Streaming recommendations (including Netflix)

The oddest thing about MotA which we abandoned after a few episodes was how such a mediocre programme managed to get so many 5* reviews. It got a good slagging here a few dozen pages ago. Anyway, basically a reason for the existence of this thread

already watched the first 3 episodes. Episode 3 last night was kind of everything I want from a Star Wars episode but just a shame it wasnt longer

I’ve watched the 1st 2 and it is pretty good as Star Wars ‘prequels’ go. But decided to watch the episodes in pairs, so its a longer watch.

All seven seasons of The Shield are now up free on Prime.

Wonder how it holds up now.

Three seasons in three weeks and loving the murky morality (again).

The oddest thing about MotA which we abandoned after a few episodes was how such a mediocre programme managed to get so many 5* reviews. It got a good slagging here a few dozen pages ago.

After Band of Brothers, which was obviously one of the greatest series of all time, and The Pacific, which was well received, I think there was an element of expectation driving reviews.

Its main problem was that effectively the same thing seemed to happen every week. Crews meet up for briefing, fly off to the sound of stirring orchestral music, <loud noises>, a few of them come back, go to the pub. Rinse and repeat. Enjoyed the first couple of episodes, but never really felt anything about any of the ‘characters’, got bored pretty quickly, and never finished it.

a few of them come back, go to the pub

…and get off with a sexy 1940s lady… lol

recent playlist for the wookie household:

Lioness, S1 was good, S2 was also good,

Black doves as others have said is great.

Temple: bit late to it, but enjoyable. Quite like Mark Strong as an actor (as opposed to my hairdresser, for example)

The diplomat: S1 I really really enjoyed. my wife now watches it with me so we’ve only got a little way into season 2, but still as good and well paced.

Mayor of Kingstown, still on my list, season 3 now, still very watchable, dark and bleak

Hannibal: late to the party again, but losing the will for it in S2, maybe its too deep for me, maybe it’s disappeared up it’s own bum.

day of the jackal: really good, ending felt a bit rushed.

Dune prophecy: there’s a plot in there somewhere. Travis Fimmel acts like only Travis Fimmel acts. watchable but not brilliant.

Fortitude: S1 is good, then it all gets a bit out there. looks cold. again, watchable whilst eating your tea.

most of these I’m part way though.

I’d love a decent sci fi, but haven’t really found anything worthwhile. Last thing I watched was War of the Worlds, with the robo dogs, which I enjoyed, and westworld, which redeemed itself in the final season. I’m not including dune into scifi as it’s a bit more of a politi-fi (is that a thing?), on another world. could be anywhere, well, maybe not Cumbernauld.

I’d love a decent sci fi

I’m halfway through the final one of the three ‘Expanse’ books that weren’t filmed after it got cancelled. I hadn’t read the others, just enjoyed the TV version, but the books are good – add depth to what I’ve watched previously while taking the story forward to (hopefully) a satisfying conclusion.

dafoj
Mr Calzaghe on Prime, I’d forgotten just how good he was

Great recommendation, thanks for that 🙂

forgot another one.

the new dexter original sin has started.

I’ve only watched ep1, but it’s lining itself up to be almost a reboot, which is not a bad thing for me as I really liked the original dexter as a bit of light murdertainment.

the casting is really good, or rather the accurate character acting is really good, or both, I’m not sure.

I’m not including dune into scifi as it’s a bit more of a politi-fi

It’s turning out to be very much like I imagine fantasy stuff like Game of Thrones to be. Not entirely sure because I really can’t stand fantasy so don’t watch it. Dune may be going the same way

On a more positive note – saw that “Love Lies Bleeding” is on Prime. Watched it at the cinema and thought it was great. Slightly odd, how I like my films.

montgomeryFree Member
All seven seasons of The Shield are now up free on Prime.

Wonder how it holds up now.
Three seasons in three weeks and loving the murky morality (again).

Saw this and was very excited – it’s in the top 3 TV series I’ve watched (far far better than Breaking Bad or Mad Men), based on watching it 15 years ago, and that final series is one of the best seasons of TV ever made. I’ve wondered if I’d go back and watch (or get the OH to do so).

Is S2 still just v confusing how the overarching plot line ends about halfway through the series, then there’s an entire flashback episode, then some filler??

Mayor of Kingstown, still on my list, season 3 now, still very watchable, dark and bleak

Interesting. We finished S1 & 2 and it was good. Unfortunately the arc of S2 was fairly obvious after the end of S1, given who the 2 most charismatic characters are. But it is really bleak, and the way it writes women is really not good; so we never got to S3 (and now I’ve cancelled Paramount+)

Unfortunately the arc of S2 was fairly obvious after the end of S1, given who the 2 most charismatic characters are.

yeah it was, but I tend not to mind things that are predictable, means I can look at the detail moreso, but this only works if there are fairly well developed characters.

Same with Ozark, really liked that, the characters were nicely developed, not overly so, but enough to retain interest in the plot.

It turns out that Carry-On (Netflix) isn’t a reboot of the classic Brit comedies of yore.

As far as cheesy Xmas action films go, the body count is lower than Die Hard and Jason Bateman is a homegrown baddie. He’s no Alan Rickman, but don’t let that get in the way of the often predictable plot. Put your brain into autopilot and enjoy the ride. Btw, whamageddon survivors beware.

It turns out that Carry-On (Netflix) isn’t a reboot of the classic Brit comedies of yore.

it’s watchable but basically a shitter version of Die Hard 2!

it’s watchable but basically a shitter version of Die Hard 2!

