The TV and Streaming Thread: Where is Ricky Gervais when you need him???

[Lexx]

Watched All of Us Are Dead yesterday. Basically binged the whole show in two days. All in all it was good, but some parts were a bit too slow and a bit of a pain to get through. Also a couple times people died for very stupid reasons + it made me furious how they don't just build weapons and armor.

Park Ji-hu was the best. I liked all of her scenes, especially with her father.

What I find interesting about korean shows is when they show the class struggle. Seems they have quite some issues with rich vs poor, which kinda makes sense, considering their history, I guess.

Also the bullying in school was pretty crazy. I wonder how much of that is just hyperbole for tv.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Lexx

[Oner]

3 hours ago, Lexx said:

Watched All of Us Are Dead yesterday. Basically binged the whole show in two days. All in all it was good, but some parts were a bit too slow and a bit of a pain to get through. Also a couple times people died for very stupid reasons + it made me furious how they don't just build weapons and armor.

Park Ji-hu was the best. I liked all of her scenes, especially with her father.

What I find interesting about korean shows is when they show the class struggle. Seems they have quite some issues with rich vs poor, which kinda makes sense, considering their history, I guess.

Also the bullying in school was pretty crazy. I wonder how much of that is just hyperbole for tv.

I'm on the first few episodes, so far I'm liking it too, though bitten people claiming they're fine wore out in decade old movies already.

As far as I'm aware the bullying does get like that unfortunately. Faculty ignoring it for the sake of maintaining prestige, video blackmail, high suicide rates, etc.

I just saw it's based on a webcomic, so that might be worth a read too.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Oner

[Amentep]

TNG: "Parallels"

This episode should have been called "Too Many Enterprises", amirite?

Worf is a fun character to hang this story on because his personality is so ill equipped to deal with people moving his cheese in normal circumstances theat when he's thrown into these events he's particularly adrift from anything he knows and ill-equipped to handle it.  That said, isn't this the third or fourth time this season we've gotten "strange stuff happens and only one person notices"?  (LaForge in "Interface", Data in "Phantasms", arguably Luxwanna in "Dark Page").  I guess practice makes perfect because I probably enjoyed this one more than the others.  And good on the production team dropping in small differences (like Data's eyes) amid the big ones that made the episode fun to watch just to see what they changed.  

No Discovery eps this week either.

[LadyCrimson]

Watched the 3rd episode of All of Us Are Dead. I didn't like that one as much, probably because one chr. was so annoying/loathsome I couldn't stand it - even knowing that was the whole point of said chr. - and the other chrs. weren't strong enough to offset it by rooting for them etc. Outside of that one chr, and it's still early I know, but I'm not really finding myself attached to/all that sympathetic with anyone. Most are just "ok". I hope that improves because the reason something like Train to Busan ends up as such a great zombie film is because of memorable chrs. vs. just a rote "and then there were none" feeling.  TtB is one of the few films where the child actor and child-danger-syndrome didn't simply annoy the heck out of me. She was really good.

Edited February 1, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[Lexx]

I'm probably the only person who is meh about Train to Busan. The last part of that movie just killed it for me and had me rolling eyes again.

[Oner]

Regarding Train to Busan:

Spoiler

The "villain" getting a bunch of side characters killed at the last minute in the lead up to the ending was super irritating to me. There were some obvious Survived Because Protagonist moments along the way too.

Overall I do like the movie a lot. I think it has a sequel too, but haven't seen that one.

[Lexx]

Yeah, that's exactly what I hated about it. They could have just not done that and it would have been a great movie anyways.

[LadyCrimson]

The only (horror, non-comedic) zombie films I've really liked were: original B&W Night of the Living Dead, Train to Busan, and if it counts, 28 Days Later. Generally speaking I find zombies boring as a fear-factor or enemy. Train to Busan has a sort of weak opening segment imo - or it just lasts a little too long - but one of the few where I didn't care if it was zombies or not, I just liked the dilemmas/action/chrs. I only learned of it/checked it out because Gong Yoo was in it, tbh. 

The "villain" was very over the top, yup. I figured it was on purpose to really contrast what fear/self-preservation selfishness can lead to (which the male lead actually was similar to, mentally, initially, he just had a silent/stoic version vs. loud and belligerent). Very heavy-handed tho.

[LadyCrimson]

Speaking of characters...I saw this YouTube video today and I (mostly) agree with what he's saying. He mentions The Walking Dead a lot as an example but it applies to many shows/films.  The "punishment" a character has to go through and when it becomes too much where you no longer care/have motivation to watch. It can work a bit better in a film imo, because that's a shorter period of time to watch, but such can still overwhelm audiences there too.

