What are we watching right now?

[Murph]

The wife and I have been on a K-drama watching binge for a while.  She likes them since they are like Mexican Tele-novelas, no graphic sex (all you have to do to be a successful actress in Hollywood these days is take off your clothes quickly, and moan loudly), and a reasonably predictable plot.  Have not been to a movie theater in years, and quite frankly there is nothing out there we want to pay money to see.  So here is our current list:

Mr. Sunshine- Superb!  Kim Min-Jung is not an exceptionally beautiful woman, but she has a presence that just draws you in, and makes you want to keep looking at her.  And Lee Byung-Hun is superb (he was great in Red2).

Alchemy of Souls- Very impressive swords and sorcery.  My wife was annoyed that the main actress will not be coming back in Season 2.

Descendents of the Sun- Funny, and not the usual K-Drama.

Vincenzo- Song Joon-ki is great as an Korean-Italian Mafioso, and Jeon Yeo-been is very sexy, and funny.  Kim Yoonn-Hye plays a good hacker character.

Hotel Del Luna- Lee Ji-eun- HOT! HOT! HOT!, pretty good over all.  

 

[sunday]

On Korean series, there is this horror/zombie one. Great production

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6611916/

[Murph]

Yes, we gave it a pass, the wife does not like Zombie shows.

[sunday]

This is a Bollywood historical movie, with quite well researched props.

This is a Chinese science fiction film with quite a novel premise, and a great scriptwriter.

 

[NickM]

46 minutes ago, Murph said:

The wife and I have been on a K-drama watching binge for a while.  She likes them since they are like Mexican Tele-novelas, no graphic sex (all you have to do to be a successful actress in Hollywood these days is take off your clothes quickly, and moan loudly),

 

Hah!  That reminds me of somebody like Eiza Gonzalez: all you gotta do is keep screwing American actors...

[Stuart Galbraith]

Unsolved, a drama based around the unsolved murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. Surprisingly good.

Recently watched Mindhunter, a series based upon the guys who did the questioning of serial killers in prison, for the FBI's profiling program. Quite interesting, though Id feel happier if they rounded it out with a third series.

Been rewatching Van Der Valk on one of the UK digital channels. That was pretty good, and in fact better than the majority of UK terrestrial TV these days.

I got stuck in the third series of Stranger Things. Not one of the better series IMHO.

Im also stuck halfway through Squid Game. I dont know how I feel about it. Its brilliant, but there is only so much sadistic violence you can watch. At least in Peaky Blinders you felt it advanced the plot.

 

[Der Zeitgeist]

Currently watching Andor on Disney+.

Of all the Star Wars TV shows we've seen, it's by far the best. A true TV drama for grownups, with actual character development, well written, almost HBO quality. No lightsabers, no Jedi, no space magic, no cartoony villains, no bullshit.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Der Zeitgeist

[bojan]

So TV version of "KOTOR 2"?

Edited November 12, 2022 by bojan

[Der Zeitgeist]

1 hour ago, bojan said:

So TV version of "KOTOR 2"?

No, more like a Star Wars version of "House of Cards", "The Americans" and "Homeland", mixed together. The plot shows the origins of the rebellion among dissident senators, shady businessmen, corrupt intelligence officials and so on. 

[bojan]

KOTOR reference was to the focus being on well written characters and usual "SW stuff" being background flavor.

Sounds promising, but I will wait and see how it turns out until the end of the season.

[bojan]

Deutschland 86 finally.

Found it more interesting than 83, through I have watched 83 long ago and impression mmight change if I watched it again.

And much as plot point of arms smuggling was criticizes elsewhere, East Germans did engage in arms smuggling for the "west behalf", and not just west. So whole South Africa might be over the top, but not that much. 

[NickM]

9 hours ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Unsolved, a drama based around the unsolved murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. Surprisingly good.

Recently watched Mindhunter, a series based upon the guys who did the questioning of serial killers in prison, for the FBI's profiling program. Quite interesting, though Id feel happier if they rounded it out with a third series.

Been rewatching Van Der Valk on one of the UK digital channels. That was pretty good, and in fact better than the majority of UK terrestrial TV these days.

I got stuck in the third series of Stranger Things. Not one of the better series IMHO.

Im also stuck halfway through Squid Game. I dont know how I feel about it. Its brilliant, but there is only so much sadistic violence you can watch. At least in Peaky Blinders you felt it advanced the plot.

 

Tupac and Notorious? Unsolved? Well 'Snitches Wear Stitches and End Up In Ditches"

[NickM]

3 hours ago, bojan said:

So TV version of "KOTOR 2"?

The problem I have with many reactors/reviewers is that they have no 'memory' of anything==the Empire is just 'Police Harassment (usually commented on by some suburban gated community brat)' or 'The horror of working for Amazon and not getting bathroom breaks'; stuff like The Gulags, Reeducation Camps, Pol Pot's Year Zero (I'm talking to you Saw Guerrera) or the Stazi seems to be totally unknown to them

[Stuart Galbraith]

7 minutes ago, NickM said:

Tupac and Notorious? Unsolved? Well 'Snitches Wear Stitches and End Up In Ditches"

I must admit the scene where Tupac is ambushed, shot several times, crawls to an elevator and visits death row records covered in blood to demand his money, certainly enough to make you think so.

