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Post by kerouac2 on May 9, 2019 19:30:37 GMT
I've started to watch The ABC Murders. If I had not read the list of the cast, it would have taken me a while to recognize John Malkovich, and there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I would have ever recognized Rupert Grint. Anyway, it is a completely different take on Hercule Poirot, very dark and disturbing and not at all lighthearted.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 9, 2019 19:57:18 GMT
I thought it was very dark, but interesting.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 13, 2019 17:25:26 GMT
I watched the first episode of series 3 of Black Mirror, starring Bryce Dallas Howard. Extremely bleak and should be mandatory viewing for people addicted to social media.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 15, 2019 20:21:04 GMT
Just watched the first episode of Years and Years new series on BBC1. Russell T Davis is involved so I knew that it would be good...excellent cast too.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 4, 2019 17:39:23 GMT
Over the last two days I watched all of the episodes of series 1 of Broadchurch again. I actually found it more powerful the second time because I had not forgotten who was guilty so I was able to pay attention to all of the little other details and particularly each element that made all of the other people suspects. In any case, it remains remarkable.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 4, 2019 21:24:40 GMT
I really liked that series, season one was best, for sure.
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 5, 2019 11:24:47 GMT
I'm hooked on Years and Years too. It's quite clever in setting what seems at the outset to be a familiar sort of family drama (with what starts out as a not very surprising range of things happening in a large, lively family with all the PC boxes ticked) within an increasingly dystopian near future, plausibly extrapolated from the social, technological and political trends of the moment (which makes it all the more involving). Last night's episode was devastating, in that you could see (no spoilers) the inevitability of the outcome for one particular character intensifying as the options disappeared. How much worse will things get for them all? I've also finally caught up with the entire Line of Duty saga (given all the fuss in the media about how nail-biting the latest series was). I had a flash of déjà vu in the first episode of series 1, so I must have seen something of it when it first came out but decided then it wasn't for me. Seeing the whole thing through made me wonder at the strange bubble this particular Midlands city must be in, for coppers to be shot up as frequently as the Midsomer Women's Institute get caught up in assorted poisonings and bludgeonings. But the core of the drama's in the battle of wits in the set-piece interrogations, with all the meticulous formalities making a repeating and familiar structure for the clash of character and the implied tensions in the smallest details. Those bits are almost like scenes from a Mozart opera. And of course they left a loose end or two for another series..... My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by Kimby on Jun 5, 2019 13:19:13 GMT
Thank you all for your recommendations and thoughtful reviews. A big help in selecting what to watch next.
Meanwhile, Mr Kimby and I have begun the final season of Friday Night Lights, an unlikely favorite. High School football? Texas? I was assured I would like it by my sister who is neither a fan of football nor Texans. But we both like the well-written series with its well-drawn characters, and mostly solid performances.
I have to say that Seasons 1-3 were more engaging than 4 & 5 (so far, anyway). For non-Americans who don’t “get” American football, a season or two of this series might make you understand.
The fanaticism in Texas over HS football exceeds the college football mania in most of the rest of the country.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 5, 2019 13:24:36 GMT
I have been wanting to watch Friday Night Lights because it seems interesting even though (like you) it seems to be a subject of unlikely interest for a lot of us. The other day when I was navigating all of my replay options, it appeared briefly on a mosaic screen but that isn't what I was looking for at the time. Since then, I have not come across it again, but I will try again in a few days.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 9, 2019 20:36:25 GMT
New series of Handmaid's Tale is on atm...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 12, 2019 17:56:16 GMT
Years and Years penultimate episode was on last night....gosh.
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 13, 2019 21:00:24 GMT
Don't tell, I still haven't brought myself to watch it after the end of the last episode. The family's in a bind, that much is obvious, and I can only imagine how much worse it gets. My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 13, 2019 21:10:49 GMT
WATCH IT...I'm going to watch the whole series again on iPlayer after the last episode next week. Last week's episode was pretty disturbing. You can tell that Russell T Davies is involved. I wouldn't be surprised if a dalek pops up next week...Bethany is well on the way to being a Cyberwoman....
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 14, 2019 18:47:08 GMT
Oh god oh god oh god oh god -- What have you done, Cheery and Patrick, in getting me to watch that show? It is easily the most realistically upsetting thing broadcast since November 9, 2016. Coming off of the two episodes I've watched, I feel as though if someone came up and gave me a tiny push with one finger I would break down in sobs. Since I'm further behind in the show, you all have to promise not to let on what happens.
It's absolutely brilliant in the way it keeps you engaged with the plot-driven family part while the true Godzilla monstrosity of today's political, meteorological, and financial realities rampage in the background. And Emma Thompson!!! We all know she can do anything, but this role proves that she can do anything. She takes May and Pen and any blonde Fox News twat you can name and just mines them for the terrifying role of a lifetime. Whew!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 14, 2019 18:52:55 GMT
Emma Thompson was grotesque in Men in Black International. I think she is trying to become Tilda Swinton.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 14, 2019 19:33:52 GMT
It's gripping isn't it Bixa dear
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 14, 2019 19:50:39 GMT
Yeah, gripping, Cheery -- that's the word!