With some elements of Phone Booth thrown in! (2002 Colin Farrell film if you don’t remember).

La Palma (Netflix) popped up on my recommendations. 4-episode Norwegian (dubbed into English) disaster drama about an eruption and tsunami wiping out the Canary Islands. Gripping stuff! I watched the first two episodes back to back last night.

And then despite being ex SAS, he was offed by the undercover spy- how did she keep up her training as the wife of a defence minister and mum?

Yes, it veered away from the otherwise wholly realistic depiction of events in the rest of the production 🙂

We got three months of Apple TV+ free with a recent apple purchase and…

Slow Horses is astonishingly good.

Ted Lasso is massively watchable in a gently funny way.

And there’s plenty of other decent stuff on there too. My mission is to watch it all before my three free months expire.

ocrider
It turns out that Carry-On (Netflix) isn’t a reboot of the classic Brit comedies of yore

Hand Luggage is a much better title. Managed about 10 mins before I knew it wasn’t for me.

As zilog put it, it’s very much a brainless crimbo action thriller.

Still, an improvement on the Hallmark Xmas style content that seems to have grown way out of proportion this year.

@BadlyWiredDog – when you’ve finished Ted Lasso (which is fantastic!) try Bad Sisters. Probably the best thing Sharon Horgan has ever done and that’s a high benchmark

La Palma (Netflix) popped up on my recommendations. 4-episode Norwegian (dubbed into English) disaster drama about an eruption and tsunami wiping out the Canary Islands. Gripping stuff! I watched the first two episodes back to back last night.

we just binged all 4 straight through! Really good I thought, there are some annoying unbelievable moments in the last episode though (won’t spoil it!)

Did anyone watch Presumed Innocent? Found the first few episodes quite gripping, but the characters are all dislikeable lunatics or assholes in some way or another. I was going to say I find it difficult to believe people high up in law behave like these do, but then remembered the POTUS.

We got three months of Apple TV+ free with a recent apple purchase

Severance is spectacularly good too, S2 out in January, I think.

we just binged all 4 straight through! Really good I thought, there are some annoying unbelievable moments in the last episode though (won’t spoil it!)

Just came back to this thread to say that sadly the last episode was off into absolute fantasy land but it’s still a very good series. At least it’s only 4 episodes too, not the usual fare of stretching out a series into 8 or 10 episodes of filler and fluff!

We watched The ink black heart on iPlayer the other night, I’ve read all the strike books and imo this is probably the worst adaptation so far.

when you’ve finished Ted Lasso (which is fantastic!) try Bad Sisters. Probably the best thing Sharon Horgan has ever done and that’s a high benchmark

Yeah, we watched the first episode the other night, really good. Also Shrinking, Bad Monkey seem good at first watch.

Severance is spectacularly good too, S2 out in January, I think.

Thanks, I shall seek it out 🙂

Also, I don’t know if it’s been mentioned on here already, but Industry on BBC iPlayer is mad but sometimes spectacularly great, the Rishi episode in the latest season is astonishingly good in a gut wrenching way.

I still don’t think anything can match Doctor Odyssey on Disney + it’s far and away the best ‘bad TV I’ve watched for ages. The captain, I realised belatedly, is played by Don Johnson from Miami Vice. At one point he has a thing with Shania Twain, I mean, how can you possibly match that?

A bit of a throwback, but if you want Belleville Rendezvous, it is on ITVx.

I’ve read all the strike books and imo this is probably the worst adaptation so far.

I haven’t read any of them, but from what I’ve read it’s a pretty terrible book. I didn’t really concentrate on the plot, but it was enjoyable enough.

Saw this and was very excited – it’s in the top 3 TV series I’ve watched (far far better than Breaking Bad or Mad Men), based on watching it 15 years ago, and that final series is one of the best seasons of TV ever made. I’ve wondered if I’d go back and watch (or get the OH to do so).

Is S2 still just v confusing how the overarching plot line ends about halfway through the series, then there’s an entire flashback episode, then some filler??

I’m currently finishing Series 2 of the Shield whilst sat on the turbo trainer, still brilliant

For the person above steaming through the Apple TV content, Silo is good and there is most of two series on there

Very late to the party on this one, as we’ve only just got Disney+ but The Bear is up their with the best telly I’ve ever watched. Fantastic! We’ve just binged series one and it may have got a bit dusty at the end of the last episode. Absolutely top notch stuff!

Right!… seres 2…..

Very late to the party on this one, as we’ve only just got Disney+

A nice holiday time treat.

The Bear.

Aye,when it’s good,it’s very,very good.

Then it sometimes goes full (OTT) shouty mode and you want them all to dial it down.

Shogun was the other big watch for us this year,most excellent.

as we’ve only just got Disney+

Other recommends:

Shogun, as above. Probably the best series released this year on any platform.

Mr Inbetween. You’ll like that one.

Even if you aren’t particularly into Star Wars, Andor is worth a watch. Mandalorian Series 1 is decent.

Cheers guys. They’re going on the list

2 episodes into Landman (Paramount+) and it is superb.  Same writer as Yellowstone but set in Texas with oil the main subject.  Billy Bob Thornton plays the lead so it shouldn’t disappoint and there have already been some cracking lines. Despite having left him for a man Tommy describes as “a fat-ass ATM”, there she is on his phone, taking a break from her latest poolside holiday to thrust her chest towards the lens and taunt him about what he’s lost. Tommy is unmoved: “Enjoy the beach,” he says, before he once again hangs up. “Your tits look great. Don’t get syphilis.”