The TV and Streaming Thread: That's Entertainment!

[Hurlshort]

I love the books, and it seems like they nailed it on this one. Might need to finally subscribe to AppleTV for a month to binge it.

[rjshae]

I'm binging the Fallen series on AMC+. It's pretty weird stuff in a number of ways, but I like weird.

[ShadySands]

Running Point - It's like a fantasy retelling of the Jeanie Buss story where the characters are familiar but everything else is made up.

D3 - I think it's the last Mighty Ducks movie. My son really got into hockey somehow and he loves the Mighty Duck movies. 

Rookie of the Year - I couldn't think of any other hockey movies for little kids so we watched this. He liked it but he doesn't like baseball like he likes hockey and basketball.

 

 

Edited April 14 by ShadySands

[Hurlshort]

@ShadySands It sounds like it is time to enroll your kid in hockey.

Miracle and Mystery, Alaska are both fairly family friendly. Goon and Slapshot, not so much, but they are hilarious.

[BruceVC]

Im watching lots of series

But I just watched episode 1  S2 of The Last of Us, its going to be good 

 

[rjshae]

16 hours ago, rjshae said:

I'm binging the Fallen series on AMC+. It's pretty weird stuff in a number of ways, but I like weird.

Well that was a pointless waste of time. Is it really a choice when your only option is the "right" choice?

[Hurlshort]

G20 - Alternative history movie is Kamala Harris won the presidency. I kid!

But Viola Davis was fantastic in a Die Hard scenario. It made me forget our current political mess for a bit and that was worth the time.

[ShadySands]

Been wanting to rewatch the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies, well, at least the first one. Need to see if that's streaming anywhere.

[Lexx]

First episode of the new Last of Us season. I liked it so far, but I really, really hate the weekly releases.

[ShadySands]

6 hours ago, Lexx said:

but I really, really hate the weekly releases

I'm waiting for the series to finish before I even start it

[Amentep]

16 hours ago, ShadySands said:

Been wanting to rewatch the old Christopher Reeve Superman movies, well, at least the first one. Need to see if that's streaming anywhere.

I rewatched all 4 recently.  Should rewatch Supergirl at some point, but I don't think they did a 4K remastering on it like they did the Salkind's Superman films.

Also watching the Salkind's Superboy series atm. Lol.

[majestic]

Black Mirror, season 7, episode 1: "Common People"

Yeah, so a while back (actually a long while back, given the time in between seasons of this series) I said that Black Mirror is like a more hopeful version of the 90ies Outer Limits remake. Similar storylines, but a lot less grim. I commented on the board that there are not enough downer endings in the series to scratch that itch Outer Limits left.

There's two things to say about the opening episode of the new season. It's a complete riot that it is on Netflix due to its subject matter of subscription services getting worse all the time while costing ever more, and it is incredibly dystopic and bleak. Much like Nosedive it is also a great commentary on the cyberpunkish dystopia our modern world is spiralling towards. This episode does more than just scratch an Outer Limits remake itch. It's bleak, dystopian, funny, terrifying and horrifying, all at the same time, it does feature a downer ending and - what is more than Outer Limits episodes could claim, most of the time - it is relevant social commentary.

Very, very strong opening. Don't know if that bodes well for the rest of the season or just sets an unpassable bar for the other episodes.

Edited April 17 by majestic

[Amentep]

Watched the premiere of the CW's "Sherlock & Daughter".  David Thewlis is Sherlock Holmes, Blu Hunt is Amelia Rojas, from California and of Native American descent (and I'm guessing Spanish ancestry as well based on the surname).  Sherlock is stymied by a blackmail plot that has put Watson and Mrs. Hudson under threat if he intercedes in an ongoing plot that involves kidnapping the children of ambassadors in England.  Amelia Rojas' mother has been murdered and was left a message by her mom that if that happened, Amelia was to find Sherlock Holmes, her father (which he denies when presented with the idea).  She travels from California to London and shenanigans happen leading Holmes to realize that Rojas presents an opportunity for him to act without tipping off whoever has snared him in their trap (probably Moriarty).

