What are you watching & why? (splain)

Just watched "The Ipcress File."

Some reviewers didn't like it because they didn't like the idea of remaking the classic 1965 film, which starred the great Michael Caine (and which I've never seen). I guess I had the advantage of not having seen the original and therefore I saw this one with fresh eyes and no preconceptions.

I liked it very much. I can easily imagine Michael Caine playing the lead role here, and in fact the actor they chose bears a bit of a resemblance to a younger Caine, IMO. Don't know who he is and I don't recall ever seeing him before, but he did a very good job here in what I think is a very difficult role.

It's a spy story set in the early 1960s, based around a British intelligence organization which is not MI5 or MI6. It's much closer to a John le Carré / George Smiley type spy story than an Ian Flerming / James Bond type story. Lots of intrigue involving moles, and double agents, and that sort of thing. Not as much spy gadgetry or mortal combat, although there is some of that. There is also a bit of a "Manchurian Candidate" aspect to it. I'm a big John le Carré fan. Really liked "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" (probably closest to this subject matter) and loved "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy." If you liked those, then I bet you'll like this, too, and I'm sure that contributed to my enjoyment. I'm also a fan of early 60s Western fashion and culture, and I'm equally sure that was part of the appeal. To borrow from a great songwriter . . . "Well, those 60s girls are hip, I really dig those styles they wear." LOL. In particular, the lead actress, Lucy Boynton, looks spectacular!

Recommended.
 
Just watched the 7th Episode of Seasn 1 of "The Old Man." Thought there were going to be 8 episodes but the 7th was apparent the last one for the season.

As with "Dark Winds," I'm disappointed at how it ends the season.

The writers/producers resorted to a long dialog between Lithgow and Bridges to provide the full backstory which I thought was too abrupt and lazy but mainly it was just "cheap" because they probably didn't have the time &/or $ to shoot another episode or 2 to achieve the same result.

Like in "Dark Winds" there are too many plot gaps and unresolved questions remaining but, also like "Dark Winds," "The Old Man" has been 'green lit" for another season. So, I hope they resolve those issues in the first 1st episode or 2 of Season 2.

Otherwise, still and entertaining and compelling show to me overall.
 
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The Amazing Virginian said:
Is that legal? How can they offer all this for free?
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I don't know and I don't care. It's there to use if you like.

I'm sure its existence is not a secret to the big media companies. If the powers that be shut it down, so be it. I have no problem w/it. If you do have some moral, political or other objection to it, just don't use it.

It's not the only such site up and running.

What I object to is being "gang raped" by all of the steaming companies who are requiring you to subscribe to view ALL of their content, even if you just want to watch 1 show or series.

If I had to pay for any of them that I didn't otherwise want to pay for (like Prime Video which comes w/my Prime Membership which I bought for other reasons and provides other benefits) I wouldn't and they wouldn't get any $ from me anyway.

Was only able to check out "The Ipcress File" that you mentioned because of it. Otherwise, there's no way that I'd be able to view it.
 
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sgt1372 said:
Just watched the 7th Episode of Seasn 1 of "The Old Man." Thought there were going to be 8 episodes but the 7th was apparent the last one for the season.

As with "Dark Winds," I'm disappointed at how it ends the season.

The writers/producers resorted to a long dialog between Lithgow and Bridges to provide the full backstory which I thought was too abrupt and lazy but mainly it was probalby just "cheap" because they didn't have the time &/or $ to shoot another episode or 2 to achieve the same result.

Like in "Dark Winds" there are too many plot gaps and unresolved questions remaining but, also like "Dark Winds," "The Old Man" has been 'green lit" for another season. So, I hope they resolve those issues in the first 1st episode or 2 of Season 2.

Otherwise, still and entertaining and compelling show to me overall.
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Just watched it. Overall I thought the season was ok. After the first episode I was like "meh", but it did get a bit better. But I feel like Bridges and Lithgow don't really elevate it at all. Replace them with unknowns and I don't think it suffers. Decent filler when there's nothing else on.
 
Couldn't make it through "The Old Man". By episode 4 I'd had enough.

Agree with sgt1372 sgt1372 that "Dark Winds" had a rushed and unfulfilling ending...though I will at least give that one another season.

"Black Bird" on apple+ was unwatchable after the first few episodes as well. R.I.P. Ray Liotta.
 
