What Are You Watching

[sidewinder]

Thanks - I'm obviously taking it far too seriously ! 

[Jazzjet]

On 1/10/2016 at 11:22 AM, A Lark Ascending said:

Did you watch it? I saw it advertised and meant to set the recorder but forget. I'll have to see if it's on one of the replayers. 

I've caught up with 'Deutschland 83' - quite promising and it resonates with me as I was heavily involved with CND back in 1983 so some of the themes are very nostalgic. Of course, now you're a dangerous madman if you believe in that kind of thing.

The first episode of 'Spin' was very good. A slick political conspiracy thriller. Looks very promising.

[jazzbo]

Vikings Season 3 on Blu-ray

[A Lark Ascending]

21 hours ago, Jazzjet said:

I've caught up with 'Deutschland 83' - quite promising and it resonates with me as I was heavily involved with CND back in 1983 so some of the themes are very nostalgic. Of course, now you're a dangerous madman if you believe in that kind of thing.

The first episode of 'Spin' was very good. A slick political conspiracy thriller. Looks very promising.

I watched episode 2 of D83 last night. Involving enough but implausible. 

It reminds me of a German series a year or so back where a group of friends get called up to serve on the Eastern Front in WWII as soldiers and nurses. Same sort of implausibility - they somehow kept bumping into one another in Russia; stock characters and stock situations. 

Like sidewinder I was utterly confused in D83 by the brief intervention of the Kung Fu film. The situations tend to be very obviously signalled - you know there's a grand romance ahead for the hero and the hippy daughter of the general.   

[Shawn]

C.S.I. - season 2  

One of those series I saw bits and pieces of over the years but never really watched.  I always like having at least 1 police procedural/episodic series on the back burner when I feel the need to take a break from serialized.  As much as I love all the fine TV series that are coming out now I still think there is a need for series that tell a complete story in a single episode.   This show still feels fresh, it's very quickly paced and the editing is excellent, far-fetched to be sure but undeniably entertaining.  I've always liked William Peterson and Marg Helgenberger as well.  

The series has been on the air so long that going back and watching season 1 and 2 they are still using Pagers!  
 

[A Lark Ascending]

Very enjoyable American Dream fairy tale. Just the right number of upsets along the way to maintain the tension. And the strength of the leading character wasn't compromised by some unnecessary romance. 

[A Lark Ascending]

On 1/11/2016 at 9:31 PM, Jazzjet said:

The first episode of 'Spin' was very good. A slick political conspiracy thriller. Looks very promising.

Watched episode 1 of Spin (or "Les hommes de l'ombre"...a much more spooky title [Shadowmen?]) last night and enjoyed it. Another of those dastardly ambition in high places with unreliable friends series. But looks good.

Also episode 2 of War and Peace the night before - proving enjoyable if not one of BBC's great recreations of lit-er-a-tuh.  

Edited January 14, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[Shawn]

15 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Very enjoyable American Dream fairy tale. Just the right number of upsets along the way to maintain the tension. And the strength of the leading character wasn't compromised by some unnecessary romance. 

Glad to hear it, the reviews have been fairly bad here, but I think some of that is a backlash against the director using the same cast 3 films in a row.  I'm still looking forward to seeing it. 

[A Lark Ascending]

40 minutes ago, Shawn said:

Glad to hear it, the reviews have been fairly bad here, but I think some of that is a backlash against the director using the same cast 3 films in a row.  I'm still looking forward to seeing it. 

I'm no film buff - my cinema visits have been infrequent until recently. I didn't know what to expect in the film - the only actor I knew was De Niro (hadn't even noticed he was in it). It entertained me for 2 1/2 hours. I don't ask any more of a film. I know it's different for those who study films. 

[Shawn]

5 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

I'm no film buff - my cinema visits have been infrequent until recently. I didn't know what to expect in the film - the only actor I knew was De Niro (hadn't even noticed he was in it). It entertained me for 2 1/2 hours. I don't ask any more of a film. I know it's different for those who study films. 

Sounds like you need to see Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, the two previous films with the same cast, both excellent.  

And for the record, my primary prerequisite for film is entertainment, I'm a buff, but I'm not a snob.  

[A Lark Ascending]

2 hours ago, Shawn said:

Sounds like you need to see Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, the two previous films with the same cast, both excellent.  

