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Death's Game was good.
I lasted 3 episodes of SG2, same as Timmy's, just feel it's had it's time as it's no longer a fresh concept.
I’ve well and truly dissapeared down the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ wormhole
Did you see Sunderland Til I Die on Netflix?
The series that apparently prompted them to make the Wrexham show. It's quite a bit better IMO - but I don't find the Wrexham duo to be nearly as funny as they think they are. Maybe if they get Danny Devito in for the next series though...
I think what made SG1 so good was the shock factor and that you had no clue what was going to happen next. SG2 suffers I think from that loss of shock.
Did you see Sunderland Til I Die on Netflix?
@chakaping - I absolutely bloody loved Sunderland Til I Die. Literally like watching a slow motion car crash. Compelling stuff. I’ve got a mate who’s a diehard Sunderland fan and he had to turn it off after 20 minutes of the first episode for the sake of his blood pressure
60 years of music on the BBC 4 hours of non stop nostalgia
Cunk on Life on the iPlayer. The best one yet, had numerous coughing/laughing fits. I’d love to see the outtakes!
The latest Harlan Coben thriller, Missing You, has just landed on Netflix. Like most of the rest of them, it stars Richard Armitage...
Might start on it later on tonight. At least this one is only 5 episodes; the trend for having a series drag out over 8 or 10 episodes is annoying.
Harlan Coben thriller, Missing You
One I'll be sure to avoid, I cannot understand how that man manages to sell any books, let alone why people make them into TV.
No offence meant if you see something in them I don't btw!
No offence meant if you see something in them I don’t btw!
Oh none taken!
I think it's a bit like Dan Brown. Somehow sells millions of books, all of which end up in charity shops having left 2 or 3 largely forgettable films in their wake.
Even many of the Reacher books are like that. There are a few authors who have managed to crack the code behind writing essentially the same book 15 times and then selling millions of them. It's quite impressive. I've watched most of the Harlan Coben stuff on Netflix and I literally couldn't tell you any of them other than Richard Armitage pops up in most of them and they while away an hour per episode.
In fact there's a review of it which says basically that!
I struggled to tell the individual episodes apart. In terms of plot they're mostly the same thingN ot exactly Agatha Christie level writing. Maybe that's the secret to the sales. Make it really simple and repetitive.
I watched episode 1 of Missing You last night. Here are my thoughts.
When you're young you watch stuff and even if it's meh you watch it and go with it and you don't really care that much.
But then you grow up. You realise what good writing is, what engaging dialogue is, what character development looks like, what competent acting feels like, and based on this you can spot shonky plots, forced plots, impractical dialogue, silly coincidences, contrived events and GCSE-level stupid exposition.
Missing You was total drivel. It was so bad I started to enjoy it. The writing, acting, dialogue and entire premise were awful. When did writing and production become this bad? There's no way this should have become real.
When did writing and production become this bad?
1948
My Brilliant Friend is … brilliant. If you’ve seen any of the earlier seasons, this is the best so far.
Strangely compelling isn't it?! I don't know why I enjoy it so much, but it's great. Taking a bit of getting used to the new Lenu actress cos she's nothing like the old one!
I enjoyed Flora & Son on Apple TV. A sweet tale with an emotional performance at the end.
It would be a nice family friendly film but for the swearing…a lot of it! (It’s set in Dublin). And a few sexual references that might not be suitable for the little ones. Stars the girl who plays the youngest sister in Bad Sisters.
If you liked Once or Sing Street it might be worth a watch.
Enjoyed Rebel Ridge on Netflix yesterday.
Solid action crime thriller.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rebel_ridge
Stars the girl who plays the youngest sister in Bad Sisters
Bono's daughter? 🙂 She's very good.
Missing You was total drivel. It was so bad I started to enjoy it.
Pulls me in every time! You know what you're going to get; painting by numbers with some silly plot twists.
Rebel Ridge was quite nicely done in a low body count Jack Reacher fashion. I didn't realise the main character is played by a Brit.
Wasn't Bono's daughter in the Nicole Kidman tosh Perfect Couple earlier in the year?
Beeb's SAS is good value. After the high jinx of series 1, series 2 is quite good showing the increasing psychological toll on the main characters.
Did binge Missing You while hungover and avoiding the weather y'day. V silly plot, but watchable. There's 9 more Coben series on there as well apparently....??
Just waiting for Reacher 3 and Nigh****chman 2.
At some point i need to can my Netflix subs for a few months of Apple TV and watch slow horses. Rosalind Eleazor from Missing You is in that too apparently.
Bono’s daughter?
That’s the one! Turns out she can strum a guitar and sing a few notes as well. (Awaits obvious joke.) ☺️
Just finished Black Doves, what a load of crap that was. Ridiculous plot lines, cliché characters and dialed in performances. Seriously underwhelming.
