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Drunk Driver Dad
Feb 18, 2005
Watched the first episode of The Chi. I liked it pretty well. I've never heard of it other than one offhand comment I read. Is it regarded as pretty good or what?

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BravestOfTheLamps
Oct 12, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Lipstick Apathy
I've been watching Prison Playbook on Netfllix, and it's such a breath of fresh air after years of watching sarcastic back-and-forths on American sitcoms. It shows you can have comedy on television that doesn't rely on the most incisive turns-of-phrase or soundbites. The deadpan humour, leisurely pacing, and low-key absurdity are pretty much the antithesis of an average sitcom. The main character of the series shows this pretty well. Sitcom heroes tend to be lovable idiots who are all nevertheless quick-witted, but the protagonist Prison Playbook comes off as genuinely slow-witted (but capable of surprising cunning) simply because he doesn't have to speak that much. There's a scene where his anger slowly, quietly builds up until he assaults his gangster cellmate, and the whole moment is unimaginable on an American sitcom. The hero of an American sitcom would be doing their best to avoid the whole situation all-together, but end up comically getting caught up worse when trying to solve the situation.

And since it's from a whole other culture with its own tropes and cliches, there's no familiar beats from any American prison story. The antagonists are good examples. The gangster character is very buffoonish, but he also appears threatening, since no matter how cartoonish he seems he's still able to hurt people in an entirely non-comical way. The corrupt guard is pretty much a masterstroke among TV villains, since he appears very realistic as a venal bureaucrat who can screw over lives despite being just an old, mostly soft-spoken man who wants bribe money so he can speculate on the stock market.

BravestOfTheLamps fucked around with this message at 11:54 on Apr 9, 2018

Ulio
Feb 17, 2011


Hexel posted:

I'm about halfway through Penny Dreadful season 1 and its pretty drat good

I cant believe i missed this for so long

I love the setting, 19th century London is one of my favorites in fiction. It is like the League of Extraordinary gentlemen but with only horror/gothic characters

NoNotTheMindProbe
Aug 9, 2010
pony porn was here
I watched through Troy: Fall of a City and despite some clunky writing it was pretty good. The Iliad is one of my favourite stories so I was predisposed to enjoy it and I suspect the show leans a bit to heavily on the fact that the story and characters are so well known. It'd be interesting to hear what someone who isn't familiar with the story made of it.

I was also pleasantly surprised that the costumes and scenery was all fairly period accurate for a tv series except for the horses. Achaeans didn't really ride horses but the chariots were good.

SLOSifl
Aug 10, 2002


Ulio posted:

I love the setting, 19th century London is one of my favorites in fiction. It is like the League of Extraordinary gentlemen but with only horror/gothic characters
Penny Dreadful is super cool. However the last season is just bad, and actually makes the show bad. So just stop before then. You’ll know.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

SLOSifl posted:

Penny Dreadful is super cool. However the last season is just bad, and actually makes the show bad. So just stop before then. You’ll know.

Disagree. It changes pace and somewhat awkwardly tries to tie everything up in a high dramatic way but I liked the different setting (only for a little while) and ultimate resolution.

Solice Kirsk
Jun 1, 2004

.
Eh, season 2 of Penny Dreadful hit all the heights of the series and season 3 was just a lumbering crawl to the finish. I can't say I was disappointed with the ending because I did like it (also A Blade of Grass may be the best acted and shot episode of the entire series), but I'm glad we got the third season, and I'm glad it ended somewhat on it's own terms.

Monstaland
Sep 23, 2003

Everyone should check out La Casa de Papel, it's incredibly good.

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

The House of Paper? Is that like a remake of House of Cards.

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light
Started watching the new Lost in Space on Netflix. Not feeling it yet after the first two eps. It seems to be more a reboot of the 1998 movie than the original series.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

General impression seems to be that its pretty and impressive but not super compelling. But people who finished it seemed to feel it ended well. It seems like light viewing.

Bates
Jun 15, 2006

STAC Goat posted:

General impression seems to be that its pretty and impressive but not super compelling. But people who finished it seemed to feel it ended well. It seems like light viewing.

Yeah light viewing but enjoyable. I just came off Falling Skies and the Walking Dead so if things happen and I don't actively hate the main cast I'm happy.

