What TV show are you watching now?

[blessingx]

For the Better Call Saul fans… 

https://9to5mac.com/2022/09/22/apple-tv-plus-vince-gilligan/ 

[swt61]

1 hour ago, skullguise said:

^^ Nick Cave and Warren Ellis soundtrack.....  How do you like it?

I have a taste for the macabre, and while Evan Peters did a fine job, he didn't quite embody the odd traits of JD. Still, an intriguing watch. I did like the soundtrack.

Niecy Nash definitely impressed me. 

[TMoney]

The U.S. and the Holocaust

This is very good, despite the difficulty of the subject matter.

History will never forget the crimes the German butchers perpetuated against the Jews, the Poles, and the peoples of Eastern Europe.

What was less well known to me was the story of how things went down over here. A lot of us already know about the bigotry of folks like Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh and his “America First” party (sound familiar?).

What I did not know about was the behavior of our state department, of the immigration quotas and the pervasiveness of the anti-immigrant and anti-semite crowd. I don’t think these were all necessarily bad people so much as people who could have done way more, yet did not. They were on the wrong side of history.

The stories of the survivors, as always, are the most heartbreaking of all.

I’ve never understood anti-semitism beyond the fact that Jewish people usually lean to the left politically and hold themselves out as unapologetically different. It didn’t make sense back then and it doesn’t make any more sense now.

Streamable on PBS here: https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/us-and-the-holocaust/

[blessingx]

^ This 

 

[TMoney]

^

Just be aware when you get to the third part. I had a hard time going to bed after watching it because I was so sad and angry. It is a lot to take in.

[mikeymad]

I had some of that after the first episode, but thanks for the heads up. This has been really good so far. Pointing out the parallels between their segregation, and how Hitler really liked our segregation, we were really good at it.  Yep we really suck too.

[blessingx]

Also the echos of more contemporary events - Southern border policies (steal jobs and al-Qaeda could sneak across), Syrian refugees (who is in disguise?), only 114 Ukrainian refugees entered the U.S. last month, etc. It’s the same policies, and the same party fighting, using the same chant of jobs and terrorism (replacing concern over spies). 

Edited September 28, 2022 by blessingx

[blessingx]

I have to admit I was a little mixed on season one of Reservation Dogs, though its genius more than occasionally showed through. Absolutely no doubt on season two's greatness. Loved every episode so far. FX/Hulu.

 

 

[blessingx]

I suppose the greatness of any documentary is related to knowledge the viewer has or hasn’t going in, but HBO’s Hostages, about the Iranian Hostage Crisis, hits something I have far too many gaps in. If you’re anything like me it’s highly recommended. Plus strange to watch in the contemporary shadows of all the UK monarchy turnover and the January 6th mess. 

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by blessingx

[swt61]

I'm actually getting a little choked up, watching Norm get choked up.

I can't believe he's retiring. 

I remember watching TOH, from the very first episode, back in '79. Norm was never supposed to be on camera, but in episode 2 they needed him to explain a few things, and he was in front of the camera every since. 

Truth be told, Norm is more responsible for my career choice than anyone other than my high school woodshop teacher.

Edited October 5, 2022 by swt61

[Voltron]

Norm's the best. He's been looking pretty tired the last few years. Thanks Norm!

[swt61]

I learned much of what I know from watching Norm. I truly feel like I know the man. I did have the pleasure of having lunch with him and Steve Thomas. The company I worked for in Alaska set it up for me. They knew what a huge fan I was. And they got me on the panel at the Home Show, and the luncheon with Norm. I set across from Norm and next to Steve Thomas. After 10 minutes or so I got up the nerve to throw out a zinger about what a premadonna Bob Vila was. That got both of them laughing and we spent the rest of the lunch making fun of him. Great fun, and a day I'll never forget. 

He is getting old, and it makes me sad. It's hard to believe he's at the end of his career, and I'm not far behind. Time goes by so fast!

Edited October 5, 2022 by swt61

[luvdunhill]

On 10/4/2022 at 8:47 PM, swt61 said:

I learned much of what I know from watching Norm!

Does that make you a Normie? 

