General Netflix Discussion-TV Shows

[Sock Monkey]

Just finished Masters of the Air on Apple+ and I wound up really liking it. It doesn't quite measure up to the heights of Band of Brothers or even The Pacific, but it's still a good way to spend ten hours or so. My main complaint is that the show felt to episodic in nature and didn't have a strong narrative thread to pull it all together, which makes sense since this is based on a true story, yet I can't help but think that some different choice could have been made to pull together the series as a whole. In other words, when considering each individual episode, I was fully engaged and really enjoyed the acting and direction, but when looking back on it as an entire series that enjoyment of each individual episode didn't culminate in same sense of satisfaction as I had from the aforementioned shows. Maybe because it was so ambitious with its attempt to follow the two leads, Buck and Bucky, along with the story's narrator Crosby, the addition of pilot Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal, and weaving in the Tuskegee Airmen at the end with only a scant 9 episodes to do it all in. I know that I could have easily watched another 4-5 episodes. All things considered, I'd still highly recommend it.

[Sock Monkey]

Yes, Read the book and prepare to be amazed. I enjoyed the FX of version Shogun. It was beautiful and interesting. The 1980 version is truer to the book and I love it. Orson Welles does a great job as the narrator. I will say that the Blackthorne character was dumbed down significantly in the FX series compared to the book and the 1980 series.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm hoping to track down a used copy at the local bookstore. I'm kicking myself because they had this and some other books by Clavell at the last library book sale and I could have picked it up for like a buck or two. That's how the cookie crumbles, I guess!

[Ben Staad]

Cool. I was curious about it.

We watched UNFROSTED on Netflix last night, and it was just as weird and quirky as you'd imagine. A few chuckles, no belly laughs, but we had a good time.

 

[dannyboy121070]

We watched UNFROSTED on Netflix last night, and it was just as weird and quirky as you'd imagine. A few chuckles, no belly laughs, but we had a good time.

[mhatchett]

I finished Shogun last night and continued to really enjoy the series. Overall, it reveals itself to be a more character-driven piece rather than that of, say, Game of Thrones. It might not have a lot of twists and turns in its story, but I did find that when the series ended I was sad to no longer be able to spend time with the characters. I can definitely seeing myself revisit it in the future. Anybody ever read the book? Should I give it a shot?

Yes, Read the book and prepare to be amazed. I enjoyed the FX of version Shogun. It was beautiful and interesting. The 1980 version is truer to the book and I love it. Orson Welles does a great job as the narrator. I will say that the Blackthorne character was dumbed down significantly in the FX series compared to the book and the 1980 series.

[dannyboy121070]

I watched INFESTED on Shudder, a French film about increasingly large spiders infesting an apartment building. The compressed time frame for the massive volume of spiders reproducing is absolutely ridiculous, and the film completely fell apart for me in the last 15 minutes, but it was still a fun, well-made bug flick.

I also revisited GHOSTWATCH for the first time in a few decades, also on Shudder, and it still holds up remarkably well.

My wife and I continued to chip away at FRANKLIN on Apple+, which we're really enjoying, and CONAN O'BRIEN MUST GO, on Max, is absolutely hilarious.

[Sock Monkey]

I finished Shogun last night and continued to really enjoy the series. Overall, it reveals itself to be a more character-driven piece rather than that of, say, Game of Thrones. It might not have a lot of twists and turns in its story, but I did find that when the series ended I was sad to no longer be able to spend time with the characters. I can definitely seeing myself revisit it in the future. Anybody ever read the book? Should I give it a shot?

[Ben Staad]

Probably my age but I try and avoid all movies and shows which have endless CGI fights. They typically put me to sleep.

I've found I love a dialogue driven show/movie, for the most part, these days.

The sequel was a boring CGI slog that was half talkfest, half endless, pointless battle.

 

[Ben Staad]

Good to know that this is dead. I assumed it was based on the release date but I did have a small hope for more of this.

I actually liked season one a little more than two. Season two started using terms which were not from that time period and were inserted as buzz words. This kicks me out of the narrative a bit when things like that occur.

