Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Arts and Entertainment => Topic started by: Beardy on 03 June, 2023, 09:19:26 pm

Title: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 03 June, 2023, 09:19:26 pm
We’ve got a what’s on TV thread, and a what was the last filum you watched threads, but I can’t see a streaming thread, so here’s one I’ve made out of sticky back plastic.

We’re currently watching For All Mankind on Apple TV and really enjoying it. It starts off with the original space race in the late 60s but plays around with the outcomes and then goes on to speculate what if the space race didn’t end in the early 70s. It hasn’t yet got to far fetched to really be considered as SF, although that is in fact exactly what it is. I think the genre is sometimes referred to as speculative history.

It’s interesting to consider how the emotions it engenders within me have changed from the first series to third series. Because the first series sticks quite closely to the actual space tech that I watched in real life, the emotions the space sequences fire in me are quite visceral, even when I know that they have deviated from reality. But as the programmes role by and the tech moves further from reality and more towards a speculative tech the emotions aren’t as grounded and so don’t affect me in quite the same way. I’m sure psychologist could produce papers and papers based on this stuff.

Anyway, if you’ve access to Apple TV I can highly recommend the show.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 04 June, 2023, 07:48:21 am
Haven't got FruityVu and don't really want to give €€€ to Apple. Still, the series sounds interesting.

Been watching a Japanese serial about Fukushima on Netflux: fairly intense.  Can't quite believe that the PM of the time, Naoto Kan, was really such a clueless autocratic prick.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: MattH on 04 June, 2023, 11:01:25 am
I'm on a free Apple TV trial (a credit card gave a five month free trial).

I was most most interested for Long Way Up (the Ewan and thingy ride electric motorbikes up from South America to LA) - good, but a lot more about the issues of powering electric bikes and pickup trucks and dealing with software bugs than exploring and interacting with locals. They are definitely decreasing in quality for me from Long Way Round, then Long Way Down and finally this, even though production values go up.

Slow Horses - loved the books, the two series are good too. Very much the flawed, grubby spies fumbling along rather than high tech shiny Bond. I like this partly as it doesn't try to be too real; the security services are in different buildings to reality, for example, so in a way it helps the suspension of disbelief as, for example, they aren't trying to say that a random London building is Thames House, they say that the HQ is Regents Park. In the books it's pretty obvious that one of the politicians is based on Boris, that's not so clear in the TV series.

Foundation - based on the Asimov books. Very well done, though some bits aren't how I remembered them. But it's been a good 20 years since I read the books, must dig them out again.

It does seem that Apple are trying for quality rather than quantity. Whether I'll keep it up beyond the free trial is another matter...
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 04 June, 2023, 12:32:19 pm
For All Mankind is on our list, currently watching Servant, which is OK, if a bit of a one-series idea stretched to four series, but there's enough to keep us watching. Plus it's 30-minute episodes which ought to be more of a thing.

Slow Horses and Severance are, of course, Apple TV cannon. I like Apple TV as indeed they do seem focused on quality, rather than the Netflix scattergun approach (and then cancelling most of them after series one). We don't watch a lot of TV, so it's not like I need a new show every night. Other use cases might apply. Everyone tells me to watch Ted Lasso, but I find anything even adjacently related to football sends me to sleep.

Also watching Dark on Netflix, which is good but is also a workout for the brain, it takes the first series to figure out who's who in each time period (evidently not the only person, as the credits started to show a triptych of each character at different ages). On the last season now.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 04 June, 2023, 04:58:24 pm
Might have a gander at FruitLoop TV after all.

Watched Dark last year some time: engaging enough but loony.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 26 July, 2023, 08:52:54 pm
Watching Deadloch on Prime at the moment and it’s a bit of a cross genre oddity. On the one hand it’s a very crude comedy1 and not the sort of thing that would appeal to Dr B at all, but on the other hand it’s a fairly clever whodunit, and in that respect it’s a bit of a ‘page turner’. It’s most certainly got Dr B hooked, and crude though it is, she keeps chuckling to herself and occasionally guffawing loudly.


1. Its Australian origin might have something to do with this.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 28 July, 2023, 11:24:28 am
Manifest on the flix.  It’s ok but suffers from typical USAnian 20 episodes when in the U.K. they would have done it in 6.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: PaulF on 28 July, 2023, 12:37:32 pm
Invasion on Apple. Bit different from your standard alien invasion plot; I’m 4 episodes in and only seen a fleeting glimpse of them. Instead it focuses on how it affects 4 different groups of characters.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 28 July, 2023, 09:04:40 pm
Invasion on Apple. Bit different from your standard alien invasion plot; I’m 4 episodes in and only seen a fleeting glimpse of them. Instead it focuses on how it affects 4 different groups of characters.

Spook, same thing, though episode 3. I quite like the way it's slowly building without actually being slow.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 29 July, 2023, 07:02:06 pm
I believe that Prime has dropped the sequel to Good Omens ...
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Mr Larrington on 29 July, 2023, 08:30:58 pm
My pal Jim reports this to be the case.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 30 July, 2023, 12:49:49 pm
When you say sequel, do you mean series 3? I ask, as series 2 appears to still be present on Prime
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: spesh on 30 July, 2023, 04:42:35 pm
It may depend on how fd3 is using the word "dropped", because it is sometimes used (especially by Leftpondians and other abusers of the King's English) instead of "released" or "published". For example:

Quote
In the 2006 reprinted edition of Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett’s 1990 classic “Good Omens,” the co-authors did a Q&A in which they answered the question “Why isn’t there a sequel?” like this:

“We played around with ideas, but we could never work up the enthusiasm. Besides, we wanted to do other things (and some of those ideas probably ended up, bent to a different shape, in the works of both of us). Recently, though, we’ve both been wondering if ‘never again’ is set in stone. So there might be a sequel one day. Maybe. Perhaps. Who knows? We don’t.”

