Now Watching 2020

[Winston Legthigh]

I agree with this BUT... I also liked having standalone problem-of-the-week episodes. TV is so serialized these days it was refreshing having a few episodic episodes, even if elements from those episodes did come together in the last few episodes.

 

 

Here's a great article on how the Mandalorian is the first smart military tactician to show up in the Star Wars universe. (Mainly about the 4th episode (I think?) -  One of the stand-alones - where he and the tough chick help out the pond farmers...

 

https://www.wired.com/story/mandalorian-star-wars-soldier-tactics/

[Oil Can Boyd]

Saw Jojo Rabbit last night and loved it.  

[Boss_Tweedy]

Saw Little Women today. I'm convinced that I'll love everything that Greta Gerwig makes. I thought I'd be bored to tears but very much enjoyed it.

Saw Jojo Rabbit last night and loved it.  

 

Love that film. Definitely one of my favorites of last year. 

[Oil Can Boyd]

Saw Little Women today. I'm convinced that I'll love everything that Greta Gerwig makes. I thought I'd be bored to tears but very much enjoyed it.

 

 

I'm partial because my daughter was an extra in the movie but I thought it was great.

 

I saw 1917 last night, which was also great but left me in a very different mood from the night before when I saw Jojo Rabbit.

[uncool2pillow]

I thoroughly enjoyed The Two Popes. I would describe it as charming, except there are some harrowing scenes showing Fancis as a young Jesuit trying to navigate the Argentinian dictatorship and making some horrible decisions/compromises.

[TCP]

Had a flight yesterday and watched Joker.

A shit film for wankers. It's basically incel the movie. We get it, society is mean to this guy. I understood that after 20 minutes, and then the film reiterated this over and over for the next 2 hours. Also, it's another Hollywood film that helps stigmatize mental illness. Great job, WB. 

[tinnitus photography]

 

 

My wife and I finally finished Orange Is the New Black. We agreed two seasons ago that it had gone past its prime. The final season had a little more to offer, but was overall just okay.

i think the last season i saw was right before the one that focused entirely on the prison riot. seemed like it had lost a lot and wasn't a big draw anymore (but when it was good, it was really good... some of those characters were so excellent).

[Albert Tatlock]

New series of Inside No. 9 still eminently watchable, and it's that time of year - so Six Nations rugby of course.

[uncool2pillow]

I watched the first episode of Hulu's new High Fidelity series based on the Nick Hornby book. Rob is now a female played by Zoe Kravitz. I enjoyed the first episode to watch more later.

[TCP]

I watched the first four episodes of High Fidelity tonight. It's essentially the same thing as the original... but with millennials! Which is pretty good. Characters have been adapted and morphed in interesting ways like Jack Black's character becoming Da'Vine Joy Randolph's character. The show is at its best when it's either doing its own thing entirely or taking inspiration from the movie, like when someone tries to buy a Michael Jackson record instead of the I Just Called To Say I Love You scene or the dinner scene with Rob's ex Kat (Charlie in the film) being filled with vain social media people. When it copies lines directly it feels a little weird. But maybe thats just because I watched the original film a couple hundred times when I was growing up.

Its out on Hulu in the United States but doesn't appear to have any international distribution so if you're like me you have to might resort to nefarious means to watch it. 

[jff]

I'm Not OK With This was great.  Currently on Netflix.

 

From the folks who made  End of the Fu*&%ing World, which was also great.

 

I always enjoy the 30 minute format.  A series with hour long (or longer) episodes is like watching five or more movies per season, and I would never watch that many movies from the same storyline in the span of three or four months, or even a year.  I've probably never even done that in a decade.

[uncool2pillow]

I was thoroughly engrossed by Don't F**K with Cats on the Internet. Great true crime. On Netflix if you haven't heard of it.

[Winston Legthigh]

Calling all and any art-house film buffs - the Criterion Collection app (a movie streaming app) has been on tilt lately - with a Godard retropective that came out last week, and one on the career of Tartovsky that was released today. They are continually cycling new movies into their library, and I have never been left wanting ever since I subscribed (I think it's $11 a month?) last May. 