I really liked Mindhunter, especially season two. Too bad I heard the show's pretty much dead in the water as Fincher has moved on to other things. I would have enjoyed at least one more season to create a more satisfying conclusion.

 

[dannyboy121070]

Snyder went a long way on the goodwill he generated with his exceptional DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, but these days I attribute what was good in that film to screenwriter James Gunn. As a huge fan of the source material, I was very impressed with his WATCHMEN, despite some really bad casting (Rorschach and The Comedian were perfect, everyone else...? Not so much.), but everything since has been all downhill. I was unimpressed with his DC work, but I mostly blame the suits at Warner Bros. for that. His JUSTICE LEAGUE cut was better than Whedon's version, but nothing to write home about. SUCKER PUNCH remains the only time I have ever felt embarrassed about taking my wife to a movie that I picked. Sure, she doesn't like a lot of what I choose, but that film was cringe-inducing. I felt as if I had taken her to two hours of ogling scantily-clad young girls acting out video-game-nerd fantasies.I understand he's trying to get a Director's cut of that film done, too. And don't get me started on his idiotic ARMY OF THE DEAD.....

My wife subscribes to Netflix so she can endlessly watch GRAY'S ANATOMY, but to me, the name Netflix is synonymous with garbage. For every NYAD, there are 100 RED NOTICEs.

[Sock Monkey]

We watched REBEL MOON: THE SCARGIVER last night. The first one was fun, in a goofy way...I'm a sucker for a "Getting the band together" montahe, which is basically what the whole movie was. The sequel was a boring CGI slog that was half talkfest, half endless, pointless battle. My wife liked it more than I did. It was one of these really expensive streaming movies that make absolutely zero impression, and you forget completely by the next day. My wife remarked "How much money does Netfilx HAVE...?", which is a good question. And if they have enough money to crank out shit like this, spend a little on a decent screenwriter! This was like something a child would cobble together after watching STAR WARS and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Completely devoid of a single original thought.

I really struggle with Zach Snyder's films. On one hand, he definitely has a great style and he fills his movies with things that should be awesome on paper--for example, Sucker Punch being this weird mash-up of steampunk, fantasy, and anime influences with the young actresses kicking all kinds of butt should be amazing; his Watchmen is very reverent of the source material, which should give it a narrative leg up--but both, like a lot of his films, feel so hollow. It's surface gloss. To be fair, I do think his Batman Vs Superman and Justice League movies were kneecapped by editing decisions that impacted the stories. The director's cut of Batman Vs Superman is so much better than the theatrical release, though, to be honest, it's still not a great film. Same goes with the mini-series version of Justice League versus its movie version: better, but still not amazing. Ultimately, I just kind of stay away from his films unless I've decided going in that it will be the cinematic equivalent of cotton candy.

[dannyboy121070]

We watched REBEL MOON: THE SCARGIVER last night. The first one was fun, in a goofy way...I'm a sucker for a "Getting the band together" montahe, which is basically what the whole movie was. The sequel was a boring CGI slog that was half talkfest, half endless, pointless battle. My wife liked it more than I did. It was one of these really expensive streaming movies that make absolutely zero impression, and you forget completely by the next day. My wife remarked "How much money does Netfilx HAVE...?", which is a good question. And if they have enough money to crank out shit like this, spend a little on a decent screenwriter! This was like something a child would cobble together after watching STAR WARS and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Completely devoid of a single original thought.

[Sock Monkey]

Watched both seasons of Mindhunter on Netflix. Solid show.

I really liked Mindhunter, especially season two. Too bad I heard the show's pretty much dead in the water as Fincher has moved on to other things. I would have enjoyed at least one more season to create a more satisfying conclusion.

[Ben Staad]

Watched both seasons of Mindhunter on Netflix. Solid show.

[Sock Monkey]

Three episodes into Shogun on Hulu and I'm really liking it so far. I've never read the book and only having a passing memory of the hullabaloo surrounding the original mini-series when it aired, so I have no context as to how this adaptation fairs in comparison. I'm happy to see Hiroyuki Sanada get such a meaty role to play, but Nestor Carbonell steals every scene he's in as Vasco Rodrigues. It's such a far cry from what I know him mostly for in Lost and he absolutely kills it.