Rocksicles
Oct 19, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo

Bates posted:

Yeah light viewing but enjoyable. I just came off Falling Skies and the Walking Dead so if things happen and I don't actively hate the main cast I'm happy.

What helps it along is the kids. No muss, no fuss. See a problem... solve it.

Wheat Loaf
Feb 13, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
I watched the second series of Maigret tv movies with Rowan Atkinson. I'm not sure I can say I binged them because there's only two of them. Still, they were entertaining enough; the second (adapting Maigret and the Strangled Stripper, retitled "Maigret In Montmartre") had a few too many characters doing too many things for its own good.

The problem with all of them is that I keep expecting Atkinson to break out in some kind of rubber-faced slapstick, which is a shame because he's actually very good at this kind of very controlled, almost disappointed anger at the criminals he catches.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Yeah, I've got nothing against light viewing. Lost in Space is sounding like a good palette cleanser option between deeper/darker shows.

Bankok
Sep 10, 2004

SPARTA!!!

Klaaz posted:

Everyone should check out La Casa de Papel, it's incredibly good.

Took me a minute to find it, it’s called Money Heist on Netflix. Through episode 6 now, it’s really good.

Monstaland
Sep 23, 2003

Mu Zeta posted:

The House of Paper? Is that like a remake of House of Cards.

Yeah, as the poster above me said the English title is Money Heist but in Europe they advertise it with the original title.

mcmagic
Jul 1, 2004

If you see this avatar while scrolling the succ zone, you have been visited by the mcmagic of shitty lib takes! Good luck and prosperity will come to you, but only if you reply "shut the fuck up mcmagic" to this post!

Mister Kingdom posted:

Started watching the new Lost in Space on Netflix. Not feeling it yet after the first two eps. It seems to be more a reboot of the 1998 movie than the original series.

I really want to like this but it's kinda... Boring?

Mister Kingdom
Dec 14, 2005

And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

mcmagic posted:

I really want to like this but it's kinda... Boring?

So far...yes.

I mean, I don't expect this guy to show up, but....

mystes
May 31, 2006

Lost in Space definitely has pacing issues. It's too bad, because it seems like a lot good things went into it, but the result is a complete mess.

Ms Adequate
Oct 30, 2011

Baby even when I'm dead and gone
You will always be my only one, my only one
When the night is calling
No matter who I become
You will always be my only one, my only one, my only one
When the night is calling



I have just binged The Good Place and it is every bit as great as people told me.

I also smashed out all of One Punch Man in like a day and had a ball, it's a big dumb loving parody of superhero anime and is hilarious. Also, Mumen Rider is a pure man and deserves adoration :3:

TV Zombie
Sep 6, 2011

Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

Watching throughInto the Badlands and I love the fight scenes and they seem to pain some beauty with violence though my eyes gloss over when I think about the plot.

STAC Goat
Mar 12, 2008

Watching you sleep.

Butt first, let's
check the feeds.

Boy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend gets real dark in Season 3.

Kabuki Shipoopi
Jun 22, 2007

If I fall, you don't get the head, right? If you lose the head, you're fucked!

Here's my lovely, phone-post hot-takes on good shows to watch.

Been watching Trust, Legion, Siren, The Crossing, Krypton and The Terror.

Trust: Grandson of the wealthiest man on the planet in the early 70's is kidnapped and held for ransom, also based on actual events. Fun soundtrack that gets bonus points for the use of Prisencolinensinainciusol a song that's supposed to sound like English with an American accent to Italians, but is actually just total nonsense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VsmF9m_Nt8

The series is fun, dark, and tense. Plus Donald Sutherland plays a man so wealthy, that he has a man dedicated to reading him vintage erotica novella so he can get boners before sexing up one of his wives. plus Brendan Frasier and Hilary Swank are in it.

Siren: Mermaids are real, and also deadly. An interesting way of doing the myth. It's a little corny, but it's not what I expected. Plus Ryn is really well done character reminiscent of Leloo Dallas.

The Crossing: 47 people wash up on shore saying they are from the future. This one reminds me of Colony and The 100. Conflict between Homeland security and local police gets resolved quickly. A lot of characters, but good actors. Still waiting on how Sci-fi this one gets. Starting Steve Zahn, Natalie Martinez, and Sandrine Holt.

