What's a movie or show that you knew little or nothing of before walking in, and it still was nothing like you expected? I recently had this happen with The Cabin In The Woods. I knew it was this cool, little horror movie that everyone seemed to love, but I definitely wasn't expecting that.
What else have you been watching?
Everyone should go get Hulu and watch The Bear starting tonight. The last two episodes are almost perfect TV. Only 8 episodes of about 30 minutes each, so not a big commitment.
I've been talking up For All Mankind on Apple for 3 seasons now, so check it out if you like alternative histories and near earth-bound sci-fi. Better Call Saul is promising to deliver a heartbreaking ending to that series. RRR on Netflix is an over the top Bollywood action movie that will challenge any MCU offering these days.
Pistol on Hulu is a fun little dramatic history of the Sex Pistols, again not a huge commitment. I only got through 2 episodes of Obi Wan. Is it worth going back to?
Seconding free’s recommendation of For All Mankind. I’ve been waiting until everything but the season finale is out so I can watch it all without waiting the week in between episodes. (Hard to shake that conditioning when coming to a show after a full season has streamed.)
Two episodes into The Bear. Yeah, okay.
Three beefs all day long chef.
Yes, Chef.
I have worked with exactly one "chef" who insisted that I call him "chef". He was a corporate chef, so he ranked above me. I called him by his first name only and it really grated on him. I told him since he refused to call me "General Manager", I would refuse to call him chef. This was in a chain that overused microwaves and cheapened their food in the few years I worked there. He wasn't a "chef", he was a corporate kitchen manager. Me? When I have worked in kitchens as an Executive Chef, I was called by my first name, or "chef" if someone preferred to call me that. You could call me a "rock star" every day for a year and it would not make me a rock star (well except for a 4 month stint in a garage band, but I digress). So, in real life, the whole "call me chef" thing is just silly.
i've been out of the industry for a long time, but that's what i loved about it. we are all "chef". it's just a matter of believing in it.
Truth.
Yeah, that was pretty great. I have only one real quibble:
It's not that uncommon in my industry. It is uncommon in my own business.
several questions then.
The things I have seen. I should write a book.
One book all day, chef.
Derry Girls. It's now one of my favorites. I've watched it twice.
Derry Girls is fantastic. I don't know how many times I've watched it through.
Hurry up and get Season 3 to us Stateside, Netflix! It's already aired in the UK.
Drake president agrees.
Have I mentioned my daughter will be going to Drake in the fall?
A fine institution
Awesome.
It was runner-up for both my daughters. We'll see about the boy in a couple years.
Oh yes. Derry Girls is so good.
I didn’t think I would like Derry Girls, but wound up watching a couple episodes while staying with friends pre-COVID. I’m not usually wrong when I get the feeling a show isn’t for me, but I was definitely wrong that time.
Sounds interesting. I was a little discouraged to see it's already three seasons in, but then I saw they're three British seasons. That's not so bad.
Those two seasons went by quick. Loved it. Now to fire up the VPN for season 3...
Season 3 is great, lads!
I love how fearless all of the actors in this show are. No worry at all about looking or seeming ridiculous, just full commitment to the bit. And a tribute to their acting that the more tender moments land so well in the midst of the comedy. Great show with a fitting ending.
I'm mid way through season 2 while watching at the gym. I've actually snorted from laughter a number of times leading folks around me to stare.
The past few weeks I've finished the latest season of Halo, The Boys, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and am currently working on The Umbrella Academy, The Orville: New Horizons, Ms. Marvel, and Only Murders in the Building.
btw Free, Corridor Crew featured RRR recently:
I asked a few of my coworkers and also the crew at the neighborhood Subway if they'd seen RRR and virtually all said they had.
btw II, the Nova special last week about JSWT was pretty cool. I'm impressed how quickly they've been able to turn around episodes while including the most recent pics/information.
I turned by son and his friends on to RRR. Definitely a hit with the younger crowd.
What platform is ST:SNW on? Paramount? That's like the only one I don't have access to.