The Gray Man has nothing to do with the much better book but is watchable
The Terminal List was good ( couldn't finish the book though)
Endeavor is good( not your typical slow placed police procedural/detective series)
Couldn't get through more than 30 mins of No Time To Die. Couldn't stomach the glaring potholes and when has a Bond movie taken itself seriously? It was novel with Casino Royale ( actually a good movie ) but this whole " I am carrying the sorrows of the world" gravitas is tiring.
 
Danke42 said:
Purging The Old Man from the DVR tonight. Watched maybe 15 minutes of a middle episode and was going to give it a run but not with the reviews I see here.
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Maybe I liked "The Old Man" simply because I identified w/the title but I enjoyed the show until the abrupt/unresolved ending which is a set up for Season 2.

I'm still hopeful that I'll be around long enough to watch it too. It's free to me w/Xfinity on FX w/o resorting to a pirate station to watch it. LOL! ;)
 
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Just finished watching the 1st 2 and last episodes of "Iron Chef: Quest for An Iron Legend" because I like watching cooking shows but my reaction to this one was just "Meh" because it really didn't add much to the Iron Chef series starting w/the Japanese Iron Chef show (1993-1998) and the Food Network's
Iron Chef/Next Iron Chef (2004-2012), Iron Chef: Gauntlet/Showdown (2017-2018) and now Iron Legend (2022).

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Like most cooking shows, I just watch the intro and the judging of the final "judging" because the middle is mainly just filler -- unless they are making something that I may want to try to cook myself, in which case I'll go back to watch how it was done.

The finalist for the "Iron Legend" was a young Korean American woman from NYC named Esther Choi, who had to go up against 5 so-called "Iron Chefs" in the finale which just seemed inherently unfair because she had to cook 5 dishes while the "Iron Chefs" only had to cook 1 each in the same amount of time.

Choi cooked her butt off and actually prepared 10 dishes to the Iron Chefs' 5 and only "lost" by 1 point. If it really was that close, they (the producers} should have named her the winner by just flipping the scores because she had to over come such odds and especially because she had already beaten 1 of the Iron Chefs in a head-to-head 5 to 5 dish competition in the 2nd episode.

Short of that, it would have been better IMO to feature all of the challengers in another Next Iron Chef revival than this 5 vs 1 Iron Legend "competition."

And who named theses the new Iron Chefs to begin with?

IMO only two of them deserved that designation and that was Dominique Crenn whose restaurant "Artlier Crenn" in SF has been awarded 3 Michelin Stars, and where I still hope to dine at least 1x before I die. Curtis Stone's restaruant "Maude" in Beverly Hills has also received 1 Michelin Star.

The other so-called Iron Chefs were Ming Tsai, Marcus Samuelson,and Garbriela Camara who are all ok cooks but whose main "qualifications" are that they are popular go-to "chefs" on the Food Network who add "diversity" to the program and AFAIK none of their restaurants were ever awarded a Michelin star.

As for the competition, I liked what Choi cooked far better than what the Iron Chefs did combined, although there were a couple of the dishes that the Iron Chefs made (notably by Crenn and Stone) that I certainly would have liked to try.

So, if you're going to watch the show. I'd recommend just watching Episode 2 and the Finale in Episode 8 which feature Choi. IMO, the rest of the season's episdoes are just fillers.

And, if you're in NYC, I'd suggest giving one of Choi's restaurants at try. I certainly will if I'm ever there again. :)
 
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Currently half "watching" a DVD of "The Lost City."' The most recent of several movies w/the same name.

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Like a lot of other recent movies, it's a comedic farce which I just think is lame but if you like Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt and/or the guy who played Harry Potter but is now MUCH "older" (whose name I never remember and am too lazy to look up), check it out. LOL! ;)

BTW, from what I've seen of the previews, Brad Pitt's soon-to-be-released "Bullet Train" is almost certainly likely to get the same reaction from me and Pitt only makes a cameo appearance in "The Lost City" before he's killed off.
 
sgt1372 said:
Currently half "watching" a DVD of "The Lost City."' The most recent of several movies w/the same name.

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Like a lot of other recent movies, it's a comedic farce which I just think is lame but if you like Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Brad Pitt and/or the guy who played Harry Potter but is now MUCH "older" (whose name I never remember and am too lazy to look up), check it out. LOL! ;)

BTW, from what I've seen of the previews, Brad Pitt's soon-to-be-released "Bullet Train" is almost certainly likely to get the same reaction from me and Pitt only makes a cameo appearance in "The Lost City" before he's killed off.
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Watched that a few weeks ago. Not great, but made us laugh in a few spots.
 