[Der Zeitgeist]

44 minutes ago, NickM said:

The problem I have with many reactors/reviewers is that they have no 'memory' of anything==the Empire is just 'Police Harassment (usually commented on by some suburban gated community brat)' or 'The horror of working for Amazon and not getting bathroom breaks'; stuff like The Gulags, Reeducation Camps, Pol Pot's Year Zero (I'm talking to you Saw Guerrera) or the Stazi seems to be totally unknown to them

I would recommend keeping away from the ususal Star Wars fan community "content creators", as they are mostly blind to the obvious political and historical references this new show "Andor" brings up.

[bojan]

1 hour ago, NickM said:

The problem I have with many reactors/reviewers is that they have no 'memory' of anything==the Empire is just 'Police Harassment (usually commented on by some suburban gated community brat)' or 'The horror of working for Amazon and not getting bathroom breaks'; stuff like The Gulags, Reeducation Camps, Pol Pot's Year Zero (I'm talking to you Saw Guerrera) or the Stazi seems to be totally unknown to them

You get to gulags and reeducation camps by tolerating first one.

[NickM]

15 minutes ago, bojan said:

You get to gulags and reeducation camps by tolerating first one.

 

Yeah? Thought it was put in place after chaos and collapse were allowed to happen. If I were a "gangsta doing gangsta sh/t", I'd pay for pols to get elected who vow to keep the 'rayciss Po=Lees' off of the backs of the community.

Anyway, most of this crap happens in cities run by DNC (like my old hometown, San Francisco): They're all 'diverse' and 'tolerant' and 'openminded' and well meaning, but they can't keep the streets clean, they can't fill the pot holes, they can't replace all the streetlights, they can't pick up the garbage and they can't keep order. They have NO accomplishments to point to except for chimerical 'diversity points', so they keep rotten cops on the job so, whenever the police  'overstep', they got an instant 'we can rein in the police' and do away with jails and bail and whatnot.

[R E lee]

The most recent things i would recommend. Going to re watch Black Sails next.

[Angrybk]

2 hours ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

I would recommend keeping away from the ususal Star Wars fan community "content creators", as they are mostly blind to the obvious political and historical references this new show "Andor" brings up.

I'm one of the few Gen-Xers who doesn't really care about the Star Wars _or_ Star Trek franchises -- my favorite franchises were always Aliens, Terminator, Predator and Mad Max. (The only Star Wars film I ever cared about except for The Empire Strikes Back was Rogue One, which I thought was awesome but seems to have received pretty shitty reviews among the fan community). That being said, Andor is getting rave reviews among people who don't care very much about Star Wars, so I might give it a look.

If you like Predator stuff, the new-ish movie "Prey" is pretty good, if only because the setting is pretty unique (1700s Northern Great Plains, the heroes are Comanche).  The scene where The Predator wipes out a large band of French trappers is pretty rad.

 

[Angrybk]

1 minute ago, R E lee said:

The most recent things i would recommend. Going to re watch Black Sails next.

Black Sails is fun! Quite weird and goes in unexpected directions. I'm a major The Expanse fanboy, definite "Game of Thrones in Space" kinda vibes and they at least make lame gestures at seeming realistic. 

[R E lee]

7 minutes ago, Angrybk said:

Black Sails is fun! Quite weird and goes in unexpected directions. I'm a major The Expanse fanboy, definite "Game of Thrones in Space" kinda vibes and they at least make lame gestures at seeming realistic. 

Yes Expanse was first rate Sci Fi, as is Altered carbon

 

[bojan]

S1 Altered Carbon fucked up and watered down original ending from the book for a "feel good" ending. Still pretty solid and worth watching. OTOH, Poe was way more awesome than Hendrix was. Pity S2 went down to the deep end of the cringe.

Edited November 12, 2022 by bojan

[Rick]

1 hour ago, Angrybk said:

I'm one of the few Gen-Xers who doesn't really care about the Star Wars _or_ Star Trek franchises -- my favorite franchises were always Aliens, Terminator, Predator and Mad Max. (The only Star Wars film I ever cared about except for The Empire Strikes Back was Rogue One, which I thought was awesome but seems to have received pretty shitty reviews among the fan community). That being said, Andor is getting rave reviews among people who don't care very much about Star Wars, so I might give it a look.

If you like Predator stuff, the new-ish movie "Prey" is pretty good, if only because the setting is pretty unique (1700s Northern Great Plains, the heroes are Comanche).  The scene where The Predator wipes out a large band of French trappers is pretty rad.

 

Have you seen Cowboys and Aliens ?

[R E lee]

13 hours ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

Currently watching Andor on Disney+.

Of all the Star Wars TV shows we've seen, it's by far the best. A true TV drama for grownups, with actual character development, well written, almost HBO quality. No lightsabers, no Jedi, no space magic, no cartoony villains, no bullshit.

Its for grown up Star wars fans thats for sure, i actually prefer Mandalorian but that just me.

[NickM]

6 hours ago, Angrybk said:

I'm one of the few Gen-Xers who doesn't really care about the Star Wars _or_ Star Trek franchises -- my favorite franchises were always Aliens, Terminator, Predator and Mad Max. (The only Star Wars film I ever cared about except for The Empire Strikes Back was Rogue One, which I thought was awesome but seems to have received pretty shitty reviews among the fan community). That being said, Andor is getting rave reviews among people who don't care very much about Star Wars, so I might give it a look.

If you like Predator stuff, the new-ish movie "Prey" is pretty good, if only because the setting is pretty unique (1700s Northern Great Plains, the heroes are Comanche).  The scene where The Predator wipes out a large band of French trappers is pretty rad.

 

No, dude! The Fan Community (or at least a large portion of it) liked Rogue One A LOT.