Well, now we do know, because on July 28, Amazon Prime Video dropped the second season of TV adaptation of “Good Omens,” which sees Michael Sheen and David Tennant reprise their roles as apocalypse-fighting, millennia-long best friends: the fussy angel and rare-book dealer Aziraphale and fast-living demon Crowley.
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/good-omens-season-2-ending-explained-neil-gaiman-1235680606/

(Article contains spoilers from the season 2 finale, so caveat lector!)

Looking at Neil Gaiman's Tumblr earlier, he said in one post that he'd have preferred Amazon to have released each episode on a daily or weekly basis, instead of the entire series being "dropped" in one go.

As far as the third - and final - series is concerned:

Quote
Quote
transmasc-tfw2 asked:

Please tell me that a season 3 of Good Omens is confirmed. I beg of you Mr. Gaiman.
It won’t be confirmed unless enough people watch Season 2 to make Amazon happy. And it’s strike season, which makes everything harder.

But obviously Season 3 is all planned and plotted and, if I get to make it, will take the story and the people in it we care about to a satisfying end. If I wasn’t on strike I’d be writing it currently. Our set is still standing in a studio in Bathgate and we would all love to get back there and finish the story in the way Terry and I plotted, long ago.
https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/724064743015481344/please-tell-me-that-a-season-3-of-good-omens-is

Quote
Quote
ihatetomatoes3000 asked:

do you imagine if a season 3 were to be produced that it would come out faster than season 2? could we be expecting any type of closure before 2027?


If it wasn’t for strikes I’d have most of it written by now. As it is, a first draft of Episode 1 and the final fifteen pages of Episode 6 (in case I get hit by a bus) are written, and the rest of it has to wait until the strike is done and we can pick up our pens. When the strike was called I took the post-it notes with the Season 3 episode breakdowns off the walls and put them sadly away.

If we shot it in 2024 it would probably be released in early ‘26. (We started shooting S2 in October 2021. It’s about a year in post-production from wrap to release.)
https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/724098700328255488/do-you-imagine-if-a-season-3-were-to-be-produced
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 06 August, 2023, 07:34:50 am
It may depend on how fd3 is using the word "dropped", because it is sometimes used (especially by Leftpondians and other abusers of the King's English) instead of "released" or "published".

As a mare drops a foal or a cow drops a calf, for example. Probably influenced by their cowboy history.

In any case, we dropped off the end of G.O.2 last night and had a bit of a WTF? moment.  But now I'm thinking it was brilliant, and liable to raise many hackles over there <===.  Looking forward to G.O.3 now, unless plans for it are dropped when the Amazon bigwiggery realize that it might seriously piss off a hefty slice of their devout clientele.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: perpetual dan on 06 August, 2023, 07:33:30 pm
I’ve started watching “Halt and catch fire”, having missed it before. Not looking for spoilers, but there seems to be some depth to the characters. Also, I didn’t work in an office until a bit after this time so it works a bit like a period drama for me. :)
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 08 August, 2023, 09:17:29 pm
Invasion on Apple. Bit different from your standard alien invasion plot; I’m 4 episodes in and only seen a fleeting glimpse of them. Instead it focuses on how it affects 4 different groups of characters.

Spook, same thing, though episode 3. I quite like the way it's slowly building without actually being slow.

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 13 August, 2023, 12:16:00 pm
New streaming releases are "dropped", it's what teh yoot say these days.
We watched Chinese puzzle (third of the auberge espagnole series) which was free with a trial of studiocanal on prime.  We then watched The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, which was a decent find (if in one aspect too telegraphed) and then most of Infiniti which is a 6 partner in the vein of the Missions series.  It struggled because
Khazak subtitles in white on a white background
Compelling wtf mystery that is then resolved thru bullshit in the last episode.
We watched the first 3 episodes, then the recaps at the start of 4 and 5 before watching ep 6 (so that we could cancel our free trial because we are cheap - don't think I would have paid to watch infiniti, the other two were decent).
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 13 August, 2023, 02:40:35 pm
Watched a short serial called The Consultant over the last two evenings.  Droll, incongruous, ending a bit disappointing.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 14 August, 2023, 10:03:51 pm
Secret Invasion. 8/10 mehs. You got Samuel Jackson and Olivia Colman on the menu and you serve them up with a poorly reheated plot that's been done many times before and many times better, even by Marvel themselves (you won't need spoilers, I spent the entire brief run wondering if they'd do something – anything – different and they didn't). I wouldn't bother.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 23 August, 2023, 08:22:09 pm
FUBAR on Netflix. First episode was a solid 5/10 mehs*, but it's grown on me a lot and I'm quite enjoying it. I mean, it's obviously intensely stupid, but Arnie seemed to be enjoying himself and well, it's Arnie, you don't expect acting. I'm dropping it down to 2.5/10 mehs. It's a good end of the evening brain-softener.

