What TV show are you watching now?

[grawk]

1 hour ago, swt61 said:

Of course I've heard about the sexual harassment stories, but I had no idea how creepy this dude is!

a friend of mine played a small part on House of Cards and never told stories but he REALLY doesn’t like Spacey. 

[swt61]

I guess it's creep day.

[swt61]

[jpelg]

The AfterParty (AppleTV) - seasons 1 & 2

Edited May 21 by jpelg

[TMoney]

It is treacle-y, it is over produced, it is emotionally manipulative… and yet.

This show is my guilty pleasure. I am won over by it every season. This third season is no different.

Just delightful.

[jpelg]

The Signal (Netflix) - only four episodes, so it's an easy watch & doesn't fall into the traps of the similar-but-troublesome Constellation

Edited May 29 by jpelg

[swt61]

^

I'll have to give that a try.

[jpelg]

Hacks (HBO Max) - the creators of this show have managed to not only maintain, but actually improve the quality of this show with a great season 3 overall. And the scene in the last ep, where Ava confronts Deborah about the head-writer job, is nothing short of fantastic for any acting medium (Whew!).

[swt61]

Agreed!

[TMoney]

Watched the first episode of this last night (on HBO). Fan-tastic!

If, like me, when you hear "Stax" you think of the record company first and electrostatic headphones second, watch this!

The music that came out of Stax in the 60s was absolutely molten. Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, Issac Hayes. They are all among my favorites. There was a ton of musical talent in the south that they really were able to tap.

I am looking forward to watching the rest of the four parts.

[swt61]

I watched the whole thing about a week ago. Really enjoyed it. Music documentaries are my favorite. The Wrecking Crew is also awesome. And the docs. on Laurel Canyon & docs. on the Haight/Ashbury late 60s music scene are good too.

Edited June 5 by swt61

[jpelg]

Mayor of Kingstown - pretty straightforward, but intense procedural. Already into season 2...

 

Edited June 5 by jpelg

[swt61]

It's a private dick noir, and it's good.

[Grahame]

33 minutes ago, swt61 said:

It's a private dick noir, and it's good

Duly noted, Steve.

If anyone would know good dick noir when they see it.

Edited June 6 by Grahame

[blessingx]

Warning: Episode 6 😉🍿🫣

Edited June 6 by blessingx

[swt61]

9 hours ago, Grahame said:

Duly noted, Steve.

If anyone would know good dick noir when they see it.

I am a professional. Don't try this at home.

[swt61]

16 hours ago, blessingx said:

Warning: Episode 6 😉🍿🫣

Holey shit!

I could never have seen that coming! 

Starting episode 7 now. I hope it explains what ever the hell that was!

[swt61]

On 6/5/2024 at 10:15 PM, Grahame said:

Duly noted, Steve.

If anyone would know good dick noir when they see it.

Well Grahame, I guess we were both wrong about that!

[swt61]

The clues were subtle, but there were many of them. I pride myself on discovering a movies plot twists early on. In 'The Usual Suspects', I leaned over and told my buddy "he's Keyser Soze" early on in Kevin Spacy's interrogation. 

I figured out that Bruce Willis was dead in 'The Sixth Sense'.

But I was completely blind sided here. I wonder if there will be a season two? They did leave room for the story to continue. 

[swt61]

An absolute must see!

[swt61]

Just a bit of fun.

[blessingx]

Ren Faire. I really enjoyed this three part series. Its pacing and mix of staged and doc footage reminds me of early Errol Morris. That said I have no idea if any of it is "true" and I don't care. 

 

 

[swt61]

Just starting...

[swt61]

So there's two series that I've watched recently. Both were unexpected, out of the norm series. Both a little strange, but both really captivating. 

The first is Sugar. That one may have a season two coming? 

It blindsided me in the best way.

The second was Eric. Fantastic cast and phenomenal acting. It wasn't as much of a shock, but offbeat in a different way. Very emotional, very well written. 

I can very much recommend Both. And Ric, I think you'll really like Eric.

[TMoney]

Shogun (2024)

I watched the old 80s mini-series a few years back and absolutely loved it. For the time it was so well done. I could forgive the 80s TV production values because the story, setting and characters were so captivating. I also loved that all the Japanese characters spoke in Japanese and there were no subtitles.

The story of the 80s mini-series sticks closely to the English Pilot whose ship washes up on the shores of 16th century Japan, John Blackthorn. You see more or less the entire story from his perspective. For this reason I think it was a smash hit in the west, even though the Japanese home market does not look back on it kindly. It wasn’t their story, it was ours. The 80s version made me want to travel to Japan very badly.

The 2024 Shogun (based on the same source material) takes a different path. The production values are crazy good, the acting is better (for the most part), and all the Japanese characters are subtitled. For all the 2024 version does well though, it never quite hooked me the way the 80s version did.

I think the change that hurt this (for me) the most was making the story more Torunaga’s and less Blackthorn’s. Rather than being a fish-out-of-water story of a marooned Englishman in a foreign land, this show is much more centered on Torunaga and his machinations to become Shogun. I hate to say this, but I just didn’t find Torunaga that compelling. He is cold and icy, and is defined more by his rivals than by his own deeds. I was not engaged by lot of the political maneuvering.

Enjoyable show, to be sure. Very well made. Game of Thrones level political fun? I say no.

Still, recommended.