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Post by Mattsby on Sept 13, 2021 18:06:38 GMT
Alfred Hitchcock Hour: A Piece of the Action (1962) S1E1 After seven seasons of half-hour Hitchcock Presents, here's the first hourlong, and it's one of the best of the Hours I've seen - starring a great Gig Young as a secretive kingpin of poker, he wants out but his plan is unsettled by the arrival of his younger brother, played by pre-movies, pre-The Sting, Robert Redford. Very good dialogue here, and cast (Gene Evans, etc).... and Hitch's hosting is hilariously irrelevant ("I'm the club's only bunny"). I love the fatigued confidence on Gig here, it's not exactly ego, something else - he seems to embody that line a great poker player once said, "In order to be successful in my profession, I have to spend my life surrounded by losers."
Gig Young is a fascinating, tragic actor - he might've had an even greater career, and yet he had great success even an Oscar to show for it. He had a few years before this starred in one of the best Twilight Zones, Walking Distance - Rod Serling's own favorite ep.
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Barbie
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Post by Barbie on Sept 20, 2021 5:50:31 GMT
Billions - S5 E10
A mess. This show has steadily been going downhill since season 3, and it’s just so stupid now. I basically hate watch it at this point. The writing especially the dialogue is so bad
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Sept 23, 2021 18:59:50 GMT
The White Lotus Ep. 1 "Arrivals"
One episode in and already obsessed with the vibe of the series. Love the idea of this group of unpleasant people going on a vacation trying to escape their issues but instead bringing all of it with them, and finding the darkness and humor in that. Murray Bartlett and Jennifer Coolidge look to be the MVPs, and Bartlett looks to be the closest thing to the lead so far (top-billed anyways) -- I wonder how HBO will submit the actors because this is definitely an ensemble series.
Can't get enough of that theme song and the music generally. Gorgeously layered sounds and elements popping in and out on top of that barely-in-tune eerie melody. The composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer said it's almost like the score is mocking the characters, like it's reducing them to animals in a zoo. Very interesting stuff.
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Post by Martin Stett on Sept 26, 2021 2:09:46 GMT
Just finished season 2 of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. In a way, this show can run in circles, both thematically (let's talk about the merits and demerits of democracy for the fortieth time!) and narratively (battle scenes tend to be... uh, a lot of shooting). And yet I can't take my eyes off of it. This is a show in which people actually talk about politics. They argue and they philosophize and they ask questions! This isn't a battle between a good rebellion and an evil empire - this is a battle between two warring ideologies, neither of which are wholly right or wrong. I love it. I love it so much, shortcomings be damned.
The season finale features a scene in which the two main characters meet for the first time in 54(!) episodes and have a ten minute long conversation about politics. Fifty-four episodes culminating a soft scene of two enemies holding a discussion. It is electric. No other show has this level of patience this level of understatement.
And this is just the midpoint! There are two more seasons of the main show, plus two more movies and a spinoff show! YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!
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Post by Viced on Sept 28, 2021 19:56:22 GMT
Definitely went on a bit longer than it needed to... but even when the formula got slightly repetitive in the later seasons, it was still mostly hilarious. Mitchell and Webb are the perfect odd couple and overall comedic duo... and Super Hans is one of the best side characters ever (just as Johnson is one of the best recurring characters ever). The voiceover thoughts have gotta be some of the funniest moments in TV history as well.
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Post by notacrook on Sept 28, 2021 22:56:12 GMT
Definitely went on a bit longer than it needed to... but even when the formula got slightly repetitive in the later seasons, it was still mostly hilarious. Mitchell and Webb are the perfect odd couple and overall comedic duo... and Super Hans is one of the best side characters ever (just as Johnson is one of the best recurring characters ever). The voiceover thoughts have gotta be some of the funniest moments in TV history as well. Potentially my favourite TV comedy of all time. Definitely Brit humour at its weirdest and finest. Last season isn't great but it doesn't even matter.
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Post by urbanpatrician on Oct 1, 2021 5:38:59 GMT
Cruel Summer....... Episode 9+10 (the 2 episodes worth watching) The Cranberries song encapsulates the spirit of this show, imo: (which it references)
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 7, 2021 2:57:33 GMT
Legend of the Galactic Heroes episode 61: Cascades of Blood
This is a special episode for the show. It has covered the bloodshed of war in other episodes, focusing on the men dying screaming with no comfort... but the ugliness of conflict has never been so apparent as seeing our "heroes" that are supposed to be saving the galaxy reduced to applying makeup to a dead man so they can pretend that they have a live hostage. This is also one of the most violent episodes, and as always it doesn't tiptoe around the disturbing imagery of men having limbs or heads hacked off or in pieces. You may be able to mask open warfare in nobility or glory, but "freedom fighters" don't have that luxury, and all of the brutality is finally out in the open.
