Agree about Mare.. Winslet keeps me watching, cos she's so good. Normally can't stand Brits cast in American roles.
THEM on Prime, as I mentioned earlier, is absolutely brilliant.
also agree about Mare. when you find yourself looking for excuses not to watch episode 2 you know its probably not for you...
Disney + but Dollface has been quirky fun and very watchable.
Also on Prime, starting Friday is "The Underground Railroad" - looks good dammit, I wanted to cancel Prime.
That’s the Clint version. Kate Winslet’s is “Mare of Easttown”
I like it so much I, err, oh.....
Haven't seen much Fargo 4 chat. Looking forward to starting that.
Haven’t seen much Fargo 4 chat. Looking forward to starting that.
There was a thread when it came out on some other streaming platform (I think that's what the kids call em) I remember replying, but even google doesnt find the thread.
Watched it on downloads, but gonna watch on C4 again cos there is a hell of a lot going on.
Enjoying ‘Them’ if enjoying is the right word. It’s great tele but f me it’s grim at times!!
Try The Underground Railroad ...Bleak ain't the half of it!
Try The Underground Railroad …Bleak ain’t the half of it!
Isn't it though? Just watched the first episode, at least they've toned it down a bit from the book.
Fargo 4 chat
Mixed bag series 4. Cinematography and acting absolutely superb, but I'm not so convinced by the writing this time, too many instances of "but nobody in that situation would do that, even accounting for the hyperreal set up".
Enjoying Timeless on Netflix at the moment. Enjoyable mix of crazy and interesting historical stuff. Also Toon - Dutch comedy about geeky guy unwittingly thrown into the limelight.
Now, I've watched 3 episodes of Underground Railroad - not sure if I'm gonna go on with it. I mean it's obviously high quality, but there's just no respite from the grim suffering. I just can't derive any pleasure from watching such constant bleakness.
Anyone else finding this?
The book was a tough read, but well worth reading and one of the few books I intend to read again.
I'm going to start watching this week, but will probably space them out.
Enjoying Timeless on Netflix at the moment.
Yes, that was a fun show.
I’m going to start watching this week, but will probably space them out.
Yeah, maybe I need to do one a week. Get the lightness from other stuff in between 🙂
First episode of Them didn't grab me much, but yes is good, just watched ep4 tonight.
The movie His House bears a passing resemblance, but here it's illegal immigrants from Sudan settled in grotty English town.
Any love for Snowfall on BBC iPlayer? Midway through S3 having watched 1 & 2 a while back and I think its brilliant; parallel stories, great characters, 80s nostalgia and on council telly!
Just finished Mare of Easttown..... excellent. Really, really good. The last few episodes were particularly good.
But mostly I'm here to say DON'T WATCH "ARMY OF THE DEAD"
What a festering pile of dung that was - absolutely terrible. The trailer made it look promising - but holy cow, you could write a thesis about what was wrong with that film. There were so many plot holes, dead ends and pointless ambiguities - that (if the film wasn't 2.5 hours long) you would assume that there was a massive amount that had been cut out.
I know its a zombie film, and I know it's a Zach Snyder film, but there was so much that just made absolutely no sense that it left me feeling really annoyed at the end of the film. I've read a couple of reviews since I've watched it, and the consensus seems to be that he/they are going to use this as kind of a primer for a bunch of films/animated series. But as a result, the actual film you are watching doesn't hang together at all. Where did that character come from? No idea. Where did that character go? No idea. Why is that person doing that completely illogical thing? No idea. Were some of the zombies actually robots? (yes, seriously) No idea. How did that bloke do that thing that was impossible 5 minutes ago? No idea.
Honestly, this film has left me so annoyed.
Just finished Mare of Easttown
I found it really disappointing. Great cast, very well made, but the writing was lazy and cliched. From very early on it was obvious that the writers were just making one character after another look like the obvious suspect. They had an arrest and confession early in the final episode, so it was obvious that there would have to be an extra twist or else they were going to spend most of the episode with everyone talking through their trauma and hugging and making up. Turns out we got both. Just too predictable and cliched.
Not Netflix, but I enjoyed Resident Alien the most of the recent shows. Alan Tudyk is excellent as an arrogant, socially inept dickhead.
but the writing was lazy and cliched. From very early on it was obvious that the writers were just making one character after another look like the obvious suspect. They had an arrest and confession early in the final episode, so it was obvious that there would have to be an extra twist or else they were going to spend most of the episode with everyone talking through their trauma and hugging and making up. Turns out we got both. Just too predictable and cliched.
Meh - I didn't think so. I mean, I agree that throughout that they were steering you towards different characters as suspects, but I thought it was obvious in the final episode that something wasn't right, and so you (and the main character) were looking for alternative explanations. But of all the various twists in the plot - we didn't figure out what was happening until the main character did.
I found the whole thing decidedly un-cliched, me and my wife both said that all the characters felt very real - there was obviously a lot of "melodrama" going on in the midst of a police investigation - and all that felt really rich and engaging to me, but that it added to the police procedural aspect, rather than detracting from it.
Mare of Easttown is fantastic, and in the context of many characters did a great job at juggling the possibilities.
