What are you watching & why? (splain)

Danke42 said:
Started the Night Manager. Like it 2 episodes in it's making me feel like bingeing the rest.
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Tried it again. Remembered why I stopped watching it. All of it seems a tad ridiculous to me... Apparently my willing suspension of disbelief isn't what it used to be.

Also, Olivia Coleman bums me out ever since I say her in Peep Show (great show btw). She was great in The Favourite though, highly recommend.

Think I'm give books a shot and see if I can snap out of my grumpy media slump.
 
Just watched "Payback" on BritBox. (Not the Mel Gibson film of the same name from 1999 or so.)

Pretty good 6 part police / crime drama. Well written and acted with less plot holes than most of the genre.

Take a look if you're of a mind.
 
Blues said:
I stopped watching Peaky Blinders after they killed off Tom Hardy. (The show changed after that season and was more glitz and loud music, and less substance. At least that's what I remember thinking of it.)
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You might give Peaky Blinders another shot. The season 4 Italian mafia takeover duel with Adrian Brody is incredible. Then it kicks into yet another gear. I think that show is one of the rare examples of a near-masterpiece all the way through the story across multiple seasons. And there’s a movie coming in March so you have an excuse to catch up!IMG_7387.jpeg
 
I don't think so. I tried watching after that season and all I heard was loud music, and saw a lot of glitter. But I was disappointed with the content.
It happens. It was a fun ride while it lasted. But those were telltale signs for me that they ran out of fresh ideas. Even the Sopranos had a weaker season here or there.
 
DaveHS said:
You might give Peaky Blinders another shot. The season 4 Italian mafia takeover duel with Adrian Brody is incredible. Then it kicks into yet another gear. I think that show is one of the rare examples of a near-masterpiece all the way through the story across multiple seasons. And there’s a movie coming in March so you have an excuse to catch up!View attachment 3081748
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Grouch incoming... 🤓

There were some good moments when I first watched it years ago, I liked it. Then I made the mistake of doubling back... and for me personally, it didn't hold up.

The entire show is basically "I'm hard!". Just seemed kind of ridiculous after a while. Wool sure looks great on camera though, set and costume design were excellent. Sure made me want to smoke too.

I finished rewatching Mad Men the other day, for me that was much closer to a masterpiece. Insane writing, much like The Sopranos.
 
oldmanwilly said:
Holy moly, I just finished Mad Men as well. It was just too good, Roger's commentary was always the best part.
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Yeah it blew me away even more so on the second watch-through. Pretty shocking achievement, so many world class scenes. "Too good" is a perfect descriptor ;)

The only other show I felt similar about was The Sopranos. There were some scenes when Tony was arguing with his wife that were just too real.

Weirdly, The Sopranos was the most accurate representation I've ever seen of middle class life.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Yeah it blew me away even more so on the second watch-through. Pretty shocking achievement, so many world class scenes. "Too good" is a perfect descriptor ;)

The only other show I felt similar about was The Sopranos. There were some scenes when Tony was arguing with his wife that were just too real.

Weirdly, The Sopranos was the most accurate representation I've ever seen of middle class life.
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To pile on, I think Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fit in the same category. Great characters with excellent dialogue, and a touch of humor to keep the drama from overwhelming you.
 
Reading a book at the moment about British intelligence agents working out of Rockefeller Center in NYC during WWII. Ian Fleming is among the operatives discussed in the book.

It's called "The Invisible Spy" by Thomas Maier. A good read thus far, but I'm only about 20% into it.

The book discusses some of the folks that the Bond novels and characters were based upon. Very interesting part of our history, that FDR sanctioned back door.
 
Blues said:
Reading a book at the moment about British intelligence agents working out of Rockefeller Center in NYC during WWII. Ian Fleming is among the operatives discussed in the book.

It's called "The Invisible Spy" by Thomas Maier. A good read thus far, but I'm only about 20% into it.

The book discusses some of the folks that the Bond novels and characters were based upon. Very interesting part of our history, that FDR sanctioned back door.
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Are you familiar with the author Ben Macintyre? He has written a number of excellent historical books about intel/espionage, particularly during WWII and the Cold War. I think you'd dig his work.
 
Blues said:
Reading a book at the moment about British intelligence agents working out of Rockefeller Center in NYC during WWII. Ian Fleming is among the operatives discussed in the book.

It's called "The Invisible Spy" by Thomas Maier. A good read thus far, but I'm only about 20% into it.

The book discusses some of the folks that the Bond novels and characters were based upon. Very interesting part of our history, that FDR sanctioned back door.
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Speaking of history, I’m not going to quit on my Peaky Blinders advocacy. I think y’all are getting distracted by the modern soundtrack which is intentionally anachronistic. There hasn’t been a popular show with such epic mythology. There’s a giant swath of nuanced / reconsidered history woven into the story — and a plot engine with a hero’s journey that matches or dare I say exceeds The Sopranos, Breaking Bad or Mad Men. Three of my all-time favorite shows. Plus well dressed men and women deploying guns, knives, smoking and whiskey in artful ways and huge quantities.
 
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