*I've now adopted the meh scale for reviews, 10/10 mehs is solid awful, 1/10 mehs is good.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 02 September, 2023, 10:38:07 am
Watched Inside Man on Netflux, not the film but a serial with Stan Tucci & David Tennant. The bits with Stan Tucci were droll and entertaining but the chunk of plot centred around poor David Tennant (he had to spout that shit) relied on people constantly acting impulsively and talking over each other; and was bloody stupid.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 02 September, 2023, 04:55:08 pm
Agree re Inside Man, I would rate it highly on the meh scale, a solid 6, though arguably the fact that it has enough good moments to sucker you into watching it could mean it rates higher as opposed to lower.  I would not recommend.
Fubar is basically "True Lies" turned into a series.  It's enjoyable in a candy type way.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 13 September, 2023, 10:22:25 am
We’re currently watching the second series of Foundation on Apple TV, and it’s quite entertaining. However, having read the books some 40 years ago, I remember enough of the story to know that the televised version is not faithful to the source material and it’s quite distracting in that I’m constantly trying to work out how it is diverting. And the ‘mystical’ element they’ve added is most irritating.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 13 September, 2023, 11:04:57 am
Rewatching the Lupin serial on Netflux to prepare for the next season in October. Good story, must read the books some time.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: sam on 24 September, 2023, 12:24:44 pm
Wolf Hall again. If memory serves, it doesn't end well for any of them.

Now picturing Mr VIII as a secret Muslim.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 25 September, 2023, 05:31:07 pm
Wolf Hall again. If memory serves, it doesn't end well for any of them.

Now picturing Mr VIII as a secret Muslim.

Googled Wolf Hall to see who was streaming the serial.  Further down the page: "Why is Wolf Hall so hard to read?"  :facepalm: Maybe because it's words in a line, Dumbo.

We've got it on DVD.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: sam on 25 September, 2023, 08:01:51 pm
"Why is Wolf Hall so hard to read?"

I remember there being complaints it was hard to see what was going on half the time because of all the dim lighting.

We're just past the anniversary of Hilary Mantel's death, is how I came to be rewatching it. I was surprised and pleased to learn there's going to be another series.

About 4 years ago I caught Mark Rylance speaking in Parliament Square.

(https://i.imgur.com/1h5pfhd.jpg)

Anyone aware of his most notorious role will find an Easter egg in that pic.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 02 October, 2023, 08:50:03 pm
Tried Black Summer, realised it was zombies, but hey, gave it two episodes. I won't get that time back. If you like dumb people running around and doing dumb stuff while chased by literally brainless corpses, it's probably for you. I don't ever get why the good people of modern America always, in such shows, seem entirely unaware of the entire zombie genre. Surprise! What can be happening? Shoot them in the head, you say, why would we do that, do you think it would stop them??

Anyway, of course, civilization goes feral almost immediately because it always does and everyone who started the show dumb suffers a precipitous decline in their remaining IQ. IQs descended so fast in the first two episodes that I imagine their ears popped. The only consistency was the default set of unlikeable characters who will be guaranteed to stick around like a bogroom stink for too many episodes before being killed off. 9/10 mehs.

Don't bother. Switched to Invasion on Apple TV. The first series ended up around 5/10 mehs after a strongish start. After episode one, it seems they're on a strong 5/10 meh theme already. Same old tropes, there's always a psychic kid who can connect with the aliens, obligatory supergenius with personality disorder, aliens who can travel across the galaxy but can't maintain air superiority over a small town when they get here. Etc.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 08 October, 2023, 12:39:18 am
Rewatching the Lupin serial on Netflux to prepare for the next season in October. Good story, must read the books some time.
Watching the new series as watched the last two.  Isoaky, but nothing to write home about.  I read the books as a kid, until they started to get a bit samey (and this from a 15 yo).
Watched "Who is Erin Carter" which was pretty good, a bit formulaic but had a nice twist (or two) which made it watchable.  But then the last episode was disappointing.
Back to Arabic movies for me.
Tried Black Summer, realised it was zombies, but hey, gave it two episodes. I won't get that time back.
Why do you do it to yourself?  Nothing can be so bad that they can't make it worse with zombies.  Sure, there are notable exceptions, but any zombie flick/series gets a double veto in our house.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 08 October, 2023, 08:43:28 am
Quote
Tried Black Summer, realised it was zombies, but hey, gave it two episodes. I won't get that time back.
Why do you do it to yourself?  Nothing can be so bad that they can't make it worse with zombies.  Sure, there are notable exceptions, but any zombie flick/series gets a double veto in our house.

The Dead Don't Die being one of the notables.  Quite fond of that.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 08 October, 2023, 10:01:38 am
'Occupied' Norwegian, 2015

"The series depicts a fictional near future in which, due to catastrophic environmental events, Norway's Prime Minister has stopped the country's oil and gas production. Russia, with support from the European Union, occupies Norway to restore its oil and gas production, in response to a Europe-wide energy crisis."

"Vyacheslav Pavlovsky [ru], the Russian ambassador to Norway, told Russian News Agency TASS, "It is certainly a shame that, in the year of the 70th anniversary of the victory in World War II, the authors have seemingly forgotten the Soviet Army's heroic contribution to the liberation of northern Norway from Nazi occupiers, decided, in the worst traditions of the Cold War, to scare Norwegian spectators with the nonexistent threat from the east." The Russian embassy had been informed in an early stage of the work on the series."  Later on the Russians invade Ukraine.

The USA has so far proved to be, shall we say, 'unreliable', but I haven't got to the end yet. 

Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 09 October, 2023, 11:53:17 am
Tried Black Summer, realised it was zombies, but hey, gave it two episodes. I won't get that time back.
Why do you do it to yourself?  Nothing can be so bad that they can't make it worse with zombies.  Sure, there are notable exceptions, but any zombie flick/series gets a double veto in our house.