 

[LadyCrimson]

Looks like Viki does more film rentals now. I can rent Seobok for $3! Gong Yoooooooooo (and Park Bo Gum).

Sometimes I forget about Viki because watching thru the browser is sort of a PITA (app only works on my tablet and is not on PS4). New currently-airing series, Through the Darkness, not on Netflix, is there too. Kim Nam Gil! He was great in Live Up to Your Name and Fiery Priest. Looks like this new one is a crime drama,  based on some book re: S. Korea's first criminal profiler/s. Time to start binging Viki for a while again.  *happy dance*

[LadyCrimson]

First two episodes of Through the Darkness were pretty darn good. It is, so far, a crime drama, not a melodrama. There are references throughout of the FBI guy's book Mindhunter - S. Korea seemingly didn't form their own profiler branch until much later (this series is set in late 90's/early 2000's). So I love that's it's a similar type of tale based on real-life person/experiences.

The series Mindhunter (especially that first season) was great imo and this is looking to be just as good, although also very different ofc - not from the US pov. or style. Kim Nam Gil is killing it (I think I like his acting even better as drama vs. comedy) and most of the supporting cast as well (including the criminals).  Finally, something I can really get into watching!

...sadly the final episodes won't be aired until the end of Feb. because of the Olympics I think, so I can only binge 7 (out of 12) this week.
...oh and if you try watching via Viki, don't watch the second eps. in their list "Episode1-special" second, because it's like a special/edited recap of eps 1 and 2, before you even watch 2. That confused me for a while then I turned it off for the real episode 2.

Edited February 2, 2022 by LadyCrimson

[Sarex]

Letterkenny season 10. More of the same, which is not bad.

[Raithe]

‘The Riftwar Cycle’ Fantasy Books In Works For Television – Deadline

[ShadySands]

Boba Fett

Not much Boba Fett in the Boba Fett show recently just a whole lot of cameos

[BruceVC]

5 hours ago, Raithe said:

‘The Riftwar Cycle’ Fantasy Books In Works For Television – Deadline

Finally another fantasy  TV series I can really get behind because I have read the books and the Riftwar  saga is excellent. Like the Witcher 

@Zoraptor

Zora forget WoT, the Riftwar is a TV series you need to support 

 

[BruceVC]

I am watching the following series 

Yellowjackets : A mystery series, similar to Lost, about a women's  soccer team who crashes in Canada and how did some of them survive ....huge supernatural potential

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjackets_(TV_series) 

LA BREA : A sci-fi series about a massive sinkhole that opens in LA and this sinkhole leads to 10,000 BC. It sounds silly but its vert well done and " believable " 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Brea_(TV_series) 

Honour: A true story about the honor killing and disappearance of a Kurdish women in the UK, its only 2 episodes and worth watching to understand this appalling type of criminality  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honour_(TV_series) 

[kanisatha]

9 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I am watching the following series 

Yellowjackets : A mystery series, similar to Lost, about a women's  soccer team who crashes in Canada and how did some of them survive ....huge supernatural potential

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowjackets_(TV_series) 

LA BREA : A sci-fi series about a massive sinkhole that opens in LA and this sinkhole leads to 10,000 BC. It sounds silly but its vert well done and " believable " 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Brea_(TV_series) 

Honour: A true story about the honor killing and disappearance of a Kurdish women in the UK, its only 2 episodes and worth watching to understand this appalling type of criminality  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honour_(TV_series) 

I watched La Brea. I was initially skeptical, and the some of the early episodes pushed me towards dropping the show (all the infidelity and who's sleeping with whom crap). But the last few episodes salvaged it, and now I am looking forward to its return for season 2.

[Raithe]

B5 CW News - J. Michael Straczynski

I will be posting a link to this shortly so that other online folks can get the news, but wanted to let Patrons here get the word first, even if only by a little bit.

Anyone who knows the history of Babylon 5 knows that the path of this show has never been easy, and rarely proceeds in a straight line. Apparently, that has not changed.

About a month or so ago it was announced that the CW Network, B5’s home for the last year while the pilot script was in active development, was up for sale. When news of this broke, the immediate question was: will this have any effect on B5? Situations like this have a way of upending development because new owners usually want to put their imprimatur on what programs go forward. Like everyone else, I’d hoped there would be no immediate impact, and that progress on the project would continue onward unabated.