Also watching Only Murders in the Building. It's a nice frothy, sophisticated watch.
yes, Paramount. or websites of the sketchy variety
As mentioned before, I finished up Letterkenny and went through Shoresy. It was pretty decent, actually. I would say it's more a show "based on the character of Shoresy" than anything else. I wasn't sure if it would be any good as he's one of the most annoying characters from the original, however they definitely toned all that down and filled out the character more while still keeping the basics intact. It's definitely from the same world as Letterkenny, but it has a different feel to it for sure. Would recommend.
We recently cut the cable on Netflix, so are down to just Disney Plus for streaming services. And whatever free crap there is floating around too. Actually, we find some decent stuff on the free channels - a couple seasons of News Radio was a pleasant surprise recently. Mostly our TV watching has plummeted during these summer months, and I love it. I have zero desire to get into a dramatic or tense show these days - probably because I deal with enough vicarious drama at work.
That said, a few pretty big highlights recently:
The Owl House - If you have pre-teen/teen kids, I highly recommend this show. It is quick and inventive and super funny. Some of the episodes are a little too on the nose/heavy handed, but ultimately the ride is a blast and I'm laughing a ton with my daughter.
The Lost City - I'm behind the curve on this, but what an awesome movie.
Uncharted - Another fun movie. Requires a bit more suspension of disbelief than I'd like, but otherwise was a real good time. Probably better than National Treasure, but in that vein.
Minions: The Rise of Gru - Stupid fun for the kids and enough laughs for the adults too, though really very little semblence of a plot. It was just nice to take the kids out to a movie again. It's been too long.
I absolutely read
as Stick bate and I'm here for it.
?
Not meant that way at all, but I'm probably missing something. I just really enjoyed the movie. Just an entertaining popcorn flick.
For sure. Just made me think of Hope Floats
Impressions below for: Lady and the Tramp, The Rescuers, Pinocchio, Coco, Oliver & Company.
Impressions below for: Yellowstone, Bosch: Legacy, 1883, The Lincoln Lawyer, Paatal Lok, Mayor of Kingstown, Slow Horses, The Family Man, Dark.
I tear up during "Proud Corazon" everytime we watch Coco
Got through season 3 (? The one that ends with her becoming captain) of Discovery. A bit too many weepy-huggy scenes for my taste, and WTF is such an insubordinate officer doing out of the brig, let alone as captain? But I still enjoying it enough.
Switched to Wanda+vision. Almost finished (just got through the 4th Wall episode). Wow. This show is fantastic.
We also started Stranger Things. For some reason, I was expecting something kid-friendly. The show is really good, nonetheless.
Discovery wasn't horrible, but I got really tired with
Mary SueMichael Burnham being the one answer to every catastrophic problem. I really hope Strange New Worlds follow up seasons are as good as the first season was.Yes. And, frankly, the retconning of Spock's family was rather annoying.
There's some of that coming up in SNW next season too, I'm afraid
🤨
Better Call Saul Thoughts
I went and saw Elvis last night. I have quite a few thoughts. I don't think these need to be spoilered, but if you're sensitive, don't read.
Specifically, I have read books with unreliable narrators, where the action slowly reveals the world as-it-is in contrast with how the narrator sees it. I don't know that that quite works in a movie in the same way, but this one probably comes as close as anything. There's less plot and direct conflict than one is used to, which makes it more of a world to inhabit for a few hours, than a story being told. At first I wanted the story, and was disappointed, but the more I think about it, the smarter I think the movie was.
The world though! It was brought to life so well. I felt like I was in the 50's, in the South, in Vegas, etc. Really flawless design.
The acting... Butler nailed Elvis. There were moments I thought they were using archival footage when they were not. And Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker... at first, his eyes glimmered with "Tom Hanks" through the makeup and prosthetics and accent... but, given that we were using an unreliable narrator, that was actually a brilliant choice. It helped sell the approach. And it didn't take too long into the movie before Hanks disappeared into the role.
The music - was amazing, though I maybe wanted a couple more of his songs, a little more variety. We got "Hound Dog" a few extra times when others could have been thrown in the mix. A small complaint.
Ultimately, the approach was pretty impressive, and I think I'd give it a B+, but with an A+ for ambition.
