Whatcha Watchin'?

[Carpet_pissr]

Dream Scenario with Nick Cage is out on MAX. Loving it so far.

Word of warning: It gets dark. Like H.P. Lovecraft level.

Just watched this and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. I think I’m going to rewatch it on Blu-ray with the director’s commentary.

Another winner from whomever at my library puts these movies in their recommended shelf. I need to meet him or her someday.

+1 for Dream Scenario…great film.

It gets dark, but I wouldn’t call it Lovecraftian.

[Madmarcus]

I'm enjoying the Judge Dee mysteries on Netflix. It's a Chinese series loosely based on the novels by a Dutch orientalist who based his character on an 18th century Chinese detective novel that uses a real 7th century statesman as the basis for it's protagonist.

It's a police procedural set in Tang China. Certainly not pulse pounding action even though it looks like it should be and has a few fight scenes. I like the 4 main characters (Di Renjie, his old family retainer, and two former outlaws that he has made into his assistants) enough to put up with the subtitles. Who knows if I will last through all 32 episodes but it looks like each of the novels has been turned into 3 or so episodes so it is possible that there will be natural breakpoints to watch something else for a while.

[Max Peck]

Hopefully you're not watching The Retirement Plan. I went in blind, thinking that with Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Ernie Hudson and Jackie Earle Haley fronting the cast, there'd be something in there worth my time. Not so much...

[Punisher]

We finished Avatar the last air bender and my wife and i both liked it a lot.
Neitjer of us have seen the cartoon so we didn't expect anything goung in. Not sure if that helped or hurt but either way we liked it.
Really hoping they finish the other 2 seasons and I'll probably start watching the cartoon.
We watched some other things since we were away on vacation but I can't remember what they were. I only remember avatar because we just finished the last episode.

[hepcat]

I discovered that Werner Herzog’s My Best Fiend, his documentary about knowing and working with Klaus Kinski, is on Tubi. Just watch it. That’s all I can say. Life is indeed stranger than fiction. Especially when that life is a goddamn raving lunatic.

[Max Peck]

I watched Freaks on Netflix this week. It's a pretty good indie sci-fi/horror film starring Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Grace Park, Amanda Crew and Lexy Kolker.

The crazy thing about this film, watching it, is that you'd never guess that it had a production budget of CAD $2000.

[hepcat]

I had watched that years ago after it got a lot of buzz on various genre movie sites. It really is quite good. And yeah, it's surprising what they were able to do with such a small budget.

[Jaymann]

A mysterious archeological dig in the frozen tundra of Canada where weird shit starts happening. A The Thing vibe at a slower pace. Best line so far: You cauterized his wound with a fucking shovel! On Amazon Prime.

[Jeff V]

I discovered that Werner Herzog’s My Best Fiend, his documentary about knowing and working with Klaus Kinski, is on Tubi. Just watch it. That’s all I can say. Life is indeed stranger than fiction. Especially when that life is a goddamn raving lunatic.

Which one was the lunatic?

I used to have a thing for Kinski's daughter...

[Punisher]

I discovered that Werner Herzog’s My Best Fiend, his documentary about knowing and working with Klaus Kinski, is on Tubi. Just watch it. That’s all I can say. Life is indeed stranger than fiction. Especially when that life is a goddamn raving lunatic.

Which one was the lunatic?

I used to have a thing for Kinski's daughter...

IIRC, my brother has a poster of her on the wall going down to the basement or it's on a wall in the basement.
It's her sitting nude with a snake. Maybe she also has an apple. Not sure. I think hes had it for decades.

[Jaymann]

Good ol' Nasty Kinky.

[Kraken]

I used to have a thing for Kinski's daughter...

Would that be Nasty Kinki?

[Jaymann]

I used to have a thing for Kinski's daughter...

Would that be Nasty Kinki?

In the flesh.

[Daehawk]

She is the only reason I watched Cat People in the early 80s on HBO. I think I was 13.

And the only thing I'm watching is Reacher.

[Exodor]

Just finished all 6 seasons of The Expanse (I'd watched the first 3 originally)

Watching S05E10 tonight. Sad we've only got one more six-episode season to go after that.

[Jeff V]

I discovered that Werner Herzog’s My Best Fiend, his documentary about knowing and working with Klaus Kinski, is on Tubi. Just watch it. That’s all I can say. Life is indeed stranger than fiction. Especially when that life is a goddamn raving lunatic.

