The TV and Streaming Thread: Summer Re-reruns (it's always summer somewhere)

[Sarex]

17 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

Thought: I suppose it's also possible that they've just reduced the video compression quality so much that it's become very noticeable on big screens but not on smaller ones. All I know is the icons used to be there - even if they were lying, so to speak, and they've now corrected it - and that it used to look a ton better on the big TV's hence my assumption. Edit: well that and an article I read during covid, which I cannot seem to find now/again. >.>

I know what you are talking about. It was for netflix where they were throttling user connections and thus reducing the resolution due to a big increase in user watch time, but this was for netflix in general, ie. the built in TV apps and windows browsers. As for me for as long as I had netflix it never worked above 720p on firefox and it always worked on IE/Edge (although there it was only 1080p for me, but that is because I didn't have a hdcp 2.2 monitor).

[ShadySands]

3 hours ago, Gromnir said:

most obvious answer is sailor honor guard just don't look as kewl as the marines.

Pretty sure this is it.

IIRC they are at NAS North Island. I don't want to spoil anything but I'm also probably severely overthinking a movie that plays so fast and loose with pretty much everything.

Edited January 10, 2023 by ShadySands

[Zoraptor]

Vince McMahon has reportedly sold WWE to the Saudis.

[uuuhhii]

inside job was cancelled

is netflix make decision by russian roulette

[LadyCrimson]

First episode of Last of Us is getting good reviews from lots that I've seen, making me more interested in it. HBOMax page just says tonight, not sure what time that means. I'll watch the first then let the rest pile up to watch the whole if I like it.

[LadyCrimson]

The Menu, via HBOMax

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but once it gets going it I liked it quite a bit. Social satire, high brow horror, perhaps. A lot of barbs thrown at how almost cult-like fancy restaurant, foodie, and chef culture can be. Social issue wise, it's nothing other movies haven't commented on, but still fairly effective and lol funny here and there. A lot of good cast, although most aren't given a ton to do. But the primaries were excellent. I might give it something like 3 out of 4 stars.

Edited January 16, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Twin Peaks rewatch, up to season 2 episode 8 or 9 I think. Pete is perhaps the funniest character I have ever seen. Every line delivery he does ends up making me burst out laughing. "How about a nice cold milk" is funnier than it has any right to be.

[LadyCrimson]

Last of Us, first episode

Hm. Builds dread and tension pretty well, helped by audio design and music. Good production values. Some visual shots definitely made me think of the game. Pedro Pascal is going to be a great Joel. The young lady playing Ellie I'm a little less sure about, but we don't see much of her in 1st episode. Anyway, very promising start, would definitely watch more. But didn't make me want to impatiently must-watch every week ala Breaking Bad. I'll still wait for completion first.  

Edited January 16, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[Hiro Protagonist]

"No, if the season has a good ending, I don't care. But most of those Netflix shows have cliff-hanger endings which make you want (or need) another season, which then never comes. It just sucks. "

I'm the opposite at times. I often seek out and watch shows that have been cancelled knowing I don't have to commit year after year. Sometimes there's an interview online with what the creator of the show had in mind for season 2 or 3 but unfortunately was cancelled. And it's like, oh I see where they were going with it, that's kind of cool. At least I know how the story ended.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Hiro Protagonist

[Bartimaeus]

16 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

The Menu, via HBOMax

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but once it gets going it I liked it quite a bit. Social satire, high brow horror, perhaps. A lot of barbs thrown at how almost cult-like fancy restaurant, foodie, and chef culture can be. Social issue wise, it's nothing other movies haven't commented on, but still fairly effective and lol funny here and there. A lot of good cast, although most aren't given a ton to do. But the primaries were excellent. I might give it something like 3 out of 4 stars.

I've been intending to watch The Menu. I didn't have much interest, but it seems everyone I know is recommendin' it, so I figure I have to.

10 hours ago, Hiro Protagonist said:

"No, if the season has a good ending, I don't care. But most of those Netflix shows have cliff-hanger endings which make you want (or need) another season, which then never comes. It just sucks. "

I'm the opposite at times. I often seek out and watch shows that have been cancelled knowing I don't have to commit year after year. Sometimes there's an interview online with what the creator of the show had in mind for season 2 or 3 but unfortunately was cancelled. And it's like, oh I see where they were going with it, that's kind of cool. At least I know how the story ended.

Yeah, there is something nice knowing it's just a one-shot thing, even if it didn't get completed: no commitment as you said, just enjoy it for what it is, don't have to worry about a bunch more seasons being made and feeling pressured to keep watching it.

[majestic]

Sure, except that feeling of never getting any proper closure that makes you waffle between wanting to scream your heart out, cry all day or put a pump gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Walking into a cancelled show with a cliffhanger ending? No, thanks. I'd ratner not knowingly walk into a minefield with no equipment to find them.