A few days ago, I heard from inside Warner Bros. that there were a number of High Level Conversations taking place with the CW to determine how many pilots, and what sort, could be picked up during this transition, especially given pre-existing deals and commitments. This made sense given the preceding paragraph, but I remained optimistic.

Today, about an hour ago, Deadline Hollywood announced the slate of pilot scripts being picked up for production by The CW. Babylon 5 was not on that list.

When a pilot script is not picked up to production, 99.999% of the time, that’s the end of the road for the project, the script is dead.

However: shortly before that piece was published, I received a call from Mark Pedowitz, President of The CW. (I should mention that Mark is a great guy and a long-time fan of B5. He worked for Warners when the show was first airing, and always made sure we got him copies of the episodes before they aired because he didn’t want to wait to see what happened next.)

Calling the pilot “a damned fine script,” he said he was taking the highly unusual step of rolling the project and the pilot script into next year, keeping B5 in active development while the dust settles on the sale of the CW.

Here’s the bottom line:

Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022.

Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023.

That is the only difference.

Would it have been wonderful if we’d gotten the green light today? Absolutely. Of course. But it seems we will have to wait a little longer. What matters is that the project is still very much alive, and when the time is appropriate, that window will give B5 fans the opportunity to express their passionate support for the series to the new owners of the CW.

As noted above: the road to Babylon 5 has never been easy. But the good news to come out of today is that the road is still very much intact.

Onward.

JMS

[LadyCrimson]

Finished the six episodes (it was 6, not 7...) available of Through the Darkness. It stayed excellent. Now I have to wait 4-5 weeks. >.>

Netflix recently got rom-com-drama Beauty Inside tho. I remember when that came out and I didn't bother with it then because the premise is totally absurd (female superstar who once a month randomly turns into a different person, male/female/old/young, for a brief period, and a man who has face blindness). But it stars the male lead from Because This is my First Life, female lead from Another Miss Oh, one of the male leads from Cinderella and Four Knights, and a supporting actress from I Can Hear Your Voice. So quite packed cast, for me. Maybe it'll be ludicrously binge worthy at least. First episode seems weirdly cute so far.

[Lexx]

Binge-watched Uncontrollably Fond. As usual with those k-shows, the middle part was incredibly stretched to the max, but all in all it was still a nice show. Also, so sad.

[Hurlshort]

I am binge watching Reacher with my wife. It is pretty great. It fits the books much better than the Tom Cruise movies. I enjoyed the movies as well, but this new guy has the physicality aspect. They follow the first book closely.

[Hurlshort]

Ok, finished Reacher. The books are pretty silly pulp fiction, and I think the Amazon Prime show captured that aspect. It veered away from the book in the 2nd half quite a bit, but the Reacher character was still spot on. The show also makes him seem like he is on the spectrum, which makes sense. It wasn't like the book really said he was, but thinking back, it fits the character. Actually it kind of veered away from that in the last episode and I thought it was a misstep. But still a very fun series.

[Bartimaeus]

On 2/5/2022 at 7:12 PM, Hurlsnot said:

I am binge watching Reacher with my wife. It is pretty great. It fits the books much better than the Tom Cruise movies. I enjoyed the movies as well, but this new guy has the physicality aspect. They follow the first book closely.

I was very confused for a minute here, because I thought I watched like half of the first season of Reacher like a year or two back...but apparently, I believed Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan were the same thing. I mean, I think they basically are, but technically, they are distinct properties.

First season of Gilmore Girls. The style of dialogue in this show is unusual - it has a tendency to be very quick with a lot of back-and-forth between multiple characters and yet sound perfectly natural...though if you stop paying attention for even a couple of seconds, you may lose critical context that renders entire conversations incomprehensible, and there are a lot of them and they'll all well-written and usually fun, so you should pay attention. I thought I'd take a break before starting the second season, but I accidentally jumped right into the second one which was a direct continuation of the first, so I guess I'll be watching that for a while longer yet.

[Hurlshort]

42 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I was very confused for a minute here, because I thought I watched like half of the first season of Reacher like a year or two back...but apparently, I believed Jack Reacher and Jack Ryan were the same thing. I mean, I think they basically are, but technically, they are distinct properties.

Hah, Reacher is the hobo version of Jack Ryan.

Tom Clancy and Lee Child are definitely different types of writers. 

[Keyrock]

16 minutes ago, Hurlsnot said:

Tom Clancy and Lee Child are definitely different types of writers. 

Are Lee Child's works as jingoist as Clancy's?