And for the record, my primary prerequisite for film is entertainment, I'm a buff, but I'm not a snob.  

Thanks, Shawn - I'll look those out.

I know you're far from a snob. All I meant by saying I wasn't a film buff is that I've not spent a great deal of my life watching them. I only now have the time to indulge my primary interests and watch more films. I'm enjoying watching them.  

[Jazzjet]

11 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Watched episode 1 of Spin (or "Les hommes de l'ombre"...a much more spooky title [Shadowmen?]) last night and enjoyed it. Another of those dastardly ambition in high places with unreliable friends series. But looks good.

Also episode 2 of War and Peace the night before - proving enjoyable if not one of BBC's great recreations of lit-er-a-tuh.  

I'm sort of enjoying 'War and Peace' but I think it suffers by being squeezed into 6 one hour episodes. I've never read the book and it took me quite a while to get a grip on who the various characters were, without any of the usual exposition.

[Shawn]

2 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Thanks, Shawn - I'll look those out.

I know you're far from a snob. All I meant by saying I wasn't a film buff is that I've not spent a great deal of my life watching them. I only now have the time to indulge my primary interests and watch more films. I'm enjoying watching them.  

That's awesome.  Enjoy!  

 

 

[HutchFan]

12 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Also episode 2 of War and Peace the night before - proving enjoyable if not one of BBC's great recreations of lit-er-a-tuh.  

Over here in the USA, the Lifetime Network (!) will be showing the new BBC War & Peace adaptation. It starts on Monday. I'm looking forward to it -- though I suppose I shouldn't expect too much with "only" six hours!  

Besides, I'm sure the new series will hardly compare with the BBC's wonderful War & Peace adaptation from the early 1970s.  Aside from one of the three main characters who is badly miscast (Morag Hood in the role of Natasha), it's some of my all-time favorite television.  Anthony Hopkins is PERFECT as Pierre Bezukhov -- even Hopkins himself has said that the role was some of his best work -- and Alan Dobie is an admirable Andrei Bolkonsky.

[A Lark Ascending]

13 hours ago, Jazzjet said:

I'm sort of enjoying 'War and Peace' but I think it suffers by being squeezed into 6 one hour episodes. I've never read the book and it took me quite a while to get a grip on who the various characters were, without any of the usual exposition.

It's nearly 40 years since I read it (well, all but the last 150 odd pages which turns into an interminable philosophical treatise) so I can't talk with any precision but I'm pretty sure you're right about a lot being lost in reduction. Best to watch it as a TV drama (aimed at an audience that is unlikely to pick up the novel but would still enjoy the tale) rather than an attempt to realise all the highbrow stuff on TV. It suffers with that breathless thing about so much TV in recent times...a fear that if the action doesn't move quickly enough people will turn over. I've only ever read a couple of Dickens novels (under duress) but I generally enjoy the TV serialisations. Thinking back I recall the BBC version of 'Middlemarch' did the novel proud; I don't think this adaptation is on that level. 

As for getting a grip on characters, I find that all the time e.g. in Spin. Doesn't help with names that are so unfamiliar.    

11 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Over here in the USA, the Lifetime Network (!) will be showing the new BBC War & Peace adaptation. It starts on Monday. I'm looking forward to it -- though I suppose I shouldn't expect too much with "only" six hours!  

Besides, I'm sure the new series will hardly compare with the BBC's wonderful War & Peace adaptation from the early 1970s.  Aside from one of the three main characters who is badly miscast (Morag Hood in the role of Natasha), it's some of my all-time favorite television.  Anthony Hopkins is PERFECT as Pierre Bezukhov -- even Hopkins himself has said that the role was some of his best work -- and Alan Dobie is an admirable Andrei Bolkonsky.

Never saw that. I remember it being broadcast for the first time in late 1972. My parents ran away from me in my last year at school  and left me with a little old lady. I was too scared to ask to watch it even though I was dying to see it (I was just at that stage of experimenting with 'improving' books!). Watching the series subsequently would probably have triggered a traumatic attack.  

Edited January 15, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

An extra cinema visit this week:

Meant to see this before Xmas but life got in the way. Thought I'd have to wait until DVD release but stumbled on it playing in the big Sheffield Dorchester Hotel multiplex. More expensive than where I usually go but they seem to have enough screens to show films well after their usual runs.