Ive just started Black doves, and most ridiculous so far is Keira Knightly becoming a super assassin by hanging round with Ben Wishaw under a motorway underpass. And also the lesbian super ninja assassins
Ben Wishaw is bloody good though. He makes the best of it
Just finished Black Doves, what a load of crap that was. Ridiculous plot lines, cliché characters and dialed in performances. Seriously underwhelming
I enjoyed it, but “realism” wasn’t on my list of expectations.
Taking a bit of getting used to the new Lenu actress cos she’s nothing like the old one!
Whereas the new Lila could easily be the old one grown up!!
I know 3 month free trials are all over the place, but Apple TV is available for free to everyone this weekend (Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th).
Did binge Missing You while hungover and avoiding the weather y’day. V silly plot, but watchable. There’s 9 more Coben series on there as well apparently….??
Just waiting for Reacher 3 and Nigh****chman 2.
Yep, watched Missing You. Some fairly obvious "reveals" but it's all quite watchable. The "weirdo dog breeder" farm is over in Glossop and I recognise most of the Manchester landmarks. It adds an extra dimension to watching them. There was some other Harlan Coben one which used a load of locations in St Helen's, Morecambe and the Runcorn Bridge. Was quite jarring watching the main character drive over the Runcorn Bridge and arrive in Morecambe...
Reacher 3 had better be a significant improvement over the absolute drivel that was Season 2.
Night Watchman...? You mean The Night Agent? Cos the first season of that was brilliant. I fear the most likely thing with Season 2 is that they balls it all up but fingers crossed for that one.
Quite enjoying The Madness on Netflix at the moment. Coming to the end sadly.
Spoiler - It does not feature Suggs etc.
Not sure if it was on this thread or another one, but the lack of love for the latest series of "Strike" had me looking for the first series. Which we watched last night. Really enjoyed it. Assume it goes downhill from here 🙂
I know 3 month free trials are all over the place, but Apple TV is available for free to everyone this weekend (Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th).
Where might one find a 3 month trial, quite fancy watching Slow Horses and 3 days isn't going to cut it!
I recently binned Apple TV (after the three months free trail thing) as I struggled to find stuff i wanted to watch. I did enjoy 1971 though. It’s about the music from 1971 and has some great stuff on Marvin (What’s Goin On) and Sly (There’s a Riot Goin On). I also caught The Long Way Up which was interesting if a little contrived. Which made me go watch Long Way Round.
On Netflix recent stuff has been:
When the phone rings (about a couple where the wife is subject to a kidnapping who then starts to ‘collude’). It features Chase Soo Bin so I’d watch it regardless but I’m enjoying it as entertainment. It concludes this weekend.
Mr Plankton which I’ve actually forgotten the main thrust of the series but features Lee You-Mi. I remember enjoying it (as entertainment)… Anyways, an unhappy bride to be is kidnapped by someone who is a ‘mistake’ of artificial insemination and is ‘forced’ to accompany him on his final days (genetic disease)/journey…
Also Love Next Door about a couple who ‘grew up’ together with all that familiarity but never acknowledged their (mutual) feelings for each other… Features Jung So Min (Mu-Doek from Alchemy of Souls).
I also watched the Creedence Travellin’ Band docu/live at Albert Hall thing. Man, John Fogerty can play!
Best way to get 3 months free is to buy a new Apple device. Ipad will only cost you about £1200, so a free 3 month sub is a bargain addition!
The free weekend has been advertised like an amazing deal, but it's obvious they want people to see the amazing programmes (ha!) they offer and get addicted.
My 3 month trial ends today, but we have a few Bad Sisters to finish, so I'll keep it for January then bin it.
Just seen - 6 month trial with EE https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/extras-and-add-ons/add-ons/get-free-apple-tv-plus
Dune prequel on Prime was quite good.
A bit slow to get going, but worth sticking with.
Well, I'm very much enjoying Black Doves, Thanks to all who recommended. Of course the plot is daft, it's not a documentary.
Wishaw and Williams/Eleanor are the highlight for me.
Any Netflix/Prime recommendations after this for People Who Like This Sort Of Thing?
The Diplomat on Netflix is very much in the same ballpark as Black Doves - political spy/thriller that is pretty unbelievable but has really slick production and is highly entertaining
Also watched Occupied which is on Prime video - again lots of (hopefully) unlikely political goings on but fun.
Rivals was fantastic!
On a completely different note we watched the first episode of Lockerbie on Sky. It’s pretty horrific, as you can imagine but excellently done.
We're about 3/4 of the way through Mr & Mrs Smith on Prime. Not sure what to think tbh - it started well, really interesting premise, but as the series has gone on it's got further and further from the "best TV of 2024!!/ Must Watch This!!" write-ups I've seen. Good to see Wagner Moura pop up, but frankly that episode is where it starts to go downhill. Will finish it, but with reduced expectations.
