What are you binge watching?

[8893]

I can’t recall the last time a show developed this many characters in 7 episodes.

I haven't seen this show yet, but "The Wire" comes first to my mind as a show that developed an incredible number of characters over that span. It actually took me a few years to finally make it past the first two or three episodes and get hooked on the series because I was daunted by the sheer number of characters.

 

[billythekid]

I have been re-watching Season 1 of Russian Doll with Natasha Lyonne. I'm always a sucker for time loop stories and this one is interesting as well as funny. Season 2 drops tomorrow.

 

[storrsroars]

I have been re-watching Season 1 of Russian Doll with Natasha Lyonne. I'm always a sucker for time loop stories and this one is interesting as well as funny. Season 2 drops tomorrow.

Didn't know there was a season 2. Something to look forward to - S1 was fun and Lyonne is great in it. Suits her perfectly.

 

[ZooCougar]

I haven't seen this show yet, but "The Wire" comes first to my mind as a show that developed an incredible number of characters over that span. It actually took me a few years to finally make it past the first two or three episodes and get hooked on the series because I was daunted by the sheer number of characters.

Yeah but I watched The Wire and I don’t recall any of it. It was like the Chinese Food of TV for me at least.

 

[ZooCougar]

It's wrong to fictionalize about living people for the sake of the story. I hate that Secretariat movie. And Moneyball for that matter.

I don’t think so. As long as the creators are up front about it.

 

[ZooCougar]

I haven't seen this show yet, but "The Wire" comes first to my mind as a show that developed an incredible number of characters over that span. It actually took me a few years to finally make it past the first two or three episodes and get hooked on the series because I was daunted by the sheer number of characters.

Also I didn’t have that problem with this show.

I did however fast forward some of the Magic Johnson back home in Detroit stuff because it was tedious and repetitive. Kareem and Jerry West were way more interesting at first. Magic’s story didn’t start getting traction until episode 3 or 4 for me.

 

[temery]

Yeah but I watched The Wire and I don’t recall any of it. It was like the Chinese Food of TV for me at least.

Same here. I remember being hooked from the first show. Something about a phone pad code, and Omar comin'. Weird thing is I really liked the show, but don't remember much about it.

As opposed to Justified, which I also really liked, and remember most plot lines.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It's wrong to fictionalize about living people for the sake of the story. I hate that Secretariat movie. And Moneyball for that matter.

What did Moneyball get wrong?

Movies and TV shows have to tell a story. The irony is that the Steve Jobs movie, which had a weird structure to tell the Isaacson biography, did a great job capturing all the characters based on the book. Rocketman was a "true fantasy" which butchered the Elton John timeline but also did a great job capturing the essence of the key characters. Walk the Line is more linear, but also captures Johnny Cash pretty well. Elton John and Johnny Cash were involved in making their own biopics, and both men were portrayed as drug-addicted spitheads for much of their lives. I have a ton of respect for that kind of biopic. They had enough self-awareness to realize who and what they were.

Bohemian Rhapsody, on the other hand, is whitewashed bullspit. Sasha Baron Cohen wanted to make a real movie about Queen and Freddie Mercury, with plates full of cocaine and wild parties, but Brian May and the rest of the surviving band members vetoed it. So we got feel good treacle where Rami Malek lip-syncs his way through crowd pleasing, Queen stadium anthems while the rest of the band is 100% supportive and Mercury, who happens to be dead, is the only one who does anything wrong.

People are complicated and I don't think any of us would like the biopic of our own lives as told through the eyes of those around us. It might be true or false, but everyone has their own perspective.

 

[storrsroars]

What did Moneyball get wrong?

I like Moneyball and have probably watched it a dozen times. It's a great story and well acted.

That said, a whole lot of it was wrong or entirely made up.

The Real Story Behind 'Moneyball'

We look at the true story behind the movie Moneyball, as well as the criticisms with the way it depicts real events and ignores many details.

filmschoolrejects.com

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I like Moneyball and have probably watched it a dozen times. It's a great story and well acted.

That said, a whole lot of it was wrong or entirely made up.

The Real Story Behind 'Moneyball'

We look at the true story behind the movie Moneyball, as well as the criticisms with the way it depicts real events and ignores many details.

filmschoolrejects.com

Every single biopic and "true story" ever made would be inaccurate by the standards of that article, which complains about people that were NOT included. A movie has to draw the line somewhere. I have seen the movie 10+ times and I do not recall the line or scene where the movie says that traditional scouts are unnecessary. I apparently didn't watch it closely enough.

I do think the movie was unfair to Art Howe, but it is clearly one perspective and it appears that Beane really hated Howe so who knows?

 

[Waquoit]

What did Moneyball get wrong?

They got Art Howe wrong. And they really smeared Frank Martin in Secretariat.

 

[8893]

Yeah but I watched The Wire and I don’t recall any of it. It was like the Chinese Food of TV for me at least.

Exactly the opposite with me. I found it pretty indelible.

 

[ZooCougar]

I like Moneyball and have probably watched it a dozen times. It's a great story and well acted.

That said, a whole lot of it was wrong or entirely made up.

The Real Story Behind 'Moneyball'

We look at the true story behind the movie Moneyball, as well as the criticisms with the way it depicts real events and ignores many details.

filmschoolrejects.com

And who cares. This isn’t like U-571.

 

[storrsroars]

I have been re-watching Season 1 of Russian Doll with Natasha Lyonne. I'm always a sucker for time loop stories and this one is interesting as well as funny. Season 2 drops tomorrow.

