What Have You Been Recently Watching

[Sock Monkey]

Ran through the limited series Four Seasons on Netflix. Years ago I watched the Alan Alda film named the same and didn't care for it much.

This limited series was not for me either. Very limited laughs, unlikable characters, personalities that don't resonate with me, and so many characters running around trying very hard to control everyone around them, either with actions or words, plus low moral people.

That being said my brother in law recommended it, we watched it, and (thankfully) it is now over. I will politely thank him for the recommendation and move on with my life.

The one positive is that their was a guest appearance from Alda, whom I adore for Hawkeye, and there were a few well written and acted lines. One scene in particular did resonate with me which I can't discuss here as it may ruin a watch for someone.

I recently watched this as well and pretty much felt it was fine. Considering the cast, I really wanted the show to be funny. Not silly or overly broad in its humor, but to be at least clever. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, the show isn't all that funny and neither does it really have anything original or honest to say about marriage and middle age. It just kind of meanders along until it ends. Like I said, it was fine, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[Ben Staad]

Nail on the head and a little more on point to what I was trying to say.

neither does it really have anything original or honest to say about marriage and middle age. It just kind of meanders along until it ends.

[Sock Monkey]

Well, it wasn't on my 2025 television bingo card, but The Penguin spin-off from the Matt Reeves-directed The Batman might be one of the best things I've watched so far this year. It is, hands down, the best superhero-related show or movie I've watched this year by a long shot. Maybe it was because my expectations were so low--I have yet to get past the first 30 minutes or so of The Batman, not so much because of Pattinson, but really that Catwoman costume just might be the worst in history--but I really enjoyed this crime drama. Colin Farrell has quickly grown to be one of my favorite actors ever since In Bruges, but, man, he disappears in this role. Maybe not top tier crime stuff, but at least way above average.

[Sock Monkey]

Got through the first two episodes of The Last of Us season two and I don't know if I'm going to continue any further. I just find the character of Ellie insufferable.

[sholloman81]

Got through the first two episodes of The Last of Us season two and I don't know if I'm going to continue any further. I just find the character of Ellie insufferable.

Haven't gotten around to season 2 yet but I'm sure that I will at some point. I'm in no rush as I thought the first season was a bit overrated and am not the hugest Ellie fan either which doesn't give you much to root for in terms of this series. But it is an HBO show which does pretty much guarantee you a certain level of production values and acting quality which I'm sure will get me to watch it eventually.

[Sock Monkey]

Haven't gotten around to season 2 yet but I'm sure that I will at some point. I'm in no rush as I thought the first season was a bit overrated and am not the hugest Ellie fan either which doesn't give you much to root for in terms of this series. But it is an HBO show which does pretty much guarantee you a certain level of production values and acting quality which I'm sure will get me to watch it eventually.

It is a well-made show. In fact, aside from Ellie, I like pretty much everything else about the show and there is a part of me that wants to continue to watching for these elements. Unfortunately, Ellie is the second lead protagonist, which knee-caps my enjoyment. It's odd because it feels like there is a big disconnect between what the show thinks its delivering with Ellie and what is actually being received by some viewers.

[Sock Monkey]

So we recently added Disney+ back to our subscriptions, so I've been catching up on some of the Marvel shows I previously missed out on when we previously cancelled our subscription.

Daredevil: Born Again Season 1 was a pleasant surprise. Now, the scuttlebutt was that one did not need to watch the previous three Netflix seasons, so I didn't bother going back and getting caught up after dropping off the original series at the conclusion of its first season. This aforementioned scuttlebutt was wrong. The first season of Born Again is essentially a fourth season. While I worked my way through the show off my knowledge of the original season one and my experience with the comics, I see people feeling a little lost at sea coming to this cold. We get character beats involving Bullseye, Karen and Frank Castle, Matt and Frank Castle, Wilson Fisk and his wife, among others that just felt like I missing out on due to not seeing the other seasons. That all being said, I enjoyed this season and look forward to a second one. Grade: B

Ms. Marvel Season 1: After the first episode, I really wanted to enjoy this show. It was upbeat, highly energetic, and a little quirky. However, the show just loses steam as it goes on. Saddled with villains that at best are boring and at worst, completely disposable and followed by weird characterization flip-flops--including the overprotective mother won't let her daughter go to a fan convention, but now the daughter has some weird powers, it's okay to literally risk her life fighting crime, and a "bully" character who completely disappears for the majority of the series only to pop up in the conclusion like she matters--the show struggles to achieve the potential hinted at in the first episode. And don't get me started on the dialogue. To be honest, it wasn't the worst show, and there was some things I really liked about it including a lot of the main cast, but overall it was just kind of mediocre. Grade: C

Agatha All Along: To be honest, I wasn't holding out a lot of hope for this show after the first episode, but I will say that this sequel to WandaVision wound up really surprising my in its last third. While I think Kathryn Hahn goes a little too broad at times, the supporting cast, especially the women, are fantastic. It also leans in on the horror more than I thought it would. In particular, there's a demon in one episode that is pretty gnarly looking. Episode 7, though, is when the show really opens up and delivers probably my favorite Marvel episode in any series so far. While it doesn't really stand on its own without having watched WandaVision, at the very least it winds up branching off into its own thing. I'm not too sure how I like the final resolution, but I'm curious to see what they do next. Grade: B