Edited January 16, 2023 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

24 minutes ago, majestic said:

Sure, except that feeling of never getting any proper closure that makes you waffle between wanting to scream your heart out, cry all day or put a pump gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Walking into a cancelled show with a cliffhanger ending? No, thanks. I'd ratner not knowingly walk into a minefield with no equipment to find them.

Eh...a huge part of my annoyance with cliffhangers is the fact that they're deliberately trying to rope me in for more - exactly my problem with what I mentioned above with trying to commit to multiple seasons of a show and it just never feeling...done. If I know there's no more, then even if it does end in a cliffhanger, it's not nearly as big of a deal - the work is finished, I can form my own thoughts on where it might've gone if I like or go read some fun fan theories, not nearly as big of a deal. I think it has to be both reeeaaally important to me as well as something where I have difficulty envisioning where it might've gone for me to really get into a fit about it ending like that. If Steven Universe had ended before the mystery surrounding Rose Quartz and the Great Diamond Authority was resolved, yeah, I probably wouldn't have been happy, so that's valid.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Eh...a huge part of my annoyance with cliffhangers is the fact that they're deliberately trying to rope me in for more - exactly my problem with what I mentioned above with trying to commit to multiple seasons of a show and it just never feeling...done. If I know there's no more, then even if it does end in a cliffhanger, it's not nearly as big of a deal - the work is finished, I can form my own thoughts on where it might've gone if I like or go read some fun fan theories, not nearly as big of a deal.

That only works if the cliffhanger is a simple sequel hook that does not have to be realized, or if that final episode provides some manner of closure that is a vage 'enough', and what the final episode really does, or attempts to do. Point in case, once again, is Lost, where I was perfectly fine with the ending in spite of what everyone else was raving on about. It served as enough of a closure to the show that it worked for me. It still wasn't a good ending to the series, of course, but it tied the really necessary parts up fine enough.

In a way that's similar to NGE's original ending. It provides an ending to all the truly necessary things, just not one to the narrative.

25 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I think it has to be both reeeaaally important to me as well as something where I have difficulty envisioning where it might've gone for me to really get into a fit about it ending like that.

That would serve as an amplifier for the issue. On the other hand, it is better for a series to simply end with no resolution than to be retooled and made worse for the wear. Bonus points when it happens to a series that feels like having been specifically created for you and you alone. Sigh. Stupid Kevin Sorbo.

I didn't particularily care for Stargate Universe, but the series was cancelled just as it picked up a little steam and had a streak of decent episodes, and it ended on a cliffhanger to boot, because the series creators expected another season, at the very least. Syfy killing Dark Matter? Can everyone involved in that decision please go die in a fire?

29 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

If Steven Universe had ended before the mystery surrounding Rose Quartz and the Great Diamond Authority was resolved, yeah, I probably wouldn't have been happy, so that's valid.

That would have sucked. Tonight's nightmare: Steven Universe without a proper ending. Ugh.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, there is something nice knowing it's just a one-shot thing, even if it didn't get completed: no commitment as you said, just enjoy it for what it is, don't have to worry about a bunch more seasons being made and feeling pressured to keep watching it.

I think the difference is in knowing something is supposed to be a one-shot thing and knowing something was supposed to be an ongoing thing but got clipped before it could finish. I love the former and find the later is usually half-finished or with a very awkward landing. While moving away from TV that was designed to be perpetual and towards more contained stories has generally been a good thing, I think that shows that are planning on at least a few seasons to tell their stories are in an awkward place with at least two platforms being very unreliable homes for such things. Imagine if Breaking Bad had ended right at Season 3 or if Steven Universe had ended right in the middle, that's what Netflix is doing to a lot of shows....if they even get that far. Netflix is curating a library of unfinished works while also training people not to give a **** about most of their stuff.

[Gfted1]

33 minutes ago, majestic said:

Syfy killing Dark Matter?

Yeah that one was a bummer. Also Almost Human.  

[InsaneCommander]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:55 AM, kirottu said:

Slow Horses

"Follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 due to their career-ending mistakes."

I ****ing loved it. I don't think there has ever been more perfect bastard than Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb.

Watched the two seasons available now and I really liked it. Totally agree about Gary Oldman, what a great character played in perfection.

[ShadySands]

Wife has been binging the Fresh Prince of Bel-Ai on Hulur. I grew up on this show and I don't remember most of these episodes.

[LadyCrimson]

21 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I've been intending to watch The Menu. I didn't have much interest, but it seems everyone I know is recommendin' it, so I figure I have to.

I don't think I have enough of a handle on your exact tastes to even guess if you'd like it or not.
I wouldn't call the film a must-watch, even tho I enjoyed it a lot. I think it's one of Ralph Fiennes finer performances of late and the dark comedy was on point, for me. But it did have small lulls and the middle section was probably the most effective.

Edit: The lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy was fantastic too. And to say, I did like the ending/resolution, but not as much impact as it was aiming for. eg I wanted a little more than it gave, I think.