I would say it was as far from lazy writing as you can possibly get. Why? Because like all the best thrillers it has a strong dual theme running through it which might on one level be a who-dunnit but on the other is small town generational pain with little opportunity to escape in places like the Rust Belt.
I thought the ending was excellent.
Guy Pearce's character was an interesting entry though!
Army of the Dead: just about entertaining enough to survive it. Snyder really isn't a very good film maker though and is only a slightly more interesting version of Michael Bay.
He makes interesting scenes every now and again but the whole thing is a little dull despite a great set-up.
Shot in full frame 8K on a Red Monstro. Not sure I liked the shallow depth of field in this.
Black Summer series two start in a couple of weeks. Didn’t get great reviews but I preferred it to The Walking Dead. No sitting around spouting exposition. Just tense scene after tense scene with fast, deadly zombies.
Shot in full frame 8K on a Red Monstro. Not sure I liked the shallow depth of field in this.
Yeah - watched it on a new oLED telly, expecting it to look great, but it didn't, and I don't know why. The tiger looked fantastic, but lots of the alpha zombie scenes were really distracting as they just looked like some bloke in a costume doing interpretive dance - maybe because the shots lingered for too long? Putting direction down as another thing that pissed me off about the film.
it has a strong dual theme running through it which might on one level be a who-dunnit but on the other is small town generational pain with little opportunity to escape in places like the Rust Belt.
All the way through it, I just kept getting visions of Kate Winslet reading the script and squealing in delight, "If I do this, I'm gonna win an award for the most acting."
Deutschland 89 not as good as 83 and 86 still very enjoyable.
Surprised nobody's mentioned Shadow and Bone yet? Proper fantasy but still believable. Has magic, but they treat it like science. Has a big scary rift across the land, full of monsters. Has a proper 19th century Russian vibe. Is a Netflix original. Should probably be terrible but is actually brilliant.
Any love for Snowfall on BBC
Yep. Excellent stuff. New series (3?) has not long started on normal BBC and seems even better than previous.
Mare.. kept me riveted til the end.
...Until the movie thread gets warmed up - I went to see Those Who Wish Me Dead at the flix.
Maybe I cut it too much slack as I'd not been in the cinema since Tenet but I loved it. Taylor Sheridan can do no wrong on my eyes - this was pulpy 90s action stuff and very tense too.
Easy to pick apart but I enjoyed the Montana Setting and the particulary nasty bad guys. The forest fires were very well done too. Angelina Jolie does this stuff very well and haven't seen her on the screen in ages.
Looking forward to Yellowstone S4 by the same writer. Proper modern-western family troubles!
Army of the Dead is not a great film, but has an astonishing (long) opening sequence as Vegas falls to the Zombies. I wish I'd stopped watching it after the wall had gone up because it was pretty dire thereafter, save for the room full of Elvis impersonator zombies. That was quite good.
Thought Nomadland was okay.
Pretty undramatic, if quietly addictive viewing.
Waste of good landscape though.
Some interesting characters but mostly felt a bit vague to me.
Army of the Dead is not a great film, but has an astonishing (long) opening sequence as Vegas falls to the Zombies
Agree on this.
I thought they wasted the setting for the rest of the film.
That pitch meeting is great
A great last episode of Mare Of Easttown IMO. As a limited series it's up there with Chernobyl and Unbelievable.
I've not been back to Underground Railroad after the first one, it's too dark for my current frame of mind.
Any love for Snowfall
It's a decent show, good cast. Season 4 came out last month in the U.S., has been renewed for season 5.
rone
Thought Nomadland was okay.
Agree with your mini-review there. Preferred The Rider from Chloe Zhao and Three Billboards.. from Frances McD 🙂
Nomadland would no doubt have been better in the cinema, but I saw on a telly.
Yeah, Nomadland didn't really stick with me.
Good film but not great.
Perhaps slightly hindered by Frances McD being a bit typecast as "contrary old woman", even though she's very good at it?
Agree with your mini-review there. Preferred The Rider from Chloe Zhao and Three Billboards.. from Frances McD 🙂
Need to go and watch 3 Billboards again, was a truly surprising/shocking film.
Now so many films are premiere streaming / cinemas are open do we start a movies 21 thread?.
By the way £20 for that Cruella is a bit miserable - on top of a sub.
Anyone seen it?
By the way £20 for that Cruella is a bit miserable – on top of a sub
I suppose if you would otherwise have taken a family of 4 to a cinema it doesn't stack up too badly for value, plus you're spared the pressure to bend over for the snacks and drinks. Even so, £20? Cripes.
It's not new or an obscure little gem, but Mean Girls is on Netflix now and is still hilarious and very clever.
Arguably the most important film of the 21st century, so far.
Do it in a triple bill with Eighth Grade and Booksmart.
I watched Rocks on Netflix at the weekend and really enjoyed it. The young cast are fantastic, so good that at no point do you actually think you are watching actors.
I see that 'Midsommar' is getting released in a bit - as a big fan of 'Wicker Man' I'll be giving it a watch.
It's very good.
Make sure you have time to finish it though, I didn't want to stop watching and stayed up until 3am.
I thought Midsommar was excellent, great soundtrack by Haxan Cloak too.