Krypton: Story about the planet, it's people, and culture before it's demise. It's about Superman's grandfather, and his grandfather. It has a Dark Matter/Killjoys kind of feel to it. I don't know anything more than the average person about Superman's before he came to earth, but it seems like a well done interpretation. It's not as goofy and teeny bopperish as I thought it was going to be. I was assuming it was going to be all young adult teens in a Harry Potter esque, light hearted, PG "drama". What I got was a decent SYFY show about a franchise I wasn't too familiar with. I think it's cool and good, but fans might hate it vehemently. :shrug:

The Terror: Explorers looking for the Northwest Passage instead find a monster. I guess. I have only seen one episode of this, but it's dark, and has this underlying hopelessness about it.

Oh also Legion, but I figure most people are already up on this one.

Rocksicles
Oct 19, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo

Kabuki Shipoopi posted:

Here's my lovely, phone-post hot-takes on good shows to watch.

Been watching Trust, Legion, Siren, The Crossing, Krypton and The Terror.

Trust: Grandson of the wealthiest man on the planet in the early 70's is kidnapped and held for ransom, also based on actual events. Fun soundtrack that gets bonus points for the use of Prisencolinensinainciusol a song that's supposed to sound like English with an American accent to Italians, but is actually just total nonsense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VsmF9m_Nt8

The series is fun, dark, and tense. Plus Donald Sutherland plays a man so wealthy, that he has a man dedicated to reading him vintage erotica novella so he can get boners before sexing up one of his wives. plus Brendan Frasier and Hilary Swank are in it.

Siren: Mermaids are real, and also deadly. An interesting way of doing the myth. It's a little corny, but it's not what I expected. Plus Ryn is really well done character reminiscent of Leloo Dallas.

The Crossing: 47 people wash up on shore saying they are from the future. This one reminds me of Colony and The 100. Conflict between Homeland security and local police gets resolved quickly. A lot of characters, but good actors. Still waiting on how Sci-fi this one gets. Starting Steve Zahn, Natalie Martinez, and Sandrine Holt.

Krypton: Story about the planet, it's people, and culture before it's demise. It's about Superman's grandfather, and his grandfather. It has a Dark Matter/Killjoys kind of feel to it. I don't know anything more than the average person about Superman's before he came to earth, but it seems like a well done interpretation. It's not as goofy and teeny bopperish as I thought it was going to be. I was assuming it was going to be all young adult teens in a Harry Potter esque, light hearted, PG "drama". What I got was a decent SYFY show about a franchise I wasn't too familiar with. I think it's cool and good, but fans might hate it vehemently. :shrug:

The Terror: Explorers looking for the Northwest Passage instead find a monster. I guess. I have only seen one episode of this, but it's dark, and has this underlying hopelessness about it.

Oh also Legion, but I figure most people are already up on this one.

The Terror is great tv. It's got a bushel of legit actors on it.

Drunk Driver Dad
Feb 18, 2005
I can only watch one episode of The Terror every few days because it just has a way overpowering sense of dread about it.

Rocksicles
Oct 19, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo

Drunk Driver Dad posted:

I can only watch one episode of The Terror every few days because it just has a way overpowering sense of dread about it.

Concur i downloaded it, and it's trickle draining me.

Gravy Jones
Sep 13, 2003

I am not on your side

Kabuki Shipoopi posted:

The Crossing: 47 people wash up on shore saying they are from the future. This one reminds me of Colony and The 100. Conflict between Homeland security and local police gets resolved quickly. A lot of characters, but good actors. Still waiting on how Sci-fi this one gets. Starting Steve Zahn, Natalie Martinez, and Sandrine Holt.

This sounds like The Event (not good) meets Invasion (which I loved... a lot), both lasted a season and ended up with mysteries unresolved. I'm a sucker for shows like this and like the cast so I'll give it go, but won't get my hopes up for it hanging around. Actually I could probably list another half a dozen "group of people from elsewhere who may or may not be exactly what they claim to be trying to fit in... or are they?" shows it sounds like.

Gravy Jones fucked around with this message at 12:10 on Apr 18, 2018

TV Zombie
Sep 6, 2011

Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

What network is the Terror on and is it on Hulu or Amazon Prime for streaming if people miss it live?

clown shoes
Jul 17, 2004

Nothing but clowns down here.