Binged S2... was entertained. Given that Nadia and Alan are time travelling through at least four different eras, it wasn't all that difficult to follow, although when they broke time, that was truly weird. I wish Lyonne would do more stuff. She may specialize in the tough wisecracking NYer character, but she does it really well. If not for all her personal traumas and addictions, she likely would've been a much bigger star and even a comic romantic lead like a Mae West or similar. She is always watchable and Russian Doll lets her go wild. Don't think there's a S3 coming as the end looked more like resolution of all story arcs than anything leading to another season.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Has anybody seen DARK on Netflix? I started it and made about 4 minutes before I decided I just wasn't in the mood. But if it's good, I'll give it a shot.

I decided to resume Daredevil, which moved from Netflix to Disney+. As a kid my two favorite comic books were Iron Man and Daredevil. Charlie Cox is a very good Matt Murdock. Deborah Ann Woll is always a welcome addition. Vincent D'Onofrio plays Kingpin/Wilson Fisk like he was born to the role. It's a good show (since others brought it up 8.6/10 on IMDB). Looking back, I wonder if my own hearing issues made me more interested in a blind character with amazing other senses.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Sometimes you blunder into something. Needed a show saw Tokyo Vice on HBOMax. Turns out it just came out. First two episodes are superb. This is gripping and compelling. It’s based on a true story of an American who went to work for the top paper in Tokyo in the 1990s. Michael Mann directs the first episode and it has that gritty feel that Miami Vice did at the time. There is a lot of casual racism directed at the gaijin, but he’s smart and is coloring outside the lines. Something foreign to the Japanese. The intro gives you a sense of where that leads, then it’s a flashback from there. Ken Wattanabe is the actor you’d know and evidently checked all the dialogue.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Season 3 of Barry premiers Sunday on HBO. From the premise "a hitman decides to become an actor" emerged one of the smartest, weirdest, most entertaining shows I've seen in years, with some terrific acting. Reviews of the new season are fairly glowing. It's half hour episodes so it's an easy catch-up on the first two seasons.

 

[HuskyGooner124]

Season 3 of Barry premiers Sunday on HBO. From the premise "a hitman decides to become an actor" emerged one of the smartest, weirdest, most entertaining shows I've seen in years, with some terrific acting. Reviews of the new season are fairly glowing. It's half hour episodes so it's an easy catch-up on the first two seasons.

I'm excited. Can't wait for some more NoHo Hank, it's been too long

 

[storrsroars]

While bingeing Yakamoz S-245, I learned it was a companion piece in the same timeline as the earlier Into the Night series. Both deal with a solar flare that has turned the Sun into a death ray - exposure to sunlight kills anything and everything. Yakamoz mostly takes place on a submarine, while Into the Night follows a plane trying to outrun sunrise and an underground bunker in Bulgaria. Yakamoz was a 7-episode Turkish production while ITN was Belgian and lasted 2 seasons of 6 episodes each.

I thought the Turkish series had better acting, particularly the three leads, while Into the Night featured some cardboard characters and obvious stereotypes, but both series were easy to follow, plot lines moved quickly, and for the most part, was an enjoyable ride.

Taken as a whole, you've basically got Tommyknockers meets The Day the Earth Caught Fire meets Das Boot meets The Lost Ship wrapped up in a Rashomon package. I imagine there's room for other series based on the same premise.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

MSN

Apparently Jerry West thinks that screaming at HBO through the press will prove that their characterization of Jerry West was wrong? If anything, it appears that the Jerry West character in Winning Time is less of a jerk than he is in real life.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Reflecting some more on your comments here, it's interesting that the absurdity of the whole situation is another thing that it shares with "Ted Lasso," as well as the "lovable misfits" cast. The situation is a little more absurd, and the misfits less attractive and less lovable, but the similarities still hold nonetheless imo.

Whereas the obvious theme of "Ted Lasso" is "believe," I would say that the theme of "After Life" is two-fold: "Life goes on...and love is what makes it worth living."

When I first started watching "After Life," my wife kept commenting on the rest of the cast and how much she loved them, e.g., "Don't you just love the postman?" For most of the first season I grunted and said they were fine, but I wasn't sure what there was to "love" about them. I will say that the show has since succeeded in showing me that there is something to love about at least most of them; still working on the hoarder and the fat kid. But I sense that that overall message--i.e., that there is something to love about everyone, even the misfits among us--is one that is central to the show.

I have just started this. It's my new watch during my morning rowing session. Interfered with that briefly today due to laughter.

It's funny, but I sure hope he snaps out of it a bit, because it could get old quickly if he stays this way. Progress at least, would be good. Recognizing the house needed to be cleaned, even if not by him...baby steps.

 

[8893]

I have just started this. It's my new watch during my morning rowing session. Interfered with that briefly today due to laughter.

It's funny, but I sure hope he snaps out of it a bit, because it could get old quickly if he stays this way. Progress at least, would be good. Recognizing the house needed to be cleaned, even if not by him...baby steps.

There is progress, although perhaps not as much as one might hope for Gervais himself. I thought it was worth the watch.

 

[87Xfer]

Three episodes in on both Winning Time (HBO) and Dropout (Hulu). Winning Time is very entertaining and I strongly recommend it. Late 70's LA looks like a lot of fun. Dropout is a bit more cerebral, but also a good show. Amanda Seyfriend is one of the best actresses of her generation.

I've been tempted to watch Dropout, but I've already seen the Investor, so I'm not sure what the series will bring to the party. Have you seen the Investor documentary?

 

[CL82]

I've been tempted to watch Dropout, but I've already seen the Investor, so I'm not sure what the series will bring to the party. Have you seen the Investor documentary?

I like The Dropout. I’m not sure it’s Amanda Seyfried‘s best work, but it is interesting.

 

[Bomber36]

The Offer…through two episodes and it is excellent. Be sure to watch the behind the scenes stuff after each episode. Miles Teller and Juno Temple are just two of the more excellent performances. It’s on Paramount Plus.