Also into the latest Shetland. Interesting one, coming together quite nicely (we're at episode 4 of 6)
Also into the latest Shetland. Interesting one, coming together quite nicely
Do I understand that you are watching Shetland for some reason other than the scenery ? Interesting.
thols2
Best way to get 3 months free is to buy a new Apple device. Ipad will only cost you about £1200> is to buy it for £8.99 per month
FTFY. £8.99 per month is much cheaper than £400 per month.
Just seen this. You really didn't realise I was joking?? kinell.
Bullet Train is on All 4 another couple of weeks and is worth a watch for fun escapism.
Very Guy Ritchie-esque but not in an annoying way.
Any Netflix/Prime recommendations after this for People Who Like This Sort Of Thing?
The Gentlemen? Going older, maybe Killing Eve?
Still not watched it myself, Barry is meant to be very good in the slightly comedic + hitman/assassin genre.
Still not watched it myself, Barry is meant to be very good in the slightly comedic + hitman/assassin genre.
It's really good, but even when I had Sky I could never seem to find it (it's a HBO show).
Maybe one day I'll pay to watch S2 and onward.
Up to episode 5 of Black Doves, enjoying it so far but not exactly sure how to approach it.
It seems to be taking itself quite seriously but that requires some suspension of disbelief... around episode 3-4 I started treating it as "light-hearted fun, don't take it too seriously" instead which seems to work better but makes parts seem overly serious... The best way to enjoy this is by not thinking into it too much!
Helen seems odd, competent in some areas and terrible and well out of her depth in others (she's a terrible liar especially when put on the spot). Not entirely sure if this is intended or not - it kinda makes sense in context of the story and her background.
Loving all the scenes with the female assassins though. Sam/Ben's expressions after some of their comments just finishes it off perfectly.
Any Netflix/Prime recommendations after this for People Who Like This Sort Of Thing?
The Gentlemen? Going older, maybe Killing Eve?<br style="box-sizing: border-box; --tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246/0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000;" />Still not watched it myself, Barry is meant to be very good in the slightly comedic + hitman/assassin genre.
The Gentlemen was a lot better than I was expecting, that said, I was, however, not expecting much.
Currently watching The Rig, which is reasonable (if a bit generic) sci-fi fare.
Also watching second series of Devil's Hour. The first was a decent enough mystery (with a side order of ghosty sci fi fantasy elements). So far so reasonable.
Just watched first episode of silent witness 28(!) cos it's January. All the folks fretting about plot holes in Black Doves etc would sh1t the bed. SW was awful. Hopefully the second episode sees the series shoot itself in some assisted dieing twist and it's done
The Sticky, Prime.
Slightly based on the true story of the great Canadian maple syrup heist. Is much better than that sounds 🙂 May have been recommended earlier? Anyway, quite Fargo esque (ordinary people getting in over their heads, dark humour etc.) Only 6 episodes.
The Sticky, Prime.
I did a Google search for "The Sticky". Oh dear, I cannot unsee what I have seen.
Longlegs is free on Prime. Started it last night, but I was too tired and will revisit on Friday. Must say it looked very good for a HORROR FILM WITH NIC CAGE!! scary enough words, but seems more like a kind of "Se7en " type film. With added horror. Shame it's so bleeding dark all the time. Why don't people have proper lights in their houses??
roger_mellieFull Member
The Sticky, Prime.
Saw a review of that in one of the roundups of 2024, have added it to the list. 30 minute episodes, so probably quite bingeable?
@submarined - The Flight attendant was fun (although looks not to be on Prime/Netf which was part of your request).
Three Pines on Prime was interesting and lovely to look at as it's all Rockies landscape.
As for the comments about Mr&Mrs Smith it really did go nuts in it's lack of anything other than beautiful locations to shoot, the skiing episode as an example. It was still fun because of Donald Glover I thought, but it could have been better.
Also, liked the Black Doves hit-women side story, they were fun and carried the comedy element the Helen character lacked.
@nicko74 yeah I guess so. We strung them out over the course of a week or so, but they're easily digestible 🙂
Thanks for the recommendations. Haven't seen Killing Eve so will stick it on the list.
Watched the first episode of The Gentlemen a while back. It's one of the only things I've seen in recent memory that I refuse to give any more time to. I thought it was awful. Not a Guy Ritchie fan, but it was pretty much him by numbers.
I watched the first episode of The Sticky. Great cast, entertaining.
watched the rest of Longlegs. My word, one of the most disturbing horrors I’ve seen in a while. My sort of film that, highly recommended, if you don’t mind feeling a bit screwy.
Netflix has a new gritty western series: American Primeval. Promising start.
Another who has just binged The Sticky. Very good so far. Margo Martindale from Justified is excellent (again) in this.
Never watched Silo before as I avoid depressing dystopian content but it's actually very good.