This post is on what I won't be watching:

After reading a post somewhere in here about how ridiculous all these streaming services and their monthly fees have become, I finally snapped yesterday and went into super mooch mode! Cancelled are Netflix, Hulu and AppleTV+. Prime is also on the bubble since I don't really order much from Dr. Evil any more but since it's paid for annually with still 5 more months left, what the heck for now. AppleTV+ is cheap enough to opt back into to binge watch if/when shows like Severance and Pachinko get renewed, otherwise lotsa mediocre crap. Only keeping HBO/MAX which IMHO is still superior over the others.

Interestingly, I had realized that my streaming service for TV and ISP, namely Spectrum ( :poop: ) had gotten out of hand ever since their promo period had ended and I was getting hosed by these bastids! So called their CS to cancel and down grade my Internet "speed" because I could no longer even hit the side of the eff'ing barn during Nathan's fast paced sales so WTH! Got transferred to their retention dept and miraculously was offered a better streaming package with the same Internet speed at the price of their lower tier culminating in $45 per month savings!

So just like that and voila, I managed to cut down the wasteful crap by like $85 monthly. Now $85 these days is quite putrid and a nothing burger but I hate throwing $ away on none essentials.

GET OFF MY LAWN and end of rant 🤣
 
Casinostocks said:
This post is on what I won't be watching:

After reading a post somewhere in here about how ridiculous all these streaming services and their monthly fees have become, I finally snapped yesterday and went into super mooch mode! Cancelled are Netflix, Hulu and AppleTV+. Prime is also on the bubble since I don't really order much from Dr. Evil any more but since it's paid for annually with still 5 more months left, what the heck for now. AppleTV+ is cheap enough to opt back into to binge watch if/when shows like Severance and Pachinko get renewed, otherwise lotsa mediocre crap. Only keeping HBO/MAX which IMHO is still superior over the others.

Interestingly, I had realized that my streaming service for TV and ISP, namely Spectrum ( :poop: ) had gotten out of hand ever since their promo period had ended and I was getting hosed by these bastids! So called their CS to cancel and down grade my Internet "speed" because I could no longer even hit the side of the eff'ing barn during Nathan's fast paced sales so WTH! Got transferred to their retention dept and miraculously was offered a better streaming package with the same Internet speed at the price of their lower tier culminating in $45 per month savings!

So just like that and voila, I managed to cut down the wasteful crap by like $85 monthly. Now $85 these days is quite putrid and a nothing burger but I hate throwing $ away on none essentials.

GET OFF MY LAWN and end of rant 🤣
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Search for a post of mine above for a way to watch it all for free.
 
I just watched "Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher" on Prime. Belcher became the youngest Champion Boxer in England (considered the World Champion at that time) in the bloody bareknuckle days of the "sport."

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The film is roughly based on fact and, as a boxing fan, I found it entertaining. Ray Winstone who plays Belcher's trainer is a gem. Russel Crowe, who I always find engaging, plays a cameo role as Blecher's grandfather.
 
sgt1372 said:
Search for a post of mine above for a way to watch it all for free.
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I saw that post and thanks for the heads up but not for me and not for now!

If I was going to lie, I'd say that I hazard to do something which may be deemed as improper because I am so honest that I'd have to use the handcuffs which I own (from my kinkier younger days) to do a citizen's arrest on myself! But I ain't gonna lie so I gotta tell you that this big goon of the puppy which I own has all my energies sapped by 8 PM, so no time to watch anything because I just snooze off!
 
Casinostocks said:
I saw that post and thanks for the heads up but not for me and not for now!

If I was going to lie, I'd say that I hazard to do something which may be deemed as improper because I am so honest that I'd have to use the handcuffs which I own (from my kinkier younger days) to do a citizen's arrest on myself! But I ain't gonna lie so I gotta tell you that this big goon of the puppy which I own has all my energies sapped by 8 PM, so no time to watch anything because I just snooze off!
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No problem.
 
yoko said:
I'm taking my time and still enjoying the series "the bear" on Hulu
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I gave up on "The Bear" -- it's just too neurotic and not enough "cooking." Skipped to the end - Episode 8 from Episode 2-- and I still don't get it.

Please explain the ending to me after you see it. I have a lot of questions about it that may have been answered by what happened in other episodes that I didn't watch. The Wiki synopses of the episdoes don't answer my questions.

PM me w/what you think about the ending if you don't want to spoil it for others.
 
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