Edited January 17, 2023 by LadyCrimson

[kanisatha]

20 hours ago, majestic said:

Syfy killing Dark Matter? Can everyone involved in that decision please go die in a fire?

Yup. I'm still angry about this one too.

[Bartimaeus]

20 hours ago, Space KP, Baby said:

I think the difference is in knowing something is supposed to be a one-shot thing and knowing something was supposed to be an ongoing thing but got clipped before it could finish. I love the former and find the later is usually half-finished or with a very awkward landing. While moving away from TV that was designed to be perpetual and towards more contained stories has generally been a good thing, I think that shows that are planning on at least a few seasons to tell their stories are in an awkward place with at least two platforms being very unreliable homes for such things. Imagine if Breaking Bad had ended right at Season 3 or if Steven Universe had ended right in the middle, that's what Netflix is doing to a lot of shows....if they even get that far. Netflix is curating a library of unfinished works while also training people not to give a **** about most of their stuff.

I'd have to have watched Breaking Bad to understand your specific example completely, but I get the idea. I'm still not the type of person to be as affected by it as others, though - especially knowing that there are a number of shows where...I mean, I largely don't care about the plots of shows so long as there's nothing noticeably stupid or wrong with them (i.e. if I'm not explicitly annoyed by them), so if additional seasons primarily focus on that, then it's usually not a good time for me. Steven Universe would be important to me because it resolved long-standing character-driven mysteries and issues that had been hinted at since the very start of the show and they pertained to characters I cared deeply about, whereas...I watched the first season and a half of Better Call Saul and stopped in the middle of it - the first season drew me in with its more lighthearted, character-driven nature, then the second season started going full ANGRY DARK DRAMA and I completely lost interest, .

40 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

I don't think I have enough of a handle on your exact tastes to even guess if you'd like it or not.
I wouldn't call the film a must-watch, even tho I enjoyed it a lot. I think it's one of Ralph Fiennes finer performances of late and the dark comedy was on point, for me. But it did have small lulls and the middle section was probably the most effective.

Edit: The lead actress Anya Taylor-Joy was fantastic too. And to say, I did like the ending/resolution, but not as much impact as it was aiming for. eg I wanted a little more than it gave, I think.

Thoroughbreds and The Witch starring Anya Taylor-Joy are two of my favorite films...but whatever charm was there wore off when I disliked her in The Queen's Gambit and especially The Northman, so I'm kinda eh about her. Still will probably check it out, though. Also, nobody, not even me, has a good grip on my tastes, .

Edited January 17, 2023 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'd have to have watched Breaking Bad to understand your specific example completely, but I get the idea. I'm still not the type of person to be as affected by it as others, though - especially knowing that there are a number of shows where...I mean, I largely don't care about the plots of shows so long as there's nothing noticeably stupid or wrong with them (i.e. if I'm not explicitly annoyed by them), so if additional seasons primarily focus on that, then it's usually not a good time for me. Steven Universe would be important to me because it resolved long-standing character-driven mysteries and issues that had been hinted at since the very start of the show and they pertained to characters I cared deeply about, whereas...I watched the first season and a half of Better Call Saul and stopped in the middle of it - the first season drew me in with its more lighthearted, character-driven nature, then the second season started going full ANGRY DARK DRAMA and I completely lost interest, .

I should have known your hate game would have prevented you from watching Breaking Bad tbh.

[majestic]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I watched the first season and a half of Better Call Saul and stopped in the middle of it - the first season drew me in with its more lighthearted, character-driven nature, then the second season started going full ANGRY DARK DRAMA and I completely lost interest, .

Good news then, because Breaking Bad starts off as character driven black comedy in the first season and then becomes an angry dark drama. One might actually think the parallels are intentional. Although, well, even at the beginning Breaking Bad had much bleaker moments than the initial Better Call Saul episodes.

 

[Sarex]

I did watch season 1 of Breaking Bad but I was not a fan of it, so maybe @Bartimaeus should give it a go if previous patterns are anything to go by.

[majestic]

21 minutes ago, Sarex said:

I did watch season 1 of Breaking Bad but I was not a fan of it, so maybe @Bartimaeus should give it a go if previous patterns are anything to go by.

I don't think it works that way.

[Bartimaeus]

26 minutes ago, Sarex said:

I did watch season 1 of Breaking Bad but I was not a fan of it, so maybe @Bartimaeus should give it a go if previous patterns are anything to go by.

 

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

I don't think it works that way.

I don't know, usually how it goes with those is I quite like the first season as it builds up its characters and world while setting the stage for what's to come (so yeah, that would fit), then the focus completely shifts gears into the really drab plot-heavy stuff with nary a respite for anything else and it starts becoming difficult to remember what I even liked about the show in the first place. So maybe I would really enjoy the first season which Sarex disliked...but chances are, I'd get halfway through the second before going "eeehhh...maybe later...and by 'later', I mean never".

Edited January 17, 2023 by Bartimaeus