TV You Have Watched

[fuse]

From the last few weeks...

Ozark S4 (part 1) - still just this big, tense, constantly twisting knot of misfortune. It's captivating and thankfully isn't quite as grim as it has been in the past, but is still best enjoyed in the quiet reflection afterwards rather than the anxiety of its moment to moment. Great, but will be glad when it's over.

Succession - decently made, but just not something I can find any enjoyment in. All of the laughs I got out of it were more like awkward scoffs in total incredulity at how awful everyone is. Dropped after a couple of episodes.

The Teacher - my girlfriend likes Sheridan Smith so we tried an episode of this, but what the heck is going on here? It's taken a serious topic and is handling it badly in an awkward and unconvincing manner. Hard pass.

Landscapers - just a bit dull, you know? Was not inspired to watch beyond the first episode.

Mare of Easttown - now in total contrast, this I enjoyed a lot. The setup is pretty standard - crime drama, a missing teenager in small, dreary US town - but everything is convincing and considerate and well written. Kate Winslet is fantastic. Comes strongly recommended; this and Yellowjackets have made this particular round of Now subscription very satisfying.

[QualityChimp]

Mare is brilliant. Really enjoyed it. Felt like everyone's problems in the whole town were related to Mare, which felt a lot to carry on her shoulders, but the story itself was engrossing. Recommended.

The Teacher is an odd one as it's such a sensitive subject. The character is accused of sexual relations with a student but can't has no memory of the night. If it makes her look in the wrong, it's unfair on teachers, if it makes the pupil in the wrong, it belittles real life incidents. Going to give this a swerve.

Something else I'm going to avoid is that Pam and Tommy series on D+.
In the story, Tommy didn't pay his electrician, so he stole the tape from his house, then sold the tape.
Anderson had no control over events after that.
If that happened today, it would be a revenge porn crime.
She started to sue, but the stress was too much and feared for the safety of her pregnancy.
She made no money from the tape and had no say in its distribution.

The series makers approached her to be involved and she declined because it was one of the bleakest moments of her life.
So, they made it anyway and she again had no say in its production.

Plus it's subtitled "The Greatest Love Story Ever Sold", but she ended up having him charged for spousal abuse when he hit her whilst she held the hand of their child. It's not the whimsical comedy they're marketing it as.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/02/pamela-anderson-tommy-lee-pam-tommy-hulu

[prinnysquad]

Lily James looks mint as Pam.

Anyway….

Superman and Lois. Enjoyed this about a billion times more than I thought I would. The guy makes a good Superman.

The Responder. Good stuff. Freeman was very good indeed.

[QualityChimp]

Finished Reacher last night and it was passable.

I get the new guy looks like a brick outhouse, like the books, but I thought Tom Cruise did a decent couple of films with him.

Alan Ritchson looks blankly at people as they're talking to him and a couple of times I've seen people ask if he's supposed to be autistic, but I just think he's acting out a pretty shallow character as he's described in the books.

The action is pretty poorly shot too. Not shakycam, but loads of cuts after each and every hit.

Look, it's not bad - there is decent mystery to solve and some interesting characters, plus Reacher takes his shirt off every other episode, so you could probably watch it with your missus.

[Dogg Thang]

I watched two episodes of Jean-Claude VanJohnson last night and WHY DID NONE OF YOU TELL ME HOW GOOD THIS IS?! It’s so funny and silly and enjoyable. VanDamme plays himself only his career has been a cover for his work as a special ops agent. Now older, he wants to get back into it which means taking on a mission he isn’t able for while starring in a really atrocious film as cover. It constantly references his movies, opening with a speech about how Timecop is a better film than Looper, and I just found it hilarious.

Seems it only lasted a single short season and that’s a huge shame. This show is wonderful.

[Dogg Thang]

And finished the show. That’s honestly one of the best things I have seen in years. I loved every minute of those six short episodes. It’s criminal we never got a second season but thankfully it works well as a rewarding unit with what’s here. VanDamme was bizarrely amazing.

[Cepp]

Watched the first episode of Louis Theroux’s Forbidden America.

