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Post by mich64 on Dec 29, 2018 22:42:09 GMT
Vikings is back on and is still OK+, but I think floundering somewhat. Bixa we enjoy Vikings as well. My husband says the Floki portion is disappointing, which is unfortunate because we used to enjoy his character. I'm still watching Madam Secretary which, for all its annoying family sub-plots, does a great job of presenting topical international & US national issues in a fiction format. The most recent was "Family Separation, Part 1", about the treatment of immigrant children on the US border with Mexico. We also have been fans of this series. I have found the cast is either not over acting the family portions or maybe we have just gotten used to their family dynamic. We found this episode particularly disturbing and yestereday I was reading news reports that Secretary Nielsen was on her way to the border but was not allowing the press to cover her visit, cowards. (I was using the quick quote feature)
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 29, 2018 23:03:46 GMT
Mich, I have to agree with your husband about the Floki portion. There was so much work-up to it, with the way Floki arrived and all the drama of getting together his colony. But now bits about the Iceland colony are just stuck into episodes and seem like filler. I can't even remember who is who among the colonists. Floki's character is still true to his essential eccentricity, but does not seem to be evolving any further. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrafna-Flóki_VilgerðarsonYes ~ that episode of Madam Secretary was particularly disturbing! I initially started watching it while eating supper, but had to turn it off because it was so stressful. How perfect that stupid Nielsen who can't answer basic questions about her department is sneaking down to the border.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 30, 2018 13:12:14 GMT
As is traditional at this time of year, the BBC put on an Agatha Christie mini series. The ABC Murders with John Malkovitch as Hercule Poirot. I didn't think that I'd like it as in my head David Suchet IS Poirot, Peter Ustanov at a push....but Malkovitch brought a quiet dignity to the role. Less pompous and more sensitive. Very different but excellent all the same.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 4, 2019 1:30:55 GMT
Thanks for the review, Cheery. I've never watched anyone as Poirot because I'm not a Christie fan. But what you say makes that mini series sound very worthwhile.
Today I finished binging my way through Atypical, season 1 and will continue with 2. There will be a season three, but probably not until the Fall of this year. Anyway, I had some trepidation and anticipated having to turn it off after only a few minutes. That's because it's about a family with a high-functioning autistic son, so lots of opportunity for melodrama & also wrong-footed comedy. It does skirt those things and is very much in the classic 30-minute comedy/drama mold, but very appealing nonetheless, partly because all of the actors are believable. Well, without getting into a rant, Jennifer Jason Leigh's grotesque facelift cum buncha botox is somewhat distracting, especially as at times her expression doesn't match the expression she'd undoubtedly like to convey if her face still worked right.
Rotten Tomatoes and I suggest watching the show.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 5, 2019 4:11:18 GMT
Just watched the first episode of Bloom, "an Australian web television series which airs on Stan. The six-part mystery was released on 1 January 2019>" That's what Wikipedia says, so I guess it's a mini series. All the episodes were released at the same time.
Also from Wikipedia, the premise: "A year after a devastating country flood which kills 5 people occurs, a mysterious new plant is discovered with the power to restore youth."
The first episode mostly sets the scene and introduces the principals. It's not fast-paced, but it is intriguing and the Australian terrain is beautiful. Bonus: you get to hear the Mexican national anthem! Note that there is a puke scene, but it's telegraphed, so you can avoid looking.
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Post by rikita on Jan 5, 2019 8:25:36 GMT
currently watching "orphan black" - which i think isn't bad though maybe not as great as mr. r. said it is (he keeps telling me it'll get better though) ...
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Post by Kimby on Jan 5, 2019 16:27:43 GMT
Interesting, rikita, that you and Mr. R watch the same shows but at different times. Is that due to different work schedules?
