Yeah, they didn't age exceptionally well, and it was challenging source material even before that. I always liked the books but it's hard to imagine how it would work and be comprehensible for anyone who hadn't read them. Kind of like Dune (I am also not super optimistic about that one, but we'll see).
lmk if it improves. I think I still have 4 months of Apple TV left.
Taking a break on long series after my Lucifer binge, I watched two limited series on Netflix.
Clickbait was a bit of a downer but had a mystery that took many twists and turns. Just when I thought I had it figured out, it would take a turn. I did not see the end coming.
Midnight Mass is interesting and bloody. It's a new take on an old monster tale and I'm still trying to decide whether I like it.
I liked Clickbait, I found it a pretty good, modern suspense movie. I enjoyed the twists, I found some more surprising than others.
I've watched the first couple episodes of Midnight Mass, and I am enjoying it thus far.
I finished Midnight Mass and it haunts me two days later. I think it's the combination of church stuff and horror, plus the final hymn that won't leave my head.
Reading other reviews, I have to agree with the excessive monologuing critique. I get that it's for atmosphere but it did drag in those spots.
If you haven't seen it already, I highly recommend The Kominsky Method. Equal parts hilariousness and genuine heart.
The second episode consists mostly of the greatest damned funeral I've ever seen. I don't recall ever not wanting a funeral to end before.
__________________
"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
Wow! Of the over 60,000 workers the IATSE represents in these negotiations, 90% voted and 98% of those votes agreed to authorize a strike if a deal can’t be met.
This feels like a record for the most people in a group agreeing about any one thing. Like I’m not even sure you could get 98% of people to agree to the statement “water is wet.”
The Boulet Brothers' Dragula Season 4 has started on Shudder.
These drag queens are amazing. I don't really care much for the "reality TV" part of the show, but the concepts and costumes they come up with are incredible. Spoilers for the first episode.
The first competition was reworking a horror icon. Lots of interesting choices, the oddest one was Merrie Cherry doing the Stay Puft marshmallow man. It was more campy and silly than horror.
The 3rd lowest ranking person was Bitter Betty, who did Elvira. It was on point, but the judges didn't feel like she reworked the image enough to make it her own. I mildly disagree, but you have to put somebody at the bottom.
The first elimination was kind of bogus. The two lowest ranked acts were La Zavaleta and Formelda Hyde. Zavaleta did a more gross Pale Man, and Formelda did a naughty nurse version of the Jigsaw puppet. Formelda Hyde was eliminated, probably due to her performance and confusion about which icon she was reworking.
I thought La Zavaleta had the worst costume, and I think missed the point of the assignment more than anyone else.
Got a free 3-month Apple TV trial with a home appliance purchase, so I finally got around to watching Ted Lasso, took me three afternoons. Loved it, especially the bright, fresh and pollyannaish first season, but the second was not bad despite being darker and occasionally a bit "wtf".
The Netflicks thread fell off the first page, so I'll put this here.
Mrs. Puppet and I are on Season 4 of The Last Kingdom, set in the late 10th century ce. It's pretty damned good. The fictional Uhtred Ragnarson is deftly woven into the lives of historical rulers, warriors and damned nearly every important event of the various wars between the Saxons, Danes and Norse for control of what later becomes England, along with a somewhat credible reason why he's not in the history books.
So yeah, it's yet another Viking series, but done quite well, with some great characterizations. Violent, but not as over-the-top gory (or cruel) as GoT. At first I thought "Uhtred" would turn out to be the legendary Uther Pendragon, until I realized that the whole thing would need to be set about 300 years earlier. Or not? The legends weren't written down until the 12th century, so maybe they just exaggerated how "ancient" he was ...
__________________
"Her eyes in certain light were violet, and all her teeth were even. That's a rare, fair feature: even teeth. She smiled to excess, but she chewed with real distinction." - Eleanor of Aquitaine
I also really enjoyed The Last Kingdom, though the slight very insignificant historical errors (for instance character X dying later than Y when in actual history it was reversed) did and always will bother me in history-based drama.
But that is my shortcoming, intellectually I do realise they have to make adjustments to improve the overall story.
Yesssssss, that is what I am talking about. Inject it directly into my veins. Extremely Season 2 of Lost vibes for me, and that's one of my top 2 seasons of Lost. Also, what The Good Place was to moral philosophy, this jawn is to whatever the philosophy of the selfness is called. Except it's not funny. Or is it?
And to think I almost didn't watch because the title was too triggering, having just lost my job.
is in the Forge. The Valley Beyond. Robot Heaven. Robot Hell.
That's how come Teddy and Clementine are there looking all fly, and why there are literal NPCs walking about, and why LA is so clean and pedestrian friendly.
That's real obvious though, right? Like I don't think I blew the lid off this thing or anything. We're supposed to understand this shit by now, as viewers I think, by season 4.
Severance is in the queue, but we're watching The Boys, Strange New Worlds and Barry right now.
And now I have to add Westworld to the queue as well.
But I came here to ask if anyone has seen Only Murders in the Building? I've just downloaded the first season based on good reviews and the fact that I love Martin Short and Steve Martin.
I was hoping someone here could give their opinion.
I watched season 1 and liked it well enough to watch season 2 (though I haven't yet). I am also a big fan of Martin and Short, and while not a great actor Selena seems like good people. My memory is shite but the impression it left was that it was cute, amusing, and mildly suspenseful. Not a roaring endorsement, I know, but I had very modest expectations and I wasn't disappointed, so I consider that a win.
Series 1 was brilliant in all respects; the writing, the acting, the storyline. It has tropes and clichés of course, but they are all charmingly under control. Short drives it, Martin offers low-key, perfectly executed support, and Gomez is a bit wooden, but since that is readable as Mabel's repression, it doesn't detract.
Series 2 is off to a good start, though I am a little disturbed by the already large number of threads and leads and new characters, and the sudden reappearance of characters from Series 1 who, though much loved at the time, seem to have little place in the new story. The writers may succeed in giving them more than a gratuitous reprise, of course, but that would mean even more threads, leads and complexities.
In order to really enjoy the roller-coaster, I need to trust that nothing is going to fall off anywhere. Is it all under control like last time? I guess we'll see.
__________________
... it's just an idea
Last edited by mickthinks; 07-13-2022 at 06:37 PM.
Re: What are we watching this Fall, y'all?
...........
..
Linear Mode
