TV Series - Reviews and Recommendations......

Pross

The wife has been watching it but I haven't been concentrating hard enough to fully understand what is going on as I'm generally reading. What I've seen has seemed pretty good. As you say, it's not a cliched natives versus white man approach with one or other of them being 'good' and the other 'bad'. It reminds in some ways of Outlander, probably the English rose character teaming up with a rugged native and going out into the dangers of the wild but seems to have a bit more substance (and no time travel!).

daniel_b

I'll check out The English.

I never watched This Life, and never will, but People just do nothing, from beginning to end is incredibly well done comedy, so smartly written and acted, that as you say, some of the intelligence and subtlety can be completely missed.
It is a comedy of course, but there are some sad bits in there, and some very observant social commentary if you care to look.

Watched all of the series and loved them all, but not the film which I think came out already?

blazing_saddles

I am currently in Argentina but one show I downloaded to take with me after watching the first 2 episodes was The English.
It’s definitely a top notch production and not your run of the mill Western saga.

tailwindhome

Apropos of nothing, other than the mention of 'This Life', I've just realised why TV from the 90s can be 'dated' in its attitudes and portrayals, and wouldn't be screened today.

It was getting on for 3 decades ago

Anyway, apparently Baddiel has apologised to Jason Lee for the Fantasy Football skits.

daniel_b

Just finished SAS RH, though didn't realise it was the final one, just presumed there would be another episode, had not clocked it was only 6, though seems likely there will be between another 1-3 series.

Thought in the main it was excellent, certainly entertaining for sure.

So about to start a 75 minute turbo session this morning, was a bit surprised to find no SASRH to watch, so had to make a quick decision, and went for the red door on walter presents, Italian series about a detective who is killed, but is still lurking about in a ghostly patrick swayze/randall & hopkirk manner to try and help get justice I guess.
Only the first episode (12 in total I think), so not sure whether it is any good, but it certainly started ok.

For other WP fans, noticed that Rocco Schiavone is due to have another series available in the not too distant future, possibly December 9th.

Pross

Watching the second series of Gangs of London, not sure why as the first series got ridiculous and this has started off even worse.

daniel_b

I'm half way through The Red Door currently, thanks to the turbo.

Pretty good and entertaining, some half decent actors in it imho.

Currently to the grieving widow, it appears as if her late husband was doing bed gymnastics with both a colleague and at least one stripper
So her opinion has dimmed somewhat.

Currently there are maybe 2 or 3 likely suspects, but it's quite well done so far, with a side story of a girl who can see & hear him (Pretty handy for him to be fair), but has a mysterious mother who she was led to believe was dead, but is actually alive and drives a snow plough.....

Also loving the Stanley Tucci Italy series (massive thankyou for that being posted) - just watched the Tuscany one with lunch. Pretty certain I don't recall seeing any of his work (Not a big film watcher) but his easy going relaxed presentation style, and evident love of the country is captivating.

The food looks so good.

bonk_king

"The man who wanted to see it all" on Netflix. About Heinz Stükle, a German guy who left his home in 1962 and spent 50 years on the road on his push bike travelling the world, never returning home once.

TheBigBean

bonk_king said:

"The man who wanted to see it all" on Netflix. About Heinz Stükle, a German guy who left his home in 1962 and spent 50 years on the road on his push bike travelling the world, never returning home once.

How did he finance it?

bonk_king

TheBigBean said:

bonk_king said:

"The man who wanted to see it all" on Netflix. About Heinz Stükle, a German guy who left his home in 1962 and spent 50 years on the road on his push bike travelling the world, never returning home once.

How did he finance it?

He befriended a lot of people along the way, some of whom have remained life long friends. He begged, borrowed and bartered, living an extremely basic life throughout his journey, which covered well over half a million kilometers.

I believe he did a bit of photography work along the way too, and possibly other bits of jobs.

It's a fascinating documentary, nearly resulting in his death on several occasions. He's in the Guinness book of records. Not only has he visited around 200 countries on his bike but he also visited different provinces and territories within single countries, every nook and cranny.

Everything he amassed along the way, journals, photos, gifts, keepsakes, even his old broken cameras and watches, hell, even his old worn bike parts, which there were many, he sent back home in packages.

Over the decades the packages built up and when he got back he started sifting through everything, and there was masses of stuff, documenting it all. I believe he wants to put it all in a museum one day though there's that much stuff to wade through he reckons he'll not live long enough to get it all sorted out.

