What Are You Watching Lately? (Rants/Raves/Reviews)

[gleem]

I liked Reacher, I like Tom Cruise and the film but I had no idea the character from the book was this huge bruiser.

I had read a few of the novels so when a movie version was announced with Cruise in the leading role I thought, you kidding me?

 

[pinball1970]

I had read a few of the novels so when a movie version was announced with Cruise in the leading role I thought, you kidding me?

Yes I think that was reaction last time!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The Phenomenon (2020)
Very well done.

 

[strangerep]

I had read a few of the [Reacher] novels so when a movie version was announced with Cruise in the leading role I thought, you kidding me?

Oh, his ego is easily large enough...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Brilliant. Around the same time he directed this Columbo episode, one of my favourites.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066932/

Huh!

Remember The Waltons and John Boy Walton, who aspired to be a writer? The real John Boy was Earl Hamner Jr., who created the TV show, which was based on his novel. He also wrote a number of episodes of The Twilight Zone [a few of my favorites!]. Note that he wrote several episodes about mountain people.

• "The Hunt" (1962)
• "A Piano in the House" (1962)
• "Jess-Belle" (1963)
• "Ring-a-Ding Girl" (1963)
• "You Drive" (1964)
• "Black Leather Jackets" (1964)
• "Stopover in a Quiet Town" (1964)
• "The Bewitchin' Pool

He was also the creator and writer for Falcon Crest.

 

[pinball1970]

Huh!

Remember The Waltons and John Boy Walton, who aspired to be a writer? The real John Boy was Earl Hamner Jr., who created the TV show, which was based on his novel. He also wrote a number of episodes of The Twilight Zone [a few of my favorites!]. Note that he wrote several episodes about mountain people.

• "The Hunt" (1962)
• "A Piano in the House" (1962)
• "Jess-Belle" (1963)
• "Ring-a-Ding Girl" (1963)
• "You Drive" (1964)
• "Black Leather Jackets" (1964)
• "Stopover in a Quiet Town" (1964)
• "The Bewitchin' Pool

He was also the creator and writer for Falcon Crest.

Brilliant. I spent about 12 months going through every single episode in order.
I remember most of those you cited from reading the plot on wiki.
The Waltons and John Boy, yes that was a nice series. Pretty cool he wrote those episodes, quite dark!
Falcon Crest was probably watched by my mother and sister, I would have been elsewhere!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Brilliant. I spent about 12 months going through every single episode in order.
I remember most of those you cited from reading the plot on wiki.
The Waltons and John Boy, yes that was a nice series. Pretty cool he wrote those episodes, quite dark!
Falcon Crest was probably watched by my mother and sister, I would have been elsewhere!

Yes! That was something I found striking - the contrast between John Boy, as portrayed, and the stories the real John Boy later wrote.

I saw an interview with Hamner once. He said that until she passed, Hamner's mother would often invite the curious to join her for lemonade on the porch of "the real Walton house". It wasn't the house from the show but the house where Hamner grew up. The curious public would drive by to see the house for many years after the show ended. And she was quick to wave and invite them to stop.

Hamner and Richard Thomas on the set.

 

[DennisN]

I'm watching an apocalyptic version of Duran Duran's Ordinary World.

That is an amazing song, one of my favorites.
Extremely well written, in my opinion.
And the story behind it is fascinating.
The story is told here on the youtube channel "Professor of Rock":

 

[DennisN]

Who remembers Dennis Weaver being terrorized by this in the TV movie Duel?

Wow, I had forgotten about it, but I remember it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Wow, I had forgotten about it, but I remember it.

It was Jaws on wheels.

 

[kyphysics]

I cut my Netflix and Disney+ subscriptions a few months back and have been watching "free" stuff more (YouTube). Lately, I've really enjoyed murder mystery shows like these:


A&E has lots of shows like this (I watch them free on YT)


CBS' 48 Hours is good too. . .

I have no idea why it is, but it helps to de-stress me (I am going through a TON of stress). Perhaps, ironically, seeing other people's lives being so tragic makes me feel like what I'm going through is a lot easier? Or, it's just intriguing stuff and relaxes me by taking my mind off things.

 

[kyphysics]

Some observations I have of the murders featured on these shows:

1.) the murderer almost always knows the victim and/or is in a close circle with them.