Watched civil war earlier with mum, got the thumbs up from her which is high praise, I also thought it was good and would watch it again
Yeah @Caher I found S1 was better watching a couple at a time, and S2 has improved.
American Primeval - can't stop watching. It's so good. If you like your westerns gritty and violent. Guarantee in 10, 15, 20 pages time on this thread people will be piping up, Just discovered American Primeval! Only downside is the bloody woman who won't do what she's told! (You'll see what I mean if you watch it)
I tried American Primeval, not that impressed. Just seems lazy to me, they don't have much of a story so just fill it with gratuitous violence. Wyatt Earp and The Cowboy War was much better.
Finally got into series 3 of the Bear and was almost relieved when after 2 nice episodes we finally got one that was a 40 minute long panic attack. Remember kids, if you're ever making a decision and New Noise by Refused starts playing, do something else.
Caher
Full MemberNever watched Silo before as I avoid depressing dystopian content but it’s actually very good.
Yeah I was pleasantly surprised, it'll be interesting to see how it continues considering the novels completely fell to bits about halfway through the second one. Some of the changes so far were pretty odd, I'm wondering if they're setting up for something later.
Never watched Silo before as I avoid depressing dystopian content but it’s actually very good.
Gave up on it.
For me, it had too many big stretches of bland acting*,a lot of scenes filmed in dark mode and a wandering storyline.
* and sometimes a bit too american high-school
'On Call' on Amazon is rather good if you like a gritty police procedural.
I don't know if it's been mentioned here but we've just watched season one of Guilt on iPlayer. Very good, tense, menacing, occasionally funny, with plenty of twists and turns.
I've just sat in economy for 23 hrs (plus an unplanned 19 hour layover in Dubai after sitting on the tarmac at Manchester for 2 hours waiting to be de-iced), things I watched:
Strike (Ink Black Heart): Meh. I like the Strike books - but the TV adaptations have been variable - this latest one was ok, but it started with a book that was very difficult to turn into telly - much of the plot is revealed by way of messaging in the game, social media posts etc. I thought they did a decent job of it, but it was never going to be great. I don't particularly like the lead either - was pretty surprised to see him show up in the new mad max movie (in which he was fairly beige also). Holiday Grainger on the other hand......
Landman: New Taylor Sheridan thing - Enjoyed it. Carried entirely by Billy Bob Thornton's performance - but it occurred to me that Timothy Olyphant would also have been good.
Lionesses S2: Didn't know this was also Taylor Sheridan until some of the same actors started turning up. Much better than the previous season - decent action thriller.
Furiosa: Enjoyed it, but not as good as the last one. Anya Taylor-Joy was ok - but (like tom Hardy) had virtually no lines. Chris Hemsworth was decent as the baddie, but what was missing/much needed was some zippy/deranged dialogue- the whole film felt like it was taking itself a bit too seriously for a mad-max film. And then strike turned up - playing the beigest of all heros, who you are supposed to believe is some kind of legendary road warrior. 5/10
An old film and nineteen years late to the party, but just watched Children of Men (Amazon or Netflix) and was pretty blown away on many fronts - directing, cinematography, the gripping story and relevance to today's world. I want to watch it again this weekend.
We watched Civil War over the weekend. Very good, well-made. Quite on the nose, no subtlety whatsoever about its politics, but still a decent film.
Finished it last night, I agree it was very well made and IMO very thought provoking.
But I thought the politics side of it was deliberately ambiguous and subtle. Perhaps it allows the viewer to project their own ideas onto it?
The main things I took from it initially were the media's complicity and do-dependence with the military, and seeing the "civil war" as a literal representation of the current state of politics and public opinions - with people on both sides being terrible to each other because they think they are right.
I saw Civil War on the big screen when it came out and watched it again last night.
Such a powerful film ,but glad I saw it before watching the Lee Miller film.
That early scene at the protest with the young photographer (for me) ,still holds up as one of the best use of crowd and sound when it all kicks off,and even second time around ,that Jesse Plemons scene was still intense.
The only thing that eased the Jesse Plemons scene for me was knowing that he and Kirsten Dunst are married! Otherwise it was properly anxiey-inducing stuff.
I've just (last week) finished reading Prophet Song, and Civil War feels very of a piece with that, in terms of the through line of the story they're telling etc. Both v good, neither very cheery
That early scene at the protest with the young photographer (for me) ,still holds up as one of the best use of crowd and sound when it all kicks off
I know Alex Garland doesn't do the sound himself, but the use of sound (and sometimes lack of it) throughout the film was very Alex Garland-y, I thought.
And the way scenes feel like they are running over, or the camera lingering on incidental things.
The final part of the film (trying not to spoil it) felt deliberately unrealistic in the way the journalists were so involved in the action, which I imagine was a decision taken to make a point.