What Are You Watching

[Shawn]

Grimm - season 4 (via Amazon Prime) - I think this is the best season yet, took this show forever to get the right balance of arc/standalone but they finally seem to have smoothed it out.  

I also watched Zoo which was an interesting premise hampered by haphazard execution, lazy scriptwriting and budgetary constraints.  

 

 

[jazzbo]

I agree, last season of Grimm was the best. Though I'll be faithful to the show anyway as they hired my uncle for an episode!

[catesta]

Homeland S5E1

Great. I really liked season four and this maintains the same high standard of writing and acting.

It's now clear that the whole painfully extended Brody thread was a red herring, this is what the show should have been from the start.

I'm in total agreement. So far this season has started very strong.

Other shows....

My wife watches "The Affair", so by default I also watch it. Something about Season 2 has me much more interested than Season 1, so I'm glad.

I watched all of Documentary Now! with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, fucking brilliant, especially episode 3 (Dronez) and episode 4 (The Eyes Don't Lie).

Still need to get caught up on Portlandia.

Edited October 8, 2015 by catesta

[kinuta]

Homeland S5E1

Great. I really liked season four and this maintains the same high standard of writing and acting.

It's now clear that the whole painfully extended Brody thread was a red herring, this is what the show should have been from the start.

I'm in total agreement. So far this season has started very strong.

Other shows....

My wife watches "The Affair", so by default I also watch it. Something about Season 2 has me much more interested than Season 1, so I'm glad.

I watched all of Documentary Now! with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen, fucking brilliant, especially episode 3 (Dronez) and episode 4 (The Eyes Don't Lie).

Still need to get caught up on Portlandia.

I like The Affair , the script and acting are good, the Rashomon type format is interesting and the story has so far evaded falling into cliche.

I haven't seen Documentary Now !, but  after your recommendation, will make an effort to do so.

[A Lark Ascending]

Intriguing new murder mystery thingy. Nicola Walker is another one of those actors who will get me watching things I might not otherwise watch. Though her accent has mutated from Yorkshire to Lahn-dun.   

[kinuta]

Intriguing new murder mystery thingy. Nicola Walker is another one of those actors who will get me watching things I might not otherwise watch. Though her accent has mutated from Yorkshire to Lahn-dun.   

Looks interesting.

Bernard Hill is an unheralded actor. I remember he did an excellent crime thriller called Bellman & True.

He also played Dr David Livingstone in the sadly forgotten Mountains Of The Moon by Bob Rafelson.

That's on ' the best films you've never seen ' list.

[kinuta]

Just watched Unforgotten, I thought it was very good and interestingly plotted..

Quite a coup for ITV to assemble such an impressive cast; especially nice to see  Ruth Sheen in such fine form. 

[A Lark Ascending]

The Great British Year: Winter

2013 series that completely passed me by. Stunning photography of Britain in winter - great aerial shots, excellent use of time lapse but, most impressive, the use use of thermal image cameras to capture nocturnal activity. The arrival of a badger and a fox in a field where leverets were hiding was as tense as any movie thriller.  

Suffers from a 'isn't Britain special?' narrative that would warm a Ukippers heart. But riveting, nonetheless.   

[jlhoots]

Fargo - 1st episode, 2nd season

[Brad]

Via Netflix, "Death in Paradise," a British detective show with a stuffy British cop set in the Caribbean.  It's formulaic but I've enjoyed it.

[Shawn]

Finished up Supernatural - Season 10.  The character actors occupying the various villain roles are what keeps this show reasonably entertaining, the show itself is so formula at this point it basically writes itself.  But it's like a comfortable pair of old tennis shoes that you don't want to throw out...

 

[kinuta]

BBC River

Brilliant first episode.

[A Lark Ascending]

BBC River

Brilliant first episode.

Glad I videoed it (or Digiboxed it!)  - have read a few very enthusiastic reviews. Just hope my brain can keep the plots of these current thrillers separate!  