It's about the far right and the way the younger generation are reaching people via streaming, online gaming, memes and such. Lots of disturbing views come through even with them holding back on camera. The political guy's laugh was unnerving.

I'm a bit concerned this might boost their numbers tbh. I remember when Louis went back to the the Westboro Baptist Church, there was a guy from Birmingham there. Dude travelled to the States to join them after seeing the first documentary.

[Neon Ignition]

Superman & Lois: Season 01
Enjoyed it, it was one of the better Arrowverse shows. Having come from those shows it was a bit bizarre in how it utterly dismisses continuity only to later make references to it anyway. There's a lot about it that they've judged well, particularly the characterisation and motivations of Lois who is usually a pretty unlikeable character. The son, Jonathon, is excellent in this too. Jordan is the weak link with ease. Overall, a very solid first season that could have perhaps done with having 2-3 episodes trimmed off its midsection.

[Atticus]

Finished Cobra Kai S3 last night. Didn't enjoy it as much as the first two but it still had enough to keep me on board. Hoping S4 brings the magic back.

[fallenangle]

Quite interested in watching the new ITV drama series of Len Leighton's The Ipcress File.

Always liked the 'original' 1960s Michael Caine Harry Palmer films which were sardonic Cold War spy-game alternatives to the other more action orientated films of the time. It'll be intriguing to see what they've done.

Joe Cole though.........hmmmm. Didn't not see Peaky Blinders; he had good reviews in that but in some of the previews of this he looks more like a barely adult Joe 90 playing 60s dress up than the down at heal, world weary and cynical Michael Caine interpretation of Harry Palmer.

[fuse]

From the last couple of weeks...

Inventing Anna was not really my thing. It's based on a true story yet is pretty open about unspecified parts being embellished. It's about a "fake heiress" who infiltrates NY high society and gets a whole box of eggs on some very important faces, but is mostly told through the eyes of a wronged journalist who is trying to cover the story as things have begun to crumble and court proceedings are getting underway. Some parties try and push it as a 'Robin Hood' story, and Netflix are pushing a "you might think this" angle, as that's probably a bit more palatable than saying outright that it glamourises an over-reaching, status-hungry con artist.

Went into Dexter: New Blood expecting little good to come of it, but at least in comparison with seasons past it came off quite favourably! It's still totally ridiculous and often requires you to suspend any deductive or logical thought in order to follow along, but it does a really good job keeping the suspense up throughout, and for me at least did a much better job wrapping things up than the previous ending did.

Also started Bel-Air, which was another pleasant surprise. It's tonally very different to the original series, but they've made some smart changes to shift gears away from the laughs and into something a bit more serious and relevant. Carlton, Hillary, and Jazz all feel like properly developed characters now rather than vehicles for gags, and I think that really works in its favour.

[Neon Ignition]

What If?: Season 01
Put this off for a bit but in the end it was quite good. When it's weak it's very weak such as the Thor episode, but when it's strong it's strong like the Doctor Strange one. So many elements that may actually canonically play into future MCU films which will be interesting to see if they pan out or involve the versions of the characters we see here.

[Brad]

From the last couple of weeks...

Inventing Anna was not really my thing. It's based on a true story yet is pretty open about unspecified parts being embellished. It's about a "fake heiress" who infiltrates NY high society and gets a whole box of eggs on some very important faces, but is mostly told through the eyes of a wronged journalist who is trying to cover the story as things have begun to crumble and court proceedings are getting underway. Some parties try and push it as a 'Robin Hood' story, and Netflix are pushing a "you might think this" angle, as that's probably a bit more palatable than saying outright that it glamourises an over-reaching, status-hungry con artist.

Yeah it was alright but overly long. A 90 minute documentary on the story would have been better I think.

[randombs]

Great News

It’s like Kimmy and I love it. It’s less garish but the humour is similar.

[Neon Ignition]

The Cuphead Show
There's nothing particularly special about it from a set up point of view but it's an immaculate recreation of the look of the games and incredibly likeable. Visually so much better than a lot of other animated kids shows out there too, really solid stuff.