A mistake. I had broken the zombie rule by watching the Resident Evil zombie series which I did survive, but mostly the zombies were a side project, and it was very watchable and featured the always awesome (and very recently sadly demised) Lance Riddick. 4/10 mehs.

Black Summer was badged as 'horror' but yes, was almost immediately the usual dumb people doing dumb things while being chased by dumb monsters. The promise of two entire seasons of that wasn't entirely enticing. I managed an entire season of The Walking Dead, which I can imagine exists so people can shout at the screen 'don't go into the dark room with only the single door' and waiting for characters to get so annoying that the writers have to kill them off.

Still watching Invasion on the Apple TV, or was till I noticed they're doing an episode-a-week thing, presumably because giving customers what they want (bingable tv) isn't really their game plan. Up to 6.5/10 mehs and not much hope of redemption. Now in the mode of the characters doing stuff for no other reason than to move the plot forward, which is the most annoying thing about modern TV. Obligatory annoying characters too (I'm not sure who invented the rule that every show has to have a deeply annoying teenager, but really I can't imagine the average parent rejoices a whiny teen in real life, so I'm not sure the value of featuring them in every TV show, maybe it's to share the pain).

Sampling Silo, episode one was entertaining enough, though I suspect the arc will be predictable.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 10 October, 2023, 05:32:20 pm
Your tolerance for bad zombie flix must be harnessable in some ways, possibly a new energy source?
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 10 October, 2023, 05:34:07 pm
The Dead Don't Die being one of the notables.  Quite fond of that.
I was not aware of it, but it's a Reeves and Mortimer Jim Jarmusch production, so it must be good.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: SoreTween on 10 October, 2023, 10:57:53 pm
(I'm not sure who invented the rule that every show has to have a deeply annoying teenager, but really I can't imagine the average parent rejoices a whiny teen in real life, so I'm not sure the value of featuring them in every TV show, maybe it's to share the pain).
I don't recall the bar stewards name but I believe it was the writer wot came up with the character yklept Wesley Crusher.

No comment upon the rumour they're also responsible (and still serving time I hope) for Jar Jar Binks.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 18 October, 2023, 10:28:07 pm
It's a bizarre phenomenon, admittedly, I sure they have focus audiences etc. who can't rejoice the annoying teenagers.

Currently on episode 3 of Silo, which looks like the usual dystopian nonsense, but is currently surprisingly gripping. If might go off-kilter. Probably best to avoid if you're an engineering pendant, because even I'm sure that's not the wise way to fix a massive steam turbine though.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 10 November, 2023, 09:43:24 pm
Enjoyed Silo, ends on the sort will-they-or-won't-they-renew cliffhanger that subverted the obvious outcome. I'm giving it an uncharacteristic 2/10 mehs. Yeah, I know it's nonsense and it doesn't stand thinking about too much (I mean, seriously, has no one just like held their breath and looked outside, and where exactly are the mines if no one can leave the silo? Et cetera, et cetera).

Invasion got 9/10 mehs in the end. The first series managed to be a bit intriguing but the second is just a mush of the usual tropes and commits the cardinal crime of not moving the plot forward one single millimetre during the tenure of ten entire episodes. To the bin with that.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 14 November, 2023, 09:58:48 pm
Manifest on the Netflix. Basically, a plane load of people lands five years late, a feat even for Ryanair. Four episodes in and it's a wobbly 6.5/10 mehs. Suspect it'll go downhill like a drunk fat man on roller skates, the episodes are rapidly conforming to formula, with an occasional drip of plot, and those pointless flashbacks and sideplots are starting to predominate, even though I'm already sure they'll contribute nothing to the plot. Who really cares about who hooked up with who while the plane was missing, the only thing anyone is watching the bloody show for is the actually mystery of the missing plane.
Title: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: citoyen on 19 November, 2023, 05:01:33 pm
Bodies on Netflix.

The plot appears to be lifted from*…
(click to show/hide)

Entertaining enough but after three episodes it’s becoming all too obvious where it is going.

*I’ve put this in spoiler tags but it’s all so derivative that you’ll spot what’s going on long before it’s made explicit so it’s hardly a spoiler at all.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Auntie Helen on 19 November, 2023, 06:59:25 pm
Manifest on the Netflix. Basically, a plane load of people lands five years late, a feat even for Ryanair. Four episodes in and it's a wobbly 6.5/10 mehs. Suspect it'll go downhill like a drunk fat man on roller skates, the episodes are rapidly conforming to formula, with an occasional drip of plot, and those pointless flashbacks and sideplots are starting to predominate, even though I'm already sure they'll contribute nothing to the plot. Who really cares about who hooked up with who while the plane was missing, the only thing anyone is watching the bloody show for is the actually mystery of the missing plane.
I watched 2-3 series of this last year on German Netflix. I liked it initially but it then got a bit too samey and I found the perfectly-brushed hair of the Indian scientist lady hard to believe. Also the jawline of Michaela the heroine, and the dull worthiness of her worthy brother. But Zeke was good.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 20 November, 2023, 12:53:57 pm
Enjoyed Silo, ends on the sort will-they-or-won't-they-renew cliffhanger that subverted the obvious outcome. I'm giving it an uncharacteristic 2/10 mehs. Yeah, I know it's nonsense and it doesn't stand thinking about too much (I mean, seriously, has no one just like held their breath and looked outside, and where exactly are the mines if no one can leave the silo? Et cetera, et cetera).