And then there's the pirate costume. In any other show, seeing one of the good guys dressing up as a pirate as he engages in piracy would be a laugh. While I admit to laughing here (it was certainly unexpected), that humor is just a veil for the horror of seeing what happens when this military man is free from the constraints of his military uniform. Seeing him wearing an eyepatch and hook is like seeing a mask come off, and finding that the man underneath wasn't nearly as benevolent as he initially appeared.
Christ. Do we even want to win this war? The show has always portrayed two morally grey sides, but it was always easy to root for democracy over empire. Now that the factions are splitting further than ever, even the most morally good characters are getting sullied by all of the blood and shit. I'm impressed that this left me so despondent and feeling like I just waded through a cesspool.
Unfortunately, we're going back to Earth in the next episode, and the Earth subplot is by far the least interesting thing that LotGH has ever done. But hey, maybe it will... tie in to things... somehow...
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Post by michael128 on Oct 7, 2021 4:45:24 GMT
Survivor 41.3. Dreadful.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Oct 8, 2021 4:04:50 GMT
Been watching You. Penn Badgley's sardonic voiceover in the first ep was an acquired taste but it's basically very Dexter, down to the unreliable narration, creepy behavior, and the constant tension of the protagonist always on the cusp of being found out. Gotten halfway through the second season and really enjoying it.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Oct 11, 2021 15:31:26 GMT
weeellll the last episode of You S2 was definitely something. S1 was quite a lot better but we'll see how S3 goes... in the meantime, started Search Party with Alia Shawkat (Maeby FĂĽnke ) and halfway through S1 it's got a really strong blend of satirical cringe comedy and mystery. Hilarious and dark. This one always flew under my radar but at 20-25 minutes the episodes are perfectly bingeable and I'm glad to be finally checking it out. last ep: "The Secret of the Sinister Ceremony" where the characters investigate a creepy artisan cult where all the women seem to be pregnant (guest stars Parker Posey!)
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Post by Viced on Oct 13, 2021 21:34:20 GMT
If this were 2 episodes tighter, I might've hopped on board the train with all the people that think it's a masterpiece. But the main issue is that it peaks with the jawdropping fifth episode and absolutely masterful sixth episode... and couldn't possibly maintain that quality for four more episodes. But outside of all that, it's still pretty great. Excellent cast of realistic characters that felt incredibly natural as a family (both together in the flashbacks, and apart in the present day stuff), well done mixture of past/present, and enough scares to keep you on your toes (that car jump scare in ep8 -- still haven't recovered). Most of the cast is damn good too... Timothy Hutton probably my favorite in what must be one of the saddest performances in recent memory. And the ending, while slightly cheesy, still feels earned. The final line differing from the novel made sense to me... it's Steve's book by the end, not Shirley Jackson's. Not like this was much of a faithful adaptation to begin with...
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Barbie
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Post by Barbie on Oct 25, 2021 4:48:46 GMT
Insecure, season 5, episode 1
Enjoyable like all other episodes of the show. It’s consistent. And Natasha Rothwell continues to be the scene stealer than she is
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Post by Pavan on Oct 26, 2021 14:32:48 GMT
The Killing- Season 1 and 2
Pretty good crime drama. Takes its time setting up characters and backdrop and succeeded in making it look lived in. I actually felt for the victim's family. Good performances from the cast with Enos being the MVP. Looks like the next seasons will move onto a new story. Will check them soon.
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Post by Mattsby on Nov 12, 2021 4:16:35 GMT
La Obra de mi Vida (2018) Ep1-10. Web series outta Argentina from Cristian Ponce - it's a little like Fleabag meets Broad City, maybe Community. It has a student film quality but it's brightly done and sometimes very funny. It's tonally unlike Ponce's Kirlian and Occult, but like those it's got a shrewd reference base, dished out here in outright pieces of parody. And there's a lot of name-dropping....a lot of local people idk but I still laughed! Some I got - "Why do actors suffer for a student filmmaker? Well, they may be the next Damian Szifron." It peaks at Ep6 - a hilarious extra-meta rehearsal episode where the actors are playing actors rehearsing as actors aware they are rehearsing - they become stuck never not performing. It dips after that and the last ep might be the worst one and there's no real ending, but I enjoyed it overall. It's affecting underneath the sitcom air of it - the worrying impatience and ultimatum of being a facing-age artist with nothing to show for.