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Post by Kimby on Jan 5, 2019 16:30:16 GMT
Just watched the first episode of Bloom, "an Australian web television series which airs on Stan.....Note that there is a puke scene, but it's telegraphed, so you can avoid looking. Thanks, bixa. Now that I am “woke” to vomiting in movies/TV series, I note it happens far more often than not. And WAY more often than real life.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 5, 2019 17:28:06 GMT
I am still happy to watch my ordinary little French series and not binge through all of this other stuff. Last night I was happy to watch the new season of Chérif, a policeman of North African origin, widower, with a daughter who has gone off to the United States for her university studies (much fatherly torment in the last season). The daughter is still in the series but much less, so he has taken in a sort of foster teen boy to provide the family element. Obviously, there is a crime to solve each time, generally not too gory, but as usual the main gimmick of the series is Chérif's passion for American crime series. For every single crime, when his colleagues are flustered, he always knows an example from the past and says things like "Magnum, season 2 episode 5" to explain everything. It is not a "great" series but it fits my mild needs.
This said, I just ordered 4 seasons of an Australian series that I want to watch from Amazon. I don't even really know what it is about, something about a lawyer who defends the undefendable. All that matters to me is that it is contemporary and Australian.
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Post by rikita on Jan 6, 2019 1:00:16 GMT
Interesting, rikita, that you and Mr. R watch the same shows but at different times. Is that due to different work schedules? he sometimes watches tv shows during the day (on the weekend) or in the early evening, when i prefer to read or write or do other things, while we watch something together in the later evening when agnes is asleep (currently just one episode per evening, no time for more) - as mr. r. is often quite tired by then (he's more of a morning person), we sometimes chose something he has watched already, and likes enough to watch again but doesn't mind as much if he falls asleep ... or if we watch something he doesn't know and he falls asleep, he might rewatch it alone at a later time ...
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 8, 2019 19:42:55 GMT
And so, I am watching Rake at the moment. It is foul. I like it. It's about a shyster lawyer, coke and sex addict, who takes cases worse than anybody can imagine -- for example, one of them was to defend a cannibal. They guy advertised for somebody who wanted to be eaten, found a candidate. The candidate recorded a message saying that he knew what he was doing, was taking these pills to die, and gave full authorisation to be eaten. Legal? Illegal? Another episode concerned a couple who had sex with their Rottweiler (cassette unfortunately found by somebody else). Is this cruelty to animals? The dog was extremely enthusiastic. I like shows that ask questions that nobody dares to ask.
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Post by patricklondon on Jan 12, 2019 6:43:22 GMT
I've made some finds in the remoter nooks and crannies of the programme guide, where shoestring channels have been buying up back catalogues. One has just started re-running Due South, which still amuses. Another has unearthed an old series of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence stories, all very 1920s. It's all meant to be very high style: the acting is so arch it should be in a Gothic cathedral, and the show is stolen by the hats (as with the more recent Mrs Bradley stories with Diana Rigg - it's pretty much a dead heat, as a cloche-off). My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 12, 2019 6:47:50 GMT
Oddly enough, there were two successful Tommy and Tuppence films made in France in recent years, although set in modern times. The characters were called Bélisaire and Prudence, played by André Dussollier and Catherine Frot.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 12, 2019 16:11:20 GMT
the acting is so arch it should be in a Gothic cathedral, and the show is stolen by the hats (as with the more recent Mrs Bradley stories with Diana Rigg - it's pretty much a dead heat, as a cloche-off).
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Post by patricklondon on Jan 13, 2019 14:48:51 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 13, 2019 16:13:21 GMT
Great hats!!
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Post by Kimby on Jan 15, 2019 2:25:12 GMT
Sharing this from the small screen thread (thanks, bixa!) I just finished watching the first season of The Mill, a historical four-part drama written by John Fay set in rural-industrial England in the turbulent year of 1833. Based on the extensive historical archive of Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire. Italics taken from the trailer: Nothing jolly about the show, but definitely worth seeing. You can catch the first season here. Episodes 2, 3, & 4 are in the side panel next to episode 1:
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 17, 2019 20:28:45 GMT
I just watched Part 1 of The Impressionists. Complaints first: The actors are excellent, but the men are all @10 years too old for the parts they play. The beginning is a little sluggish -- it took me almost a half hour to get fully involved. I think several important figures may have been left out of the series, but will reserve that judgment until I see the other two parts.
Now the good: This series is absolutely stunningly gorgeous! Each and every scene and every vignette has the saturated beauty of an Impressionist painting. To keep the timeline moving, at times we get to see the actual paintings, each with its title, artist, & date superimposed.