I read the soilers (apparently it's based on a prolific series of novels) and concluded that not being renewed was probably optimal.  I was expecting the Ascension reveal, but there's nowhere to go that even begins to make sense.  Not that the third episode didn't serve as a warning, in that respect.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: citoyen on 20 November, 2023, 04:18:34 pm
Bodies on Netflix.

The plot appears to be lifted from*…
(click to show/hide)

Entertaining enough but after three episodes it’s becoming all too obvious where it is going.

*I’ve put this in spoiler tags but it’s all so derivative that you’ll spot what’s going on long before it’s made explicit so it’s hardly a spoiler at all.

Finished it yesterday. Despite being derivative and predictable, it's actually very enjoyable and comes to a satisfactory conclusion (mercifully, the producers have already said they have no intention of making another series, although it is left slightly open-ended just in case the financial imperative becomes too compelling).

Star of the show is undoubtedly the endearingly quirky Shira Haas.

Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 20 November, 2023, 08:29:51 pm
Manifest on the Netflix. Basically, a plane load of people lands five years late, a feat even for Ryanair. Four episodes in and it's a wobbly 6.5/10 mehs. Suspect it'll go downhill like a drunk fat man on roller skates, the episodes are rapidly conforming to formula, with an occasional drip of plot, and those pointless flashbacks and sideplots are starting to predominate, even though I'm already sure they'll contribute nothing to the plot. Who really cares about who hooked up with who while the plane was missing, the only thing anyone is watching the bloody show for is the actually mystery of the missing plane.
I watched 2-3 series of this last year on German Netflix. I liked it initially but it then got a bit too samey and I found the perfectly-brushed hair of the Indian scientist lady hard to believe. Also the jawline of Michaela the heroine, and the dull worthiness of her worthy brother. But Zeke was good.

I confess I'm losing my enthusiasm quickly so will probably call it a day (and I somehow managed the entirety of Lost, which no one should) – it's all filler with a whiff of tease about the central premise of what happened. Watching the usual character stereotypes do little of interest (and some of the acting is borderline). It's another one of those series where they have a simple plot that might have powered, at best, a short movie, so they are forced to fill screen time. It's that slow pacing – fine if you're using it to develop characters and build towards something – but the writers are treading water. We're at the obligatory government conspiracy phase because no one has ever done that before. Everyone seems to take the longer format available on streaming services and just use it as an excuse for stretching out basic, regurgitated plots. Those godforsaken Star Wars spin-offs are good examples, completely underwritten. There's one episode of The Mandalorian where he does a little Indy quest and then gets captured by a giant robot spider, so the Baby Yoda thing instead of saving him with the Force or whatever, flies across the galaxy to get someone else to help him, she says yes (having previously said no), so they fly all the back, do the Indy quest again, kill the robot spider and free him. And then Bagpuss says it's for bed. People seem to love them, but they're all like this. I hold to my theory that Star Wars is for children and not grown-ups.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 20 November, 2023, 11:01:25 pm
Hard agree with ian here. 
Watched a couple of episodes of manifest and then checked to see How Many? Series with How Many? episodes? Pass.
Star wars is great for kids, I has a couple who are getting into the movies.  It's as much for old men like me as disney musical animations.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 21 November, 2023, 12:55:43 am
Star wars is great for kids, I has a couple who are getting into the movies.  It's as much for old men like me as disney musical animations.

Star Wars, like Disney Musicals, isn't as good as it used to be.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 21 November, 2023, 10:03:56 pm
Having grown up when Stars Wars was a thing for the first time and all I ever wanted was a Millennium Falcon (never got one, I got a Starship Enterprise that fired photon torpedoes instead which wasn't even nearly as good), it has a place in my heart. The Empire Strikes back was excellent. But I think, even as a teenager, I sensed diminishing returns in Return of the Jedi. The subsequent prequels are movies I have no urge to ever repeat. As for the series, some people rave about them, but really at their best, they're anodyne. Even Andor, which seems to be the critics' favourite, is pretty basic and they could have done it in half the time without breaking a sweat. They're either trying to destroy the legacy of the movie, or beyond the nostalgia it perhaps never was that great.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: IanDG on 21 November, 2023, 11:03:22 pm
Scot Squad series 6 episode 5  ::-)

IGMC  ;D
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 22 November, 2023, 11:28:29 pm
Star wars was good when you were a kid, maybe the series is good on a kid level and us old folks should not expect it to appeal to us.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 23 November, 2023, 08:10:46 am
Started watching Netflux's All the light we cannot see last night but the mispronunciation of everything French and the cliché SS officer were so vile that we baled out after 15 minutes and watched The Killer instead.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 26 November, 2023, 05:10:06 pm
Watched The Railway Men on NF over the last two days.  Good coverage of the Bhopal/Union Carbide methyl isocyanate disaster in 1984, and what railway personnel did to get people out from under.  Striking but some of the incidents were a bit too good to be true, and some of the characters a bit too cardboard. Well worth a look all the same.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 18 December, 2023, 10:00:02 pm
Got to the end of the first series of Manifest, and it wasn't too bad in the end, maybe 5 or 6 mehs. Would give it another season.


What, what's this, only seasons 1 and 4 are available on UK Netflix.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 18 December, 2023, 10:01:57 pm
Got to the end of the first series of Manifest, and it wasn't too bad in the end, maybe 5 or 6 mehs. Would give it another season.

What, what's this, only seasons 1 and 4 are available on UK Netflix.


Having watched the entire thing, this is a more sensible decision than you might assume.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 19 December, 2023, 09:30:23 pm
Might be a valid point, but if I'd checked, I would have saved myself season 1.