Which one was the lunatic?

I used to have a thing for Kinski's daughter...

IIRC, my brother has a poster of her on the wall going down to the basement or it's on a wall in the basement.
It's her sitting nude with a snake. Maybe she also has an apple. Not sure. I think hes had it for decades.

Didn't she wind up doing Lifetime movies? I'm really surprised she didn't have a sexy action hero run after Cat People.

[Kraken]

Orphan Black: Echoes premieres tonight at 10 on AMC. It's a sequel to Orphan Black (duh) with no Tatiana Maslani, unfortunately. "Taking place in 2052, 37 years since the end of the original "Orphan Black" series, Echoes follows the life of the now adult Kira, played by Krysten Ritter, and her wife."

Hard to imagine it living up to the original but Ima give it a chance.

[Punisher]

Started watching Black Sails about a week ago and enjoying it. Definitely need to watch with subtitles since I have trouble understanding their various accents.
Up to S2 E2 now.

[Sudy]

I watched the first episode of Those About to Die. Where did this show come from? It wasn't on my radar at all.

There's a lot going on in the first episode. There are a ton of characters and storylines introduced, and I was a little stoned, so it was a bit overwhelming. One character died and I had no idea who he was as I'm still learning faces. But overall it held my attention, and I'm curious to see how it develops. The ensemble cast seems to be led by Iwan Rheon. Or at least, he was the only one I recognized other than Anthony Hopkins. I love seeing Hopkins in anything, but I kind of wish he was spending his time on something higher quality.

Which isn't to say the show is poor quality. But its aspirations seem to greatly outreach its budget. The sets and dressing are lavish while retaining an air of frugality. The CGI and green screening is distracting; you'll frequently be reminded you're watching something that isn't real. But again, that doesn't make it bad. The writing is good enough, but overall I keep being reminded of shows that made a better impression out of the gate like Rome or Game of Thrones. I dislike that the show feels the need to portray a moderate amount of sex and nudity seemingly in competition with such shows. From some of the promotional art I was also afraid it was going to be a sausage fest, but instead the cast and storylines are refreshingly but not conspicuously diverse. Still, it's a Roman action drama. This is going to appeal to a certain crowd, and it doesn't seem to have done much to broaden its appeal. But it's still welcome as there's not a lot out there in this subgenre. My initial impression is that it may have done better with a much smaller scope however.

[hepcat]

I watched the first episode of Those About to Die. Where did this show come from? It wasn't on my radar at all.

It was being advertised on peacock months ago, so I’ve been anxiously awaiting its premiere, because…Rome.

Granted, I’m only one episode in, but the acting needs some help. A lot of help. That may have been the most leisurely riot I’ve ever seen.

And the story seems to be derived from numerous other shows. With none of them actually being that good to begin with.

I think I’ll refer to this as “20 dollar Spartacus”. It may get better, but I’m not holding out hope.

[AWS260]

I've been watching The Owl House on Disney+. It's an animated show about an absent-minded high schooler who is transported to a land of witches and magic. That sounds very generic, but the world-building is excellent and creative, and it's frequently very funny. Good stuff.

[Blackhawk]

I just finished The Defenders Saga. I'd watched seasons of various shows here and there, but only about halfway through their run.

I really liked Daredevil, Punisher, and Luke Cage. Daredevil was awesome, but I couldn't really identify much with the characters. The Punisher did a fantastic job with a touchy character and a touchy subject. I wish those three had been able to continue. Especially Luke Cage, who had the only story that really left things hanging. I didn't hate Iron Fist, but I wouldn't have looked forward to more. Coleen was awesome, but Danny's character never got past 'pouting teen angst.'

My hands-down favorite of them, though, was Jessica Jones. Something about the character, the actress, and the story really clicked for me. I also feel like they had the seeds of an interesting story and possible future villain in the last season.

Spoiler:

Erik Gelden, JJ's season 3 romantic interest who could sense 'wrong' in people, kept going on about the joy he experienced when someone bad died. They had him as a semi-good guy, and they set the groundwork for him to aid the police going forward, but I think had their been a season 4, he'd have fallen and gone dark. After all, in the comics he's a supervillain known as Mind-Wave.