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Post by Viced on Nov 24, 2021 18:08:17 GMT
Not really reinventing the wheel when it comes to the South Korean criminal underworld/revenge drama, but still pretty kickass. Excellent protagonist, intriguing revenge journey, seamlessly great action... and some stunning twists and turns. Two of the best performances of 2021 too... Han So-hee carries it incredibly strongly, and Park Hee-soon gives one of the most complex and suavely badass performances in recent memory.
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Post by Mattsby on Nov 26, 2021 4:42:50 GMT
My Name (2021) - Viced don’t lie. ^ Addicting. Eight-part martial arts Departed, pretty much. Really great action and a downright badass, amazing perf from the lead actress .
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Post by stephen on Nov 26, 2021 14:31:25 GMT
^ I need to get on this show.
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Post by Pavan on Dec 8, 2021 11:58:28 GMT
The Killing- Season 1 and 2 Pretty good crime drama. Takes its time setting up characters and backdrop and succeeded in making it look lived in. I actually felt for the victim's family. Good performances from the cast with Enos being the MVP. Looks like the next seasons will move onto a new story. Will check them soon. Good third season but not on the level of the first two. Fourth one was Meh.
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morton
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Post by morton on Dec 19, 2021 18:09:05 GMT
I missed the premiere of IASIP due to my cable having problems, and it’s not available for streaming on their junky system. I’ve watched the other episodes though. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve found them mildly amusing at best. There’s some funny moments, but as a whole I feel like they’re just going over some of the same beats, or they’re just including current events to seem funny or edgy, but they’re doing so in an unfunny way. Like I think they could have really mined the Epstein thing, but it was pretty lame how it was included.
I have to admit my head might not be in the right place because of everything going on in real life, and I think I build up of how great this season was going to be during the long hiatus. So maybe on rewatches I’ll grow to like the season more.
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Post by Joaquim on Dec 23, 2021 3:32:54 GMT
I watched Rome season 1 for the first time and I have GRIEVANCES. Gonna start with the accents. Yea I know the bbc was involved and most of the cast is British but I still wanna say, the Romans first made contact with Britain in 55 BC and within 5 years everyone had adopted the accent lmao
The show starts way too late into the story of the civil wars. They throw so much stuff at you at the beginning with no prior context within the show like how shit got to this point. It’s really a microcosm of the overall major problem with the show that you can’t tell the entire story of Julius Caesar’s civil war in 1 season of television (or the one that followed but I’m not gonna comment on s2 since I haven’t started it). Season 1 should’ve ended with Caesar being gifted Pompey’s head, an entire season could be dedicated to Caesar’s escapes in Egypt, then wrap it up with the last stage of the war in Spain and Caesar’s assassination 2 months later. You can squeeze a solid 3-4 seasons worth of content out of the timeline they went with for season 1. And if the show’s goal was to show the transition from republic to empire then the show should’ve really started with the story of Tiberius Gracchus 80 years earlier or after the Third Punic War 100 years before the show starts when there was no major external threat that could challenge Rome so it turned on itself. At least show the first triumvirate so we can see Caesar and Pompey’s friendship. In the first episode Pompey talks repeatedly about not turning his back on his dear friend then quickly changes his mind. Although to be fair there is speculation as to how genuine Caesar and Pompey’s friendship was and the show kinda does go with that angle so w/e, but it’s not great writing regardless. Show the backstory properly and Pompey’s betrayal and death/Caesar’s reaction carry more weight to them. Then you could show Caesar dying at the feet of a statue of Pompey in the senate….which the show didn’t do for some reason
I get that they were going for historical authenticity rather than accuracy and they did a damn good job of creating the world of Rome at least. The legion uniforms were accurate for the time, the sets were on point, Cato was wearing his retarded black robe and there were giant penises on every wall in the city. I still don’t want the show pretty much being centered on 2 mostly made up characters getting caught up in the action like they’re fucking Forrest Gump. I like the characters of Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, I really do. I can appreciate that they’re not entirely fictional characters and are actually based on footnotes in Caesar’s war journal. They do serve as a good way to show life for the average plebeian on the streets of Rome too, which is of course a must in any show about Rome
Why is Cato so old? I think the writers got their Catos mixed up. Cato the Younger is supposed to be a middle aged man. Caesar is older than him, shit Cicero is older than him too but Cato looks like he could be his father