I feel they give Amelia enough of a background sketch in the opening that it goes towards explaining why she is a skilled and capable potential partner for Holmes.  Thewlis and Hunt are good.  I like the cut between scenes using map shots showing people travel, Raider of the Lost Ark, style that actually give an interesting idea about how much time it might have taken to travel in the time period.  There's an aspect of it that is anachronistic, not unlike the 70s shows set in the 20s and 30s that were both period & 70s at the same time.  Not enough at this time to be a bother.  There's an invention mentioned that reminded me a bit of Murdoch Mysteries ahistorical inventions.

I liked it enough to give a few more episodes a try. 

[majestic]

So, apparently, Paapa Essiedu is going to play Severus Snape in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter series.

Sometimes studios do the darndest things.

I mean... I don't really care about Snape being black just because he was described as Whitey McCracker with long, greasy hair in the books, but out of all the Harry Potter teachers they could have turned into a token black guy they pick the one person who gets hung from a tree by the Marauders? That's going to be one unfortunate scene, unless it gets dropped quietly - although it is a huge part o the reason for Snape's animosity towards Potter, so they can't really drop it. I mean sure they could, but not without changing the entire character dynamic between Snape and Potter, which is one of the best character bits in the books.

Has anyone on the creative team read the books before making the casting choices? Why not cast a Morgan Freeman-esque actor as Dumbledore? That would have been something.

[Zoraptor]

Neville Longbottom's greatest fear is now... a black man, hiding in his closet!

If you really do want to do colour blind casting it's absolutely fine. If you want to avoid all 'negative stereotypes' there aren't that many options when it comes to the main characters in Harry Potter except, maybe, Harry himself. Or McGonagal, if you count her as a mc.

Not sure I'd like anything else about the series but I'm certainly going to have fun mentally replacing Dumbledore with Richard Solomon or The Trinity Killer in every scene.

[Lexx]

Black Snape just feels completely wrong. Why not a black Dumbledore? Would have worked better if they really had to, imo.

[uuuhhii]

missed black mirror season 7 because minor sickness and other distraction

it is actually pretty good

[Gorgon]

There's two episodes of the last of us part 2. They went with a pretty distinctly non buff Abby. 

 I don't suppose there is any way they can borrow some marvel multiverse and just make a better alternate story than the game. 

 

 

[rjshae]

I finished watching Domino Day on AMC+. It was pretty decent, even fun at times, even though fantasy always seems too random to me.

Now I'm giving Snowpiercer a reluctant try... and I'm finding it better than I expected. The whole concept is completely absurd, but I suppose it can be viewed as a type of generation ship.

[Lexx]

1 hour ago, Gorgon said:

There's two episodes of the last of us part 2. They went with a pretty distinctly non buff Abby. 

 I don't suppose there is any way they can borrow some marvel multiverse and just make a better alternate story than the game.

I thought ep2 was really good and well done. Remained true to the game for the most of it, but improved on it also and got rid of Joel's stupid behavior.

Still I don't understand why they had to swap out the spores with magic mycelium, to me this doesn't solve any issues.. if at all it creates more/different ones.

 

Watched s1 and 2 of 1923, that Yellowstone prequel thingy. Wasn't bad at all, but some of the drama was just so forced and lol. Also how they kept talking about "we need Spencer, then everything will be good again" as if Spencer is god knows who. Just feels weird and like fantasy. Was wondering how much of that show is based on history and how much is just fiction.

[Zoraptor]

2 hours ago, Gorgon said:

I don't suppose there is any way they can borrow some marvel multiverse and just make a better alternate story than the game.

No comment on the unexpected occurrence and its merits storywise, but the 'moral' of the overall story ought to work better on TV. Indeed, in some ways it always felt like the game story was adapted from something more 'traditional'.

Spoilered for a surfeit of safety.

Spoiler

Violence begets violence is kind of a dumb moral for a game where as the protagonist you've begot a whole lot of violence and the best- only- way to avoid it is to, well, not have played the game. Especially when the game is linear and you can't change things significantly. That moral works far better if you're a passive observer as in TV, a novel, film etc.