The shows had a good run, and yeah - some decreased in quality in their final seasons, but I'm glad I finally watched them.

[Sudy]

I've been re-watching the first season of The Old Man. Season two just released, but I enjoyed the first season so much that I wanted to revisit it first. It's just such a moving rumination on fatherhood, aging, and legacy. The writing, acting, production, and music are all top notch.

It's not perfect. The first episode is the highlight, and it never reaches that pinnacle again. It's not that the quality dips, but there are a number of implausibilities that build over the course of the season which are at odds with its more grounded drama. It occasionally feels as if its emotional, thoughtful core is straining against its desire to portray the equivalent of a 70-year-old Ryan/Bauer/Bourne-type, injecting thriller action to keep things interesting. But I can overlook it because the story and characters are so good. It's still much more le Carré than it is Clancy.

I accidentally noticed the second season on Rotten Tomatoes and saw that it has mediocre reviews, which is disappointing. But I can see it being one of those series that didn't really have a chance of topping its first season. I know it's an adaptation, and I haven't researched it. So I'm not sure how constrained it is by its source material. Regardless, I hope to enjoy it.

It's one of those shows that I recommend regardless of whether you're a fan of its genre. At the very least, watch the first episode, and ideally the first 3-4.

[Smoove_B]

I had someone recommend I that I watch Love on the Spectrum (Netflix) and so I gave it a try and found it quite interesting. It was also oddly...uplifting (?) which I wasn't expecting at all. I can only think of a few shows that I've watched in the last few years where I actually felt better after finishing them - like genuinely happy. To be clear, not all the stories have happy endings, but it was a rather interesting look into something I'd never actually thought about before.

[JCC]

I just finished The Defenders Saga.

Full disclosure, I was never a huge comic book guy growing up. Had some Spiderman comics and others, but was never a huge collector of them.

I have been (very slowly) rewatching these shows with a friend who is seeing it for the first time. We are still on Luke Cage season 1.

I generally feel that all the seasons of Daredevil are excellent. Very happy about him being in the MCU.

Season one of Jessica Jones was amazingly awesome largely because of David Tennant, but it went downhill hard after that.

Luke Cage's first season was fantastic but the switch of the villains was a big let down. Though that death was quite a surprise. I also didn't think LC got better after season 1.

I am in a tiny minority, but I think Iron Fist is criminally underrated. I love the clever swerve between S1 and S2 where the siblings sort of switch roles (good vs villain). I thought season 2 of Iron Fist was awesome and its final scenes were super cool. And it's shortened episode length was perfect. ALL of the Netflix Marvel seasons had too many episodes.

Defenders was also fun, but kind of a let down after building up all the heroes. It was... fine?

Punisher was brutal but thoroughly entertaining. Really glad they are bringing him back too.

[Punisher]

I just finished The Defenders Saga. I'd watched seasons of various shows here and there, but only about halfway through their run.

I really liked Daredevil, Punisher, and Luke Cage. Daredevil was awesome, but I couldn't really identify much with the characters. The Punisher did a fantastic job with a touchy character and a touchy subject. I wish those three had been able to continue. Especially Luke Cage, who had the only story that really left things hanging. I didn't hate Iron Fist, but I wouldn't have looked forward to more. Coleen was awesome, but Danny's character never got past 'pouting teen angst.'

My hands-down favorite of them, though, was Jessica Jones. Something about the character, the actress, and the story really clicked for me. I also feel like they had the seeds of an interesting story and possible future villain in the last season.

Spoiler:

Erik Gelden, JJ's season 3 romantic interest who could sense 'wrong' in people, kept going on about the joy he experienced when someone bad died. They had him as a semi-good guy, and they set the groundwork for him to aid the police going forward, but I think had their been a season 4, he'd have fallen and gone dark. After all, in the comics he's a supervillain known as Mind-Wave.

The shows had a good run, and yeah - some decreased in quality in their final seasons, but I'm glad I finally watched them.

Pretty much agree with all of this.
For Iron Fist I think they hired him because he is close to what Iron Fist in the comics look like. But IIRC, he had little to no fighting experience. This includes real life and movies/TV. I feel like this made his character seem a bit off and there was a lot of backlash against for this when it first aired.