Now on For All Mankind. Apparently lady astronauts. Madness, say I, without gravity it's well-known that their wombs will float up inside and suffocate their brains.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Wowbagger on 20 December, 2023, 10:17:42 pm
Bach's Brandenburg Concerti.

Václav Luks & Collegium 1704

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEzecIGYktA&ab_channel=Frescosayresdelprado
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 30 January, 2024, 08:08:58 pm
The Bear on Disney+

It’s billed as a comedy, but the laughs are few and far between. It’s probably better for it to be honest, because it is very good.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: gibbo on 31 January, 2024, 10:48:30 am
Detectorists...actually just finished, so now need to look for something else.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 01 February, 2024, 01:24:15 am
Now on For All Mankind. Apparently lady astronauts. Madness, say I, without gravity it's well-known that their wombs will float up inside and suffocate their brains.

We just finished Season 4.

Expectations calibrated on Season 3 made it entirely watchable.  Most of the space stuff doesn't make sense by this point, so you're left with character based drama, above average sets and cinematography, and cute nods to alternate history.  Unfortunately there's only about 4 proper characters left (who don't get nearly enough screen time), and to make matters worse they'd stopped making decent music by 2003.  I appreciated the upgraded Apple Newton.

For All Mankind jumps the shark somewhere in the first half of Season 2.  And I'm not expecting a Season 5.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 01 February, 2024, 08:53:29 am
West Wing

It is vaguely watchable. Not sure how much 'America' I can take.

CJ (Alison Janney) is absolutely gorgeous. Oh wait, that's why I'm watching it.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: farfetched on 01 February, 2024, 10:37:38 am
On HBO - True Detective S4 - "Night Country" set in Alaska - starring Jodie Foster.
Currently they release 1 episode a week, not bad, but nowhere near as good as series 1.
Its been an eye-opener with respect to the plight of the indigenous population.(Inupiat)
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 03 February, 2024, 11:28:02 am
Now on For All Mankind. Apparently lady astronauts. Madness, say I, without gravity it's well-known that their wombs will float up inside and suffocate their brains.

We just finished Season 4.

Expectations calibrated on Season 3 made it entirely watchable.  Most of the space stuff doesn't make sense by this point, so you're left with character based drama, above average sets and cinematography, and cute nods to alternate history.  Unfortunately there's only about 4 proper characters left (who don't get nearly enough screen time), and to make matters worse they'd stopped making decent music by 2003.  I appreciated the upgraded Apple Newton.

For All Mankind jumps the shark somewhere in the first half of Season 2.  And I'm not expecting a Season 5.


We're watching it on-and-off, it doesn't pull with great enthusiasm, though I mostly enjoy it when I do watch. Still binging on Alias though – we don't watch TV often, so it takes a while to get through those traditional US 22-episode seasons. Somewhat disappointed to find that Bradley Cooper wasn't actually turned into a raccoon. Must be something else.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Jaded on 03 February, 2024, 11:46:08 am
I have discovered Slow Horses, both in that it is very watchable, and it makes for a great distraction when doing 45 mins on the turbo.

Oh, and S2 Ep2 featured my local train station, which I walk through almost every time I take photos at a local music venue.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: ian on 03 February, 2024, 11:52:35 am
I did enjoy Slow Horses, a bit contrived, but I'm learning a lot of management skills from Jackson Lamb. Far cheaper than the MBA. Have the third series to catch at some point.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 04 February, 2024, 11:25:02 pm
Just finished S3 of Slow Horses, which was better than S2.  Less boring spy stuff, and more people being brilliantly rubbish and/or rubbishy brilliant.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: citoyen on 13 February, 2024, 12:25:25 pm
Slow Horses came up in discussion over Sunday lunch with my parents. Sounds promising. I have put it on the list (need to get round to it before the Apple TV free trial expires though).

We finally got round to starting The Bear at the weekend. Love it.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 02 March, 2024, 11:28:22 am
We have a short free subscription to apple TV. What's worth watching on it?
Avoiding documentaries and the trashy stuff that Ian revels in.  Bonus points if it's in foreign and a series that is 6-8 episodes long, as opposed to 5 series of 20 episodes.

Also, did I mention "into the night" on the flux?  Three series, short episodes, story driven fast enough but story still told well.  Didn't expect they would have enough material for more than one series, but it's working well.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 07 March, 2024, 02:31:29 pm
The afore mentioned Slow Horses is very good. For All Mankind was a nice take on alternative history and the future ramifications surrounding the moon landings. Silo was good if you like dystopian SF. H/JACK was also good. And Lessons in Chemistry was enjoyable. Foundation was good, although only tangentially related to its source material, which I found a little distracting. Bad Sisters was good as well. We couldn’t get on with Severence though, and I found Ted Lasso to be tedious after the first three or four shows.

If there’s any foreign language stuff on Apple, it’s not obvious on my English set account.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Regulator on 09 March, 2024, 06:58:17 am
Just finished The Brothers Sun.  Gory but funny.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 09 March, 2024, 02:39:26 pm
Cheers beardy, we have been watching Chemistry.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: fd3 on 19 March, 2024, 11:14:42 pm
Started watching Bad Sisters... All seemed very familiar ... Turns out we'd watched the Belgian original.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 22 March, 2024, 11:48:51 am
Started 3 Body Problem.  Manages not to be terrible: the story from the book(s) is recognizable.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Wowbagger on 23 March, 2024, 08:02:46 pm
Belleville Rendezvos currently on one of the ITV channels (Oscars 24/7).
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 24 March, 2024, 01:08:35 pm
Started 3 Body Problem.  Manages not to be terrible: the story from the book(s) is recognizable.

