[watching] What have you seen recently?

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The Terminator
yet would a young person not turn their nose up at the technical weaknesses?

Not sure how you're defining young, but I saw this for the first time fairly recently (as in, a few years ago). It took me a while to get past the giant hair and the sheer amount of synthesizer in the sound track, and some of the impact of the defleshed terminator at the end was lost because I was giggling at the crappiness of the stop motion animation. All the same, I thought everything else about it held up really well - script, acting and directing were all on point. And Terminator 2 was even better.
 
Tales from the Loop is more slow burn SF.
The Man in the High Castle is excellent and chilling alt history well extrapolated from the Philip K Dick story.
 
I have a one month trial of Amazon Prime, what would people recommend?

I have just finished binge-watching seasons 4 and 5 of The Expanse on Amazon, which did not disappoint. It strikes me as true to the novels, as far as a TV show can be, and made by people with an eye both for detail and scientific plausibility. The series bears watching again to catch what's going on in the background - belter ships with signs in belter creole ("ME FO DEK A" on a ladder), the Rocinante's main drive pulsing to counteract the recoil from firing her railgun, stuff like that.

The visuals really bring the setting to life, and the story has been compressed in a way that highlights the key plot points - I think I understand some of books 3 and 5 better after seeing the series.

Anyway, hunting more Amazon Prime stuff to watch while I can. I see there is a Tales From The Loop series, that might be worth a peek.
Preacher
 
Watched The Mitchells vs the Machines on Netflix.


I actually giggled at a few bits. It does confirm that Furbys are Evil. The humour is mostly on the ball. The Cast do an excellent job. A very entertaining and good animated film.

Well recommended as a Family watch.
 
Ok that's Line of Duty finished.
I think I both hated and appreciated the downbeat end..
In the end Gavin Williamson was the villain, cause he was the most useless individual.. and no-one cares anymore.
 
I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the opening episode for Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

I was a little disappointed that my favourite Crosshair decided to side with the Empire. Hopefully there will be a redemption arc for him later on and he can return to the squad.
 
I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the opening episode for Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

I was a little disappointed that my favourite Crosshair decided to side with the Empire. Hopefully there will be a redemption arc for him later on and he can return to the squad.
Is this on Disney+
 
Amazon Prime:
  • Preacher and The Boys. I had high hopes for these as I enjoyed the comics/graphic novels a lot, but the TV shows are too far removed from what I'm used to. Maybe if I hadn't read the source material first I would enjoy them more. Got about four episodes in and gave up.
  • American Gods. Not doing it for me, though I do like the idea that popular TV icons transform into gods because of the attention they get. The book is still on my to-read list.
Netflix:
  • Vagabond. Korean thriller, not as polished or well-written as The K2. A stuntman and a not-terribly-good Korean spy (sent somewhere basically to get her out of the way) investigate an airliner crash and uncover a conspiracy. Currently at episode 6 and debating whether to carry on.
  • The October Faction. Covert monster hunters hiding out in a small American town. Interesting premise but looks like it will turn into another American high school drama. Not my thing, dropped it after one episode.
  • Shadow and Bone. Adapted from the young adult novel of the same name and its sequels. Tsarist Russia with the serial numbers filed off and added magic and gargoyles. Will probably finish at least the first season of this one.
Sky:
  • Intergalactic. Episode one looked cheap and derivative, although it's interesting to see a mostly-female cast which flows naturally from the original story (they are female prisoners en route to an offworld prison colony) rather than being a gender-swapped reboot of something. Will watch the second episode before deciding whether to continue, there is so much scene-setting to do in SF shows that you have to give them a bit more of a chance to establish themselves.
I'm being a bit ruthless with TV at the moment as I have an embarassment of riches, and if I'm not careful I'll turn into a couch potato binge-watching whatever drifts past. My feeling at the moment is that Netflix has higher-quality content (with The Expanse being a notable exception where Prime hits the mark I'd like it to aim at), and is also easier to navigate.
 
I did that recently, well last year, and I really loved them.

But right now we watched DNA on iPlayer which was a little flaky at first but came together pretty well.

We have now started This is Us on Prime which is very very good. Russel T Davies recommended it in the Guardian.

Became aware I haven't kept up with the Preacher which is lax. Then there is Spiral, the French detectives show to watch on iPlayer.. so much TV.. so much gaming.. and Spring is here!
Spiral is definitely worth the investment of time.
 
Bruce Willis is a cashiered ex-war-hero who is forced back into action to fight alien infected zombies.

That’s the plot of both Cosmic Sin (Sky Movies) and Anti-Life (Netflix).

Both feature a “name” to put on the poster (Frank Grillo and Thomas Jane respectively) who clearly just turned up to do a couple of days work which is then scattered throughout the movie.

The main protagonists of both movies are young actor and actress who I’ve never seen or heard of before. Bruce is just there to be laconic and shoot guns.

If you have to choose, Anti-life is more bearable through embracing its sub-”Aliens” shoot-em-up premise and low budget and doesn’t try to pretend to make a blockbuster on spare change.

But, really.......

I watch this sh!t so you don’t have to. (And because I actually quite enjoyed Surrogates.)
 
Jupiter’s Legacy — Netflix Superhero series.

Great production. Ten years ago we wouldn’t have believed we’d get this on TV. Good acting. Great central premise - can the “Code” of Golden Age Heroes remain unsullied in the modern world? Well worth a watch despite a couple of well-documented pacing issues.

The time - every episode - is split between the Heroes’ origins in the 1930’s and the contemporary plotline. The origin story feels dragged out and is centred around a handful of characters, whereas the modern day plot is packed with challenging ideas and characters. The origin plot should’ve had its own discrete episode or two and the rest of the time given to the modern day - so we’d have time to get to know some of the new generation of heroes before their untimely demises. Several funerals of characters we didn’t know or care about, but should have. Also too many times when the main story hits a key spot only to cut away to some humdrum sub-pulp ‘30s shenanigans.

The origin of the powers is just hand wavey bollocks with no logic to where the powers come from, how they work, how they were allocated etc. Ancient aliens presumably but how or why? I prefer things a bit more logical.

And the whole series is clearly just a set-up for a future continuation. Like the whole series is just a prequel.

Still worth watching tho.
 
Sometimes movie and entertainment critics are just worthless biased people.

So "Jupiter's Legacy" got some negative reviews as a bad series. Not to me. It was excellent to watch.

However, truth be told, there were several missteps (including multiple horned vikings). The overall story arc is excellent. In that it explores what distinguishes Superheroes from Suoervillains if any good excuse is used to justify committing attrocities "for the greater good". Though other TV series explored this story material better, like The Watchmen, and yet, Jupiter's Legacy and its story of "The Code" is a worthy addition.
 

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...... it explores what distinguishes Superheroes from Supervillains if any good excuse is used to justify committing attrocities "for the greater good".

not just the heroes. There’s a GREAT turning point where what seems like a minor villain decides to stop being everyone’s whipping boy and kills a couple of very bad people - very easily. It’s not just power that makes you powerful - it’s the will to use it. See also “Misfits” Grand Fromage.

There’s a general misconception that all bad guys are happy to commit murder. That’s simply not the case. Cf. This week’s The Bad Batch.
 
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