[ih8music]

Watched the first couple episodes of “Devs” on Hulu/FX and I’m hooked. Nick Offerman is really great in it and the storyline is very intriguing.

[Albert Tatlock]

Giri / Haji

 

Japanese/English Tokyo/London thriller. After a couple of episodes I was hooked by the many interlocking plot threads.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Those of you who are hardcore Ricky Gervais fans will probably be pleased to see that new episodes of After Life are available on Netflix.

[Albert Tatlock]

Once Upon A Time in Iraq

 

Wow, just wow. I can't remember being gripped by a documentary series as much. Talking heads supported by footage, but what talking heads. A group of ordinary (or extra-ordinary as was often revealed) civilians or other individuals (journalists & military on the ground) in key positions (and I mean of insightful circumstance not political leadership etc.) telling their stories and offering a glimpse into what unfolded. Binge-watched in 2 sittings and the first night had a dream about driving a car down a Baghdad street trying to avoid dead bodies so it obviously had a strong effect on me.

 

Also

DEVS - with that friend of JT from Parks & Recreation (which I have never seen and I did not realise it was him - big beard here - until I saw his name in the credits by accident). Took an episode or two to get into, and you had to suspend some disbelief in the basic premise as with a lot of sci-fi, but great, great atmosphere (shots and music) and style, with a nice slow pace (that I like) as things unfolded with several twists.

 

What We Do In The Shadows (series 2)

Matt Berry still tickles my fancy.

[chuckrh]

[Boss_Tweedy]

I decided that I want to watch ever Best Picture Oscar winner, so I started with the first.

 

[Beltmann]

I decided that I want to watch ever Best Picture Oscar winner, so I started with the first.

 

When I was 17, I set out to do the same. (This was 1991 and the VHS era.) Thankfully, the local video store had a Friday special that let you rent five catalog movies for five bucks for five days!

 

I launched similar quests for Best Foreign Language Oscar winners, Most Controversial Movies Ever, etc. It was a great way to be introduced to some of the great artists of cinema history.

[ih8music]

On a less-culturally astute vein... I found myself watching ESPN 8: The Ocho for a couple of hours this weekend.  I witnessed strongman competitions, marble racing, and best of all, Norwegian Døds (bellyflop) championships.  It was awesome and surreal and only a tiny bit depressing... 

[kidsmoke]

Once Upon A Time in Iraq

 

Wow, just wow. I can't remember being gripped by a documentary series as much. Talking heads supported by footage, but what talking heads. A group of ordinary (or extra-ordinary as was often revealed) civilians or other individuals (journalists & military on the ground) in key positions (and I mean of insightful circumstance not political leadership etc.) telling their stories and offering a glimpse into what unfolded. Binge-watched in 2 sittings and the first night had a dream about driving a car down a Baghdad street trying to avoid dead bodies so it obviously had a strong effect on me.

 

Also

DEVS - with that friend of JT from Parks & Recreation (which I have never seen and I did not realise it was him - big beard here - until I saw his name in the credits by accident). Took an episode or two to get into, and you had to suspend some disbelief in the basic premise as with a lot of sci-fi, but great, great atmosphere (shots and music) and style, with a nice slow pace (that I like) as things unfolded with several twists.

 

What We Do In The Shadows (series 2)

Matt Berry still tickles my fancy.

These sound fantastic!

[Albert Tatlock]

These sound fantastic!

 

All 3 are belters, as we say.

[Analogman]

I'm watching the Woodstock 40th Anniversary dvd boxset I bought in 2009 but never watched.

[calvino]

Since you waited this long - you should have just waited for 2029.

 

Just put it on hold in my library system. I don't think I have ever checked it out, before. Be cool to see the Grateful Dead's performance. 

 

Finally got the below through my library system and watching now. Is there a better band to get you through an aftermath of a derecho and when you just learn that the start of school for your kids got pushed back a week, due to covid ---- our school had two options - hybrid and remote --- we chose all remote from the start, figuring we all would be remote in a month --- it didn't even make that far - go figure. (we were suppose to start this Monday)  - anyways "Boy Don't Cry".

 

The sound on the set is great.