists except that the lead character is a shit.

Second episode descended into a morass of tedium. And injected an odd plot element not in Wells.
I'm done. I'll never know what happened.

I was curious enough to look it up on IMDB. First review was:

“ This is more about Amy fighting against the repression of the male dominated hierarchy and traditional western values than it is about earth fighting aliens.”

[ed]

A bit of that, not horrible.

Spoiler:

But they suggested that the purpose of the invasion was to marsiform earth to make it suitable for martians at some point in the future. I mean ... WTF really WTF???

Go watch the Tom Cruise version. I thought that one was pretty good.

[Hotarubi]

Watched the first episode of War of the Worlds (Brit version 2019). Pretty good. Added a bit of modern pcness but ok. Seems to be cleaving fairly closely to Wells.

Incidentally Tim Spalls son is in it, Rafe. Good actor.

The same year there was a US remake that was "updated" to the present day. Started it but it was a hot mess.

Rewatching Doc Martin. Harmless fun a la Dectectorists except that the lead character is a shit.

Second episode descended into a morass of tedium. And injected an odd plot element not in Wells.
I'm done. I'll never know what happened.

You didnt miss anything. Apart from a really good beach sequence it turned into a morass of self indulgent horses mess.

Earth is saved by jesus. Or something. Or dead body farts .

[Hotarubi]

A bit of that, not horrible.

Spoiler:

But they suggested that the purpose of the invasion was to marsiform earth to make it suitable for martians at some point in the future. I mean ... WTF really WTF???

Go watch the Tom Cruise version. I thought that one was pretty good.

Ok for a mindless watch I guess. I'd rather listen to Richard Burton.

[Anaxagoras]

Finished a strange little Sci-Fi series on Amazon called Tales From the Loop.

It's pretty slow and melancholy throughout. Just mainly weird. A little bit reminiscent of The Twilight Zone maybe.

It all sort of takes place in the same world, and the same weird little town. Each story is sort of it's own little story featuring some kind of fantastic bit of otherworldly technology as a MacGuffin. It's never really clear where this stuff comes from. Maybe aliens or the ancients or something. Usually leads to something bad or some kind of problem for the main character. The main character is different in each episode, but often they appear as minor characters in other episodes. They all live in this weird little town and many of them work in some kind of research facility called The Loop.

If you don't mind a slow-moving and weird sort of melancholy world, it might be worth a look.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Loop

Tales from the Loop is an American science fiction drama web television series based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 3, 2020.[1] All eight episodes of the first season were released simultaneously.

Tales from the Loop follows the interconnected lives of the residents in the fictional town of Mercer, Ohio. Mercer is home to the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, an underground facility known as the Loop. It is there where researchers attempt to "make the impossible possible".

[ed]

Watched 1/2 of the first episode. It irretated me.

Watched Infamous with Toby Jones (2006). Quite good rehash of the In Cold Blood affair and Capote's NYC pals. Worth a peek. I reread Plimptons bio, parts of it at least and some of TC's essays recently. It still is am imponderable why he wrote La Cote Basque and basically killed his relationship with vitrtually all of the NYC social set. According some interviewees in Plimpton's book he was "surprised" to which I say "bullshit". He knew, he had to have known and as fucked up as he was, he still had his marbles when that story came out.

Every now and then I come back to that event. He was a prodigious talent, wasted after ICB, but prodigious nonetheless. Pity. Just a pity.

Stlll watching Doc Martin which is diverting.

[Bruce]

Finished a strange little Sci-Fi series on Amazon called Tales From the Loop.

It's pretty slow and melancholy throughout. Just mainly weird. A little bit reminiscent of The Twilight Zone maybe.

It all sort of takes place in the same world, and the same weird little town. Each story is sort of it's own little story featuring some kind of fantastic bit of otherworldly technology as a MacGuffin. It's never really clear where this stuff comes from. Maybe aliens or the ancients or something. Usually leads to something bad or some kind of problem for the main character. The main character is different in each episode, but often they appear as minor characters in other episodes. They all live in this weird little town and many of them work in some kind of research facility called The Loop.

If you don't mind a slow-moving and weird sort of melancholy world, it might be worth a look.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_Loop

Tales from the Loop is an American science fiction drama web television series based on the art book of the same name by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 3, 2020.[1] All eight episodes of the first season were released simultaneously.

Tales from the Loop follows the interconnected lives of the residents in the fictional town of Mercer, Ohio. Mercer is home to the Mercer Center for Experimental Physics, an underground facility known as the Loop. It is there where researchers attempt to "make the impossible possible".

I liked it. Weird but unique. Could have used a little more tying up of loose ends. I really enjoyed the echo ball episode.

[ed]

Blood of a Poet recently went public domain so I downloaded it from archive.org

It's a soundie but not much of a talkie, so it's rather like watching a silent movie with background music.
The title cards are in English.

See also ed's appreciation thread.

That is the gayest dreck i have ever seen. It made me want to put on a production of hms pinafore in the swamp.

No one watch if you value your sanity.

[ed]

Did you see that guy without the shirt? I will not call him a homo because that would be a blood libel to homos.

[Rob Lister]

Watching Moneyball again for the 5th or so time. (netflix)

Why?

"He gets on base."

[gnome]

Dug up episode one season one of I Dream of Jeannie.

Again I didn't make it through five minutes.

I also had forgotten how totally awful laugh tracks are.

I enjoyed watching old Addams Family recently.

[ed]

Morticia was hot.

[Rob Lister]

Lurch was hotter.

[ed]

Confessions of a Superhero
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessio ... _Superhero

Sorta sad. These people dress up as superheros and get tourists to give them money to take pictures with them. The superman guy "bears an uncanny resemblance to Chris Reeve" ... not.

Just sorta a sad way to spend a life. BTW the Superman guy died last year. They found him in a dumpster evidentially looking for clothes. He was homeless evidentially.

Worth a look. Took me two exposures to get thru the whole thing.

Wow ... this isn't much of an incentive to watch, is it?

[robinson]

Fuck that

I rewatched most of Season 1 of Fargo the TV series recently

Still so damn good,makes the current Fargo 4 suck even more ass than it does