I'm about halfway through, and mildly impressed.  The character changes are fine, and nothing's really annoyed me, although
(click to show/hide)

Also, they did the thing with the Panama Canal.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 24 March, 2024, 04:23:42 pm
Started 3 Body Problem.  Manages not to be terrible: the story from the book(s) is recognizable.

I'm about halfway through, and mildly impressed.  The character changes are fine, and nothing's really annoyed me, although
(click to show/hide)

Also, they did the thing with the Panama Canal.

We finished it last night and quite enjoyed it, overall.  Trouble is that when you've read it you're continually judging it, which rather gets in the way of appreciating what they've done.  Rather sad that Cixin Liu only gets ~250 mS in the credits, though.

I watched the first episode of the Chinese version on YT, which Chinese viewers considered "deeper" than the NT version.  For my money it wasn't; and I'd need to get some bunch's TV app to watch more than the first 2 episodes so that's that.  Amusing detail: the Chinese brass appear to be driven around in VWs.

I'm thinking of reading the books again now.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: citoyen on 24 March, 2024, 07:21:24 pm
Started watching the Noel Fielding Dick Turpin thing the other day on Apple. It’s extremely silly, much as you’d expect. Enjoyably so. But not exactly deep and meaningful.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 25 March, 2024, 08:41:54 am
Still re 3-Body Problem, the demo of wonky physics is far better in the Chinese version.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 28 March, 2024, 04:10:39 pm
Still re 3-Body Problem, the demo of wonky physics is far better in the Chinese version.

And in fact it's the original, from the book.  Re-reading the first volume, I can see that the NF version strips out almost all the [astro]physics and concentrates on personal relationships and a few gory bits to titillate the punters.

Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 29 March, 2024, 11:54:08 am
I've been chugging my way through the Chinese series.  It's a *lot* more faithful to the book, to the point of being set in 2007 (Windows Vista and all),
(click to show/hide)

I was curious to see how the Cultural Revolution would be portrayed...

You've got to change mental gear to "Chinese TV series", which took me the first couple of episodes.  Mostly in terms of over-acting and use of music, though the portrayal of westerners is always amusing.  It's somewhere between Anime and Korean Action Movie with just a hint of Bollywood.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 29 March, 2024, 12:16:41 pm
Shōgun, on Disney. It is really very good, so far. Planning to binge the rest of it over the next few evenongs.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 29 March, 2024, 01:26:37 pm
I've been chugging my way through the Chinese series.

Where are you finding it?  I'm using a Chinese YT channel but they put in the TV adverts.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 29 March, 2024, 09:08:30 pm
I've been chugging my way through the Chinese series.

Where are you finding it?  I'm using a Chinese YT channel but they put in the TV adverts.

The same place I always go for DRM-free media with subtitles that actually work: Random torrent sites.   ;D
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 30 March, 2024, 07:46:22 am
I've been chugging my way through the Chinese series.

Where are you finding it?  I'm using a Chinese YT channel but they put in the TV adverts.

The same place I always go for DRM-free media with subtitles that actually work: Random torrent sites.   ;D

Right. I'd get into that if I thought my ageing IT powers could keep the gremlins out.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Jakob on 03 April, 2024, 04:28:05 pm


Also, they did the thing with the Panama Canal.

I just finished the series and that was easily the worst thing in the whole series. I guess it was in the books?
Otherwise loved the series. Best Sci-fi since the Expanse. Hope they can keep it up.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: jwo on 09 April, 2024, 10:28:13 pm
Ripley (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/04/ripley-review-andrew-scott-is-absolutely-spellbinding) (the Talented Mr, not the Alien basher).

Beautifully shot - every frame a carefully composed 1950s Leica photograph. Captures the isolation and claustrophobia of the Highsmith novel in a way that the Matt Damon / Jude Law film didn't. I agree with Lucy Mangan's review - a mesmerising performance from Andrew Scott. There are not many actors capable of carrying this off with so little dialogue to work with. Highly recommended.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 09 April, 2024, 11:02:23 pm
Also, they did the thing with the Panama Canal.

I just finished the series and that was easily the worst thing in the whole series. I guess it was in the books?
Otherwise loved the series. Best Sci-fi since the Expanse. Hope they can keep it up.

I've finished the Chinese series.  Which is longer and much more faithful to the book[1], which is commendable.  I'd suggest not judging it by the first few episodes, as the pace and acting seem to improve substantially once
(click to show/hide)
  Ye Wenjie gets to be a properly developed character.
Like the book, it buries the Cultural Revolution back-story somewhere in the middle so as not to upset the censors.  It's also unashamedly Chinese, and isn't afraid to play to a scientifically literate audience.

The bit with the Panama Canal was in the book, and the Chinese series did it better than Netflix, both in terms of the reasoning behind it and the physics (though the Netflix version had better visual effects).  Ultimately it was always going to be more spectacular in writing than on screen.  (Much more of that sort of thing in the third book, I'll wager.)

IMHO I think it's stronger for finishing properly at the end of the first book, though I'd certainly watch a second series.


[1] The Netflix series is evidently setting up to do the whole trilogy, and contains elements from the later books in an appropriate chronological order.

Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: andrewc on 09 April, 2024, 11:04:45 pm
I’m up to episode 6 of Ripley, which is pretty good.  There is a cat, but no Xenomorphs are involved.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: PeterM on 10 April, 2024, 10:10:29 pm
Ripley is astonishingly good
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Jakob on 10 April, 2024, 10:17:32 pm
Just finished Constellation. I mostly liked it, but the ending was extremely unsatisfactory.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 11 April, 2024, 01:22:57 pm
Also, they did the thing with the Panama Canal.