It's a very poignant story, well worth a watch.

morstar

Only just watched first two episodes but very grabbed by ‘Peripheral’ on Amazon.
Earth based, Sci-if, suspense thriller.
Stars Chloe Grace Moretz which is an unfortunate burden to bear. But hey ho.

pblakeney

morstar said:

Only just watched first two episodes but very grabbed by ‘Peripheral’ on Amazon.
Earth based, Sci-if, suspense thriller.
Stars Chloe Grace Moretz which is an unfortunate burden to bear. But hey ho.

Enjoyable fluff, but ultimately just fluff if you think about things. Imo.

morstar

pblakeney said:

morstar said:

Only just watched first two episodes but very grabbed by ‘Peripheral’ on Amazon.
Earth based, Sci-if, suspense thriller.
Stars Chloe Grace Moretz which is an unfortunate burden to bear. But hey ho.

Enjoyable fluff, but ultimately just fluff if you think about things. Imo.

Say what?

Are you confusing being fluffed by Moretz with the programme content?

pblakeney

morstar said:

pblakeney said:

morstar said:

Only just watched first two episodes but very grabbed by ‘Peripheral’ on Amazon.
Earth based, Sci-if, suspense thriller.
Stars Chloe Grace Moretz which is an unfortunate burden to bear. But hey ho.

Enjoyable fluff, but ultimately just fluff if you think about things. Imo.

Say what?

Are you confusing being fluffed by Moretz with the programme content?

All style and no content. Something like that.
The programme, for clarity. 😉

seanoconn

The recruit, Netflix. Apart from the C.I.A has nothing to do with the film of the same name.

Excellent so far, likeable cast, well written, definitely binge-worthy.

homers_double

I'm not going back through this thread but we've been watching Gangs Of London over the last few weeks. Its gruesome but good.

Pross

homers_double said:

I'm not going back through this thread but we've been watching Gangs Of London over the last few weeks. Its gruesome but good.

Commented on it above, the second half of series 1 went stupid and this is following on from that. Gangs with helicopters carrying chain guns shooting up the countryside in the Home Counties?

rick_chasey

Strike is still good. Head and shoulders above any other murder mystery around.

Pross

rick_chasey said:

Strike is still good. Head and shoulders above any other murder mystery around.

Yeah, really enjoyed it. It stays pretty close to the books which is the benefit of being spread across four 1 hour episodes. It still misses a bit of the detail but compared to the Grace series, which I'd been looking forward to, manages to keep the follow the storyline very well. I think they keep Rowling on board as an Exec Producer which probably helps.

thegreatdivide

seanoconn said:

HBO’s Tokyo vice. High quality series based on Jake Adelstein’s true story of becoming the first foreign born reporter to work for Japans largest news company and his unhealthy interest in the Yakuza. Great cast and excellent viewing with 3 episodes so far.

Eventually got round to viewing it via iPlayer. It's firmly in my top watches of 2022.

kingstongraham

Pross said:

rick_chasey said:

Strike is still good. Head and shoulders above any other murder mystery around.

Yeah, really enjoyed it. It stays pretty close to the books which is the benefit of being spread across four 1 hour episodes. It still misses a bit of the detail but compared to the Grace series, which I'd been looking forward to, manages to keep the follow the storyline very well. I think they keep Rowling on board as an Exec Producer which probably helps.

I've not watched any of them but read/listened to all the books.

If they manage to make a decent go of a TV show from The Ink Black Heart for the next series I'd be impressed.

photonic69

If you like the Horror/Chiller genre then Midnight Mass on Netflix is quite good. It's a bit of a slow burner then, BANG! has some truly unexpected moments. Really like the way the Catholic Priest is portrayed. It's all quite quirky.

MattFalle

carbonclem said:

Pross said:

Started watching SAS Rogue Heroes. It feels like it has been trailed for months now. The first episode was a bit slow with some scene setting but it picked up in episode 2 and should start getting to the real action in episode 3.

It seems to match up with what I’ve previously read about the lunatics that set up the SAS. Decent soundtrack too with a mixture of music from the era and the likes of AC/DC, similar to Peaky Blinders.

Feels like its all a bit cynical. Probably a good yarn in there but too obviously trying to hook the Peaky Blinders fans in. They'll be dressing up in khaki by the end of November.

Hard to get used to Miles Jupp in such a role too!

SAS RH?

Unwatcheableshit with a soundtrack that starts good but gets v boring. Bad acting, Peaky Blinders clone. Something that Clarkson and associated gammonati would pleasure themselves over

Started watching it to pass the time on turbo sessions, it was so bad that it had to go off and the mighty Montalbano came back on.

Avoid.

seanoconn

photonic69 said:

If you like the Horror/Chiller genre then Midnight Mass on Netflix is quite good. It's a bit of a slow burner then, BANG! has some truly unexpected moments. Really like the way the Catholic Priest is portrayed. It's all quite quirky.