[Blackhawk]

I have been (very slowly) rewatching these shows with a friend who is seeing it for the first time. We are still on Luke Cage season 1.

You probably are, but make sure you're viewing them in order. There are lots of crossovers and cross-show spoilers mixed in otherwise.

Daredevil season 1
Jessica Jones season 1
Daredevil season 2
Luke Cage season 1
Iron Fist season 1
The Defenders
The Punisher season 1
Jessica Jones season 2
Luke Cage season 2
Iron Fist season 2
Daredevil season 3
The Punisher season 2
Jessica Jones season 3

[Punisher]

I have been (very slowly) rewatching these shows with a friend who is seeing it for the first time. We are still on Luke Cage season 1.

You probably are, but make sure you're viewing them in order. There are lots of crossovers and cross-show spoilers mixed in otherwise.

Daredevil season 1
Jessica Jones season 1
Daredevil season 2
Luke Cage season 1
Iron Fist season 1
The Defenders
The Punisher season 1
Jessica Jones season 2
Luke Cage season 2
Iron Fist season 2
Daredevil season 3
The Punisher season 2
Jessica Jones season 3

Thanks for that. I might restart everything since it's been a while and I don't remember all the details so this will help!

[JCC]

You probably are, but make sure you're viewing them in order. There are lots of crossovers and cross-show spoilers mixed in otherwise.

Daredevil season 1
Jessica Jones season 1
Daredevil season 2
Luke Cage season 1
Iron Fist season 1
The Defenders
The Punisher season 1
Jessica Jones season 2
Luke Cage season 2
Iron Fist season 2
Daredevil season 3
The Punisher season 2
Jessica Jones season 3

Yeah, at this point I can remember the order up to the Defenders. After that I would consult a list like the one you provided. Really not looking forward to JJ S2 and 3. JJ Season 1 is aruguably my favorite "Defenders" season. But the other 2 seasons were much worse. I am hoping I enjoy them more this go around. The real issue is it's sometimes a month or more between when my buddy and I watch a few eps! (Busy schedules!)

[Sudy]

I finished season two of The Old Man after doing a rewatch of the first one. It was quite good! But as with season one, I thought the setup and the opening episodes were better than the resolution. The plot makes sense and it's mostly satisfying, but it falls back on thriller contrivances occasionally and fails to really elevate itself. But I still think it's amazing; the dialogue, and the acting, and the cinematography and the music are all top notch. It's very grounded. The RT rating went up quite a bit since I first glanced at it; I'm pleased critical reaction to this season was actually pretty good. No word on a season three yet, as the finale only just aired. Reportedly the cast and crew are optimistic, but it seems to be up to viewership numbers. I think the story really needs its third act. Season one is 100% worth a watch in a vacuum, but without a season three confirmation I'm not sure if I'd recommend season two unless you can handle the potential frustration of a cliffhanger.

Season one: A (almost an A+)
Season two: A-

[Kraken]

We got Hulu recently so that Wife could see Only Murders in the Building and I could watch The Bear. Both of those are pretty great but we're plum out of Bear and only have a few Murders left.

[Hipolito]

Took in a couple of flicks at the local popcorn-plex over the weekend.

Conclave: very good. Agreed with Sudy's take. Great acting across the board, including from the lead actor Ralph Fiennes who disappeared into his role (as a character who himself would rather disappear), such that I didn't recognize him throughout the whole movie. I hope this movie gets awards and top-10 list placements.

Here: the Robert Zemeckis movie starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. Shot from one stationary camera angle. (They spent so much on special effects that they didn't have enough to pay someone to move the camera.) Not as good, and it's gotten mostly negative reviews I think. But I enjoyed it enough and don't regret watching it.

[YellowKing]

I decided to finally finish up all of my Walking Dead stuff. That means every series, webisode, etc. As for the two main series, I stopped Walking Dead mid-Season 9 and Fear the Walking Dead around Season 4. So I have a ways to go. If anyone is interested, here's the chronological watch order:

The webisodes are available on YouTube, and the rest of the series are on AMC+.
 