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 15, 2019 6:46:27 GMT
And Emma Thompson!!! We all know she can do anything, but this role proves that she can do anything. She takes May and Pen and any blonde Fox News twat you can name and just mines them for the terrifying role of a lifetime. Whew! It's quite intriguing trying to spot the parallels they're drawing on. I don't know if the authors originally intended in, but years ago (in the days when such people only counted as tomorrow's fishwrap) there was a "controversial" newspaper columnist called Jean Rook. And the character's look and "I speak as I find, I don't care" self-presentation seems to draw on Katie Hopkins. And as for her being a famous-for-being-famous business tycoon with unclear finances whose team doesn't expect to win and ends up presiding over administrative chaos, who could they possibly have in mind?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2019 11:55:23 GMT
Ha ha ~ can't imagine! Yes, the parallels with Trump are obvious, but I'd forgotten about Katie Hopkins. It's brilliant how the show depicts the appeal of "I calls 'em as I sees 'em" political bluster. Emma Thompson nails it as the devil within, siren calling to our secret prejudices and insecurities. I never heard of Jean Rook, but after following your link I can see how perfectly she fits as a component in the fictional Rook's makeup. Before knowing about Jean Rook, I thought the character Vivienne Rook's name was interesting in the sense of the derogatory meanings of the word rook. In the same way, I love that the name of the gas (petrol) chain where Viktor works is "Chicane".
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 15, 2019 16:53:36 GMT
Moving on to a completely different sort of series, the BBC has a rather sweet daytime/early evening show called The Repair Shop. People bring in all sorts of battered and broken family treasures (clocks, toys, furniture, paintings, ceramics, mechanical bits and bobs) for specialist craftspeople to do their magic on. The point of it is not just in the amazing transformations these things undergo, but the stories that family memory attaches to these things, and the people's reactions when they hear the old clock ticking again or grandpa's musical box playing. And the odd moments of amusement, like the soft toy ladies collapsing with giggles when they found the best way to reinforce the stuffing in a rhinoceros was to poke it up its rear end. And money doesn't figure in it at all. It's all about the sentimental value and the skill, care and respect involved in a job well done. My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2019 17:17:13 GMT
Years and Years penultimate episode was on last night....gosh. Don't tell, I still haven't brought myself to watch it after the end of the last episode. Okay, I just finished episode 4 and now understand Patrick's comment above. Geez Louise! Have you gone ahead and watched 5 yet, Patrick? I don't know why I subject myself to this. I initially started watching because Cheery kept talking it up and I wasn't sufficiently steeled yet to watch the new season of Handmaid's Tale. But Years and Years is every bit as harrowing, and for the same reasons! Quibble, because that's just how I am: no way Daniel could have had his boots on in his last scenes in episode 4. The Repair Shop sounds lovely, and rather necessary emotionally now that tv is so closely mirroring the more dreadful aspects of today's world.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 15, 2019 18:26:23 GMT
Love The Repair Shop. Quietly understated, impressively skilled craftspeople do their stuff. I am in awe of Will, Steve and co. Never quite worked out why Jay is there tho!
Bixa, maybe what is happening here is so awful atm Years and Years isn't quite as traumatic for us Brits! I think that even the most optimistic of us are becoming distinctly 'glass half empty' people...
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Post by lugg on Jun 15, 2019 20:00:51 GMT
Some great TV at the moment . Years and Years ... so glad to see a number of you were "enjoying" it too. More of the same re harrowing and build up of tension anyone ? Maybe try The Virtues. I was hooked. Now looking forwardto catching up with series 2 of Killing Eve and hoping its every bit as good as series 1. And for something gentler ... The 1900 Island looks promising
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2019 20:13:40 GMT
Ooooo ~ thanks, Lugg! I didn't know about The 1900 Island, which is right up my alley. Never heard of The Virtues, either, which also looks good. I love Killing Eve -- so different! Do you watch The Handmaid's Tale? It ticks all the harrowing, tense boxes, plus should set any tamped-down justifiable female rage you have up to a full boil. Bixa, maybe what is happening here is so awful atm Years and Years isn't quite as traumatic for us Brits! Probably true, Cheery, since things are so hunky-dory in my country of origin. ( ) This is the US, now and forever ~
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 15, 2019 20:17:51 GMT
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Post by lugg on Jun 15, 2019 21:41:52 GMT
haha many in UK also think likewise
No but thanks for the nudge re the Handmaids Tale ; it sounds good so must catch up .
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 15, 2019 23:07:09 GMT
I just watched the first episode of The 1900 Island, which is really compelling viewing. I'm a sucker for those re-creation programs and this one is very well done. The narrator, though! He intones everything in that same dire tone.
Parts of the Handmaid's Tale will have you reminding yourself to breathe!
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 19, 2019 16:22:11 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 19, 2019 22:09:35 GMT
Oh, I think they must have given it a great deal of thought! Did you ever finish Years and Years, Patrick? I finished the 1900 Island, which was great viewing and rather moving.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 20, 2019 2:53:03 GMT
I watched the first episode of season two of Big Little Lies. I'm sort of ennnhhh about it, although Reese Witherspoon is awfully impressive and it's a huge treat to see Meryl Streep on tv.
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