[swt61]

Well, I'm certainly not Norm-al.

[Voltron]

They're called Normites 

[TMoney]

What a contrast between the two big budget fantasy shows right now.

I think the GOT reboot is great. It is more or less exactly what I would have wanted from a GOT revival. Fun characters, lots of backstabbing. Love the casting, the costumes, the sets. Maybe a little too much computer generated dragon stuff, but on the whole I think it worthy sunday night "event television." Great job by HBO.

The Amazon LOTR show, on the other hand, feels like a disaster. I set my expectations low but still find myself disappointed. I can't believe they could spend this much money on the show and not have a few more adults in the room to set them down a better path. The pre-season articles about how they found the right show runners... yeah... I don't know about that. There are just so many scenes where there is zero drama and it is obvious to any viewer that it was filmed on a soundstage. It may or may not look pleasing to the eye but the brain knows it is completely fake. Example below. See also the interminable amount of fake CGI helicopter shots in landscapes that obviously don't exist. Eye-rolling every single time.

It sounds like Amazon is already deep in to production on season 2 so hopefully if they can't change horses this late in the game they can at least bring in some new editors. Just yikes. I can't believe how boring season one has been and it has to stick in Bezos' craw that the GOT show is making them look like amateurs. I'm done with the show for now and may revisit down the road if people say it is worthwhile. I'm not hearing any buzz for it online at all from people I follow, and rightfully so. 😴

Edited October 10, 2022 by TMoney

[Dusty Chalk]

Have you watched Westworld Season 4 yet?

[TMoney]

I did. I'm always going to give more of the benefit of the doubt to a show that feels like it is pushing the boundaries or taking creative risks. WW season 4 certainly did that. It is not without its problems, but it had me coming back week after week.

Sounds like it didn't get the viewership HBO wanted though so I think it is done for. I'm ok with that.

[Dusty Chalk]

That's too bad, I thought it more than made up for my memory of the parts of seasons 2 and 3 that I had issues with.  And the setup for the final season was perfect.

Speaking of shows that push boundaries, have you ever watched Legion?  I'm totally enthralled, but haven't finished yet, so no spoilers, please, but please feel free to gush about the style -- absolutely amazing.

[blessingx]

On 10/10/2022 at 10:57 AM, TMoney said:

What a contrast between the two big budget fantasy shows right now.

As strange as it seems, and the review is from a narrow lens, but there are those who feel the opposite... 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/31/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-review-so-astounding-it-makes-house-of-the-dragon-look-amateur 

[MoonShine]

I'm w/ T$ on this one. The writing in ROP is terrible in places and the pacing is awful. The audience manipulation with their guessing games (who is meteor man?) just feels contrived and sophomoric. I don't care about the "Lore" heresies that a lot of the haters go on about but I do feel that overall it just lacks heart. The Jackson movies worked because he is a FAN who LOVES Tolkien. It feels like most of the people involved in ROP are just in it for the $$$.

Having said all of that, I am still watching it and I liked the last couple of episodes much better so I have hope.

But yeah, HOD is better on every level.

Edit: Also, much of the "drama" is removed by the fact that we KNOW that certain characters survive to make it to LOTR (Isildur, cough, cough).

Edited October 11, 2022 by MoonShine

[TMoney]

8 hours ago, blessingx said:

As strange as it seems, and the review is from a narrow lens, but there are those who feel the opposite... 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/aug/31/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-review-so-astounding-it-makes-house-of-the-dragon-look-amateur 

So Amazon only released the first two episodes to reviewers before the show aired.

I read some interview where the Amazon TV head was saying how proud she was that the show was doing well overseas. Coded language for it bombing in the US?

[blessingx]

Yeah, I'm not sure. As mentioned earlier I'm not even sure the target audience on this one. Bailed a couple episodes back. I may have lower expectations as it's not my genre, but one out of two isn't bad, is it? Remember for every ET, there's a Mac and Me. 

 

[luvdunhill]

On 10/11/2022 at 10:01 PM, TMoney said:

Coded language for it bombing in the US?

No it means overseas the show is driving people to sign up for the Prime shipping benefit.

[swt61]