This obviously makes sense, as there's not much to gain from just randomly killing someone. But, it still is interesting, given the way crime can be portrayed and/or fear-mongered over in the news. Sometimes my brain's first instinct is to think of the local news and seeing someone randomly shot & killed from a stray bullet related to gang violence.

2.) it feels like 60-70% of the killers were jilted lovers (or the case had something to do with a romantic relationship of some kind)

3.) 95% of the cases involve Caucasian communities and murderers, who are not gang or organized crime affiliated. These are just "regular" every day people, who are doctors, teachers, train conductors, insurance agents, priests, etc.

4.) DNA evidence is often what ultimately convicts or exonerates a person.

5.) the killer often has a past criminal record or history (as told by acquaintances/family members) of out-of-line behavior. Like maybe the killer abused animals as a kid, had a juvenile record, and/or was known to be verbally abusive/aggressive or domestically violent. There's rarely a case where the murderer was super well-liked by everyone, had fantastic manners/etiquette, and was squeaky clean to all those who knew them.

6.) The killers SURPRISINGLY often make threats before they even commit the crime. I wouldn't say this is 50% of the time, but more like 20% of the cases on these shows.

Of all the cases I've marathon/binge watched, this one both shocked and saddened me the absolute most:

The killer is very surprising and what happens in the resolution is heart-breaking in a lot of ways.

 

[pinball1970]

It was Jaws on wheels.

He directed one of the first Columbo episodes, "Murder by the book."
It is one of my favourite episodes and you get those Spielbergisms all over. Brilliant, 1971. Duel was also around the same time.
EDIT. Apologies, already posted this six months ago.

 

[kyphysics]

I opened Amazon Prime Video for first time in a while and saw it has two indistinguishable Liam Neeson movies:

Memory and Blacklight

Is Neeson broke? Is Hollywood so pathetically out of ideas that they cast Neeson in the same types of movies over and over and over and over....same sort of plot........he basically has played the same character or 10 movies straight since Taken.

 

[pinball1970]

Two series that I found engaging were "Shooter" on Netflix and "Reacher" on Prime Video.

Shooter followed an ex-marine sniper trying to find out why he was set up for carrying out an assassination he did not do. 3 seasons.

Reacher, a character based on a Lee Child novel series, is a retired army officer wandering through the south who gets blamed for a murder in a town he is passing through. 2nd season is soon resuming his travels.

Season 2 out next month

 

[BillTre]

I like Reacher. It had some subtle yet corny humor.

 

[pinball1970]

I like Reacher. It had some subtle yet corny humor.

I thought he was great (series) although posters have said he was a bit wooden. I liked that cold, disconnected feel to him.

I like the Cruise films though, he is a very good actor if not quite the stature of the book character.

 

[kyphysics]

I'm starting Prime Video's "The Night Manager" series. . .hopefully, it's not too complicated that it forces me to give up (like I did with "The Peripheral"...good series...just too hard to follow).

I did enjoy rewatching "Moneyball." It's always an inspirational watch and makes me feel good.

 

[strangerep]

I'm starting Prime Video's "The Night Manager" series. . .

If you've only "just started" it, I suspect you'll soon like it a lot more...

 

[kyphysics]

If you've only "just started" it, I suspect you'll soon like it a lot more...

Just finished Ep. 1 today. It was nothing memorable (definitely not bad - but not stand-out great either). Maybe it gets better later.

I am going to watch "The Little Things" for a change of pace the rest of tonight. I am a Denzel Washington fan, so I don't think it'll be too bad. It is soooo cold at nights in Virginia that I'm too lazy to even go out (car takes a long time to warm up). Movie/TV Show marathon all holiday week for me!

 

[DennisN]

I started watching the first season of the British tv series "Slow Horses" today.
I got hooked to it after seeing just one episode.

I think it is brilliant, darkly entertaining and very unusual, and with great acting.
It's a very odd take on the agent/spy concept which I've never seen before.
Imagine e.g. James Bond and turn it around 180 degrees, and you get Slow Horses, sort of.

Zero glamour, dirty, decadent, featuring a small group of agents who are considered to be the least capable ones. Does this sound boring?

Well, it's not!

It's exciting, oddly entertaining, well written and with quite a lot of dark humor in the dialogues.

