Rate the last series you completed out of 5 - No spoilers!

[Timmo]

On 29/12/2021 at 17:28, RubberJohnny said:

Succession S3 

We ended up bingeing all of S3 over the Xmas break (I haven't seen the preceding two seasons, but aside from a few references it's pretty stand-alone, you can pick up all the characters quickly) button.

 

 

Jesus, have you been sentenced yet for this atrocity? What a thing to do.

[Timmo]

The Sopranos (S1-S6)

 

You can just watch the final episode of Season 6, you’ll get the gist.

 

Anyway, I’ve binged this and finished the lot in about a month or so. I was quite sad at the end to leave the world and characters behind.

 

First of all, what I didn’t like:

 

• Season 1 has some pretty shitty effects and acting, AJ in particular is terrible. Thankfully he gets better in future seasons.
• The ratio of family shit and mafia stuff is a bit too heavy towards the former. It never becomes actually boring but I was always happy to get back to the nasty, interesting stuff.
• Too much Melfi. There were a few really profound moments where she’s juggling the want to help with that of working with a sociopathic narcissist, but it was interlaced with a lot of dull chat.

 

Mainly though, it’s just an incredibly entertaining and brutal show with so much depth. And despite the advances in tech it has barely aged at all. Most of all it feels so real. The fact that the subreddit is so popular 20 years after release shows its reach.

 

5/5

[ImmaculateClump]

Brand New Cherry Flavor - ****

Wow! This was brilliant

[jonamok]

Hellbound

 

Loved it. Didn’t even mind the ropey CGI monsters. Intriguing world building and great writing. 5/5

[PeteJ]

The Tourist 

 

Very slick, watchable production with an unoriginal but interesting story of a man with no memory who has a lot of bad things happen to him. 

The first 4 episodes are very good. Well paced reveals and intrigue, characters that are larger than life and scrips that finds humour in the right spots. 

 

Then it tries to explain itself and it kind of falls apart. These stories are always difficult but the methods here for revealing the truths were needlessly awkward and none of it particularly interesting. The final episode had some nice moments in it so it doesn't end on too sour a note, but doesn't manage to stick the landing setup from the initial episodes either. 

 

3/5

[Silent Runner]

Search Party Season 5 - Real sunk cost fallacy behaviour from me for this one. I loved season 1 and 2 of this show but it's been is a tailspin since season 3. This was complete trash from start to finish, that was probably satirising something (wellness gurus? alternative medicine? influencer culture??) but I didn't get it. I think I only stayed watching for the Jeff Goldblum cameos. A total waste of everyones talents.

 

1/5

 

It hasn't finished yet but Euphoria Season 2 is the best thing on TV at the moment. I love the look of it, the cast, the music, the trippy atmosphere - everything. 5/5 for the first 3 episodes.

[Festoon]

7 minutes ago, Silent Runner said:

It hasn't finished yet but Euphoria Season 2 is the best thing on TV at the moment. I love the look of it, the cast, the music, the trippy atmosphere - everything. 5/5 for the first 3 episodes.

 

I liked Season 1 but this has just drifted into nonsense for me. It just feels like Skins for 2022 with ludicrious exaggarated caricatures.

[Silent Runner]

I think that's why I like it so much - it's so over the top and so overwrought. Are the cool kids these days driving round listening to Can? 

[Festoon]

3 hours ago, Silent Runner said:

I think that's why I like it so much - it's so over the top and so overwrought. Are the cool kids these days driving round listening to Can? 

 

Absolutely not. A$AP Rocky more like. That's kinda it - feels like a guy my age wrote it, and that's a bit creepy.

[Silent Runner]

Finished the first season of Mr.Inbetween last night. It was pretty good - one or two silly plot contrivances and one episode that kind of went nowhere but otherwise good fun. It was nice to see one of my old Neighbours crushes, Brooke Satchwell, again. I'll get into season 2 this week.

 

I'm sure everyone knows but this is a sort-off sequal to a film called The Magician that came out years ago. It's a mockumentry following a much younger Ray as he does his gangster stuff - it's all right from what I remember. 

[El Pibe]

On 29/01/2022 at 13:53, PeteJ said:

The Tourist 

 

Very slick, watchable production with an unoriginal but interesting story of a man with no memory who has a lot of bad things happen to him. 

The first 4 episodes are very good. Well paced reveals and intrigue, characters that are larger than life and scrips that finds humour in the right spots. 

 

Then it tries to explain itself and it kind of falls apart. These stories are always difficult but the methods here for revealing the truths were needlessly awkward and none of it particularly interesting. The final episode had some nice moments in it so it doesn't end on too sour a note, but doesn't manage to stick the landing setup from the initial episodes either. 