[Sock Monkey]

So we're giving The Wire another go around. We tried watching this series probably twelve or so years ago and made it through the second season before my wife tapped out. The show has a reputation for being both dense and slow, which can be a stumbling block for a lot of viewers. For instance, there are little to no recaps provided in-show to get the audience back up to speed and subplots are grown from seedlings that make the show feel disjointed during the first few episodes. And now that we've made it through the first season, I think the show continues to live up to that reputation. However, I find the show fascinating in its critique of the relationship between social institutions and crime. It's smart, incredibly well written, and looking back on it now, it has a who's who of great character actors in lead roles, along with early roles for Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan. Standing on its own merits, season one is fantastic and whole story in its own right. Looking forward to seeing what comes next. Season two seems to be the least popular of the seasons and that's where we stalled before so we'll how it goes.

[Ben Staad]

I will see if this one ever hits one of the free streaming platforms. It always looked interesting to me but I just never plunked down money for HBO.

So we're giving The Wire another go around. We tried watching this series probably twelve or so years ago and made it through the second season before my wife tapped out. The show has a reputation for being both dense and slow, which can be a stumbling block for a lot of viewers. For instance, there are little to no recaps provided in-show to get the audience back up to speed and subplots are grown from seedlings that make the show feel disjointed during the first few episodes. And now that we've made it through the first season, I think the show continues to live up to that reputation. However, I find the show fascinating in its critique of the relationship between social institutions and crime. It's smart, incredibly well written, and looking back on it now, it has a who's who of great character actors in lead roles, along with early roles for Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan. Standing on its own merits, season one is fantastic and whole story in its own right. Looking forward to seeing what comes next. Season two seems to be the least popular of the seasons and that's where we stalled before so we'll how it goes.

[Sock Monkey]

I will see if this one ever hits one of the free streaming platforms. It always looked interesting to me but I just never plunked down money for HBO.

And its not the type of show I can recommend plunking down a month's membership to try binging all 60 episodes. Similar to a good novel, it's not something to plow through, but rather consciously savor. I'm not sure it will ever hit one of those other services since its been a HBO mainstay forever. I know we've seen some deals for other HBO shows being licensed to Netflix and whatnot, but with HBO's parent company potentially breaking off into separate companies, who knows what'll happen. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, though!

[sholloman81]

So we're giving The Wire another go around. We tried watching this series probably twelve or so years ago and made it through the second season before my wife tapped out. The show has a reputation for being both dense and slow, which can be a stumbling block for a lot of viewers. For instance, there are little to no recaps provided in-show to get the audience back up to speed and subplots are grown from seedlings that make the show feel disjointed during the first few episodes. And now that we've made it through the first season, I think the show continues to live up to that reputation. However, I find the show fascinating in its critique of the relationship between social institutions and crime. It's smart, incredibly well written, and looking back on it now, it has a who's who of great character actors in lead roles, along with early roles for Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan. Standing on its own merits, season one is fantastic and whole story in its own right. Looking forward to seeing what comes next. Season two seems to be the least popular of the seasons and that's where we stalled before so we'll how it goes.

One of my favorite series of all-time! You've got to make it through season 4 which is one of the best seasons of tv ever IMO. Just jaw droppingly good and has so much to say!

[sholloman81]

I will see if this one ever hits one of the free streaming platforms. It always looked interesting to me but I just never plunked down money for HBO.

I don't pay to stream either. I'm sure you can check it out at your local public library for free if you're into physical media like I am. I find so many good movies and tv show available at the library, and their small wall of movies also gives me some video store nostalgia too!

[sholloman81]

Am now working my way through Orange Is the New Black. I honestly avoided this show like the plague while it aired as I was sure that it wouldn't be my cup of tea. I was able to snag the complete blu-ray series at a yard sale recently for $15 bucks so I figured that I would give it a try, and if I hated it, I could trade it in at my local record store for some store credit. Just finished the first season and I was honestly blown away by how good it was. Reminded me a little of HBO's "Oz" tv series except with lots of humor added. Will be interesting to see if the quality holds up in the subsequent seasons.

[Sock Monkey]

One of my favorite series of all-time! You've got to make it through season 4 which is one of the best seasons of tv ever IMO. Just jaw droppingly good and has so much to say!

I've heard that about season 4! While I can't wait to get there, I'm enjoying the journey, though. I read somewhere that the best way to approach the show is realize there is no traditional lead protagonist and instead the protagonist is the city of Baltimore itself. This has helped a lot in getting used to the sprawling cast and how the show refuses to centralize anyone as the lead.

[Ben Staad]

Good idea. I had forgotten that they have other physical media.

I haven't been there in years and will probably go this weekend. The selection of books in years past have been exceptionally poor plus they don't do loans or swaps from other Counties so I stopped going.

I don't pay to stream either. I'm sure you can check it out at your local public library for free if you're into physical media like I am. I find so many good movies and tv show available at the library, and their small wall of movies also gives me some video store nostalgia too!