Why is Octavian portrayed as a petulant little brat (particularly in the pilot) that fucks his sister? This is Octavian, not one of his unborn great grand nephews. Octavian was ruthless, yes, but aspects of his portrayal were so misguided. I get that from a story perspective they gotta portray him as a cold bastard capable of killing a kid to eliminate all challengers to his throne because that’s what he does to caesarion later but don’t introduce him like he’s fucking Joffrey. It did improve after the pilot episode where they focused more on showing Octavian’s high intelligence and cunning but he really shouldn’t have even been a major character in the first season to begin with. He spent a lot of that time in training, which the show does mention in its midseason 2 year time jump, but that’s where Octavian should’ve been most of the season. Irl he finished training and sailed for Spain, almost got shipwrecked then crossed enemy lines to meet up with Caesar as he was wrapping up the campaign there. This would’ve been a better introduction to Octavian…..or if they started the show earlier in the timeline like they should’ve done they could’ve introduced Octavian when he made his first ever public appearance speaking at his grandma’s (Caesar’s sister) funeral
This show’s biggest crime was not showing any of the battles. You had all this buildup for the fight between Caesar and Pompey, we finally get to the battle of pharsalus and….. that montage happens. What the fuck…..what the fuck. That’s how you did the battle of pharsalus? A fucking 30 second slow mo stylized montage? Your show jumped the shark halfway through its first season. Fucking hell. All of these battles would be great to see on screen. Pompey gives a nice explanation of how he got his ass kicked but we never see it. Cato and scipio kill themselves but we don’t get to see the battle they lost before that or barely so much as get a hint that a battle even happened aside from the episode title. We see a bunch of dead Egyptians floating in the Nile but no hint of a battle, and again, Caesar in Egypt could’ve been a full season by itself but they crammed it all into 1 episode. There’s not even reference to the battle of dyrrhachium where Caesar was almost decisively beaten before the battle of pharsalus and the civil war could’ve been over right there
Ok I’m gonna quit ranting. I probably have more grievances but I don’t feel like writing anymore. The show’s fine. It’s perfectly entertaining and watchable and everyone gives good performances even the kid playing Octavian, I like it for what it is but this story could be told so much better.
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Barbie
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Post by Barbie on Dec 25, 2021 7:59:51 GMT
I finished all of Death Note and damn what a ride! It’s my first time watching an anime series, and I really enjoyed it. I found it thought provoking. It makes you wrestle with questions about power, vigilante justice, and corruption.
I wish Misa got a better ending. She deserved better!!!
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Post by Mattsby on Dec 28, 2021 22:12:14 GMT
Finally got my hands on Pacino's screen debut - NYPD's Deadly Circle of Violence (1968) S2 E5 - the above is the first five mins of the episode, two scenes where Pacino is very good - freaky, glazed, careful. The clip was posted and discussed years ago in the Best Actor Across Film Stage TV thread - there's some great, very subtle tells in Pacino's perf in the second scene, which actually goes on for longer including a malicious reveal about the character who's essentially the villain-from-the-South. There's another great scene midway thru the episode where Pacino is trying to charm someone to become an accomplice - it's sneakily well played. That's it for the meat of the perf, suggesting Pacino a decade earlier might've played a bunch of stray-dog delinquent type parts.
NYPD ran for two seasons, one longer than the creator's previous series East Side/West Side with George C Scott which is very good and ahead of its time. NYPD seems to mix the social issue confrontation of ES/W with the on-location detective grind of Naked City (1958-63). You'd be bowled over by Naked City's list of guest stars (including Dustin Hoffman's sizable screen debut) and its look isn't so different from '50s b-noirs but the show wasn't as appropriately unforgiving as NYPD.... which itself had a great roster of guests:
Pacino, James Earl Jones, Harvey Keitel, John Cazale, Martin Sheen, Ossie Davis, Raul Julia, Jane Alexander, Blythe Danner, Robert Forster, Charles Grodin, Jon Voight etc. Not to mention its leads across 50 eps - the great Jack Warden, and the underrated Robert Hooks (Trouble Man) the first black lead in a drama series. Someone oughta restore the show and put 'em out.
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Post by Viced on Dec 31, 2021 22:29:13 GMT
Looking (2014-2015)I loved the vibe of this from the first episode. It all felt so natural - the characters, relationships, dialogue. Even when the characters are annoying, they're annoying in a very believable way. Though Dom was never annoying... that guy was the absolute man. Starting to love Murray Bartlett between this and The White Lotus. All of the episodes directed by Andrew Haigh were a notch above too... he brought a wonderful restrained style to the series. Sad it got cancelled when it was really starting to hit its stride... but at least it got a wrap-up movie (which I'm looking forward to watching very soon). Though the final moments of season two, even if they weren't intended to be a series finale, were still quietly perfect.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 2, 2022 20:09:04 GMT
Twilight Zone - S1 E16 - The HitchhikerVery ahead of its time episode that reminds me of the Ralph Meeker-Vera Miles episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Revenge" where you are fearful for something that may happen more than what is happening. They'd make a great double feature of uneasy apprehension. The lead here Inger Stevens suggests stalked women (in general) so well, that your mind runs wild about what "might" have happened to her before.
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