 

Edited Tuesday at 09:04 PM by Zoraptor

[BruceVC]

11 hours ago, Lexx said:

I thought ep2 was really good and well done. Remained true to the game for the most of it, but improved on it also and got rid of Joel's stupid behavior.

Still I don't understand why they had to swap out the spores with magic mycelium, to me this doesn't solve any issues.. if at all it creates more/different ones.

 

Watched s1 and 2 of 1923, that Yellowstone prequel thingy. Wasn't bad at all, but some of the drama was just so forced and lol. Also how they kept talking about "we need Spencer, then everything will be good again" as if Spencer is god knows who. Just feels weird and like fantasy. Was wondering how much of that show is based on history and how much is just fiction.

I really enjoyed 1923, I think the idea of Spencer saving them is intentional considering his past as a hardcore soldier and lion hunter. The rest of the family are ranchers 

It made sense to me but the incredibly difficult  journey that him and Alex made to get back was epic and how it ended was both evocative and really sad 

Its all based on real historical  events in Montana  like the rancher wars and Native American religious schools and the abuse that occurred in them 

The Dutton family are fictional. But damn didnt Timothy Dalton play a real degenerate that you can only hate 

Have you watched 1883, its excellent and its the start of the Duttons journey and the prequel to 1923

 

 

 

 

[BruceVC]

12 hours ago, rjshae said:

I finished watching Domino Day on AMC+. It was pretty decent, even fun at times, even though fantasy always seems too random to me.

Now I'm giving Snowpiercer a reluctant try... and I'm finding it better than I expected. The whole concept is completely absurd, but I suppose it can be viewed as a type of generation ship.

Did you end up watching Interview with a Vampire on AMC?

 

Initially when I saw it was   a   black Louis I thought " here we go again, how are they going to explain how you ever had a black plantation owner in Louisiana in the 1800's " and I assumed it was going to be a complete woke revisionist  failure 

But they created the new Louis really well in a convincing way around his history and how he faces bigotry  apart from everything else

And I really enjoyed both seasons . Deep themes around true  love and relationships  and how Vampires would and could experience these things. But they dont avoid the dark nature of Vampirism and how  tragic and lonely it can become 

 

 

 

[Lexx]

1 hour ago, BruceVC said:

I really enjoyed 1923, I think the idea of Spencer saving them is intentional considering his past as a hardcore soldier and lion hunter. The rest of the family are ranchers 

It made sense to me but the incredibly difficult  journey that him and Alex made to get back was epic and how it ended was both evocative and really sad 

Its all based on real historical  events in Montana  like the rancher wars and Native American religious schools and the abuse that occurred in them 

The Dutton family are fictional. But damn didnt Timothy Dalton play a real degenerate that you can only hate 

Have you watched 1883, its excellent and its the start of the Duttons journey and the prequel to 1923

Oh, I forgot about the banker... he was ridiculously evil. As if making him a greedy banker wasn't enough, they needed to add some sex kink stuff on top to really sell it. The only thing missing was him twirling his mustache. He is basically this guy:

Spoiler

I haven't watched 1883, maybe I will now.

Edited Wednesday at 09:12 AM by Lexx

[BruceVC]

50 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Oh, I forgot about the banker... he was ridiculously evil. As if making him a greedy banker wasn't enough, they needed to add some sex kink stuff on top to really sell it. The only thing missing was him twirling his mustache. He is basically this guy:

  Reveal hidden contents

I haven't watched 1883, maybe I will now.

Yes his sexual deviancy only added to his nefarious character, very accurate cartoon 

But the show also creates nuance in personalities which I appreciated, so for example Banner  starts off as this dumb Scottish  thug but then you see everything he does is just for his family and he questions what Whitfield is doing to those women. You can see how conflicted he is and he ends up redeeming himself at the end  IMO 

1883 was better for me than 1923, both are great but 1883 captures the harsh reality of how people made the trek to the West and a better life.