What TV series are you currently watching?

Started by Wakefield, April 26, 2015, 06:16:35 PM

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Todd




Too Old To Die Young.  David Lynch and Steven Soderbergh and David Fincher did it, so why not Nicolas Winding Refn?  His foray into series television for Amazon just dropped, and the first episode is most excellent - provided one enjoys NWR's style.  The techniques and mannerisms he uses in his movies are on full display: long, static shots; amazing full-screen compositions, with compositions often nestled inside those compositions; amazing use of colored lighting, with different portions of the screen lit with different colors, sometimes primary, sometimes more muted, sometimes bolder.  Also present is the at times or even often stilted dialogue and stylized and surreal storytelling.  And violence.  Refn even goes so far as to make sure to include what extreme violence might sound like.  NWR uses B-, C-, and D-list talent throughout, but some of the actors have got the goods.  Babs Olusanmokun as the main really bad guy commands the screen as he did in the mostly waste of time The Widow.  William Baldwin (!) outdoes his more famous brother by riffing on his brother's creations.  Miles Teller can deliver some good work, but at least in the first episode he is sort of blank, though that seems purposeful by all involved.  And John Hawkes is in the queue - as a character named Viggo.  NWR also gets with the times and uses Spanish speaking actors speaking Spanish when the story is briefly set in Mexico.  The story, oh, it's about a corrupt cop getting caught up in the underworld and whatnot.  A good chunk of the episodes are as long as short movies, so it will take a while to work through the show.  I'm good with that.
The universe is change; life is opinion. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

People would rather believe than know - E.O. Wilson

Propaganda death ensemble - Tom Araya

SimonNZ



a couple of minor quibbles about the "street" patois and in the final wrapping up/reveals, but otherwise this was excellent

George

Quote from: SimonNZ on June 16, 2019, 11:33:10 AM


a couple of minor quibbles about the "street" patois and in the final wrapping up/reveals, but otherwise this was excellent

Do they use the early 90s rap song by Snow as a theme song?

;)
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

Fëanor

Quote from: Todd on June 15, 2019, 06:23:15 AM



Chernobyl.  Very well done, with two notable flaws, one minor and one nearly show-killing.  The minor flaw is the irrelevant storyline about the small crew that goes around killing irradiated domesticated animals.  The nearly show-killing flaw is the use of English speaking actors, most with an English accent, in a show set in the Soviet Union.  British accents are fine in Westeros, but not an historically real place.  As The Americans shows, using Russian speakers with subtitles is most effective.  Netflix demonstrates the same thing in its non-dubbed, non-English language shows. A missed opportunity.  I guess it was nice to see Ulysses Grant have such a prominent role.

Subtitles are OK provided you have good eyesight ... mine is not so great.  I can generally make them out but I quickly get eye strain.  I do take your point about non-realistic languages or accents but I'd rather have original English or decent dubbed English.

Karl Henning

I've gone back to re-watch Season 4 of The Twilight Zone, the season of hour-long episodes.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Ken B

Poldark season 1

Good enough soap opera. Marred by the lack of incomprehensible 18th century Cornish accents and subtitles.

Irons

I don't know what we would watch on a Saturday night without Scandinavian noir. A favourite is "The Bridge". Subtitles are not a problem, I use specs for reading but in this case find it better without. One of the most memorable series was again with subtitles,  the gripping "Das Boot".
You must have a very good opinion of yourself to write a symphony - John Ireland.

I opened the door people rushed through and I was left holding the knob - Bo Diddley.

milk

Tv has totally gotten away from me. After shows like Deadwood and The Wire, True Detective and Breaking Bad, I feel spoiled for anything now. And TV seems different these days: made in large amounts for streaming platforms. Yet, I don't see the talent. Comedy is the worst. I rewatch Curb Your Enthusiasm sometimes. Now that's funny! Nothing on TV is near that.
Sometimes I watch this:

Just to pass the time. I like these survival shows. I love The Last Alaskans.
and rewatching this:

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

milk

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 30, 2019, 05:09:35 AM
Columbo is always great to return to.
It's a very relaxing show. That's my new takeaway. 

Karl Henning

I'm revisiting Jeeves and Wooster (Hugh Laurie & Stephen Fry.
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

SimonNZ



X-Files in the 1950s. With some of the pluses and all of the minuses that came with that show. Watchable, but should have been better.

André




British TV at its best. Not just hilarious but thought-provoking, sometimes even poignant. Superb characterizations, notably from Gillian Anderson (of X Files fame). Good recension from The Guardian in this link:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/17/sex-education-asa-butterfield-gillian-anderson-netflix

Mookalafalas

Started watching this after seeing some good reviews.  Not what I was expecting. For such hideous animation, the complexity of Will Arnett's character is amazing. Goes to very dark places. Just watched the episode "Escape from L.A" from near the end of season 2 and was very impressed.
It's all good...

George

Quote from: Mookalafalas on July 11, 2019, 08:06:52 PM
Started watching this after seeing some good reviews.  Not what I was expecting. For such hideous animation, the complexity of Will Arnett's character is amazing. Goes to very dark places. Just watched the episode "Escape from L.A" from near the end of season 2 and was very impressed.


You were wise to give it a chance. I think it's an incredible show!

And season 6 is out this year!! https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2019-06-30/bojack-horseman-season-6-netflix-release-date-news-cast-plot-trailer/
"I can't live without music, because music is life." - Yvonne Lefébure

North Star

Quote from: George on July 12, 2019, 07:31:28 AM
You were wise to give it a chance. I think it's an incredible show!

And season 6 is out this year!! https://www.radiotimes.com/news/on-demand/2019-06-30/bojack-horseman-season-6-netflix-release-date-news-cast-plot-trailer/
Agreed! Also, now I can't wait for S6 to be released...

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

drogulus

#1496

     My TV habits seem to get more Nordic over time. I'm watching Beck, kind of a Swedish precursor to Wallander, even to the point of a daughter he doesn't get along with, along with everyone else. The best character is a neighbor, who is a little bit eccentric.

     Then it will be off to Iceland for the second season of Trapped.
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Ken B

Quote from: drogulus on July 12, 2019, 02:39:30 PM
     My TV habits seem to get more Nordic over time. I'm watching Beck, kind of a Swedish precursor to Wallander, even to the point of a daughter he doesn't get along with, along with everyone else. The best character is a neighbor, who is a little bit eccentric.

     Then it will be off to Iceland for the second season of Trapped.
I assume that is Martin Beck. The books are from the 60s mostly, and are very good indeed. Not really the trendy Scandinavian noir.

TD
Durrells in Corfu, season 1
Enjoyable if a bit confected.

drogulus


     
Quote from: Ken B on July 12, 2019, 05:28:54 PM
I assume that is Martin Beck. The books are from the 60s mostly, and are very good indeed. Not really the trendy Scandinavian noir.



     It's pre-trend, I guess.
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Daverz

Quote from: Ken B on July 12, 2019, 05:28:54 PM
I assume that is Martin Beck. The books are from the 60s mostly, and are very good indeed. Not really the trendy Scandinavian noir.

I love the Martin Beck books (in English translation) and have kept them all for an eventual re-read.