[kinuta]

BBC River

Brilliant first episode.

Glad I videoed it (or Digiboxed it!)  - have read a few very enthusiastic reviews. Just hope my brain can keep the plots of these current thrillers separate!  

Nicola Walker is a busy camper, she's in this and Unforgotten.

The main attraction is Stellan Skarsgard, with Lesley Manville and Eddie Marsan adding extra thespian heft. An incredible contrast with the new crop of US shows, all of which (Fargo apart) are dire rubbish.

[jlhoots]

Manhattan - 2nd season, 1st episode

[A Lark Ascending]

BBC River

Brilliant first episode.

Watched it last night - superb. I normally steer clear of anything involving ghosts and the paranormal (I know they were just representations of the main character's mental anguish here) but this was compelling and very unusually plotted. Excellent camera work giving a strong impression of London. 

Also watched:

The Great British Year: Spring. Which just had me awestruck. The scenes with the young guillemots taking their first flight were amazing. Had me pining for spring!  

Edited October 15, 2015 by A Lark Ascending

[HutchFan]

Finally getting around to watching The Wire (Season 1).

My wife told me this was REALLY good. She was right.

[kinuta]

Code Black

I quite like this; terrific grungy set design that reflects an ER under constant heavy use, a good cast of non super fashion model babes and chiselled male models who manage to inject some character into the action that all takes place with minimal to no distracting back stories.

All those factors probably mean it won't be around long.

[jazzbo]

A few episodes of an IFC show called "Gigi Does It." Weirdly funny, very nonPC.

[kinuta]

Keith Richards Under The Influence HBO

It's always a pleasure to listen to Keef.

Interesting items in his vinyl box, Satch Plays Fats, Sarah Vaughan After Hours, Best Of Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine The MGM Years.

[A Lark Ascending]

On 10/25/2015, 9:45:41, kinuta said:

Keith Richards Under The Influence HBO

It's always a pleasure to listen to Keef.

Interesting items in his vinyl box, Satch Plays Fats, Sarah Vaughan After Hours, Best Of Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine The MGM Years.

In the bio he talks of the influence of his mother playing music like that when he was a kid. 

I know very little about Hockney but have enjoyed some of his recent landscape paintings; so I thought I'd find out more. Very interesting video - Hockney seems pretty down-to-earth for someone living in an anything but down-to-earth world. 

[jazzbo]

Watched episodes 3,4 and 5 of "Indian Summers" (BBC, watched on PBS). Excellent cinematography and music especially, very good overall.

[A Lark Ascending]

I loved this. Can't remember the last time I had to keep my emotional snorts under control in a cinema for most of a film...Schindler's List, perhaps.

The inevitable historical telescoping - the key antagonists (Maud Watts and the nasty intelligence chap) turning up at all the key moments. But it had the good sense to confine itself to a short period (1912-13) using the Derby of 1913 as the emotional climax. I thought Carey Mulligan was brilliant in the key role. 

Can imagine this will get much use in British schools. I could just see the impact it would have on many of the kids I used to teach. And not just about political rights in the olden days.

Meanwhile, back in the real world....

Edited November 3, 2015 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

Well, that was jolly!

Good film but I could have done with subtitles. Shakespeare's language and syntax have your brain working overtime in normal circumstances, given how quick things move. There was a fair bit of mumbling here meaning you lost bits of sentences making it even more of an effort to hold on. 

Perhaps I should have waited for the DVD - but then you'd lose the wide screen backdrops which were spectacular. Don't think the sun ever came out. 

[A Lark Ascending]

Got behind while away but catching up with:

Last episode ever next week it seems. Then, I suppose, it will be 'Hathaway'.

I think this is brilliant. Tom Courtney is especially good. Trevor Eve's nasty self-made millionaire has me thinking Alan Sugar every time I watch it.

Last episode next week.