I just finished the series and that was easily the worst thing in the whole series. I guess it was in the books?
Otherwise loved the series. Best Sci-fi since the Expanse. Hope they can keep it up.

I've finished the Chinese series.  Which is longer and much more faithful to the book[1], which is commendable.  I'd suggest not judging it by the first few episodes, as the pace and acting seem to improve substantially once
(click to show/hide)
  Ye Wenjie gets to be a properly developed character.
Like the book, it buries the Cultural Revolution back-story somewhere in the middle so as not to upset the censors.  It's also unashamedly Chinese, and isn't afraid to play to a scientifically literate audience.

The bit with the Panama Canal was in the book, and the Chinese series did it better than Netflix, both in terms of the reasoning behind it and the physics (though the Netflix version had better visual effects).  Ultimately it was always going to be more spectacular in writing than on screen.  (Much more of that sort of thing in the third book, I'll wager.)

IMHO I think it's stronger for finishing properly at the end of the first book, though I'd certainly watch a second series.


[1] The Netflix series is evidently setting up to do the whole trilogy, and contains elements from the later books in an appropriate chronological order.

I'm on Ep. 21.  Shi Qiang is entertaining and a good foil for Wang Miao. He's also got me thinking about stir-fried tripe but MrsT recoils if I mention it.

When I started watching it I thought it was going to cover all 3 books - compare its 21 hours with Netflux's measly 6, pared down for the modern Western zombie audience - but now I'm glad it's just doing the one.  Not so glad that we'll have to wait for Books 2 & 3, though.

---o0o---

Right now MrsT has us re-watching Peaky Fucking Blinders for the Nth time and I wish they'd just Peak Blinding fuck off.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Kim on 11 April, 2024, 01:27:20 pm
Right now MrsT has us re-watching Peaky Fucking Blinders for the Nth time and I wish they'd just Peak Blinding fuck off.

Never actually seen it, in spite of living in Birmingham, where everyone (including the BBC) is obsessed with it.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 14 April, 2024, 09:39:53 pm
Quite enjoyed 3 body problem, although it probably helps that it’s a long time since I read the book so have forgotten a lot of the detail.

We finished watching Shogun last night and again found it very good. It’s even linger since I read that book.

Now watching Ripley which is quite astonishing in terms of the cinema photography and doing it all in B&W is very brave. Not only is every shot set up like an immense B&W still, but the direction is a throwback to the highest art house film noir of the 50s. It’s just as well it’s beautiful to look at though, because the pace in the first two episodes is pedestrian.

As an antidote to all this high concept stuff, I’m also watching Renagade Nell, which is utter 25 carrot cheese, but enjoyable for all that.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 15 April, 2024, 08:05:02 am
Now watching Ripley which is quite astonishing in terms of the cinema photography and doing it all in B&W is very brave. Not only is every shot set up like an immense B&W still, but the direction is a throwback to the highest art house film noir of the 50s. It’s just as well it’s beautiful to look at though, because the pace in the first two episodes is pedestrian.

Aye.  The first episode left me wanting to bale out since know the story and it was so depressingly gritty, but by the end of the 3rd I was hooked - and very glad they weren't copying the Matt Damon version's wretched jazz gambit.  Can't stand Charlie Parker.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Regulator on 15 April, 2024, 03:57:17 pm
Just finished Fallout (on Prime).  It was better than I thought it would be, despite a relatively weak storyline.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: PeterM on 15 April, 2024, 10:08:40 pm
Ripley is astonishingly good
Having now watched the whole thing, I'm less impressed

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: T42 on 16 April, 2024, 08:24:47 am
Enjoyed it muchly.  Loved the cat - I'd love a Maine Coon but I'd never stop sneezing, and if it went for a walk a neighbour would probably shoot it.  Got fed up with up-the-kilt shots of the elevator shaft. The steps thing was good. Photography great.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Pickled Onion on 16 April, 2024, 09:15:50 pm
It was absolutely gorgeous. There have been quite a few films over the last decade or so that have been shot shown in monochrome, and they've been atrocious. Watching films from the time of the crossover from monochrome to colour you can see how they understood the medium and how much effort they put into the lighting, or using natural light effectively. With most modern attempts it's clear they shot for colour and then converted it to mono, which fails spectacularly.

For the most part, Ripley was shot beautifully for monochrome. There were a few places, particularly in the early episodes, where it was over or under exposed or the contrast was out, and those were a bit jarring. There was also perhaps a bit too much of using the same footage repeatedly.

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: jwo on 16 April, 2024, 09:37:50 pm
Apparently the style was inspired by images collected in NeoRealismo: The New Image in Italy 1932-1960 (https://greyartmuseum.nyu.edu/exhibition/neorealismo-new-image-italy-1932-1960/sec/images/) (see also this book (https://delmonicobooks.com/book/neorealismo-the-new-image-in-italy-1932-1960)).
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Auntie Helen on 18 April, 2024, 08:47:03 pm
Blue Lights Season 2 on iPlayer. Really good.
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: andrewc on 19 April, 2024, 10:12:40 am
An article here on shooting Ripley.   https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/ripley-netflix-shot-list-awards-insider
Title: Re: What are you streaming at the moment…
Post by: Beardy on 22 April, 2024, 09:46:37 pm
Just finished the first series of Blue Lights. It was good.