 

3/5

 

I've just finished watching this. Completely agree. Enjoyed the 1st couple of episodes but then felt like it just fell apart and I'd pretty much lost interest by the end.

 

The bizarre stuff with the brother didn't land for me at all.

 

2/5

 

 

[Boothjan]

The Last Kingdom - season 1

 

Bought AC Valhalla recently so I thought I'd watch some Viking/Saxon bloodshed before I start it.

 

And was very pleasantly surprised by this - a superb lead character, devilshly nasty Danish adversaries, great battle scenes and an engaging, fast paced story.  Loved it.  Onto season 2!

 

4.5/5

 

After Life - season 3

 

I have really enjoyed this show, but I think this season suffers from a lack of Paul Kaye and an over reliance on gags with c-bombs.  Although the last episode tugged on my heart strings to the point where I thought I had something in my eye....  Still good, but not as good as previous seasons.

 

3/5

 

The Book of Boba Fett

 

I've been following the discussions in the thread and I have to go against the majority here.  I've loved this - I've rearranged my work calendar every Wednesday morning so I could watch each episode as soon as they were released and it's been a great mixture of Star Wars lore, nods to uber-geeks, bombastic fun, big action scenes and some nerd-tastic links to other Favreau/Filoni Star Wars projects.  This is just what I want from Disney's Star Wars output and although this was silly in places, I had a grin on my face during every single episode.

 

4.5/5

 

You - season 3

 

I don't know where the boundary lies between creepy and dark.  I think this wavers between each side of that divide, as each series seems to introduce more and more appalling individuals with no redeeming qualities.  And as this show goes on, the plots get even more ridiculous.  It's entertaining enough, but it can be a tough watch with so many horrible people on screen in each episode!

 

2.5/5

 

Around the World in 80 Days

 

This is good family fun - David Tennant is perfect in the lead role, and although there's very little originality and is never any special, it helped to pass the time.  Apparently, there's a 2nd series in the works.  Not sure how that will work - Around the World in 81 Days?  Watched this with my 11 year old daughter and we both enjoyed it.  

 

3/5

 

[Silent Runner]

Magpie Murders (Britbox)

 

I watched this 6 part murder-mystery over the weekend and thought it was quality. Based on the book of the same name and adapted for television by the writer. It's about a mystery-writer who gets murdered shortly after delivering his new book to his publishers. Unfortunately the last chapter is missing. Do the contents of the book have something to do with his murder? His editor starts looking for the lost chapter and she starts to suspect that the motive for his murder might be in that book he just wrote.

 

I really like the book this was based on and I really enjoyed this. The cast are excellent, the acting is very good and there's plenty of twists and plot. A lot of the show takes place inside the book in a kind of meta-tv effort but this kind of Watchmen structure works well. 

 

This is fairly gentle viewing but nice to relax to. 

 

Recommended. 4/5 

[Boothjan]

The Last Kingdom - seasons 2, 3, 4

 

Binged the rest of this in a very short space of time - I think it's a superb show.  Excellent writing with some brilliant characters.  The villains are tremendous, the good guys all flawed and believable with great performances across the board.  Actions scenes never fail to disappoint and there are some excellent plot twists.  There really weren't too many bits that I found annoying with the exception of one section towards the end of season 4 (spoilered)

 

Spoiler

Haesten capturing Uhtred and his friends and rather than killing them immediately, places them in an easily escapable situation so they can 'die slowly' was right out of  Austin Powers - just finish them off, you Danish fool.  Think you might live to regret that....

 

Brilliant show - I wasn't aware that the next season arrives in just a couple of weeks so I've timed this perfectly.

 

5/5

 

 

[Silent Runner]

Euphoria Season 2 -  I know there's been a million words written about season 2 and how it lost it's way and how Sam Levinson has fallen out with the cast. And while I can see there are problems with this season when it hits there's nothing better on TV. The acting, the music, the look of it (it's filmed on some Kodak film stock that's not made any more, so it has this real warm, 70's glow), the complete ludicrousness of it and how it can flip from serious to surreal in a heartbeat. 

 

I absolutely love this ridiculous show.

 

5/5

[Gommy]

23 hours ago, Silent Runner said:

Euphoria Season 2 -  I know there's been a million words written about season 2 and how it lost it's way and how Sam Levinson has fallen out with the cast. And while I can see there are problems with this season when it hits there's nothing better on TV. The acting, the music, the look of it (it's filmed on some Kodak film stock that's not made any more, so it has this real warm, 70's glow), the complete ludicrousness of it and how it can flip from serious to surreal in a heartbeat. 

 

I absolutely love this ridiculous show.

 

5/5

 

Yeah I loved it.

 

Spoiler

It jumped about a bit overall, but i'm glad they moved the focus a bit from Rue, although it did seem like one moment she was unable to get treatment and the next she was clean- and they left quite a few threads there that said as realistic as Rue's relapsing-addiction might be, it can get somewhat tiring.