And Gary Oldman plays the very quirky boss of the agents, and he is simply formidable here.
(yes, I am a fan of Oldman, but I have to say he is just extra excellent in this role )

I warmly recommend this tv series!
(and I actually don't watch very much tv series, unless it's one I really, really like)

Trailer:

 

[DaveC426913]

 

[bob012345]

Over the last few months I have been watching the tv series Mannix on Prime. Mannix is a Private Investigator. I enjoy it very much.

 

[DennisN]

I started watching the first season of the British tv series "Slow Horses" today.
I got hooked to it after seeing just one episode.

Haha, I've seen all three seasons now, I ate them up like three boxes of chocolate.
I liked it very, very much. Very addictive.

My summary:

Season 1: Great, fun and pretty exciting.
Season 2: Great, fun and very exciting, actually thrilling. I think it was the best one of the three seasons.
Season 3: Great, fun and exciting, also thrilling.

And I am so happy to learn that there will at least be two more seasons:

Showrunner Will Smith has stated that the fourth season should be released by the end of December 2024. In January 2024, it was renewed for a fifth series, which will be based on the fifth book in the series, London Rules.

And yeah, I've already said I liked Gary Oldman in the role, but I have to say his character is outstanding.
He is a very odd fellow who comes with a lot of surprises throughout the three series.
And the others are great too. And they are surprising too, you can't really predict what to expect from them (at least I couldn't).

So the series gets an extra plus from me for its unpredictability.

Trailers for season 2 and 3:

Slow Horses — Season 2 Official Trailer


Slow Horses — Season 3 Official Trailer

 

[pinball1970]

Haha, I've seen all three seasons now, I ate them up like three boxes of chocolate.
I liked it very, very much. Very addictive.

My summary:

Season 1: Great, fun and pretty exciting.
Season 2: Great, fun and very exciting, actually thrilling. I think it was the best one of the three seasons.
Season 3: Great, fun and exciting, also thrilling.

And I am so happy to learn that there will at least be two more seasons:
And yeah, I've already said I liked Gary Oldman in the role, but I have to say his character is outstanding.
He is a very odd fellow who comes with a lot of surprises throughout the three series.
And the others are great too. And they are surprising too, you can't really predict what to expect from them (at least I couldn't).

So the series gets an extra plus from me for its unpredictability.

Trailers for season 2 and 3:

Slow Horses — Season 2 Official Trailer


Slow Horses — Season 3 Official Trailer

Anything with Gary Oldman is worth a go.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Looks like George Smiley has let himself go a bit.

 

[pinball1970]

My new lazy Sunday favourites are "Blue bloods," followed by "NCIS."

 

[pinball1970]

Haha, I've seen all three seasons now, I ate them up like three boxes of chocolate.
I liked it very, very much. Very addictive.

My summary:

Season 1: Great, fun and pretty exciting.
Season 2: Great, fun and very exciting, actually thrilling. I think it was the best one of the three seasons.
Season 3: Great, fun and exciting, also thrilling.

And I am so happy to learn that there will at least be two more seasons:



And yeah, I've already said I liked Gary Oldman in the role, but I have to say his character is outstanding.
He is a very odd fellow who comes with a lot of surprises throughout the three series.
And the others are great too. And they are surprising too, you can't really predict what to expect from them (at least I couldn't).

So the series gets an extra plus from me for its unpredictability.

Trailers for season 2 and 3:

Slow Horses — Season 2 Official Trailer


Slow Horses — Season 3 Official Trailer

Just finished the first season, really good.

 

[Hornbein]

I'm watching Senri Kawaguchi play the trap drums -- possibly best on Earth -- herself dressed as Wednesday Addams.

 

[kyphysics]

Watched Trap.

Always have given M. Night Shyamalan some love after The Sixth Sense and am willing to check out his films blind.

This was a fun movie, despite having to suspend my disbelief quite hard when it came to the main character. His psychological makeup seemed too improbable. The niceness and smartness of Josh Hartnett’s character as both a doting, loving dad and clever diabolical serial killer were too much for me - especially as to how Hartnett acted both sides out.

I wish we got more background into the motivations of the serial killer side of the main character…..which may be possible given he doesn’t die in this movie and there is an opening for a sequel/prequel.

Nonetheless, the cat and mouse games played by the authorities and killer dad ….and another character were fantastic and devilishly fun to watch.