I thought this was excellent. Right up my street, having taught the Cold War to A Level students for 15 years (hope the ones I left behind have seen it). Well acted, tense, good story-line. A bit sentimental - Hanks as the embodiment of true American values when faced with the marginally dodgy judiciary and CIA!!!! James Ellroy it ain't. 

Brought home why Deutschland '83 is disappointing. Different league.   

Edited January 15, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[A Lark Ascending]

Loved this - perfect Sunday afternoon watching. I hardly know Sondheim apart from the obvious things (not many of his pieces seem to lead a life beyond the actual musicals). But I got curious watching the 'Broadway' documentary series. Will have to rent the Seurat musical next.  

[jazzbo]

Finished Vikings, Season 3 on Blu-ray. Really enjoyed it.

On to the second half of Better Call Saul, Season 1 on Blu-ray.

[Shawn]

Watched an interesting documentary on the Raiders called "Straight Outta L.A." (from NFL films) which was directed and narrated by Ice Cube.  The documentary approaches the tenure of the Raiders when they played in Los Angeles from the viewpoint of the low-income people in South Los Angeles (primarily black and latino) who grasped onto the team.  That same era also birthed Gangsta Rap which embraced the silver and black Raider image and pirate logo.  The documentary also talks about the gang activity that began to become a blight on the Raiders games at the Coliseum when violence frequently erupted.  The Los Angeles riots of 1992 are also covered.    

 

[A Lark Ascending]

Deutschland 83 Episode 3 - it doesn't get any better. Breaking into NATO bases?....easy. 

War and Peace - really enjoyed episode 3. They've done a good job on this and the photography is sumptuous (though I somehow doubt Russian villages in 1807 looked quite as neat and tidy). Aesthetes will moan (when don't they) but War and Peace is a great story regardless of its status as 'great lit-er-a-tuh'. Most viewers wouldn't even dream of reading it so a compact serialisation like this brings the tale to many more people.

BBC4: Moguls and Masters of pop Part 1 - very interesting documentary about pop/rock music managers from Elvis to Bieber. The section on Don Arden was especially good. I rather took to Ozzy Osborne and Sharon Osborne (didn't realise she was Arden's daughter). 

Deadline Gallipoli - an Australian two parter (100m each) about the journalists following the Gallipoli campaign. Sentimental and with a number of stock scenes but I really enjoyed it.  Tucked away in the UK on one of those channels that usually recycle old TV programmes.   

Edited January 20, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[sidewinder]

Saw some of that Gallipoli prog when I was in Aus/NZ a year ago. As you can imagine, it was very big over there. I fell asleep..

Edited January 20, 2016 by sidewinder

[jlhoots]

Going to watch London Spy (tomorrow) on BBCA.

Hope it's good.

[A Lark Ascending]

It is. 

[A Lark Ascending]

13 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Saw some of that Gallipoli prog when I was in Aus/NZ a year ago. As you can imagine, it was very big over there. I fell asleep..

I suspect it was sidelined in the UK to the Drama channel because of its unflattering portrayal of St. Winston. I liked the way he looked like Dave-boy. 

I'm intrigued by which corporation made it. One of the heroes of the film was Rupert Murdoch's father!  

[A Lark Ascending]

Interesting documentary, reminding us how the standard rock narrative completely misrepresents what most people were actually listening to in the 60s/70s. Left me with no desire whatsoever to explore Kaempfert, Conniff, Last or Clayderman. But there's a place for Jimmy Webb, The Fifth Dimension, The Carpenters, Herb Albert etc in my world (not that I'd have admitted that at the time).  

I imagine the standard reaction to this was 'Not as good as Alec Guinness' but I've never seen the latter's versions so really enjoyed this. Two things struck me outside the storyline:

1. Interesting to compare with 'Bridge of Spies' where you have a clear 'good guy' righting wrongs on behalf of the true heart of America; in the Le Carre you're in a world of complete moral neutrality. 

2. Why do they always make the 70s look so dowdy? Yes, there was political and economic unrest and uncertainty. But at the time Britain actually looked rather shiny with all this exciting new technology coming in (fridge freezers, calculators, hi-fi etc, not to mention the moon missions). It's as if film makers create the appearance of 70s from what they've seen in a junk shop or the remains or a house that has been left unaltered for 45 years. The 60s are generally portrayed very differently.  

Edited January 23, 2016 by A Lark Ascending