Note: Fight Club is probably the closest to "unreliable narrator" for a film - but in that one they actively lie to you the viewer, showing you something that isn't, before removing it later. This movie does no such thing.
Usual Suspects.
That one is tricky though, because trying to hide, not reveal, until the big reveal.
Forrest Gump was the other one pointed out to me. That works in my mind, though is more obvious than this.
Oh I saw Elvis too and agree pretty much with all of this. It was kind of funny in that Baz literally stole the "Dewey plays a song at the school talent show" and the "sexually suggestive dancing" scenes from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story.
On a recent flight, watched Ip Man 4: The Finale. Great wang chun.
NBBW and I have since watched all five of the Ip Man movies - Donnie Yen plays a cool cat kung fu master in China/Hong Kong/San Francisco environs. Bruce Lee cameos also.
Watched Sicario last night here in the hotel room. It wasn't as violent as I thought it would be ... or possibly because John Wick III was on before it, maybe?
Not as violent as you thought it would be? Yikes.
The John Wick violence always seems cartoonist to me. Sicario, on the other hand, freaked me out. I definitely identified with the Emily Blunt character's panic and horror.
relatively speaking
I've been trying to watch more new (to me) content lately. Instead of rewatching something and keeping one eye on it, I've been watching more new shows and movies, like The Nice Guys and Barton Fink (like I said, new to me). One recent exception is last night I rewatched Unbreakable, but I hadn't seen it for like 20 yeas so it's kind of newish. I vaguely remember liking it at the time, but wow was it bad.
Desperately trying to catch up on Better Call Saul so I don't get hit with any more spoilers.
The Better Call Saul finale was excellent.
i’m just before the mid season finale. i should probably stay off the internet this week.
I'm sitting here debating whether I should just read the spoilers or not. I'm half way through season 1, no longer have Netflix, and I don't know that I'll ever get back to it. I was so exhausted by Breaking Bad that I was super hesitant to start BCS and that hesitation hasn't really waned, though the tone is certainly different than BB. I want to know what happens, but... I don't want to go through the process of watching that much TV.
kind of where I'm at; I'm half way through season 2 but would probably need to start over again. It's also a show that can't be watched in front of the kids, and for 10:30 at night, there are slow parts that kind of lull you to sleep. Not because they're bad parts. Just too calming I guess.
If you are in just in season 1, the spoilers may tell you "what happened" but it you will completely miss how it happened. There's a reason a lot of people think it's better than BB (not all) so I'd hate for you to miss out on that. Also the tone is much lighter than BB if that helps you get into it.
Halfway through season 1 is also easily the driest stretch of the show's entire run. At that point, they hadn't brought into focus what they were doing with certain characters. I would say that BCS doesn't really hit its stride until they elevate Kim to more of a main character than simply "Jimmy's smoking buddy".
But yeah, I'll echo what Free said. It's lighter*, FAR more character driven than BB was. More melancholic than constantly fearing for the characters' lives.
* To a degree, anyway.
Is it weird for me to say that I don't want to watch it if he dies in the end? I just... I don't want to deal with that.
Of course, knowing whether he lives or dies is probably going to seriously affect the impact of the show, but knowing whether he lives or dies seriously affects my desire to watch it... this is my conundrum.
ARGH!
I almost went there.
Both series have a slow burn to them. Though BB was a bit quicker. BCS can move slowly, but I feel it's all worth it.
As a litigator, you may appreciate that there is an episode in season 3 that had the most flawless portrayal of an evidentiary hearing I have ever seen captured on film. The tediousness, the objections, the examinations, etc. were all perfect. (Of course, the episode also had some dramatic flourishes built in, but those flourishes were not in the mechanics of how the proceeding was handled.)
I can see how people can say that BB > BCS. I don’t agree, but it is a perfectly reasonable position to take. However, the character of Saul/Jimmy/Gene/Viktor >>> Walter White. Just so damned good.
Agreed completely.
#teamSaul/Jimmy/Gene/Victor
Bluey season 3 just dropped. I would say Top 10 show for me all time.
Bluey is indeed fantastic.