Fear the Walking Dead S1
Tales of the Walking Dead S1E2
Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water Webisode
Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462 Webisode
Fear the Walking Dead S2
Fear the Walking Dead: Passage Webisode
Fear the Walking Dead S3
The Walking Dead S1
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E1
The Walking Dead: Torn Apart Webisode
The Walking Dead S2
The Walking Dead: Cold Storage Webisode
The Walking Dead S3
The Walking Dead: The Oath Webisode
The Walking Dead S4
The Walking Dead S5
The Walking Dead S6
The Walking Dead S7
The Walking Dead: Red Machete Webisode
The Walking Dead S8
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E3
Fear the Walking Dead S4
Fear the Walking Dead S5
Fear the Walking Dead S6
Fear the Walking Dead S7
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E6
The Walking Dead: The World Beyond S1
The Walking Dead: The World Beyond S2
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E4
The Walking Dead S9
Fear the Walking Dead S8
The Walking Dead S10
The Walking Dead S11
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon S1
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E5
The Walking Dead: Dead City S1
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live S1

[hepcat]

You can safely skip seasons 1 through 8 of Fear the Walking Dead using this handy synopsis:

Seasons 1 through 4: They do dumb shit.
Seasons 5 through 8: They do REALLY dumb shit.

[hepcat]

Hundreds of Beavers is now on Amazon Prime and the trailer has convinced me I need it in my life.



Edit: 40 minutes in and it’s an honest to god, live action looney toons cartoon. I’ve laughed out loud a few times already. It’s just chock full of imagination.

[Pyperkub]

I decided to finally finish up all of my Walking Dead stuff. That means every series, webisode, etc. As for the two main series, I stopped Walking Dead mid-Season 9 and Fear the Walking Dead around Season 4. So I have a ways to go. If anyone is interested, here's the chronological watch order:

The webisodes are available on YouTube, and the rest of the series are on AMC+.
 
Fear the Walking Dead S1
Tales of the Walking Dead S1E2
Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water Webisode
Fear the Walking Dead: Flight 462 Webisode
Fear the Walking Dead S2
Fear the Walking Dead: Passage Webisode
Fear the Walking Dead S3
The Walking Dead S1
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E1
The Walking Dead: Torn Apart Webisode
The Walking Dead S2
The Walking Dead: Cold Storage Webisode
The Walking Dead S3
The Walking Dead: The Oath Webisode
The Walking Dead S4
The Walking Dead S5
The Walking Dead S6
The Walking Dead S7
The Walking Dead: Red Machete Webisode
The Walking Dead S8
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E3
Fear the Walking Dead S4
Fear the Walking Dead S5
Fear the Walking Dead S6
Fear the Walking Dead S7
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E6
The Walking Dead: The World Beyond S1
The Walking Dead: The World Beyond S2
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E4
The Walking Dead S9
Fear the Walking Dead S8
The Walking Dead S10
The Walking Dead S11
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon S1
Tales from the Walking Dead S1E5
The Walking Dead: Dead City S1
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live S1

Man, I am SO happy I quit after s1 and part of s2. I saw ads for Daryl Dixon and vaguely remember him as a character I hated, and couldn't stand to watch.

[hepcat]

Daryl’s character actually became one of the best ones. They gave him a redemption arc early on that was played against his brother’s inability to change that made him stand out. There was a reason he was so popular.

[Grifman]

Watched Season 2 of “The Old Man” this past week. Thought it was better than Season 1.

[Sudy]

Nothing can surpass the first 2-3 episodes of the first season for me. I'd gladly watch them multiple times.

I feel similarly about season two. The first few episodes are great, but afterward it kind of goes off the rails into fairly stereotypical spy thriller territory. It's still a mature, contemplative story with fabulous characterizations, but by the end of the season I'd really lost my connection with most of the characters as their choices became increasingly questionable.

I was also disappointed as the show was introduced as being fairly accurate in terms of modern technologies (tracking, drones, etc.; the near impossibility of evading the authorities), but by the end of this season these fugitives from multiple governments are pretty much going where they please, including Harold's home in the U.S. Obviously that doesn't go well for them, and some of this can be handwaved due to Harold's deep political connections (a major plot point), but it still struck me as ridiculous.

But ultimately I'm nitpicking. I love this series and I really hope it comes back for a third season.

[Sudy]

Not a question for you in particular Isg, but have we talked about why we wound up with a separate Whatcha Watchin' thread for movies? That cat's been out of the bag for a long time and I don't think it's necessarily a bad idea, but are we interested in updating this thread's title to include [TV] or something?