 

Really enjoyed the use of a song from the Virgin Suicides, I imagine there are plenty of other nods throughout as well.

 

My main question- can someone explain the layout of Fezco's place?

The police came through a door but that wasn't the corridor (which was a big long corridor) with the bathroom at the end? It took them ages to get to this corridor.

 

 

 

[Ry]

Peacemaker - 3/5.

 

Some great action scenes and was fun enough but James Gunns humour misses far more than it hits, and his brand of humour is constant. I struggled with a lot of it and it just annoyed me a lot of the time. Not enough for me to not appreciate the show for what it was. Solid. 

 

John Cena was great.

[ImmaculateClump]

We Need To Talk About Bill Cosby -  ***
Channel Zero (Series 1) - *
Channel Zero (Series 2) - ***
jeen-yuhs A Kanye Trilogy - ***½

[Silent Runner]

Starstruck season 2 - BBC3

 

I really liked the first season of this comedy. It's about a normie who falls for a famous actor and how the relationship plays out. There's the usual millennial stuff, it looks nice and the cast are all good - the two leads especially. It doesn't really capture the magic of the first season but it was a nice way to spend a few hours. Probably doesn't need a third season.

 

3/5

[iknowgungfu]

Only murders in the building. 
 

Absolutely loved this. Such a refreshing change to sort of things I normally watch. Perhaps edged slightly towards becoming a bit procedural towards the end but it definitely kept me entertained. I’ve never really seen anything with Selena Gomez in but I quite liked her lazy sardonic delivery.

 

Steve Martin and Martin Short are paired well even if it goes a bit typical Steve Martin towards the end.
 

Would recommend.
 

4/5 

[ImmaculateClump]

Raised By Wolves (2020) (Series 1) - ****

[sandman]

The Umbrella Academy series 2

 

A good episode or 2 too long, but apart from that this was brilliant. 
 

4/5

[Loik V credern]

On 17/01/2022 at 10:53, Timmo said:

Jesus, have you been sentenced yet for this atrocity? What a thing to do.

 

I know right, why would anyone watch the 3rd season of something and not just the 1st? Is this a thing people do I never knew about? If you watch the 3rd and are enjoying it, there must be the thought of 'this is so good i want more seasons of this to enjoy before it ends...oh'. 

 

obviously people mainly do it because the person they're watching it with are ahead and they want to watch together, but still. 

[Silent Runner]

Holding - ITV

 

4 part adaptation of Graham Nortons book. In a small Irish town a body is discovered, turns out it's a guy who went missing 20 years earlier and the whole towns secrets are about to be exposed.

 

This was pretty good, fairly gentle viewing. Conleth Hill is the mild-mannered local cop trying to piece everything together while keeping the town happy. There's the usual big-city detective character and he irritates some of the locals. It has a kind of weird structure where we never see the victim in flashbacks or old footage so I didn't really care about him. 

 

It looks really nice, lots of beautiful scenery and little village streets. And the cast are all excellent. Kathy Burke directed the 4 episodes.

 

3/5 - not essential but a decent effort. And I hope we get more TV versions of Nortons books. 

[teddymeow]

Castle Seasons 1 - 7

 

TV gold!! Funny, thrilling, heartfelt, dramatic, well acted, tightly scripted, brilliant!!!

 

5 bestsellers / 5

 

Castle Season 8

 

WTF?!??! A change of show-runners, poor storylines, forced drama, terrible main arc and an unsatisfying conclusion.

 

2 pulped novels / 5

[Festoon]

2 hours ago, teddymeow said:

Castle Seasons 1 - 7

 

TV gold!! Funny, thrilling, heartfelt, dramatic, well acted, tightly scripted, brilliant!!!

 

5 bestsellers / 5

 

Castle Season 8

 

WTF?!??! A change of show-runners, poor storylines, forced drama, terrible main arc and an unsatisfying conclusion.

 

2 pulped novels / 5

 

Oh man the 'conclusion'.

[kthxbliz]

The Sopranos 

 

6 Gubagools out of 5.

[englishbob]

Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan - iPlayer

 

I wanted this to be great, it wasn't really. Whoever thought the audio dialogue that makes up a big chunk of the film should be recorded from the speaker of a dictaphone is a fucking idiot. It was interesting in places, Shane is such a contradiction of a lot of things but he is too bloody minded to see it

 

2/5

[teddymeow]

Only Murders in the Building

 

Brilliant stuff! Funny, tense, mysterious, well written, great cast, episodes of a good length so it felt snappy.

 

Can't wait for more!

 

5 podcast episodes / 5

[ImmaculateClump]

Raised By Wolves (Series 2) - ***
Bad Vegan Fame Fraud Fugitives - ***