TV Zombie posted:

What network is the Terror on and is it on Hulu or Amazon Prime for streaming if people miss it live?

It's on AMC. You can watch the first episode on AMC's website. Not sure about the others.
http://www.amc.com/shows/the-terror/season-1/episode-01-go-for-broke

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe

TV Zombie posted:

What network is the Terror on and is it on Hulu or Amazon Prime for streaming if people miss it live?

It is on Amazon.

Flight Bisque
Feb 23, 2008

There is, surprisingly, always hope.
Preacher and American Gods

Love them both.

I enjoy the changes from the source material in Preacher, and also enjoy the things they haven't changed. Especially the REDEMPTION ARC FOR LITERAL HITLER seems like the kind of thing that should get heat from the usual suspects, but :shrug:
I expected Hitler to die from being hit by the car, because that's the sort of thing that would make sense, but him also not dying ALSO makes sense in the universe of the show.

I wish I hadn't read American Gods so I could see if I could figure it all out as the show airs. (Probably - Mr Wednesday with one eye who talks to ravens, after the literal first scene has vikings and sacrifices to Odin isn't exactly a huge puzzler if you know anything about Norse mythology

JediTalentAgent
Jun 5, 2005
Hey, look. Look, if- if you screw me on this, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine, you rat bastard!
Archer: Dreamland
It seems like all I heard about that season from people was how bad it was, but after watching it in almost one complete setting I found it to be really funny. I can say that it does feel much more serialized than episodic compared to the previous seasons, so it ends up feeling like you're watching one long movie. If you cut out the credits and trimmed it up a little bit, I'm thinking you could probably make it into a fairly fast 2-2.5 hour movie.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

Flight Bisque posted:

I enjoy the changes from the source material in Preacher, and also enjoy the things they haven't changed. Especially the REDEMPTION ARC FOR LITERAL HITLER seems like the kind of thing that should get heat from the usual suspects, but :shrug:
I expected Hitler to die from being hit by the car, because that's the sort of thing that would make sense, but him also not dying ALSO makes sense in the universe of the show.

They're dropped Hitler as a regular in the third season! So loving bummed.

I hope they turn him into one of those weird running background jokes that the first season had, like the Mascots. (Not sure if they continued doing them in the second season, which is a shame.)

phosdex
Dec 16, 2005

I finished American Crime Story S2, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, and current episodes of AP Bio.

I have not watched s1 of American Crime Story, so I'm not sure if my problem with the show existed in that one. Great acting and the real life story is pretty interesting. But I kept wondering about the fictional aspects of the show. Like huge parts of the show are invented because we have no idea what actually occurred outside the murders.

Really liked Mrs. Maisel. Don't really have a lot to say, it was a fun watch.

AP Bio. Funny at times but the color filter is really distracting especially in shots where you can see people's eyes.

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

There's a ton of invented stuff in the OJ Simpson season. It's all there for entertainment.

Milo and POTUS
Sep 3, 2017

I will not shut up about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I talk about them all the time and work them into every conversation I have. I built a shrine in my room for the yellow one who died because sadly no one noticed because she died around 9/11. Wanna see it?

Mu Zeta posted:

There's a ton of invented stuff in the OJ Simpson season. It's all there for entertainment.

There's also a ton of nonfictional stuff in the first season and it'd blow your mind what some of it was

bowmore
Oct 6, 2008



Lipstick Apathy
Been binging Supernatural, just finished the first 7 seasons

carry on my wayward son~~

CBJSprague24
Dec 5, 2010

another game at nationwide arena. everybody keeps asking me if they can fuck the cannon. buddy, they don't even let me fuck it

sassassin posted:

I tried watching season 8 of Archer on Netflix and it's all the same tired routines from the early seasons lazily repackaged. Almost offensively bad. They probably didn't even need to rerecord half of the dialogue.

Is that the 1940s-themed Dreamland or whatever it was? That was where I gave up on Archer.

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OscarDiggs
Jun 1, 2011

Those sure are words on pages which are given in a sequential order!
Just finished all of Happy! on Netflix after it became avaliable today. It was... quite something. An enjoyable something, but the only real way I think I can describe it so soon after finishing it is "Hyperviolent".

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