The set up was promising but couldn’t follow through. Gave up before the end.

Pross

kingstongraham said:

Pross said:

rick_chasey said:

Strike is still good. Head and shoulders above any other murder mystery around.

Yeah, really enjoyed it. It stays pretty close to the books which is the benefit of being spread across four 1 hour episodes. It still misses a bit of the detail but compared to the Grace series, which I'd been looking forward to, manages to keep the follow the storyline very well. I think they keep Rowling on board as an Exec Producer which probably helps.

I've not watched any of them but read/listened to all the books.

If they manage to make a decent go of a TV show from The Ink Black Heart for the next series I'd be impressed.

Is that the latest book? I haven't read it yet but saw it had bad reviews.

kingstongraham

Pross said:

kingstongraham said:

Pross said:

rick_chasey said:

Strike is still good. Head and shoulders above any other murder mystery around.

Yeah, really enjoyed it. It stays pretty close to the books which is the benefit of being spread across four 1 hour episodes. It still misses a bit of the detail but compared to the Grace series, which I'd been looking forward to, manages to keep the follow the storyline very well. I think they keep Rowling on board as an Exec Producer which probably helps.

I've not watched any of them but read/listened to all the books.

If they manage to make a decent go of a TV show from The Ink Black Heart for the next series I'd be impressed.

Is that the latest book? I haven't read it yet but saw it had bad reviews.

Yes - I enjoyed it, but it has long sections that are quite hard to listen to on audiobook. A lot happens online, so imagine someone reading out an online chat or a forum like this with usernames and emojis etc.

Pross

Metallica - Some Kind Of Monster. I’ve listened to their music since the mid 80s and have seen them live twice (30 years apart) but only just stumbled across it.

Pretty boring to be honest and feels like a cliched movie about a rock band. Filmed around recording the St. Anger album and Hetfield had to disappear into rehab. Band not getting on well, decide to try something different, bit of a fall out, rehab, awkward attempts to kiss and make up. The result was, IMHO, their worst album by far. Feels a bit like Bohemian Rhapsody with Hetfield as Freddie, Ulrich as May and Hammett stuck in the middle as Deacon. Hetfield and Ulrich both come across a bit dickish.

The second time I saw them was in June 2019 just before they cancelled a chunk of the tour due to Hetfield went back into rehab!

Oh, and Ulrich really reminds me of Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad.

skyblueamateur

MattFalle said:

carbonclem said:

Pross said:

Started watching SAS Rogue Heroes. It feels like it has been trailed for months now. The first episode was a bit slow with some scene setting but it picked up in episode 2 and should start getting to the real action in episode 3.

It seems to match up with what I’ve previously read about the lunatics that set up the SAS. Decent soundtrack too with a mixture of music from the era and the likes of AC/DC, similar to Peaky Blinders.

Feels like its all a bit cynical. Probably a good yarn in there but too obviously trying to hook the Peaky Blinders fans in. They'll be dressing up in khaki by the end of November.

Hard to get used to Miles Jupp in such a role too!

SAS RH?

Unwatcheableshit with a soundtrack that starts good but gets v boring. Bad acting, Peaky Blinders clone. Something that Clarkson and associated gammonati would pleasure themselves over

Started watching it to pass the time on turbo sessions, it was so bad that it had to go off and the mighty Montalbano came back on.

Avoid.

I concur. Found it very disappointing.

johngti

MattFalle said:

carbonclem said:

Pross said:

Started watching SAS Rogue Heroes. It feels like it has been trailed for months now. The first episode was a bit slow with some scene setting but it picked up in episode 2 and should start getting to the real action in episode 3.

It seems to match up with what I’ve previously read about the lunatics that set up the SAS. Decent soundtrack too with a mixture of music from the era and the likes of AC/DC, similar to Peaky Blinders.

Feels like its all a bit cynical. Probably a good yarn in there but too obviously trying to hook the Peaky Blinders fans in. They'll be dressing up in khaki by the end of November.

Hard to get used to Miles Jupp in such a role too!

SAS RH?

Unwatcheableshit with a soundtrack that starts good but gets v boring. Bad acting, Peaky Blinders clone. Something that Clarkson and associated gammonati would pleasure themselves over

Started watching it to pass the time on turbo sessions, it was so bad that it had to go off and the mighty Montalbano came back on.

Avoid.

I watched it and quite enjoyed it (but I’ve never watched peaky blinders). However, the book it was based on was a Christmas present and is verybloodygoodindeed.

ddraver

I enjoyed it but when Officer McNulty appeared in drag I assumed I was no longer dealing with a historically accurate documentary...