Here is Part 1. Parts 2 and 3 are to be found on the sideline ~
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Post by Kimby on Jan 17, 2019 20:37:33 GMT
Thanks, bixa. Do you know if this series is only available by streaming, or is it something that should appear on DVD?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 24, 2019 19:38:00 GMT
New series of Death in Paradise started last week. Considering it's about murder its gentle little show. Jeff loves it..I'm indifferent. The scenery is nice.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 27, 2019 18:32:49 GMT
I was in London and watched it. I still love it. It is filmed in Guadeloupe. I think that part of the attraction for men might be Joséphine Joubert as #2 at the police station (after the first few seasons with the equally appealing Sara Martins). I wonder if all female police detectives in the Caribbean wear shorts so well.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 27, 2019 19:51:23 GMT
...you may be right Kerouac, she is truly gorgeous also explains why he watches the awful Australian soap Neighbours terrible plots but lots of bright young girls in scanty clothing. HE says he likes it for the silly storylines...bless...
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 31, 2019 3:25:49 GMT
I am currently watching season one of Homecoming, an Amazon series, and am at a loss to understand the rave reviews it's gotten. Okay, the acting is superb, but I find the pacing almost unbearable. Even though each episode is only 30 minutes long, it feels much longer because of the pointlessly pokey pace -- and that 30 minutes encompasses long beginning and ending credits. Nothing is ever just shown, it's rammed down your throat. An example: Shea Wigham (one of my favorite actors) has to make a tough decision. He is shown sitting at his computer forever, fingers hovering over the pertinent keys. Another long scene shows some kind of drug being made and transported, including rolling through what seems like miles of corridor in an office building. Bobby Cannavale plays a micro-managing boss & his barked phone conversations with poor underling Julia Roberts go on & on & on. Also, Cannavale has played so many sleazeballs that using him as the head of a dubious organization seems like unnecessary telegraphing. The show is billed as a "psychological thriller", but it takes more than loud, outdated (think Twilight Zone era) background music to make me psychologically thrilled. Really, all the drawn out crap seems like filler and an insult to the actors & the audience. For whatever reason (first season of Mr. Robot, maybe), Sam Esmail is touted as a great director. You really, really can't prove it by Homecoming! Am I going to keep watching it? Yes, because now I'm invested in finding out what happened & how.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 17, 2019 19:17:42 GMT
I'm torn this evening, new series by the writers of The Missing 'Baptiste' at 9pm on the beeb... their last series was absolutely brilliant and kept us gripped all the way through right up to the shocking end. At the same time on another channel (ITV) is 'Endeavour' which we both enjoyed last week...I must say I love Morse with sideburns and a moustache...
We will probably watch Endeavour and tape Baptiste...
Amazon have a series airing at the end of May...Good Omens (based on the book by Terry Pratchett and Niel Gaiman) which I'm really looking forward to watching. Bring it on 😍
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 17, 2019 19:36:25 GMT
I'll probably just doze off in front of Midsomer Murders as I often do on Sunday night.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 17, 2019 19:45:26 GMT
Not a Midwife fan?
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 17, 2019 21:34:37 GMT
Quite the contrary. With 150 channels from which to choose, that is normally what I select on Sunday.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 17, 2019 21:55:06 GMT
Don't watch Call the Midwife. I liked the early series when Miranda Hart was in it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 18, 2019 5:40:41 GMT
My problem with things like Midsomer Murders is that in France, they never show fewer than two episodes of any series at a time. Since the Midsomer episodes are 90 minutes long and the evening programming in France starts at 21:05, you have to be able to hold out until after midnight. You can of course watch just about anything on replay, but unfortunately the original version does not work on replay, and it is quite annoying to have started watching a story in one language and to have to see the rest dubbed into French. Anyway, I actually made it to the end last night.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 18, 2019 15:52:07 GMT
Just finished Season Two of This Is Us. We both love it.
I also devoured all the available episodes of the current season of The Good Place on the airplane to and from Florida. Looking forward to starting over at the beginning with Mr. Kimby when the library gets it.
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